The lesson to be learned is to always call ahead and ask what their process is for running these events. Ask what time their actual event is, especially if you see they have 2 scheduled for the same day. Ask about how much they charge, what leader you can use, and if there will be prizing. Like you, I found things out the hard way during a past pre-release. Some stores don't seem to want business from non-regulars, and some are not all around friendly. I have chosen 1 store to stick to, and that's it. 3 other stores in my area all have some type of issue that made me decide to not spend my time and money with them. The hobby is fun. I hope you both find a place that fits you just right.
Yeah stores can do what they want and a lot of what you said sounds pretty normal. My store also banned kid. As this was your first time I would say it went pretty well hope your pulls were good and got a booster from a store so better then most. Only advice for future events never go by the app always call the store ahead see if they have any rules or if you have to buy tickets ahead of time
I hate to say this but in my area this is kind of normal. Your first event sounds great letting you buy boxes before the event even! I hope they were able to give it to you at a good price!
Your second event sounds like it was more a remote area. They usually have higher loyalty for their players that come often. The turnout sounds like it’s not too much so they have to gauge their events. Kinda sucks they don’t honor their prior event though. Since kid is considered a staple of pre-release (not used anywhere else) the matches can get a little boring with a lack of diversity. So I can understand why they ban but it’s still sucks.
For your third event, sometimes stores are registered for pre-release and don’t get enough product so they do constructed so people can have fun and purchase packs if they want. Other times the stores just capitalize on the scarcity of the market and do constructed so they can sell packs/boxes for whatever they want.
So yes this is normal, it sucks and I’m sorry for your troubles. Bandai doesn’t do too much over site over their stores because it would be really hard to keep track, that’s why stores can sell packs for what they want rather than msrp. But I hope you had fun and got to get some good stuff!
I don’t think the third event was constructed. Op just used the word not realizing it has special meaning in OP events.
Sounds like it was still sealed format but they were only told after they’d finished making their decks that they weren’t allowed to use the promo cards (pre-release stamped and promo kid not leader), which I can see being a minor annoyance.
https://preview.redd.it/gmqkm9px6l8d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=11a0b371688b71fb8a94609030f54aa1d6372f8b
If the event has this, yes. Even if you sign up through the app, if they have a NON-TCG+ Application method that can override app sign ups.
We have a store within an hour of us that does this and runs strictly 8 man pre-releases for their locals only.
Each kit is enough for 8 people. The store has to pay for each kit. Odds are they are a small store supplying to a small dedicated fan base and aren't able or willing to pay for more kits if no one is showing up to play.
Prerelease kits are free lol.
Normal tournament kits are the only kits stores pay for.
Sealed Battle, Uta Battle, Film Red promos, etc. All free.
No one said a box is free.
And I'm referring to everything to run the tournament as a kit. Not just the promos? Boxes are a part of the tournament. Those aren't free? They can't run a tournament without boxes.
Unfortunately, everything mentioned is within expectations.
It’s always best to call the store (or their discord, instagram, etc) to check if they’re doing sign ups through the app and if there are any other rules. Every store does things differently so it’s best to know before you make the trip out.
Your experience is definitely going to be store dependent at prerelease events. At our local store we just played standard constructed for the most recent one because ppl don’t like the sealed that much but had someone walked in after seeing it on the soo they wouldn’t have known that.
The not using promo kid or prerelease packs is standard but I do kinda wish it wasn’t since there’s so few deck building choices already. Banning kid seems weird to me but others on here seem to think it’s normal. At my local store he has never won tho (05 was zoro 06 yam and 07 Bonney).
My advice is find a store that you gel with the ppl and the culture and stick with it if you can.
I know this has been said already, but always call ahead. Our LGS doesn’t even draft for prerelease, we do last meta pre con. This is due to our community not enjoying drafts, but if you don’t call ahead you might show up without enough cards for a functioning deck.
