The Dive Down

Latest Episodes:

Episode 84: The Many Moods of Mystic Sanctuary Jul 31, 2020

Show notes

This week we take a look at one of the most popular and powerful cards in Modern - Mystic Sanctuary. What makes it good, how is it being played, and what can you do with it? Before that, we break down the Manatraders July Modern 15k tournament.

The Break Down: Modern Manatraders
The Dive Down: Making Mystic Mighty

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Timestamps:
2:27 - Housekeeping
5:00 - The Break Down begins - The Manatraders July Modern 15k
9:50 - The MT meta
18:48 - The top 32
27:38 - Conversion rate discussion
32:52 - The Top 8
36:30 - The top cards
42:59 - The Dive Down begins - a brief history of Mystic Sanctuary
51:26 - What makes Sanctuary messed-up?
58:15 - The value plan of Sanctuary
1:11:15 - The impact on your mana
1:18:05 - The loops
1:30:10 - The strategies
1:34:25 - Facing down Sanctuary
1:39:05 - Is this the best card in Modern?
1:45:55 - Closing out

Links from this week's episode:
Gruul Prowess: https://goodgriefgames.wordpress.com/2020/04/22/brewed-up-r-g-prowess-modern/
Mystic Sanctuary is a Messed-Up Magic Card: https://articles.starcitygames.com/premium/mystic-sanctuary-is-a-messed-up-magic-card/
People Are Sleeping On Mystic Sanctuary: https://articles.starcitygames.com/premium/people-are-sleeping-on-mystic-sanctuary/
Examining The Future Of Mystic Sanctuary In Modern: https://articles.starcitygames.com/premium/examining-the-future-of-mystic-sanctuary-in-modern/

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 83: That New Meta Smell Jul 24, 2020

Show notes

On this week's episode, the team does a long break down on what's happened in Pioneer and Modern in the week since our most recent bans. Takes are given... and returned? Moods are had... and worked out? Then we talk about what we've been playing lately. Ponza! White Tokens! UR Prowess! Mono Green Devotion! We'll let you guess who is who!

The Break Down: Modern/Pioneer: Similar/Same
The Dive Down: Our Decks: That's the Same Picture

Timestamps:
4:42 - Break Down Begins
5:24 - Modern Analysis Begins
12:44 - Modern Week 1 Metagame
29:50 - The Modern Winner's Metagame
42:30 - Pioneer Analysis Begins
50:06 - Pioneer’s Tier 2 and Beyond
55:00 - What do we want Pioneer to be?
1:04:57 - The Pioneer Winner’s Metagame
1:12:35 - Dive Down Begins: Our Testing Results
1:16:44 - Modern Mono-White Tokens
1:25:20 - Pioneer Mono-Green Devotion
1:35:06 - Modern Izzet Blitz

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 82: Bans: 1 Mana Permanents Edition ft. Aspiring Spike Jul 17, 2020

Show notes

On this week's episode, friend of the show Evart Moughon aka Aspiring Spike drops in for a reaction to the latest Banned & Restricted announcement. Then we talk about some of Evart's latest takes on Modern Control.

The Break Down: July 2020 B&R in Modern & Pioneer
The Dive Down: Modern Control Concepts
Wind Down: Spiking Listener Questions

Timestamps:
5:10 - Break Down Begins - July 2020 B&R
57:24 - Dive Down Begins - Current State of Modern Control and Evart's Izzet Deck
1:35:05 - Wind Down Begins - Listener Questions!

Links from this week's episode:
July 2020 B&R: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/news/july-13-2020-banned-and-restricted-announcement-2020-07-13?ryujyu
Aspiring Spike's Izzet Control: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/3169395#paper
Aspiring Spike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MoughonEvart
Aspiring Spike on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/aspiringspike

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 81: A Dive Down State of Mind Jul 10, 2020

Show notes

This week the team tries to just chill (for once) and ends up with a 60min+ Break Down of the last 6 months of Modern and Pioneer, some ban speculation (before the upcoming announcement was announced), and answering listener questions. Shane brings some takes. Stanislav disagrees with Dave. Dave opens packs on air in retaliation. It's another week on The Down Down!

