Introducing the New Pre-Release Experience
Is there a more fun experience than a UniVersus Prerelease? It’s an absolute blast getting to play the latest set before anyone else. Let’s talk about what Prerelease design has looked like in past My Hero Academia sets, and how we’re changing things for Undaunted Raid.
Who are Prereleases for?
Yes, Prereleases are for all fans of UniVersus. It’s the sneak peek of the new set before you can buy it anywhere on earth; who doesn’t get excited about that? They do feature unique qualities that help them excel at serving the needs of players new to UniVersus or tournaments in general. Qualities like:
- Using the Sealed deck format, which means players don’t need a prior collection to participate.
- A more even playing field as no players have experienced the cards in person yet.
- The maximum amount of excitement heading into an event owing to the “sneak peek” nature of the event.
Making a good impression with players new to tournaments or to the game itself, sometimes even learning it for the first time the day of the Prerelease, is a big challenge. We want our Prerelease experience to be welcoming! Our wonderful network of local game stores and our fantastic community of passionate fans has done a great job of making the play environment welcoming. However, as we assessed our learnings from the first few sets of MHA we recognized there were some pain points we could improve upon for the logistics of running the event.
What we found is that the prior Prerelease kits we sent to retailers looked flashy, but that incredible design work was lost on our players who never see the boxes their Prerelease boosters come in. Instead, they’re handed six loose boosters from which to build their decks, then given a promo card by someone running the event. There was also no guidance on how to build a deck, how to get pairings, or any onboarding that could make the whole tournament experience less intimidating for new players. That was a problem.
What to do about it?
Introducing the Prerelease Player’s Kit
In order to solve these problems, we’re introducing the Prerelease Player’s Kit. When you attend an Undaunted Raid Prerelease, you’ll be handed your Prerelease Player’s Kit after paying any entry fees. Inside you’ll find everything you need to build and play your deck. Here’s what it contains:
- 6 Undaunted Raid booster packs
- 1 Prerelease promo
- 1 Undaunted Raid deckbuilding insert
Just like previous Prerelease events you’ll open your six boosters and build your deck from the cards in those boosters. Remember: your deck must be a minimum of 40 cards (plus 1 character card), and in Undaunted Raid you can only choose from character cards provided in your six booster packs. Here are some other rules for Sealed play that differ from other formats:
- Cards in your deck do not need to share a symbol with your character.
- The 4-of deckbuilding requirement doesn’t apply to Sealed; did you open 5 copies of a card? You can play them all!
- If you run out of cards in your deck, you only remove 5 cards from the game instead of 10 when cycling.
- You are allowed to play your Prerelease promo in your deck.
The Prerelease Player’s Kit allows us to solve many of the problems we received feedback on from prior Prerelease events. Instead of a cool box that only your tournament organizer sees, we’ve built a stylish design that goes directly to you. Instead of loose packs, everything you need to play your Prerelease is all inside the box you’re handed. Not sure how to sign up for the UGN or what’s required to build a Sealed deck? Our insert provides handy QR links to resources that help you do both of those things. Finally, your Prerelease promo is contained alongside your boosters to make sure you receive it directly and that stores have one for every player participating in the Prerelease.
In addition to making the experience for players easier this design also reduces logistical complexity for stores running Prerelease events. There’s no counting loose booster packs, managing extra character cards, or figuring out who has and hasn’t received a promo card. Instead, players can simply sign up, pay, and be handed their Prerelease Player’s Kit to get off to the races.
Additional notes
The Prerelease Player’s Kit will be a big improvement for the UniVersus Prerelease experience, and I can’t wait for you to experience it. Don’t forget, you also earn prizes by attending! While it’s up to each store how they choose to distribute Prerelease prizes, because it’s an event that engages newer and inexperienced UVS players I recommend a flat prizing structure for stores that looks like this:
- 1 prize booster to each participant
- 1 additional prize booster to the 3rd and 4th place finishers
- 2 additional prize boosters to the 2nd place finisher
- 4 additional prize boosters to the 1st place finisher
That means in a 16-player event each participant would receive their 6 boosters for playing the event, and an additional prize booster for a total of 7 boosters received at the event. The players who finish 3rd and 4th overall at the event would receive one additional prize booster, bringing their tally to 8 total boosters from the event. The 2nd place finisher would receive two additional prize boosters, or 9 boosters in total. Finally, the top-placing finisher would receive 4 prize boosters or 11 boosters in all.
Undaunted Raid is shaping up to be our best Prerelease experience ever. Don’t miss it! You can find your local event and sign up to attend using our event finder here. Finally, don’t forget to follow us on social media here:
https://www.facebook.com/UniVersusCollectibleCardGame/
https://twitter.com/UniVersusCCG
https://discord.gg/mhaccg