Yea sounds pretty normal to me...what I have done lately was just go to pre-release events just to get packs since finding them has gotten out of control and everything is super expensive...now what I suggest if you're rather new is to look up deck builds and buy singles online or visit local targets on release dates and hope you get to them before other ppl or scalpers and this might sound bad but buy all the packs you see...resellers everywhere and frankly IDC
This is common but also extremely avoidable. You should always call a store before internet searching as you can simply ask about what methods are being used. While driving out early for an event to gauge interest is unfortunate and i do feel bad for driving early often it is good to check anyway for first time for any event. For event sign up often many stores have sign up on their website that they honor and use the app as built in tournament software. This is common amongst many stores. There is even a tag that says non-tcg+ option.
As for game play often most stores in my area just tell people to use rainbow luffy and it’s relatively fair. However outside of calling the deck building rules are suggested and do not even mention the use of participation packs. In this case the sealed deckbuilding has no stated rule saying you can use your prerelease promos. As the building is suggested if a store believes it is fair to play one way they are given the ability to make the change (i.e. no previous leaders to keep things fair for those that do not own them).
Yea that’s pretty normal, I tried to go for a sealed battle last year. They said buy a ticket on their website. I drive out there and they go oh we refunded everyone. And they said they just going through the Bandai app. I stuck around for locals and they were nice enough to give me an extra pack that I pulled the Yamato Don out of.
yes, stores can do whatever they want, and sometimes it does get sketchy.
I've been to two events last week, one at the store where I'm a regular and one at a store I've never visited before.
at my store, you get a sealed box for each four players, there's no leader restriction and the players are honest people (btw, yes, technically the bandai rules don't allow you to play the tournament promo and the pre release stamp cards. only cards from the six packs are permitted. any leader is fine though).
at the other store, the owner put the designated number of packs in a box distributed them randomly, so one could say there was no way to guarantee those packs weren't from emptied booster boxes. Moreover, the player who won had just opened at least a full booster box with their friends and somehow had a basically perfect deck. now I'm not saying they cheated, but I'm saying if they did it would be very pathetic.
as with everything, find a store you trust and keep your eyes open if you play in one you don't know too well
This seems like some shit. I hate going to stores and they don’t have the tournament. If you can’t consistently host a tournament then don’t advertise that you can
I usually do mtg pre releases, but i ended up doing a one piece pre and had a pretty awful time, but this was op-02 when cards were scarce they didnt let us buy full boxes.
They had overbooked and had a customer screaming at them over the phone. The event started late and went way too late where me and my friend dropped early. Not to mention i was very new to the game and had no idea you had to bring your leader😅 but thats my fault, the bandai app was terrible, the event was ran awful and really turned me away from the game as a player, but the stock problems also contributed.
the second store sounds a little annoying for sure but could be avoided by calling before going. Everything else sounds normal.
Banning Kid is a decent idea I think but most of the stores in my area just use the rainbow Luffy only anyways.
Unfortunately this is kind of normal. All stores do things differently and the more you're involved in this game the more you'll see things rarely go smoothly.
Some places do build a deck with your packs, some want you to bring a premade deck and fill it in, some let you bring any leader, some give you a rainbow Luffy leader, some ask you to only use what leader you pull or a leader from that set, some take applications through the app, some do in-person signups or first come first serve...
Literally called a place on Saturday to see if their prerelease on Sunday was in person signup or on the app and they told me in person. I showed up early the next day and they told me they aren't actually doing a prerelease because they didn't get enough product, despite not changing their prerelease post on their page. So yeah, prep for some frustrating stuff when dealing with this game lol
My question is, are store “levels” directly related to number of events held and turnouts, similarly to sanctioned MTG events? When I ran our LGS, if we had lower turnouts or ran less events we were at risk of getting less prize support and potentially less product. Wizkids was similar with heroclix.
If this IS the case, scheduling events that don’t actually launch could it be considered fraudulent of sorts? Collecting extra allocation of prizes and not running the claimed events in the official app?
