Pokémon TCG Prerelease events are one of the most fun ways to enjoy the game for new and experienced alike.
Prerelease events are organised for new main sets a few weeks before the set releases. In an event, you’ll get a Build and Battle kit that consists of a 40 card deck (including a Prerelease Promo) and three booster packs of the set in question. You’ll build a deck and play a few rounds of very casual Pokémon TCG with others who showed up. Usually players then receive also an extra booster and a Prize Pack to add to their collection.
Before the event
Before you join a prerelease you need two things:
- Create a Play Pokémon ID. You’ll be needing it for any sanctioned Pokémon events (like prereleases and tournaments) and it’s free.
- Sign up for the prerelease event in your local game store.
What to bring to a prerelease?
You don’t need to bring anything. You can just show up and play. But there are a few things that are nice to bring if you own them:
- Dice for randomisation (we roll dice instead of flipping coins; evens are heads and odds are tails) and damage counters
- Burn and poison markers
- A playmat to protect your cards and make it easier to pick up cards from the table
- A pack of sleeves to protect your cards and make it easier to shuffle your deck (40 + a few spares is a good amount)
- Extra energy cards (most game stores have energies to borrow so not necessary to bring your own if you don’t own any)
I also have a habit of bringing a small notebook with me to which I record how my matches went after each one. It’s a nice way to remember them for the future and I tend to write prerelease reports in this garden (eg. Pokemon TCG Pitch Black prerelease, Pokemon TCG Perfect Order Prerelease).
What happens in a prerelease?
Everyone who attends, gets a Build and Battle kit that contains a 40 card deck (with one of that set’s prerelease promo cards) and 3 booster packs of the newest set.
When the event starts, everyone opens their kits and have some time to construct a deck. If you want, you can play the 40 card deck you got with the kit or you can swap some cards for new cards you pulled from your 3 boosters. You’re not allowed to add any cards (other than Basic Energy cards) from outside the kit — nothing from your own collection and no trading allowed.
There’s one special rule in prerelease deckbuilding: you can have any number of an individual cards in your deck. The regular “max 4” rule does not apply here so if you pull a lot of copies of your favourite card from the boosters, you can add them all. Your deck must have exactly 40 cards so if you add a card from your boosters, remember to take out another card from the kit deck.
Prereleases are very casual so feel free to ask for help from more experienced players during the deckbuilding. Most players are more than happy to help a new player out if you have any questions.
Once the deckbuilding time is over, it’s time to battle. You’ll face 3 or 4 other players in a best of one format and get to see the new cards in action a few weeks before those who don’t attend prereleases.