The Dive Down

Latest Episodes:

Episode 121: Early Risers of Strixhaven: At the Head of the Class with Aspiringspike Apr 23, 2021

Show notes

The unofficial 4th host Evart Moughon, aka Aspiringspike, joins us yet again to go over his early testing and experiments in Modern. Dave talks about, what else, Modern Prowess and Historic Phoenix, and Shane says another aggro deck in Historic isn't good enough. Probably. Before that we look at two early Historic tournaments and have an extended jam session of Cool Decks, Inc.

The Break Down: Spike Top 8'd a Challenge!
The Dive Down: Spike Made Some Luminancer Decks!
The Dive Down, cont: Spike Has Thoughts About Historic!

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Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown
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Timestamps:
7:08 - The Break Down begins: the first Historic tournaments
8:03 - The Insight esports $1k
13:50 - The Hooglandia open
17:10 - Cool Decks, Inc.
30:30 - Our Historic Thoughts
34:58 - Spike's Modern Challenge Top 8
43:20 - The Dive Down begins: the latest decks in Modern and Historic
45:25 - Jeskai Prowess
48:48 - Naya Prowess
53:23 - Boros Prowess
1:01:34 - Temur Taking Turns ft. Rowan
1:06:40 - Thoughts on Prismari Command
1:10:24 - Historic Boros Wizards
1:16:43 - Boros Wizards v2
1:21:23 - Boros Wizards v3
1:27:50 - Historic Izzet Phoenix
1:38:56 - Thoughts on Memory Lapse

Links from this week's episode:
Insight Esports Historic 1k: https://mtgmelee.com/Tournament/View/6052
Hooglandia Historic Open: https://mtgmelee.com/Tournament/View/5942
Watch Aspiringspike on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/aspiringspike
Find Aspiringspike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/moughonevart

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 Monday 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 120: Snows Melt, Phoenixes Rise Apr 16, 2021

Show notes

With our time on Kaldheim coming to an end, the Three Friends take a look back and a look forward. Stan takes us through Modern right now via a couple of MTGO Challenges + we consider what might be coming next. Then we do a little self assessment and grade how we did on reviewing Kaldheim cards going into this format. Finally, we look ahead and talk about the decisions people are grappling with with... you guessed it... building Izzet Phoenix in Historic.

The Break Down: Where's Modern At?
The Dive Down: Learning from Kaldheim Spoilers
The Dive Down, cont.: The First of Many Times We'll Talk About Phoenix

3:30 - Housekeeping
4:42 - The Break Down - Modern Showcase Challenge and Super Qualifier
6:33 - Modern Esper Control Chat
13:36 - Weekend Metagame
16:45 - Decks to beat vs. Decks that beat
21:55 - Can anything from Strixhaven beat tier 1?
27:45 - Dive Down pt. 1 - Sunsetting Kaldheim
28:20 - Tibalt’s Trickery
31:16 - Valki, God of Lies
33:16 - Vorinclex
36:17 - Doomskar
40:00 - In Search of Greatness
41:55 - Reidane, God of the Worthy
44:44 - Ascendant Spirit
46:55 - Birgi
49:17 - Jaspera Sentinal
51:45 - Elvish Warmaster & Realmwalker
53:53 - Behold the Multiverse
57:21 - Faceless Haven
1:02:43 - Dive Down pt. 2 - Historic Phoenix Brew Down
1:37:34 - Patreon Questions Wind Down!

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 119: Back to School: Spoiling Strixhaven, Vol. 2 Apr 09, 2021

Show notes

Well everyone, Shane and Dave really stepped in it last week. Stan's back. And he has things to say. About Mystical Archive cards, about playing to the stack, and about some other nonsense, too. After that's finished, the three friends go through the rest of the cards from Strixhaven and find a few worth talking about for our formats. Stan learns. Dave spoils. Shane toils.

