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.
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!
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
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!
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