I've never been to my LCS's prereleases or tournaments so I can't say on that. I appreciate the Pokémon tcg community but its not my vibe, so I just buy my shit and leave.
As for Obsidian Flames there's been nothing major leaked so far, so its hard to tell if it'll be a banger of a set. Regardless though it's going to be a challenge for the set to compete with 151 in Sept.