Alternate Universes 20th Anniversary Celebration – October 15th-21st

On October 15th, 2003, Alternate Universes opened its doors to the gamers of Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Now, twenty years later, we have three stores in the Philadelphia area, an online store, and a wonderful thriving community. We have seen generations of gamers walk through our doors. We can only hope that over the years we’ve given the community something close to what you’ve given us.

Since your twentieth birthday only comes once, and many stores like ours don’t make it to this point, we want to celebrate in a big way. That’s why we’re announcing our weeklong 20th Anniversary Celebration!

From October 15th–21st, we’re celebrating 20 years with the following:

A BIG 20th ANNIVERSARY SALE!

20% off EVERYTHING – excluding booster boxes, singles, entry fees, Magic: the Gathering – Doctor Who Commander decks, and Yu-Gi-Oh! Age of Overlord. Everything else will be on sale. Everything. Else.

BOOSTER BOX GIVEAWAYS DURING WEEKLY TOURNAMENTS!

We’re giving away a booster box at EVERY weekly tournament that takes place Oct. 15th–21st.

This applies to ALL of our local tournaments, for ALL of our games, regardless of the number of participants. This includes Lorcana. Each booster box will be given away to a random player, each will be a box of the latest set of that game, and only people playing in the tournament will be able to win.

SPECIAL 20th ANNIVERSARY TOURNAMENTS!

MAGIC: THE GATHERING – CHAOS DRAFTS

Sunday, October 15th @ AU Wilmington
Saturday, October 21st @ AU Blue Bell

Registration opens: Noon
Drafting begins: 1 pm

$30 entry

***Limit 48 players per event!***
Preregistration is open now! Visit or call AU with your card to preregister.

These drafts are special, because not only are they Chaos Drafts, they are Chaos Drafts that will each include a BOOSTER PACK OF REVISED in them! You may choose to open and draft with this pack, OR keep it sealed and instead use a “pack of Revised” that we constructed specially for the event. We’re also including the Revised pack regardless of the number of participants.

Other rare packs include Visions, Fifth Edition, Weatherlight, Sixth Edition, Prophecy, Invasion, Fifth Dawn, assorted Collector boosters, and MORE!

One lucky player will also win a Commander Masters Set box, and four other lucky players will win Secret Lairs. We’ll also have more giveaways for sleeves and playmats!

PRIZES
3 – 0: $40 store credit
2 – 0 – 1: $30 store credit
2 – 1: $20 store credit

YU-GI-OH! – PS5 TOURNAMENT

Saturday, October 28th @ AU Holmes

Registration opens: Noon
Tournament starts: 1 pm

Format: Advanced Constructed

$30 entry
Each player will get 6 OTS Pack 23 for entering

Yu-Gi-Oh! has always been a staple game for us. We love Yu-Gi-Oh! We’ve held Yu-Gi-Oh on Saturday at Holmes for years and years. Please join us on Saturday, October 28th for our celebratory Yu-Gi-Oh! PS5 Tournament. This means you can also win a Yu-Gi-Oh! box if you attend our regular tournament on October 21st.

The first place winner of this tournament will win a brand new Sony PlayStation 5, the standard edition that includes a disc drive. Other Top 8 finishers will have their choice of Age of Overlord prizes or OTS Pack 23 prizes. Two lucky players will win boxes of Age of Overlord, more lucky players will win OTS Pack 22 door prizes. And we’ll be giving away sleeves and playmats, too!

PRIZES
1st Place: BRAND NEW Sony PlayStation 5 (standard edition)
2nd Place: 2 booster boxes of Age of Overlord OR 40 packs of OTS Pack 23
3rd & 4th Place: 1 box of Age of Overlord OR 20 packs of OTS Pack 23
5th-8th Place: 12 packs of Age of Overlord OR 10 packs of OTS Pack 23

MTG Wilds of Eldraine SEALED Store Championships – 10/1 & 10/7 at Alternate Universes

MTG Wilds of Eldraine SEALED Store Championships
Sunday, October 1st @ AU Blue Bell
Saturday, October 7th @ AU Holmes & AU Wilmington

We’re holding Magic: the Gathering SEALED Store Championships on Sunday, October 1st at AU Blue Bell, and Saturday, October 7th at AU Holmes & AU Wilmington! Represent AU by becoming one of our MTG Store Champions!

