It was an extraordinarily busy weekend at The Gathering Place, Magic’s return to Tarkir has proven to be something folks are extremely excited about. To be fair, it’s got all the ingredients: fun color-crossing+combining, unique mechanics, fun interaction, classic flavor, new interpretations, cool art, fweaking dwagons – truly, as set that’s got it all.
With Dragonstorm’s prerelease in the rearview, here’s what’s happening this week at TGP!
It’s Week 8 of Commander League, and there’s some fancy packs in stock that might interest folks searching for certain pulls. There’s only so much time left before the third tournament, the Commander League Season IX Finale, which is happening on Sunday 4/27! Make sure you’ve got that Sunday marked on your calendar, Commander League players! Prizes, raffles, the Magic games you’ve been preparing for, the thrill of the fight!
This week, we’re drafting Dragonstorm for Friday Night Magic, and the real MTG news comes in the form of the Dual Land / Cash tournament on Sunday that’s bringing some real CEDH heat to TGP over the weekend.
Our friends over at East Coast Gaming are hosting the final CEDH Invitational on Saturday, April 12, (the last one of the season! time flies!) and after talking it over with our friends at ECG — The Gathering Place has decided to make it a double feature with a CEDH tournament the day after!
Whether you’ve still got gas in the tank, want another run at Top 8, straight up scrubbed out, or just are looking play some more high-threat Magic, come to The Gathering Place on Sunday, April 13, to battle for a Dual Land (or cash)!
It’s DRAGON WEEK at The Gathering Place! Tarkir: Dragonstorm prerelease is nigh, with the dragons landing in TGP this Friday, 4/4!
Before we talk over all the Tarkir prerelease details, here’s what else is happening this week at The Gathering Place:
We just wrapped the second tournament of Season IX of Commander League, and we’re now officially in Week 8 of league play! TGP has stocked and restocked a whole bunch of spicy packs, so swing by the case this week and take a look at what’s on offer. There’s still a good bit of time before the final showdown, and there’s plenty more pulls and trades on the horizon.
MTG Old School Thursday is also back this week! Play Magic the way that Richard Garfield intended; with a nostalgic card pool from Alpha to Fallen Empires — where every deck is a time machine! Relive the aesthetics and power of iconic cards and strategic depth from ’93-’94, all while embracing the charm of old-school gameplay. $15 buy-in gets you buy-in, a slice of pizza, and a beer. Truly, you’re not gonna have a better time for fifteen bucks.
This week, on Saturday, TGP has another edition of its monthly comedy showcase. This month, themed: Good Cop/Bad Cop.
Co-Hosted by Ben Creed and June Darling, Good Cop/Bad Cop is a stand up comedy showcase featuring some of the Triangle’s best comics. Following each comic’s set, the hosts heavily interrogate the comics on their material to give you a peek behind the curtain to really get to the bottom of it all. If you’ve ever been curious about stand up comedy, then this is the show for you!
For those who placed preorders for Dragonstorm, those preorders will be available for pickup on Friday. If you’re looking to pick up boxes, bundles, or specific preconstructed Commander decks — all Tarkir: Dragonstorm product will be available for purchase on Friday, as well. First come, first served.
Magic returns to the plane of Khans, clans, dragons, and spellslinging martial arts! Tarkir: Dragonstorm is poised to be something special, and The Gathering Place has prerelease events all weekend.
Original Magic IP, characters now considered “classic,” color triads even more so, and some impressive reimaginings now in Standard (and some fantastic chase cards + special guests!)
Prerelease events are sealed format, $35 entry per player, and each player will start with a Clan pack of their choosing. Please keep in mind, we’ll have a limited amount of each clan’s prerelease kit, so arriving earlier gives you a better chance of securing your preferred option!
Here’s when the sealed prerelease events are happening at The Gathering Place:
Friday, 4/4
3:00 p.m.
7:00 p.m.
Saturday, 4/5
1:00 p.m.
5:00 p.m.
Sunday, 4/6
TWO HEADED GIANT SEALED @ 3:00 p.m.
