Players begin with a predetermined set of unopened boosters, minimum of 5 boosters. Each player gets the same number of boosters from each expansion set. For instance, if John gets a two boosters from Gold Edition, one from A Perfect Cut and two from Broken Blades, every other players gets that combination as well.

Once players have acquired their boosters, they are arranged randomly at a table called a Council. Generally, you don't want more than 10 players per Council, so if you have more than 10, you may want to split the players into 2 Councils.

Once arranged and seated in their Councils, players may open their first booster, determined by the tournament organizer. Players may look through that booster and select one card from that pack. Once that card has been selected, it becomes part of their card library and is no longer considered part of that booster pack. The rest of the booster is turned face down and passed to the person on his left. Once everyone has selected their card, they may pick up the booster that was just passed to them and select another card for their card library, again passing the remains of the booster to the person on their left. This continues until the last card is selected and there are no more cards.

Once the first booster is depleted, the tournament organizer signals which booster players open next. Like the first booster, players select their cards, but this time players pass the booster to the right instead of the left. Players continue until that booster is depleted and go on to the third booster. The passing direction continues to alternate, with odd-numbered boosters passed to the left and even-numbered boosters passed to the right.

After all the boosters have been depleted, players select the Stronghold and Wind they wish to play from a list approved by the tournament organizer. Upon selection of the Stronghold and Wind, players get 9 cards automatically added to their card library. They get 3 Gifts and Favors, 3 Dragon Dancers. Depending on the Faction they've selected, their Clan Holdings are listed below:

Crab: Iron Mine
Crane: Marketplace
Dragon: Gold Mine
Lion: Copper Mine
Mantis: Kobune Port
Phoenix: Silver Mine
Ratling: Treasure Hoard
Scorpion: Geisha House
Shadowlands: Obsidian Mine
Unicorn: Stables

Strongholds, Winds, and automatic Holdings should be supplied by the tournament organizer. Proxies may be used.

After players collect their Holdings, players examine their card libraries and create 30/30 decks for play. All card count restrictions in the rulebook are waived, so players may include as many copies of any card in their decks as they were able to draft. The Uniqueness rule is not waived during game play. Restrictions on cards being playable only by certain factions are also not waived, as they are in standard Sealed Deck tournaments. All other standard Sealed Deck tournament rules apply.