The Dive Down

Latest Episodes:

Episode 183: We Tried: Innovations in Modern Creativity, E Tron, & Prowess Jul 21, 2022

Show notes

It's another nice week to try new cards and decks in the wide world of Modern. Dave takes another stab at Indomitable Creativity with Gab Nassif's recent list, while Shane assembles a Tron of Eldrazi proportions with the latest prison shell. Meanwhile, Stan chases the dinosaur in search of turn 2 wins with Gruul Prowess.

The Break Down: Stan Plays a RCQ
The Dive Down: Dave Can't Direct Creativity
The Dive Down, cont: Shane Accepts Any Kind of Tron
The Dive Down, cont: Stan Finds No Quarter For Prowess

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Check out our sponsor Barrister and Mann! https://www.barristerandmann.com/ Use code THEDIVEDOWN15 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 code "THEDIVEDOWN15"

Timestamps:
5:00 - Housekeeping
11:59 - The Break Down begins - Stan's RCQ
25:15 - The Nation succeeds
27:09 - Bonjour!
30:40 - The Dive Down begins - Dave talks Creativity
53:54 - Shane talks E/Prison Tron
1:12:45 - Stan talks Gruul Prowess
1:29:45 - Closing out

Links from this week's episode:
4C Creativity: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4928222#paper
Prison Tron: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4961701#paper
Gruul Prowess: https://www.streamdecker.com/deck/-0sQpLq8v

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

Watch us stream our episodes every Sunday night at 8pm Central: https://www.twitch.tv/thedivedown_shane

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

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Episode 182: The Four Pillars of Modern (ft. Zach Allen) Jul 14, 2022

Show notes

The current top dog of the NRG Series leaderboard joins us to discuss all things Modern for all your RCQ preparation needs. Zach Allen returns for a conversation about the various types of 4C Yorion decks, the merits of Murktide's flex spots, the position of green creature combo decks, and his favorite ways to cascade right now.

Sure you can play the best deck when you try to take down your Modern RCQ, but what is the best deck REALLY? Turns out, there might be more than one... And when you least expect it, surprise, a maindeck Emrakul! Ready for another suprise? Boom, you just lost to burn on turn 4 before your Omnath could even do anything. Tune in to hear how you too can win (as long as you play a good deck or figure out what beats the good decks).

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Get 8% off all your orders from Nerd Rage with code "Dive8" at https://www.nerdragegaming.com/

Timestamps:
7:05 — Housekeeping
8:58 — RCQs and what they are
11:04 — The Current Character of Modern
14:45 — An Overview: The Top 4 Decks of Modern
18:31 — Deck 1: Yorion Piles
38:28 — Deck 2: Cascade
49:04 — Deck 3: UR Ragavan Decks
1:05:08 — Deck 4: Yawgmoth
1:12:45 — The… Most Interesting… of the Rest
1:14:05 — Hammer Speculation
1:16:23 — UW Affinity Yorion/Urza Speculation
1:17:20 — Tameshi Combo
1:18:07 — Hammer Speculation, pt.2
1:22:40 — Creativity Speculation
1:23:47 — Amulet Titan
1:24:30 — Omnath Glimpse
1:26:01 — Last Thoughts on RCQs
1:27:38 — Can We Do This Unban Talk?
1:38:15 — Talking NRG
1:43:05 — Closing Out

Links from this week's episode:
twitter.com/a22en

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

Watch us stream our episodes every Sunday night at 8pm Central: https://www.twitch.tv/thedivedown_shane

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

Support The Dive Down

Episode 181: The Synergies of Pioneer's Metagame, ft. Todd Anderson Jul 07, 2022

Show notes

Friend of the show and Pioneer aficionado Todd Anderson joins us this week to go over the top decks, up and comers, unsung heroes, and potential traps in the format. Mono-Green continues to reign supreme, but could Young Pyromancer put up a fight?

We also look into the Mono-Green vs Rakdos matchup, how well control is positioned, what happened to Lotus Field, and more! This episode is high flying, fast talking, and really in depth... try to keep up!

