The Dive Down

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Episode 156: Yawgmoth: We Persisted Jan 13, 2022

Show notes

This one goes out to the one I Yawg. It's been a long time coming, but it's finally time for us to sling some wither counters and get undying with everyone's favorite physician, Yawgmoth. Tune in to hear us fumble around with triggers, stacking, and life totals, and to hear Shane give his tepid approval to a deck beloved by millions. Stan's approval is even more tepid. Dave claims he'd rather be playing Titan (is that a bit?). Before we get into all this though, we go over one of this weekend's Modern Challenges and talk about the weirdness that is Jund Reclaimer and a few other things. Thanks for tuning in, #yawgsqwad!

The Break Down: They Reclaim Sagas Now Don't They?
The Dive Down: -1 for You, -1 for Me
The Dive Down, pt.2: For the Yawg Stans but Not for Our Stan

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Timestamps:
3:00 - Housekeeping
4:48 - Barrister and Mann Promo Time
6:20 - The Break Down - The Sunday Challenge
18:08 - Cool Decks, Inc.
27:26 - The Dive Down Begins - Yawgmoth!
30:00 - Our history with Yawg
32:05 - The Yawgmoth combo
37:15 - Yawgmoth, Thran Physician
42:52 - The Undying creatures
48:12 - The mana dorks
54:13 - The tutors
58:07 - Grist, the Hunger Tide
1:05:15 - Sideboard options
1:11:41 - Strategic considerations and playing with Yawgmoth
1:20:34 - Keeps and mulls
1:26:45 - Life-total management
1:29:00 - Matchups
1:35:20 - Proliferating
1:37:45 - Strengths and weaknesses of Yawgmoth
1:42:16 - Our bottom line on Yawg

Links from this week's episode:
Sunday's Challenge: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/modern-challenge-12372530#paper
DemonicTutors Yawg list: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4541927#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
Leave us an audio message: https://www.podinbox.com/thedivedown

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Episode 155: 2022 Goals: The Nation Speaks Jan 06, 2022

Show notes

It's 2022, and we're back with an episode that looks forward to the new year. We asked for listeners to submit their 2022 goals via audio and text, and everyone delivered! We give our thoughts and feedback on the goals of The Nation, and also discuss our own. Before that, we go over Stan's December 2021 Modern summary and the latest Modern Challenges. Here's to 2022!

The Break Down: December Modern Check-In
The Dive Down: Your Goals are Our Goals

Check out our NEW 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.

Timestamps:
4:20 - Housekeeping
7:27 - A Special Barrister and Mann announcement! - THEDIVEDOWN2022
13:16 - The Break Down begins - The December Recap
23:16 - Saturday's Challenge
30:24 - Saturday's Top 8
36:40 - Sunday's Top 8
42:08 - The Dive Down begins - The goals of the Nation
44:00 - Avoiding mistakes
57:04 - Simplification and moderation
1:14:45 - Diving in deeper and playing more
1:23:55 - Our playing goals in 2022
1:28:51 - Winning with a brew
1:31:35 - Performance-based goals
1:38:50 - Do we have any goals for new formats on The Dive Down?
1:48:42 - Closing out

Links from this week's episode:
Saturday's Challenge: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/modern-challenge-12367813#paper
Sunday's Challenge: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/modern-challenge-12367819#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
Leave us an audio message: https://www.podinbox.com/thedivedown

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Episode 154: Our Year End Extravaganza, ft. Aspiringspike Dec 22, 2021

Show notes

The end of 2021 is upon us, which means it's time for our annual year in review episode! And this time, we've brought a friend, our reliable unofficial fourth co-host, Aspiringspike. We first talk about the biggest releases, bannings, and changes in 2021 for Modern and Historic, then head into the awards show to hand out this year's Diveys. We talk about our favorite cards, decks, and events of the year, then discuss our goals for 2022. Thanks to all of you for another great year of The Dive Down!

