Pre-Release coming soon!

The Pre-Release is this weekend! To make it short, here are some tips:

• Arrive on time. Registration is from 11-Noon and the tournament will start right afterward. Registration takes no time as all you do is pay your money, get your 6 packs, sleeves, promo (and possibly raffle ticket). No deck lists, no deck check.
• Use your sleeves to protect your 40-card deck. People may want to trade for some of your cards and it's important to keep them in the best shape possible. Playing with an unsleeved deck will damage the cards and lower the value of them.
• When making a 40-card deck, try to keep your different types to a limit. You don't usually have enough pokemon of the same type to make a one-type deck, so you'll have to combine multiple types. Colorless pokemon or pokemon with colorless attack costs are really nice at pre-releases.
• Consider all trainers you get, because your deck won't have all the supporters and trainers in it like your regular league deck will. So, even cards with a tiny affect can be very useful.
• Evolutions are important. Sometimes there are big basic pokemon that can dish out some good damage and take it back, but a lot of the time the battles come down to who can evolve their pokemon and do the bigger damage. So if you get an evolution line, and it fits your wanted energy type, definitely consider using it. Even if it's not your favorite pokemon, you want your deck to be strong.
• Don't spend too much time looking at your cards. You will only have a limited time to build a deck, and you really don't have enough time to get up, chat with friends, and build a deck at the same time. Pokemon League (should) be going on after the tournament is over and that is a great time to show everyone your amazing cards.
• Remember, to build your 40 card deck, you cannot trade any cards with anyone. You're welcome to trade the cards you don't make your deck out of, but the whole challenge is making a deck out of the cards just you pull out of your packs. Trading with other players ruins the fun of the format.

The last tip is to have fun! That is what Pre-Releases are all about. You don't have to worry about winning or losing because everyone gets the same prizes (2 more packs of cards) at the very end.

Let's show the tournament organizer some love for running Asheville's first ever Pre-Release!

Good luck this Saturday everyone!