The Dive Down: Mono-Green Devotion
The Dive Down, cont: Izzet Pyromancer
The Dive Down, cont: The Other Ones

Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown

Check out our sponsor Barrister and Mann! https://www.barristerandmann.com/ Use code THEDIVEDOWN15 for 15% off your first order of some incredible fragrances, soaps, beard oils, and more.

Get 15% off your first 2 months of ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use code THEDIVEDOWN15

Timestamps:
2:13 - Housekeeping and a special announcement
7:31 - Hanging with the Todd Squad
19:02 - How does Pioneer function as a format?
25:13 - What's the best deck in the format?
30:50 - How do the best decks play against each other?
32:33 - What makes a strong Pioneer deck?
37:02 - What are underappreciated decks in Pio?
38:50 - Summer Fridays
42:25 - Thoughts on some other decks
46:45 - Preparing for a Pioneer RCQ
48:37 - Todd talks Izzet Pyromancer
55:29 - Are there any "trap" decks or cards, and why is Rakdos Midrange good?
1:02:24 - Is Mono-Green too good?
1:06:20 - Stan's Pioneer ban burns
1:12:51 - Revisiting Izzet Pyromancer
1:16:50 - Final verdict: How to approach a Pioneer RCQ
1:22:02 - Closing out with Todd

Links from this week's episode:
Todd on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Tandy
Todd on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/tandy
Todd on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TandyMTG
Izzet Pyromancer: https://twitter.com/TandyMTG/status/1543230873222381568?s=20&t=fkQba52rNy8QU6XqKxl5MA

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

Watch us stream our episodes every Sunday night at 8pm Central: https://www.twitch.tv/thedivedown_shane

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

Support The Dive Down

Episode 180: Life Lessons and Level Ups Jun 30, 2022

Show notes

Though we do have some frustrations to air at the start of the show, we eventually turn it around to discuss the many ways Magic (the Gathering) has improved our lives. Then we take a brief trip down memory lane to remember how some people improved our Magic playing skills too.

Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown

Check out our sponsor Barrister and Mann! https://www.barristerandmann.com/ Use code THEDIVEDOWN15 for 15% off your first order of some incredible fragrances, soaps, beard oils, and more.

Get 15% off your first 2 months of ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use code THEDIVEDOWN15

Timestamps:
7:38 - Housekeeping
12:32 - The Dive Down begins
14:28 - Leveling up in Magic - Have a plan
29:06 - Having a collective 75 cards
39:51 - Stan on mulligans
45:23 - Do the math
52:47 - Sometimes the best deck isn't for you
59:29 - Don't be ROTty
1:15:35 - The latest Barrister & Mann releases
1:18:43 - Don't tilt
1:29:26 - Appreciate community

Links from this week's episode:
Limited Resources Episode 57: Tilt Less Win More: https://lrcast.com/limited-resources-57-tilt-less-win-more/
Collins' Tweet: https://twitter.com/collinsmullen/status/1540050234788683779?s=20&t=43m5QektO51r128fOWp3Cw
Mason's Tweet: https://twitter.com/masoneclark_/status/1539653313335263232?s=21&t=JSJTZV16R3_pkSgOUOw8nQ

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

Watch us stream our episodes every Sunday night at 8pm Central: https://www.twitch.tv/thedivedown_shane

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

Support The Dive Down

Episode 179: 10 Takes on Modern, Pioneer, & Magic Jun 23, 2022

Show notes

What can Izzet decks in Pioneer play instead of Expressive Iteration? How crazy was the MOCS meta from the weekend? Is Glimpse of Tomorrow a good card in Modern? This week's show answers these questions and more in a format-spanning Dive Down of takes hot and cold.
But first, off the top we deliver a little announcement about the future of The Dive Down (nothing big, we swear — but you should listen).
Shane doesn't even need Nykthos. Stan can quit cascading any time he wants to. Dave actually seems to get mad about something.

Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown

Check out our sponsor Barrister and Mann! https://www.barristerandmann.com/ Use code "THEDIVEDOWN15" for 15% off your first order of some incredible fragrances, soaps, beard oils, and more.