The Break Down: Stanislav's Back
The Break Down 2: Stanislav's Mad
The Break Down 3: Stanislav Hates the Takes We Had
The Dive Down: Finally, Some Strixhaven Spoilers

Timestamps:
2:47 - Housekeeping
6:04 - Break Down Begins: In Defense of Mystical Archive
8:37 - More Spells Can Be Good
12:26 - Electrolyze Though
15:10 - Archive’s Impact On Gameplay
27:54 - The Future of Historic & The Economy
34:30 - Abundant Harvest
39:14 - Dive Down Begins: Strixhaven Spoilers pt. 2
39:41 - Clever Luminancer
47:22 - Leonin Lightscribe
50:30 - Mavinda, Students’ Advocate
52:32 - Strict Proctor
55:54 - Guiding Voice
56:55 - Show of Confidence
59:01 - Test of Talent
1:00:44 - Ingenius Mastery
1:02:44 - Baleful Mastery
1:06:22 - Lash of Malice
1:08:39 - Sedgemore Witch
1:11:54 - First Day of Class
1:13:43 - Grinning Ignus
1:15:25 - Retriever Phoenix
1:16:40 - Crackle with Power
1:17:58 - Charge Through
1:20:03 - Dragonsguard Elite
1:22:55 - Body of Research
1:24:39 - Double Major
1:26:09 - Fracture
1:27:42 - Rushed Rebirth
1:30:07 - Thrilling Discovery
1:32:10 - Vanishing Verse
1:33:48 - Mila, Crafty Companion/Lukka, Wayward Bonder
1:36:47 - Expressive Iteration
1:38:16 - Flamescroll Celebrant/Revel in Silence
1:41:33 - Ecological Appreciation
1:44:11 - Zephyr Boots
1:46:00 - Bayou Groff
1:48:34 - Mage Duel
1:49:50 - Strixhaven Stadium
1:52:40 - Parting Thoughts

Strixhaven Spoilers: https://scryfall.com/sets/stx?order=set&as=grid
Strixhaven... Mystical Archive?? Spoilers: https://scryfall.com/sets/sta?as=grid&order=set

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 118: Back To School: Spoiling Strixhaven, Vol. 1 Apr 02, 2021

Show notes

This week, Professor Stan is on sabbatical, so Shane and Dave are headed back to school to give their takes on the first batch of Strixhaven spoilers. Is this the episode where Shane is the optimist? We also take some time to go over our Mystical Archive tier lists for Historic. Will Crux of Fate have what it takes to be the only S-Tier card? Before all that, we briefly go over the Historic meta at the Kaldheim Championship, and look at two novel decks that some big names brought.

The Episode: Stan's Not Here, Man
The Break Down: The History is History
The Dive Down: Wizard College's Deepest Secrets

Timestamps:
4:25 - Housekeeping
7:11 - The Break Down begins: the Kaldheim Champs
11:36 - Abzan "Midrange" overview
16:50 - Boros Cycling overview
18:48 - The Dive Down begins: Back to School!
19:50 - The Mechanics of Strixhaven
32:29 - The Snarl Lands
34:23 - Will & Rowan
37:28 - Storm-Kiln Shaman
40:50 - Rip Apart
45:40 - Elite Spellbinder
49:48 - Venerable Warsinger
53:30 – Radiant Scrollwielder
56:03 – Efreet Flamepainter
59:55 – Reduce to Memory
1:02:38 – Archmage Emeritus
1:06:40 – Witherbloom Apprentice
1:08:10 – Dragonsguard Elite
1:10:35 – Curate
1:13:09 – Shadrix Silverquill
1:15:46 – The Commands
1:23:20 – Professor Onyx
1:27:05 – The Mystical Archive in Historic
1:30:07 – The S/A-Tier
1:39:25 – The B-Tier
1:44:28 – C-Tier
1:51:34 – D-Tier
1:52:50 – Closing Out

Links from this week's episode:
The Kaldheim Championship Decks: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/kaldheim-championship#paper
Strixhaven Spoilers: https://scryfall.com/sets/stx?order=set&as=grid
Strixhaven... Mystical Archive?? Spoilers: https://scryfall.com/sets/sta?as=grid&order=set

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 Monday 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 117: How to Beat Modern Heliod Combo Mar 26, 2021

