Grand Prix Las Vegas is, however, a special kind of tournament. Magic fans will have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play with some of the most powerful cards from the last twelve years of the game’s history. They’ll travel from all across the country to compete, collect, or just converse with like-minded people, and their numbers are already staggering. In short, Grand Prix Las Vegas is the closest thing our community has to a Magic convention, and it’s easy to get so caught up in the spectacle that you forget to prepare for the tournament itself. (I know I’ve spent just as much time reading the menus at various Las Vegas restaurants as I have reading the Modern Masters 2015 Edition visual spoiler.)

Grand Prix Las Vegas is especially difficult to prepare for given how little time we have between release day and the actual tournament. Modern Masters 2015 Edition hits shelves this Friday and doesn’t become available on Magic Online until Thursday, May 28, which happens to be the first day of the festivities in Las Vegas. How can we prepare on such short notice, especially if we haven’t had twelve years of experience playing Magic? Here’s how I would suggest going about it.

Step 1: Review the Spoiler

You’ll also want to look for synergies between cards while reviewing the spoilers. In the original Modern Masters, each two-color pair had its own archetype, and it’s likely that Modern Masters 2015 Edition will have a similar bent. Marshall Sutcliffe has already written about W/B Spirits and G/W Tokens for Limited Information, and our own Kenji Egashira has identified B/R Bloodthirst and U/R Elementals. Arrange your Grand Prix Las Vegas pool with these archetypes in mind, but don’t be concerned if your deck doesn’t conform; some of the most powerful decks at the last Grand Prix Las Vegas were collections of “good stuff.” I was so excited to build around my Arcbound Ravager two years ago that I completely overlooked my red and green cards, which were less flashy but would have yielded a more consistent deck.

Finding synergies between the creatures in the set will make deck-building easier, but don’t forget to look at the removal spells, permission spells, and combat tricks of Modern Masters 2015 Edition. Knowing what to play around provides one of the surest routes to success in any Limited format. I’d suggest creating a chart that lists the rules text, mana cost, and rarity of each instant in the set. If you need an example, the Brooklyn-based Magic blog Hipsters of the Coast published this excellent chart for Khans of Tarkir.

Step 2: Get Your Hands on Some Cards

To this end, I recommend you find a way to assemble the cards from the upcoming set and test your skills. If you’ve been playing for a while and own the cards, put them together and practice; if you’re relatively new, try pooling your resources with friends! Gather your playgroup or find other local players who are planning on going to Vegas, and hold some mock tournaments, complete with Sealed and Draft rounds. When all else fails, make (clear, easy-to-read) proxies.

Step 3: Use Online Resources

So, you’ve gathered all the cards you need to play Modern Masters 2015 Edition Limited. Now what? You’ll need to generate random booster packs for drafting and creating Sealed pools in order to more accurately simulate the Grand Prix Las Vegas experience. Fortunately, there are several useful resources available online, including the Magic: The Gathering Sealed Deck Card Generator at mtgen.net. This service doesn’t just create Sealed pools—it allows you to export those pools as .txt or .dec files, which you can then import into programs such as Magic Online or Cockatrice, respectively. If you watched in confusion as Paul Cheon played Modern Masters 2015 Edition Sealed on Magic Online during his twenty-four-hour stream last Thursday, wonder no more! If you want to follow Paul’s example, grab a friend with an MTGO account, import some Sealed pools from the Generator, and jam some games in the free-play queues.

Step 4: Play as Much as Possible Week-Of

Once you arrive in Vegas, there will be plenty of side events to choose from. I don’t typically play in side events at Grand Prix, but this time, I hope to play in a good mix of Sealed last-chance trials and on-demand Drafts on Thursday and Friday. One of the biggest mistakes I see newer players make when preparing for a Limited GP is to focus on Draft exclusively. Sealed deck construction requires a different skill set than drafting, and the formats tend to differ slightly—Draft decks typically have more synergy, while Sealed decks are often good-stuff decks with solid removal—so don’t avoid practicing the format you’ll be playing for nine rounds on Day 1. I’d recommend getting at least three Sealed tournaments under your belt before Saturday—plus a few practice exercises for good measure.

It may also be worth your while to get some Modern Masters 2015 Edition Sealed games in on Magic Online in the forty-eight hours before the Grand Prix. If you’re bringing a laptop to Vegas with you, you can get some games in on Thursday evening, after the tournament hall has closed. (I would not recommend staying up late playing MTGO the night before the event.) Alas, I can’t play MTGO on my MacBook Pro, which may or may not be making the schlep with me, but I won’t turn down an opportunity to watch a friend play and offer suggestions. Otherwise, you can find me in the tournament hall.

Conclusion

Modern Masters 2015 Edition is a quirky format to discuss in the context of tournament preparation, but I hope that at least some of the advice I’ve imparted today is applicable to other events you may attend in the future. If you qualify for a Pro Tour, you may find yourself in a similar situation, trying to learn a new Limited format with little time to spare (and fewer familiar reprints). Starting your preparation early is always ideal, but if you don’t have that luxury, devoting time to practice and managing that time well will surely benefit you.

Best of luck in Las Vegas!