Get 15% off your first 2 months of ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use code "THEDIVEDOWN15"

Timestamps:
10:01 - Housekeeping
13:11 - 1a: Expressive Iteration isn't irreplaceable in Pioneer
19:51 - 1b: EI in Izzet Control
25:52 - 1c: EI in Izzet Phoenix
30:42 - 2: Mono-Green Devotion is good, even without Nykthos
35:57 - 3: Mono-Blue Spirits is solidifying itself, but for how long?
43:44 - 4: Humans might be underexplored in Pio
49:25 - 5: What is there to like, and not like, about Pioneer?
1:02:45 - #smellovision
1:05:14 - 6: The MOCS final
1:17:00 - 7: Stan plays Calibrated Blast
1:21:59 - 8: Stan plays Glimpse Elementals Cascade
1:28:25 - 9: The sad loss of random playables
1:32:52 - 10: Stan plays... Commander?
1:37:47 - Closing out

Links from this week's episode:
MOCS Modern Decks: https://magic.gg/decklists/2022-magic-online-champions-showcase-season-1-modern-decklists
Stan plays Commander on Brainstorm Brewery: https://www.twitch.tv/brainstormbrewery
Mono-Green Devotion: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/pioneer-mono-green-ramp-2d53d633-2a78-4eb9-a5e7-52ad849c7a82#paper
Mono-Blue Spirits: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/pioneer-mono-blue-spirits#paper
Pioneer Humans: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4895735#paper
Calibrated Blast: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/modern-calibrated-blast#paper
Glimpse Elementals: https://twitter.com/GR_DONKIN/status/1537259984702124032

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

Watch us stream our episodes every Sunday night at 8pm Central: https://www.twitch.tv/thedivedown_shane

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

Support The Dive Down

Episode 178: NRG Modern & Pio: Is 4c 2 Good 4 U? Jun 16, 2022

Show notes

It's a hot one on The Dive Down this week. We take a deep look at NRG's recent set of Modern and Pioneer Trials in Lansing, Michigan and tackle the big questions about our favorite formats. Is 4c too good for Modern? What can even be done if it is too good? What's happened to Pioneer without Winota and Expressive Iteration? How many words can the three of us get beeped out in one episode? And more! Stan fights through jet lag and still brings the insights. Shane loves talking about bad decks that performed badly. And, finally, Dave gets his comeuppance.

The Break Down: An Intro for Our Times
The Break Down: NRG Modern: A Format With Great Playstyle Diversity
The Break Down: NRG Pioneer: No Alarms and No Surprises, Please

Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown

Check out our sponsor Barrister and Mann! https://www.barristerandmann.com/ Use code THEDIVEDOWN15 for 15% off your first order of some incredible fragrances, soaps, beard oils, and more.

Get 15% off your first 2 months of ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use code "THEDIVEDOWN15"

Timestamps:
4:30 - Housekeeping
6:15 - The NRG Lansing Event
9:40 - The NRG Modern overall metagame
15:39 - The Top 64 meta
36:10 - The Top 8
39:07 - Is 4-Color too good?
54:45 - Stan's back, and he smells good
57:30 - The NRG Pioneer metagame
1:02:33 - How the good Pioneer decks performed
1:21:20 - What decks didn't do well?
1:26:30 - The Top 8
1:28:47 - Even more thoughts on Pioneer
1:32:02 - Closing out

Links from this week's episode:
NRG Modern $10k: https://mtgmelee.com/Tournament/View/9604
NRG Pioneer: $5k: https://mtgmelee.com/Tournament/View/9605

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

Watch us stream our episodes every Sunday night at 8pm Central: https://www.twitch.tv/thedivedown_shane

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

Support The Dive Down

Episode 177: Ban Reacts, a Dream Hacked, & Some Mid Rakdos Jun 09, 2022

Show notes

Shane and Dave are totally blindsided by this week's Pioneer bans — especially since they happened after we recorded this ep. But don't worry, we use the power of technology to travel into the past and add a segment of hot reactions and speculation on what's next for Pio. After that, we continue with our regularly scheduled episode breaking down the Modern $10k at DreamHack Dallas and diving into Pioneer's most mid deck — Rakdos Mid! Shane hates all the creatures. Dave loves all the spells. Stan loves having a week off.

