Everything You Need to Know About the MTG Throne of Eldraine Prerelease Event
The Magic: The Gathering community has been waiting for a long time for the release of the highly anticipated fall card set Throne of Eldraine, and it’s finally here. Well, the new expansion is finally here if you play MTG Arena and Magic Online, the digital versions of the popular card game, that is.
If you are not into playing digitally and prefer the tabletop physical game instead, or just like to have both physical and digital cards, then you’re going to have to wait a bit longer for the release of the cards in stores. To tie players over, the MTG Throne of Eldraine Prerelease Event is happening this weekend.
MTG Throne of Eldraine Prerelease Event Explained
With the game continuing to grow and become more popular than ever before, thanks to the digital card games and streaming services like Twitch, there are plenty of players checking out the MTG Throne of Eldraine Prerelease Event for the very first time, or perhaps the first time in a long time.
Maybe you are even reading this and aren’t sure what a prerelease weekend is even about. If that’s the case, you are, thankfully, in the right place to be. Prerelease events are the weekend events that happen just before the launch of a new card set or expansion for the tabletop card game.
These are basically like an early access event of sorts where players are able to jump in and see what the new cards and Standard are going to be like. It’s a great way to get a head start on all of your friends and rivals by getting a firsthand look at the new cards and how they will play in real matches.
In addition, it is a fantastic way to support your local game shop and perhaps meet some friends in the process. With events like this one only happening every few months, so a few times a year, there aren’t many chances to get in there and see what a prerelease weekend is all about.
Even better, the MTG Throne of Eldraine Prerelease Event is arguably the biggest and most important one of the entire year so there really is no better time to stop by and see what’s happening. The event itself is rather friendly, making sure that anyone can show up and have fun, no matter if they’re brand new or have been playing for decades.
The MTG Throne of Eldraine Prerelease Event is set up like some tournaments in a way. Players are able to show up to their local game shop, get their hands on some of the real cards from the upcoming set early, and use them to play against other real players in actual hands on matches.
We want to hear all about your #MTGEldraine Prerelease! Let us know your favorite cards and surprising fairy tale mashups.
— Magic: The Gathering (@wizards_magic) September 26, 2019
Remember: The @MTG_Arena code in Prerelease packs can be redeemed once for six packs! Some cards have erroneous info, but will always redeem for six packs! pic.twitter.com/JVe64Dm3PM
It’s an excellent way to surprise yourself with which new cards you’ll get in the packs you use for the tournament, become more flexible in the process, and learn more about the upcoming set before many other players will. In addition, there are all sorts of offers and goodies you can get for taking part.
The MTG Throne of Eldraine Prerelease Event will be happening this weekend, starting today, Friday, September 27 and will run through Sunday, September 29. It is a short period of time so be sure to set aside some time and not miss out on all of the action.
How to Get the Most Out of the Prerelease Weekend
Of course, if you are brand new to the prerelease scene or just the card game in general, it can be overwhelming showing up to your first prerelease event. This is especially the case if you’re a new player and/or haven’t been to your local game shop before.
We’ve all been there and this is something that is fairly common. As such, we have some tips for how to get the most out of your weekend. The first tip and one of the most important ones is to just have fun and not take everything too seriously, especially if this is your first time.
It’s easy to get competitive or serious about prerelease events but if you are there for the first time, there’s no need to worry too much. Just show up, have fun, and enjoy all of the awesome activities. In addition, it can be easy to tense up but this is an event where you are supposed to just relax and have fun.
This also means that you don’t really have to stay for the whole thing if you don’t want to. There is nothing wrong with showing up for a bit, meeting some new friends, checking out everything that’s there, and then bouncing when you feel like leaving or have other things to do.
At the same time, though, if you are looking to stick around for the whole event, be sure to set aside some time. These events, specifically the tournaments themselves, typically lasts a few hours, so make sure that you don’t have other stuff going on if you mean to stay the whole time.
In addition, you are there for a while so we recommend that you, at the very least, bring some water for the occasion. However, you would also be better off bringing some light snacks for the occasion as well as you may get hungry if the event drags on for a good bit.
Of course, there are some game shops who might have restrictions on bringing outside food or drink so be sure to keep that in mind or check ahead. There are also a lot of shops that sell their own snacks and drinks there but you’ll likely find them more expensive.