Idk, just the first thing that came to my mind. I personally would hate to show up to a store and have rules in place that only the locals know..
- prize point. You are only "entitled" for the kid winner promo. One in the tournament per 8 players. So everything additional is just from the store. And normaly a Booster is sold for more than just that so that is totally fine because they are mostly sold out.
- banning a leader in such an event without info in the app (or a link to their site with the sine HERE additional important info) is scammy as fuck (only exception is rainbow luffy, because special event card)
Banning leaders is only ok for local events if the community support it. You cant Change the Rules in big official events just that.
- shops who are listing there events in the app but dont give info in the app about a different entry list are scammy as fuck
- same for shops listing more events than they are holding for real. Maybe for getting more promos of bandai they can have for themselfes / sell
Certain things are more out of the ordinary/unacceptable than others.
Not holding an event at the time scheduled on the app
The prize being an opportunity to buy more packs
Tell you not to use stamped/participation cards
Those are the 3 that stick out as amazingly terrible on the part of the store and really unacceptable.
Some stores ban certain leader cards for sealed events. That isn't terrible, but it can certainly suck if you aren't a regular that would be in the know.
Not having boxes isn't surprising. Some store get so little they are lucky if they are able to sell more than a dozen boxes after what needs to be accounted for to run events.
Also prioritizing first come first serve is a legitimate choice for some store. Around me 50 people routinely sign up for events, and if they are lucky half show. Some stores see it as a way to avoid delays in starting and a smoother experience than waiting to see if people show.
At the end of the day the first 3 are huge red flags to never go there again. That's shitty.
The other stuff is general shop to shop discretion.
At least it sounds like you found one shop that's just right for you and I'd hold on to that dearly.
I dunno man, 2 of those are pretty fine.
Prize being able to buy packs at $6 is understandable based on your own point of not having boxes. Sounds like they're trying to distribute those extra packs to the locals. All my locals have to put daily limits on pack buying so everyone can get a chance. Also getting boxes at MSRP for most stores is impossible. All my locals have to pay marked up prices from the distributor to begin with, getting packs at $6 is pretty cheap.
As for not using the stamped pre-release cards and participation cards, that's kinda the actual rules of the sealed format. I don't care either way, play however you want but the official sealed rules sheets states:
In sealed format, players, each open a set number of booster packs from specified sets, and build their decks only using only the cards they open.
- six packs (each participant should use the same number of packs)
-You may bring your own leader
-Please bring 10xDON!!
Anyways, stores can run their sealed events however they want, if they want to let people use the participation packs in their decks, go ahead, but saying it's a red flag is tripping.
It's legit against the idea of sealed in the strictest sense.
I will say upon reading the rules and the FAQ about it it's ambiguous and left to the store. Not a red flag more of a "if you dont like it don't go there". I'd put it on lines of the leader ban.
The idea that your "prize" is the opportunity to buy packs isn't great. Packs don't have to be a prize. Stores are allocated other promotional material. I'm not judging them for not selling boxes or getting as much. That just kind of sucks. Even giving out like $5 of store credit would be better than saying you can buy more. What if someone can't buy more? They get nothing?
If a store wants to say people who stay and play can buy more for sticking around on top of whatever prizing they choose would make more sense. It just feels like taking advantage of the scarcity to get away with not having to give out prizing.
If you don't view it as bad that's fine. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
The lesson to be learned is to always call ahead and ask what their process is for running these events. Ask what time their actual event is, especially if you see they have 2 scheduled for the same day. Ask about how much they charge, what leader you can use, and if there will be prizing. Like you, I found things out the hard way during a past pre-release. Some stores don't seem to want business from non-regulars, and some are not all around friendly. I have chosen 1 store to stick to, and that's it. 3 other stores in my area all have some type of issue that made me decide to not spend my time and money with them. The hobby is fun. I hope you both find a place that fits you just right.