The Break Down: 6 months of Modern + Pioneer
The Dive Down: Listener questions

Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown
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Timestamps:
3:20 - Housekeeping
4:59 - The extended Break Down begins - Modern and Pioneer in 2020
6:35 - Modern in 2020
10:15 - The Modern up-and-comers
14:04 - Modern still hanging on
21:35 - Modern Falling Stars
28:13 - Recent Modern tournaments
45:35 - Our takes on Modern in 2020
49:15 - Pioneer in 2020
50:50 - The Pioneer up-and-comers
52:59 - Pioneer still hanging on and the falling stars
54:29 - Recent Pioneer tournaments.... sorta
57:55 - Our takes on the problems of Pioneer in 2020
1:10:58 - What would we change in Pioneer?
1:15:25 - What could be added to Pioneer?
1:21:40 - What would we ban/unban in Modern?
1:24:34 - The Wind Down begins: listener questions
1:25:34 - How do we track our performance?
1:31:30 - What promo cards do we like?
1:35:55 - What makes a deck eternal?
1:40:10 - What has been your favorite deck to play?
1:43:14 - What other formats would we like to try?
1:45:45 - What cards would we like to see printed into Modern?
1:48:58 - Closing out

Links/Tournaments Referenced in this week's episode:
Modern Challenge #1: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/modern-challenge-2020-07-05
Modern Challenge #2: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/modern-challenge-2020-07-06
Pioneer League #1: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/pioneer-league-2020-07-02
Pioneer League #2: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/pioneer-league-2020-07-06
Pioneer Prelim #1: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/pioneer-preliminary-2020-07-02

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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Bonus 8: Big on Tik Tok w/ Deezy_MTG Jul 07, 2020

Show notes

In this bonus episode, Stan sits down with Nick Valdez, AKA Deezy MTG to talk about the art of content creation, MTG comedy, and what it's like being the #1 Magic Tik Tok account in America and maybe the world!

Find Nick
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nickvaldeezy
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/deezy_mtg
Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@deezymtg

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 80: Sleeve/Believe/Heave: Core Set 2021 Edition Jul 03, 2020

Show notes

On this week's episode we take three (or more!) decks featuring Core Set 2021 cards through the Sleeve/Believe/Heave gauntlet. Did they have what it takes to get the coveted "Sleeve" rating? Following that, we discuss how new cards are impacting classic decks in Modern and Pioneer!

The Dive Down: Stanislav Snoops
The Dive Down, pt 2: Dave Stormwings
The Dive Down, pt 3: Shane Selesnyas
... And more!

Timestamps:
5:58 - Sleeve Believe Heave Week Begins
7:51 - Modern Rakdos Goblins ft. Conspicuous Snoop
33:53 - Modern Izzet Prowess ft. Stormwing Entity
57:54 - Pioneer Selesnya Scales ft. Conclave Mentor
1:24:40 - Modern & Pioneer Elves ft. Llanowar Visionary & Fierce Empath
1:31:44 - Modern Grixis Delver ft. Thieves Guild Enforcer
1:33:40 - Modern & Pioneer Dredge ft. Silversmote Ghoul
1:39:07 - Modern Izzet Control ft. Teferi, Master of Time
1:41:35 - Pioneer Azorius Spirits ft. Shacklegeist & Lofty Denial
1:43:30 - Modern Izzet Phoenix ft. See the Truth
1:44:15 - Eliminate in Pioneer
1:45:35 - Pioneer Boros Cycling ft. No New Cards
1:46:47 - Pioneer Simic Wilderness Reclamation ft. Sublime Epiphany
1:47:40 - Pioneer Goblins ft. Conspicuous Snoop & Subira, Tulzidi Caravanner
1:50:17 - Closing Out

Links from this week's episode:
Snoopy Goblins: https://www.streamdecker.com/deck/UrwCOTAZK
Izzet Prowess: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/3144685#paper
Selesnya Scales: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/3150880#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 79: Naya Winota: Joining Forces in Modern & Pioneer Jun 26, 2020

Show notes

This week we dive into both Modern AND Pioneer to explore Naya Winota! Did she successfully recruit us into joining her forces, or did we remain unaffiliated? We also do a quick break down of the latest Modern Challenge to explore the variety of decks finding success, and wind down with some Patreon questions.

