MLP Collectible Card Game NYC Prerelease Party · 7:43pm Dec 8th, 2013
Gooooooooooood morning Everypony! 
Pirate here, and as requested I've got a full report on the MLP CCG event that went down on Satruday the 7th at Kings Games in Brooklyn, NY. (Click the pics for full-size!)
My wife and I started our epic journey around 4:45am, catching the first train of the morning from Albany to NYC. What did we use to occupy ourselves during the ~3-hour trip? Why, fanfiction and vidyagaems, of course!
I worked on the next chapter of Stolen Gem, while Mel busted out some oldskool Mario Bros 3 action
We got to Kings Games a little after 10am, and were just in time to jump on the preregistration line and get our #swag.
We were in the first dozen or so to sign in, but in the end I think we had close to 60 people show up.
Note: these two pics were taken later in the day after someponies had already headed off; the ones we had of the packed house ended up too blurry, 
The haul for the day (not counting the stuff you could win at the raffles or the freebies they handed out; more on those later) included your choice of one of two starter decks (Twilight/Applejack and Rainbow Dash/Rarity), two booster packs, a playmat, a promotional poster (still says November 2013, 
), a Rainbow Dash Pre-release promotional card, and a swag-bag to haul your loot.
Anypony else think it's weird that Twilight's separated from her closest friends and is looking at them kind of... angrily? 
One of the surprises they had in store for us was that we got a visit from Dean Irwin, the CEO of Enterplay, the company responsible for not only the CCG, but the trading cards, dog tags, and assorted other pony merch.
...And we got a terrible picture of him! 
He handed out a bunch of free stuff, including extra booster packs, trading card promos, dog tags, and a few autograph cards from folks like Tara Strong, Nicole Oliver, and Andrea Libman.
Mel got one of the Rainbow Dash trading cards and a set of dog tags that she wore for the rest of the day. We also got Dean to sign a copy of the card 'Marvelous Chapeau', which has a misprint in this first-run batch.
The next round of goodies came later in the day, where they handed out t-shirts (Knighty, if you ever read this you know what it makes me think of! 
) and then raffled off the dozen or so Nightmare Moon promo cards. In an uncharacteristic show of luck, I managed to land one.
I performed the celebratory dance of my people, which I doubt I could recreate even if I tried, but apparently most who witnessed it found it very entertaining.
There were a few 'winners' when it came to opening booster packs as well. At least one person snagged themselves Dr. Hooves, and Mel (who somehow always pulls off stuff like this) managed to pull an Octavia foil card.
I fangasmed so hard I think I had an aneurysm... 
OK! On to playing the game! First step: read da rules!
Mel: I'll wear this moustache! Me: Hey, c'mon, get serious!
...You're not even going to read them, are you? 
Mel: Noperooni! But I am going to fix this spelling error I found! I mean, just because he used to be a big mean meany-pants doesn't mean that they shouldn't spell his name right; right? Me: 
A little shuffling action, and...
It's Time to Du-du-du-d-d-d-Duel! (sorry, couldn't help it, 
)
The game itself seems really complex at first, moreso than Yu-Gi-Oh and Magic. A lot of the rules and timing seem a little strange but once you start playing and get the hang of it you realize that it's a well-oiled machine that had some serious thought put into it. Mel was using the Twilight/Applejack deck and I used Rainbow Dash/Rarity. Though each deck has two Mane characters, you pick one for each game and set the other aside. Mel went with Twilight and I went with Rarity (partly because I didn't understand how Rainbow Dash's 'flip' mechanic worked at first). Each player has a stack of 10 'Problem' cards, and the goal is to accumulate a total of 15 points by solving these problems. The full set of rules can now be found over on EQD, for those interested. I managed to edge out Mel at the very end of our match, but it was a close call!
Next up, Mel vs Cups! Cups, in addition to being EQD's CCG guru, was also part of the game's development team, helping to choose images for the cards, come up with fun flavor text, and playtest the game before release. I didn't get to see much of their game as I was busy getting roflstomped by a local NYC brony named Oliver, but Mel says she didn't lose by very much!
We ended up leaving King's Games around 3:00 and heading back into the city to do some sightseeing at Times Square and Rockefeller Center before catching the train and getting home around 12:30am on Sunday. All in all, it was a great time! We got to play a great game, win some nifty prizes, and make lots of new friends. We're definitely excited for the full release next weekend and can't wait to get our hooves on the Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy starter decks too!
This is MrAskAPirate and MelloReflections, signing off! See ya on the seas, kids!
BONUS! We ran into RainbowBob!
Erm... sorta.
Lucky guys! Glad to see you both had a great time!
Dude! This is awesome!
Though the last thing I need is another trading card game dominating my life...
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I'm glad you liked it! This is only CCG that Mel has been really excited about, so I have a feeling I'm gonna be jumping in full-force,
Guess who's spending all of her Christmas money on more cards!
Probably not me, because I usually get gift cards to stores I don't like (-cough-Le Chateau-cough-) and Avon. Apparently after knowing me for the past decade of my life, my aunt still doesn't know that I kind of take offense to gifts of soap.
But you're so lucky! Have fun with your cards!
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I know that feel; I've stopped giving my family ideas about what to get me for gifts because they go through thr trouble to ask but then get me other random stuff anyway,