The Dive Down

Latest Episodes:

Episode 233: PT Barcelona Preview, ft. d00mwake Jul 27, 2023

Show notes

It's almost PT Barcelona time — and we're super excited to talk through the decks, meta, and how we think everything is going to shape up this weekend. Shane, Dave, and Devon (aka d00mwake) go through all of the changes to Modern since LOTR and what we think that means to Pros and to the rest of us.

Once we get through a meta discussion, we decide to put pride on the line and do a fantasy draft of the archetypes — nothing like a little competition on top of competition. Shane goes all in on Scam. Dave grabs late round value. Devon goes for big mana. Who will reign supreme?

• What the Meta is
• How it Got There
• Fantasy Drafting the Meta

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And now receive 8% off your order of paper cards from Nerd Rage Gaming with code "DIVE8" at https://www.nerdragegaming.com/

Timestamps:
4:43 - Dave spoils his intro
6:42 - Housekeeping
10:15 - The Modern Pro Tour is back!
17:02 - How the meta has shifted with LOTR
24:23 - Last weekend's 4 challenges
35:36 - What's shaping Modern's meta
41:30 - The One Ring decks
58:18 - The Bowmasters decks
1:05:07 - The combo... deck?
1:07:50 - The other contenders (and non-contenders)
1:16:45 - Fragrances for individuals
1:19:05 - The Pro Tour fantasy draft!
1:35:45 - Wrapping up

Links from this week's episode:
Take a look at our draft board: https://www.figma.com/file/uHvwBeISD3a8PXfBvJVgf3/TDD-PT-LOTR-Draft-Board?type=whiteboard&node-id=0%3A1&t=3TczhXHJBK2Lig2q-1

Our opening music is Nowhere - You Never Knew, and our closing music is Space Blood - Goro? Is That Your Christian Name?

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Episode 232: Over the Top with The One Ring Jul 20, 2023

Show notes

This week the boyz go over the top with the biggest decks that have gotten buffs from the LOTR set. Control and big mana strategies have been strengthened by The One Ring, so we take a trio of the best of them out for a test drive. That's right, it's time for Shane to break out his (nearly) all Russian deck, Mono-Green Tron. But before we get to that Stan professes his love for Mono-Black Coffers and Dave takes a spin with the Twitter hype deck of the week — UB Ring Control by Talisker.

• Mono-Black Coffers
• Dimir Control (from TaliskerMTGO)
• Mono-Green Tron

Check out Heavy Play to improve your gameplay and game day. Awesome deck boxes, playmats and more at heavyplay.com — and use code "THEDIVEDOWN2023" for 10% off your first order.
Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown
Show the world that you're a proud citizen of The Dive Down Nation with some merch from the store: https://www.thedivedown.com/store
Check out our sponsor Barrister and Mann! https://www.barristerandmann.com/ Use coupon code THEDIVEDOWNM23 for 15% off your first order of some incredible fragrances, soaps, beard oils, and more.
Get 10% off your first 2 months of ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use coupon code THEDIVEDOWN2023
And now receive 8% off your order of paper cards from Nerd Rage Gaming with code "DIVE8" at https://www.nerdragegaming.com/

Timestamps:
2:05 - Heavy Play!
5:35 - Housekeeping
8:36 - Stan talks Mono-Black Coffers
14:38 - How Coffers works
21:30 - Playing Coffers
29:58 - Coffers in the Modern meta
34:31 - Dave talks Dimir Control
44:29 - Playing Dimir Control
51:12 - Stan has a box
54:40 - Shane talks Green Tron
1:01:45 - How Tron is different and better
1:15:45 - So let's talk about The One Ring
1:25:00 - Wrapping up

Links from this week's episode:
Mono-Black Coffers by DreamsOfAshiok: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/5740288#paper
UB Ring Control by Talisker: https://twitter.com/taliskermtgo/status/1679559848994676751?s=46
Mono-Green Tron by Giona Cai: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/modern-mono-green-tron#paper

Our opening music is Nowhere - You Never Knew, and our closing music is Space Blood - Goro? Is That Your Christian Name?

email us: thedivedown@gmail.com
twitter: https://twitter.com/thedivedown

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Episode 231: Intercontinental Modern Tournament Results Jul 13, 2023

Show notes

On this week's show, we continue to track the impact of Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth on the Modern metagame with a detailed recap of tournaments all over the world and world wide web. We touch on the St. Louis NRG Team Trios, the Legacy European Tour Bologna event, and a bunch of Modern challenges.