Since it’s the first week of April, a quick look at some other events coming up later in the month:
Sunday, 4/14, CEDH Tournament
Saturday, 4/19, MTG Modern RCQ
Sunday, 4/20, DIGIMON CARD GAME WORLD CONVERGENCE [BT-21] Release Event
Saturday, 4/26, UBERCUBE x THE GATHERING PLACE ALL-DAY CUBEATHON
Sunday, 4/27, DIGIMON CARD GAME [ST-20] & [ST-21] Release Event
Sunday, 4/27, Commander League Season IX Tournament 3: THE FINALE
Thanks for reading, have an excellent rest of your week, and do your best to avoid the worst of the pollen! As always – if you have any questions, comments or concerns, reach out on the TGP Discord’s ask-staff channel, via email, or just call the shop directly!
Spring is in the air around town, and The Gathering Place is back for another week and another round of announcements, events and happenings!
The big news event-wise this week is the second Commander League tournament. It’s this upcoming Sunday, and all Commander League players are cordially invited! As always, entry into the tournament is covered by your League dues, so all you’ve got to do is show up and play for fun, prizes and glory! We’ll also be doing raffles throughout, a little extra prizing for the people. We’ll see you on Sunday, League players!
FNM draft this week, hot on the heels of last week’s Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty draft, is the second half of the equation: Ravnica Remastered! We’re going Guild Mode this Friday, $35 entry, pack per win, Swiss rounds, the usual.
It’s important to note the Tarkir: Dragonstorm prerelease is nearly upon us. A return to one of MTG’s most famous planes, a whole mess of dragons and all-new appearances from color triads so iconic it’s just what we call the combinations, now. Prerelease events are happening Friday through Sunday, April 4 through April 6. Check the TGP event calendar for specific dates/times. Prerelease buy-in includes a Clan-themed kit, which players will be able to choose upon sign-up on a first-come, first-served basis.
Thanks for reading, see you around, be excellent to each other.
The Gathering Place has a lot happening this week! As always, you can find the full calendar of weekly/monthly events right here, so don’t forget to check in and make notes of stuff you might want to swing by the shop for! As far as the weekly highlights announcements go, there’s certainly plenty to talk about.
It’s Week 6 of Commander League, the second tournament of the season is coming up on Sunday, 3/30 – we’re still heavy in the trading and tuning phase of the league, so keep your eyes peeled for pieces and pivots!
This Thursday, we’re hosting our monthly Mini Paint Night at the bar. We’ll be painting little dudes starting around six. Whether you’re painting for fun or putting a dent in your gray pile of shame, we’ve got a selection of paints you’d be welcome to borrow for just two bucks and some friendly folks on hand happy to provide some painting tips if this is your first foray into painting miniatures!
Old School Thursday is also back this week! Play Magic the way that Richard Garfield intended, relive the aesthetics and power of iconic cards and strategic depth from ’93-’94, all while embracing the charm of old-school gameplay. $15 buy-in gets you buy-in, a slice of pizza, and a beer!
Friday Night Magic is switching things up this week, changing the vibe from Aetherdrift just a little bit. We’ve got enough packs on deck to run drafts of Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty and/or Ravnica Remastered. Both sets present a draft environment that’s fun for new players and engaging for seasoned veterans, and it’s not even necessarily a one-or-the-other choice. If enough players show up and are interested, we can run two draft pods!
Saturday is MTG RCQ day, as well. 12:00 p.m. start, $30 entry, entry back into the prize pool, so prizing is based on attendance. This is a single-slot RCQ, so the stakes are high. Standard Constructed, Swiss rounds, with full Pinfinity pins and prize support on deck and all the amenities provided by The Gathering Place!
The fourth edition of the local legend, the hometown hero, the grassroots phenomenon your grandpappy told you to worry about!
Everybody gets an exclusive commemorative playmat on the day of the tournament, prizing for the the tournament includes a bevvy of custom alters on top-shelf cards, with the biggest prize on offer being an altered Dual Land!
JANK BANK 4 is 1v1, 60 “Brawl style” Commander, Best of 3, 10 Card Sideboard. See you Sunday!
