Lost Caverns of Ixalan Prerelease Overview

Ready for flights of fantasy and tales of adventure? Join us for up to six sealed prerelease events this September. If you've never played at a prerelease before - no worries! We've got some helpful tips and reminders for you below, along with links to all of our events and preorder information to boot. 

Sealed Prerelease Events

• Flight 1 - November 10, 3 PM (3 Round Event)
• Flight 2 - November 10, 7:30 PM
• Flight 3 - November 11, 11 AM
• Flight 4 - November 11, 5 PM
• Flight 5 - November 12, 11 AM (2-Headed Giant)
• Flight 6 - November 12, 5 PM

Each event will consist of a sealed event of some variety (regular or 2 Headed Giant), and last 3-4 rounds of play. More on that just a bit further down. If you’d rather draft a prerelease, we have you covered the Tuesday after prerelease weekend!

Bonus Draft Prerelease Event!

• Flight 7 - Tuesday, November 14 at 6:30 PM (this link will go live Monday, November 13 at 11 AM)

As soon as we open on Friday, November 10th, we'll have the entire product suite available for you! And that’s not all - we’ll also be able to sell individual packs, including draft, set and collector boosters, alongside bundles, commander decks…basically anything you could ask for to help get you set up to dive into Ixalan's new hidden lands.

Lost Caverns of Ixalan Preorders and Buy-A-Box Promo Information

Preorders for Lost Caverns of Ixalan are already up on our web store when you’re ready for them. As with most recent sets, preorders for whole boxes (see below) will also receive the following buy a box promo (while supplies last).

You'll receive one buy-a-box promo for every purchase of the following items:

• Draft Booster Boxes
• Set Booster Boxes
• Collector Booster Boxes
• 6 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.

Special Guests, Lost Treasures, Jurassic World & More

Set and Collector boosters for Lost Caverns of Ixalan have so much going on! You can expect to see up to four different set symbols on cards you find in these packs. Here's a just a few examples:

30th Anniversary Bonus Promos! 

 Magic's 30th Anniversary continues with more promos! These promos will be stamped with the year each card came out, and there will be 30 promos in total, one per year. Wanna get one? We’re making it easier than ever! 

Everyone who plays in a prerelease event will recieve a promo while supplies last! 

Additional promos can also be awarded by event staff for excellent behavior such as assisting other players with deck building, helping event staff, and good sporting behavior and more. If you’re looking for one particular promo, please understand that we did not receive equal amounts of all the promos for this set. Some cards will be harder to find than others!

Preparing for a 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:

• Review our current guidelines regarding in-store play. (updated May 17, 2023)
• Per our new in-store play guidelines, players who need an accommodation to attend a prerelease event should request them at least 48 hours prior to the event.
• Food and Non-alcoholic drinks are allowed inside, so please do make sure you bring a snack and water bottle in case you get hungry between rounds.
• 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 of our regular Lost Caverns of Ixalan prerelease events will be a sealed (or limited) format events. That means you'll be given 6 draft boosters of Lost Caverns of Ixalan and a foil prerelease promo inside of your prerelease kit. We'll give you 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 the contents of your prerelease booster packs (plus the date stamped 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. All prizes will be awarded to players in the form of Lost Caverns of Ixalan Set boosters 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.

Because the 3 PM Friday event will be constrained to 3 rounds in order to make sure that the 7:30 PM event can start on time, it will have a similar prize structure to the one listed above, but adjusted slightly. In order to accommodate the missing round, the final round of the event will count for 2 boosters (so you can still win as many as four packs if you 3-0 the Friday event).

Lost Caverns of Ixalan Mechanics

Not only are three new mechanics are joining us with Lost Caverns of Ixalan, but we're also seeing the return of the Explore mechanic with a twist in the form of map tokens! For a full rundown of the mechanics and how they work, have a look at this quick video (and get some fun preview examples too).

Lost Caverns of Ixalan 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:

• Optional but recommended: A well fitted mask to wear while at the tables.
• A water bottle and energy bar or dry-snack (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.
• 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. 

Q: What if I need to swap from one event to the other, can I do that?

A: Sure! As long as there's still a spot at the event you want to swap to, yes definitely. Just email us (or contact us through the contact page of our website) and we'll get right on it.

Q: Where's the best place to park for a prerelease event?

A: If you're not familiar with Capitol Hill, you should know that parking is at a premium. If you're planning to drive to us for one of our events, we recommend either parking at the paid lot at Harvard & Pine, or parking at one of the park & rides along the light rail route and taking the light rail into the Capitol Hill stop. We're just across the street.

Having said all of that - if you're in a hurry and need to find parking right away, our neighbor, Dick's Drive-In, has now allocated a small number of parking spaces along the wall of our building as paid parking. You'll need to download the pay-by-phone app to get started, and instructions are available next to each paid parking space.

And that's it for our Lost Caverns of Ixalan Prerelease Guide! We hope you found this informative and helpful, and we hope to see you at one of our many prerelease events!