Almost 150 players qualified for the seventh Regional Championship cycle in South America, and all went to Santiago, Chile last weekend to take their shot at the Pro Tour or even next year's World Championship.

With four Pro Tour invites on the line, it took eight intense rounds of Swiss to determine a Top 8–and a stacked Top 8 it was, with former Pro Tour champion Mattias Leveratto and former Regional Champion Martin Dominguez headlining the talented group.

Adam Schwartz would go through them both to win the South American Magic Series and be crowned the latest Regional Champion. The Montevideo native piloted the classic Pioneer archetype Izzet Phoenix to a 2-1 win over Dominguez in the semifinals–avenging his only loss in the tournament—to qualify for the Pro Tour, and then beat Leveratto in two straight games to punch his ticket to the finals, where Schwartz would defeat Hernán Lobos's Jund Sacrifice deck in three tight games.

Hernán Lobos fell to Adam Schwartz in the finals, with Izzet Phoenix besting Jund Sacrifice to qualify Schwart for the World Championship.

The Top 8 decks featured an array of the options available in Pioneer, with four different decks in the final eight and another handful of unique archetypes in the Top 16. Jund Sacrifice led the way with its familiar Witch's Oven and Cauldron Familiar combo but the new addition of Scavenger's Talent helped three players qualify for the elimination rounds with the deck. Two players were on Izzet Phoenix, and the rest was filled out by Selesnya Company, Mardu Greasefang, and Mono-Black Demons.

But the day belonged to Schwartz, the key addition of Artist's Talent, and a swarm of birds. His victory qualifies him not just for the Pro Tour but the World Championship as well, a stage where he has some experience–he competed at the 2015 World Magic Cup.

Congratulations to Adam Schwartz, the winner of the South American Magic Series and the Regional Championship title that goes with it!

Top 4 Qualify for the Pro Tour

While Schwartz becomes the first player from the region to qualify for the 2025 Magic World Championship, he won't be alone in heading to the United States for the first Pro Tour of the year. The top four finishers from the tournament all earned a Pro Tour invite, which means Lobos will be packing his cats for Chicago soon.

Witch's Oven is also responsible for sending mythic champion Matias back to the Pro Tour. He credited the Sacrifice list as his pet deck, fitting for the season and Cauldron Familiar. He also pointed to a familiar card as the MVP of the weekend: Fable of the Mirror-Breaker. The enchantment has become a key cog of almost every format it's legal in, and the powerful enchantment was in half of the Top 8 decks.

The final deck to get through was Mardu Greasefang, itself now a classic Pioneer archetype bringing together its namesake Greasefang, Okiba Boss with Parhelion II, supported by a host of discard outlets old and new, including breakout Pioneer and Modern star Overlord of the Balemurk. Marcelo López Lagos, making his second Regional Championship Top 8 in a row and third overall, went undefeated throughout the tournament up until he fell to Lobos in the semifinals.

Congratulations again to everyone who qualified and competed in the latest Regional Championship, and to the four players who earned a Pro Tour invitation!

Find out more about how you can qualify for the Regional Championship and the Pro Tour by visiting here and finding out more from your regional organizer!