Like the first flowers or the falling leaves, the prerelease signals the coming of a new season in the Magic year. Prereleases are among the most anticipated and dependable parts of the Magic calendar. Yet, despite all the effort that goes into preparing for any given set or format, little has been written on how to prepare for a prerelease. Regardless of the set, there are some things that all prereleases have in common, and some methods that can be applied to help get you ready.

This article is about how I prepare for a prerelease.

My method works for me. It's designed around how I absorb and remember information. You may find that different methods work for you. However, if you decide against adopting my method, I hope it will at least provide you with principles that you can use to prepare in a more organized and methodical manner, finding your own solutions.

For reference- I'm a casual player who once was a hardcore player, many years ago. The last Pro Tour I attended was during Tempest block, back when Jon Becker lived in D.C. and crashed on the floor of my spare room. Now I'm married, with a job and family. I play Limited almost exclusively- once a month if I'm lucky. Nonetheless, my Limited rating hovers between 1850 and 1950. You'll find a lot of players more skillful than me, and a lot of players that are worse.

Before I start, let me defend my insanity. Most people will look at my methods and think I'm crazy, working so hard for a prerelease. However, better preparation leads to better results. My logic is that prereleases are when people are least prepared. In a mature format, it can be difficult to out-prepare your opponent. At a prerelease, the comparative advantage you gain for each hour of preparation tends to be much greater. Hence, a few hours of preparation for a prerelease can equal weeks of preparation for any other event. And when you're married with a job and a family, you need to maximize the return on the few tournaments you have the time and money to attend.

The first step is simple: visit a Magic rumor site a few days before the prerelease. There, you'll find a spoiler list of all the new cards to study. Now, if you're a player who enjoys attending a prerelease completely blind, you've made a valid and wonderful choice... but this article isn't for you.

My system concentrates on going from the first step, that of examining the spoiler, to organizing and analyzing the list in order to focus on the information most likely to be important at the tournament.

Before we dive in, I'll state the premise behind my preparation...

Bad deck-construction is rampant at a prerelease. Lack of information and experience means that everyone, yourself included, is likely to produce a suboptimal build from their cardpool. This doesn't mean that you'll consistently overlook a bomb, although that certainly happens. The mistakes that are easy to repeat are building decks that are too slow, or underpowered, or unbalanced and inconsistent for the new environment. The key to consistent success at prereleases is the ability to figure out ahead of time the speed, mana requirements, and victory conditions presented. Usually, your mana-count and the final few cards you keep (or cut) help (or hinder) the consistency of your deck. Getting the jump on the new environment involves focusing on the right information, and asking the right questions.

As I've mentioned, step one is obtaining the spoiler list. This is old hat for those of us who started playing over ten years ago, but in case you are new, I would currently recommend www.mtgsalvation.com. Their Rumor Mill will usually have a complete or nearly complete list of all the cards in the new set anywhere from a day to a week or more before the actual prerelease tournament. So far, so good.

My next big step is to cut-and-paste the list into Microsoft Word or Word Perfect. (That's actually a lie, my first step is to read the list from top to bottom first. I don't have the self-discipline to stop myself.)

Once I have the list in a word processor, I start altering it to focus on the important information. This process begins by changing the font sizes.

The default font size is usually 12-point. I trawl the list and reduce each uncommon to 10-point font, and each rare to 8-point font. The reality is that rares tend to be cooler than uncommons, and uncommons tend to be cooler than commons. That's the way WotC designs the sets, maximizing the collector value of the cards and thus increasing sales. If you play Constructed, there is a tendency to get distracted by interesting rares and uncommons, paying less attention to the important commons. However, commons make up the bulk of any sealed deck, and dominate the character of an environment. By reducing the uncommons and rares in font-size, I focus on the cards I'll be seeing the most.

Occasionally, such as with the current Ravnica block, it pays to reorganize the list before printing it out. Multicolored cards, artifacts, and lands will be in their own section. However, many of these cards are best absorbed by putting them with, or in between, their appropriate colors. For example, in Ravnica block I reorganize the colors to put the Gold and Guild-mana cards in between their Guild-colors on the list.