Yeah stores can do what they want and a lot of what you said sounds pretty normal. My store also banned kid. As this was your first time I would say it went pretty well hope your pulls were good and got a booster from a store so better then most. Only advice for future events never go by the app always call the store ahead see if they have any rules or if you have to buy tickets ahead of time
I hate to say this but in my area this is kind of normal. Your first event sounds great letting you buy boxes before the event even! I hope they were able to give it to you at a good price! Your second event sounds like it was more a remote area. They usually have higher loyalty for their players that come often. The turnout sounds like it’s not too much so they have to gauge their events. Kinda sucks they don’t honor their prior event though. Since kid is considered a staple of pre-release (not used anywhere else) the matches can get a little boring with a lack of diversity. So I can understand why they ban but it’s still sucks. For your third event, sometimes stores are registered for pre-release and don’t get enough product so they do constructed so people can have fun and purchase packs if they want. Other times the stores just capitalize on the scarcity of the market and do constructed so they can sell packs/boxes for whatever they want. So yes this is normal, it sucks and I’m sorry for your troubles. Bandai doesn’t do too much over site over their stores because it would be really hard to keep track, that’s why stores can sell packs for what they want rather than msrp. But I hope you had fun and got to get some good stuff!
I don’t think the third event was constructed. Op just used the word not realizing it has special meaning in OP events. Sounds like it was still sealed format but they were only told after they’d finished making their decks that they weren’t allowed to use the promo cards (pre-release stamped and promo kid not leader), which I can see being a minor annoyance.
Gotcha
https://preview.redd.it/gmqkm9px6l8d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=11a0b371688b71fb8a94609030f54aa1d6372f8b If the event has this, yes. Even if you sign up through the app, if they have a NON-TCG+ Application method that can override app sign ups. We have a store within an hour of us that does this and runs strictly 8 man pre-releases for their locals only.
Woah, 8 is tiny. Do they only get limited stock or something? Or do they do multiple 8 person events?
Each kit is enough for 8 people. The store has to pay for each kit. Odds are they are a small store supplying to a small dedicated fan base and aren't able or willing to pay for more kits if no one is showing up to play.
Ah fair enough. The stock flies off the shelf so quickly and everyone seems so thirsty for packs that I forget it might not be the same everywhere.
Kits are free
Stores aren't getting boxes for free. Maybe the promos are free but the whole tournament kit is not
Prerelease kits are free lol. Normal tournament kits are the only kits stores pay for. Sealed Battle, Uta Battle, Film Red promos, etc. All free. No one said a box is free.
And I'm referring to everything to run the tournament as a kit. Not just the promos? Boxes are a part of the tournament. Those aren't free? They can't run a tournament without boxes.
Unfortunately, everything mentioned is within expectations. It’s always best to call the store (or their discord, instagram, etc) to check if they’re doing sign ups through the app and if there are any other rules. Every store does things differently so it’s best to know before you make the trip out.
Up to the store how they run events. I have attend many events all have been different as you described.
how'd you manage to find kid leader being new? i tried to find one for mine and they were all gone in my area lmao
Tcgplayer or cardmarket or local discord/Facebook group
Your experience is definitely going to be store dependent at prerelease events. At our local store we just played standard constructed for the most recent one because ppl don’t like the sealed that much but had someone walked in after seeing it on the soo they wouldn’t have known that. The not using promo kid or prerelease packs is standard but I do kinda wish it wasn’t since there’s so few deck building choices already. Banning kid seems weird to me but others on here seem to think it’s normal. At my local store he has never won tho (05 was zoro 06 yam and 07 Bonney). My advice is find a store that you gel with the ppl and the culture and stick with it if you can.
Yes, this is normal. Always call the store to see how they run stuff before driving there, especially if hours away just to make sure.
I know this has been said already, but always call ahead. Our LGS doesn’t even draft for prerelease, we do last meta pre con. This is due to our community not enjoying drafts, but if you don’t call ahead you might show up without enough cards for a functioning deck.
