TGP Dispatch: 8/26/25
This week at The Gathering Place, you can expect to see MTG Commander meetups happening, Sorcery players drafting, Gundam locals firing off and a great deal more!
We’re officially locked in with Bandai, so Gundam local will be featuring prize support in the form of packs for Top 4, promos for participation, and the special Bandai promo for the tournament winner. Gundam is picking up steam, so we’ll see you Newtypes there for some mobile suit action!
Friday Night Magic is about to be another round of FINAL FANTASY draft, so come on down Friday evening to crack packs and draft some of Magic’s most flavorful and fun cards. FF Limited seems to have a good bit of staying power, and we’re glad we picked up some extra boxes to keep the good times rolling.
Saturday night, we’re bringing back an instant classic: Biddie’s Night Bingo is back! The second iteration of what just might become a semi-regular feature is on the table and starting at 6:00 p.m. – bingo cards will be free to all comers, and we’ll have some nice little prizes for folks lucky enough to hit the coveted B-I-N-G-O.
Noon on Sunday, we’re hosting the first-ever TGP Flesh and Blood cash tournament. Exactly what it says on the tin: $25 entry for high-stakes FAB action and cash tournament spoils. Battle with your best, tournament-level rules enforcement and all relative regulations apply. See you there! (you can preregister for the event here)
Since we’re close to ending August, here’s some stuff to keep in mind and on your calendar:
- CEDH Dual Land Tournament, Saturday 9/6
- Warhammer 40k Kill Team Monthly Meetup, Sunday, 9/7
- CEDH Invitational, Saturday 9/13
- MTG Vintage Cash Tournament, Saturday 9/13
- MTG EOE Sealed RCQ, Sunday 9/14
- MTG Commander League X Kickoff Event, Tuesday 9/16
- MTG Spider-Man Prerelease Weekend, 9/19 – 9/21
As always, you can see the rest of what’s happening week after week and month after month at TGP over on the calendar, now featuring dates running through December as we work to plan the rest of our year out. See you around, have a great start to your week!
TGP Dispatch: 8/19/25
This week at The Gathering Place: Commander League’s summer session finale tournament, Flesh and Blood Living Legends, MTG Old School Thursday, an MTG Standard RCQ, and more!
Before we get into the weeklies, tournaments and updates – some big news from TGP, perhaps the biggest news we’ve shared in a while:
THE TABLES NO LONGER WOBBLE. THEY DO NOT MOVE. THEY ARE SOLID, STABLE. LIKE A ROCK. LIKE A BOULDER. LIKE A MIGHTY OAK TREE, A BEAUTIFUL AND ETERNAL FOUNDATION ON WHICH TO BUILD YOUR LEGACY.
We heard you. We made it happen. We hope you enjoy your improved TGP Table Experience.
Check the full TGP Weekly Calendar (and the rest of month, and also September, and so on and so forth) right here!
Quick hits on times and days for the week:
- MTG Old School: Thursday, 7:30 p.m.
- MTG Standard RCQ: Saturday, 11:30 a.m.
- FAB Living Legends Tournament: Saturday, 12:00 p.m.
- Commander League: Summer Session Finale: Sunday, 12:00 p.m.
Since we’re in the home stretch of August, it’s worth bringing a little attention to what’s happening in-store come September.
- CEDH Dual Land Tournament, Saturday 9/6
- Warhammer 40k Kill Team Monthly Meetup, Sunday, 9/7
- CEDH Invitational, Saturday 9/13
- MTG Vintage Cash Tournament, Saturday 9/13
- MTG EOE Sealed RCQ, Sunday 9/14
- MTG Spider-Man Prerelease Weekend, 9/19 – 9/21
As always, thanks for hanging out, thanks for playing and thanks for making The Gathering Place your neighborhood hangout. See you around!
TGP Dispatch: 8/12/25
This week at The Gathering Place, August continues in earnest. Lots of weekly events are recurring, so all the usual suspects are in the shop this week. D&D Learn to Play sessions, one-shots, Magic Commander Nights, meetups and board games free to play on the wall — same as it ever was.
