It was a hell of a birthday present.

Kyle Boggemes knows what it takes to compete at all levels of Magic. He has been playing the game for decades, has more than a dozen Pro Tour appearances—most famously a second-place finish at Pro Tour San Diego in 2010—and holds the distinction of winning the first-ever Grand Prix I covered for Wizards of the Coast back in 2014. Boggemes loves competitive Magic, but his day job as a corporate finance manager is demanding, and with a fifteen-month-old at home, getting out to play high-level Magic is a challenge for the Modern enthusiast.

"It was my birthday weekend so my wife gave me the green light. At this point in my life I'm happy competing at local events and Regional Championship Qualifiers," he explained. "I've been playing Modern since the beginning at Pro Tour Philadelphia in 2011. It's my favorite Constructed format."

That's how Boggemes found himself playing Modern last weekend. That's how it started; how did it end?

Split the finals of an rcq with the same 75. Teferi was insane all day. Won a cool 205 store credit. Working on a sideboard guide for riw ahead of their 1k next weekend. https://t.co/6vZ67mSGVD

— Kyle Boggemes (@Boggememes) August 11, 2024

About as well as it could have.

Boggemes has been a consistent Modern player this year, and he's found consistent success this summer by putting aside the conventional wisdom and trusting his favored Modern deck over the most powerful—but also most targeted—deck in Nadu, Winged Wisdom.

"I've favored Esper Goryo's Vengeance since I saw Matt Sperling make a 10-0 run with it at Pro Tour Modern Horizons 3. Grief and Thoughtseize are how I like to interact because they condense the game and make it simple; after a hard week of working and dad-ing. I want the games to be easier!" he explained. "Nadu is also a creature combo deck that has a hard time pivoting to a plan B so the games you lose feel bad. Esper Goryo's has a decent matchup against Nadu and I made it even better by boarding up to three Teferi, Time Raveler to prevent Endurance and Veil of Summer from ruining my day.

"My favorite Modern decks have a proactive game one, but can easily pivot around the expected interaction. Psychic Frog is fun and powerful, but Teferi is the standout. The opponent is in a rough situation when they have to navigate a sorcery-speed reanimation spell at instant speed."

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This the tech thousands of players around the world are navigating right now as they compete for slots in a future Regional Championship, flagship events around the world that bring together a region's best to compete for big prizes including seats at the Pro Tour and the World Championship. With Magic World Championship 30 just over two months away with Standard on the schedule, the focus is on Modern coming off of a Pro Tour Modern Horizons 3 dominated by Nadu.

But as Boggemes demonstrated, the bird isn't all there is to see in Modern, and it isn't the only thing players are using to win seats at Regional Championships.

For Houston native Douglas Bailey, it was Mardu Energy—and a lot of practice.

"I'm a member of team Mainphase, a Texas-based team sponsored by Kangaroo Tales. For the past two weeks, we have played many online challenges and watched each other play Energy variants, so I was able to have a solid understanding of how to play the deck," Bailey explained. "I also played a bunch of matches against my teammates playing Nadu, which helped me identify how to approach the matchup. Everyone on the team helped, but a shoutout to Chris Kral, Curtis Eslami, and Jeremy Carette for helping me to refine my list."

If Nadu is the unquestioned headlining artist to Modern Horizons 3's impact on the format, then the energy decks introduced are a legendary opening act. Between aggressive variants and control shells, the reintroduction of the mechanic to Magic has left behind a host of options for players looking to adopt new strategies without learning complicated bird combo lines.

"Mardu Energy is an aggressive, midrange strategy that revolves around getting onto the board fast and interacting with your opponent on every turn of the game," Bailey explained. "Cards like Ocelot Pride and Guide of Souls let you build a large board presence very quickly. Thoughtseize and Rakdos Charm are the cards that really shine in the deck, especially against Nadu. Rakdos Charm is a safety net card that can win the game by itself if the Nadu player isn't careful; it's also graveyard hate at instant speed. It's single-handedly won me half my games against Nadu—I paid two mana multiple times to deal over seventeen damage. That's what we call value."

Do you know what else is value? Winning a Regional Championship Qualifier with your practiced deck.