The Break Down: A Whole Year (in Order!)
The Dive Down: Taking and Taking and Taking

Timestamps:
5:43 - Housekeeping
6:57 - The Break Down - 2021 begins!
13:38 - Kaldheim, Oops, all Valkis, and some bans
22:52 - Historic Anthology 4 and Time Spiral Remastered
24:30 - April update, Strixhaven, and the Mystical Archives
33:51 - Modern before and after Modern Horizons 2
43:48 - July and Adventures in the Forgotten Realms
49:20 - Jumpstart: Historic Horizons
52:24 - Modern in October and Innistrad: Midnight Hunt
1:00:21 - December begins and the year ends
1:04:55 - The Dive Down begings - The 2021 Awards Show!
1:05:32 - The Best Card of the Year
1:10:53 - The Non-2021 Card of the Year
1:12:21 - Supporting Card of the Year
1:15:11 - Overhyped Card of the Year
1:20:05 - Overperformer of the Year
1:21:57 - The Deck of the Year
1:25:53 - Most Hated Deck of the Year
1:27:52 - In Memoriam
1:32:36 - Magic Experience of the Year
1:37:13 - The Best WOTC Decision of the Year
1:40:01 - #mtgfinance of the Year
1:40:47 - Our 2022 Goals
1:46:13 - The Best Guest(s) of the Year and Thanks
1:48:40 - Closing out

Links from this week's episode:
Watch Aspiringspike on twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/aspiringspike
Find Spike on twitter: https://twitter.com/Aspiringspike

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 153: We Did It For Science: Amulet Titan Dec 15, 2021

Show notes

In the second installment of We Did It For Science, we explore... gulp... Amulet Titan. Yes, our most hated card goes through our rigorous experimental testing regimen. We go over what these decks are about, gameplans, threats, tips & tricks, and, most importantly, just how much we still hate Primeval Titan. Prior to that, we dive into the metagame of the latest Modern Showcase Challenge.

The Break Down: A Showcase Challenge
The Dive Down: No Idea How to Play This Deck
The Dive Down, cont: Look at This Cool Screenshot

Timestamps:
4:57 - Housekeeping
7:05 - The Break Down - The Milwaukee NRG Modern Trial
9:40 - The Saturday Modern Showcase Challenge meta
16:13 - The Showcase top 8
27:30 - The Dive Down begins - We Did it For Science: Titan Edition
34:30 - What are Titan decks all about?
55:20 - Keep or mulls?
59:26 - The land sequencing conundrum
1:09:24 - Gameplans with Amulet Titan
1:18:16 - The non-Titan threats
1:26:18 - Tips & tricks
1:35:04 - Why is Amulet resurging?
1:40:55 - Would we repeat the science experiment?
1:45:13 - Closing out

Links from this week's episode:
The December 11th Showcase Challenge Bamzing post: https://www.reddit.com/r/ModernMagic/comments/retyjd/modern_showcase_challenge_3_results_dec_11_2021/

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 152: Is Historic History? Dec 08, 2021

Show notes

It's another in our awesome series of top-tier Patreon request episodes, as we take on Mickey S's (no, the other Mickey S) challenge to explore the decks and metagame of best-of-one Historic on Arena. We played a bunch of fun decks and faced off against even more, and have a lot of thoughts on the format. Prior to that, we break down the Innistrad Set Championship and go over the announcement of Alchemy and its impact on Historic, and perhaps all of Magic. Thanks again, Mickey!

The Break Down: Top 8s All Around
The Dive Down: Alchemical Explanations
The Dive Down, cont: Best of One, Best of All

Timestamps:
5:15 - Housekeeping
6:32 - Dave and Stan top 8 a store championship!
15:56 - Alchemy... is here
22:55 - The positives
32:14 - Kinda moving into the negatives here
41:05 - Some final takes
48:05 - The Dive Down begins - the Innistrad Set Championship
52:45 - The Top 8
57:17 - Best-of-One Historic - what's the difference?
1:02:00 - The decks of BO1 Historic - Heliod Lifegain
1:06:17 - Elves
1:08:53 - Gruul Shamans
1:10:27 - Izzet Phoenix
1:17:35 - Abzan Auras
1:21:24 - Azorius Auras
1:25:02 - Selesnya Humans
1:27:45 - Mono-W Humans
1:32:50 - Chonky Red
1:34:07 - Mono-Red Torbran
1:41:28 - The rest of the BO1 metagame
1:46:55 - Our thoughts on BO1
1:53:30 - Closing out

