One of the great innovations of the new Wizards Play Network is scheduling flexibility: because your promo pack allocation is the same, regardless of your event schedule, we can prep your kit without knowing which events you're running. Which means you don't need to schedule so early.

But here's the thing: you should do it anyway.

It's your call which events to schedule and when. But we'd be remiss if we didn't point out that our Store and Event Locator rewards early scheduling. Early scheduling correlates with higher Prerelease attendance, maximizes Store and Event Locator exposure, and could save you work in the long run—all with no obvious downside.

With Core Set 2020 scheduling open now, here are three ways getting your events on the books right away could help position you for the best possible season:

1. Prereleases draw 20% more players when scheduled early.

Our data show that Prereleases perform about 20% better if they're scheduled in the first three weeks. There are probably two reasons for this, and the takeaway from both is clear: don't wait.

First, top-performing stores tend to be on the ball, scheduling-wise. So it follows naturally that their Prerelease events both a) get scheduled early and b) get higher attendance. A best practice worth imitating.

Second, the more time your events spend in the Store and Event Locator (SEL) the better. Even now, just a day into scheduling, hundreds of stores have already signed up, and they're all getting exposure with the countless players that use the SEL every day.

If you don't schedule early, you're automatically putting yourself at a disadvantage with all the stores that do—especially with the new SEL.

Here's why:

2. Without a Prerelease scheduled, the new Store and Event Locator could filter you out of search results entirely.

The longer you go without scheduling your M20 events, the longer you could go with no exposure at all.

Unlike the previous locator, the new one is designed to help players find places to play—searches return events, not stores. That profoundly changes how players use it. If they're looking for a Prerelease, they'll filter for Prereleases. If they're looking for an FNM, they'll filter for FNM.

If you don't have those specific events scheduled, you disappear entirely. You get filtered out, while stores that have those events scheduled remain.

Add to that the fact that the new locator prioritizes Wizards-supported events—Prerelease, FNM, etc.—and you've got more than enough reason to get your Core Set 2020 season on the books and do it right away.

3. Early scheduling help players get the information they need.

Players don't just use SEL to find events. They use it to find information about events they already plan on attending.

What time is Prerelease? What format is FNM? What's the format for Magic Weekend this time around (Commander! Sign up!). The sooner players can find these answers on their own, the less likely it becomes that they'll need to pick up the phone.

And if you need to change those details, no big deal. Flexible scheduling means you can edit event information all the way up to the moment you run it.

So don't delay! Log into WER and schedule your Core Set 2020 season right away—the sooner, the better.