What Is A Pre-release? Must Read!

Greetings once again! It's Shawn here. 2 weeks ago I wrote about The art of Aggro in Standard. This week i'm back talk about Pre-releases!

What is a pre-release?

A pre-release is an event that is held a week prior to a new product being sold. It allows players at the event to get their hands on new sets before it's scheduled release date. It is a casual event that allows players of all levels to gather and learn about the new set of cards and the various interactions it brings!

Pre-releases are held in a sealed format. Players are to construct a 40 card deck out of 6 boosters from the new set. This means that even the newest or most casual of players has some chance of beating some of the very best at the game for a chance to earn some fantastic prizes!

Why should you choose Vagabond Takapuna for your pre-release?
-Bring a friend! Ever had that one friend who had an interest in magic but never dared stepped out of his comfort zone? Bring a friend and get him registered with a new DCI number to get additional product for both you and your friend at the prerelease! A booster for you and a pack of new shiny sleeves for them! Woo!

-Additional prizes! On top of normal prizes based on your performance at the tournament, we will be giving away 1 COMPLETE set of m15 cards. Each prerelease flight you play with us gets you 1 additional entry into the grand prize draw!

-With a grand total of 5 flights, Each flight you join lowers the entry fee for the next! This adds up to great savings and is easy on your schedule! If you prebook all 5 flights, we will even throw in a bonus discount code for any purchases you make on Hobbymaster for the week! Think about the savings you make on buying play sets of the newest cards on the block!

-The opportunity to meet and interact with the friendliest community in Auckland! Our staff and array of players will be delighted to have you become a part of the fastest growing and biggest MTG community in Auckland! We hope to see you there!

So after making your decision to join us, what do you actually do?
It would be a benefit to all to arrive early and be seated on time. This is especially important as late arrivals will eat into your deck construction time. Players are given 30 minutes for deck construction during prerelease day as compared to the usual 15-20 minutes for a normal tournament. This is due to players being largely unfamiliar with the cards and given additional time to read and understand the cards.

Players are typically handed out an equivalent of 6 boosters. What you should do for time efficiency, is to just rip the packs open, and sort them immediately into colours rather than keep them in a single pile. This would make your life easier when you are attempting to construct your deck or finding out which colors to play. You would usually lean towards playing the largest pile for your prerelease due to sheer number of options and the lack of complex mechanics/synergy in a core set.

So how do we go about making a deck?
A typical sealed deck usually consists of 40 cards, made up of a mix of creatures, spells and lands. An easy “magic formula” for draft or sealed consists of 17-18 lands, 7-8 spells (Instant, Sorceries, Enchantments, Artifacts) and 14-16 Creatures to make a total of 40 cards. Usually in a sealed deck, we are unable to really go into just a single colour, barring some high levels of variance in your pool of cards. A sealed deck typically goes for 2 colours, occasionally a 3rd, depending on the power level of your cards and the level of mana fixing (Special lands, lands search, mana producers/filter cards) you have access to. If you are struggling with constructing a deck on the day itself or need some assistance, feel free to ask for some assistance from the judges first. We could refer you to a few of the more regular experienced players if we are unable to assist you in time.

Other than that, the most important thing is to have fun! This is a day of discovery and experience, where players are all on relatively equal footing. This means that even the newest of players have a chance to win the most hardened of veterans today! Time to savor in the glory and victory over some of the best players in New Zealand!

So besides just playing, what else is there to do?
For one, we encourage you to dress up in theme. There will be additional prizes for people who turn up dressed to kill! (Literally in a mtg sense) Some of your judges will be dressed up to make it easy to identify us and approach us for assistance.

There is also the Garruk challenge, where players are given the opportunity to challenge Garruk, the Slayer and bring him down to 0 with their prerelease decks!

Players are also able to take a photo with Garruk himself and have it submitted to huntbiggergame.com on the 30th June. There might be rewards from wizards for submission of your photo. Who knows? Time will tell. Hope to see you all there!

We would also be running a promotion on preorders on m15 sealed product. Booster boxes are $149 (a $20 saving!), Fat packs would be running at $45(a $4 saving) and our gift pack (1 Booster box, 1 Fat Pack and 1 Pre-constructed Deck of your choice) would be priced at $209! Dont miss this fantastic opportunity to save on your m15 purchases! Offer ends 11th July while stocks last!