Sunday April 3, 2016 marked the last day of the prerelease for the newest Magic: The Gathering pack, Shadows Over Innistrad. This pack is known for otherworldly creatures such as vampires, werewolves and zombies as well as the humans that band together and fight these otherworldly creatures. The official release date was April 9, 2016.

To honor the event, Enchanted Grounds Coffee Shop and Gameporium held a prerelease tournament which drew a large audience, partly owing to the end of prerelease sales that day. The twenty-four competitors received a limited edition promotional card and almost everyone got a mythic (the most rare type of card available) in their sealed decks. After the players received their sealed prerelease decks, there was a fifty minute time period allotted, prior to the tournament, so competitors could create their card decks.

There were five matches and up to three games in each match. The winner of the match was the first person who won two games. The winner of the most games received ten booster packs from Shadows Over Innistrad, five pins representing the five types of mana, and a giant cardboard cutout of one the legendary creatures in the new pack, second place received five booster packs and the five pins, and third place winner received five booster packs. The first three rounds decided who the top eight players were and the main contenders for the main prizes. The winner of the fourth match within each pair received a booster pack, then the final round begin. As a surprise, Enchanted Grounds gave everyone a card during the last round as a “thank you for coming.”

The event lasted six and a half hours and was very welcoming to the ten new players to Magic. The sealed, prerelease deck contained a how-to-build-a-deck pamphlet for anyone who didn’t know how and the more experienced players helped new players build their decks for the tournament. The games were evenly matched for player’s skill level, making the event fun for everyone who competed.

Enchanted Grounds has a future tournament scheduled for this new pack, it will be hosted April 30, 2016.