Sebastian Portilla wins Krieg 2026 Longsword & Dagger title

Sebastian Portilla won The Krieg 2026 Longsword & Dagger title by mastering a format that asks for more than clean longsword exchanges. In a 32-competitor field in Kingston, Ontario, the mixed-weapon bracket put offhand pressure, blade-line control and measure under a brighter spotlight than a standard singles event.

The division on HEMA Scorecard made the tactical demand clear from the start: this was Longsword & Dagger, not open longsword, and that changes everything. A fencer cannot win here by simply throwing volume at the line. The dagger creates another layer of threat and defense, forcing decisions about whether to press forward, jam the bind, or stay disciplined in the pocket where one mistake with the offhand can flip the exchange.

Portilla, representing Club D'Art Martiaux Historiques de Sherbrooke, finished first ahead of Kieron Rowe of Dueling Weapons Academy of Renaissance Fencing. Matthew Biondo and John MacPhail, both of Niagara Historical Fencing, took third and fourth, giving Niagara a strong one-two punch just off the final. Mackenzie Whitten added a fifth-place finish for Niagara, while Xavier Jacques of Club D'Art Martiaux Historiques de Sherbrooke placed sixth and Tiohnekote Swamp of Kahnawake Combat Academy finished seventh. Jason Tang rounded out the visible top eight.

That podium says a lot about what this ruleset rewards. Portilla’s win suggests not just clean sword work, but the ability to manage the dagger side of the equation, whether by shutting down incoming pressure or creating space to finish in close. Rowe’s runner-up result and Niagara’s cluster in the top four and top five point to the same truth: in Longsword & Dagger, the best all-around fencers separate themselves by controlling the whole engagement, not just the blade in their dominant hand.

HEMA Ratings lists The Krieg 2026 as taking place on April 25, 2026, in Kingston, and identifies HEMA Scorecard as the tournament software. The result gives Sherbrooke a headline win, but the deeper story is the format itself: a 32-fencer mixed-weapon bracket that exposed who could handle the extra hand, the tighter line, and the faster tactical math.