The Dive Down

With all the discourse swirling around Dreamhack Atlanta, the Dive Down boys decide to avoid it at all costs and just look at the cold hard facts - which decks did well, which decks did poorly, what did the matchup spreads look like, and where does Pioneer go from here. We also wrap up the show with an extended wind down recapping some of our favorite moments from Magic, podcasting, and pop cultur...

RC Atlanta is looming, so this week the team is diving into Pioneer. Dave, Devon, and Shane take a spin through what's happened to the format since the bans early last week. Is Copter rising? Is Mono Green Devotion dead? Where's Phoenix right now? How did Shane like the new hotness Amalia Combo — a deck that Dave hated a couple of weeks ago? Turn in to find out. Don't worry if Pioneer isn't your t...

The mad lads did it! Fury... banned. Up the Beanstalk... banned. Karn, the Great Creator... banned. Geological Appraiser... banned. Smuggler's Copter... once banned, now unbanned. We react to the bombshell B&R, consider which decks win and lose from the announcement, and think about what looks good for RC Atlanta. Our hands shook with anticipation as we vigorously refreshed the B&R URL on...

On this week's show, The Dive Down breaks down results from a variety of Pioneer RCs that took place in Asia, Latin America, and Canada. Our eyes pop out at some numbers from the new Discover decks, and we check-in on the final NRG Series open of the year. Three regional championships in one weekend, AND an NRG Series open? Yes please! Shane, Devon, and Stan chat about results from the latest batc...

On this week's show, the ha ha boys take some new cards from Lost Caverns of Ixalan for a spin in Modern and Pioneer. They cast Tishana's Tidebinder, Geological Appraiser, Warden of the Inner Sky, and more! Holy moly, LCI has already made quite the splash! In its first week live, it's already led to a huge disruption to Pioneer, along with some interesting upgrades for Modern. Stan and Dave chat a...

This week on The Dive Down we get back to basics. Stan and Shane focus on the three things The Dive Down does best: a) break down a large Modern tournament (SCG Pittsburgh), 2) give some takes about Rhinos, and iii) have a heartfelt conversation about MTG Universes Beyond. Mono White Hammer, Halo Forager, Sheoldred, and Captain America – what do they have in common? They're all here for this week'...

It's time for the final spoiler episode of 2023! We think? We go through the full spoiler from The Lost Caverns of Ixalan and talk about the cards we think will have the most impact... that we haven't already spoken about. What lands from this lands set do we actually think could be worth trying? Did they finally fix Smuggler's Copter? How Bitter will our Triumphs be? Have we Lost any Corpses? Did...

For the 375th time this year, we descend into the madness of trying to work out what cards from a new set will make an impact in our formats. It's Lost Caverns of Ixalan time! Spelunk with us as Dave, Shane, and Devon debate the great questions of this set. Which removal card is better — Get Lost or Molten Collapse? Which combo piece unlocks more combinations — The Millennium Calendar or Bartolome...

Could the right move in Modern be... adding a 4mv black card to Rhinos? Playing a green 2 drop over Murktide in... Murktide? What is even going on right now? We believe there's new stuff to try in Modern even now! Tune in to hear Devon almost take Rhinos + Sheoldred all the way and hear Dave come to the grim realization that casting Divinations is the only thing that makes him feel something in th...

Come back home for some beans, ya hear? We know you've had a lot of legumes lately, but this week The Dive Down has a special chef here to cook for us — Evart Moughon. Evart joins Dave and Shane to talk through his Up the Beanstalk brews including Cascade, Calibrated Blast, and more. Since this was recorded on (Non) Ban Day, we also spend some time getting his reactions to the current state o...

No one fully understands the timing of the upcoming B&R announcement, but public opinion in Modern is swelling around Scam. Is it time to make a change to Modern? We look at the deck's performance, play patterns, and popularity to consider Wizard's options. The Dive Down boys are divided. Some of us like the deck! But it's insanely popular right now, and the Grief play patterns can be pretty a...

This week what's on the tin is in the show! We begin to dip back into Pio and cover the recent RCs in the EU and Canada, talk Modern Coffers and Scales, and finally chat a little about new cards from our imminent return to Ixalan. • LEC Lille Pioneer • Devon talks RCQs, Dave gets mathy • Cavern of Souls is back... but why? Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedo...

