The origins of this event reach back to April of 2011. One of the routines that many players may be familiar with is the sorting and trading of extra figures, and especially the commons and uncommons. Players typically have multiples of these after a few sealed events or opening a brick or case, and my roommate at the time had literally HUNDREDS of extras due to the bulk purchases he made.


Some friends and I were debating ways to make use of all these figures we couldn’t trade or sell when Robert Fredlund came up with the idea that started it all: bag the figures up and use them as pseudo-boosters for a sealed game. A mutual friend, Andrew Pickett, had just been promoted to be the Head Coach of the wrestling program at North Salem High School and was looking for ways to raise money to support the team. He had access to the facilities at the high school, and we needed a large space to throw the event. The Bag of Lemons was born!



At the event, players choose one of 32 numbered bags, each containing an assortment of figures from a variety of sets. Each bag also contains either a relic or special object. The players make 300 point teams from the figures in their bag for the first three rounds, but in the final single-elimination rounds the build moves up to 400 or 500 points depending on the year. The format is appealing to rookie and advanced players alike, as the figures contained in the bags aren’t overpowered or game changing; newer players can catch on quickly while veterans will struggle with how to best use the “Lemons” they find in their bags!


Since 2011, the Bag of Lemons Tournament has raised over $5000 for the North Salem High School wrestling program and we hope to add to that his year! These events wouldn’t be possible without donations from local shops such as Borderlands Games of Salem, Tony’s Kingdom of Keizer, OR, Matt’s Cavalcade of Corvallis, OR and Guardian Games of Portland, OR as well as all the players who have donated figures and prizes over the years! I hope to see you all next weekend!

Wow, this looks like a lot of fun!

Good luck to you, and I hope you raise a lot of money. It seems like a good cause.

As Whitney said:
I believe that children are the future.




I hope to read some reports from this event after it's completion.
I'd like to see the teams built and the contents they had to choose from.

I love Sealed, but have never played Bag of Lemons before.
There is a ROC coming up in Edmonton, Alberta and I hope to play a Bag of Lemons there.


ps. What a great place to play! Lots of room in a school cafeteria.
The tables are huge and would make gaming comfortable.

that's a neat format and a pretty sweet story. who would've thought heroclix players and highschool wrestlers would be unified?

Forgot to add Realms names!

Josh Tufts, 1st Annual Champion- webhead42
Ryan Williams, 2nd Annual Champion - keizerkab
Devon Porter, 3rd Annual Champion - qalin
Jesse Lang, co-founder - thegoodreverendjlang
Robert Fredlund, co-founder - freddeazy

The Guy with the A on His Shirt (bottom left, above the guy in yellow with red hat) - VGA

WOW, FRONT PAGE FOR THOSE GREAT SALEM PLAYERS! From the first inception this charity is/was a great idea. Finally, some exposure to add to this wonderful event. This is a big shout-out to you all, and miss you playing this wonderful game against you all! Long-live Borderlands and Tony's Kingdom of Comics!!!

Great story, brought back some great memories!

I love this kind of tournament!