The Dive Down

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Bonus 15: Undoubtable Creativity ft. Manacymbal Nov 01, 2021

Show notes

Streamer, musician, podcaster, and ever-present Magic personality Zach Ryl, aka Manacymbal, joins Stan to talk about the Indomitable Creativity deck in Modern, content creation, and music! Recorded on October 7th.

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Links from this week's episode:
Serum Visions Podcast: https://serumvisions.podbean.com/
MTG Parody Songs: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2_KjuSPkJvLbbBstdPc2IVh1YSemmjQv
This Week in Modern: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2_KjuSPkJvLHdr51QgBsjKAevQz5U2bg
Twitch: https://www.twitch.com/manacymbal
4C Creativity deck talk and tournament report: https://youtu.be/Ou7X5IjzVIw

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 147: The Road to Las Vegas III: It's Elementalry! Oct 28, 2021

Show notes

Shane's gone so Stan and Dave are finally free to do whatever they want. And what they want to do is play too many colors and evoke some elementals! At least that's what they thought they wanted to do — we think? That's right, for the third in our Road to Vegas series we tackle the element... als. But first enjoy a tour of one of last week's Modern Challenges and a live paper tournament from NRG. Stan talks about cool things. Dave reminisces about when he seemed cool. Somewhere, Shane is being cool.

Unnecessary Anecdote: The Beach Boys!
The Break Down: A Challenge and Some NRG
The Dive Down: Four Arms to Hold You Still

Timestamps:
7:12 - Housekeeping
10:13 - The Break Down - A Modern Challenge
21:31 - The Nerd Rage Gaming paper event
30:10 - The Dive Down - The Road To Vegas pt 3
34:04 - Some powerful Modern cards
46:00 - Stan on 4-Color YoRhinos and Temur Rhinos
1:00:00 - The matchups
1:12:05 - Dave on 4-Color Elementals
1:18:40 - The matchups
1:42:15 - Closing out

Links from this week's episode:
Saturday Modern Challenge: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/modern-challenge-2021-10-24?xd34
Bamzing's Post About Same: https://www.reddit.com/r/ModernMagic/comments/qew011/saturday_modern_challenge_results_oct_23_2021/
NRG Modern on MTGMelee: https://mtgmelee.com/Tournament/View/7504
4c Yorhinos: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4383735#paper
4c Elementals: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4363826#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

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Episode 146: The Road to Las Vegas II: Jund, UW, Hammer Oct 20, 2021

Show notes

This week we dive into part two of our series in our anticipation of the return to paper Magic — The Road to Vegas. Dave, Stan, and Shane go through the ins and outs of the next tier of Modern's meta. We're looking at two boomer decks — Jund (secretly zoomer?) and UW Control — and one newmer deck in Hammer. Find out which one we think is best positioned for MTG Vegas. Before that we talk about the latest Historic changes, and go through the results of one of last week's MTGO Modern PTQs. Stan controls. Shane hammers. Dave ionizes.

The Break Down: Modern Super Showcase WKQ
The Dive Down: Boomer Decks
The Wind Down: The Short List

Timestamps:
3:33 - Housekeeping
5:36 - Historic Bannings!
10:29 - Historic digital only card changes!
16:13 - The Modern PTQ Top 16 analysis
25:56 - The PTQ meta
34:18 - The Dive Down begins: The Road to Vegas vol.2
36:20 - Dave on Jund Saga
1:05:52 - Stan on Azorius Control
1:29:18 - Shane on Hammertime
1:51:35 - What's on our decks to play shortlist?

Links from this week's episode:
Modern PTQ Results: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/modern-premier-2021-10-16?xd2
Moonblade Deck: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/modern-challenge-2021-10-17?xd2#talisker_st_place
Jund Saga: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4325030#paper
UW Control: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/modern-premier-2021-10-16
Hammer: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4109042#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
Leave us an audio message in our PodInbox: https://www.podinbox.com/thedivedown

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

Support The Dive Down

Episode 145: The Nation Speaks — Your Questions Answered Oct 13, 2021

Show notes

This week's ep is a Patreon request by one of the first citizens of The Dive Down Nation - KilgoreTrout, aka Jason! He asked us to do a Q&A episode, and to make it even more fun we brought in some new technology to get audio submissions. We got questions from citizens around the world about Magic, collecting, and podcasting - so thanks to everyone who got involved! And special thanks to Jason for being a true citizen for so long!

