I interrupt your regularly scheduled two part series to bring you more Commander goodness. We'll get back to it in two weeks (after some talk about Mirrodin Besieged next week), but I figured that this was more time sensitive: While some might say that this two-parter was poorly timed, I'm going to disagree as something more pressing came up.

I talked to one of my friends, Darren, about the upcoming prerelease. Yes, this is the same guy who I wrote about a few weeks ago with the Progenitus deck for the few of those that are wondering. He called me to let me know that he's able to go to the large Seattle prerelease with me. I'm stoked, he's stoked too.

Then he started asking questions about it.

This will be his first time at a prerelease.

Sometimes when you've been playing Magic so long and you've done so many different things, you forget that not every one circles these types of events on calendars and can't sleep the night before (not that I'm speaking from personal experience). It's safe to assume that my friend won't be the only one there experiencing their first prerelease event. This scenario is a quarterly ritual across the country that many friends have been dragged into. He wants to know what to expect. My friend triggered the thought that I should write a prerelease primer for those who haven't gone or been convinced to go yet.

I'm telling him, and I'm telling you.

Only, this won't be about the sealed draft or regular draft most everyone will partake it. You're not going to get much advice from me (Hint: removal is always good). What we're going to focus on is the Commander angle of prereleases. With so much going on you might miss out.

And I don't want you to do that.

Sadly, I will only be talking about my experiences at the large prereleases. If you want to know if there's a large prerelease around you, click here (it's from dailymtg.com so it's as accurate as to be expected). While I understand that not everyone can get to one of those, most of the aspects will still apply. As a kid wise beyond his years once said, "It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend going to one."

Here are the main three reasons to go to a prerelease if you play Commander:

1) New cards

B) Lots of Players

iii) Artists

Yeah, that last part is what I'm referring to that not everyone will get the chance. But we'll get to that.

New Cards

The rules for Commander state that cards are legal in the format as of the prerelease. You read that right: once you get done drafting you can put them in your deck. No issues. If you're fighting for Phyrexia, you get that promo Glissa (While supplies last) that counts as a new Commander right away. If you happen to build a deck before hand and then use her as your Commander after your flight, no one is going to have a problem with that.

But Glissa isn't the only new card from the set that's worth getting. While (spoiler) I'm going to tell you next week what cards in Besieged are good for Commander (/spoiler), anything that's in your pool can also be put in your deck. Didn't get what you were hoping for? Good news, most everyone there will have drafted as well and they've got new cards too. We'll get to them in a minute.

I hate to break this to you but almost everything you read about analysis at the beginning of a set's release will be wrong. Yes, even what I write. Our analysis doesn't have the advantage of time and experience with new cards. We can compare cards like Sword of Feast or Famine because we have examples of cards like that before (Sword of Fire and Ice and Sword of Light and Shadow). And the format gets even harder to predict what's going to be good the more options there are, like Commander. I'm not doing this as a built in excuse, but it's the things we haven't yet had the chance to play with that makes it hard.

When I did a Commander set review for Rise of the Eldrazi, here were my Top 10 cards:

1. Realms Uncharted
2. All is Dust
3. Oust
4. Cast Through Time
5. Repay in Kind
6. Lighthouse Chronologist
7. It That Betrays
8. Deathless Angel
9. Sphinx of Magosi
10. Hellion Eruption

Yes, I tried to have one from each color show up which explains Hellion Eruption. Did I ever think that Emrakul was going the first card from this set to get banned? No, I believed it was Realms Uncharted because it's so similar to banned card Gifts Ungiven. While lands aren't as powerful as spells, the fact that it's in Green and there are so many ways to abuse lands in graveyards, I thought this would turn into an engine in no time. Nine months later, it's obvious for me to say this:

I was wrong.

I had not played with the card but only knew of the potential possibilities. Though, I was pretty right on All is Dust (but that one was a little more of a gimmie), the rest of them are meh. Oust would be better if it was an instant as there are too many good drawing spells to get that creature back. We know that from such cards as Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile. As for the other cards, you can just pile on the insults in the comments if you wish.