That about does it for this week’s highlights, but it’s worth taking a second to say the TGP staff is working on cooking up some very, very cool stuff for April, May, and June. See you around!
The weather forecast for the week is looking gorgeous, the pizza patio in front of Alpha Pie is looking like a fantastic spot for a casual hang, and the 30 taps upstairs at The Gathering Place will be flowing with some choice selections from both close to home and faraway lands of South Carolina and Wisconsin as we host One Piece prereleases, a MTG Vintage tournament, and the usual slate of weekly events and good times.
The One Piece Prerelease is for OP-10: ROYAL BLOOD, and the new support for the DonQuixote Family and older archetypes is looking strong and there’s plenty of fun and PUNK HAZARDS to be had. Prerelease events at TGP are Saturday and Sunday, both at noon, and entry is $30 per player.
Speaking of weekend happenings, the monthly cash tournament this go ‘round is MTG Vintage: Saturday, 3/15. Vintage might just be MTG’s scariest format, and it’s certainly the largest. A card pool this expansive leads to some wild interactions and no small amount of competition-driven creativity. Entry for the cash tournament is $30, entry goes in the prize pool. This tournament is full-proxy friendly, so bring out your best!
It’s also a Sorcery draft week this Wednesday, a CHAOS DRAFT on Sunday, it’s Week 5 of Commander League, and there’s a great deal more on the horizon. A quick preview:
The weather is warming up in fits and starts, and save for the occasional drop back into the thirties overnight it’s clear Spring is on the way here in North Carolina. Things are looking ever-so-slightly greener, the sky a little more blue.
The taps at The Gathering Place are changing with the seasons, we’ve got some special offerings on the board this week if you want to take a look! The Blueberry Off-Dry mead is particularly nice. Also, there’s some stuff happening this week!
All that talk about springtime kind of feels silly when the next part is “since Old School Thursday got cancelled due to snow, this week’s edition still has that sweet Shivan Dragon signed playmat!” but that’s a true sentence. The signed playmat is still on offer as a super-special bonus prize, and MTG Old School Thursday is on for this Thursday! Kicks off at 7:30, $15 entry buys you a slice of pizza, a beer, and time to play Magic as Garfield intended. Come on by, bring your grandpa!
This Saturday, which, pertinent warning – there’s a basketball game. THE basketball game. Plan your parking situation and be mindful of where NOT to leave your car – we’re having our anti-Prom March Madness equivalent and running a little Jumpstart Jam starting at 2:00 p.m. with an affordable $10 buy-in and a lot of Foundations Jumpstart packs to crack. It’ll be a fun, easy-access, all-inclusive, low-stakes chance to sit down and just play a little Magic.
The big ticket item this week is the third in the series of cEDH Invitational Tournaments. Starting at noon, entry fee set at $55, the third step in the qualifier series to earn a spot in a Final Tournament where the winning player takes home the Grandest Prize: an Unlimited Black Lotus. That’s not to say prizing for the qualifiers is slacking, though – ask anybody who’s played in one of these before. There’s going to be Duals and other Reserve List goodies going to the cream of the crop.
The Commander League IX first tournament sure was a time this past weekend, shoutout to all our weekend warriors who showcased their grit and determination in face of big swings, big combos, and some wacky circumstances. That was just the first tournament, to boot! There’s tuning to do, adjustments to make, and two entire tournaments to come where the prizes will keep getting bigger!
Speaking of fun events, don’t forget, Jank Bank 4 is happening Sunday, 3/23! You can still sign up, if you want! There’s also more fun things to look at, all listed on the TGP events calendar! Check out that monthly section, and we’ll see you around!
Hello, good afternoon, and welcome to another week if beautiful Chapel Hill, North Carolina! Your favorite local game shop and 30-tap bar, The Gathering Place, is back in action post-snow days and ready to play some games, crack some packs, and pour some tasty beverages. As always, find the full weekly calendar right here.
We’ll talk about Commander League in a bit, since it’s a big week (Week 3, in fact) for all our League folks. But let’s cover other happenings first:
Preorders for MTG’s return to Tarkir are LIVE on the TCG online store as of right now, this moment! If you want to place preorders for Dragonstorm, head on over and do so!