Links from this week's episode:
The Arena State of the Game article: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-digital/mtg-arena-state-game-alchemy-2021-12-02
Introducing Alchemy: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-digital/introducing-alchemy-new-way-play-mtg-arena-2021-12-02
The Innistrad Championship: https://magic.gg/events/innistrad-championship
The Untapped.gg Historic tier list: https://mtga.untapped.gg/meta/tierlist?format=historic

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

Bonus 16: Magic, Games, and Culture (ft. the hosts of BAD END Podcast) Dec 05, 2021

Show notes

In this latest installment in our series of bonus eps, Shane is joined by the hosts of the videogame and culture podcast BAD END, Josh Calixto and Kyle Kukshtel. They talk about BAD END and the Superculture network, their thoughts on what makes games and Magic work, and, most importantly, what their least favorite video games are. It's a great conversation, and we hope you like it!

Links from this week's episode:
BAD END: https://www.badendpodcast.com/
BAD END on Twitter: https://twitter.com/badendpodcast
Josh: https://twitter.com/HiThereJosh
Kyle: https://twitter.com/kkukshtel

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 151: TDD Live in Vegas, ft. Reid, Evart, Joe, Gal, Tannon, Sam, Eli, Michael, Joel, Levi, & Steven Nov 24, 2021

Show notes

We come to you LIVE (well, sorta) from the recent MTG Las Vegas event, where we tapped some cards, hung out with friends, and talked to some big name players! We talked to some current and future household names about Modern, the decks they brought, and their tournament experiences. Thanks to our old and new friends Joe Lossett, Tannon Grace, Yamakiller, Aspiringspike, Sam Pardee, Reid Duke, Eli Loveman, Michael Rapp, and top 8 finishers Joel Lapray, Levi Sprung, and Steve Pearlman for the fun and insightful conversations!

The Dive Down: Shane & Stan went to Vegas!
The Dive Down, cont: For some reason Dave is here too!
The Dive Down, cont again: More interviews than you can shake your deck at!

Timestamps:
3:20 - Housekeeping
6:17 - MtG Las Vegas discussion begins
8:18 - Shane & Stan live from Vegas
21:47 - Discussing the overall event
28:26 - Joe Lossett talks 4-Color Control
36:15 - Tannon Grace chats... magic!
41:40 - Yamakiller talks Grixis Shadow
49:28 - Aspiringspike talks Rakdos Lurrus
58:52 - Sam Pardee on 4C Elementals
1:06:16 - Reid Duke talks Yawgmoth
1:11:53 - Stan talks about his tournament
1:14:28 - Eli Loveman on Hammertime
1:20:27 - Michael Rapp on Grixis Shadow
1:26:29 - Top seed Joel Lapray on Hardened Scales
1:32:06 - Talking the top 8 decks
1:39:49 - Top 8 finisher Levi Sprung
1:48:05 - Top 2 finisher Steve Pearlman
1:56:45 - Our takes on Modern after Vegas
1:59:55 - Thanks and closing out

Links from this week's episode:
MTG top 8 lists: https://twitter.com/theMMcast/status/1462223403914387458

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 150: The Road to Las Vegas IV: Preparing to Win, ft. Zach Allen Nov 17, 2021

Show notes

It's episode 150!! In our final Road to Las Vegas segment, we are joined by SCG grinder, former host of Turn One Thoughtseize, and all around great guy Zach Allen. We first talk over the weekend's Challenges, then head into The Dive Down to talk about the decks of Modern, leveling up as a player, playing in a big tournament, why Aether Gust is the best card in Modern, and more. It's a can't-miss episode!

The Break Down: A Huge Challenge
The Dive Down: Preparation Makes Perfect
The Dive Down, cont: The End of the Road

Timestamps:
4:18 - Housekeeping
9:10 - The Saturday Challenge metagame
19:54 - The Top 8
39:24 - The Sunday Challenge Top 8
43:30 - The Dive Down begins - Zach's competitive past
47:08 - How Zach leveled up
57:15 - What is Modern about right now?
1:03:34 - Zach's thoughts on the best decks
1:30:11 - Do paper events lag behind MTGO?
1:35:35 - Performing your best at an event
1:40:41 - What does it take to win?
1:42:10 - Zach's advice on Modern
1:45:05 - Stan and Zach talk Murktide
1:51:30 - Where to find Zach and closing out

Links from this week's episode:
Find Zach on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a22en
Saturday's Challenge: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/modern-challenge-12355688#paper
Sunday's Challenge: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/modern-challenge-12355715#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 149: ManaCymbal Crashes & Crimson Vow Spoilers, II Nov 11, 2021

Show notes

This week the three friends go through the second half of spoilers from Crimson Vow and consider which ones they'd marry for Modern (and other formats). But first, friend of the pod Zach Ryl (aka Manacymbal) stops by to talk us through his Modern Challenge Victory on Saturday, November 6.