Show notes

It's no secret that the Sun-Crowned has been ruling the roost in Modern, so on this week's episode we ask the very important question: how do we beat Heliod Company?! Or is it Heliod Combo? We're also kicking off the episode with a detailed breakdown of the SCG Tour Online's Historic weekend. #Spreadsheets

The Disclaimer: Dave's Not Here
The Break Down: Satellite of Jund
The Dive Down: Tricksy Timing and Other Combo Breakers

Timestamps:
3:02 — Housekeeping
6:07 — Break Down Begins: SCG Historic Satellites
10:50 — Swiss Meta: 1,053 Decks!!
25:25 — 4-2s or Better in the Swiss
30:28 — Sunday Championship Meta: 301 Decks!!
35:36 — Top 8
37:20 — Conclusions
46:30 — What it Means for Casual Spikes
49:52 — The Dive Down Begins: How to Beat Heliod
53:00 — How Heliod Got His Groove Back
56:12 — How the Deck is Different Now
1:00:12 — About the February 15 Bannings
1:04:00 — What We Did This Episode: Try to Lose
1:06:45 — What to Think About Against Heliod
1:07:06 — Favored Decks: UW Control
1:08:10 — Favored Decks: Green Tron
1:09:31 — Favored Decks: UB Mill
1:10:50 — Even Decks: Jund Death's Shadow
1:13:40 — Even Decks: Burn
1:21:25 — Even Decks: Taxes, Hammertime
1:22:05 — Other Combo Decks
1:23:22 — Cards We Love Against Heliod
1:28:00 — How Can You Beat Infinite Life?
1:31:50 — How to Interact Against Heliod
1:37:01 — Mirror Matches
1:39:40 — Is Heliod Overpowered?

Links from this week's episode:
The SCG 5K Strixhaven Qualifier: https://mtgmelee.com/Tournament/View/5656
Heliod Combo: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/3853109#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 Monday 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 116: Time Spiral Buyers' Guide & Shadows Over Historic Mar 19, 2021

Show notes

In something of a split episode, we first explore the reprints of Time Spiral Remastered, identify some potential cards that are "on sale," the impact of the old border reprints, and what we're eyeballing as purchases. Following that, Dave outlines the various Death's Shadow decks that players have been testing in Historic following the release of Anthology 4, Shane probably under-rates Historic cycling decks, and Stan continues to cast Elves.

The Break Down: Pay More For Cards You Already Have!
The Dive Down: Death's Shadow + Adanto Vanguard = <3
The Dive Down, cont: Other Anthology Thoughts

Timestamps:
2:31 - Housekeeping
5:43 - Break Down Begins: Introducing the Time Spiral Buyer’s Guide
10:59 - Gemstone Cavern
13:13 - Tarmogoyf
17:11 - A bunch of quick hits
25:00 - The Value of Old Border Reprints
32:17 - Yawgmoth, Thran Physician
33:33 - Chalice of the Void
34:20 - Ancient Stirrings
35:46 - How Old Borders Impact Box Prices
41:33 - Time Spiral Parting Thoughts
43:55 - Dive Down Begins: Testing Death’s Shadow in Historic
48:36 - Grixis Death’s Shadow
52:20 - RB Arcanist
1:02:38 - RB Aggro
1:07:18 - Mono-Black Aggro
1:11:07 - Cycling Shadow
1:13:53 - Mardu Shadow
1:28:39 - More testing: Flameblade Adept
1:38:26 - Declaration in Stone
1:40:00 - Abomination of Llanowar
1:44:59 - Sawtusk Demolisher
1:49:05 - Parting Thoughts

Links from this week's episode:
Time Spiral Remastered: https://scryfall.com/sets/tsr?order=usd&as=grid
The EV of TSR: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/the-expected-value-of-time-spiral-remastered
Mardu Shadow: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/3829762#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 Monday 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 115: Modern Bant Ephemerate: The Flicker Mob ft. Aspiringspike Mar 12, 2021

Show notes

This week we tackle another Patron request from Bob - Bant Ephemerate! And who better to have on than one of the masters of the deck, Aspiringspike himself, Evart Moughon. We go over the ins and outs of the deck, with Shane wondering just how to cast counterspells, Dave running out of time on Magic Online, and Stan just blinking stuff. Before that, we look at the latest Historic Anthology and give our takes on what cards might have an impact.

