So no pre-constructed books for this tournament?
Correct - all players will use the Mage Wars Arena apprentice books during Round 1with the caveat rule that they must play a different core mage each heat that they enter. This allows all players to study the spellbook before the tournament and learn what each mage is capable of during Round 1. So a player who wants to earn the maximum possible points in Round 1 by entering all 4 heats must prove their skill playing a Warlock, Priestess, Beastmaster, and Wizard.
This changes in Round 2 - the top 8 players will take their favorite core Apprentice Mage spellbook and customize it for the remainder of the tournament. Players will be able to add spells from the Core Set to the spells already included in the Apprentice spellbook that they select. So the top 8 apprentices get to graduate to full mage status during the tournament. Experienced mages still get a chance to use their design skills while new players get a chance to learn the rules in smaller increments.
Tom