Sorcery is drafting is week to make up for lost time last week, Digimon Special Booster Ver.2.5 [BT19-20] is firing off this week after some delays in shipping, FNM is still running in the ‘90s with more Aetherdrift, and FAB Armory is on for this Friday as well.
Saturday, we’re running March’s cEDH Cash Tournament. Signups at 11:30, tournament begins at noon, $30 entry with prizing to Top 4 and a proxy friendly play environment. Entry is going right back in the prize pool, so more players means a bigger pot to battle over.
Also on Saturday: come hang with Ben & Friends for the monthly comedy showcase at The Gathering Place! A no-cover (but tips appreciated!) evening of laughs, riffs, jests, japes and jabs all available for anyone who wishes to avail themselves of North Carolina’s finest comedians, comediennes and comedithems!
Now, finally, let’s talk about Commander League!
It’s Week 3, and this Sunday is the first of our three Commander League tournaments! We’ve decided to keep the multi-tournament format going forward due to resoundingly positive feedback from our short league at the end of 2024.
Entry to all three tournaments is/was included in your entry to League, so all you have to do is show up and play!
Prizing for these tournaments is entirely dependent on the amount of players signed up for League, and Season 9 has been one of TGP’s biggest leagues yet! This first tournament is a great opportunity to test your deck thus far while scoring some sweet prizes, so we’ll see you on Sunday!
It’s got potential to be a snowy week in Chapel Hill, so this week’s TGP Dispatch kicks off with a formal announcement that THE SHOP IS CLOSED TOMORROW!
REPEAT
THE GATHERING PLACE IS CLOSED TOMORROW, WEDNESDAY, 2/19
BECAUSE OF SNOW, AND TGP’S DESIRE EVERYBODY BE AS SAFE AS POSSIBLE
Who knows, it’s North Carolina, could be a half an inch of powder or complete sheets of ice, we’ll see you on the other side. But just because TGP is closed tomorrow doesn’t mean we don’t have a lot of cool stuff happening this week!
We’re in the second week of Commander League play, meetups this Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. If you’ve been dragging your feet or delaying your entry into League, know there’s still time to grab a precon and hit the tables should you so desire.
When it comes to Commander, there’s more than League happening right now, though — this Saturday, 2/23 is another cEDH Invitational event!
$55 entry for all players, Top 4 prizing will be choice of 2 Dual Lands (exact lands TBD), a Lion’s Eye Diamond and one as-yet-unrevealed first-place Grand Prize! Prizing is based on attendance — prizes can, will, and have increased with more players at the event. For more details, click here for the full event link.
Also of note, this week is another Old School Thursday! Play Magic the way that Richard Garfield intended; with a nostalgic card pool from Alpha to Fallen Empires—where every deck is a time machine! Relive the aesthetics and power of iconic cards and strategic depth from ’93-’94, all while embracing the charm of old-school gameplay.
Old School Thursday at TGP is a great time and a cheap date: $15 buy-in gets you buy-in, a slice of pizza, and a beer
This week, there’s even a special prize: a SIGNED SHIVAN DRAGON PLAYMAT!
Look at that beautiful playmat. Look at that beautiful boy.
Other things to be looking forward to:
cEDH Monthly Tournament, Saturday 3/1
First Commander League Tournament, Sunday 3/2
March Madness Jumpstart Jam, Saturday 3/8
One Piece OP-10 (ROYAL BLOODLINE) prerelease weekend, 3/15 + 3/16
Thanks for reading this week’s Dispatch! Be safe out there, have fun in the snow, and we’ll see you around!
This week at The Gathering Place, it’s not only the first week of Commander League but we’ve got a lot of other fun stuff on the docket! Mini painting night, more drafts + tournaments and more! Check out the full TGP calendar here for all the weekly and monthly listings!
For a little bit of extra detail and specifics:
If you still want to sign up for Commander League, you still can! Signups are only available in-store, so swing by and snag your precon and Commander League accoutrements and get started with an all-new season of TGP’s signature event! If you would like an explainer of what exactly Commander League is, check out last week’s announcements post.
