Adam Schwartz lived the dream.
He played the game, saw the world, and played for Team Uruguay at the 2015 World Magic Cup. He committed to Magic, and Magic sent him to Barcelona to compete in a team event against dozens of other countries. It was an incredible and unforgettable experience.
And then, it ended.
Schwartz was just 17 years old when that happened. He couldn't chase a Pro Tour dream around the world anymore, and he didn't have any events on the horizon after his team failed to separate from the pack at the World Magic Cup.
His globetrotting Magic career abruptly ended, life happened, and he went on to pursue other interests. That wild World Magic Cup was a fun footnote in the now 26-year-old's life and a chapter he thought had been filed away forever.
Nearly a decade later, the World Magic Cup is no more, but the Regional Championship circuit is going strong with its seventh set of events going across the world, and Schwartz is back in the winner's circle.
Nuestras felicitaciones para Adam Schwartz (Uruguay), el campeón del Regional Championship Pioneer de este fin de semana en Chile. Aquí lo tenemos levantando el merecido trofeo 🏆 luego de un torneo lleno de muchas emociones#MagicTheGathering #mtgsams #mtgpioneer #mtg pic.twitter.com/15y9M4uAXL
— South America Magic Series (@smagicseries) November 4, 2024
He won the star-studded South America Magic Series earlier this month, piloting a refreshed Pioneer Izzet Phoenix deck and defeating Hernán Lobos in the finals. For a player who can't devote nearly as much time to the game as he did when he played at the World Magic Cup, it fulfilled what Schwartz had deemed an almost "impossible dream." But as he clutched the trophy, he realized that he would need to make travel plans for not just one Magic event but several. He qualified for the Pro Tour and Magic World Championship 31.
"The win is incredible. I still can't believe it," said the Montevideo native, reflecting on his dominant 9-1-1 run at the tournament where his only loss came to endboss-level opponent Martin Dominguez, a loss that was avenged in the all-important quarterfinals. "I've been playing Magic for a long time, and after 2015 when I was national champion and played in the World Magic Cup, I didn't have the opportunity to prove or validate that I was good at Magic. Now, almost 10 years later, I have the chance to show that it wasn't just luck."
Schwartz is now guaranteed that chance, although his Regional Championship win should go a long way to prove to everyone, including himself, that it wasn't "just luck" then, and it isn't now, either.
The beauty of the Regional Championship circuit is that it offers the most direct path to the top of the competitive Magic world possible. You can qualify for a Regional Championship from your local gaming store—Schwartz did so playing in a team trios event—and once the tournament was officially on his calendar, the old fire lit right back up.
"My goal was trying to qualify for a Pro Tour, but I thought that was kind of impossible," Schwartz admitted. "Playing in South America is really hard as we only have four invitations for the Pro Tour. If you make Top 8, you still need to advance to the Top 4."
That's a steep hill to climb. With the challenge laid out in front of him, the old competitor came back with a fire in his heart, diving back in like he hadn't missed any time at all.
"I'm not going to lie, my testing was done alone; I played 2–3 hours a day, drawing my own conclusions," he explained. "I don't have a team at the moment, aside from good friends who don't play Magic that much right now. I exchanged opinions with the other Uruguayans who were playing Phoenix—and I want to thank Franco Piria, Leandro Milan, and Pablo "Portu" Visconti.
"In the end, I didn't change anything in my decklist. I love the play style of Phoenix, but before
Before that? Tomoaki Ogasawara won a Regional Championship with Mono-Black Demons, taking a page from World Champion Javier Dominguez's Standard deck and bringing
With just a few more events in the year, there's only thing we really know about Pioneer after almost two months of Regional Championships: no one has it completely figured out yet.
But for Schwartz, it all came together for one weekend in Santiago. Now, he'll get to embark on at least a couple more Magic trips he recalls so fondly. And this time, he has no intention of letting the ride end early.
"It feels like a dream, I'm not going to lie. It's really hard to get back to work without thinking about Magic," he said with a laugh. "This is just the beginning for me. My goal is to have a good Pro Tour in Chicago so I can prove to myself that I am able to play at the Pro Tour level."
Living the dream. I won the 7th South America Magic Series. I still dont know how this social media works, but i want to share my happines. See you at the PT and Worlds 2025! pic.twitter.com/1QQJrEF2Gi
— Adam Schwartz (@Cracadam) November 5, 2024
Looking Ahead
The Regional Championship circuit rolls on, with two of eleven events left. First up is the Regional Championship for Canada taking place in Calgary this weekend, which will feature the debut of many additions from Magic: The Gathering Foundations. After that will be the Regional Championship in Mexico City on November 29 to December 1, which will wrap the Regional Championship circuit for the season. That doesn't mean Magic is done for the year, as there's an Arena Championship still to come as well.
That takes us into the new year, where the Pro Tour will be racing toward us. MagicCon: Chicago will host the first premier event of the season, and with the release of Aetherdrift, we will be entering what is sure to be a momentous year for Magic. But first, there's a few more World Championship seats to award. All eyes turn to the north as Canada prepares to crown their next champion.