The Dive Down

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 T...

This week's a funny one. We set out to test some of the most recent winning decks featuring Kaldheim cards, in order to grade them on our (patent-pending) S/B/H rating system. Then, in the span of a few days, the Modern landscape shifted under our feet! So we'll still talk about those winning decks, but also about the communities iteration on Cascade Tibalt, what this means for Modern, and, as alw...

Kaldheim is out, which means there's a bunch of new great, fair decks for us to explore in our favorite formats! Hold on, I'm being handed a note.... oh wait there's some more ways to win on turn 1, as well... So this week we're testing some of the cards and decks that people are talking about, and reporting back with our findings. Before that we check out the latest Modern events to see what's ch...

This week we Dive Down into Gruul Aggro in Historic. After a strong representation and showing in the recent MPL and Rivals Historic weekend events, Gruul looks to be the tier 1 aggro deck in the format. We guide you through deck construction, piloting the deck, and playing against it! Before that, we walk through a meta breakdown on the past month or so of Modern, and are again forced to discuss...

We head back to Kaldheim for more spoiler takes, this time joined by regular guest host Evart Moughon, aka Aspiring Spike! What cards have what it takes to make an impact in Magic's non-rotating formats? We don't really know, but we have some thoughts... We also discuss the recent MPL and Rivals Historic weekend events, and break down the current meta. The Break Down: It's the MPL, Y'all The Dive...

In our latest bonus episode, Modern streamer and Pyro Prison stalwart FluffyWolf2 joins us for a conversation about earning a reputation for championing a single deck, the state of Modern, and lessons learned streaming MTGO. Find Fluffy at: twitch.tv/fluffywolf2 twitter.com/fluffywolf2 fluffywolf2.com Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown Now get 15% off you...

The first batch of Kaldheim spoilers have dropped, and we're here to provide our patent-pending hot takes. We answer important questions like: what Izzet card will Stan overrate, what Green 5-drop will Shane think just might work, and what reasonable stance will Dave take on every card we discuss? Prior to that we finish up our mutual journey through Zendikar Rising by finding some Cool Decks for...

This week we asked our patrons to tell us what deck to do our next dive on, and they chose one of the up-and-comers of Modern: Hammer Time. And what do you know, it performed incredibly well at the ManaTraders Modern Tournament and put 4 decks into the latest Challenge top 8. What timing! We first go deep on the ManaTraders tourny, then head into the Dive Down to provide a thorough overview of Ham...

2020 is a year that did, in fact, happen. And we are here to talk about the year of Magic: The Gathering and our place in it. And maybe make fun of our bad takes. We review Modern, Pioneer, and Historic through 2020, talk about our favorite (and least favorit cards) from the year, review our best (and worst) picks to click, and more! Thanks for your amazing support through 2020. We appreciate you....

This week we take a journey into the ManaTraders Modern Tournament Series. We talk about the decks we played with and against, potential mental and strategic approaches to events like these, and some hot hot takes about Modern and Magic. We also spend some time talking about Stan's recent successes, and the first batch of Kaldheim spoilers! The Break Down: Stan's Satellite Results! The Dive Down:...

This week The Dive Down goes back to Historic. After bursting out briefly in song, the crew breaks down the metagame from last weekend's SCG Satellite Tournaments and reels in shock from one or two insights. Dave manages to make a recap of the Arena Open all about him. Stan is unsurprised. Shane is amused. After that we dive down into three of the best decks in Historic... that we haven't spoken a...

It's time for another top-tier Patron request episode! This time, long-time citizen of the nation Sean asked us to talk about tribal decks. We cover the history of tribes in Magic, common aspects of tribal decks, and do a Sleeve/Believe/Heave of some of the less popular tribes of Modern. Prior to that, we spend a long time breaking down the Historic decks and meta of the Zendikar Rising Championsh...

For the first week of our NEXT 100 episodes, we finally took the plunge into Magic Arena's non-rotating format: Historic. We will help you understand how to assess and buy into Historic, what the decks and meta are like, what playing on Arena is like, and our thoughts on if Best of One is really Magic.... Enjoy the beginning of a new podcast adventure! The Dive Down: 88 Goblins The Dive Down, cont...

