TGP Dispatch: 6/17/25
This week at The Gathering Place, we’ve got an MTG Vintage Cash Tournament, a One Piece TCG BOX BREAK Tournament, a meetup for Pokémon fans and TCG players, and a whole lot more!
It’s Week 3 of Commander League’s Summer Session, shoutout to each and every League player who showed up to play at the first tournament this past weekend and a congrats to our first final table. The next tournament is Sunday, July 20! See you then! (and hopefully before then, too)
It’s also the third week of the month, which means we’re holding another Old School Thursday AND it’s time for our monthly mini painting party! Friday Night Magic is going to be another shot at racking up points for Chocobo racing, same deal for Sunday’s draft, and there’s still some Final Fantasy in stock for folks looking to snag some real neat pieces of cardboard.
Of especially interesting note this week, we’re holding a special little event squarely focused on Pokémon. Saturday, starting at 4:00 p.m., we’re specifically opening up space for Pokémon TCG players and aficionados to meet up, bring binders, trade cards, play some games of Pokémon and take a little time to get to know other Pokémon fans in the community. TGP is also using this event to gauge interest in a potential, larger, more organized Pokémon-centric event in the future — so if you want more Pokémon at the shop, come out and say hi!
As always, you can find the full list of events right here.
Quick things to keep on the calendar:
- Sunday, 6/29: MTG Commander Pride Event
- Saturday, 7/5: CEDH Dual Land Tournament
- Sunday, 7/13: MTG Modern RCQ
Thanks for checking in, and we’ll see you around!
TGP Dispatch: 6/10/25
This week at The Gathering Place, things are looking pretty stacked! The first Commander League tournament, Chocobo Racing, high-seas Flesh and Blood action, a CEDH tournament this Saturday for a Dual Land – there’s a lot on the docket!
With the Final Fantasy prerelease firmly in the rearview and Square’s powerhouse IP rotating into MTG’s Standard landscape, thing are about to get a whole lot wilder in Magic. For those who haven’t yet had a chance to play, good news is TGP is participating in the Chocobo Racing Series!
Each limited event you attend and play the new hotness that is Final Fantasy – like this week’s Friday Night Magic, for example – you accumulate points that eventually earn you Chocobo-based prizes, with the end goal being a limited-edition Chocobo pin! These prizes are only available while they last in-store, so it truly is a race! There’s another Chocobo Racing event this Sunday as well, if you want to double up.
This Saturday, TGP is hosting its CEDH monthly tournament, this go ‘round all our competition-level players are gunning for a Dual Land! $30 entry with all going to the prize pool, additional Top 4 prizing based on attendance. Here’s a TopDeck link, good luck!
Of course, CEDH isn’t the only tournament in town. Commander League’s Summer Session has its first tournament this Sunday, starting at noon. We’re only in week two, so decks are still very much in their early phases, and this is a great opportunity to test your precon out in a live environment, meet fellow League players, and hopefully make some choice trades. See you there!
Other events of note, Flesh and Blood’s Friday event is a draft of High Seas, the Digimon Evolution Cup Vol. 1 event is on Sunday, you can see everything happening this week (and this month, and further into the future) on the TGP event calendar, right here.
TGP Dispatch: 6/3/25
This week at the Gathering Place is lined up to be a busy one: there’s new Flesh and Blood out there as Gravy Bones and company take to the High Seas, the Summer Session of Commander League has officially begun and, not to bury the lead on this, but Final Fantasy’s trip down MTG memory lane is hitting this week like a truck. We’ve got sealed prerelease events all weekend, so here’s the official days/times:
(all weekly + monthly events are available on the TGP Event Calendar, of course)
Friday June 6th @ 2:30 pm and 7:00pm
Saturday June 7th @ 12pm and 4pm
Sunday June 8th @ 12pm – Two-Headed Giant
Entry to each is $35 per player, and registration is available online to any and everyone who wishes to secure their spot in advance. Just head over the TGP preorders page, and search for “Final Fantasy.” You’ll see the events right there.
Of course, there’s also the rest of the month of June to consider, so here’s what’s cooking at The Gathering Place:
- June 6/7/8 – Final Fantasy Prerelease Weekend
- Saturday, June 14 – CEDH Dual Land Tournament
- Sunday, June 15 – Commander League: Summer Session Tournament One
- Sunday, June 15 – Digimon Evolution Cup Vol. I
- Thursday, June 19 – Monthly Mini Paint Night
- Saturday, June 21 – MTG Vintage Cash Tournament
- Saturday, June 21 – Pokémon Trades + TCG Gathering
- Sunday, June 22 – One Piece BOX BREAK Tournament
- Sunday, June 29 – MTG Commander Pride Event
TGP Dispatch: 5/27/25
This week at The Gathering Place: COMMANDERJAM might be the banner item, but don’t think that’s all we’ve got cooking!