The format will be SEALED! Each player gets 6 Draft Packs of Wilds of Eldraine to build their deck! Entry is $25, cheaper than buying 6 Draft packs individually!

Thanks to our WPN Premium Store status, along with the Top 8 and Winner promos, the Top 8 and 1st Place players each win non-foil copies of their respective promos with our store name printed on them!

We’re adding 2 Set Booster Packs of Wilds of Eldraine to the prize pool for each player who enters! If we get 16 or more players, then Top 8 will get Set Booster Pack prizes! Otherwise, Top 4 will get Set Booster Pack prizes. No matter what, Top 8 are guaranteed to get promos!

Each player who enters gets a foil full-art promo Tailswipe! Top 8 each get a foil full-art promo Transcendent Message, PLUS a non-foil Transcendent Message with our store name printed on it! The Champion at each store gets a foil full-art textless promo Moonshaker Cavalry, PLUS a non-foil textless Moonshaker Cavalry with our store name printed on it!

Format: SEALED, Swiss-style, no Top Cut

Entry: $25
Each player gets a foil full-art promo Tail Swipe for entering. Each player gets 6 Draft Booster Packs of Wilds of Eldraine to build their deck. That’s cheaper than buying 6 Draft Packs individually!

Sun. October 1st
Alternate Universes Blue Bell
Registration opens: Noon
Deckbuilding begins: 12:30 pm

Sat. October 7th
Alternate Universes Holmes
Registration opens: 1 pm
Deckbuilding begins: 2 pm

Sat. October 7th
Alternate Universes Wilmington
Registration opens: 1 pm
Deckbuilding begins: 2 pm

PRIZES
We will add 2 Wilds of Eldraine Set Booster Packs to the overall prize pool for each player who enters!
When we reach 16 players, the Top 8 players will win Set Pack prizes.
If we have 15 or fewer players, only the Top 4 players will win Set Pack prizes (Top 8 and Champions will win both copies of their promos regardless of the number of players).

Top 8 Promos: foil full-art promo Tail Swipe, plus a non-foil full art promo Tail Swipe with our store name printed on it!

1st Place Promos: foil full-art textless promo Moonshaker Cavalry, plus a non-foil full-art textless Moonshaker Cavalry with our store name printed on it!

Digimon Card Game Starter Deck ST15 & ST16 Prereleases – 10/7 & 10/8 at Alternate Universes

Digimon Starter Deck ST15 & ST16
SEALED Prereleases
Saturday, October 7th at AU Wilmington
Sunday, October 8th at AU Holmes & AU Blue Bell

We’re holding Digimon Card Game Starter Deck ST15 and ST16 Prereleases on Saturday, October 7th at AU Wilmington, and Sunday, October 8th at AU Holmes and AU Blue Bell!

When you enter, you’ll get your choice of either ST15: Dragon of Courage or ST16: Wolf of Friendship to use to play for 3 rounds! For entering, each player gets a Gabuman (X Antibody) Participation Promo, plus either an ST15 or ST16 Pre-Release Pack depending on which starter deck you choose. Each player who goes 3-0 gets an Omnimon Zwart Silver Foil Winner Card! Players will also win store credit prizes based on their overall record after 3 rounds. We will add $5 store credit to the overall prize pool for each player who enters.

Starter Decks that we have leftover after the tournament will be for sale that day! If you buy two Starter Decks, you’ll also get a Pre-Release pack! If you buy one of each Starter Deck, you get to choose which Pre-Release Pack you get!

