MTG Salvation

Post for any WA natives in here...

Work is sending me to Redmond, WA for all of April, so I'm trying to plan out where I'll attend a prerelease while I'm there. I was expecting to have to choose between maybe 2 or 3 places, but Wizards' event locator returned 15 shops within 10 miles that are supposedly hosting a prerelease for Amonkhet. Hoping to get some community input on these stores to help narrow down my search.

Personal criteria: Casual/friendly environment, not concerned about prize payout. Just want to have fun. If I win a pack or three, great, but not necessary.

Stores, ranked closest to furthest:

1. Mox Boarding House
2. Uncle's Games - Bellevue
3. PLAYlive Nation - Redmond
4. Crazy Timmy Games
5. Uncle's Games - Redmond
6. Games and Gizmos
7. The Dreaming Comics and Games
8. Phoenix Comics and Games
9. Gamma Ray Games
10. Zulu's Board Game Cafe
11. Math 'n' Stuff Activity Annex - event by Math 'n' Stuff
12. Heroic Knight Games
13. Barnes and Noble - Downtown Seattle
14. Blue Highway Games
15. DreamStrands Comics

My parents live in Seattle so I've visited a number of times and been lucky enough to go to a few prereleases too.

With that said, I've been to Mox Boarding House, Uncle Games (Redmond), and Games and Gizmos and don't have anything negative to say about any of them. I'd say Uncle Games and Games and Gizmos felt a bit more casual, but that's because Mox Boarding House is really Card Kingdom and has a relatively healthy following and great Legacy/Modern events that they stream. However, I have never done a prerelease there. Just Legacy Thursdays, which weren't like super competitive either.

Long story short, you can't lose with any of those three options although I did open two Planeswalkers (one foil) in my sealed pool at Games and Gizmos :P. Good luck!

How odd, my actual mailing address is Redmond, but I am more on the Bellevue side. With that said, here are places I have been to personally.

Mox Boarding House - --- All the space, judges, and rules lawyers you will ever need.
Uncle's Games - Bellevue --- Medium sized playing space, good folks. *My pick*
Crazy Timmy Games --- Way too small to be comfortable for someone new to the store.
Uncle's Games - Redmond --- Plenty of space, not sure about the player turn out.

Frankly I would ask about their staff and turnout numbers, don't want to sign up to do an event with 6 people. cough I left a 2-0 4 round event to go to one i previously committed. big mistake.

Also check their schedule, as you certainly can go to a midnight at one of the bigger ones, and do a saturday or two at smaller venues.

Thanks to both of you! Out of curiosity, have either of you ever heard of that Math 'n' Stuff place? Seemed like a weird inclusion in that list.

Quote from jshrwd »

Thanks to both of you! Out of curiosity, have either of you ever heard of that Math 'n' Stuff place? Seemed like a weird inclusion in that list.

I have not. Good luck though. Seattle has a great Magic community.

I have no information about that. I would love to hear from others in Seattle about the rest of your list. Travelling to events around this city can be a real pain.

I've been to mox boarding house, card kingdom, uncles in redmond, games and gizmos (pre-move, dunno about the new store), the dreaming, phoenix, gamma ray, and blue highway.

MBH is fun and relatively casual for such a big store. Usually some little kids there, and some decent players. Honestly I find the competition to be pretty modest at card kingdom and MBH, but I'm a pretty competitive limited player. It's one of the nicest stores (both are) and the prize payout is fine, so I recommend it.

uncles in redmond has a few good players, otherwise pretty weak competition. I 4-0d drafts there pretty regularly back in the day. Haven't been to a prerelease there though. Never quite made it to the bellevue branch - well, I tried, but they were real Nazis about starting the draft on time. Called ahead and we were less than 10 minutes late, but they started without us and we had to just go home. So I still have a bit of a grudge about that.

games and gizmos had some very good players when I used to draft there. Fairly casual environment I guess, in terms of the store, but the players were quite good. Dunno since the move a year ago.

the dreaming I only went to once, for original innistrad prerelease forever ago. Their payout was awful back then, I dunno what it's like now, though, that was ages ago. Might be better. Can't comment on competition since it was so long ago and I sucked back then.

phoenix is my most frequented store these days. There's some good drafters, but during prerelease it's mostly pretty moderate competition, with plenty of scrubs and usually a handful of good players. Store itself is fine, nothing great or awful. Payout is very casually-oriented for prereleases - 1 pack per win, so even if you're 1-3 you get a pack. Personally I hate that but some people like it.

gamma ray is the other store I go to pretty frequently. A few decent players but I think it's a bit weaker competition than phoenix. Haven't done a prerelease there yet, will probably go to one or two this set.

Blue Highway I only went once, for a mini-masters years ago. At the time, at least, they were very kid friendly and were trying to cater to the 15-and-under crowd. So I felt a bit out of place (I was 24 or so at the time). Not sure if that's still the case. If you want to beat up on little kids, I guess that's probably the place to do it, you monster.

One last mention - green lake games was THE BEST place to draft, competition was a fun mix, they played in the bar so you could eat and drink, and payout was double anyplace else. Unfortunately they seem to be gone, at least temporarily. They still host drafts but won't be doing prereleases. But maybe check them out for hour of devastation, if they start doing them again.

Of the currently available ones, I'd say CK/MBH is the best option for the most fun. Given that MBH is also close to you, it seems like the best choice.

Hope that helps!

(Btw, if anyone's ever played at the barnes and noble prerelease - I'm super curious WTF that's about. I'm assuming it's a bunch of kids who saw the posters when their parents dragged them to the mall?)

Psych, turns out that Greenlake Games is doing Amonkhet prerelease after all! Should be solid prizes (box per 12 players), casual atmosphere, fun competition, and it's all hosted in a bar, which is pretty sweet.

Nice!

I am a little sad* to say that work ended up cutting my trip short, because the client cut back on budget a bit. So I am back home for my prerelease events.

*It's nice to be back with my family, but I was really looking forward to the unique experience in a faraway place

Quote from jshrwd »

Nice!

I am a little sad* to say that work ended up cutting my trip short, because the client cut back on budget a bit. So I am back home for my prerelease events.

*It's nice to be back with my family, but I was really looking forward to the unique experience in a faraway place

I got to prerelease BFZ in Milan 1.5 years ago, it was super sweet. Playing magic abroad is awesome. Recommended if you get the opportunity.