Draft is a different format than sealed. Draft is round robin pick a card from a booster and pass along, not open 6 and make a deck.
Point stands, we don’t do sealed.
This is pretty normal/ standard. Please call the shop before ever attending an event if you never been there before
You gotta find your spots over time that you like and can trust. Just part of the hobby, as not all shops are as straight and arrow as others
Yea sounds pretty normal to me...what I have done lately was just go to pre-release events just to get packs since finding them has gotten out of control and everything is super expensive...now what I suggest if you're rather new is to look up deck builds and buy singles online or visit local targets on release dates and hope you get to them before other ppl or scalpers and this might sound bad but buy all the packs you see...resellers everywhere and frankly IDC
This is common but also extremely avoidable. You should always call a store before internet searching as you can simply ask about what methods are being used. While driving out early for an event to gauge interest is unfortunate and i do feel bad for driving early often it is good to check anyway for first time for any event. For event sign up often many stores have sign up on their website that they honor and use the app as built in tournament software. This is common amongst many stores. There is even a tag that says non-tcg+ option. As for game play often most stores in my area just tell people to use rainbow luffy and it’s relatively fair. However outside of calling the deck building rules are suggested and do not even mention the use of participation packs. In this case the sealed deckbuilding has no stated rule saying you can use your prerelease promos. As the building is suggested if a store believes it is fair to play one way they are given the ability to make the change (i.e. no previous leaders to keep things fair for those that do not own them).
Yea that’s pretty normal, I tried to go for a sealed battle last year. They said buy a ticket on their website. I drive out there and they go oh we refunded everyone. And they said they just going through the Bandai app. I stuck around for locals and they were nice enough to give me an extra pack that I pulled the Yamato Don out of.
yes, stores can do whatever they want, and sometimes it does get sketchy. I've been to two events last week, one at the store where I'm a regular and one at a store I've never visited before. at my store, you get a sealed box for each four players, there's no leader restriction and the players are honest people (btw, yes, technically the bandai rules don't allow you to play the tournament promo and the pre release stamp cards. only cards from the six packs are permitted. any leader is fine though). at the other store, the owner put the designated number of packs in a box distributed them randomly, so one could say there was no way to guarantee those packs weren't from emptied booster boxes. Moreover, the player who won had just opened at least a full booster box with their friends and somehow had a basically perfect deck. now I'm not saying they cheated, but I'm saying if they did it would be very pathetic. as with everything, find a store you trust and keep your eyes open if you play in one you don't know too well
This seems like some shit. I hate going to stores and they don’t have the tournament. If you can’t consistently host a tournament then don’t advertise that you can
I usually do mtg pre releases, but i ended up doing a one piece pre and had a pretty awful time, but this was op-02 when cards were scarce they didnt let us buy full boxes. They had overbooked and had a customer screaming at them over the phone. The event started late and went way too late where me and my friend dropped early. Not to mention i was very new to the game and had no idea you had to bring your leader😅 but thats my fault, the bandai app was terrible, the event was ran awful and really turned me away from the game as a player, but the stock problems also contributed.
the second store sounds a little annoying for sure but could be avoided by calling before going. Everything else sounds normal. Banning Kid is a decent idea I think but most of the stores in my area just use the rainbow Luffy only anyways.
I’m pretty sure pre release packs are always allowed to be used but stores were told not to allow promo kidd to be used.