The Break Down: Stanislav <3s Modern
The Dive Down: History's Best BoP Deck?
The Wind Down: A Few Questions

Timestamps:
2:58 - Housekeeping
6:12 - The Break Down begins: A Modern Challenge
8:10 - Top 8 analysis
23:42 - Takes on the tournament
26:14 - Core 21 projections
27:58 - The Dive Down begins: Why Winota?
30:50 - What Winota?
34:35 - The payoffs
40:32 - Payoff math and payoff tactics
45:40 - Gut checks and initial takes
49:55 - The mana dorks
52:55 - The token generators
56:21 - Eldritch Evolution and the sac fodder
1:06:00 - The early game plan and the power of that game plan
1:11:25 - Creating advantage with Winota
1:19:40 - Losing advantage with Winota
1:22:09 - Comparing this to other decks in the formats
1:30:18 - What's the better version? Pioneer or Modern?
1:40:02 - The Wind Down: Patreon questions
1:48:38 - Closing out

Links from this week's episode:
The 6/21 Modern Challenge: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/modern-challenge-2020-06-21#decklists
Pioneer Winota: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/3130303#paper
Modern Winota: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/3114576#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 78: Pioneer Possibilities & Core 21, pt. 2 Jun 19, 2020

Show notes

This week we receive a short but substantial ray of sunshine about Pioneer from Shane and then talk about our our second and final batch of picks to click from Core Set 2021!
The Break Down: Pioneer is Actually Good
The Break Down, cont: But What About Inverter? Stan Speaks
The Dive Down: Spoilers, Spoilers, Spoilers (again)

Timestamps:
3:00 - Housekeeping
5:00 -The Break Down begins — Get Up on Pioneer
6:15 - Shane’s Ray of Light: Pioneer Challenges
6:30 - The first Pioneer Challenge’s Top 8
9:45 - The second Pioneer Challenge’s Top 8
12:20 - Top 8s takeaways
13:00 - Top 32s assessment
15:10 - But what about Inverter? Stan speaks.
16:00 - The bottom line on Pioneer + what we’re playing
19:25 - The Dive Down begins: more Core 21 cards
19:35 - Conspicuous Snoop
27:30 - Ghostly Pilferer + Shacklegeist
36:20 - Terror of the Peaks
42:30 - Sublime Epiphany
47:20 - Heartfire Immolator
54:05 - Stormwing Entity
1:00:10 - Conclave Mentor
1:04:05 - Llanowar Visionary + Fierce Empath
1:09:40 - Lofty Denial
1:15:55 - Miscast
1:19:55 - Liliana, Waker of the Dead
1:27:18 - Colossal Dreadmaw
1:27:45 - Frantic Inventory
1:32:33 - See the Truth
1:34:32 - Subira, Tulzidi Caravanner
1:38:36 - Angelic Ascention
1:41:55 - The Wind Down begins — Core 21 called shots

Links from this episode:
Pioneer Challenge, June 14th
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/pioneer-challenge-2020-06-14
Pioneer Challenge, June 15th
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/pioneer-challenge-2020-06-15
Jim Davis on Conspicuous Snoop
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jgp12xXMlX0
https://www.coolstuffinc.com/a/jimdavis-06122020-the-scoop-on-conspicuous-snoop

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 77: Companions Crash & Core 21, pt. 1 Jun 12, 2020

Show notes

This week we look at the post-Companion metas for Pioneer and Modern, then talk about our picks to click from the first batch of Core Set 2021 spoilers!
The Break Down: Our Companions Leave Us Alone
The Break Down, cont: Modern & Pioneer Metas
The Dive Down: Spoilers, Spoilers, Spoilers

