Nov 17, 2016 — Prerelease

6 Things You Might Not Know About Prerelease

Do #4 as soon as your Oath of the Gatewatch product arrives!

Nov 17, 2016 — Prerelease

6 Things You Might Not Know About Prerelease

Do #4 as soon as your Oath of the Gatewatch product arrives!

Magic grows more intricate with each new set. With new keywords and new card interactions, players find themselves with new questions and new ambiguities.

Same goes for WPN retailers and Prerelease—because Magic changes with each set, so does the event where that set debuts.

It can be a lot to keep up with, but here are six often misunderstood things that might make it easier:

1. You Get Credit for a Player When You Report the Event

There's been some confusion about this since Wizards Account System launched: if you give a player a temporary DCI card but that player elects not to activate their account, does that lower the event's total?

Nope. You get credit as soon as the event is reported, regardless of whether new players activate their accounts.

2. Allocations Aren't Tied to Your Store Level

Core, Advanced, Advanced Plus—all that really matters is your most recent Prerelease for a similarly sized set.

For Example, Battle for Zendikar was a large set, so we looked at Dragons of Tarkir for allocation numbers.

3. Allocations Grow Gradually from Set to Set

Since we look at previous Prereleases, we won't have a lot of data for younger stores, and even more experienced stores sometimes find themselves with more demand than supply.

But don't worry—it'll get better. It's a marathon, not a sprint.

Four ways to increase your allocation for future sets:

1.Use 100% of your allocation. Including growth product.

2. Resolve any WER issues your run into. Contact your rep if there's WER trouble. If the event doesn't get reported, neither do the players.

3. Incentivize players to stick around. They only count if they complete at least one round.

4. Run an Intro Pack side event. Main Street and Power 9 Games do this for players who sign up after the main event is all full.

4. You Can Display Product Before Prerelease

We want everyone hyped and excited, and if that means setting product out (but not selling), that's totally fine. Just make sure to display the official release date next to the product (same goes for Facebook).

5. Opened Product Should Be Sold After Release Date

Everyone knows sealed product has to wait until release date—but what about opened product?

Same rules apply. That goes for online sales as well, so ship your online orders only after release has come and gone.

6. There's No Hyphen in the Word "Prerelease"

Our copyeditor insisted we include this last one: No hyphen (and don't forget the capital "P"!)

Any burning questions still lingering? Contact your local support office and they'll help clear it up.

By Matt Neubert

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