The Break Down: A Victorious Challenger
The Dive Down: Crimson Vow — More 1 Mana Spells Than We Thought!

Timestamps:
4:14 - Housekeeping
6:20 - The Break Down with ManaCymbal
7:24 - Saturday's Modern Challenge
37:17 - ManaCymbal talks his first place finish with 4C Creativity
1:01:05 - The Dive Down begins
1:02:35 - Geralf, Visionary Stitcher
1:04:22 - End the Festivities
1:06:16 - Ancestral Anger
1:10:30 - Blood Fountain
1:12:10 - Voldaren Epicure
1:14:09 - Wash Away
1:17:58 - Eruth, Tormented Prophet
1:22:28 - Cradle of Safety
1:24:36 - Stormchaser Drake
1:26:33 - Curse of Hospitality
1:28:17 - Cemetery Prowler
1:31:35 - Cemetery Illuminator
1:34:48 - Dreamshackle Geist
1:37:05 - Inspired Idea
1:39:31 - Faithbound Judge
1:41:45 - Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1:42:40 - Ascendant Packleader
1:43:30 - Lantern of the Lost
1:46:11 - Reckless Impulse
1:49:24 - Our favorite cards
1:51:10 - Closing out

Links from this week's episode:
Saturday Modern Challenge - https://www.reddit.com/r/ModernMagic/comments/qosb9r/saturday_modern_challenge_results_nov_6_2021/

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 148: Events, Reanimator, and Crimson Vow Spoilers Nov 03, 2021

Show notes

The title says it all! We first talk the MOCS, the SCG Invitational, and some Modern Challenges to try to wrap our head around the Modern meta. Then Shane makes up for being off last week with a discussion of Esper Reanimator. Then we go over the first batch of Crimson Vow spoilers and talk about some Cool Cards, Inc.

The Break Down: Several Events
The Dive Down: Esper Reanimator
The Dive Down, cont: Crimson Vow Spoilers

Timestamps:
3:32 - Housekeeping
7:25 - The Break Down - A lot of events
8:12 - The MOCS
18:03 - The SCG Invitational
29:30 - Saturday's Challenge
38:30 - Sunday's Challenge
39:19 - Takeaways from these events
44:18 - The Dive Down begins - Shane on Esper Reanimator
51:53 - What Esper Reanimator is doing well
54:32 - What it isn't doing as well
1:06:00 - The bottom line on Reanimator
1:10:46 - The mechanics of Crimson Vow
1:19:22 - The cards begin - Manaform Hellkite
1:22:06 - Path of Peril
1:24:53 - Cemetery Protector
1:27:11 - Chandra, Dressed to Kill
1:31:01 - Dig Up
1:31:50 - Geist Lightsnare
1:34:40 - "Bedsheet Elemental"
1:36:04 - Dread Fugue
1:38:18 - Change of Fortune
1:40:01 - Grolnok, the Omnivore
1:41:07 - Demonic Bargain
1:43:30 - Closing out

Links from this week's episode:
The MOCS: https://magic.gg/decklists/2021-magic-online-champions-showcase-season-2-modern-decklists
Randy's Spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xmJkCX2mpIoVFd8TTwqE44LARRNevUeSSqJUdAjAV4s/edit#gid=0
SCG Top 8 Decks: https://old.starcitygames.com/decks/results/format/28/event_ID/21/start_date/31-10-2021/end_date/31-10-2021/start/1/finish/8/w_perc/0/g_perc/0/r_perc/0/b_perc/0/u_perc/0/a_perc/0/order_1/finish/limit/25/start_num/0/
Saturday's Challenge: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/modern-challenge-12351480#paper
Sunday's Challenge: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/modern-challenge-12351484#paper
Esper Reanimator: https://www.streamdecker.com/deck/IfleifZ9n

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
Leave us an audio message in our PodInbox: https://www.podinbox.com/thedivedown

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

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