Saturday, October 7th
Alternate Universes Wilmington
Talleyville Shopping Center
3617 Silverside Road
Wilmington, Delaware 19810

Registration opens: Noon
Tournament begins: 1 pm

Sunday, October 8th
Alternate Universes Holmes
MacDade Plaza
2129 MacDade Blvd
Holmes, PA 19043

Registration opens: Noon
Tournament begins: 1 pm

Sunday, October 8th
Alternate Universes Blue Bell
Penn Square Shopping Center
213 W. Germantown Pike
East Norriton, PA 19401

Registration opens: 1 pm
Tournament begins: 2 pm

***LIMIT 32 PLAYERS PER EVENT!***

Entry fee: $20
Each player gets their choice of Starter Deck ST15 or ST16 to use to play, a Pre-Release Pack based on their choice of deck, and a Gabumon (X Antibody) participation promo.

Format: Starter Deck Sealed, Swiss-Style, maximum of 3 rounds
When entering, each player chooses either Starter Deck ST15 or ST16 to use to play for 3 rounds.

PRIZES
Each player who goes 3-0 will get the Omnimon Zwart Silver Foil Winner Card!
We will add $5 store credit to the overall prize pool for each player who enters.

One Piece Store Championships Wave 2 – 10/14 at AU Wilmington; 10/21 at AU Blue Bell; 10/22 at AU Holmes

One Piece Store Championships Wave 2
Sat. October 14th at AU Wilmington
Sat. October 21st at AU Blue Bell
Sun. October 22nd at AU Holmes

Alternate Universes is holding One Piece Card Game Store Championship tournaments, Sat. October 14th at AU Wilmington, Sat. October 21st at AU Blue Bell, and Sun. October 22nd at AU Holmes!

Each player gets a Store Championship Participation Pack Vol. 2. Top finishers will each win Store Credit based on attendance, with $15 store credit added to the prize pool per player in attendance. Top 4 each get a set of 10 Yamato sleeves, and the 1st Place winner also gets a Eustass “Captain” Kid Store Championship Trophy Card! Store credit is awarded on an AU gift card and is redeemable at any AU location.

***There is a 32 player limit for each event! Stop by AU or call with your card to preregister! Registering in the Bandai TCG+ app will NOT save your spot!***

Sat. October 14th
Alternate Universes Wilmington
Talleyville Shopping Center
3617 Silverside Road
Wilmington, Delaware 19810
Tournament starts: 1 pm

Sat. October 21st
Alternate Universes Blue Bell
Penn Square Shopping Center
211 W. Germantown Pike
East Norriton, PA 19401
Tournament starts: 3 pm

Sun. October 22nd
Alternate Universes Holmes
MacDade Plaza
2129 MacDade Blvd
Holmes, PA 19043
Tournament starts: 1 PM

Entry: $15
Each player gets a One Piece Store Championship Participation Pack Vol. 2

Format: Constructed, Swiss, best 2-of-3 matches, 50-minute rounds, no Top Cut playoffs

PRIZES
Top finishers will each win Store Credit based on attendance! If we have 16 or more players, Top 8 wins Store Credit; if 15 or less, then Top 4 wins Store Credit.
$15 store credit will be added to the prize pool for each player in attendance!
Top 4: pack of 10 Yamato sleeves
1st Place: Eustass “Captain” Kid Store Championship Trophy Card

MTG Modern RCQ Round 5 Lineup at Alternate Universes – Sept–Dec 2023

DreamHack Magic
MODERN Regional Championship Qualifiers
Round 5 (Sept 9th–Dec 17th, 2023)

Sat. 9/9 @ AU Holmes
Sat. 9/30 @ AU Wilmington
Sat. 10/14 @ AU Blue Bell
Sat. 10/28 @ AU Wilmington
Sat. 11/18 @ AU Blue Bell
Sun. 12/10 @ AU Holmes

***There is a 64 player cap on each event.***
✅ Pre-registration is open NOW! Stop by or call AU with your card to preregister! ✅

We’re holding Magic: the Gathering Modern RCQs for the September 9th–December 17th 2023 season of RCQs, which all support the Regional Championship in Denver on Feb. 9th–11th, 2024!