It’s a Constructed week for Sorcery, Flesh and Blood is hitting the High Seas in a swashbuckling prerelease on Friday, and One Piece is moving on up with an OP-11 prerelease on Sunday!
You’ve obviously been hearing a great deal about both COMMANDERJAM and the Summer Session of Commander League, but if you’d like to learn more about either (or both!) here’s two links to details over on the TGP website:
Commander League: Summer Session:
https://gatheringplacegames.com/2025/05/20/commander-league-summer-session/
COMMANDERJAM (includes link to signup form):
https://gatheringplacegames.com/2025/05/20/commanderjam-2025/
Worth noting, pods will be put together for COMMANDERJAM on Thursday afternoon – online signups for the event will be closed at noon. If you want to get on the list (and in for the deluxe raffles we’ll be doing during the event!) get your registration in sooner rather than later!
Here’s some dates to keep in mind:
- Tuesday, 6/3: First day of Commander League, Summer Session
- Friday, 6/6 – Sunday 6/8: Final Fantasy MTG Prerelease Weekend
- Saturday 6/14: CEDH Dual Land Tournament
- Sunday, 6/15: Digimon Evolution Cup
- Saturday, 6/21: MTG Vintage Cash Tournament
- Saturday, 6/21: Pokémon Trades + TCG Gathering
- Sunday, 6/22: One Piece BOX BREAK Tournament
- Sunday, 6/29: MTG PRIDE EVENT
TGP Dispatch: 5/20/25
Here’s a quick breakdown of what’s happening this week at The Gathering Place:
(of course, you can find the full schedule of events posted here)
Commander meetups continue on the usual days, Tuesday+Thursday, and signups for the short Commander Summer League are still very much open.
Wednesday Night Sorcery is Drafting this week, so we’re cracking packs and assembling piles starting at 7:30 p.m.
Victor hosted trivia on Friday night last week, so this week Friday Night Trivia at TGP is a Ben Creed joint. Come out and answer some questions, check in over on the trivia discord channel for details+categories, if you’re so inclined.
Saturday, the second One Piece Treasure Cup is happening at the shop. The event starts at 1:00 p.m., entry is $20, and the competition is fierce, if this past Sunday’s sessions are any indication.
Speaking of competitive tournaments, this Sunday is the long-awaited Dragonstorm Sealed RCQ. Entry is $55, Swiss Rounds with top cut to draft, and a path to the Pro Tour on the line in addition to the obvious prizes and promos.
There’s more to come today, specifically posts about the Commander Summer League and CommanderJam, so keep an eye out and I’ll see you around!
TGP Dispatch: 5/13/25
It’s time, once again, for the TGP weekly announcements!
This week, we’re popping off. Old School Thursday is back, it’s monthly mini paint night week, we’ve got an MTG Legacy Cash Tournament happening on Saturday, and Sunday we’re going back-to-back with a Lorcana Store Championship tournament and the first of two (yes, TWO) One Piece TCG Treasure Cup tournaments at TGP!
For details, more information and a visual sense of what’s happening when, check out the full TGP calendar here.
You know the drill, it’s got the weekly, the monthly, it’s got what you need. Anything you’d like to ask questions about, please pop over in the ask-staff section of the TGP discord and we’d be happy to help out.
Check out these Pokémon Mystery Bundles, by the way:
Also worth noting, Commander Summer League signups are still happening, and a fresh crop of precons have been brought up from the dungeon specifically for anyone interested in Summer League play to snag and set aside. It doesn’t start until the first week in June, but you can get yourself squared away right now if you so desire. As always, precons are first-come, first-served.
Final Fantasy preorders are now full, and they’ve been taken off the TGP online store. What is still available, in terms of Final Fantasy’s imminent release, is pre-registration for prerelease weekend events. If you want to play in a prerelease tournament for Final Fantasy’s first foray into Magic: The Gathering, it is in your interest to register sooner, rather than later.
Make sure you’ve got that calendar marked for the MTG Dragonstorm Sealed RCQ on Sunday, 5/25, and I’ll be back later today with a whole entire separate post about COMMANDERJAM 2K25.