It's Episode 100, so we pulled out all the stops for a live streamed recording of mini-dives into the 100 most important/cool/powerful decks of Modern, from inception to today. That's... a lot of decks! Join us for an extra-long episode full of fun and surprises! We would have never made it to 100 episodes without the ongoing engagement and generous support from all of you out there in The Dive Do...

We took things a little easy this week as we prepare for the big episode 100 live stream, and asked The Dive Down Nation to prompt us with: "What's your favorite ____?" We got a TON of awesome questions, so thank you, Nation! We talk about our favorite spells, overheard conversations, books, draft formats, and more. Prior to that we have an installment of Cool Decks, Inc, where we talk about a few...

We spend this week looking at an up-and-coming deck in Modern: Mono-White Taxes. We spend some time looking at the history of Taxes decks, how this deck works, and if we think it's actually that good. Before that we breeze through some Modern Challenge and Qualifier results from Magic Online. The Break Down: Challenging Tournaments The Dive Down: Challenging Sandwiches The Dive Down, cont: Challen...

In our latest bonus episode, musician and comedian MTGRemy joins us for a conversation about making Magic-inspired parody songs and sketches for YouTube. Remy's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/mtgremy Remy's Twitter: https://twitter.com/mtgremy Remy's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mtgremy Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown Now get 15% off your first 3...

On the one year anniversary of Pioneer, we give the format a performance review. We look at what happened over the last year, and what are the Goals, Obstacles, Opportunities, and Decisions that we can evaluate and make for the newest competitive Magic format. The Break Down: A Call From Corporate The Dive Down: A History Lesson The Dive Down, cont: A Performance Review Become a citizen of The Div...

This week Stan and Shane pair up to explore what can make Magic great, and why Modern has been a fan favorite in 2020. Before that, we look at a quartet of Modern and Pioneer challenges to see where the meta is headed. The Break Down: Breaking it Down The Dive Down: Building it Up The Wind Down: Moving it Around Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown Get 15%...

In the first installment of "We Did It For Science," we look at two cards we just aren't (or weren't) that interested in playing with: Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath and Omnath, Locus of Creation. Are these cards good, REALLY good, or TOO good? You're going to have to listen to find out. Before that, we take a (fairly) quick look at a few recent Challenges to see what's going on in the metagame. The...

Stan and Shane are on their own this week, so they talk about their recent playtesting in Modern and Pioneer in a vaguely Sleeve/Believe/Heave part two. Before that, they go over the weekend's Pioneer and Modern Showcase Challenges to see what's performing well and what the meta looks like. And then they finish with an extended Wind Down where they answer a bunch of listener questions. The Break D...

This week we apply our patent-pending Sleeve/Believe/Heave rating system to 3 potentially breakout Modern and Pioneer decks. Are they the real deal, or not worth your time? Only one way to find out. Prior to that, we look at the winning decks and statistics from the most recent Manatraders Modern tournament. The Break Down: Manatraders Modern 15k The Dive Down: Oops All Spells! The Dive Down, cont...

We take a good, long look at the latest decks, trends, and strategies in Modern and Pioneer, but this time with the cards of Zendikar Rising! We start with Cool Decks (and cards!), Inc, as we look through 2 Modern and 2 Pioneer Challenges. Then we head into The Dive Down and do a mini-dive on Gruul Goblin Charbelcher, and look at changes to Jeskai, Mill, and Death's Shadow. And look suspiciously a...

Stan's on vacation, which means we get to have Evart Moughon (aka AspiringSpike) on as a returning guest host to talk about the second week of Zendikar Rising spoilers. We revisit some cards from last week to get Evart's takes and give some more picks to click from the latest set. Before that, we look at some Modern and Pioneer Challenges to see what's happening in the meta. The Break Down: Modern...

We take a look at the first batch of spoilers from Zendikar Rising and identify some picks to click from the upcoming set. Before that, we have a conversation about the 2021 Magic roadmap in a non-meta Break Down! The Break Down: DDN FNM MTGG The Break Down, cont: Cool Set, Inc. The Dive Down: Spoilers, Spoilers, Spoilers! Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedo...