The Dive Down

We're back — to podcasting. But also Devon's back — to large eventing. And, in a way, Magic is back — with a 1,400+ person open tournament. We spend this week talking about what happened, what's going on in Standard (Modern next week!), what the return of opens like the Spotlight Series means, and more. Devon cheats in overlords. Dave considers what to do with his wild cards. Stan s...

Rhinos is making a comeback and so are we! As we wind down from vacation mode, Stan and D00mwake warm up their podcasting muscles with one of their favorite topics: Crashing Footfalls in Modern. Enjoy this bonus minisode before our official feature length return next week! Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown Show the world that you're a proud citizen of Th...

A B&R so hot we had to pause our vacation. The One Ring, Amped Raptor, and Jegantha are banned. Mox Opal is unbanned. Mox Opal, Green Sun's Zenith, Faithless Looting and Splinter Twin are unbanned. Discuss. Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown Show the world that you're a proud citizen of The Dive Down Nation with some merch from the store: https://www....

We kick off this week's show with an important announcement about the future of The Dive Down. Just listen since it's too long to explain in writing. Then we bemoan the B&R window before highlighting the fun times happening in Standard right now. And we wrap with a nice chat about our love-hate relationship with the new Pokémon TCG Pocket. The Break Down: A really important announcement The Di...

The doctor is in. For a very special episode 300, The Dive Down sits down with THE Richard Garfield, inventor of Magic: The Gathering and great-great-grandson of President James A. Garfield. What is Magic as Garfield intended? We finally have the answer. Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown Show the world that you're a proud citizen of The Dive Down Nation...

They said it couldn't be done, but one of the Dive Down boys (other than D00mwake) finally won an RCQ. On this week's show, Stan talks about piloting Boros Energy to qualify for RC Portland, and we break down the Standard metagame and results from the Magic World Championship in Las Vegas. The Break Down: 6 Matches to Portland The Dive Down: Congratulations, Javier Dominguez Become a citizen of Th...

Hot off the presses of WOTC's Foundations announcement, we break down and discuss the impact of Universes Beyond sets entering the Standard format in 2025. The Break Down: Cards That Will Be Standard Legal for 5 Years The Dive Down: Squidward Reborn Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown Show the world that you're a proud citizen of The Dive Down Nation with...

On this week's show, Dave tries to determine what to play during the one RCQ he can attend this season. We do our best to help him out by reviewing the latest Metagame Mentor, taking a closer look at Dimir Oculus, following in the steps of some Jeskai Control masters, and trying something new with Fear of Missing Out in Rakdos and Jund Delirium. The Break Down: Frank Loves Stats The Dive Down: Dav...

In the last part of our mini-arc on the current state of Pioneer, Devon, Dave, and Stan dive deep into what happened at this weekend's RC in Washington D.C. We cover the decks that took too long, the decks that aimed too high, and the decks that took it all down. Will Demons remain are force in the meta? Will we keep paying taxes to Selesnya after this event? How soon until we all get annoyed with...

It's time (for Devon) to get ready for the RC in DC this weekend, so we dive deep into Pioneer for the week. We talk through the RC that happened in Brazil last weekend, examine new/interesting decks, and go through some of Devon's considerations on deck selection. If you haven't been paying attention to Pioneer lately — post-Duskmourn seems like a good time to jump in! • An RC in Brazil! • Devon...

On this week's show, Stan and Dave are joined by a new guest to The Dive Down. Taking a break from preparing for Regional Championship Washington DC and next month's World Championship in Las Vegas , Mark Stanton stops by to talk about the competitive mindset and how to practice Magic better. We chat about first impressions from Duskmourn, the current state of Pioneer leading up to the RC, and how...

On this week's show, d00mwake recaps his RCQ win with Gerry T's take on Boros Energy, Stan recounts all the reasons he hated Rakdos Aggro, the boys review results from the NRG Louisville Modern Open, and discuss our final picks from Duskmourn. The Break Down: Devon Wins an RCQ! The Break Down cont.: 70% Winrate Seems Good! The Dive Down: Goods Cards From the Bad House? Become a citizen of The Dive...

A new Pioneer metagame is upon us, just in time for a slate of new cards from Duskmourn. On this week's show, we review Pioneer MTGO Challenge results following the Amalia and Sorin bans, take a closer look at the hot new Rakdos Aggro deck making waves in the format, and peer into the latest spoilers from Duskrmourn. The Break Down: Rakdos Aggro, So Hot Right Now The Dive Down: Duskmourn Spoilers,...

