Your first Prerelease

Before you go

Check the store’s start time, entry price, expected finish, and format. An individual Sealed event and a Two-Headed Giant team event need different plans. Reserve a place if the store asks, and arrive early enough to register.

A typical individual Prerelease uses six Play Boosters plus the eligible Prerelease promo. Specific releases can add exceptions, so use the event’s instructions rather than assuming every box works identically.

• Bring sleeves for a 40-card deck, a deck box, dice or counters, and paper with a pen for life totals.
• Have your Wizards account ready if the store uses the Companion app. Charge your phone; ask staff for help if you do not use the app.
• Stores normally supply ordinary basic lands. If they do not, the organizer must announce it before registration; you may bring your own.
• Read the set’s short mechanics guide. Understanding a few recurring words is more useful than memorizing every rare.

Jubilee Finnegan · Foundations Prerelease Guide — event and deck-building basics · Nov 1, 2024 ↗ · Magic Tournament Rules — sections 2, 7, and 9 · Feb 27, 2026 ↗

When the organizer says to open

Keep your event cards together. Do not add cards from your collection, prize packs, or another player’s pool. Remove advertising cards and tokens from your deck-building piles, but keep useful tokens nearby for games.

The cards you are allowed to build with are your pool. A bonus-sheet card with a different set symbol can still be legal when it comes from the event’s permitted boosters; ask staff if you are unsure. An unusual pack or damaged card is also a reason to call staff before replacing anything yourself.

1. Check that you have the correct event product and follow any announced pool-registration procedure.
2. Sort by color, with separate piles for lands and colorless cards.
3. Read your strongest cards, then count the useful creatures, answers, and support around them.
4. Compare complete two-color decks before committing to the color of your favorite rare.

Magic Tournament Rules — sections 2, 7, and 9 · Feb 27, 2026 ↗ · Reid Duke · Sealed Deck · Sep 15, 2014 ↗

Build a deck you can actually play

Aim for 40 cards. Seventeen lands and 23 other cards are a useful starting point, with enough early creatures to affect the game before the expensive cards arrive. These are deck-building recommendations; 40 is the legal minimum, not the maximum.

Choose a simple plan and check that your mana, early plays, and support cards make it possible. If a fancy card needs a condition you can rarely create, a dependable creature may serve you better. Use the 40-card build routine for a step-by-step check.

Jubilee Finnegan · Foundations Prerelease Guide — event and deck-building basics · Nov 1, 2024 ↗ · Reid Duke · Sealed Deck · Sep 15, 2014 ↗

During a round

Find your assigned table and opponent. Say that this is your first event if it is. Shuffle, offer your deck for the opponent to shuffle, agree on who chooses to play first, and keep clear life totals.

Individual events commonly use matches in which the first player to win two games wins the match; drawn games do not count toward those wins. Check the event announcement; Two-Headed Giant matches normally use one game. A round’s time limit covers the match, not each individual game.

A judge is there to help. Raise your hand and call if a rule is unclear or you notice a mistake. Explain what happened rather than trying to rewind several actions yourselves.

• Announce attackers, targets, and life changes clearly.
• Give the opponent a chance to respond before moving to the next step.
• Do not request strategic advice from spectators during a match. Two-Headed Giant teammates may consult each other.
• Agree on the match result before reporting it through the app or to staff. If you need to leave the event, tell staff so they can remove you from later pairings.

Magic Tournament Rules — sections 2, 7, and 9 · Feb 27, 2026 ↗

Use your unused cards between games

The eligible cards you did not put in your Limited deck are your sideboard. Between games, you can exchange cards to suit the opponent, while keeping the deck legal. A spell that only handles flying creatures might be useful against one opponent and poor against another.

Many Prereleases allow continuous construction: improving the deck between matches using your same pool, without restoring the original list. The organizer must say if this option is not available. Ask before changing a registered deck or following a different event’s procedures.

Between matches, ask an experienced player or staff member to help you understand a tough choice when event rules permit. Explain what went wrong in a game—such as too many expensive opening hands—so the conversation improves the whole deck.

Magic Tournament Rules — sections 2, 7, and 9 · Feb 27, 2026 ↗ · Reid Duke · Sealed Deck · Sep 15, 2014 ↗