If you want to know Magic's latest Regional Championship winner, you need to know where things began.

Some of Casey Miller's earliest memories are of card games. Some of those memories are of early mornings, some late nights, some lazy afternoons, but they all share a common element: Miller and his dad hanging out together, with cards as the consistent backdrop.

Miller's father was a gamer, a skilled player in the World Series of Poker,, and shared that love of gaming with his son. He never held back in those moments, sharing his reasoning behind complex decisions in games, even if his son wasn't old enough to follow along. Their bond instilled a love of card games in Casey Miller. A decade or so later, his parents were, as he put it, driving him half an hour through Colorado blizzards just to go 1-3 at Friday Night Magic.

"My parents were always so supportive of me playing Magic. My dad passed away a few years ago, and we shared that love [of gaming], even if they never really understood what exactly was going on with Magic," Miller said following the US Regional Championship in Minneapolis. "I think they saw it as the first extracurricular activity that I enjoyed, even if I wasn't all that good at the time. Magic helped me learn to communicate better, especially with strangers. I was really introverted and quiet in elementary and middle school, but early on in high school, a friend introduced me to Magic, and we started going to events."

After another decade of playing Magic, Miller headed to the latest Regional Championship. There, he rekindled the fire instilled by his dad and his deck, and he burned bright. After a long weekend of games, Miller made a Day Two appearance and marked another milestone in his Magic journey.

Congratulations to Casey Miller, winner of the Magic Regional Championship at SCG CON Minneapolis! 🏆

See you at the Pro Tour and World Championship! 🍾#SCGMINN pic.twitter.com/JarXWjIWx8

— Star City Games (@StarCityGames) May 5, 2025

Miller described the past few days as "surreal," and it's easy to see why. He had experience with loving card games but made no Top 8 appearances. He had a few near misses back in the 2010s, but the blue ticket always seemed to elude him. With just a handful of Regional Championship appearances and an forgettable Day Two run under his belt, the Castle Rock native traveled from Colorado to Minnesota with a modest goal: finish in the Top 32 and earn a Pro Tour invitation. He accomplished that goal and much, much more.

What followed was nothing less than shocking, at least to Miller and the rest of his squad (an unnamed Colorado Magic team) who spent weeks ahead of the event helping each other to test and prepare. Miller shouted out his team's captain, John Baker, as a driving force in the community that helped prepare for the Regional Championship.

A middling 1-1 start for Miller quickly turned into a 7-2 finish on Day One. At a late dinner, Miller looked out across a field of Izzet Prowess—a matchup he felt comfortable with—and for the first time, allowed himself to feel not just hopeful but confident.

"But I never imagined I would get 1st," he admitted. "I don't feel like it has really set in yet. Seeing people in the Magic community that I've looked up to congratulate me, like Carmen Klomparens, Ryan Overturf, Brian David-Marshall, and Jesse Robkin, was surreal. I've spent the last few days trying to respond to the flood of messages coming in from friends!"

Miller did it all by tossing aside conventional wisdom. The introduction of Cori-Steel Cutter has fundamentally altered Standard—which Frank Karsten discussed at length. While almost a third of the field in the United States and Japan were running the Equipment, Miller decided to fight the field rather than follow it.

"When Shiko, Paragon of the Way was previewed, I knew I'd use it to cast Stock Up and Split Up," Miller explained. "As the meta shifted and Izzet Prowess got way more popular, most of those copies of Split Up turned into Temporary Lockdown. When some initial Magic Online decklists got published, I knew I was on the right track. The other Jeskai lists looked like mine, so I felt good to lock in on Jeskai [for this event]. I usually gravitate toward control decks. Even though this deck leans toward midrange strategies, it's still right up my alley."

It was also the perfect lane for the weekend. At the start of the event, many feared Izzet Prowess was too strong, but by the time the dust settled, Shiko was still flying high. Miller went a perfect 8-0 against Cori-Steel Cutter decks, including defeating both Izzet players in the Top 8.

"I knew I was going to be playing Jeskai Control early on, but finding the exact cards was tricky. I focused on beating Prowess by playing four copies of Temporary Lockdown; Lightning Helix; and Beza, the Bounding Spring," said Miller of his winning list. "But I also wanted a few cards to get an edge against other slower decks, so the one-of Parting Gust was what I settled on, and it overperformed. It can function as a perfectly fine removal spell but also as a huge value card, especially if you blink a Shiko in response to removal."

Now you know where Casey Miller came from and why he went out of his way to reflect on the role of both his parents during his winner's interview.

After this massive event, Magic isn't done just yet; Miller has the Pro Tour and Magic World Championship 31 ahead of him.

"Hopefully I can chain these Pro Tour and World Championship invitations into more invites for a while. I'm going to devote a ton of time this year to preparing for the Pro Tour and Magic World Championship 31. I want to make my team and loved ones proud and prove that my Regional Championship performance wasn't a fluke."