The Regional Championship Qualifier season rolls on. And with it, the kinds of stories that only competitive Magic can bring.
The competitive season makes a lot of Magic's history, and with good reason. It's incredible to see the of longevity premier play from over three decades, and unlike many sports, we can still (more or less) compare players from various eras on a level playing fields. Conversations about who is the best between Kai Budde, Jon Finkel, and Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa are fun, and having three decades of precedent to draw from makes put Simon Nielsen's year all the more impressive. All in all, the matter of Magic's past is what makes Magic's present so meaningful to the million of players striving to improve their game and possibly even qualify for the Pro Tour.
But there's something that's missed in the academic, statistics-heavy discussion about Magic's past: For millions of players, Magic's history isn't a list of World Champions, Pro Tour locations, or Top 8 decklists. It's the local store where they did their first draft or the group of college buddies who drove to PTQs every weekend. It's the lessons, the heartbreaks, and the triumphs that all come with playing competitive Magic, and it's deeply personal.
For Steve Stillman, It's Nova Games in Brick Township, New Jersey.
"This is the game store I practically grew up in," Stillman reflected after winning a Regional Championship Qualifier earlier this month, in the exact same store where he won his first qualifier seven years ago to kickstart his Magic journey. "To win there, surrounded by lifelong friends, feels like a full-circle moment."
Won THE NJ RCQ with Necrodominance
— Still Steve, Man (@stillman_steve) August 12, 2024
Same list I played at SCG Baltimore 💀 https://t.co/KGeSAbQnvV pic.twitter.com/PVQyicGHc4
Stillman is one of the many across the world earning their spot at the upcoming Regional Championships. While many will take a path similar to Stillman when they arrive at a tournament that could send them to the Pro Tour or World Championship, everyone's journey will have been unique. After all, not everyone gets to qualify for big time playing what amounts to a second home.
But that's the beauty of the Regional Championship Qualifier system. It allows players to dip their toes into high-level Magic in the same place they play Friday Night Magic every week, and is the critical first step that we've seen lead players deep into the Pro Tour. For Stillman, a longtime competitor who has made deep tournament runs himself, winning a Modern RCQ this season with Necrodominance is a step in the process he isn't taking for granted. This is his fourth career Regional Championship qualification, but he vividly remembers the one he had to miss due to a conflict, and this will be the first Modern Regional Championship he plays in.
"Modern is the format I've enjoyed the most over my years playing Magic, and that's due to a mix of success and presence. In New Jersey, and I'm sure this is the case elsewhere, Modern has been the lifeblood of paper Magic," Stillman explained. "I've had consistent results with Ad Nauseam at the Grand Prix level, but have more recently put up SCG results with far stronger decks like Rakdos Evoke. Necrodominance is an amalgam of my two previous decks, which made it personally desirable."
Another reason the deck was desirable for Stillman's show at Nova was that it avoided Nadu, Winged Wisdom mirrors, and it had a solid plan for dropping the ubiquitous bird.
"After my 10th-place finish at the SCG Baltimore $10k with the deck, I was confident about Mono-Black Necro. Knowing that this RCQ was at my hometown game store only added to my confidence; I've played at this store for nearly ten years," Stillman said. "While I wasn't sure how many players would be on the deck, I knew I needed to beat Nadu more than once to win the tournament. Mono-Black Necro can combo quickly against Nadu and has fantastic tools for other matchups. Some say the best way to beat Nadu is with Nadu, but the disruption of
Now, Stillman heads to Charlotte for the next Regional Championship, with a shot at the Pro Tour and World Championship awaiting him. While I mainly remember that city for hosting record-breaking, massive fields that also broke the tournament software, Stillman's Magic history runs through there as well.
"Nearly ten years ago, I played my first Modern Grand Prix in Charlotte. I convinced my friends, who have all since retired from playing, to drive down and compete," he recalled. "Having another shot at the Pro Tour in the same city where I played my first Grand Prix is another full-circle moment. A lot has changed over my ten years playing competitive Magic, but the more things change the more they stay the same!"
There's one thing Stillman is hopes changes this time around.