What's the point I'm trying to make here? If you want to know if a new card will be good, don't be afraid to put it in your sealed deck. Limited is a semi-close analogy to EDH for testing: hardly any repeats, consistency is a little off, things like that. Sure, I might say that the preview card my friends over at GatheringMagic.com, Phyrexian Rebirth, is a bomb in EDH and give it my number 1 ranking (I won't, but it is good), it might be over rated if you tried playing it in your sealed deck and your opponent kept having answers to that one X/X horror. Listen: Sweepers are nice, and having an opponent use a removal spell to get rid of that bonus from the Wrath effect is great.

In theory.

On the other hand, you might find it amazing and want to trade for every copy in the room because you want it for all your White Commander decks. I could be undervaluing it. Your playstyle and experience with the card will sometimes trump my educated guess. The DCI made rules for these events that you can change your deck after every game if you wish (but try and keep it between matches), and this is a great opportunity to try it out lots of things in your sealed deck. As this is a more casual environment most of the time, you won't find the pressure against tinkering with your deck so you can try different new cards. If not now, then when?

Lots of Players

Now that I've totally lost your respect about my ability to judge cards (though I think I did pretty ok for the M11 Commander review), let's get to awesome point number two: more players. If you're like me, there are only so many people that visit your local game store. Some visit every week, others only a couple times a week. If you're into trading, most likely you've combed through their stuff enough times it's gotten stale. Fish in a small pond. But, but you go to a larger prerelease, you find people you don't see every often let alone for the first time. What does this mean?

More trade partners. This is great; maybe no one in your area has another older than extended cards because no one plays Legacy. With more players gathering, there's a better chance of finding that old card you need. It could be that Ravnica dual you're missing for you Kresh deck. Or that enchantment for that theme Commander deck you're putting together. Even that Japanese foil of that card you love so much. There are all these possibilities and more.

Before you go, make a list of what you're seeking out. It'll save you time, and prevent you from trading for that foil One with Nothing because of used car salesmen mentality and a wondering eye. And this fits into my next point: do research. Know how much cards are going for. You know how much a foil High Market is going for? According to StarCityGames, it's $25. Foil Jhoira of the Ghitu is going for $30. As Kelly Reid has preached on this site many times, know the prices. This is also helpful if you have a list of the cards you want with the price so you can be an informed trader. While not everyone there plays Commander, you may find that the Legacy quality tournament card that you have might catch the eye of a player who has tons of stuff you want. You can use this opportunity to gleefully take cards that he believes are "trash" for your "good beats." Know the prices on your cards as well so you don't get taken advantage of.

But there's more than just trading. This will most likely be the largest collect of Commander players you'll ever be around (save if you visit a Pro Tour). Throw a stick in the room and you'll hit 10 players with Commander decks. Prereleases are much more relaxed than PTQ's or States because everyone's there to have fun and get new cards. For some players, this will be the only large event they visit. Of course, there will be those Spikes in the room that will draft all day trying to win as many packs as they can.

For the rest of us, there's Commander.

You'll see those common large stack of cards between rounds, trying to get a game in. It's not rude to ask someone for a game of Commander (or EDH as those who won't call it by its new name), and pretty much all who have a deck will light up with glee wanting to play a game. Another nearby might ask, "Want to do multiplayer?" and sometimes a forth or fifth and you've got a game. You'll play against familiar Commanders and ones you haven't seen before. Word of warning: this is the hard part of the social contract if you're going to play a casual deck or more serious deck. This is why I always bring several and gage within the group. If you go with a bunch of friends, I would encourage you not to all play together but play against other people. Here are a bunch of new, fresh decks and strategies, and it's always a nice change of pace.

Plus, they'll most likely have new trading stuff. They're looking for the new stuff too. If you're willing to part with them, now's a great time to get rid of some of those high money mythics while everyone wants them. Because you really don't think that Thrun, the Last Troll is staying at $20 for long, do you? Someone might want it as their new Commander now, help them out.

