This weekend was the Pre-release of the latest set of Magic the Gathering from Wizards of the Coast called Dark Ascension. We had so many players for the last Pre-release that we set ourselves up for the players and even got the empty store next to us for our Saturday events. We had 4 events on Saturday starting at Midnight. We always get a good crowd for the Midnight events and having an empty location to use made it feel open and spacious for the players. Here is a list of our times on Saturday and Sunday with how many players we had for each.
As is our normal Midnight fun, we got pizzas and sodas for all the players to enjoy before the event began. We ended up about 16 pizzas and not a single slice was left when it was game time! The drinks normally last a little longer, but even they were gone before the end of the event.
Saturday
1. Midnight: 88 players
2. 11:00am: 32 players
3. 3:00pm: 15 players
4. 5:00pm: 16 players
Saturday total: 151 Players
Sunday
1. 11:00am: 8 players
2. 3:00pm: 15 players
Sunday Total: 26
Total players for the weekend: 177
This was a great weekend with lots of players having a great time and playing tons of Magic. We did a few extra things this pre-release that we have not done in the past. We had our
resident Magic card painter, Marc, altering cards for players as they played. He also did a few for us to use as random door prizes for each round of the Midnight. He also did a full art of Sorin for a player... and it might have been the first to be altered. We also rented several table and chairs so we would have extra and everyone would have more room to play.
Next pre-release I'm hoping to see if one of the local Magic artists would be willing to come in during one of the time slots and do some signings or custom alters for players. I know that there is one guy very local and several closer to the city, so it would be great for the players to meet some these great artists.
Don't forget about the Launch Party for Dark Ascension this Friday night at 6:00pm. It will be a Draft for $15 and the first players on the list will be guaranteed a promo card. What to check out the rest of our calendar of events?
Check out our calendar! We run many Friday Night Magic events, Monday Night Magic, and now Star City IQs!
Sean "Striderlotr" Banks
