Nexus Waco

Part card shop, part esports arena, Nexus runs Waco's busiest TCG calendar — Pokemon and Lorcana weekends, Friday MTG, and a rentable deck program.

Few trading card stores share a roof with an esports arena and a sandwich counter, but that combination is exactly what makes Nexus a downtown Waco original. The Washington Avenue space bills itself as headquarters for Magic, Pokemon, Lorcana, One Piece, and Riftbound, and the event calendar backs it up: Magic fires on Friday nights, while Pokemon and Lorcana tournaments fill the weekend slots, with winners posted publicly after each event.

The TCG side sells sealed product and accessories in-store and moves singles through a TCGplayer Pro storefront. The most unusual offering is the deck rental program, currently in beta, which lets players borrow competitive Pokemon and Magic decks in-store — a low-cost way to test a format before sinking money into it. Wizards of the Coast lists Nexus as a sanctioned WPN store, so tournament results count.

Beyond cards, the building doubles as a full gaming venue: rows of high-end Archon PCs, PS5, Xbox Series X, and Switch stations, plus arcade cabinets, all available through day passes or monthly memberships. The in-house Save Point Sandwich Shop serves retro-gaming-themed toasted sandwiches from a full kitchen, which explains why Google pegs the average visit at around four hours. An active Discord keeps the community organized between events, and the shop streams tournaments on Twitch.

Hours skew late for trading cards in Waco: 11AM to 10PM Tuesday through Thursday, until midnight Friday and Saturday, and 11AM to 8PM Sundays, closed Mondays. Weekend afternoons are the move for Pokemon players; Friday evening belongs to Magic and the LAN crowd.