The Break Down: A Shadow Over Historic
The Dive Down: Draw 2 Whenever You Can
The Dive Down, cont: Winning With Three 2/2s

Timestamps:
2:36 - Housekeeping
6:08 - The Break Down begins - Historic Anthology 4
11:48 - The cards of Historic Anthology 4
14:50 - Death's Shadow
24:06 - Declaration in Stone
27:15 - Thraben Inspector
29:03 - Flameblade Adept
32:06 - Blinkmoth Nexus
34:01 - Sword of Body and Mind
35:31 - The other stuff
38:35 - Thoughts on Anthologies
43:26 - The Dive Down begins - a brief history of Bant Ephemerate
48:45 - What inspired Evart to keep coming back to this shell?
51:43 - Ephemerate: the key card
56:33 - What are we bouncing? Eternal Witness
1:01:30 - Ice-Fang Coatl
1:04:27 - Skyclave Apparition
1:07:43 - Wall of Omens
1:09:30 - Venser, Shaper Savant
1:11:40 - The Counterspells & How to Cast Them
1:23:04 - The Teferis
1:25:15 - The Mana
1:29:28 - Time Warp (Time Warp!)
1:31:35 - How Fun is the Deck?
1:37:37 - Some Sideboard Tips
1:41:12 - How Does This Slow Deck Win?
1:46:48 - Final Tips For Picking Up This Deck

Links from this week's episode:
Historic Anthology 4: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-digital/get-ready-historic-anthology-iv-2021-03-05
Bant Ephemerate: https://www.streamdecker.com/deck/yHz1usZ4J
Watch Aspiringspike on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/aspiringspike
Find Aspiringspike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/moughonevart

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 Monday 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 114: Modern Merfolk: A Brief History of Spreading Seas Mar 05, 2021

Show notes

This week it's a Modern-focused, Patron-thanking episode that's all about one of the format's classics, Merfolk. That's right. You've been waiting for 2 years for us to dive down into the depths of these seas. But first, we'll take a look through the Mana Traders Series from this month. It's Modern. It's good. Again. Dave hates seafood. Stan combos off. Shane is — surprisingly — a friend to all fish, everywhere.

The Break Down: Manatraders Modern
The Dive Down: Turn 1 Aether Vial
The Dive Down, cont: Turn 4 Spreading Seas

Timestamps:
3:16 - Special Patreon shoutout / Housekeeping
6:12 - The Break Down begins - the Manatraders Modern Month
7:33 - The overall Manatraders metagame
11:10 - 6-3 conversion rates
15:35 - The top 8
27:10 - Quick top 16 analysis of the weekend Challenges
28:39 - Takeaways and takes from the weekend's events
39:10 - The Dive Down begins: Modern Merfolk!
41:00 - What this deck is about
43:52 - A brief history of Merfolk
49:45 - The construction options of Merfolk
54:04 - The Lords
59:25 - The Beaters
1:05:01 - The Disruptive Creatures
1:13:20 - Aether Vial. It's good.
1:14:27 - Disruptive Spells
1:20:38 - The Lands. AKA Mutavault.
1:21:18 - Our playing experiences: what we played this week
1:22:35 - Dave on Azorius Merfolk
1:27:30 - Shane on Simic Merfolk
1:33:55 - Stan on Mystic Reflection Combo Fish
1:44:22 - What Merfolk does well, and what it doesn't
1:53:45 - Closing out

Links from this week's episode:
The Manatraders Metagame: https://twitter.com/YahiAnael/status/1365562502298361858?s=20
UW Merfolk: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/3743267#paper
Mystic Reflection Merfolk: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/3765702#paper
Simic Merfolk: https://mtgdecks.net/Modern/merfolk-decklist-by-zxrogue-1092933

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 Monday 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 113: Post-Ban Plans: Small Samples, Big Conclusions Feb 26, 2021

Show notes

So what next? This week The Three Friends talk about each of our favorite formats in the wake of what some have claimed is the biggest set of bans in MTG history. Is it? We don't know. BUT. We do know that there's new (and old) stuff going on in Modern, Historic, and Pioneer. We will be giving you a Break Down of ALL THREE formats, talk about our experiences playing the formats, and, of course, tell you what we'd play. Shane and Stan pivot table it up while Dave just reads some line graphs out loud. It's can't miss audio content!