The Break Down: Still Had to Get A Challenge In
The Dive Down: Hear Our Voices, Hear Your Voices
The Dive Down, pt2: Call Me Maybe

Timestamps:
4:06 - Housekeeping
6:49 - The Break Down - More Modern Meta
21:00 - Sunday's Top 8
25:55 - The Dive Down begins - Questions... AND ANSWERS!
27:18 - Inside the Grinder's Studio
38:53 - What are we most excited about for CFB Vegas?
41:53 - How to play 8+ rounds of Magic?
47:45 - What are our favorite foils?
50:25 - What is the best Limited set of all time?
55:34 - What Modern Horizons cards would be safe in Standard?
1:02:26 - What does "bolting the bird" really mean anymore?
1:06:40 - How do we value our collections?
1:15:20 - How do we see ourselves engaging with Magic over the rest of our lives?
1:18:07 - How do we get the most bang for our buck in Magic?
1:28:02 - What cards do we want unbanned in Modern?
1:33:54 - What are our favorite topdecks?
1:37:23 - What decks would we buy first?
1:39:50 - What decks would we not play in paper?
1:41:38 - What would we be podcasting about if it wasn't Magic?
1:47:35 - Closing out

Links from this week's episode:
Saturday's Challenge: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/modern-challenge-12345852#paper
Sunday's Challenge: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/modern-challenge-12345858#paper
DemonicTutor's Yawgmoth VOD: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1172755666

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
Submit an audio question to our PodInbox: https://www.podinbox.com/thedivedown

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

Support The Dive Down

Episode 144: The Road To Las Vegas: Murktide v. Burn Oct 07, 2021

Show notes

In the first episode of a new miniseries (???), Stan and Shane talk about their experiences testing two of the top decks in the format in their preparation for the CFB Vegas event in November. How do Izzet Murktide and Boros Burn perform right now? Why are they good, and what might be their fatal flaws? Only one way to find out!

The Break Down: Dave's Not Here, Man
The Break Down, cont: Some Good Good Challenges
The Dive Down: Matchups and Putdowns

Timestamps:
3:07 - Housekeeping
6:16 - The Break Down begins
15:00 - Sunday's Challenge
21:30 - What these Challenges tell us
25:04 - Cool Deck(s), Inc.
27:35 - The Dive Down begins - The Road to Vegas
34:41 - Stan on Izzet Murktide
38:44 - Why has Murktide been successful, and how is it positioned right now?
42:32 - Murktide's matchups
1:01:13 - Some final thoughts on Murktide
1:06:40 - Shane on Boros Burn
1:07:31 - What's up with Burn?
1:10:32 - Burn's matchups
1:32:10 - Some thoughts on Burn
1:40:46 - What to try next?
1:43:00 - Closing out

Links from this week's episode:
Saturday's Challenge: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/modern-challenge-12344224#paper
Sunday's Challenge: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/modern-challenge-12344230#paper
Mardu Midrange: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4342367#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 143: The People's Meta: A Deeper Modern Sep 29, 2021

Show notes

On this week's episode Shane and Dave explore the depths of Modern in what we are calling.... "The People's Meta." We look at every deck from a recent 5-0 League dump to discuss their place in the metagame, what makes them interesting, and how they are implementing new cards and strategies. Before that, we go through Saturday's Showcase Challenge to look at what people are bringing to the top tournaments.

The Break Down: Showcasing Modern
The Dive Down: Mainstreams and Roguestreams
The Dive Down, cont: More. Patron. Shoutouts.

Timestamps:
3:25 - Housekeeping
5:00 - The Break Down - Saturday's Modern Showcase Challenge
14:30 - The Showcase top 8
21:12 - The Dive Down beings - The People's Meta
30:19 - The Current Mainstream
55:37 - The Past Mainstream
1:26:05 - The Upcoming Rogues
1:48:03 - Thoughts on Modern
1:51:01 - Closing out

Links from this week's episode:
Saturday's Showcase Challenge: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/modern-challenge-12342275#paper
The League Dump: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/modern-league-2021-09-24#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 142: Consider This: Sleeve/Believe/Heave: Midnight Hunt ed. Sep 23, 2021

Show notes

The latest set has hit the digital shelves of Magic Online and Arena, and we are here to dig into a few new decks and run them through the Sleeve/Believe/Heave wringer! We first look at Esper Reanimator and Jeskai Phoenix in Modern, then head over to Magic Arena and dive into Izzet Delver in Historic. Do the cards of Midnight Hunt have what it takes to make an impact? Let's find out!

The Break Down: Star Studded Challenges!
The Dive Down: Sleeve/Believe/Heave: Mend These Decks!

Timestamps:
2:40 - Housekeeping
5:15 - The Break Down: Modern Challenges
24:47 - Sunday's Challenge
30:01 - Cool Decks, Inc
36:51 - The Dive Down begins: S/B/H, Midnight Hunt ed.
39:42 - Esper Reanimator
1:00:58 - Jeskai Phoenix
1:20:28 - Izzet Delver
1:34:07 - Closing Out

Links from this week's episode:
Saturday's Challenge: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/modern-challenge-12340205#paper
Sunday's Challenge: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/modern-challenge-12340211#paper
Jund Sac: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4311126#paper
Dredge: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4311118
Esper Reanimator: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4311099#paper
Jeskai Phoenix: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4311100#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 141: Innistrad: Midnight Hunt Spoilers, Pt. II Sep 15, 2021

Show notes

This week, Stan leave Dave and Shane to their own devices as he returns to a parental-leave induced bliss. With dad gone, the last two friends decide to go wild and cover SCG's recent Historic satellites in a quick and fun break down followed by arguing about too many cards for far too much time. And they thought this would be a short one! Dave considers light up the night. Shane says the world "cool" 500,000 times in two hours. Somewhere, in the midst of a dream, Stan cringes.

The Break Down: SCG Historic Satellites + $5k
The Dive Down: Innistrad: Midnight Hunt Spoilers, pt.II

Timestamps:
3:04 - Housekeeping
5:06 - The Break Down: The SCG Historic Championship Qualifier
14:15 - The Dive Down: Innistrad: Midnight Hunt, vol.2
15:40 - The Adversary Cycle
33:39 - Ghoulcaller's Harvest
37:49 - Willow Geist
40:23 - Sunset Revelry
42:34 - Meathook Massacre
45:40 - Fateful Absence
50:10 - Light Up The Night
55:02 - Turn the Earth
58:07 - Lunarch Veteran
1:01:30 - Delver of Secrets
1:07:54 - Secrets of the Key
1:12:11 - Otherworldly Gaze
1:14:51 - Malevolent Hermit
1:19:09 - Patrician Geist
1:22:46 - Suspicious Stowaway
1:25:39 - Outland Liberator
1:29:00 - Rem Karolus, Stalwart Slayer
1:31:35 - Slaughter Specialist
1:34:29 - Adeline, Resplendent Cathar
1:36:37 - Teferi, Who Slows the Sunset
1:39:47 - Dennick, Pious Apprentice
1:41:43 - Jerren, Corrupted Bishop
1:44:10 - Cathartic Pyre
1:45:17 - Memory Deluge
1:47:37 - The cards we are most sure about
1:49:23 - The cards we are most unsure about
1:50:09 - What cards do we want to be good?
1:50:55 - What cards will have the biggest impact on non-Modern formats?
1:52:00 - What cards will have the biggest impact on Modern?
1:54:00 - Closing out

Links from this week's episode:
Historic $5K SCG TOUR ONLINE CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIER: https://mtgmeta.io/tournaments/4059

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 140: Midnight Hunting & The Latest Historic Decks Sep 09, 2021

Show notes

This week we're getting to band back together. Stan returns to take Shane and Dave through a tour of the format he's been playing most recently — Historic. He's learned a lot from playing at all times of the night and day and night and who knows what time it is anyway? After that, the team fully jumps into the Midnight Hunt. Dave likes some cards. Shane doesn't like them. Stan knocks the rust off.

