Prerelease for Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate is two months away—but before the crossover fun kicks off on June 3, you'll need to know how to run a successful Prerelease event for your store. This set combines Commander play with draft format, resulting in a unique experience for players.

Whether your community is familiar with Magic or trying out this set as a Dungeons & Dragons fan, many will need a refresher on how this format works. Below, we review the process to help you be equipped for a Prerelease week full of events.

1. Start with 3 Boosters and Draft 2 Cards at a Time

At the start of the Draft, arrange your Draft pods with as close to eight players per pod as possible. Players will open and add their foil year-stamped promo to their draft pool before beginning.

Unlike other forms of Commander, your players can draft and play as many copies of the same card as they want—you can encourage them to keep an eye out for powerful legendary creatures to play as their commander!

2. Build a 60-Card Commander Deck

Next, players will build their decks and add the appropriate number of lands to reach 60 cards. Keep in mind that players drafting Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate may be inexperienced Magic players—you may even host a new-to-Magic friendly event.

Have one member of your staff available to answer questions. Encourage new players to let their selected commander guide their deck choices. Remember, one unique rule for deckbuilding is that all the cards in a player's deck must match their chosen Commander's colors.

Each legendary creature in the set can shine with the right suite of cards backing it up; advise players to look for cards that support the commander's strengths.

3. Battle in Groups of Four

After drafting is complete, arrange players into tables with as close to four players as possible. Then, you let the game commence! During gameplay, all the regular Commander format rules apply.

We recommend arranging initial draft pods and the first table of play for your players—after the first game is complete, let your players find groups and create new tables to keep the fun going.

Please note that Prerelease Packs will not be available in Korean or Chinese Traditional; therefore, Prerelease in these regions will use a nine Set Booster Sealed event. Players will receive three Set Boosters as the prize for participating in Prerelease.

Prerelease is reported through Wizards EventLink as Player-List Only. However, if you want to run a more complex event, Wizards EventLink won't manage the event, meaning you'll be responsible for keeping track of rounds.

You should encourage players who enjoyed their experience with a Draft Commander Prerelease to return to your store for future Commander events you run for this season and beyond—it's one straightforward way to build a robust community around Commander play in-store.

Now that you've had the crash course, don't forget to make sure your Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate Prerelease event is on the books. Scheduling only takes a few minutes, so schedule yours and continue to get your players excited about the crossover chaos this summer.