So you’ve been seeing all the new card reveals everywhere online and you are stoked for the newest set from Magic the Gathering. What’s next?! Going to your very first pre-release, of course! I know it can seem scary (I was scared out of my mind at my first pre-release) so I put together some tips of what to expect, what to do and what to bring to your very first Magic the Gathering Pre-release at your local game store.
What is a Magic Pre-Release Event?
A week before a new set is released, you can go to your favorite local Wizards Play Network (WPN) retail location, open some packs, build a deck (Sealed) and try out all the cool and exciting cards from the newest set in a friendly, informal tournament.
Pre-release events can be as short as 4 hours or last as long as 7 in some cases if your store is very large.
The event is a Swiss style tournament where players aren’t eliminated so don’t worry about losing! Discovering how new cards work is more valuable than winning. Stick it out for a few more games and if you’re not having fun, drop out and hang out with friends or just watch the games go on to see what other players have come up with in the new set.
A TOURNAMENT?! Yup but it’s normally super casual and it’s a great place to showcase your skills as an experienced magic player, learn from others if you’re a new player, make new friends and play test all kinds of new decks. The most important thing about attending events is to have fun so don’t sweat it!
Now that you know what the event is I’m sure I’ve fully convinced you that you should go, right? No? Well this War of the Spark set is going to be bonkers so you’re DEFINITELY not going to want to miss it. In your MTGWar pre-release kit you will get 6 booster packs with at least one planeswalker per pack, a life counter die, deck building guide, promo pack, rare or mythic rare foil and a planeswalker foil! That’s a whole lot of planeswalkers if you ask me.
Don’t know what to do with all those planeswalkers? GIVE THEM TO ME! I’m just kidding :) Or am I? IMO you should use at least one of them in your pre-release tournament deck since it’s the basis of the whole WAR set. Not sure how? Let’s cover some Sealed deck building then, shall we?
That’s the basic guidelines for deck building for Limited (40 cards). We will be playing Sealed for the pre-release (which is a Limited format) and your pre-release chosen set will probably be your favorite guild or color preference so lean into it if you find some solid bombs and spells. Don’t be afraid to splash an extra color for fun! If it doesn’t work that’s ok, use your time in between rounds to switch out any cards that are underperforming and utilize that sideboard. The only way you’ll ever get better at something is if you do it. (At least that’s what I keep telling myself when I lose ;P) So just do it! Have fun and check out what the new set is all about.
Save my Lightning tips to bring with you to your next Pre-release and let me know how you did!