This next tip has to do with socializing, which we get not everyone is into so feel free to ignore but we do hope you consider it! If you aren’t big into meeting new people for the first time, you might want to ask your friends, family, boyfriend/girlfriend/partner/spouse to come along for the fun.
This can ease you into the experience and make the environment less scary since there are other people with you that you already know. However, this author has been on the other side where you show up with no one and you also know no one there as well.
If you are in this case, we feel for you but we challenge you to try and make some friends. Lose to someone or win in a close match? Be sure to congratulate the other person and who knows? It could lead to you guys chatting and perhaps even becoming friends.
Last but not least, this is a tournament so don’t forget to bring your own equipment if you want to take the matches somewhat seriously. You will want to bring things like card sleeves for the cards you end up getting, counters, dice, your usual deck for playing around, and so on. These will go a long way towards making the most of your matches. But just remember to always have fun!
Tips for Building a Sealed Booster Pack Deck
Now, it’s time to go over the actual MTG Throne of Eldraine Prerelease Event itself. If you do decide to participate in the actual tournament there, you are going to be in for some awesome Sealed matches. The Sealed playstyle is where you have packs of cards that you open up and have to build a deck out of them.
You will get six packs of cards that you have to open up on the spot and build a deck right then and there. This can be overwhelming and tough but it is a fun event so long as you don’t take it too seriously. Those six packs will net you around 90 cards or so plus a randomly stamped foil card that you can use to build your deck.
Your objective is to make a 40-card deck and use those cards to ensure that you are building the best deck possible. This means that you aren’t going to probably see too many duplicates (but you might!) so you’ll need to be flexible and be ready to try out using decks or mana colors that you might not normally use.
We recommend that you actually stick to a hybrid deck for the MTG Throne of Eldraine Prerelease Event, so a mix of two or more colors. You could do three colors but that is spreading yourself a bit too thin and just one color might not be enough to really give you room to work with.
How you decide what colors you will use is ultimately up to you and your preferences but there are a few ways to figure this out. You can pick based on your usual deck preferences, an awesome planeswalker or other card that you got, lots of cards for specific colors that you have, and so on.
If you ever find yourself stuck picking your 40 cards, feel free to ask someone around you for help deciding. This isn’t some sanctioned event with loads of cash on the line so some players are more than willing to help out. The general rule of thumb is to separate your creature cards and sort them by mana cost.
You want to make sure that you have something to do each turn as you gain more mana so be sure to have a well-rounded deck if possible. This means having some one-mana costing creatures, if possible, but certainly the bulk of cards being in the two to five mana range. It’s good to have some that are six or more but this is optional if you have good cards otherwise.
There are also Adventure cards in this set that function as potentially two different cards and they are going to be extremely valuable in the Sealed event. From there, it is time to decide what spell cards you want in your deck. The general ratio you want is 17-18 lands to 22-23 non-land cards.
So, if you divide up, pick all the creatures you want and see that you have less than 23 or so, find some spell cards to add into the mix. Pick ones that either boost your strengths, make up for your weaknesses, or both. It’s also great to have ones that will counter your opponent or clear the board.
Last but not least, be sure to use creatures that are hard to take on like flying ones. In Sealed, it is really hard to counter cards like those without flying themselves or reach, which aren’t that common so don’t waste an opportunity if you see one. These are generally slow matches so don’t worry about going first and take your time.
Free Codes and Other Freebies for Participating in Prerelease Weekend
There are so many reasons to go to the MTG Throne of Eldraine Prerelease Event this weekend but if you aren’t too competitive, one thing that might convince you are the freebies and other offers. That’s right, for just showing up, you are likely to get some freebies in the process.
Many stores will begin selling booster boxes and even planeswalker decks right then and there, despite being before the official release. In addition, there are typically prizes to get like free packs and so on. In fact, we know this event you are going to get a code for the MTG Arena game while supplies last.
This code will grant you a whopping six free card packs to open up in the game for free from the new set to match the six card packs that you are opening up in the real world at the event. There are likely to be other prizes and offers given at the local game shop so be sure to show up so you don’t miss out on all of the fun.
The MTG Throne of Eldraine Prerelease Event is this weekend, starting today and running through Sunday, September 29. This is all in preparation and celebration of the release of the new expansion that is already out on MTG Arena and Magic Online digitally but will release officially in tabletop traditional form on October 4 next weekend.
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