We're fresh off Magic World Championship 31, where Seth Manfield became the third player to ever win the World Championship title twice, doing so in perhaps the most dominant fashion in recent World Championship history—his perfect run through the Top 8 is practically unheard of, a testament to both his own Hall of Fame talent and the preposterous advantage Manfield's team had cooked up with Izzet Lessons.
There were 126 competitors at the World Championship, forming a field full of players who have had their big break, so to speak. To qualify for the most prestigious event of the year, they had to advance to the Top 8 of a handful of the most competitive events on the planet or perform consistently well at that level. In short, it's full of players who have made their mark on the competitive Magic scene. Whatever path brought them to the event, they'll always be able to say that they qualified and played in the Magic World Championship.
🏆Congratulations to Seth Manfield, winner of Magic World Championship 31!🏆
— PlayMTG (@PlayMTG) December 8, 2025
This is Manfield's second World Championship title, and he won it in the same city as his first one, exactly ten years later.
Congratulations again, Seth! pic.twitter.com/J8ipTJuerU
What's missing from that picture is a different swath of the competitive community. For every player who spikes a Regional Championship and advances to the Pro Tour or World Championship, there are hundreds of players who end up just one draw away from the proverbial blue envelope. And as the Regional Championship series that feeds the Pro Tour circuit has grown and evolved over the last several years, we've come to see Regional Championships across the world develop their own metagames and end bosses. Because while everyone who is competing at the Regional Championship is hoping to play on the Pro Tour, that often ends up as an aspirational goal paired alongside smaller goals. Win a Regional Championship Qualifier to advance to the RC. Win your first match. Advance to your first Day Two. Make it to the prizes. Then, perhaps one day make it to the Top 8 or even the winner's seat.
For many players who are regular Regional Championship competitors but not yet Pro Tour regulars, there's a Magic journey happening that doesn't catch the headlines at the biggest event of the year. It involves traveling from RC to RC and airport to airport, diligently working to improve at the game while waiting for that perfect tournament where preparation meets opportunity. Because when Regional Championship competitors across the world sit down for Round 1, they all know one thing: this time, it could be their time.
"The Regional Championship in Las Vegas was my seventh RC Day Two in a row and seventh out of eight, with my only miss being my first one. But it's the only one where I qualified for the Pro Tour," explained Nathan Goldberg. "At the Regional Championship in Houston, I started 5-0 and 10-0 [in games]. I never felt better in paper Magic, but the wheels fell off and I lost the next three rounds to end Day One at 6-3. On Sunday, I dropped at 7-4, marking my sixth Regional Championship Day Two without a Pro Tour invite."
Of course, Goldberg did a lot more than just qualify for the Pro Tour at the Regional Championship for the United States at SCG CON in Las Vegas late last month. While the attention of much of the Magic world was on the World Championship field and the refreshed Standard format with Magic: The Gathering® | Avatar: The Last Airbender™ in the fray, the more than 1,300 competitors at the US Regional Championship were looking at Modern, a format with a handful of unique decks finding success on any given weekend over this Regional Championship season.
Goldberg has been battling dutifully in the Magic Online streets—he's up to an astounding 93 Challenge Top 8 appearances on Magic Online with nine outright victories, not to mention that he qualified for the Magic Online Championship Series earlier this year—and he traveled to the Las Vegas desert hoping his own run was just heating up.
The pieces were there. He was now more comfortable competing in highest-stakes events. He enjoyed the format. And after his MOCS showing qualified him for Pro Tour Edge of Eternities—which did not go well but taught Goldberg what he considers valuable lessons for his next opportunity—he knew that he could do it.
What followed at the Regional Championship is what makes the path to the Pro Tour as compelling in 2025 as it was in 1995. After years of plugging away, consistently making Day Two at the Regional Championship but consistently losing the big match there, the Magic met the moment for Goldberg and his favorite Modern deck.
Nathan Goldberg is your Magic Regional Champion at #SCGVEGAS! 🏆
— Star City Games (@StarCityGames) November 24, 2025
Nathan showcased the incredible power of Amulet Titan all weekend! 🌳
See you at Worlds! 💪 pic.twitter.com/6tVriTH8F3
"I try to play whatever formats are competitive, but Modern has always been my best and favorite format. I don't think you need every deck I've worked on or had success with in the format, but I have been playing Amulet Titan for a long time and am very comfortable with building and playing it," he explained. "I test with an RC testing team named Spellbomb, but for this RC it was pretty clear to me that Amulet Titan would be one of the best choices, so also being my best deck it was a no-brainer to play it. I also got some help from other Titan experts like my friend Peter Husisian, who won RC Portland earlier this year. My list was somewhat divergent from the stock decklists, having four copies of
Well, it wouldn't be an Amulet Titan list if it didn't have a card or two that makes you do a double-take.
And the second trip to the Pro Tour already feels sweeter than the first.
"It's not my first Pro Tour invite, but the second one still feels good because it kind of says that the first was not a fluke," Goldberg explained. "As surprised as I am with it, the most common reaction from my friends was something along the lines of 'it took long enough,' or 'it's been long overdue;' apparently I was the only one who didn't think I already deserved a victory like this."
Not to belabor what's already been said, but Goldberg's friends have a point. Who is more deserving of winning a Regional Championship than someone who has been performing so consistently for so long? This triumph also hits a little differently than his first, which he achieved online.
"This represents my first good result in paper Magic; before this I had many RCQ wins and Regional Championship Day Two appearances, but never a Pro Tour qualification or big win outside of Magic Online. I think it somewhat represents breaking through a mental barrier that was holding me back a bit," Goldberg revealed. "It's not my first Pro Tour qualification so it's not an entirely new experience, and having done it once I have some ideas for how I can improve my results."
The Regional Championship victory was the perfect cap to a huge year for the 22-year-old. Now, he's setting his sights on 2026 and keeping the Magic rolling.
"I want to keep playing this game competitively as long as I am enjoying it," he said. "There's Pro Tour Lorwyn Eclipsed, World Championship 32, and hopefully more Pro Tours between them."
— Peter Husisian (@peter_husisian) November 25, 2025