The Break Down: A Record Scratched — Surprise Pioneer Bans
The Break Down: A Modern $10K Where Mill 7-0-1’d
The Dive Down: A 14% Meta Share Deck that Wasn’t Banned

Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown

Check out our sponsor Barrister and Mann! https://www.barristerandmann.com/ Use code THEDIVEDOWN15 for 15% off your first order of some incredible fragrances, soaps, beard oils, and more.

Get 15% off your first 2 months of ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use code "THEDIVEDOWN15"

Timestamps:
4:55 - Housekeeping
9:28 - The Break Down begins - SURPRISE it's some Pioneer bans!
23:18 - What is the impact on Pioneer?
29:16 - The Dallas Dreamhack Modern 10k
31:34 - The top 64 breakdown
41:08 - The top 8
53:51 - Cool Decks, Inc.
1:06:50 - Scent of the Day
1:12:20 - The Dive Down begins - Rakdos Midrange in Pioneer
1:16:02 - What's the deal with Midrange?
1:20:07 - Hand disruption
1:32:45 - Removal
1:41:08 - Creatures
1:57:11 - Planeswalkers
2:06:15 - Strengths and weaknesses
2:14:49 - Closing out

Links from this week's episode:
Dreamhack Modern 10k down in Dallas: https://mtgmelee.com/Tournament/View/10457
Rakdos Midrange in Pioneer: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/pioneer-rakdos-midrange#paper

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

Watch us stream our episodes every Sunday night at 8pm Central: https://www.twitch.tv/thedivedown_shane

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

Support The Dive Down

Episode 176: The People's Meta(s): Modern and Pioneer Jun 02, 2022

Show notes

This week the three friends dive into an examination of not one but two metas — Modern and Pioneer — using some recent 5-0 league decks. We collect em, dissect em, and... tierect (???)... em. You know what we mean... we're placing them into groups and discussing what decks we think are going up, down, and sideways. Dave tries to run through Modern quickly. Stan and Shane dilly dally and then get mad when we don't have as much time as we'd hoped for Pioneer. Dave resists the urge to say I told you so.

Please note/CW: this episode starts with a message of a serious nature from the team. Start at Housekeeping if you'd like to skip.

The Dive Down: The People's Meta: Modern!
The Dive Down, pt.2: The People's Meta: Pioneer!

Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown

Check out our sponsor Barrister and Mann! https://www.barristerandmann.com/ Use code "THEDIVEDOWN15" for 15% off your first order of some incredible fragrances, soaps, beard oils, and more.

Get 15% off your first 2 months of ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use code "THEDIVEDOWN15"

Timestamps:
5:23 - Housekeeping
11:20 - The People's Meta - Modern ed.
16:20 - The mainstream decks of Modern
52:12 - Outside the Modern mainstream
1:09:40 - The People's Meta - Pioneer ed.
1:37:00 - Outside the Pio mainstream
1:43:30 - Some takes on Pioneer
1:53:25 - Closing out

Links from this week's episode:
Modern League 5/27: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/modern-league-2022-05-27#paper
Why it is time to cut Murktide Regent by Michael Rapp: https://blog.cardkingdom.com/why-it-is-time-to-cut-murktide-regent/
Pioneer League 5/23: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/pioneer-league-2022-05-23#paper

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

Watch us stream our episodes every Sunday night at 8pm Central: https://www.twitch.tv/thedivedown_shane

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

Support The Dive Down

Episode 175: Sleeve/Believe/Heave: Streets of New Capenna Edition May 26, 2022

Show notes

The three friends are taking it back to the streets on more time. This week we evaluate three different decks that were improved or created by the addition of SNC to our formats. Shane pods his way through a Naya deck full of combos in Modern. Stan shreds his way through infinite turns in Modern. Dave explains so he's falling short of virtuosity in Explorer. It's a real journey through a few more cards making an impact. Before that, though, we break down the top 8 of NRG Minneapolis where three other friends (of the pod) take the whole thing down.

The Break Down: NRG Minneapolis
The Dive Down: Combos in Modern!
The Dive Down, pt.2: Prowess in Explorer!

Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown

Check out our sponsor Barrister and Mann! https://www.barristerandmann.com/ Use code THEDIVEDOWN2022 for 15% off your first order of some incredible fragrances, soaps, beard oils, and more.

Get 15% off your first 2 months of ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use code "THEDIVEDOWN15"

Timestamps:
6:06 - Housekeeping
8:34 - The Break Down - The NRG Team Tournament
11:06 - The Top 8 teams
33:34 - The Top 8 meta
41:45 - It's Soap Time
44:56 - The Dive Down begins - Shane on Naya Combos in Modern
51:45 - The strenghts of the deck
55:08 - The weaknesses of the deck
1:08:55 - Shane's final thoughts
1:12:04 - Stan on Dimir Asmo Food Combo in Modern
1:22:50 - How to turn 3 combo
1:26:16 - Sideboarding with combo decks is hard
1:32:45 - Stan's final thoughts
1:34:48 - Dave on Boros Aggro in Explorer
1:45:27 - Dave's final thoughts
1:49:32 - Wrapping up

Links from this week's episode:
Modern Naya Combos: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4818579#paper
Modern Dimir Asmo Food: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/modern-asmo-food#paper
Modern Boros Prowess: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4841502#paper

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

Watch us stream our episodes every Sunday night at 8pm Central: https://www.twitch.tv/thedivedown_shane

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

Support The Dive Down

Episode 174: Explorer’s First Ban & More Pioneer Testing May 19, 2022

Show notes

This week's episode starts with Dave telling a shaggy dog story while fumbling through the Seinfeld theme on his bass — so you know it's going to be a loose one. Fortunately, Shane and Stan quickly bring the three friends back on track (within the first 4 minutes, we swear) and take us all through Winota's ban in Explorer, four different challenges across Modern and Pioneer, and finally some of their testing results with Winota and Izzet Phoenix in Pioneer. Stan rolls to a non-interactive 4-1. Shane can't stop shreddin. Dave can't stop slappin the bass.

The Break Down, I: Winota's Gone in Explorer!
The Break Down, II: Kicking Bass in a Bunch of Challenges
The Dive Down: Winota's Here in Pioneer! So is Phoenix!

Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown

Check out our sponsor Barrister and Mann! https://www.barristerandmann.com/ Use code THEDIVEDOWN2022 for 15% off your first order of some incredible fragrances, soaps, beard oils, and more.

Get 15% off your first 2 months of ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use code "THEDIVEDOWN15"

Timestamps:
5:40 - Housekeeping
8:46 - The Break Down begins - The first Explorer bans
17:11 - Saturday's Pioneer Challenge
28:49 - Sunday's Pioneer Challenge
35:30 - Cool Decks, Inc - Pioneer ed.
38:48 - Saturday's Modern Challenge
46:23 - Sunday's Modern Challenge
52:26 - Public Smelling Stories
55:58 - The Dive Down - Stan's hot takes on Winota
1:00:16 - Fable of the Mirror breaker is a protection spell
1:04:00 - Esika's Chariot = Splinter Twin
1:06:58 - Deck mull good
1:09:25 - Enablers are good
1:12:05 - Modern vs. Pioneer gameplay discussion
1:20:05 - Shane casts blue and red cards
1:34:00 - Shane's thoughts on Izzet Phoenix in Explorer
1:41:56 - Stan cracks a pack
1:44:35 - Closing out

Links from this week's episode:
May 11 B&R: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-digital/may-11-2022-banned-and-restricted-announcement
Saturday's Pio Challenge: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/pioneer-challenge-12418751#paper
Sunday's Pio Challenge: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/pioneer-challenge-12418755#paper
Saturday's Modern Challenge: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/modern-challenge-12418748#paper
Sunday's Modern Challenge: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/modern-challenge-12418754#paper
Naya Winota in Pioneer: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4818484#paper
Izzet Phoenix in Explorer: https://mtgazone.com/explorer-izzet-phoenix-deck-guide/

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

Watch us stream our episodes every Sunday night at 8pm Central: https://www.twitch.tv/thedivedown_shane

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

Support The Dive Down

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