Wizards of the Coast has announced new event rules and formats for its upcoming release of Magic the Gathering: Avacyn Restored (see “Final ‘Innistrad’ Set Promises Changes”).
Beginning on April 28th and 29th with a unique pre-release event titled Helvault, each store that preregistered for the event will receive their own store’s Helvault: an obelisk-like box that has many seals around its exterior. During the pre-release event, when players earn achievements, the seals are broken. When all seals are broken, the Helvault is opened and all the players at the event will receive a share of its contents, whatever they may be. WotC will be keeping this information secret right up until the time it is opened in the store.
Wizards of the Coast has also changed the rules for running launch parties beginning with the release of Avacyn Restored. Instead of being restricted to offering only sealed deck and booster draft formats, retailers are now free to run any type of event that they believe best suits their player base. WotC hopes that this more personalized format will cater to a retailer’s preferences and provide the best experience for their specific player base, thus increasing participation.
In addition, the first day of the set’s release will also be the first day of the each store’s celebration program or League. The foil participation promo cards that were previously available in the Launch Party Kits will now be repurposed and sent to retailers if they are running Friday Night Magic on the release day of a new expansion. These promo cards can be offered to the players as the retailer sees fit in order to create a release event unique to their store.
The official release day for Avacyn Restored is May 4th.