Regional Championship Qualifiers are open to everyone, and are a player’s first step down the road of competitive Magic. Thanks to our WPN Premium Store status, we are able to award 2 invites to the next Magic Regional Championship at each of our RCQs! From there, players vie for a place in the Pro Tour and the Magic World Championship!

The first 32 players to preregister at each event get a full-art promo An Offer You Can’t Refuse! Top 8 players each get a full-art promo Death’s Shadow, and each player who qualifies for the Regional Championship gets a FOIL Death’s Shadow! Both of these promos feature BRAND NEW ART! These promos are in addition to store credit and invite prizes.

PRIZE SCALING: When we reach 36 players, we will add $30 store credit to the Top 8 prize pool for each additional player! For example, if we get 45 players total, we will add $270 store credit to the prize pool.

Format: MODERN

Entry: $30

Pre-registration is open NOW! Stop by or call AU with your card to preregister! Make sure to call the AU you are preregistering to play at!

Registration opens: 11 am
Tournament begins: Noon

Alternate Universes Holmes
MacDade Plaza
2129 MacDade Blvd
Holmes, PA 19043

Alternate Universes Blue Bell
Penn Square Shopping Center
211 W. Germantown Pike
East Norriton, PA 19401

Alternate Universes Wilmington
Talleyville Shopping Center
3617 Silverside Road
Wilmington, Delaware 19810

PRIZES
1st Place: Invite to Regional Championship, $200 store credit, foil full-art Death’s Shadow
2nd Place: Invite to Regional Championship, $100 store credit, foil full-art Death’s Shadow
3rd & 4th Place: $100 store credit each, non-foil full-art Death’s Shadow
5th–8th Place: $50 store credit each, non-foil full-art Death’s Shadow

Prize Scaling: When we reach 36 players, we will add $30 store credit to the Top 8 prize pool for each additional player! For example, if we get 45 players total, we will add $270 store credit to the prize pool.

Pokemon League at Alternate Universes Holmes Starting October 7th

Pokemon League is coming to Alternate Universes Holmes! Join us at AU Holmes EVERY Saturday, starting October 7th, for our FREE official Pokemon League!

Pokemon League at Holmes will run every Saturday from 3-6 pm. These casual-style events are a great opportunity for Pokemon TCG players to get together with others in the Pokemon community to play, trade, or just hang out!

Here is the full Pokemon League schedule for all three of our stores:

Alternate Universes Holmes
Every Saturday (starting Oct. 7th)
3 pm – 6 pm

Alternate Universes Blue Bell
Every Sunday
12:30 pm – 3:30 pm

Alternate Universes Wilmington
Every Sunday
Noon – 3:00 pm

Disney Lorcana Organized Play at Alternate Universes

Disney Lorcana Organized Play
Lorcana League and Lorcana Tournaments
Every Week at Alternate Universes

Alternate Universes is part of the official Disney Lorcana Hobby Store Program and Organized Play program! That means every week, we hold Disney Lorcana League and weekly tournaments at each of our three locations!

If you want to see Lorcana succeed and thrive, one of the best ways to help is to attend your local events, and bring your friends, too!

Lorcana League

Lorcana League is a fun, FREE weekly event where you can earn League Points to win prizes, and be a part of your local Lorcana community!

Lorcana League times are as follows:

Wednesdays 6 pm @ AU Wilmington
Thursdays 6 pm @ AU Blue Bell
Fridays 6 pm @ AU Holmes

As opposed to tournaments, Lorcana League is a free casual-style event, designed for players to hang out and play low-stakes games with one another at their leisure. Players earn 1 point for attending, 1 point for just playing a match, or 2 points instead if they win a match! Matches should be best 2-of-3. During League, players are responsible for finding their own matches with one another, as opposed to a tournament where players’ pairings are calculated for them. Players can earn a maximum of 10 points during one League.

