Are you ready to be Eclipsed? The long-awaited new Lorwyn set is coming out this weekend, and there’s no better way to celebrate the occasion than by attending your local Prerelease.
These events are Magic’s version of a red carpet premiere. Why not turn the excitement of a new set into an excuse for a party? You can team up with your friends in Two-Headed Giant, meet other players in your community, and generally enjoy the “Gathering” side of Magic in a fun, relaxed environment.
There’s not much time to lose, so let’s go over the hows and whys of the Lorwyn Eclipsed prerelease weekend that’s coming up!
LOVE YOUR LGS
While it’s not the only option for prereleasing, the majority of players will be attending these events at their friendly local gaming store. Anywhere you normally purchase cards from should be scheduling some kind of event, but you can always use the official event locator to get the full list of participating Magic stores in your area.
Those retailers are the ones trusted to handle and distribute boxes of secret not-yet-released cards with discretion. Even if you’re planning to actually play your prerelease event somewhere else – at home with friends, or at a school club – you’ll still need to organize getting the prerelease packs through one of these venues.
Every participating store decides their own schedule for the weekend, with their own mix of sub-events to enter (called “flights”) and their own prices and prizes. It’s definitely worth looking up all the options in your area before choosing where to register – especially if you’re keen to specifically play Two-Headed Giant or another non-standard kind of flight.
Once you find a venue you like which is running the right flight at the right timeslot, contact them by phone or online to ask if you can pre-register for it. Pre-registering doesn’t cost any extra money (in fact, it might be a little cheaper at some venues) and it lets you lock in your prerelease plans with some confidence. Not only does this save you some stress and bother later, but it helps the store promote that flight to other players and ensure a good turnout on the day!
TWO SIDES OF THE SAME EVENT
I want to back up for a second and discuss those different kinds of “flights”. It’s the most important part of the Prerelease to understand ahead of time, since you’ll want to make sure you’re registered for the games you actually want to play.
Most stores still headline their schedules with singles Sealed flights, the most traditional prerelease format. But you can also play a closely-related team event called Two-Headed Giant, where you and a partner compete side-by-side!
What are you signing up for:
Each Sealed flight at a prerelease is its own short round-robin tournament. You play 3-4 matches over as many hours, plus another 40 minutes for deckbuilding. Your entry fee includes the cost of a Lorwyn Eclipsed Prelease Pack, which contains the cards you’ll use in these matches.
What deck do you play with:
Each player builds a deck using only cards from within their prerelease pack (plus basic lands, which are provided free-of-charge by the store). Other cards – even other cards from Lorwyn Eclipsed you may have bought or won at the prerelease – cannot be added to your deck.
The minimum deck size is 40 cards, and most players recommend using 17 lands (either the free basic lands or non-basic lands opened from your pack).
Can I play with my friends?
Official prerelease events will use seeded pairings, so it’s luck of the draw which opponents you get to play against. However, there is a popular alternate Sealed flight called Two-Headed Giant (2HG) where you and a friend essentially play “doubles” against other paired-up players.
If you enter a 2HG flight (check with the store, as it’s a different event to solo Sealed) both you and your partner will pay your own entry fees, and each get your own Prerelease Packs. You’re still building 40 card decks as before, but you can use cards from both Prerelease Packs mixed together.
That’s especially important in a set like Lorwyn Eclipsed, where most decks will want to focus on a specific creature type like Elves or Goblins. So long as you and your partner don’t both try to play the same type, you should be able to divide your shared pool down the middle and each end up with double the amount of matching creature cards as you would playing on your own!
The actual matches are best-of-one game against the opposing team, with both you and your partner working together. You take your turns at the same time (each untapping, drawing, going to combat etc. together), you can both block when your opponents attack, and you share a life total.
Other than that, you’re still considered two independent players; “you control” effects don’t count your partner’s cards, and you can’t use your lands to help pay for their spells. But it’s still the best “co-op” Magic experience available, and 2HG is definitely my favorite way to enjoy a prerelease.
Is playing with a new deck and new cards against strangers actually fun?
Magic is a competitive game at heart, but understandably a lot of players just don’t have a desire to play cutthroat 1v1 matches against opponents who may be taking things much more seriously, or have a huge edge in experience.
To those players, I want to reassure you that a prerelease Sealed event is as casual as playing Magic can ever be. 99% of attendees are just there to relax and will happily help you understand the new cards if you’re unsure of rules, plus there are judges in attendance you can ask for impartial help. The “tournament” part is really just to keep games organised so everyone gets to play a few rounds. The prizes are just a couple of booster packs per win, and some stores choose to just hand those out as participation gifts so games are 100% for fun.
A FAE LAND OF CHARM AND MISCHIEF…
As a bit of an old head, I’m thrilled we get to go back to Lorwyn/Shadowmoor as a setting. I’m even more excited to see the extent of what modern Magic designers do with its characters and mechanics. Limited events – like a Sealed Prerelease flight – are one of the best showcases for that design, and this weekend will be our very first chance to experience it!
But even more than the attraction of the new set, I love how Prereleases keep me in touch with Magic and the local community. It’s one of the only times you’ll see all kinds of players in the same room, engaging with the same cards on an equal footing. It reminds me how great in-person Magic can be, and I hope you all get to check it out this weekend.
Tom’s fate was sealed in 7th grade when his friend lent him a pile of commons to play Magic. He quickly picked up Boros and Orzhov decks in Ravnica block and has remained a staunch white magician ever since. A fan of all Constructed formats, he enjoys studying the history of the tournament meta. He specializes in midrange decks, especially Death & Taxes and Martyr Proc. One day, he swears he will win an MCQ with Evershrike. Ask him how at @AWanderingBard, or watch him stream Magic at twitch.tv/TheWanderingBard.