"I mentioned Modern Ad Nauseam and how Necrodominance is similar. It's been nice getting recognized for my continued success with Necrodominance," he said. "The last time I was featured like this, I had gone 9-0 on Day One of Grand Prix Toronto with the deck. However, I lost out and didn't qualify for the Pro Tour at that tournament. I won't be celebrating before the finish line this time! I'll ensure my Soul Spikes cross the finish line in Charlotte."
Stillman's path to the Pro Tour isn't guaranteed, but there is a path to be found, one that is ten years in the making from thousands of hours of Modern practice. As we draw closer to Magic World Championship 30 Oct. 25-27 this year, we inch ever closer to officially drawing in on what will be the fourth decade of competitive Magic play. New Magic history is in the making, all over the world, at Regional Championship Qualifiers right now.
Won the first modern RCQ of this season playing Jeskai Control. No Rings, mainboard Surgical. Clique and Emperor in the Sideboard. At the end of the day, I would try to fit one more pending and one more verdict. Matchups in the 🧵
— Rafael R. Ribeiro (@rafael_3ribeiro) August 5, 2024
Prague, here we go! #MTG #RCQ pic.twitter.com/tXo93Hg1C3
What a great day for the team! We had an RCQ at a sponsor store Game On! There were 31 players, in top8 we had 4 members @NoF44 @TrashMTG @AmuletAustin and Andrew. Of course, Andrew being the monster he is, won another invite here with Jeskia energy. @fireshoes pic.twitter.com/igaWDl3Q7A
— Silver Knights MTG (@mtg_silver) August 11, 2024
Stories like Chaz Alexander. He picked up competitive play less than three years ago and has been playing Modern since Modern Horizons 2. He quickly developed an affinity for the format, playing both meta and rogue decks with regularity as he devoured theory and testing to improve his gameplay. Improve he did, and the hard work culminated in a victory at the Hunter Burton Memorial Open earlier this year.
Congrats to both of our finalists, Sam Marquardt and your 2024 Hunter Burton Memorial Open winner Chaz Alexander! pic.twitter.com/a3EwxI2aWe
— Corbin Hosler (@Chosler) March 17, 2024
Alexander parleyed that success into a busy RCQ year, crediting his friends Landon Quick and Chris Hamilton for testing regularly over Discord and at FNM to prepare for the next tournament. His experience with trying so much of the format meant that he had qualms about sleeving up Eldrazi Breach when everyone else was on Nadu or Energy, and his dedication was rewarded with a Regional Championship invitation.
That's the blueprint right there. It doesn't take a world-class team of pros or the best drafting technology engineers can build or a preternatural talent like Nathan Steuer to start your path to the Pro Tour. It takes an afternoon at your friendly local game store. And who knows? It may just end at the World Championship.
The Road to Magic World Championship 30
You'll have to forgive me if I seemed a little focused on what Magic history means to all of us—Magic players are a nostalgic bunch when it comes to our game and there's nothing more memorable than the World Championship. With the milestone Magic World Championship 30 coming up in about two months, Frank Karsten and I have been taking a look back at each of the previous World Championships.
We've covered a lot over the past six months as we count down toward MagicCon: Las Vegas, from World Championships so retro we had to scan old magazine pages for info to Player of the Year playoffs to the game's only two-time World Championship. This week, we head to 2015, when a soon-to-be Magic Pro Tour Hall of Famer added the biggest highlight of his career.
Seth Manfield was already a force heading into the 2015 World Championship in Seattle, Washington; he was one of just 24 players who qualified to participate across Draft, Standard, and Modern at the ultra-exclusive event, with multiple Pro Tour Top 8 appearances to his name. But that didn't make him any less of a (relative) underdog in a field filled to the brim with Hall of Famers and legends at the top of their game.
But Manfield, too, was playing at his best, and over days of stressful competition he navigated his Abzan Control deck to a 13-1 record. His list featured the classic meme favorite
By the end of the competition, Manfield had defeated all comers and etched his name into the history books; the 2015 Magic World Champion would later win Pro Tour Ixalan and be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2018.