A League round is 4 weeks of Lorcana League. A League season is 12 weeks of Lorcana League, or 3 rounds.

Prizes are awarded based on point totals after each round, and more prizes are awarded at the end of each season!
• Players with at least 3 points at the end of a round each get a random League promo card, and three of those players are randomly chosen to win a Lorcana pin.
• The player with the most points at the end of a round gets to pick two different promos, plus a Lorcana pin!
• At the end of each season, the 6 players with the most total points each get Lore counters, and random players with 8 or more total points at the end of a season each get Lorcana pins!

Weekly Lorcana Tournaments

Lorcana weekly tournaments take place every week during Lorcana League. That means you can attend Lorcana League AND play in the tournament, too!

Weekly Lorcana tournament times are as follows:

Wednesdays 7 pm @ AU Wilmington
Thursdays 7 pm @ AU Blue Bell
Fridays 7 pm @ AU Holmes

Registration opens at the start of League, one hour before the start of the tournament.

Entry fee: $10 ($15 if using store credit)

Format: Constructed, best 2-of-3 matches, 3 rounds maximum. Prizes are awarded based on a player’s win – loss – draw record after 3 rounds.

PRIZES
3 – 0: $40 store credit
2 – 0 – 1: $30 store credit
2 – 1: $20 store credit

Store credit is awarded on a reloadable AU gift card, and is redeemable at any of our three stores!

Alternate Universes Store Hours, Weekly Schedule, and Tournament Prize Structures!

Up-To-Date Store Hours, Weekly Schedules, and Tournament Prize Structures

Come to any of our stores and enjoy free open play any time of day, any day of the week! Bring your friends to play some games, or make new friends when you visit! Our stores are outfitted with tables and public restrooms, and are regularly cleaned. Masks and hand sanitizer are available at the counter for anyone who wishes, and we encourage our players to wear masks while in the store.

We buy and sell single cards everyday! We are always happy to look at Magic: the Gathering, Yugioh, and Pokemon cards that you’d like to sell. Feel free to bring your cards in anytime! If you have a large or particularly valuable collection, please call and make an appointment so we can sit down with you and give your collection proper attention. If you have any questions about whether we’d be interested in buying something, feel free to ask!

EVENTS RUN WEEKLY

We hold weekly tournaments for Magic: the Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh, Flesh and Blood, Digimon, One Piece, Cardfight!! Vanguard, Dragon Ball Super, and more! We also have days set aside for games like Dungeons & Dragons and Warhammer 40,000! Join us for Friday Night Magic, and weekly MTG Drafts!

We also hold special events most weekends! Special events are typically larger events, such as Magic Regional Championship Qualifiers or Yugioh Premiere! Events (aka Sneak Peeks) with a larger attendance and often bigger prize payouts. Information on these can be found on their own posts on our website, typically several weeks prior to the event.

Read below for our up-to-date hours, weekly event schedule, and unified prize structures for ALL of our weekly tournaments.

Updated 9-4-23

STORE HOURS

Alternate Universes Holmes

Sunday: Noon to 6:00 PM
Mon – Thurs: Noon to 10:00 PM
Friday: Noon to 11:00 PM
Saturday: Noon to 9:00 PM

Alternate Universes Blue Bell

Sunday: Noon to 6:00 PM
Mon – Thurs: Noon to 10:00 PM
Friday: Noon to 11:00 PM
Saturday: Noon to 9:00 PM

Alternate Universes Wilmington

Sunday: Noon to 6:00 PM
Mon – Thurs: Noon to 10:00 PM
Friday: Noon to 11:00 PM
Saturday: Noon to 8:00 PM

WEEKLY EVENT SCHEDULE

TOURNAMENT PRIZE STRUCTURES

Moving forward most of our weekly events for all of our games will use these entry fees and prize structures.