Thanks for reading, see you around, have an excellent rest of your Tuesday!
TGP Dispatch: 5/6/25
Hello and good afternoon! If you’ve been wondering what’s happening this week at The Gathering Place, Place, wonder no longer. Here’s what’s cooking (and, as always, the full calendar is available here):
Sorcery’s weekly get-together is a Draft event this week, Friday Night Magic’s draft event is most likely going to be Dragonstorm. TGP gives the people what they want, and what they want is more Dragonstorm – and also, we’re delighted to formally announce FNM Draft price has been reduced from $35 to $30. We’re doing our best to keep Magic playable and affordable, and we’re glad you’re choosing to come kick it with us when it’s time to crack packs and throw piles together.
Speaking of Dragonstorm Draft, we’re going to hold another, an additional, an extra Dragonstorm Draft this week. A little bonus MTG, because some folks have not been able to make it out to FNM, and we want to expand the field for everybody to get in on a little Tarkir action. That’s gonna be at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday.
Also this week, the MTG Spring Flourishes event has finally arrived! $25 entry, we’ll be drafting Foundations, each win across three (3) Swiss Rounds will earn you one (1) pack, and players will be able to take home re-skinned versions of the famous D&D: Honor Among Thieves Secret Lair drop! They’re pretty sweet cards, this is a cool and celebratory event, and we hope to see you there!
For Trivia this Friday, Dalton is hosting! Karaoke is back on Saturday night! Then, Sunday, we’re going to try a little something new this week: Sunday coffeeshop hours! We open at 11, and from 11-2 we’re going to play exclusively laid-back coffeeshop-inspired music, and we’ll be offering $1 off coffee drinks, cold brew and espresso alike. If you’d like to come by, read a book, and make yourself comfortable – we’d love to host your slow-paced Sunday morning.
Here’s some other stuff happening soon, the usual reminder:
- Saturday, 5/17 – MTG Legacy Cash Tournament
- One Piece Store Treasure Cup – 5/18 and 5/24
- Sunday, 5/25 – MTG Dragonstorm Sealed RCQ
- Satuday, 5/31 – COMMANDERJAM 2K25
Also, the Commander League is back for a short summer session. You’re welcome to sign up, claim your precon, and get ready to rock when the first week starts on Tuesday, 6/3. What’s Commander League? You can pop over in the TGP discord and ask all the questions you’d like, but the short version is this:
Commander League begins with you buying a Preconstructed Commander Deck from The Gathering Place. Each player’s deck remains at TGP for the duration of League, and the only cards permitted to be included are those opened by Commander League players in the course of their weekly pack pulls.
Essentially, Commander League is a limited format Commander project, encompassing weekly meetups, play sessions, and multiple tournaments. All participation in League events are covered by the initial entry free (cost of the chosen precon + $30).
We’ll make a longer post with all the Commander Summer League details soon, but for now, know you’re welcome to stop by the shop and learn more + sign up if you’re interested!
TGP Dispatch: 4/29/25
Hello and good afternoon! A quick breakdown of what’s happening at The Gathering Place this week:
There’s a CEDH Cash Tournament this Saturday, $30 entry, starts at 11:30, all the usual trappings in play. Here’s the link to the event for details + registration.
It’s also an Old School Thursday, another great opportunity to play MTG as Garfield intended. The $15 buy-in for OST gets you a chance to play some Magic with like-minded Alphas, a beer, a slice of pizza – truly, what more could you ask for $15? If you’re Old School curious and want some details, here’s a link.
FNM is a Dragonstorm Draft, Sorcery is constructed this week, the monthly comedy showcase is popping Saturday night at nine o’ clock, not to mention all the stuff happening it the near future! Here’s a quick rundown:
- Saturday, 5/3 – CEDH Cash Tournament
- Saturday, 5/10 – MTG Spring Flourishes Event
- Saturday, 5/17 – MTG Legacy Cash Tournament
- One Piece Store Treasure Cup – 5/18 and 5/24
- Sunday, 5/25 – MTG Dragonstorm Sealed RCQ
- Satuday, 5/31 – COMMANDERJAM 2K25
COMMANDERJAM 2K25 is still taking shape, but we’re making plans to have the road show stock out upstairs, pizza downstairs, and plenty of games going. Themed Commander pods, MTG deckbuilding workshops, we’re cooking up something real special. Put Saturday, 5/31, on your calendar!
Speaking of Commander, we’re working on a short Summer League. Stay tuned!