What a long strange trip it's been... from Chicago to Seattle! On this week's show, Stan shares stories and highlights from his visit to Wizards of the Coast headquarters. Then we look at the first batch of Modern results since the Nadu ban, and breath a sigh of relief at a format finding its footing. The Break Down: The Sights and Sounds of Renton, WA The Dive Down: Energy Looks Good, Modern Look...

This week we talk about... what else? With multiple cards banned in Pioneer and Modern — and a few cards left suspiciously untouched — we talk through what happened, how we feel about it, and what we think will happen next. • It Finally Happened • Sorin and Amalia Go in Pioneer • Nadu and Grief (?) Go in Modern Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown Show the...

Despite Stan getting Nadu's out of a Modern RCQ, he brushed off the dust and went back to MTGO for some Rakdos Lizards in Standard. Then Shane casts Through the Breach to cheat some Eldrazi into play, and Dave revisits a few Modern Wizards in an updated Izzet shell. Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown Show the world that you're a proud citizen of The Dive...

On this week's show, we marvel at the return of Through the Breach in MTGO Modern events, followed by a couple level up topics about scooping and mulligans. Then Lee McLeod drops buy to educate us about some Nadu Loops, and we wrap with a walk down memory lane via Dave's box of former playables. The Break Down: Return of Through the Breach? The Dive Down: Conceding? Mulliganning? The Dive Down con...

This week it's a bit of a grab bag — or bags? Or grabs bag? One is the state of Modern since MH3, the other is our first tests with Bloomburrow in Modern and Pioneer. We take a dive through several recent challenges and a whole mess of concerning stats from frequently cited Modern watcher, Anaël Yahi. After that, we take a look at a few Bloomburrow cards in Modern and Pioneer — does Thun...

Modern Boros Energy has quickly emerged as a Tier 1 Modern deck despite the ongoing menace of Nadu taking over tournaments left and right. On this week's show, The Dive Down is joined by YungDingo to break down how the deck functions, how to sequence its various 1-drops, and the benefits of splashing into black for Mardu Energy. Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/the...

Someone finally did it... Crashing Footfalls has revealed its beautiful face again in a post-MH3 Modern tournament, so D00mwake and Stan had to try the deck out themselves. Then we share our favorite picks from Bloomburrow in the final week of spoilers for the upcoming set. The Break Down: Stan and Devon talk about the same deck again. The Dive Down: Dave talks about the same cards again. Shane ha...

Oh look, another Modern tournament dominated by Nadu decks! On this week's show, we break down the results from NRG Chicago, which included a Modern 10K and some cheeky side events featuring the rhino boys. Then we dive into our Bloomburrow spoilers. • No Surprises, All Alarms • Higher Highs for Nadu • The Cutest Little Cards Ever Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/t...

We couldn't get through an episode without mentioning the lack of a Nadu ban, but quickly dive into the huge batch of MTGO data that was finally unlocked after several weeks of downtime. Then we recap some of our favorite sideboard cards in the current Modern Metagame, and announce latest love of Basim Ibn Ishaq and Ocelot Pride. We kick off the show by asking the difficult question, "What is WOTC...

PT Amsterdam was last week and Modern will never be the same. This week Dave, Devon, and Stan talk about the huge impact MH3 cards had on the tournament — and, of course, spend a ton of time speculating about what's going to happen with Nadu. Bans? Errata? Only Fly Away? We'll see, but we mostly bet it won't happen until about 6 weeks from now (sorry). Devon shares what he thinks the next best dec...

On this week's show, we take a look at the results from Modern's first big paper tournaments since the release of MH3. We chat about NRG St. Louis, MXP Tacoma, our predictions for PT Amsterdam, Stan's experiences playing Bant Nadu, Devon's experiments with Kappa Cannoneer, and Dave (and Devon's) explorations of Energy Prowess. The Break Down: Paper Modern Shows its Colors The Dive Down: Nadu, Kapp...

It's time to rev up those rental accounts because new cards are on the horizon. On this week's show, Shane and Stan (aka The Cool S Bros) share their war stories of leaguing with Modern Horizon 3 decks. Stan fires up some Boros Energy and Ruby Storm, while Shane locks his opponents out with Eldrazi Prison. We kick off the show with a high level check-in on format diversity in the weeks following M...