We look at which decks converted the best across tournaments, who's seeing the most consistent results among the format's top archetypes, interesting trends within online data, and how we rank the current Modern staples.

Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown
Show the world that you're a proud citizen of The Dive Down Nation with some merch from the store: https://www.thedivedown.com/store
Enhance your Magic accessories with the newest deck boxes, sleeves, and playmats from Heavy Play. Use code TheDiveDown2023 for 10% off your first order at https://www.heavyplay.com/
Check out our sponsor Barrister and Mann! https://www.barristerandmann.com/ Use coupon code THEDIVEDOWNM23 for 15% off your first order of some incredible fragrances, soaps, beard oils, and more.
Get 10% off your first 2 months of ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use coupon code THEDIVEDOWN2023
Receive 8% off your order of paper cards from Nerd Rage Gaming with code "DIVE8" at https://www.nerdragegaming.com/

Timestamps:
8:07 - Housekeeping
11:58 - Heavy Play x The Dive Down
14:00 - The St. Louis NRG Team Trios
27:33 - The NRG Top 8 decks
32:22 - The Legacy European Tour Bologna Modern Event
42:20 - Live Smells of Little Treats
47:02 - Legacy European Tour deck performance
1:01:18 - The Top 8
1:03:34 - Cool Challenge stuff
1:10:40 - Takes on Modern decks
1:23:32 - Wrapping up

Links from this week's episode:
NRG Series Team Trios in St. Louis - https://melee.gg/Tournament/View/15645
Legacy European Tour Modern Bologna - https://melee.gg/Tournament/View/16657

Our opening music is Nowhere - You Never Knew, and our closing music is Space Blood - Goro? Is That Your Christian Name?

email us: thedivedown@gmail.com
twitter: https://twitter.com/thedivedown

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Episode 230: Put a Ring(s) on It Jul 06, 2023

Show notes

This week we keep talking about THE PRECIOUSSSSs... because no one can stop putting this colorless 4-drop in their Modern decks. Dave and Devon go through at least 6 or 10 decks with the ring while Stan silently looks on and nods approvingly (he has no voice, yet he lent his energy and notes to this episode). Then we do a bit of a deep dive into how to think about playing against The One Ring — and try to create a roadmap for how to think about playing against format-warping cards in general. Finally, we talk quickly about a couple of non-Ring decks you can consider right now.

Rings Decks
Playing Against Rings Decks
Non-Rings Decks

Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown
Show the world that you're a proud citizen of The Dive Down Nation with some merch from the store: https://www.thedivedown.com/store
Check out our sponsor Barrister and Mann! https://www.barristerandmann.com/ Use coupon code THEDIVEDOWNM23 for 15% off your first order of some incredible fragrances, soaps, beard oils, and more.
Get 10% off your first 2 months of ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use coupon code THEDIVEDOWN2023
And now receive 8% off your order of paper cards from Nerd Rage Gaming with code "DIVE8" at https://www.nerdragegaming.com/

Timestamps:
1:48 - Housekeeping
3:39 - Modern is different, and The One Ring is why
5:30 - 4C Ringpile
15:14 - Ringos (and other chat)
29:10 - Ringanimator
37:20 - Dimir Asmoringtacular
42:13 - The emerging Ring Meta
44:35 - Azorius Ringtrol
46:26 - Playing against The One Ring
1:05:40 - Decks outside The One Ring
1:25:42 - Wrapping up

Our opening music is Nowhere - You Never Knew, and our closing music is Space Blood - Goro? Is That Your Christian Name?

email us: thedivedown@gmail.com
twitter: https://twitter.com/thedivedown

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Episode 229: NRG Chicagoland & the Power of The One Ring, ft. d00mwake Jun 29, 2023

Show notes

We finally return to Modern!! Shane and Devon join forces to break down a bunch of tournaments from last weekend, including the NRG Chicagoland Modern $10k, a huge Japanese paper tournament, and some wild MTGO Challenges. After that, they look more closely at The One Ring (and some other cards) and how it's quickly changing the face of Modern.

The Break Down: Mono-G Tron has legs in Chicago
The Break Down, cont: Living End returns to MTGO
The Dive Down: Devon returns to... Modern?

Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown
Show the world that you're a proud citizen of The Dive Down Nation with some merch from the store: https://www.thedivedown.com/store
Check out our sponsor Barrister and Mann! https://www.barristerandmann.com/ Use coupon code THEDIVEDOWNM23 for 15% off your first order of some incredible fragrances, soaps, beard oils, and more.
Get 10% off your first 2 months of ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use coupon code THEDIVEDOWN2023
And now receive 8% off your order of paper cards from Nerd Rage Gaming with code "DIVE8" at https://www.nerdragegaming.com/

Timestamps:
6:36 - Housekeeping
8:59 - The Break Down begins: The NRG Chicagoland Modern $10k
11:46 - The overall metagame and deck breakdowns
26:25 - The NRG Top 8
33:55 - The NRG Leaderboard
35:52 - The Players Convention Modern Open
42:35 - What these two paper tournaments tell us
45:30 - The Modern Showcase Challenge
1:00:07 - What are we thinking about all these tournaments?
1:04:38 - Devon goes on an advertising journey
1:08:00 - The Dive Down begins: The One Ring(s)
1:27:54 - Delighted Halfling and Orcish Bowmasters
1:32:46 - Devon has been playing... Modern?
1:38:51 - Wrapping up

Links from this week's episode:
The NRG Chicagoland Modern $10K: https://melee.gg/Tournament/View/14061
The Player's Convention Modern Open: https://melee.gg/Tournament/View/15431
Mixed data: https://mtgmeta.io/tournaments/14956?mix=14939
The Showcase Challenge: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/modern-showcase-challenge-2023-06-24#paper
Sunday's Challenge: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/modern-challenge-2023-06-25#paper
Boros Hammer: https://melee.gg/Decklist/View/306630
Izzet... Stuff: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/5694033#paper

Our opening music is Nowhere - You Never Knew, and our closing music is Space Blood - Goro? Is That Your Christian Name?

email us: thedivedown@gmail.com
twitter: https://twitter.com/thedivedown

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Episode 228: The Past, Present, and Future of MTGO, ft. Ryan Spain Jun 22, 2023

Show notes

Ryan Spain, now the Creative Director of Magic Online at Daybreak Games, returns to The Dive Down to talk about the transition of MTGO from WOTC to Daybreak, goals and hopes for the platform's future, and the realities of managing such monolithic software.

We learn about how Magic card frames pose challenges for MTGO's file sizes, how two factor authorization was developed, and why MTGO still doesn't exist on Macs.

Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown
Show the world that you're a proud citizen of The Dive Down Nation with some merch from the store: https://www.thedivedown.com/store
Check out our sponsor Barrister and Mann! https://www.barristerandmann.com/ Use coupon code THEDIVEDOWNM23 for 15% off your first order of some incredible fragrances, soaps, beard oils, and more.
Get 10% off your first 2 months of ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use coupon code THEDIVEDOWN2023
And now receive 8% off your order of paper cards from Nerd Rage Gaming with code "DIVE8" at https://www.nerdragegaming.com/

Timestamps:
3:07 - Housekeeping
7:40 - Ryan Spain of Daybreak Games joins The Dive Down
12:14 - Creative Directing Magic Online
14:25 - Transitioning M:O to Daybreak
18:35 - How M:O fits into the Magic ecosystem
24:40 - Bugfixing and developing M:O
31:08 - Future plans for M:O
54:18 - The economy of M:O
1:05:15 - Engagement with formats on M:O
1:08:20 - Where's the Mac version?!
1:13:16 - Experimentation on M:O
1:18:34 - Some final thoughts
1:21:00 - Wrapping up
1:22:39 - Secret track

Links from this week's episode:
https://www.mtgo.com/news/mtgo-stateofmtgo-10112022

Our opening music is Nowhere - You Never Knew, and our closing music is Space Blood - Goro? Is That Your Christian Name?

email us: thedivedown@gmail.com
twitter: https://twitter.com/thedivedown

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Episode 227: The Pod Tempts You, ft. aspiringspike & d00mwake Jun 16, 2023

Show notes

This week Shane welcomes back two friends of the show — Devon O'Donnell (aka d00mwake) & Evart Moughton (aka aspiringspike) — to sub in for Dave and Stan and talk Post-RC Pioneer hype decks and where cards from Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth could find homes in Modern. That's right, two guests, two formats, and a whole lotta takes. Devon loves Evart's dogs. Evart loves The One Ring. Shane registers quiet skepticism about all these hobbits.

• Devon & Evart's Wild Weekend
• Post-RC Pioneer Hype Decks
• anything cool going on in modern?
• Is The One Ring Busted?

Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown
Show the world that you're a proud citizen of The Dive Down Nation with some merch from the store: https://www.thedivedown.com/store
Check out our sponsor Barrister and Mann! https://www.barristerandmann.com/ Use coupon code THEDIVEDOWNM23 for 15% off your first order of some incredible fragrances, soaps, beard oils, and more.
Get 10% off your first 2 months of ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use coupon code THEDIVEDOWN2023
And now receive 8% off your order of paper cards from Nerd Rage Gaming with code "DIVE8" at https://www.nerdragegaming.com/

Timestamps:
3:45 - Housekeeping
5:07 - The Break Down begins: Devon and Evart Do Dallas
20:48 - The hype decks of Pioneer post-RC
43:11 - Anything cool going on in Modern?
47:00 - LOTR: Tales of Middle-Earth spoilers continue
48:20 - Is The One Ring busted?
51:55 - Stern Scolding
55:26 - Aragorn, the Uniter
56:53 - Frodo, Determined Hero
1:00:14 - Orcish Bowmasters
1:02:30 - Boromir, Warden of the Tower
1:05:16 - Flowering of the White Tree
1:08:07 - Flame of Anor
1:11:29 - Samwise Gamgee
1:16:05 - Rosie Cotton of South Lane
1:18:40 - Elven Farsight
1:22:20 - This is not Modern Horizons 3
1:24:28 - Oliphaunt
1:28:50 - What Evart and Devon are up to
1:34:54 - Wrapping up

Our opening music is Nowhere - You Never Knew, and our closing music is Space Blood - Goro? Is That Your Christian Name?

email us: thedivedown@gmail.com
twitter: https://twitter.com/thedivedown

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Episode 226: Pioneer RC Results and Modern Ring Temptations, pt. 1 Jun 08, 2023

Show notes

The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth spoilers are in full swing, so we dive into a bunch of cards that could see play in existing Modern decks or even create some new ones. Plus we recap the results of the latest Pioneer Regional Championship in Dallas.

We attempt to Press the Enemy and get a Stern Scolding. But we Forge Anew with some Orcish Bowmasters and a determined Frodo in the legendary lands of Rivendell. After that we encounter the denizens of Khazad-dûm and Moira. Then Stan cracks a pack.

Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown
Show the world that you're a proud citizen of The Dive Down Nation with some merch from the store: https://www.thedivedown.com/store
Check out our sponsor Barrister and Mann! https://www.barristerandmann.com/ Use coupon code THEDIVEDOWNM23 for 15% off your first order of some incredible fragrances, soaps, beard oils, and more.
Get 10% off your first 2 months of ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use coupon code THEDIVEDOWN2023
And now receive 8% off your order of paper cards from Nerd Rage Gaming with code "DIVE8" at https://www.nerdragegaming.com/

Timestamps:
3:29 - Housekeeping
8:45 - LOTR Spoilers... again!
14:05 - Stern Scolding
20:36 - Cast Into the Fire
23:48 - Press the Enemy
30:45 - Forge Anew
37:10 - Orcish Bowmasters
43:15 - The Legendary Lands
54:32 - Frodo, Determined Hero
57:18 - Frodo Baggins
1:00:01 - Pippin, Guard of the Citadel
1:03:35 - Lobelia, Sackville-Baggins
1:05:13 - Troll of Khazad-dûm
1:07:48 - Moira Marauder
1:11:11 - Summertime Shaving
1:14:25 - Stan cracks a pack
1:18:28 - Dreamhack Dallas RC Break Down
1:21:18 - The RC Metagame
1:34:43 - Conversion rates
1:37:35 - The Top 8
1:42:58 - Pioneer takeaways
1:48:08 - Wrapping up

Links from this week's episode:

Our opening music is Nowhere - You Never Knew, and our closing music is Space Blood - Goro? Is That Your Christian Name?

email us: thedivedown@gmail.com
twitter: https://twitter.com/thedivedown

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Episode 225: Boros Convoke: Demolishing Artifacts For Fun & Profit, ft. d00mwake Jun 01, 2023

Show notes

This week on The Dive Down we go deep on that deck that people can't stop talking about — Boros Convoke in Pioneer. Dave and Devon talk about the core strategy of the deck, the flex cards and why people use them, how to mull, what to keep, and matchups — the good, the bad, and the middle. Get ready for Devon to explain how his perceptions about some matchups have changed since he started playing the deck and for Dave to have an argument with ChatGPT about math. Finally, we talk about what's on Devon's mind as he gets ready for Dreamhack Dallas. It's all in a week on The Dive Down!

• Risky Keeps?
• ChatGPT Can't Do Multivariate Probabilities
• Dreamhack Dallas via Valencia

Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown
Show the world that you're a proud citizen of The Dive Down Nation with some merch from the store: https://www.thedivedown.com/store
Check out our sponsor Barrister and Mann! https://www.barristerandmann.com/ Use coupon code THEDIVEDOWNM23 for 15% off your first order of some incredible fragrances, soaps, beard oils, and more.
Get 10% off your first 2 months of ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use coupon code THEDIVEDOWN2023
And now receive 8% off your order of paper cards from Nerd Rage Gaming with code "DIVE8" at https://www.nerdragegaming.com/

Timestamps:
3:03 - Housekeeping
5:48 - What's the deal with Boros Convoke?
10:22 - The cards of Convoke
46:53 - Playing Convoke
59:36 - Matchups and sideboard options
1:16:15 - The Valencia LMS Pioneer event meta
1:35:47 - Some final takes on Convoke
1:39:13 - Wrapping up

Links from this week's episode:
Boros Convoke Lists:
D00m’s current list: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FxLkfM-WAAEB13p?format=jpg&name=medium
Frank Karsten's article: https://strategy.channelfireball.com/cfb-pro-content/convoke-chaos-unleash-the-power-of-pioneers-hottest-new-deck-mtg-deep-dive/
Sodek’s list + guide: https://mystical-teachings.com/boros-convoke-primer/

Our opening music is Nowhere - You Never Knew, and our closing music is Space Blood - Goro? Is That Your Christian Name?

email us: thedivedown@gmail.com
twitter: https://twitter.com/thedivedown

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Episode 224: B&R Hot Takes & NRG Minneapolis May 25, 2023

Show notes

Stan and Shane combine forces to discuss the NRG Pioneer $10K in Minneapolis, and then give some hot takes about the changes to the B&R cadence and Standard's new 3-year rotation. What latest tech from March of the Machine (and it's Aftermath?) had an impact in Pioneer? And what do WOTC's changes mean for the future of our formats? Listen and find out!

The Break Down: Hyrule via Knutsford
The Break Down, cont: An 160 All-Foil Control Mirror
The Dive Down: Strong Feelings About B&Rs

Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown
Show the world that you're a proud citizen of The Dive Down Nation with some merch from the store: https://www.thedivedown.com/store
Check out our sponsor Barrister and Mann! https://www.barristerandmann.com/ Use coupon code THEDIVEDOWN2023 for 15% off your first order of some incredible fragrances, soaps, beard oils, and more.
Get 10% off your first 2 months of ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use coupon code THEDIVEDOWN2023
And now receive 8% off your order of paper cards from Nerd Rage Gaming with code "DIVE8" at https://www.nerdragegaming.com/

Timestamps:
6:40 - Housekeeping
9:14 - The NRG Minneapolis/St. Paul Pioneer $10K
12:40 - The overall metagame and performances
30:50 - Thoughts on the meta
34:51 - The Top 8
40:24 - Stanislav played Izzet Creativity
51:25 - Hot takes on WOTC's new B&R strategy
1:07:23 - Hot takes on Standard moving to a 3-year rotation
1:11:44 - Stan cracks a pack
1:15:34 - Wrapping up

Links from this week's episode:
The NRG Minneapolis Pioneer $10K: https://melee.gg/Tournament/View/14059
Revitalizing Standard: https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/announcements/revitalizing-standard

Our opening music is Nowhere - You Never Knew, and our closing music is Space Blood - Goro? Is That Your Christian Name?

email us: thedivedown@gmail.com
twitter: https://twitter.com/thedivedown

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