Hi there. This is my second blog post of the Pokemon TCG Mega Evolutions Prerelease event. After the first prerelease event in Toronto, I do some shopping, eat and head to the second event 3 hours later.
Pokemon Prerelease Events
At Prerelease events you can get access to cards before the official release date of a set. Mega Evolutions set releases on Friday September 26, 2025 but prerelease events start as early as September 13, 2025.
At the event you get a Build & Battle Box. This Box contains a preconstructed deck, 4 booster packs and 1 promo card.
The promo card you get is one of either Meganium, Inteleon, Alakazam and Lunatone.
 |
 |
 |
 |
Store Info, Tournament Format & Deckbuilding
The store I was at was called Banana Games in downtown Toronto. Most of the other card stores hold one Pokemon prerelease event. This one holds multiple Pokemon Prerelease events along with other TCG tournaments. They held 5 Mega Evolution Prerelease events including a Midnight release on Sept 13, 2025 Saturday.
It was 40 CAD + tax for tournament entry where you got 1 Build and Battle Box plus 2 packs for deckbuilding. There were 3 best of 1 rounds where you win 1 extra pack for each win.
The prizing here is somewhat competitive. In terms of participants, there were a maximum of 30 players. It was kind of packed. A packed environment like this makes me somewhat nervous even though I am an experienced player.
There was a delayed start to this tournament. The start time was 6PM but we did not start opening our packs and decks until around 6:20 PM.
My Deck - Water Inteleon Deck
I think this Water deck is the weakest of the four. Meganium grass deck is has easy setup and strong power, the Solrock & Lunatone group deck has good draw power and decent power and the Alakazam deck can be super powerful if you draw so many cards. With this water deck, you have to play more strategically as the Inteleon's 110 damage is kind of low. My gameplay is good but I will definitely have to work for my wins this time around.
Round One
Before this round 1 game started, I was not sure if my opponent was here. Maybe I got a free win (bye). He arrived a little late. The opponent was looked like a guy in his early or mid 30s like me. He was new to the game so I had to help him out with rulings and such. (Both players must maintain proper board state.)
What threw me off was that the round timer was from 20 minutes. At the first prerelease, each round was 30 minutes which was really generous. There was no announcement of 20 minutes rounds before we started. For a store that holds multiple prereleases, it is kind of disorganized.
Back to the round one match. My opponent had the Alakazam deck based on me seeing an Abra.
 |
 |
 |
My opening hand was good and workable. I was using Frosmoth in the early game to deal 20 damage each on all his Pokemon as I was setting up Inteleon at the back.
Throughout this round, I kept looking at the time to see if I had to play faster or not. As my opponent was new, his pace of play cannot be fast. It is just not good to rush your opponent. Twenty minute rounds is kind of tight and I think it is not beginner friendly.
I did manage to win in the end with 30 seconds remaining. There was no mention from the tournament staff about what happens if there is no winner after 20 minutes. I think it would be 1 extra turn for each player and that is it. If there is no winner, then it is a tie and nobody wins an extra pack.
At the end of this round, I heard that there was a player behind me who pulled 2 copies Mega Lucario ex. The one game behind one had a guy who got a lucky 2 turn Mega Lucario ex in play. The opponent was not happy facing this. I would be annoyed too like her if I had to face a Mega Pokemon turn 2 during a prerelease event.
 |
 |
Round 2
My round 2 opponent had a Grass Meganium deck. This Grass deck is busted and easy to use. I am a slight underdog in this round.
 |
 |
I win the coin toss and chose to go first on the first turn. My opening hand sucked. It was something like no Supporter/Trainer card, 4 evolution Pokemon and 3 Water energy. All I could do is attach Water Energy to Sobble and pass the turn. I could not bench any Pokemon.
 |
 |
I lose in two turns really fast. This makes up for my turn 2 win at the first prerelease. You win fast then you lose fast sometimes. The opponent had the lucky turn 2 Rare Candy from Chikorita to Meganium to attack for the win.
I was more annoyed by my bad hand then the opponent's lucky start. The grass deck does not include Rare Candy so he must have got one from his packs.
To pass the time we did another practice game. I won that one after 15 minutes. I had to work hard for the win with Frosmoth damage spread plus Asleep then attack with Inteleon. I realized at this moment, maybe this Water deck is not that bad. It is not beginner friendly but you have to use it well.
 |
 |
Round 3
My round 3 opponent was someone I faced before. I did not realize it until later. He is a regular player too which made this matchup difficult. Why couldn't we face off against other people??!
He played the Meganium Grass deck. I got nervous quickly and knew this would be tough.
|
|
 |
My opening hand was so bad with no Trainer cards. I had to use 2 turns to use Mantine's Call For Family attack to get a Delibird in. Then retreat to Delibird on the next turn for the Quick Call attack to get a Lillie's Determination to reset my awful hand.
 |
 |
 |
To my surprise, I expected my opponent to get a fast Meganium setup and have the Forest stadium in play. He did not so I got more turns to work with for my setup.
My strategy was to use mostly Frosmoth to weaken his Meganium and Exeggutors. I could also knockout any weak Basic Pokemon too. Once the Meganiums and Exeggutors are less than 120 HP, the Inteleons can come it and knock them out.
 |
|
|
|
The game was a long game with both of us being careful with our moves and attacks. It was very close and there was the final turn where I had to get lucky with a card draw. This was an ugly long win but I'll take it.
Post Tournament + Pulls
I got 2 wins and 1 loss with this Water deck. With this Water deck, I was happy to get 1 win at least because the deck is bad. Getting 2 wins was better than expected. I win 2 more packs.
From this prerelease and the one before I won an extra 5 packs (3 + 2). Five packs is almost a Booster Bundle retail product of 6 packs. That product costs at least 60 CAD.
Here were the pulls from the packs at this Prerelease event.
I got another Mega Lucario ex from this event, 2 Meganiums, 2 Lunatones and some other stuff. Despite winning more packs, I did not pull an illustration rare or a Special Illustration rare. There were players who got crazy hits at this store during deckbuilding. You can hear people going crazy at random times. My pulls were good for me as they were mostly playable cards.
Closing Thoughts
This prerelease event was still enjoyable. My gameplay bailed me out in some bad spots with this not so good Water deck. I am not sure about this store now. It could be a little more organized. Something to think about for the Phantasmal Flames Prerelease event. I think Phantasmal Flames releases in November 2025 with prereleases maybe in late October 2025. People will join for sure as they will try to chase Mega Charizard X ex.
Like in the first prerelease Mega Evolutions blog post, I do think that going to a prerelease event as a first tournament is a good idea. It is better to start here versus a local tournament where it is more of a Wild Wild West competitive environment.
Thank you for reading.