We finally cast the new card in town and played a couple Up the Beanstalk decks in Modern and... Standard?! Plus some new Modern Prowess builds, and a recap of Stan's latest RCQ. Stan reached another top 8 finish in a Modern RCQ, and we recap his latest Rhino learning from the tournament. Then he keeps on casting free spells with a crazy Invasion of Alara Standard Cascade deck featuring Up the Bea...

President of the Narset fan club, George Jabbour, joins Stanislav to go over some tips to prep for the upcoming Modern RCQ season, a brand new sideboard guide tool, and why playing control is such a pain in the @$$. Stan and George are gearing up for some Modern RCQs this weekend, so they swap notes on how they prepare for competitive tournaments in any format. Plus, George talks about his brand n...

Hello Magical Friends! This week it's all about WOE and the new cards that are making an impact in Modern and Pioneer. Turns out that this return to Eldraine might actually be hiding a little bit of power in it after all. First, we dive into Modern. Devon's been running hot with Mono-Black Coffers lately — thanks in no small part to a chase mythic that's a perfect fit for the deck. We also spend s...

This week we talk about the history of Modern through the lens of the most important — and infamous — sets covering everything from Alara to Zendikar. Actually saying "from Alara to Zendikar" sounds less impressive than I hoped. Forget that. We start all the way back with 8th Edition and we at least mention nearly all the sets currently in Modern (well at least like... 60% of them). How did t...

The full set is finally spoiled and we're back with the definitive opinions on what's good, what's bad, and what's just neat. We spend a lot of time chatting about some adventuring otters, introduce a once Modern playable cantrip to Pioneer, and head up the beanstalk to draw some cards. • Adventure Awaits • Virtue is a Virtue Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thediv...

It's that most magical time once again — it's spoiler season! Join Dave, Devon, and Shane as they begin surveying the Wilds of Eldraine. We're looking for new Adventures, causes for Celebration, and to take on new... Roles? Ok that didn't work for long. This week we talk about the cards and concepts from Eldraine that seem like they could make an impact in Modern and Pioneer. But before we get to...

This week Shane and Stan are joined by returning guest Gabriel Maxson, aka SpiderSpace, to talk about the implications, impact, and potential uses of Preordain in Modern. Before that, we take a good look at the results from the NRD Detroit Modern $10k. How many copies of Preordain made the top 8? I guess we will never know.... The Break Down: NRG Detroit Results The Dive Down: SpiderSpace on Preor...

On this week's episode, we kick off with a round of B&R reactions, followed by a recap of the upcoming product roadmap including Modern Horizons 3. Then we take some Pro Tour decks for a spin to see what these so-called pros have been cooking up. Devon tells us about his experiences playing with Merfolk, Reanimator, and Samwise, Shane tries out some of the latest Tron builds, and Stan rams som...

This week Dave, Shane, and Stan go through the biggest things we learned from the Modern PT last week in Barcelona. It might feel like Rakdos and Tron led the story (and they did) but there's a lot of other things to be learned from what happened. What do we think about The One Ring's win rate? How many decks out of the top 80% of the meta had winning records? How much more can we talk about Rhino...

It's almost PT Barcelona time — and we're super excited to talk through the decks, meta, and how we think everything is going to shape up this weekend. Shane, Dave, and Devon (aka d00mwake) go through all of the changes to Modern since LOTR and what we think that means to Pros and to the rest of us. Once we get through a meta discussion, we decide to put pride on the line and do a fantasy dra...

This week the boyz go over the top with the biggest decks that have gotten buffs from the LOTR set. Control and big mana strategies have been strengthened by The One Ring, so we take a trio of the best of them out for a test drive. That's right, it's time for Shane to break out his (nearly) all Russian deck, Mono-Green Tron. But before we get to that Stan professes his love for Mono-Black Coffers...

On this week's show, we continue to track the impact of Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth on the Modern metagame with a detailed recap of tournaments all over the world and world wide web. We touch on the St. Louis NRG Team Trios, the Legacy European Tour Bologna event, and a bunch of Modern challenges. We look at which decks converted the best across tournaments, who's seeing the most cons...

This week we keep talking about THE PRECIOUSSSSs... because no one can stop putting this colorless 4-drop in their Modern decks. Dave and Devon go through at least 6 or 10 decks with the ring while Stan silently looks on and nods approvingly (he has no voice, yet he lent his energy and notes to this episode). Then we do a bit of a deep dive into how to think about playing against The One Ring — an...