Beginner-Friendly MTG Commander League

A smaller, curated and more personal experience meant for newer folks in the space and scene. Players will choose their own preconstructed deck to start with, like usual. The main difference is size, personal attention and the week-over-week pack slot mechanics.

BFL will feature a fixed $20/week structure, which comes with curated packs for each player and personal knowledge from staff. To keep things manageable and provide the experience we want, the Beginner Friendly League is capped at 36 players, or, nine full pods of four. Here’s a short form details breakdown:

• League Entry: $30 + cost of a precon (or TGP’s “uncorking” fee if you wish to bring your own deck) Here’s a link to all the preconstructed MTG Commander decks The Gathering Place has in stock!
• Boxes to keep League decks at TGP will be provided, League players can also purchase a 100-count box of Dragon Shield sleeves, at a discount, from TGP. Sleeves for League players are $10, players are welcome to bring their own sleeves if they wish.
• Each player will start with a prerelease kit of their choice, taken from a selection of Lorwyn: Eclipsed, Outlaws of Thunder Junction, Core Set 2019/20, or Spider-Man.
• $20/week for three packs personally curated for you and your deck, and talked with you about by TGP staff
• 36 player cap
• Tuesday, 2/3 — League begins! Meetups at TGP every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday during regular Commander pod play.
• Saturday, 2/21 — League Party and pre-tournament, for seeding in the finale
• Saturday, 3/7 — League Finale Tournament

Sign ups for Beginner-Friendly League are in-store at The Gathering Place

It’s strongly recommended for BFL players to join the TGP Discord! It’s a great place to find games, get a line on potential trades, and the private Beginner League channel offers a direct line for advice on your deck, what packs / cards you’re looking for, and more.

The Beginner-Friendly League will largely follow the rules and structure laid out in the Flagship League document, so here’s a link to that for anyone who’d like to read up on the whole deal. That said, the structure here is pretty simple.

You start with a preconstructed deck, you open some packs. You make some changes, meet some people, play some games. You trade cards, you open more packs, you make more changes. Week over week, your formerly preconstructed deck evolves in the way you’re building it, and you get to know the general goal and play pattern of the deck you’re gradually building over time, as well as the decks of your fellow League players. You make more conscious trades, you keep building. You dig through the League Bulk box to see if there’s something cool in there you need, some treasure previously overlooked. You play in the tournament(s), you have a great time. At the end of League, you’ve got a deck that’s unmistakably your own, built entirely by you, and now well-played and well-loved. “League was pretty cool,” you think to yourself. “Maybe I’ll play in the next one.” and then you ride off into the sunset in a neon purple Lamborghini Countach, sipping a Cherry Coke, listening to synth music and thinking about who your next commander might be.

Or something like that.