Once I print out the list, I break out the highlighters! I start color-coding the cards, highlighting their qualities before I ask my usual slate of questions. Depending on my initial opinion of any given card, I highlight the appropriate text with a bold stroke or a thin line. This distinguishes between cards that seem to be good, and those that appear marginal.

I highlight evasion abilities in blue because Flying is the quintiessential evasion ability, and it tends to be associated with Blue creatures. To be clear, I highlight only the specific word, such as “Flying.” Many cards have multiple relevant abilities and will end up with more than one color of highlighting.

I consider evasion to be “any ability that allows a creature to attack for damage when the ground is otherwise stalled.” This includes Flying, Fear, “unblockability,” and sometimes trample. It's correct to include regenerators with at least a power of three. Any evasion creature with a one point of power is regarded marginal, as it is almost certain to be too slow to take a game without help.

Generally, I consider two power for five-plus mana to be marginal. Sometimes, I consider it marginal at a cost of four mana, especially if it has a one point of toughness and/or a weak ability/drawback. Of course, every set is different, and such rating is more art than science. Practice makes perfect.

In addition to highlighting creatures with evasion, I also put a blue star in the margin next to any card that allows my creatures to alpha strike my opponent. These are spells, like Overrun or Falter-like effects, which prevent my opponent's creatures from blocking for a turn.

Next, I highlight the word “Instant” in yellow on all instants. Again, I tend to make a preliminary judgment as to whether they are good (a bold stroke) or not (a thin line). Becoming familiar with the instants in any set is key to making good combat decisions. You should always be able to deduce your opponent's possibley options during combat based on what mana they have left untapped. In fact, I would say that memorizing the instants- especially the common instants- is one of the most valuable way to prepare for a prerelease.

I highlight removal in purple as it's close to Black. I consider removal to be anything that can deal with a creature with a toughness of at least two. Marginal removal is anything that does exactly two damage; gives at least —2/-2; can prevent a creature from attacking, but not from using its abilities; or is otherwise subject to special conditions (e.g. Gaze of the Gorgon). Good removal is repeatable marginal removal, or one-shot removal that can reliably deal with a creature with at least three toughness. Of course, this is an oversimplification. The quality of removal depends on cost, and may depend on other limitations too.

I put a big purple star in the margin next to any mass removal effect, such as a Wrath of God or Earthquake spell.

Next, I highlight (in red) is something I call “ping.” I define “ping” as the ability to do one point of damage to many creatures at once, or to repeatedly do one point of damage, or give a creature -x/-1. Ping is not the most important aspect of any given set, but it isn't something that should be overlooked.

Finally, I highlight “tricks” (in orange, for those still keeping score- it's a nice non-specific color). “Tricks” is a loose term that includes the instants and fast effects that increase a creature's toughness; grant it first strike or protection from a color; or cause it to “flicker” out of play for a turn. It also includes instant reanimation, bounce, untapping, and other effects that can impact combat. Basically, it's all the tricks that negate removal or impact combat that are not removal or ping. Again, this evaluation is more art than science. However, the mere process of going card-by-card and asking “Is there a trick here?” is a fantastic way to get ahead of the technology curve in understanding a Limited format.

After I've highlighted the list, I make a few more margin notes. I go through the artifacts and put an “A” next to the ones that appear to be game-breaking, and an “a” next to those that appear to be merely playable. Similarly, I put “E” or “e” (or nothing) next to each of the enchantments. This helps identify whether maindecking artifact or enchantment removal is a good idea. It usually isn't necessary, but there are exceptions. It also identifies which colors might prompt you to preemptively sideboard enchantment removal for games two and three. White, for example, can have many playable enchantments that may warrant sideboard technology, even if you didn't see the enchantments in the first game.