Timestamps:
2:42 - Housekeeping
5:45 -The Break Down begins - the post-Companion meta
10:38 - The Pioneer meta
16:30 - Some top 8s
23:55 - Pio Companion check in and cool decks
34:37 - Pioneer meta takes
35:20 - The modern meta
39:01 - Some top8s
44:43 - Some cool decks and cool takes
50:35 - Quick take - what would we play?
52:15 - The Dive Down begins
54:20 - Teferi, Master of Time
1:10:00 - Basri Ket
1:13:43 - Chandra, Heart of Fire
1:18:29 - Elder Garagroth
1:23:26 - Village Rites
1:28:30 - Plunge
1:34:46 - Containment Priest
1:39:00 - Gadrak, the Crown-Scourge
1:42:02 - Quick hits - Azusa, Vito, Chandra's Incinerator

Links from this week's episode:
SCG Tour Online:
https://scgtouronline.starcitygames.com/
Core Set 2021 Spoilers: https://scryfall.com/sets/m21?order=spoiled&as=grid

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 76: Gathering the Magic ft. Cavedan Jun 05, 2020

Show notes

The hosts of The Dive Down want to make our beliefs clear: Black Lives Matter.

We share the commitment of many of our listeners in educating ourselves on the unfathomable pain faced by people of color in the United States and beyond. All proceeds from this week’s episode will go to the Black Lives Matter Global Network, and several other organizations that fight for justice on behalf of oppressed people and communities.

We encourage our friends and listeners to support marginalized communities when and where you can. Below are some resources that you can consider in the fight to end institutional racism, and support justice for oppressed communities all around us.

http://www.maximummiddleage.com/right-now/alton-sterling-philando-castile-how-to-be-an-ally-to-black-people
The Bail Project: https://bailproject.org/
Campaign Zero: https://www.joincampaignzero.org/
Unicorn Riot: https://unicornriot.ninja/
George Floyd Memorial Fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd
Justice for Breonna Taylor: https://www.gofundme.com/f/9v4q2-justice-for-breonna-taylor
Mutual Aid: https://www.mutualaidhub.org/
Black and Brown Founders: https://blackandbrownfounders.com/
Black Feminist Project: https://www.gofundme.com/f/theblkprojek
Colin Kaepernick Know Your Rights Camp: https://www.knowyourrightscamp.com/
Black Girls Code: https://www.blackgirlscode.com/
Black Voters Matter Fund: https://www.blackvotersmatterfund.org/
The National Police Accountability Project: https://www.nlg-npap.org/donate/
Equal Justice Initiative: https://eji.org/
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund: https://www.naacpldf.org/
BET and United Way COVID-19 Relief Fund: https://secure.unitedway.org/j/step/bet-covid-19-donate

As for the episode itself: Join us this week as we have special guest Cavedan, of Faithless Brewing fame, on as we break down the latest B&R announcement and the companion rules change, talk about our thoughts and feelings about the game and meta-game of Magic, and quiz him about brewing.

Timestamps:
7:56 - Housekeeping
12:13 - The Break Down: dissecting the B&R and Companion rule change
16:36 - Examining the text from the announcement
27:58 - Will divergent game play patterns take place?
33:00 - The implications of this rule change
43:40 - The Dive Down begins - The pace and impact of change
54:35 - How we can respond to change?
1:02:32 - Things to be positive about in Magic - New ways to play
1:02:36 - News digital ways to play is a good thing.
1:09:49 - Does anyone think paper is dying?
1:15:43 - The game is fundamentally great!
1:27:42 - How change keeps the community engaged.
1:33:34 - The Brew Down
1:37:22 - Deck Advantage vs. Deck Experience
1:39:29 - Checking in on our goals.
1:44:18 - The Wind Down Begins
144:41 - Has Rogue Refinery changed the way Dan brews?
1:47:40 - How do we approach an open meta game?
1:49:49 - What makes a card brew worthy?
1:51:11 - Can a brand new deck emerge in Modern?
1:53:39 - Please brew with Nahiri, the Harbinger
1:55:29 - What’s The Dive Down’s secret ingredient?
1:59:55 - Closing Out

Links from this week's episode:
June 1, 2020 B&R: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/news/june-1-2020-banned-and-restricted-announcement
Faithless Brewing: https://faithlessbrewing.podbean.com/
Faithless Brewing on Twitter: https://twitter.com/faithlessmtg
Faithless Brewing's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/faithlessbrewing
Episodes of Rogue Refinery can found at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8ZGymAvfP97qJabgqUkz4A

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

Support The Dive Down

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