The banner item for the week is, without a doubt, the prerelease for the new One Piece TCG set: OP-12, Legacy of the Master! Bandai seems as bullish as ever on this one, promising brand-new cards, six Leaders and new effects, a focus on attribute-driven decks and promising “a twist on traditional gameplay.”
The Gathering Place will have two OP-12 prerelease events, one on Saturday and another on Sunday. 8/16 begins at 1:00 p.m. and 8/17 starts at 12:00 p.m. Entry per player is $30, we’ll see you there to crack packs, build decks and engage in some good ol’ fashioned high-seas fisticuffs.
Speaking of Bandai, Gundam TCG weeklies continue, and the first official Bandai-backed event is next Wednesday’s get-together. If you’ve been waiting ti jump on the train, TGP still has starter decks in stock for $20.
Worth noting, next weekend is looking STACKED, PACKED and CRACKED. Saturday, 8/23 has both a FAB Living Legend Skirmish and an MTG Standard RCQ on the docket, and then Sunday is the Finale Tournament of Commander League’s Summer Session.
Next week is also FWOC for UNC students, and the rumblings are already happening around town as The Return takes full effect. Keep that in mind, and know that we’re about to add a special “Parking” section to the TGP website.
Be safe, be well, we’ll see you around!
TGP Dispatch: 8/5/25
This week at The Gathering Place, the month of August formally begins and we’re kicking off another section of summer at your favorite neighborhood game shop + 30-tap bar!
Specifically, this upcoming Saturday, we’re hosting the usual Cash Tournament. It rotates in format between Modern, Legacy and Vintage. This month? It’s Legacy! $30 entry, entry in the prize pool, 15 proxies per deck permitted, and all proxies must be clearly representative of the intended card and contain all information the official printing does in an easy-to-identify fashion).
For the Magic players with more of an old-school bent, we’re also hosting another Old School Thursday this week! For the uninitiated, every first and third Thursday for $15 you get a cold beer, a hot slice of pizza, and the chance to party like it’s ’93 jam some Old School MTG!
This month, and this Sunday specifically, TGP is also hosting its first formal Warhammer 40k Kill Team meetup! We had that special one-off tournament a while back, we’ve had some folks coming in casual-style to play some games, and we’re excited to make it a monthly feature for real. We’ll be setting space aside for 40k this Sunday, games start at 1:00, so we’ll see you there when things get grimdark and tactical at TGP!
Since it is the first week of August, worth noting everything else that’s happening this month. Check in right here for details, event guides, and pop in the Discord or call the shop if you’ve got any questions or concerns.
Be well, be safe, and we’ll see you around!
TGP Dispatch: 7/29/25
This week at The Gathering Place, we’re kicking off a new month and there’s plenty to discuss in terms of what’s going on at your friendly neighborhood game shop!
It’s Week 9 of Commander League (the finale tournament is on Sunday, 8/24!) Sorcery is back on its Constructed grindset, we’re hosting another MTG Old School this Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and Trivia is BACK in a BIG WAY this Friday returning post-EOE with bonus prizes and all the bells and whistles.
Summer at TGP continues to heat up with August’s CEDH Dual Land tournament on Saturday, as well! $30 buy-in, a Dual Land to first, payout to Top 4 and prizing based on attendance!
As August begins, here’s a few things to keep on your calendar:
- Saturday, 8/9: MTG Legacy Cash Tournament
- Sunday, 8/10: Warhammer 40k Kill Team Meetup
- 8/16 and 8/17: One Piece OP-12 Prerelease Weekend
- Saturday, 8/23: MTG Standard RCQ
- Saturday, 8/23: FAB Living Legend Skirmish
- Sunday, 8/24: Commander League: Summer Session – TOURNAMENT III, THE FINALE
- Saturday, 8/30: Biddie’s Night Bingo Vol. II
- Sunday, 8/31: FAB Cash Tournament
Expect a full “this month at TGP” announcement on August 1 (especially relevant as we see some new additions to the TGP lineup, like Gundam!) and some other special things popping up here and there, as well. Special things like Ben getting showered in packs, and our love, at the same time
see you around, friends!