The Break Down: Stan's Back... But For How Long?
The Break Down, cont: A Taste of Historic
The Dive Down: Midnight Hunt, Part 1

Timestamps:
3:19 - Housekeeping
5:58 - The Break Down: The new decks of Historic
8:49 - The Jeskai decks
22:54 - Counteracting Jeskai
26:18 - Cascade combo
29:25 - Gruul Shamans
35:31 - Scurry Oak combo
37:52 - Merfolk
41:09 - Mono-Red variants
45:43 - Vesperlark combo
49:00 - What we're playing
52:50 - The Dive Down: Innistrad: Midnight Hunt!
54:50 - The mechanics of Innistrad
1:05:39 - The cards begin - Consider
1:08:03 - Play With Fire
1:09:30 - Infernal Grasp
1:11:34 - Champion of the Perished
1:12:34 - The land cycle
1:15:45 - Wrenn & Seven
1:19:07 - Poppet Stitcher
1:22:50 - Rite of Harmony
1:26:00 - Curse of Silence
1:27:59 - Croaking Counterpart
1:29:34 - Vampire Socialite
1:30:59 - Bladestich Scaab
1:31:58 - Diregraf Rebirth
1:33:48 - Brutal Cathar
1:36:05 - Curse of Shaken Faith
1:38:35 - Flame Channeler
1:40:57 - Faithful Mending
1:47:05 - Predictions

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 139: Spiking the New Modern, ft. Aspiringspike Sep 01, 2021

Show notes

This week, Dave and Shane recruited our old friend Evart Moughon, aka Aspiringspike, to help us wrap our heads around all things Modern. We talk about his deck selection at the HBMO, the ever-changing Modern metagame, and his thoughts about the best decks in the format. Before that, we discuss Magic's 2022 product release roadmap. Does Spike think Hobbit aggro will be the new tier 0? Listen and find out!

The Break Down: All About 2022
The Dive Down: Dress Down Dive Down
The Dive Down, cont: Just a Lot of Questions About Modern

Timestamps:
2:52 - Housekeeping
6:10 - The Break Down: Magic's 2022 product roadmap
6:50 - Returning to Innistrad (again!)
12:14 - Returning to Kamigawa! Demon Crime Lords!
18:22 - Returning to Dominaria!
21:03 - Returning to Double Masters and Jumpstart!
22:39 - Pioneer Challenger Decks
28:41 - Secret Lairs and Universes Beyond
43:26 - The Dive Down: Talking Modern with Spike
43:45 - The Hunter Burton Memorial Open
48:50 - How do the paper and online meta differ?
51:40 - Grixis Dress Down Shadow
57:08 - Spike's favorite Dress Down interactions
59:07 - The evolving Modern meta
1:06:44 - Is there a best DRC deck?
1:11:20 - How do you think about playing a DRC deck?
1:15:24 - How can you wrap your head around the meta?
1:20:40 - Spike's take on the meta
1:25:40 - Defining tiers in Modern
1:27:34 - Hammertime time
1:30:58 - What keeps decks out of the upper tiers?
1:35:40 - How do we feel about MH2 Modern?
1:37:04 - Evart's trophy race
1:40:00 - What's your favorite MH2 card?
1:43:25 - Pro or anti-Core set?
1:46:15 - What is it about Modern?
1:48:31 - Where to find Spike
1:51:07 - Closing out

Links from this week's episode:
Aspiringspike on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/aspiringspike
Aspiringspike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MoughonEvart
Rakdos Mid ft Den of the Bugbear: https://www.streamdecker.com/deck/VjqTVfP45

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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