I finally bought the Planechase boxes so I have a set of the 40 planes (Thanks CoolStuffInc!). I forgot to but the promo planes, but that's my next order. Yes, I'm behind the times on this (Hey, you hear of this Apple company? I think they might go places), but I'm going to be bringing the planes with me to play in Commander games. Hopefully, there will be others who haven't played Planechase before and get to experience the fun as well. I haven't tried Archenemy yet (Will that be next year's purchase? Who knows), if someone brought it out on Saturday, I'd be interested in trying it. With the opportunity to try something different, I want to make sure I'm try as many ideas as possible.

If you're lucky enough to go to a prerelease where they'll have celebrity gunsligers (or champion challenge), go and give it a try. In some places, if you beat them, you receive a pack or a random card from a pack (each gunslinger is different). Most of the time, they'll be wielding sealed decks or new Standard decks to play against. However, I've noticed that more and more of them do have Commander decks, so ask. And Minnesota, don't be intimidated by Aaron Forsythe's silence as he plays; he's just looking for ways to do 21 Commander damage with his Squire.

Again, prereleases are a great chance to do things outside your normal routine. Give it a shot, you might like it. If not, now you know and no harm. You might meet some new friends, see some old ones, but I hope you'll have a really good time.

Artists

Again, they are only at select locations. Living in Seattle does have some perks, and being able to consistently attract artists at our large prerelease is amazing. If you were looking to completely pimp out your deck, having an artist sign and possibly alter your art is a great way of making your deck unique and at the highest of pimp levels.

My friend knew that an artist was coming to our prerelease and wanted to know proper protocol around him. First, I told him that we weren't meeting the Queen of England but as long as you don't call him a Tracer (NSFW language), you're cool.

Here's what I usually do: be nice, smile, say hello, and thank them for coming out and signing your stuff. Don't be a jerk and pull out 20 playsets of cards and expect him or her to sign them all. Some artists have a limit, but it's usually safe to go no more than 15ish. If the artist as done a ton of work, come back a little later with some more cards from your huge stack. If you're asking them to doodle on a card or a playmat, be prepared to buy something to thank them.

Some of them will have artist proofs (cards they've done the art for but a solid white "Magic" back) and you can get those signed as well. They range in price depending on how good the card is (From $1 to $40-50 or more). They are NOT tournament legal, but great for collections. Artists sometimes have prints to buy. I tend to go this route and get mine framed to hang in my home office. Ask nicely, and they'll sign it as well (if they haven't already). There's even the opportunity to buy books if the artists have printed them.

Of course, if you want something a little more unique, be prepared to be really nice. You don't want to know what I had to buy to get this done.

Remember: you don't have to buy anything. It's not some unwritten rule that you have to do it. I tend to do it as an appreciation for their time, making my deck look really cool and enhancing my experience with Magic. Whenever I play an altered card, players who've never seen it before always take a minute and look and it makes the game that much cooler.

If you're going to the Seattle prerelease, I'll be there. Yes, I'm doing the horrifyingly 6:30 am sealed draft. You'll find me there in the morning to early afternoon-ish. I'll have several Commander decks with me and my Planechase cards. And my friend, Darren. And hopefully some blogger/twitter friends as well. As always, you can tweet me (@mtgcolorpie) and I'll be checking it between rounds if you want to get a hold of me and meet up. Of course, you can always follow me on twitter for that day and track what's going on, who've I met, and if I can get any of the WotC guys to answer a question or two.

Prereleases can sometimes be a daunting experience for those who've never gone before. The large hall with the hundreds of players all doing different activities can be intimidating. There's the drafting, the cubing, and the dealer's table are all different distractions to keep you bouncing from one thing to the next. Make sure you bring water, sleeves, your trade binder cash (not every place will take credit/debit cards) and at least one Commander deck. Take a deep breath, and know that you're in similar company. Everyone's there to have fun and play Magic. And if you need an ice breaker with someone, there's always a safe question to ask.

You wanna play a game of Commander?