TGP Dispatch: 7/22/25
This week at The Gathering Place, get ready to go to spaaaaaaaaaaaace!
Magic’s new set, a Spelljammers type beat where the Blind Eternities and the space between worlds is host to untold wonders and unforeseen dangers, Edge of Eternities is MTG’s foray into science fiction flavored fantasy and things are certainly taking off! Shocklands back in Standard, some of these cards sure look like they might have an effect on other formats, EOE has some real potential.
With all that hype on the table, you can preregister for a prerelease tournament at TGP online, and here’s the official schedule:
Friday, 7/25
2:30 p.m. (sealed prerelease tournament)
7:00 p.m. (sealed prerelease tournament)
Saturday, 7/26
12:00 p.m. (sealed prerelease tournament)
4:00 p.m. (sealed prerelease tournament)
Sunday, 7/26
4:00 p.m. (Two Headed Giant sealed prerelease tournament)
Again, registration for these tournaments is being done via the TGP website! Click here to snag your ticket for the prerelease event(s) you want to play in!
Other than big-mode MTG prerelease tournaments, we’ve also got a One Piece Box Break Tournament on Sunday! The event kicks off at 1:00 p.m. – it’s $25 entry per player and every six players who enter add another box of One Piece packs to the prize pile.
We’re also getting ready for August’s monthly CEDH Tournament, but there’s a whole lot happening in August. Check out our shop event calendar here, and expect to see a full August breakdown in next week’s announcement!
TGP Dispatch: 7/15/25
This week at The Gathering Place, we’re hosting our monthly Mini Paint Night, an MTG Old School Thursday, a celebration of all things Pokémon on Saturday, a clash for cash starring some ancient Magic: The Gathering history, a Digimon TCG prerelease and the second tournament for Commander League’s Summer Session (can you believe it’s Week 7 already?)!
(all that in addition to our usual roster of events, conveniently located and listed on our full weekly/monthly calendar – and now featured in a ‘highlights’ section directly on the soon-to-be-overhauled event page on the TGP website!)
Here’s some event details, taken straight from the calendar:
MTG THEME DECK CASH CLASH, 12:00 pm, Saturday 7/19
EVENT CANCELLED
While combing through the treasure troves in the TGP basement, crawling the depths of the Card Dungeon, we found a box of some classic, vintage, aged-like-fine-wine MTG Theme Decks! If you’ve got fond memories of what Magic once was, nostalgia for when precon product was this weird, a curiosity to see what all the fuss was about back in the earlier days of the world’s most popular TCG — this is a great opportunity to play in a fun, environment!
Here’s the tournament details:
$40 entry, you receive a random, sealed 60-card theme deck. 16 player capacity, 4 rounds, payout to top 4, 50 minute rounds, best 2 of 3
Here’s a link to sign up for the Theme Deck Cash Clash!
EVENT CANCELLED
Pokéfest, 3:00 pm, Saturday 7/19
A few weeks back, The Gathering Place hosted a small event focused on meeting up, trading cards, and potentially jamming a couple Pokémon games. We want to continue to turn up that dial, so we’re holding another fun, casual, friendly day of Pokémon-centric stuff!
What’s special this time? Glad you asked!
We’ve put together a display, similar to the ones we make full of Magic cards for conventions, of nothing but super cool Pokémon cards! We’ll have all those illustrations, holos, rarities and more neat stuff upstairs and available for perusal and purchase. We’ll be putting aside space specifically for folks to talk, trade and play Pokémon AND we’ve lined up a friend of the store to come by with a custom-built Pokémon Cube for up to 8 players to draft! Here’s the details on the Cube which you should totally check out because it looks like it RULES.