Have a great rest of your week, see you around!
TGP Dispatch: 4/22/25
Hello and good afternoon one and all!
Another week, another look through the events calendar at The Gathering Place to talk about what’s happening at, in and around the shop in the near future. This week we’ve got some very specific and special events to highlight, so without further ado:
First up, UBERCUBEATHON 2025! It’s an all-day Cube event: drafting, battling, scrapping and doing your best in pursuit of well over a thousand bucks of cash prizing and some sweet supplementary prizes up to and including a Dual Land! These cubes are built with love, this event is even bigger than last year’s iteration, and we can’t wait to see you on Saturday to cube it up!
Also, it’s been weeks – months, even – in the making: this Sunday is the Commander League Season IX FINALE! Big prizes, raffles throughout the day, the chance to showcase your finished product – your tuned and personalized well-oiled machine born of a precon deck but now an entirely different beast! As always and as you already know, there’s no additional cost to enter the tournament. We hope to see each and every Commander League player there, because Season IX has been a whole lot of fun and is certainly ending with a bang.
Here’s a link to the event: https://topdeck.gg/event/cmdr-league-tourney-3
Also worth noting, we ended up speedrunning Commander League Sason IX by a week. So you’ve got three (3) extra pack slots this week in preparation for the finale! See you on Sunday!
Also on Sunday, we’ve got a DIGIMON CARD GAME [ST-20] & [ST-21] Release Event. 1:00 pm start, $15 entry, which gets you a structure deck and a spot at the table to play for prizes and promos. Digimon. Digital monsters. Digimon are the champions.
Looking a little ahead, here’s some other notable things to keep on the calendar:
- Saturday, 5/3 – CEDH Cash Tournament
- Saturday, 5/10 – MTG Spring Flourishes Event
- Saturday, 5/17 – MTG Legacy Cash Tournament
- One Piece Store Treasure Cup – 5/18 and 5/24
- Sunday, 5/25 – MTG Dragonstorm Sealed RCQ
- Satuday, 5/31 – COMMANDERJAM 2K25
What’s COMMANDERJAM 2K25, you ask? Come back next week and we’ll talk about it! See you around!
TGP Dispatch: 4/15/25
This week at The Gathering Place we’ve got another Old School Thursday, an MTG Modern RCQ, a Digimon prerelease event, and all the usual suspects as spring continues to waver and The Pollening begins to subside.
A little bit of TPG housekeeping to start, we’ve got a healthy and active D&D community. There’s always space at the tables for anyone who would like to learn to play or join in! Introductory events are held on Wednesdays at 6:00, one-shots fire on Thursdays. If you’re interested in rolling dice and roleplaying, it’s your best bet to hop over to the TGP Discord server. There’s dedicated channels where you can talk to DMs, players, enthusiasts, and learn everything you’ll need to begin your journey(s).
Special events for the week start on Thursday, with the monthly mini paint night happening this week and another edition of Old School Thursday kicking it as Garfield intended at 7:30.
For the uninitiated of either, our monthly mini paint night happens the third Thursday of each month – we’ve got space at the bar, paints you can borrow, and we’d love to have you in to do some nerd chores and practice your painting skills in a low-key hang type of environment.
Old School Thursday fires the first and third Thursday of each month, and features a nostalgic card pool from Alpha to Fallen Empires. The aesthetics and power of iconic cards and strategic depth from ’93-’94 are on full display, and $15 buy-in gets you a piece of the action, a piece of pizza, and a pint of beer!
Friday Night Magic is going to be another draft of Dragonstorm, we’re keeping the train rolling on Elspeths, Ugins, Jaspers and spirit dragons of all alignments.
For competitively-inclined players, on Saturday TGP is hosting a Modern RCQ tournament!
$30 entry per player with cash in the prize pool. promos and pins included in the package. 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.
Finally, two last pieces of business: online orders at TGP will now be organized for pickup by order number rather than name. When picking up an online order, please know your order number! We’ll still get your name as confirmation, but we’ll need the order number to find it for you. Also, Keep checking in over on TGP social accounts, especially Instagram, to stay in the know about what’s happening at the shop! We’re always working on ways to stay in touch, so please let us know if you’ve got a preferred platform or method you want to hear from The Gathering Place / Alpha Pie. If you’ve got any suggestions, opinions, or whatever else – send Victor an email: victor@thegatheringplacegames.com
Also, if you didn’t see the Collector Booster drink pairings, it’s pretty cool and funny
