March 8–9 continued our exciting season of Regional Championships, with events in Australia and the United States qualifying players for the Pro Tour and Magic World Championship 31. Read more about each of these events and their champions below!

And remember, you can be part of the next cycle of Regional Championships by participating in a qualifying event near you! Explore upcoming events near you or abroad, or visit your regional organizer's website for more details.

Thomas Bot Wins the Australia and New Zealand Regional Championship with Colorless Eldrazi

By Riley Knight

This weekend, the ANZ Super Series Finals were held in Sydney, Australia. A stunning 155 competitors assembled to play Modern on their quest to make it to the Pro Tour and beyond. The Modern format still has a few surprises up its sleeve, it seems, as the Top 8 not only featured a deck that hasn't been popular since 2018, but the event was won by a dark horse: Colorless Eldrazi. Congratulations to Thomas Bot, who dropped just one match on his way to victory!

Congratulations to Thomas Bot!

Bot was one of two players who piloted Colorless Eldrazi that weekend, and both of them made the Top 8. It was the runner-up's deck that really came as a surprise. Nicholas Talbot was ultimately vanquished in the finals but put on a show with his red-hot Hollow One deck running the new Marauding Mako from Aetherdrift and marking the return of an iconic archetype that had been absent from Modern for a long time.

The final between Thomas Bot and Nicholas Talbot

The Top 8, however, also had some increasingly familiar faces. Temur Breach is the deck to beat in Modern at the moment with two players on the deck making the Top 8; there were also two blue-black Murktide lists, although one also splashed white for a more diverse array of threats and answers. In addition to the two Colorless Eldrazi decks and the Hollow One list, rounding out the Top 8 was a more common Eldrazi Ramp deck. But Boros Energy and Orzhov Blink—two recent powerhouses—were nowhere to be seen!

Players in the ANZ Super Series Finals Top 8

The ANZ Super Series Finals Bracket

Grinding Station and Underworld Breach continue to be very potent combo pieces, representing a quarter of the field across the weekend. Orzhov Blink and Boros Energy didn't convert their popularity into Top 8 appearances, nor, as mentioned, did Boros Energy, but these powerful strategies are still popular choices, seen by how many players brought them to the event. It seems that Murktide and Oculus decks are still making names for themselves, and it was fascinating to see both Colorless Eldrazi players make Top 8 this weekend. They really picked their moment!

The Metagame from the ANZ Super Series Finals

This weekend also saw live coverage of the event broadcast on YouTube, highlighting some of the best players from the Australia and New Zealand region. With fame, fortune, and invites to the Pro Tour and the World Championship up for grabs, everyone is clamoring for a seat at the table. You could be among those RC competitors when our next season rolls around! Get started by finding the next qualifier near you!

Jesse Robkin Wins the US Regional Championship with Grinding Breach

By Meghan Wolff

In early March, over 1,300 of the best Magic players from across the United States gathered in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the second US Regional Championship of the season. The stakes: 32 invitations to MagicCon: Las Vegas's Pro Tour, an invitation to the World Championship later this year, and the title of US Regional Champion. After two full days and fifteen rounds of Modern followed by a Top 8 playoff, Jesse Robkin claimed the title and the trophy piloting Grinding Breach.

Hear from Robkin in her post-finals interview!

Hear from the champ! 🎙️

Jesse Robkin joins Nick Miller in the Sideboard to talk about the amazing journey that led to an EPIC Regional Championship win! #SCGCHARLOTTE pic.twitter.com/6EfjlXvbW6

— Star City Games (@StarCityGames) March 10, 2025

Robkin chose Grinding Breach for the weekend, noting, "It is my favorite deck of all time. And also, it's broken."

Congratulations to Jesse Robkin, winner of the US Regional Championship!

She defeated Corey Burkhart, also on Grinding Breach, in the finals.

Congratulations to finalist Corey Burkhart!

Burkhart agreed, stating that Grinding Breach was "the best deck I've played, not [even] close."

Congratulations to the Top 8!

At the end of fifteen Swiss rounds of Modern, the Top 8 emerged and faced off in a tense series of matches. In addition to finalists Robkin and Burkhart, there were another four players in the Top 8 on Grinding Breach. One copy of Boros Energy, surviving despite the ban of Amped Raptor, and one copy of Amulet Titan rounded out the field.

The Post-Ban Modern Metagame

Last year, Modern shifted following a set of recent bans. Back then, it was the banning of Fury and Up the Beanstalk that led to the decline of Rakdos Evoke and the rise of Temur Rhinos. This time, the unbanning of Mox Opal is making more of an impact than anything that was removed from the format.

Grinding Breach started strong, making up 23% of the metagame on Day One and increasing their share to 30% on Day Two.

With one final weekend of Modern Regional Championships left this season, those three RCs will determine if Grinding Breach can finish the season on top. Dimir Mill, Ruby Storm, Eldrazi Tron, and a copy of Hollow One, while not appearing in the Top 8, did make their way into the Top 32, qualifying players for the upcoming Pro Tour.

You can see the decklists of the Top 32 players here.

Congratulations again to this weekend's players on a great tournament of terrific and hard-fought matches and excellent competition. Catch the next US Regional Championship during the next Regional Championship cycle!

Find out more about how you can qualify for the Regional Championship and the Pro Tour right here and learn more about how you could be the one holding the trophy.