Once I've marked the spoiler list, it becomes much easier to see the nature of a set. The first time I did this, it merely helped me focus on obvious aspects. However, as I repeat the process, it helps me spot when a set is light or heavy on good removal, evasion, or tricks. There is a strong tendency for average players to play a new set the same way they played the previous set, at least until there is a consensus for change. If you can spot the trends in a new set, you have the potential to make adjustments- such as altering your land count or your creature/spell ratio- at the prerelease, instead of a month later when the internet wisdom develops.

Armed with my colorful list, I ask myself specific questions about the nature of the format. The goal of these questions isn't so much to determine what cards are good and what cards are bad... that's too general a criteria to be truly helpful. The questions you ask yourself during deck construction at a prerelease are more specific, and require specific information to answer. They involve what color to splash, or what are the last cards that make the cut.

For example, do you cut the cheap dork that gives you some early game action/defense? Or the expensive dork that gives you another reasonable win condition? That depends on how fast the format is, and the strength of the mana acceleration available. If there are a lot of efficient creatures and inexpensive removal, the cheap dork may be necessary to survive until you can play your bombs. If it's a slow environment, then having enough potential game-breakers may be more important than using all your mana in the first five turns.

This is the type of specific information that goes into minimizing deck construction errors at a prerelease. To get a jump on this information, I try to answer the following questions:

How common and how annoying are the one-toughness creatures?
This question helps you decide whether to maindeck “ping.” Ping is rarely horrible, but value of doing one damage is heavily influenced by the amount of card advantage it is likely to generate. If there are may 2/1 or 3/1 attackers, or one-toughness creatures that generate powerful effects, maindeck ping is invaluable. If it's unlikely to do more than chip away at your opponent, then it becomes marginal and you shouldn't feel bad about cutting it, especially if it's expensive or has a high activation cost. Finally, I would note that ping becomes more valuable in formats with a lot of 2/3 or 3/4 creatures, where it can be great for winning creature stalemates.

How expensive are the common removal spells?
Aggressive Black and Red decks with little evasion usually rely on cheap removal to maintain a tempo advantage. The ability to cast both a creature and a removal spell with four to six mana is very important to maintain early pressure. When the majority of common removal costs three mana or less, then aggressive Red and/or Black decks tend to be more viable. If you open a lot of removal, you should think about this archetype. If your pool doesn't support this archetype, then you should be careful that your curve includes some inexpensive creatures that can trade or block in combat, to help you survive until you draw your late-game spells. If the common removal tends to cost four or five, then you can let your curve swing towards the higher end. Expensive removal tends to be more effective, meaning game-breaking creatures are less likely to survive.

How common are good/playable artifacts and enchantments?
I've discussed the importance of this question above, but to reiterate: maindeck enchantment and artifact removal isn't a great idea. However, you often are making the final cut between a marginal dork with an artifact or enchantment destruction ability, and one with a different talent. Knowing the likelihood of facing various threats can help you pick the correct 23rd card.

How much mana-fixing is there?
The more mana-fixing in an environment, the higher the power-level. You can draw from a wider pool of options with the same consistency in your mana base. In such environments, aggressive decks should be especially fast or evasion-based, winning before the slower deck's powerful spells begin to take over. Similarly, erring on the side of building three-color decks for extra power tends to be the right call, more often than sticking to two colors for consistency.

How much mana acceleration is there?
Again, this is a measure of how soon a deck can get the larger creatures online. In an environment with a lot of acceleration, aggressive decks tend to need more evasion options as finishers. With less acceleration, small efficient creatures have a better chance of wining on pure tempo.

Is the set skewed toward power, or toughness?
The character of a set is heavily determined by the likelihood that creatures in combat will trade or bounce. When creatures have a higher toughness than power, ground-stall happens quickly and often. Lots of damage prevention and/or regeneration can have the same effect. In these environments, evasion is worth paying for. Falter-type effects can be very important in these environments, where they can be much less valuable in environments where creatures trade in combat. Similarly, an extra-game breaking spell or creature can be more important than filling out your early curve. As mentioned above, ping goes up in value in environments skewed toward toughness over power.

