Koros Games

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

If you've been reading our regular daily posts to the MTG Realm since 2008 or have just recently started to follow us, then you will likely know that we will take every opportunity to support local gaming stores.  After all, this is the heart of the gaming community which continually drives the growth of Magic: the Gathering.  In this post, we will yatter about our visit to Koros Games in Orangeville, Ontario last Friday when we got to sit down and chat with Owner Shawn Koroscil.  Barb Stuhlemmer of BLITZ Business Success also wrote a great article from a business view.
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We find ourselves in picturesque and historical downtown Orangeville a small town of about 30,000 folks just an hour north of Toronto.  We walk into Koros Games located at 113 Broadway Avenue and find the owner of this local gaming store, Shawn Koroscil.  The store has Magic: the Gathering, HeroClix, Figures, comic books, Miniatures, pop collectibles, huge assortment of Board Games, Video Games and much more.

 

The store has been designated by Wizards of the Coast as a 'WPN Advanced Plus' (see our post about this here), and typically gets 30 players out regularly to Friday Night Magic events and more than 60 out to pre-release / release events.  There is a smaller more intimate gaming space on the main level with a very large hall upstairs which could host gaming events up to 200 people if need be.   

Shawn is interesting - after striking up a conversation with him about the business, you get a sense that he could have been a warrior-poet in another long-ago time.  Shawn is many things; a business owner, a gamer, an arts advocate but above all, we think a right proper community leader.  Koros Games we think is much more than just a local gaming store but a venue for the youth (or any age) of the Town to congregate and enjoy a fun, friendly and healthy atmosphere at a table which is always free to use.  Shawn and his staff are always soliciting the store patrons as to what gaming activities they would like to see and it appears that with this continual improvement and continual growth, the store may be owned by Shawn but managed by the community of patrons, popularly known as 'Korosians'.  The Korosians often volunteer to organise events and there is a determined focus to get younger / newer players engaged.

When we dropped in for this interview we also yattered with Shawns staff, of which two were on at the time.  We have to say that we were impressed that they just did not run the cash register but were also gamers at heart and had very good knowledge of just about every game they carried in store.

We will most definitely suggest that if you find yourself in Orangeville, you will have to drop by Koros Games on 113 Broadway Avenue.  For up to date information, give them a call at (519) 341-7080 or drop by their FaceBook page here.  Here is a run-down of the typical weekly schedule for now - 

EVENT SCHEDULE
Mondays
*No Events, closed at 6:00PM

Tuesdays
5:30PM – 8:00PM :
*HeroClix (tabletop miniatures game with super heroes)
*World of Warcraft trading card game

Wednesdays
5:00PM – 10:00PM :
*Magic: the Gathering casual play
(trading card game; all types of players and formats welcome!)

Thursdays
5:30PM – 8:00PM :
*Pathfinder (tabletop role-playing game)
*Kaijudo (trading card game)
*Demo board games (Over 25 games to check out, try something new!)

Fridays
7:00PM – Midnight :
*M:TG standard tournament, $5.00 entry with “everybody gets one” prize pool
8:00PM – Midnight :
$5.00 M:TG modern, two-headed giant,
“competitive standard” OR $20.00 booster draft,
(depending on the week and player choice)

Saturdays
1:00PM – 4:00PM :
*Magic: the Gathering Booster Draft, $20.00 entry with prize pool
3:30PM – 6:30PM :
*Demo board games (Over 25 games to check out, try something new!)
6:00PM – 9:00PM :
*Magic: the Gathering standard tournament, $2.00 entry with prize pool

Sundays
11:00AM – CLOSE :
*Warhammer (tabletop miniatures game)
*Dungeons & Dragons "Next / 5th Edition" (tabletop roleplaying game, bi-monthly)
*World of Warcraft trading card game
*Kaijudo (trading card game)
5:00PM – 8:00PM :
M:TG standard tournament, $15.00 entry with booster-pack prize pool

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