What the Helvault?!?! (Pre-release info and first Impressions of Avacyn Restored)

Is anybody else getting excited about Avacyn yet? Do the cards seem overpowered or what?? There are going to be so many possibilities for the meta game it’s going to be chaos the first few weeks after Avacyn begins. I’m really liking the new Planeswalker Tomiyo, and think she’ll fit into a White/Blue control deck rather nicely. Throw in some Feelings of Dread (tap 2 creatures) and a Jace’s Erasure (when you draw a card, a player mills the top card off of their library), and suddenly that -2 ability looks amazing. Draw cards and tap out! That new Alabaster Angel that attaches Aura’s to it also looks amazing and would work well in that deck with some Angelic Destinies.

All of the Legendary angels are great, and I believe people will be building decks around them to support their abilities. Vexing Devil (4/3 for one red mana) is amazing, and I really like that the “flicker” mechanic is making a comeback. Works great with the Titans while they are still in Standard format. Aside from WU Control, I think We’ll see some Heartless Summoning/Demon/Token decks, and some White/Red Angel-Human Burn decks too. There are going to be a lot of possibilities. I’ll be sure to post more combo ideas and reactions in the next few days as more cards are released, but for now I want to move onto the main topic of this post.

The Helvault

What lies inside of the Helvault???

I’m really excited about the Helvault promotion. I want to help open it up during the prerelease and hopefully receive some really cool swag. For Dark Ascension, lots of people received things like playmats and other gaming accessories, so I hope its some of the same and more. I think EVERY store should be participating in this event, but sadly this isn’t the case. If you are going to do the pre-release on April 28th and/or April 29th in Nagoya, here’s what you need to know. Please understand that each tourney will be with Japanese cards only, and it will be up to you to print out the spoiler list or put it on a PDF file that can be used on your smartphone.

Helvault participation:

• Big Magic – 11am game time on Sunday, 4/29. The price is 2600 yen, and it will be 4 turns. Another sealed deck for 8 people will be held immidiately after the main tournament. They are taking reservations but only had 5 spots left as of 4/12. The Helvault WILL be there. Better hurry if you want to play there!
• Amenity Dream – Saturday 4/28 at 12pm (and Sunday too I believe), they are taking reservations at the moment and the cost will be 3000 yen for 5 rounds. No Helvault due to them cutting off each tourney at 32 people (I believe 48 are needed in order to receive one from WoTC.). There should still be some openings there since I will be canceling mine along with a few friends of mine.
• Yellow Submarine Osu – No tourney
• Hobby Station Osu/Sasashima – No tourney
• Phase – They will have a tourney (but not sure on time. Maybe 12 pm? Call and ask if you are interested.) and they seemed to think they will most likely be getting a Helvault, but weren’t 100% sure.  I would call to find out as it gets closer to game day. I believe it will be 3000 yen.
• Card Brunch Kanayama – 11am registration time on both days (4/28 & 4/29), and the cost is 2500 yen. This is the cheapest place to play, and they WILL have the Helvault here. I think they are clearing out all other tourneys that weekend because they are saving 46 spots for Avacyn Restored. They also will have another Sealed Tourney for 8 of the players after the first matches as well in order to meet the quota to obtain the Helvault. They might be taking reservations for these spots starting next Monday.
• Hobby Station Meitetsu Eki – They will have tournaments on both Saturday 4/28 and Sunday 4/29, and their games will start at 1pm both days. The cost is 2,500 yen. I am not sure if they are taking reservations or if they will have the Helvault, but I will be going to a tourney there this Saturday and will update this information after I find out.

And that’s all the information I have for now. If you live near a different gaming location in Japan and want to add to this list, please be my guest and leave the information in the comments.

And one more thing about selling cards in to these locations in Japan. Anybody can sell cards at these locations as long as you have a passport, foreigner card, or Japanese Driver’s License. Some places will even take foreign driver’s licenses. I am also working on updating selling information such as where their “buy” lists are located in the store and what kind of cards they will buy so you don’t waste your time going there if you have older cards. Be sure to check out the store profiles tomorrow to see the updated info!