If you are heading to a Magic: The Gathering Prerelease for the first time, one of the biggest questions you may have is, “How do I build a deck from the cards I open?”
At an MTG Prerelease, you do not bring a deck from home. Instead, you open the cards in your Prerelease Kit and build a deck using only what you pull, plus any basic lands provided by your local game store.
This format is called Sealed, and it is one of the best ways to experience a new Magic set. Everyone is opening new cards, learning the new mechanics, and figuring out which strategies work best.
What Is MTG Prerelease Deck Building?
MTG Prerelease deck building uses the Sealed format. Players open their Prerelease Kit and build a deck using the cards they receive.
Your deck must contain at least 40 cards. You do not need to use every card you open, every color, or every rare. In fact, a big part of building a good Sealed deck is knowing which cards do not belong in your final build.
You are limited to the cards in your Prerelease Kit, but you can add any number of basic lands. This makes every Prerelease feel different because every player has a different card pool to work with.
What Comes in an MTG Prerelease Kit?
The exact contents may vary depending on the set, but most Magic: The Gathering Prerelease Kits include:
- Six Play Boosters
- One foil Prerelease promo card
- One 20-sided Spindown life counter
- A deck-building guide
- Punch-out counters or tokens, depending on the set
Your foil Prerelease promo is part of your Sealed card pool. If it fits your colors and strategy, you can use it in your deck.
Before the event begins, your local game store may explain the set’s new mechanics, play an overview video, and go over any event details. You will then have time to open your boosters, sort your cards, and build your 40-card Prerelease deck.
Sort Your MTG Prerelease Cards
The first thing I do after opening my Prerelease Kit is sort everything by color. Make piles for white, blue, black, red, green, multicolor cards, artifacts, and lands.
Then separate creatures from noncreature spells. This gives you a much better idea of what each color can do and makes it easier to see your strongest options.
As you sort, look for which colors have:
- The most playable creatures
- Removal spells and other interaction
- Cards that work well together
- Strong rares, mythics, or other high-impact cards
- A good mix of low-cost and high-cost spells
Set aside basic lands, tokens, art cards, and other extras for now. You can build your mana base after you choose the colors for your deck.
How to Choose the Best Colors for Your Sealed Deck
Most MTG Prerelease decks work best as two-color decks. Playing two colors makes your deck more consistent and gives you a better chance of casting your spells when you need them.
You can play three or more colors, but it can be risky without enough mana fixing. It is frustrating to have a powerful card in your hand and not be able to cast it because you do not have the right land.
When choosing your colors, do not just look at which color has the most cards. Look at which colors have the most cards you actually want to play.
A good color pair usually has:
- Enough creatures to build a reliable board
- Removal or ways to deal with opposing threats
- A reasonable mana curve
- Cards with useful synergy
- A clear plan for winning the game
Do not force a color just because you opened an expensive rare or a chase card. A powerful card is only useful if the rest of your deck can support it.
Find Your Sealed Deck Game Plan
Every Prerelease deck should have a simple game plan.
Some decks want to attack early with cheap creatures. Others want to slow the game down, remove opposing creatures, and win with larger threats. You may also open enough cards to build around flyers, artifact synergies, tokens, graveyard effects, or one of the new mechanics from the set.
If you are mainly attending Prerelease for fun, do not feel like you need to overthink every card choice. Play enough creatures, include your best removal, make sure your mana works, and enjoy trying the new cards.
If you want to build a stronger deck, look for cards that work together.
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For example, one of my recent Prerelease decks included Iron Man, Tony Stark, which created a token creature whenever I cast a red spell. I also have HYDRA Assault Robot, which dealt 1 damage whenever an artifact or Villain entered the battlefield. Since Iron Man created artifact tokens, those cards worked together and gave me extra value every time I cast a red spell.
That is the kind of synergy you want to look for when building your Sealed deck. It does not need to be complicated. Sometimes two cards working together is enough to give your deck a stronger direction.
MTG Prerelease Deck Card Count
A Sealed deck must have at least 40 cards, but most players should stay as close to 40 cards as possible. Playing more than 40 cards makes it less likely that you will draw your best cards.
A good starting point for your Prerelease deck is:
- Creatures: 14–18
- Other nonland spells: 5–9
- Lands: 16–18
Most players can start with 17 lands and adjust from there.
If your deck has several expensive spells, you may want to play 18 lands. If your deck has a lower mana curve with many cheap creatures and spells, you may be able to play 16 lands.
Creatures are especially important in Sealed. You need them to attack, block, trade with opposing creatures, and apply pressure. It can be tempting to include every cool spell you open, but your deck still needs enough creatures to function.
How to Build Your MTG Prerelease Mana Base
A simple way to start is to split your lands close to 50/50 between your two colors. Then look at the colored mana costs of the spells in your deck.
If you are playing more blue cards than red cards, you should play more Islands than Mountains. If several of your cards require two mana of the same color, make sure you have enough lands of that color to cast them consistently.
For example, if your deck is mostly blue with only a few red cards, playing nine Islands and eight Mountains may make more sense than splitting your lands evenly.
You do not want to lose a game because you have the right spells in your hand but cannot produce the right mana to cast them.
Review Your Prerelease Deck Before Round One
Before round one begins, shuffle your deck and draw a few practice hands.
Play through the first few turns as if you are in a game. Draw cards, play lands, and see whether your deck feels like it is working.
Ask yourself:
- Can I cast the cards in my hand?
- Do I have enough early plays?
- Am I drawing too many lands or too few lands?
- Do I have enough creatures?
- Do my cards work well together?
If something feels off, make changes before the first round starts.
How to Sideboard at an MTG Prerelease
Any cards from your Prerelease Kit that are not in your main deck are part of your sideboard. Between games and rounds, you can swap cards in and out.
Do not feel stuck with the first deck you build. If you are not drawing enough creatures, have too many expensive spells, or need better answers for an opponent’s threats, make changes.
After each round, ask yourself:
- Did I have enough creatures?
- Did I have enough cards to play early in the game?
- Did I have enough removal or interaction?
- Did I have too many expensive cards?
- Are there cards in my deck that are not helping my game plan?
- Do I have better options in my sideboard?
Even a few small changes can make a big difference over the course of a Prerelease event.
Final Tips for Building a Better MTG Prerelease Deck
There is no perfect Prerelease deck. Every player is building from a limited card pool, and every kit will have different strengths and weaknesses.
The best way to build a strong MTG Prerelease deck is to choose your best colors, play enough creatures, include useful removal, build a mana base that can cast your spells, and keep your deck close to 40 cards.
Most importantly, have fun. Magic: The Gathering Prerelease events are a great way to open new cards early, learn the new set mechanics, meet other players, and discover new strategies.