Weekday events will be 3 rounds regardless of the number of players.
Weekend events will be 4 rounds as long as 10 or more people enter (otherwise 3 rounds)

We no longer have playoffs for weekly events. Instead, at the end of the tournament, each player gets a prize based on their win – loss – draw record.

This allows us to keep our weekly tournaments short and sweet, while still offering fair prizes regardless of the number of players in attendance. For example, if we run a weekday tournament with 30 players in attendance, we could expect about 4 players to earn the 3 – 0 prize payout, and about 11 players to earn the 2 – 1 prize payout. The event stays only three rounds, and everyone gets to go home at a reasonable hour!

Yu-Gi-Oh! weekly tournaments are the exception, since Konami requires Official Tournament Stores such as ourselves to award booster pack prizes and not store credit.

Weekday Tournaments (except Yugioh) – 3 rounds
Entry: $10 cash / $15 store credit

3 – 0: $40 store credit
2 – 0 – 1: $30 store credit
2 – 1: $20 store credit

Yu-Gi-Oh! Weekday Tournaments – 3 rounds
Entry: $10 cash / $15 store credit

3 – 0: 7 $4 Yugioh packs
2 – 1: 3 $4 Yugioh packs

MTG Drafts – 3 rounds
Entry: $20 cash / $25 store credit

3 – 0: $40 store credit
2 – 0 – 1: $30 store credit
2 – 1: $20 store credit
All other records: 1 Draft booster of current set

MTG LOTR Drafts – 3 rounds
Entry: $25 cash / $30 store credit

3 – 0: $50 store credit
2 – 1: $25 store credit
All other records: 1 LOTR Draft booster pack

Weekend Tournaments (except Yugioh) – 4 rounds
Entry: $10 cash / $15 store credit

4 – 0: $50 store credit
3 – 0 – 1: $37 store credit
3 – 1: $24 store credit
2 – 1 – 1: $16 store credit
2 – 2: $8 store credit

Yu-Gi-Oh! Weekend Tournaments – 4 rounds
Entry: $10 cash / $15 store credit

4 – 0: 10x $4 Yugioh packs
3 – 1: 5x $4 Yugioh packs

Alternate Universes Holmes, Blue Bell & Wilmington are now WPN Premium Stores!

We are proud to announce that Alternate Universes Holmes, Blue Bell, and Wilmington have ALL officially been designated WPN Premium Stores!

Thanks to the hard work of our employees and the dedication of our community, all three Alternate Universes locations have officially become WPN Premium stores. Over the past months, we’ve been working hard to improve our store and thus your playing experience with us. Our Blue Bell store has been remodeled with new paint, carpets, bathrooms, tables, signs, monitors, and more. Only about 5% of WPN retailers have become WPN Premium stores. Achieving this status means that we’ve reached a point where our store provides one of the highest quality gaming experiences you can get from any LGS, and it’s not just because of our looks. It’s because we as a business are committed to providing a very high quality experience to our players. When you come to our store, you can expect a clean, professional, friendly, and fun environment. And now that we’ve reached Premium status, we’ll be able to make your experience even better. We’ll be able to hold exclusive events when they’re available, and offer exclusive products and promos. You’ll notice a couple of other changes around the store as time goes on, and as we continue to work closely with Wizards of the Coast.

Thank you to our community. Without our thriving, enthusiastic, and all-around wonderful community of players these past 16 or so years, we wouldn’t have been considered for this achievement. Whether you have been with us from the beginning or have just learned about us this year, thank you! We look forward to continuing to provide the best gaming experience that we can, and we hope that you’ll continue to join us.

Join The Alternate Universes Discord Server!

>>> CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR DISCORD! <<<

We made an official Alternate Universes Discord server!
We are excited for you to join our community!

Come connect and chat with gamers from all 3 of our locations, set up times to play the games we sell, or interact with our helpful and friendly staff to answer any questions you may have!