Here’s a link to sign up to play the PokéCube!
Digimon BT-22, Cyber Eden Prerelease, 1:00 pm, Sunday 7/20
$30 entry gets you a slot in the digital world, six packs to play a prerelease with prizing and promos based on attendance!
COMMANDER LEAGUE SUMMER SESSION: TOURNAMENT 2, 3:00 pm, Sunday 7/20
The second in the series, smack dab in the middle of the Summer Session, it’s Tournament 2/II/Two! All Commander League players are cordially invited to battle it out once again, to continue field testing decks and strats in a competitive environment, all on the road to TGP’s final Summer Session Showdown.
We’ve got prizes for winners, raffles throughout the event, and entry was already covered when you joined League! So, we’ll see you there!
(here’s the link to the tournament signup)
That’s a quick roundup of what’s coming in hot this week! Other items of note, all the cases have been restocked with some fresh inventory, the Spicy Foils box is refreshed, and the air conditioning is FIXED and we are STOKED. See you around, have a great rest of your week!
TGP Dispatch: 7/8/25
This week at The Gathering Place, it’s week six of the Commander League Summer Session, Sorcery’s get-together is a constructed battle between rival wizards, we’re hosting a Biddie’s Night complete with BINGO and Scrabble, there’s an MTG Modern RCQ with one slot on the line and infinite TCG glory – it’s all happening at TGP!
Here’s some info, taken live and direct from the TGP calendar:
SUNDAY: MTG MODERN RCQ
starts @ 11:30 p.m. / $30 Entry
Tournament is Swiss rounds, rounds based on attendance. This is a single-slot RCQ, so bring you A-game and battle your way to an invitational qualifier to find your footing in Magic’s pro-player scene. With that in mind, decklists are required, and the event will be running at a competitive rules enforcement level.
SATURDAY: “Biddies Night” – TGP BINGO and a SCRABBLE CASH TOURNAMENT
6:00 pm
A special TGP event! Put on your finest orthopedic shoes and hold on to your hard candies, because we’re hosting a Biddies Night at TGP! We’re running BINGO with some fabulous prizes, and also hosting a limited-entry SCRABBLE cash tournament!
As many people who want can enter to play BINGO, but the Scrabble tournament is limited-entry. A maximum of 8 entrants, $5 entry each, all entry right back in the prize pool! Don’t spend it all in one place, sweetie!
Of course, the events keep on coming and they don’t stop coming, so here’s a look at the immediate future, as well:
Saturday, July 19: Pokéfest!
An opportunity to get together, look through binders, make trades, play games and have fun! TGP is digging through our stock of Pokémon cards to bring out some extra-special items for this event, and we’ve also got a line on a custom-made Pokémon TCG Cube for drafting!
Saturday, July 19: MTG THEME DECK CASH CLASH
We found a whole bunch of old-school MTG Theme Decks in the dungeon, and we had a hell of an idea: get ‘em all together, hand ‘em out randomly for $40 each, and players take those 60-card sealed theme decks and battle it out in an event with 16-player capacity across four rounds with direct payout to Top 4. Wanna clash for cash, schoolyard style? This is your chance!
Sunday, July 20: Summer Commander League Tournament II
You know what it is, another League tournament stacks with wall-to-wall EDH action, raffles, cool prizes, and plenty of packs to the winners. See you there, League players!
Sunday, July 20: Digimon BT-22, Cyber Eden Prerelease
Digimon. Digital monsters. Digimon are the champions. Prerelease, Digimon Card Game, Digimon Cyber Eden.
Sunday, July 27: One Piece Box Break Tournament ROUND 2!!!
Every six players who enter add another box of One Piece packs to the prize pile, and we’re going BIG for this tournament! Magic ain’t the only TCG in town, and One Piece is coming in HOT with heat in the packs and fast-paced games on the table.