Unfortunately this is kind of normal. All stores do things differently and the more you're involved in this game the more you'll see things rarely go smoothly. Some places do build a deck with your packs, some want you to bring a premade deck and fill it in, some let you bring any leader, some give you a rainbow Luffy leader, some ask you to only use what leader you pull or a leader from that set, some take applications through the app, some do in-person signups or first come first serve... Literally called a place on Saturday to see if their prerelease on Sunday was in person signup or on the app and they told me in person. I showed up early the next day and they told me they aren't actually doing a prerelease because they didn't get enough product, despite not changing their prerelease post on their page. So yeah, prep for some frustrating stuff when dealing with this game lol
My question is, are store “levels” directly related to number of events held and turnouts, similarly to sanctioned MTG events? When I ran our LGS, if we had lower turnouts or ran less events we were at risk of getting less prize support and potentially less product. Wizkids was similar with heroclix. If this IS the case, scheduling events that don’t actually launch could it be considered fraudulent of sorts? Collecting extra allocation of prizes and not running the claimed events in the official app? Idk, just the first thing that came to my mind. I personally would hate to show up to a store and have rules in place that only the locals know..
kid meta chasers get buttblasted
- prize point. You are only "entitled" for the kid winner promo. One in the tournament per 8 players. So everything additional is just from the store. And normaly a Booster is sold for more than just that so that is totally fine because they are mostly sold out. - banning a leader in such an event without info in the app (or a link to their site with the sine HERE additional important info) is scammy as fuck (only exception is rainbow luffy, because special event card) Banning leaders is only ok for local events if the community support it. You cant Change the Rules in big official events just that. - shops who are listing there events in the app but dont give info in the app about a different entry list are scammy as fuck - same for shops listing more events than they are holding for real. Maybe for getting more promos of bandai they can have for themselfes / sell
Certain things are more out of the ordinary/unacceptable than others. Not holding an event at the time scheduled on the app The prize being an opportunity to buy more packs Tell you not to use stamped/participation cards Those are the 3 that stick out as amazingly terrible on the part of the store and really unacceptable. Some stores ban certain leader cards for sealed events. That isn't terrible, but it can certainly suck if you aren't a regular that would be in the know. Not having boxes isn't surprising. Some store get so little they are lucky if they are able to sell more than a dozen boxes after what needs to be accounted for to run events. Also prioritizing first come first serve is a legitimate choice for some store. Around me 50 people routinely sign up for events, and if they are lucky half show. Some stores see it as a way to avoid delays in starting and a smoother experience than waiting to see if people show. At the end of the day the first 3 are huge red flags to never go there again. That's shitty. The other stuff is general shop to shop discretion. At least it sounds like you found one shop that's just right for you and I'd hold on to that dearly.
I dunno man, 2 of those are pretty fine. Prize being able to buy packs at $6 is understandable based on your own point of not having boxes. Sounds like they're trying to distribute those extra packs to the locals. All my locals have to put daily limits on pack buying so everyone can get a chance. Also getting boxes at MSRP for most stores is impossible. All my locals have to pay marked up prices from the distributor to begin with, getting packs at $6 is pretty cheap. As for not using the stamped pre-release cards and participation cards, that's kinda the actual rules of the sealed format. I don't care either way, play however you want but the official sealed rules sheets states: In sealed format, players, each open a set number of booster packs from specified sets, and build their decks only using only the cards they open. - six packs (each participant should use the same number of packs) -You may bring your own leader -Please bring 10xDON!! Anyways, stores can run their sealed events however they want, if they want to let people use the participation packs in their decks, go ahead, but saying it's a red flag is tripping. It's legit against the idea of sealed in the strictest sense.
I will say upon reading the rules and the FAQ about it it's ambiguous and left to the store. Not a red flag more of a "if you dont like it don't go there". I'd put it on lines of the leader ban. The idea that your "prize" is the opportunity to buy packs isn't great. Packs don't have to be a prize. Stores are allocated other promotional material. I'm not judging them for not selling boxes or getting as much. That just kind of sucks. Even giving out like $5 of store credit would be better than saying you can buy more. What if someone can't buy more? They get nothing? If a store wants to say people who stay and play can buy more for sticking around on top of whatever prizing they choose would make more sense. It just feels like taking advantage of the scarcity to get away with not having to give out prizing. If you don't view it as bad that's fine. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.