This September we return to the gloomy gothic horror world of Innistrad! Stripped of her protector Avacyn, the balance of the plane has shifted from light to dusk, and now into the deep of night. It’s time for the Midnight Hunt.

Innistrad: Midnight Hunt Prerelease Info

Let's start with dates and times. The prerelease weekend for Innistrad: Midnight Hunt runs September 17 - 19. We've chosen to run six in-person events during that time period - 2 events per day. Each event has a cap currently of 48 players. 

In-Person Events

• Flight 1: Friday, September 17, 3 PM (3-Round Event)
• Flight 2: Friday, September 17, 7 PM
• Flight 3: Saturday, September 18, 11 AM
• Flight 4: Saturday, September 18, 5 PM
• Flight 5: Sunday, September 19, 11 AM
• Flight 6: Sunday, September 19, 5 PM

Okay, dates + times = check. Let's talk about what you need to be ready to play at an in-person event during a global pandemic.

Preparing for an In-Person Prerelease at Phoenix

Once you've preregistered for your event(s) of choice, there's a small checklist of things to do before prerelease weekend rolls along. If you're planning to play at one of the in-person events, here's what you'll need to be aware of:

• Familiarize yourself with our current guidelines regarding in-store play.
• Get fully vaccinated! If this is your first time playing in an event with us post-pandemic, we will need to see your vaccination card showing that you are one fully vaccinated planeswalker (that's 2 shots + 2 weeks for most regimens, or one-shot + 2 weeks for the J&J).
• Wear a comfortable and well-fitted mask to the event, and be prepared to keep it on while indoors. 
• Optional, but highly recommended: Download the Magic Companion app to your phone or tablet.
• Optional, but highly recommended: Make sure you have a login setup with the MTG Companion App (if you play Arena, these login credentials are the same for both game and app).

What to do during Prerelease Weekend

If you're playing in one of our in-person events, just make sure you arrive at the store before the event's start time. We recommend aiming for about 30-45 minutes prior to the event to make sure you can get checked in, find a seat, and get comfortable in the space. You can do some trading, or pick up some sleeves or what have you, and it's way easier if you do that ahead of start time rather than during deck construction.

The Prerelease "How to"

All six of our Midnight Hunt prerelease events will be a sealed (or limited) format events. That means you'll be given 6 boosters of Midnight Hunt along with a foil prerelease promo inside of your prerelease kit. You'll be given about 45 minutes to open those packs, sort them, and build deck out of the contents inside. Here are all the deck building requirements: 

• Minimum Deck Size is 40 cards
• You may use whatever is in one single prerelease kit (plus the promo) to build your deck.
• Aside from basic land, you may only use whatever is in your prerelease kit to build with. (No trading with other players or combining multiple pools, please).
• There's no cap on the number of cards of the same name you can have in the deck (ex: if you open 5 of the same card, you can use all 5 if you want).
• You may adjust your deck between games or matches. If you're just not doing well with what you built, maybe try a different combination of colors!

Once you've got your deck built, set the rest of your card pool aside until the end of the event. Don't trade anything away yet, cause those leftover cards will be your sideboard. 

Prerelease Prize Support

All of our prerelease events are run with an eye towards having the best possible time, learning, and trying out new ideas and strategies that come from every new set. So with that in mind, we stick to a simple pack-per-win prize structure that looks a little like this:

• 4 Wins - 4 Packs
• 3 Wins - 3 Packs
• 2 Wins - 2 Packs
• 1 Win - 1 Pack

With the exception of the Friday at 3 PM event, each event will have a maximum of 4 rounds. The winner of each round will receive an Innistrad: Midnight Hunt Set booster once they've finished with the event. Only play 2 rounds and need to drop? No problem! Just let us know you're leaving and we'll give you whatever prizes are owed at that point.

The 3 PM Friday event will be constrained to 3 rounds in order to make sure that the 7 PM event can start on time. With that in mind, the final round will count twice for the purposes of awarding packs. In this instance, draws will count for 1 pack per player.

Midnight Hunt Preorders + Buy-A-Box Promo Information

Beginning with Innistrad: Midnight Hunt, we'll be offering Draft boxes for sale during the prerelease once again! We'll have a smaller number of them available alongside an allocation of Set and Collectors Booster Boxes, so if you're wanting to spend prerelease weekend drafting with your friends, go preorder a box today!

Buying boxes gets you something else too - an extended border buy-a-box promo card! You'll receive one buy-a-box promo for every purchase of the following items:

• Set Booster Display
• Draft Booster Display
• Collector's Booster Display
• 6 Innistrad: Midnight Hunt Prerelease Kits 

You'll get 1 promo per qualifying item(s) purchased. So if you preorder 6 prerelease kits and a set booster display, you'll get 2 of these lovely promo cards.

Midnight Hunt Prerelease FAQ

Here's a few commonly asked questions about prerelease events and in-store play events. If your question isn't on this list, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at the store! We're happy to answer any questions you might have.

Q: How well do I have to know Magic to play at a prerelease?

A: Not that well really! We ask that you have a working knowledge of the game (i.e., you know how to play, and no one's going to need to explain turn order or any of the basics), but beyond that we'll do our best to accommodate any and all skill levels. Prerelease events are a fun and casual environment, and if you're having a tough time with something we'll have a judge or tournament organizer available to help you through it.

Q: What should I bring with me to the event?

A: Here's a short checklist of items that are either required or good to have:

• Required: Your vaccination card (or a photo of it)
• Required: A well fitted mask to wear while in the shop
• A water bottle and energy bar or dry-snack (you'll need to step outside to eat it, but it's a good idea to have something if you're hungry and a round goes long).
• Sleeves and a deck box (you also can buy these at the shop if you forget them)

Q: Should I preregister for the event?

A:  If you're able to, yes absolutely! Preregistration locks in your spot at the event. The last thing you need or want is to show up on the day of and find out we sold out the night before (which is a thing that has happened in the past).

Q: If I preregister and can't make the event, what happens?

A: That depends on you! In the event you aren't able to make it to the event, you can either contact us to request a refund, or stop by as you're able to and pick up the prerelease kit we would have handed you if you had gone to the event. If we don't hear from you, we'll assume you want the prerelease kit and hold it til the next time we see you.

Q: I've never built a deck for limited before. Any pointers?

A: We've got a few! Here's a short list of handy tips when building a limited / sealed deck:

• Stick to 40 cards! That's roughly 23 spells and creatures + 17 land. Those numbers will shift a little bit depending on what you open, but broadly that's where you should aim to be.
• Try to stick to 2-3 manageable colors. Only splash something if you have multiple ways (3-4) to get that missing color.
• Play the colors that let you play your best cards. 
• Don't be afraid to experiment! You can switch your deck around between rounds and between games. Every card you're not actively using in your deck is part of your sideboard, so if one color combo just isn't working for you, maybe wait until the match is over and try swapping it around.
• It's okay to ask for help from other players. This is a prerelease; we're here to have fun and enjoy the new set. You'll often find that we've got several players at each prerelease that enjoy helping and mentoring newer players through the deck building process.

Q: Any other advice on getting ready for a prerelease?

A: Yup! If you can, try to familiarize yourself with the set ahead of time. Keep an eye out for spoilers! By the time you're reading this, spoiler season will already have started and you can bet that there's a few really cool looking cards and mechanics out there that need reading up on.