TGP Dispatch: 7/1/25
This week at the Gathering Place: we’re hosting a block party cookout on Friday afternoon, special Red/White/Blue Commander pods for Friday Night Magic, Comedy N Dice is back in town for this Saturday’s comedy night, and the next CEDH Dual Land Tournament is this Sunday!
It’s also week five of Commander League: Summer Session, and things are certainly COOKING over in Commander League. As summer continues to heat up, so do the decks in play. The next tournament is Sunday, July 20, best of luck to all League players on the battlefield and in their pulls!
In place of the usual First Saturday TGP Comedy Showcase, this week we’re delighted to announce the return of Comedy N Dice! Here’s what you can expect, straight from the dice’s mouth:
Comedy N Dice is a live role playing game where local comedians Tyler Wood, Grant Janik, Mark Brady, Shane Smith and their friends take you on a one of a kind, fanciful roleplaying adventure.
Will they succeed? Will they perish? Either way, you’ll laugh until you 20 sided die
Content warnings: This is an adult show with adult language. There will likely be fantasy violence and some adult content.
The show is FREE!
And, of course, CEDH is here again! Come out on Sunday July 6 at 12 for the Dual Land Tourney.
$30 entry, with a Dual Land going to 1st place! Pay out to top 4 with more prizing based on attendance! Sign up at topdeck here:
https://topdeck.gg/event/cedh-dual-land-tourney-2
This week’s banner news is the officially unofficial Gathering Place / Alpha Pie block party cookout taking place on Friday, July 4. We’re cooking up a whole lot of excellent summertime classics, and we’re cordially inviting all our friends and neighbors to come by and grab a plate for free. We want to provide a place for folks to feel welcome, to get fed, to hang out with friends, and to feel like things just might be alright. We’ll see you there!
Also — we’re in the process of getting calendar sorted out through November (!!!) so keep an eye on the usual spot between now and next week’s announcements, and we’ll see you around!
TGP Dispatch: 6/24/25
This week at The Gathering Place we’re celebrating Pride with an MTG Commander Event on Sunday, Sorcery is playing Constructed this week, FAB is still sailing the High Seas, there’s a whole lot happening!
Here’s some details for the Pride event on Sunday, taken live and direct from Instagram:
Come celebrate Pride with us here at The Gathering Place and close the month with TGP’s Pride Celebration on June 29!
We’ve got a full day of events planned:
MTG Pride Commander Pods: 3 p.m.
All commander-eligible creatures have the Partner ability, signups start at 2 p.m., play begins at 3. Everybody who signs up will be entered into raffles for MTG Pride cards, including some one-of-a-kind TGP staff-made alters!
D&D one-shot: 12 p.m. and 6 p.m.
TWO time slots open for our Pride D&D one-shot! Answer the call to adventure, and begin a quest called “Curse of the Salamancer!”
A spellcasting salamander accosts an adventuring party on a Very Important Quest, and curses them to be approximately his size. He won’t turn them back from being tiny until they get his Very Important Item back!
The D&D table is a capped event at 8 people for each of the time slots. So, sign up in advance on our website to reserve your seat! The ticket includes a seat at the one shot and a $5 drink ticket!
12 p.m. ticket
6 p.m. ticket
Crafts at the Bar: 12 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Supplies for bracelet making and coloring books will be available at the bar. Come join us at the bar to craft, drink, and yap!
What else is happening at TGP in the near future?
- Friday, July 4: FNM Red, White and Blue (Jeskai Constructed Decks ONLY, jank ENCOURAGED)
- Sunday, July 6: CEDH Dual Land Tournament
- Sunday, July 13: MTG Modern RCQ
- Saturday, July 19: Pokéfest!
- Sunday, July 20: Summer Commander League Tournament II
- Sunday, July 20: Digimon BT-22, Cyber Eden Prerelease
- Saturday, July 26: MTG THEME DECK CASH CLASH
- Sunday, July 27: One Piece Box Break Tournament ROUND 2!!!
Got questions, concerns, wanna talk card shop? Get in touch! We’ll see you around!