Sorcery is Constructed format this week, our monthly mini painting night is on Thursday (come on down and paint some little guys with us!), Flesh and Blood is back to Armory this week – and FAB Road to Nationals is this Saturday!
If you haven’t checked in on our Instagram today and don’t have plans this Friday night, we might be able to assist:
The Gathering Place is also hosting an MTG Legacy Cash tournament this Saturday. Kickoff at high noon, extra prizing added by TGP in the form of a borderless Double Masters Force of Will!
Speaking of competitive Magic: The Gathering, TGP has an RCQ on the schedule for this Sunday. Starting at 11:30 a.m. and playing in Sealed Aetherdrift format, your road to MTG glory and Pro Tour laurels beings with this event where Top 8 cuts to Draft and only the best players make it to the finish line!
Looking a little further into the future, there’s a cEDH Invitational on Sunday, 2/23, a March Madness Jumpstart Jam on Saturday, 3/8, a One Piece prerelease event for OPO-10: Royal Bloodline on 3/15 and 3/16, and a whole lot more listed on the TGP calendar!
The Gathering Place has a big week ahead! Commander League is getting started, Aetherdrift prerelease is this weekend, and we’ve got even more big-time events on the horizon!
Obviously, the Aetherdrift prerelease gets pole position when it comes to talking events for the week. We’re about at the limit of possible jokes/references/’member quips about various car-centric IP, but it’s safe to say things are getting a little spicy when it comes to new mechanics, vehicles, and a wacky artifact that is also a planeswalker. We’ve got prerelease events throughout the weekend – two on Friday, two on Saturday, and a two-headed giant finale tournament on Sunday.
Starting this Thursday and running the first and third Thursdays of every month, Old School Thursday is coming to TGP! Play Magic the way that Richard Garfield intended; with a nostalgic card pool from Alpha to Fallen Empires—where every deck is a time machine! Relive the aesthetics and power of iconic cards and strategic depth from ’93-’94, all while embracing the charm of old-school gameplay. For rules and whatnot, click here:
Last Saturday was the first Saturday of the month, and our speciality comedy event with Comedy n’ Dice was an absolute hoot. Thanks to everybody who came out, thanks to Comedy n’ Dice, we’re already looking forward to the next time the TGP stage is blessed in such a manner. For this Saturday, we’re back on the karaoke train with DJ Leo, so we’ll see y’all there for some jams this weekend.
With prerelease events, karaoke, and all the usual Saturday stuff, it’s worth stressing that UNC basketball has a home game this Saturday. Plan and park accordingly!
For this week’s final highlight, we’re talking Commander League – which has become TGP’s signature event. If you’re a veteran, our ninth season doesn’t contain too many surprises. But for the Commander League curious:
Season 9 of The Gathering Place’s signature event! Commander League at TGP provides a unique, semi-limited environment encouraging strategic play, fantastic pulls and ongoing discovery of how the real Lion’s Eye Diamond was the friends we made along the way.
Participation in Commander League begins with $30, a preconstructed MTG Commander deck bought in-store, and a dream.
Your entry fee buys you a set of sleeves for your new deck, a set of Chaos packs to start you off, and entry into all three Commander League tournaments to come. Each of those tournaments has a reputation for some pretty impressive prizing, and week-over-week you’ll continually playtest and refine your deck alongside other League players.
Each League player is permitted to purchase three packs a week from TGP to add to their pulls, a pile of potential that can be added to your deck or traded with other League players. Participation isn’t *required* for League, but it sure does help. Good thing there’s a thriving Commander League community over on The Gathering Place discord that can help answer questions, find you the cards you’re looking for and offer advice as your play, crack, build and tune your way to glory.
There are only three rules to Commander League, outside the rules of Magic itself:
Your deck and your League pulls remain at TGP, at all times, no exceptions
Each player may only open three packs per week of League, no outside cards are permitted, ever
Be cool and have fun
Commander League Signups begin 2/4
First week of Commander League 2/11
First Tournament: Sunday, 3/2
Second Tournament: Sunday, 3/30
Third (FINALE!) Tournament: 4/27
Commander Meetups and League Play at The Gathering Place every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday! Free promo and prize support for all pods, priority given to pairing League players with other League players.
