TGP Dispatch: 12/16/25

Hello and welcome to the last TGP Dispatch of 2025! There’s some housekeeping items to address, but we’ll get to that at the end. Right now, we’ve gotta put a firm focus on what’s going on at TGP for our last week of the year.

(we’re closed December 24 – January 1. We will reopen on January 2 with regular business hours)

This week, we’ve got a continuation of Sorcery locals with Gothic packs in the store, it’s a Riftbound locals week as well, and Gundam is continuing as well, it’s an MTG Chaos Draft week, lots of stuff happening. It’s the final week of Commander League X, more on that later, and we’ve got the monthly Mini Paint Night running with a special promotion: buy a drink, get a mini! for free!

That’s a free mini, and all you gotta do is buy a drink! come hang out and paint with us in the lowest-stakes fashion possible, take some big swings, don’t worry about messing it up, it’s gonna be a fun, chill and lovely time! That’s Thursday around six, so we’ll see you there.

Friday Night Magic this week will be a Standard set, whether that’s Final Fantasy of ATLA is TBD, and you’re welcome to make your voice heard on the matter in the TGP Discord if you so choose.

Saturday is the FINALE TOURNAMENT for COMMANDER LEAGUE X, by the way. I’m sure you know all about that. See you there, League Players. Best of luck to all, fight well and with honor. Tournament starts at noon and goes ’till it’s done, there’s gonna be a whole lot of raffle prizes and fun stuff to celebrate the tenth season of League and the year we’ve all made it through together.

Speaking of the end of the year, and things you’ve probably heard about by now:

TGP Slacker’s Holiday Market

market open from noon to six

Here’s all the details, for the curious.

But, the elevator pitch is: we’re calling it a “Slacker’s Market” because if you haven’t found just the right something for just the right somebody, this might just be the place! We’ve got some specially-curated vendors with tables open in The Gathering Place from noon to six on Sunday, and all comers are welcome to browse wares, grab a drink, and help us send off 2025 in style.

It’s sort of a party, definitely a market, and a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon. We’ll see you there!

Now, the aforementioned housekeeping items. Expect a larger post outlining details, providing reasoning, and more. There’s a big wrap-up coming, at some point. You’ll see it when it does. But, a few important things are changing in 2026 at TGP. Here’s a couple quick hits that, again, you’ll hear more about later. But, for now, if you have any questions or want to talk, please directly contact victor@thegatheringplacegames.com via email or reach out to ludovician_vega (which is also Victor) in the TGP discord via DM.

First, in 2026, TGP will be taking towing in our parking lot far more seriously. No parking on the side wall next to the building, no blocking people in, no parking your car in the lot and walking away. The tow company is currently an on-demand service, something we call when we have an issue. That will never change, we’re not going to allow any towing company to run roughshod in our parking lot. But, with that in mind, we’re going to be a lot more likely to get vehicles out of the lot in the year to come. We’ve seen our parking lot posted elsewhere online as a place to park for free on game days, a lot to leave your car over the weekend, and one of Chapel Hill’s “best places to park downtown without paying for it.” Our lot is for patrons and staff of The Gathering Place and Alpha Pie, and it’s free for the purpose of coming to TGP/AP. A parking page will soon be added to the TGP site to assist folks in understanding our situation, and the larger picture of Chapel Hill’s downtown parking.

Second, in 2026, The Gathering Place will no longer allow outside food from non-local restaurants. No McDonalds, no Raising Cane’s, no chains, none of that. If you buy it local, you’re welcome to eat it here. Everything else stays where you bought it or in your car. We’ll post more about in-store policy and maybe even some of our favorite spots to eat, maybe, on the TGP site sometime soon.

Third, the TGP Discord. It’s a lovely place, and a helpful tool. Changes have already started today, and more are in the pipeline for 2026. We’ll talk more about this later but, for now, know the Discord isn’t going anywhere — but how it functions will be changing specifically to facilitate more in-person interactions and meeting up to actually play games and do fun stuff.

Sorry if this got to sounding a little serious, but, y’know, sometimes things are a little serious even when they’re about a card shop in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

I hope you have an excellent rest of your week, a wonderful holiday, and I sincerely am looking forward to seeing you around even more in 2026.

-Victor