The Break Down: First Modern
The Break Down II: Then Historic
The Break Down III: Then Pioneer
The Break Down IV: Yep, All Three

Timestamps:
1:28 - Housekeeping
4:32 - The Format-Palooza begins
6:16 - Modern post-ban event Break Down
13:47 - The winningest decks from Modern this week
19:00 - What's Modern about now?
22:26 - The NRG Open
31:39 - Stan's play experience
36:11 - Modern Cool Decks, Inc.
44:26 - What would we play in Modern?
47:21 - Historic post-ban meta Break Down
1:03:54 - Selensya Angels
1:14:26 - Golgari Elves
1:21:11 - What would we play in Historic?
1:25:14 - Pioneer post-ban event Break Down
1:39:41 - Pioneer Top 8s and Cool Decks, Inc
1:43:05 - Shane's play experience
1:46:00 - How is Pioneer different from Historic?
1:55:43 - What would we play in Pioneer?

Links from this week's episode:
2/20/21 Modern Challenge: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/modern-challenge-2021-02-21
2/21/21 Modern Challenge: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/modern-challenge-2021-02-22
NRG Modern Open: https://mtgmelee.com/Tournament/View/4904
Selesnya Angels: https://mtga.untapped.gg/meta/archetypes/1041/selesnya-angels?format=historic&meta=current&rank=BRONZE_TO_MYTHIC&tab=decks&wincon=bo3
Golgari Elves: https://mtga.untapped.gg/meta/archetypes/984/golgari-elves?format=historic&meta=previous&min-matches=100&rank=BRONZE_TO_MYTHIC&tab=decks&wincon=bo3
2/20/21 Pioneer Prelim: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/pioneer-preliminary-2021-02-20
2/21/21 Pioneer Challenge: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/pioneer-challenge-2021-02-21
Grixis Release to the Wind: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/3781283#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 Monday 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 112: Roll That Beautiful Ban Footage ft. Aspiringspike Feb 17, 2021

Show notes

Well, those were some bans. And we're here to talk about them, with our regular guest host Evart Moughon, aka Aspiringspike. We first discuss the big bans in Modern, Pioneer, and Historic, then head into the Dive Down to talk about what these changes mean for the formats themselves.

The Break Down: They Really Really Did It
The Dive Down: The Face of the New Formats
The Dive Down, cont: Why Does This Keep Happening?

Timestamps:
2:33 - Housekeeping
4:59 - The Break Down fake begins - we give Spike an open door and he runs through it
8:08 - The Break Down actually begins - takes on the bans
8:53 - WOTCs statement on why they made some bans
15:00 - The Modern bans - Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath
22:15 - Field of the Dead/Mystic Sanctuary
27:21 - Simian Spirit Guide
31:52 - Tibalt's Trickery
35:56 - The Cascade rule change
38:51 - Will Modern be more fun?
43:45 - The Historic ban - so they banned Uro here, too
51:00 - The Pioneer bans
52:25 - WOTC's stated vision of Pioneer
55:18 - Teferi, Time Raveler
58:10 - Balustrade Spy/Undercity Informer
59:00 - Will Pioneer be better now?
1:04:15 - Final thoughts on all of this
1:08:38 - The Dive Down begins
1:09:05 - What looks good in Modern?
1:21:24 - Modern's other victims
1:28:42 - Historic's post-ban winners
1:34:52 - What are the dark horses in Pioneer?
1:42:35 - Formats full of possibilities?
1:44:50 - Why does this keep happening?
1:58:56 - Closing out

Links from this week's episode:
The 2/15/2021 B&R: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/news/february-15-2021-banned-and-restricted-announcement
Watch Aspiringspike on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/aspiringspike
Find Aspiringspike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/moughonevart

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 Monday 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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