I know that got a little long, but Commander League is worth the time spent explaining. It’s one of our favorite things to do, and it’s gotten a lot of positive traction over time. If you’ve got any questions, come by the shop and ask. We’ll see you around!
Shop HoursMondayClosedTuesday4:00 PM to 10:00 PMWednesday2:00 PM to 12:00 AMThursday2:00 PM to 12:00 AMFriday2:00 PM to 2:00 AMSaturday11:00 AM to 2:00 AMSunday11:00 AM to 10:00 PM
D&D One-Shots are a weekly event at The Gathering Place, hosted by TGP and ran by our community of Dungeon Masters. These one-shots are a free event, all experience levels welcome!
Simultaneously a relic of the '90s and the torch carried by kids today, there's clearly something special in the stories of Pokémon trainers and all these wonderful little pocket monsters generation after generation has come to love.
The Gathering Place has two walls of board games -- one shelf stocked with board games you can buy and take home, and another with our own library of games that are always free to play here at TGP!
Free to all, these Wednesday sessions of D&D are for anyone who is curious and wanting to learn the basics of navigating the Forgotten Realms and beyond!
Big on style, creativity and innovative gameplay, Sorcery is the relatively new kid on the TCG block with a specific flair for the dramatic and fondness for old-school aesthetic.
D&D One-Shots are a weekly event at The Gathering Place, hosted by TGP and ran by our community of Dungeon Masters. These one-shots are a free event, all experience levels welcome!
Simultaneously a relic of the '90s and the torch carried by kids today, there's clearly something special in the stories of Pokémon trainers and all these wonderful little pocket monsters generation after generation has come to love.
The Gathering Place has two walls of board games -- one shelf stocked with board games you can buy and take home, and another with our own library of games that are always free to play here at TGP!
Free to all, these Wednesday sessions of D&D are for anyone who is curious and wanting to learn the basics of navigating the Forgotten Realms and beyond!
Big on style, creativity and innovative gameplay, Sorcery is the relatively new kid on the TCG block with a specific flair for the dramatic and fondness for old-school aesthetic.
D&D One-Shots are a weekly event at The Gathering Place, hosted by TGP and ran by our community of Dungeon Masters. These one-shots are a free event, all experience levels welcome!
Simultaneously a relic of the '90s and the torch carried by kids today, there's clearly something special in the stories of Pokémon trainers and all these wonderful little pocket monsters generation after generation has come to love.
The Gathering Place has two walls of board games -- one shelf stocked with board games you can buy and take home, and another with our own library of games that are always free to play here at TGP!
Free to all, these Wednesday sessions of D&D are for anyone who is curious and wanting to learn the basics of navigating the Forgotten Realms and beyond!
Big on style, creativity and innovative gameplay, Sorcery is the relatively new kid on the TCG block with a specific flair for the dramatic and fondness for old-school aesthetic.
D&D One-Shots are a weekly event at The Gathering Place, hosted by TGP and ran by our community of Dungeon Masters. These one-shots are a free event, all experience levels welcome!
Simultaneously a relic of the '90s and the torch carried by kids today, there's clearly something special in the stories of Pokémon trainers and all these wonderful little pocket monsters generation after generation has come to love.
The Gathering Place has two walls of board games -- one shelf stocked with board games you can buy and take home, and another with our own library of games that are always free to play here at TGP!
Free to all, these Wednesday sessions of D&D are for anyone who is curious and wanting to learn the basics of navigating the Forgotten Realms and beyond!
Big on style, creativity and innovative gameplay, Sorcery is the relatively new kid on the TCG block with a specific flair for the dramatic and fondness for old-school aesthetic.
D&D One-Shots are a weekly event at The Gathering Place, hosted by TGP and ran by our community of Dungeon Masters. These one-shots are a free event, all experience levels welcome!
Simultaneously a relic of the '90s and the torch carried by kids today, there's clearly something special in the stories of Pokémon trainers and all these wonderful little pocket monsters generation after generation has come to love.
