Avacyn Restored News

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Happy Monday MTG peeps,

There is some very interesting changes afoot with the third and last Magic the Gathering set, Avacyn Restored, in the Innistrad block. Today on the Daily MTG page on the mothership, Helene Bergeot, the WoTC Organized Play Director had this announcement -

Starting with Avacyn Restored, the name of "Launch Party" will be phased out - but we will still encourage stores to run a variety of events for you, including drafts! At the same time, the League will still kick off the Friday of the release. Lastly, the foil participation cards previously distributed during the Launch Party event will be made available to you at the Friday Night Magic on release day.

We're not certain how the fan / player community will take this piece of news. As for ourselves, we've not attend the proper release / launch party tournament for the last two sets but really should defer judgement of this announcement to you the reader as well as the stores running the event - so pipe in below with the comment thingy - we really do want to hear your opinion. We personally do not see any reason at this time why your local games store could not save the foil participation cards could be saved as prize support for the next day's (non-sanctioned?) tournament unless there is some strict prohibition from Wizards.
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In other (perhaps happier) news, some items of note from a Avacyn Restore sales solicitation document - specifically, some additional prize support / goodies for the Avacyn Restored PreRelease tournament. Here's the text -

Unlock the secrets of the Helvault!
This event is unlike anything we’ve ever offered, and will give your Magic™ players the chance to participate in a unique experience that they will be sure to remember for years to come! Event Features: Format: The format for this Prerelease is Sealed Deck — six boosters of Avacyn Restored™ . Though the set is a part of the Innistrad™ block, it is a large set, which means that the Prerelease tournament will use only Avacyn Restored product.

Unique and Exciting Player Experience: This event will give Magic players the chance to open the mysterious Helvault right in your store. The Helvault is a vessel filled with additional player prizes that will take the righteous strength of your store’s entire community to unlock (instructions will be provided)!

Critical: The opening of the Helvault will be much anticipated by your Magic community. To make sure that we can work together to deliver this great experience, it is vital that you and your organizer(s) not open the Helvault until the event.

Additionally, each store will receive a limited number of Helvaults, so we encourage you to offer pre-regeistration for this event (not every Prerelease event will have a Helvault, so we strongly encourage you to offer pre-registration for this event).

Prerelease events are great for players of all experience levels:
• Add some open dueling to encourage your new players to participate!
• Core stores may now run 3 main events while Advanced may run 6.
Again, it’s vital to communicate to your players that not every main event will feature a Helvault.

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The Helvault Prerelease Kit contains one Helvault filled with bonus prizes to support up to 54 players and will be made available in addition to the Avacyn Restored Prerelease Kit. The Avacyn Restored Prerelease Kit will contain : 24 participation promo cards, and 18 achievement cards.

ALSO - we now have the names of the Avacyn Restored PreRelease promo card as well as the Buy-a-Box promo !

PreRelease card - Moonsilver Spear
Buy-a-Box promo - Silverblade Paladin

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Lastly, just another reminder of the Top 5 selling DKA singles - this data compiled by the folks over at MTG Mint Card.

1. Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2. Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
3. Hellrider
4. Vault of the Archangel
5. Vorapede
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