As you may have heard, Friendly Neighborhood Comic Shop is moving for the third time in its life. With the move comes a change in management – Jon Lorig is taking over the day-to-day operations and tournament organizing at the shop – and a change in name, too. FNC 3.0 is now known as “The Arena”, a name that much more represents its long history as a place where great Long Island Magic players have come to battle for years. But not everyone has heard the history of this shop that began its life in early 2007 at an unassuming location in the middle of Islip. The Arena is Islandhome’s first Store Spotlight. This one may take a more personal slant than the others, because I was there for this one from the very beginning.

Tucked away in the rear entrance of a small building, you’d hardly notice the first FNC unless you knew where to look. In fact, the first time I went there, I passed it multiple times, finally pulling into a parking lot and calling the place. Mike Palm came out of the shop to wave at me, and I walked in. The store was small, the playing area consisting of only two small picnic tables out of sight of the entrance. The entire store was lined wall to wall with comic books and action figures (many of those same action figures lined one of the walls of the second FNC, and The Arena won’t feel the same if they’re not there).

Mike’s cousin, Ed Palm, was a school teacher, and his students were interested in Magic. What better place to play than a respected teacher’s comic shop? Back then, Magic tournament organization was much looser, and new organizers didn’t have the resources they do today when starting out. Ed and Mike wanted to provide a fun place for people to play Magic, but they didn’t have much experience with the game. At the time I had been judging tournaments at another store on the Island, but my father had run into Mike at a car dealership and thought I could help out.

A young man was the “judge” for these unsanctioned tournaments, simply by virtue of being older than the others and having a better grasp of the rules than any of his friends. The few scrappy players who showed up to that first event I attended were relatively inexperienced. The type of decks they piloted, you sadly don’t see too many of these days due to the Island’s competitive tournament scene. We’re talking 73-card mono-green decks with Craw Wurms as finishers. As I sat down to prepare my totally overpowered for the event Standard deck, I heard the door open and looked up to see John Madonia stroll into the playing area. I have to admit, my competitive side’s (I still had one back then) heart sank a bit – John and I played at the same store before, and I knew I couldn’t beat him. I forget exactly what happened at that first event, but John and I became good friends after that, and discussed the ways we could make the store great. The entry fee was $10, but included a “snack, a pack, and a drink” – more expensive than most players would pay these days in this economy, but it worked to bring in new players and guarantee food/soda sales.

We used my extensive collection of Standard cards to improve the decks at FNC, practically (and sometimes literally) giving cards away, and taught the players strategy. Though I gradually took to judging (judges couldn’t play in their own events back then), John kept playing – and kept winning. Rather than discourage them, losing to John again and again just encouraged the players to try harder. We also invented things that helped get players more involved in the game and feel like they were accomplishing something… even the players who weren’t necessarily winning every week. The FNC Belt was a repurposed plastic wrestling belt the store had, which was used as a trophy for the winner of each Saturday tournament. It’s a tradition that’s still going strong – seeing their name up on the mantle gave them a sense of pride, and like the thrill of trying to beat John Madonia, players always wanted to try to take down the reigning champ. We set up “feature matches” for players nearly every round, and not just for the higher-placed players. All these things got them more involved in the game.

Soon, better players from outside the store would turn up to try to get some free wins, thinking the “FNC kids” easy prey, only to earn surprising defeats from players who had learned how to innovate and metagame. FNC had begun to make a name for itself, but the store was still often struggling to get players.

That problem went away on July 14th, 2007. Magic’s Tenth Edition was being released, and Wizard’s marketing team was out in full force. Advertisements were in magazines, on Adult Swim and Comedy Central, and various nerd-related websites. Of course, I was interested in running the event, and Ed and Mike were also eager to run their first release event. I spent a few days emailing back and forth with my DCI representative, trying to figure out what this World Wide Game Day thing was all about. One of the last emails I sent to her read,

“Friendly Neighborhood Comic Shop only has about 10-12 regular players, and a much larger store is having this that day too only ~20 minutes away. Do you have any idea how many players I should expect, how many boxes/cases to buy for the tournaments and prizes, etc? I don’t want to be short product that day.”

She replied basically to “expect a large turnout” because of all the advertising. “So maybe sixteen or so?” I thought.

The morning of July 14th, I called John on the way to FNC and asked him how many people were there. “Just get here,” he said. As I pulled up, I saw a massive crowd outside the store – and that was an hour before game time. Fifty four players showed up for that momentous day, a release event record that was held for two whole years. We couldn’t believe it – the store could hold maybe sixteen players comfortably, so a tent was set up outside with more tables. But that still wasn’t enough! Players were dueling on the ground, on car hoods, and on the giant concrete planter on the walkway. FNC rarely had a problem with attendance after that.

I believe that also marked the first post-FNC dinner, where a large group of regulars would go to Applebees or some other fine dining establishment and eat our fill of half-off appetizers. This also helped boost player morale and definitely kept the “Friendly” in Friendly Neighborhood Comic Shop. When I asked players from back in the day what their fondest memories of the store were, many of them included the post-event dinners.

The store was remodeled slightly to allow for more players to fit, and a little over a year later, the store moved to West Islip, complete with a closing ceremony for the old location. The new store was more spacious, with a clear separation between the storefront where the majority of merchandise was kept, and the gaming tables in the back. Though it didn’t have the same cozy atmosphere as the old place, the much more visible storefront attracted even more players to fill it.

Many regulars stopped playing over the years, but new ones stepped up to keep the tournaments active. When Mike Palm retired and I took a step back from judging every Saturday (even judges get burnt out!), long-time regulars Jon Lorig, Gregor McConnell, and Blake Buglino began working at the shop, and Jon ran and organized the events. After a while, Ed Palm faded into the background, and Jon Lorig took over. And finally, after many months of planning, Jon opened his own store – the third FNC, dubbed “The Arena”. The new store is at 795 Udall Road in West Islip, just down the block from the second location. I’m confident that The Arena will keep FNC’s friendly atmosphere and excitement… but since The Arena’s opening has been delayed a bit, we’ll cover the new store here another time. But if you’re looking for a friendly place to play that’s filled with enthusiastic players, stay tuned here and also follow FNC Shop on Facebook for news about The Arena’s grand opening!