New season, new grind! We’re off to a strong start with @Rulerofsome1 locking up his first RCQ win of the season with Mardu Energy! Congrats on the awesome finish and good luck the rest of the season, Dougie! pic.twitter.com/fBwNvKiS3w

— Team Main Phase 🔜 RC DC (@TeamMainPhase) August 11, 2024

Bailey is like many aspiring Magic players: interested in leveling up his game and challenging himself along the way. The 26-year-old has come close to the Pro Tour several times in the past few years, and now heads to his fifth Regional Championship with another chance to secure the seat.

"The last few days since winning have been great; I have been able to see a huge growth in myself as a player in the last year, and I feel like I have started to better than 'okay' at this game," he reflected. "This was the fastest time in which I qualified for a Regional Championship—it took me fourteen Top 8s and seven finals losses to qualify for the RC in Dallas."

When it comes down to it, I've found that most Magic players—whether they be Limited experts, Standard grinders, or Commander gamers—are looking for self-improvement along with the fun that comes with Magic. The Pro Tour is the ultimate tangible proof of that process of improvement, and for three decades now that dream has driven players to reach ever greater heights.

"It's my goal and lifelong dream to be on the Pro Tour. Winning RCQs and qualifying for the Regional Championship is great, but it's just a stepping stone for me," Bailey said. "I learn and grow from my wins at this stage so I can make it to the next step; I want to be a professional Magic player that people can look up to the same regard as Reid Duke, who's a player of high skill and higher integrity. Magic means the world to me and has given me a family I can truly depend on."

Bailey is one step closer to making his dreams a reality. I get to share a lot of stories of Pro Tour winners, Hall of Famers, Players of the Year, and so on. But, to be honest, it's so invigorating to chat with players like Bailey who can muster the same enthusiasm and work ethic without yet achieving the tournament accolades that make it all a bit easier.

There's one other thing we haven't talked about yet: Modern. For all the reports you may have heard saying otherwise, the format remains Modern. It became famous as a brewer's paradise, and while it doesn't necessarily carry that reputation right now, one thing remains true: Players are rewarded for playing what they know well.

"I've played Modern since roughly 2013, and it's the format I've played the most. My go-to decks over the years were Merfolk, Ad Nauseam, and Murktide more recently," explained Nick Bourque, who knew that his area often brought a wide variety of Modern decks to qualifiers in a way that made adapting on the fly much more important. "I've always liked on occasion playing a dark horse deck that may not be as visible on the radar but that I think are solid and could work in a random field. While searching for cards in my collection I stumbled upon my old Merfolk cards."

Bailey added Harbinger of the Seas from Modern Horizons 3 and was off to the races. After winning his RCQ he'll be off to Canada's next Regional Championship.

"Winning an RCQ or at least qualifying for the Regional Championship early in the season is always a relief. It means I can use the rest of the season to try and figure out a strategy and test out decks for the Regional Championship," he added. "I did not have winning an RCQ with Merfolk in 2024 in a Nadu plus Grief metagame on my bingo card, but I'll take it all the same!"

The Road to the World Championship

We're a little over two months away from Magic World Championship 30 at MagicCon: Las Vegas, and every week leading up to then Frank Karsten and I are taking a look back at previous World Championship winners. It's been an enjoyable look back through Magic's history in preparation of a landmark World Championship, and I think most of us who have played Magic for a long time enjoy a good deep dive into an old Duelist article.

Or maybe that's just me. Either way, it's been great, and great certainly applies to the 2014 World Championship in Nice, France. The event was hosted alongside the World Magic Cup and the weekend turned out to be one of the most historic in Magic's history: the famous Daneblast heard 'round the world plus the rise of the only player to win two World Championship titles.

When Shahar Shenhar won the World Championship title in 2013, it was a shock. When he did so again in 2014, it was history. He piloted the format-defining Sidisi Whip deck to victory and straight into Magic lore; a decade later he remains the only player to have won multiple World Championship titles, and he did so in consecutive years. The titles came in the midst of a decade of excellence by Shenhar, who burst onto the scene with a win at Grand Prix San Diego in 2011 and last made a Top Finish in 2021. Though there are a handful of players who could match his trophy count with a win this year, Shenhar thus far remains alone in the record books.