Punctual start times, orderly seating, quick round turnovers—players consistently list these things when they describe their ideal Prerelease. You can be well on your way to guaranteeing them before the event even begins.

When you advertise your Prerelease, you should announce both a registration time and a start time, with a 15-minute gap in between.

Those fifteen minutes can make or break your Prerelease. Here's what you'll do.

1. Enroll Your Players Using Preregistration + a Sign-up Sheet

In a perfect world, 100% of your players would preregister and you could knock this out at your leisure. We do not live in that world.

For those players that register day-of, use the sign-up sheet found on our Marketing Materials page. Leave it out for players once registration is open, plug them into WER once it's closed. This way you can quickly enroll everyone all at once.

2. Pair + Seat Players Using Table Numbers

Before we get to this, one important note: when you fire the event in WER, it will recommend a number of rounds based on attendance.

Ignore that recommendation.

Maxing out at four rounds keeps the experience time short and reduces the risk of a late finish. There’s no need for a playoff, no need to determine a winner unequivocally.

When registration closes, print the pairings (use WER's "Multi-print" feature and choose "Print Pairings By Name" and "Print Results Entry Slips (Cut Machine).")

Get players seated with the help of table numbers—found on the Marketing Materials page. This way, players have everything they need to find opponents and report their results hassle-free.

Now just cut your match slips, distribute them, and enjoy a punctual start time.

3. Set Up WER's Round Timer

At this point, you should still have a few minutes left before round one. Use it to get your round timer set up. This will help guarantee quick round turnovers and hopefully reduce the number of matches going to time.

Just go to the "Timers" tab in WER and set them up. Make one for time in the round, time until the next round, and anything else you may need.

Once it's created, click Start, maximize the window, and display the screen somewhere in the store.

(A lot of organizers prefer to use a third-party software to display time in the round or publish pairings on a website. That's fine, too.)

Prerelease is just a few weeks away. Prepare your sign-up sheet and table numbers now and set yourself up for a smooth, efficient Prerelease!