Magic the Gathering Prerelease Tournament for Beginners

Magic the Gathering pre-release tournaments are a fun and easy way for new players to experience their first organized Magic tournament. They are great for players of all experience levels because everyone is playing on an equal playing level. Everyone with have the same amount of cards to play with, and with all the cards being brand new, no one really has an advantage of knowing what the best cards are.

But what is a pre-release tournament and what will new players need to know as they attend their first pre-release?

Wizards of the Coast (the company that makes Magic the Gathering) releases four new sets every year consisting of brand new Magic cards. Two weeks prior to their release date, a pre-release tournament is held where players can receive and play with cards from this new set. It is a great way for players to experience the new cards.

When a player arrives for the first time to an organized tournament, they will need to sign up for a DCI number. This is free to do. The number assigned to you will be your identification number going forward for all Magic tournaments. You will also pay your entrance fee at this time. Your entrance fee will pay for all the cards you will be playing with for the tournament.

As you sign up, you will be assigned into a flight. This is a group of 32 people. These will be the people that you will be competing against in your tournament. Soon the tournament organizer will make an announcement for your flight to begin. Most likely, you will have an assigned seat for this part of the tournament.

Once everyone is seated, cards will be handed out to all players. All players will be given one tournament pack and some booster packs from the new set. Players will also be given a checklist for deck registration. As players open up their cards, they are required to mark on the checklist what cards they received (bring a pen). The checklists will be turned back in to insure that you will only be playing with cards that you actually received. Some tournament organizers will also gather all the cards opened back up and redistribute as an extra precaution against cheating.

At this point, it is time to build your deck. There are some important things to remember when building your deck. First, your deck must have at least 40 cards in the deck (this number includes land cards that will be provided to you by the tournament organizers). Your deck can have more than 40 cards if you wish, but keeping your deck at or around 40 cards is the best way to go. This is because you will have a few really good cards and it will increase the odds of you drawing those cards during your matches. Most people also try to only use two or three colors in their decks. Another beginner mistake is to have too many or not enough land in your deck. 17 is a good average for a 40 card deck.

All cards not used in your deck will be considered your sideboard. These cards can be swapped into your deck for the last two games of the match. Many players will forget that they can sideboard in cards after game one. It is important to know what you can bring into your deck in case you have any cards in your sideboard that might help you in your second and third games of the match.

Now it is time for the tournament to start. Pre-release tournaments are run in what is called a "Swiss format tournament". This means that there will be a set amount of rounds, and you can continue to play in each round regardless of your record. At some point, the organizers will post who will be playing who in the first round. Each match consists of the best two out of three games.

By the end of the tournament, prizes will be given out for those players with the best record. Tournament organizers will normally post what records are needed to receive each prize. Prizes are normally more packs from the new set.

There are other perks to attending pre-release tournaments. One is that each player will be given a pre-release card. This card is a special alternate art foil card from the new set. Now these cards are not allowed to be played in the tournament itself, but they are a lot of fun to collect. Trading normally happens fast and furious at tournaments as well as people try to get more of the new cards. Sometimes tournament organizers will also bring in Magic artist so players can have their cards signed.

Magic pre-release tournaments are a great way for players of all playing levels to experience an organized Magic tournament.