How common is mass removal?
The average environment usually has one Wrath of God type spell, usually a White rare. However, the quality of other board-clearing effects can vary. If an environment has Earthquake, Hurricane, or Pyroclasm type spells, it is vital to know about them so you know when you are over-committing, or when you're being set up for a fall. This is especially important if some effects are uncommon instead of rare. However, in an environment with no mass removal (or at least nothing besides a Wrath variant), pressing your advantage by putting more creatures on the board is often the right play.

How common is discard? Is it usually one or more cards, and who chooses?
Understanding common discard can be key to protecting your game-winners against an opponent playing Black. In an environment with little discard, you can often play out your hand quickly to maintain a stable or advantageous board position. However, if discard is very common, it is often better to hold back land or a marginal card to prevent your game-winners being ripped from your hand. Even if the discard tends be Coercion-style, holding a few lands may provoke your opponent into casting the discard before you draw your bomb. If an environment has little or no discard then holding land can still be a good bluff, but you can freely play it if you have multiple permanents that benefit from having extra mana to spend.

What is the nature of the White tricks?
White's tricks are one of the more variable elements in Limited play. They tend to boost toughness, and maybe power, or prevent damage. Other times they grant protection from a color, or cause the target to flicker out of play. The difference is important, as the former effects are good against Red removal, but not black. On the other hand, the latter effects are good against any of removal. Understanding the nature of White tricks is important to estimating the relative power level of White, as well as the relative power of Red removal. This can be very important, both in deciding what removal you should splash, and in anticipating how to use your removal against an opponent playing plains.

How many common “bears” are there?
For those unfamiliar with the term, a “bear” is any creature that has two (or more) power for two mana. In formats where most colors have two or three common bears, it is very important to be prepared for the bear on turn two, and possibly two more on turn four. These kinds of draws are the bread and butter of many aggressive Sealed decks. If you don't have bears to play yourself, you need a plan for those that do. Bear-heavy environments are where cheap 1/3 creatures shine, helping slower decks survive to the late game. On the other hand, in some environments most two-mana creatures have only 1 power, and a good early curve can be less important to a control-oriented deck. Sometimes the bears are limited to white, green, and/or black. In such cases, you can sideboard your cheap defense depending on the colors your opponent is playing.

What countermagic is there?
Time and again in Sealed deck, one player is holding a bomb and staring at an opponent with islands untapped, wondering if he should wait until his opponent commits. If you know the countermagic available, you'll know when to hesitate and how to play around it. Simple.

Besides trying to answer these questions, there is one additional step I use to prepare. The FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions guide) for a new set is released by Wizards a few days before the prerelease, so that the judges will have time to review it. The same sites that gather spoiler lists usually post the FAQ when it becomes available. This can be a great resource for ideas on how to use cards most effectively. I read the FAQ not only for the new mechanics, but for each individual card. Frequently, questions and answers on the FAQ will involve using a card in a way that didn’t occur to me. This can be a great way to learn about tricks that involve abusing the stack, or other timing rules that are easily overlooked. It also points out common misunderstandings, helping you avoid misusing the cards. You’ll also spot when your opponent is doing so... it’s not uncommon at a prerelease to realize you lost a game because you failed to spot an unintentional misplay, particularly with some of the more complicated rares. After you’ve signed the result slip it’s too late to fix it.

So that's how I prepare for a prerelease tournament. Following these steps doesn't keep me from misbuilding my prerelease decks or making play mistakes, but it does guide me to fewer deck-construction and play errors. The knowledge and experience on any Limited format, collected on the internet in a matter of weeks after release, far surpasses the analysis of one guy and a spoiler. Nonetheless, success at a prerelease is about making fewer mistakes- especially in deck construction- than your opponent. Having an organized system for focusing on the important information, and doing the correct preliminary analysis, helps me maximize the value of my limited preparation time, seeing me walk away with some amount of prize most times.

The way I prepare for a prerelease may not be the best way for you to prepare, but I hope it gives you some ideas on how to be focused and organized.

See you at the prerelease. (I'll be the tired-looking old guy complaining about how uncomfortable the chairs are. Don't laugh. It'll happen to you too.)

James Ridgway