The Dive Down

The boys are back for some more spicy takes and overall expectations for March of the Machine. We chat about some new instant speed draw spells, some potential combo shenanigans, and our called shots on the set's potential sleeper hits. We pay our respects to Archangel Espeth, theorycraft what type of Izzet spells deck can play the new convoke draw spells, and recap some of the crazy new combo ome...

There's a new card in town, and we're here to chat about Battles (including the band) during our first look at spoilers from March of the Machine, a Magic set that comes out in April... We kick with a chat about Battles in particular, and the type of questions we're asking before we trying playing these brand new cards in decks. Then we look at some new additions including Baral & Kari Zev, Ha...

Devon O'Donnell returns to help us break down the results of this weekend's NRG Chicago Modern and Pioneer trials. Then chat about d00mwake's own upcoming Pure Modern tournament and what to play in a tournament without Modern Horizon cards. The Break Down: NRG Mundelein: More Trials Than Salem The Dive Down: Elevator Constellation Triggers The Dive Down, cont: The Purest of Modern Tournaments Beco...

Sure it's 3 months away, but if that doesn't stop WOTC from sharing The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth spoilers, what should stop us from talking about the summer's straight to Modern set? We chat about Frodo, Samwise, Gollum and the One Ring, and somehow convince ourselves that maybe these cards can work in a deck with other lands and spells..? Then we dust off our old Arena accounts to...

Our international relations split today's show into two sections, and a new episode tradition was born. Join us for a multi-format look at some our favorite tribes, a new take on Calibrated Blast, and the latest version of Pioneer Sac. Listen in as Stan and Dave discuss what they've been up to in Modern and Pioneer over the last couple of weeks. Hint: it's in the title. After that Shane and Devon...

Fresh off the heels of his RCQ win with Amulet Titan, our Twitter friend Ryan Donkin joins us to break down the power of Mycosynth Garden, pour one out for Ad Nauseum, and how to count all the triggers in Glimpse of Tomorrow decks. • More Ways to Win on Turn 2 • Glimpse the Ad Nauseum and Other Unthinkable Brews • Tinker, Brewer, Pilot, Consumer Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http...

Well, here it is. The week you've all been waiting for — the Rhino Boyz finally get back their Rhino format. It's time for a check in on what's going on in Modern since Phyrexia: All Will Be One launched. We take a look at the Top 32 metas of all the MTGO Challenges from 2/10 – 2/24 and throw in some data on the Manatraders February final to boot. Oh yeah — and Stanislav finally rejoins the pod fr...

With Shane and Stan both gone this week, Dave called in returning guest host Devon O'Donnell, aka d00mwake, to talk about his hot Pro Tour Phyrexia takes. Is d00m buying what Dave's selling? That's to be determined. Buying or not, Dave and Devon first go over the expected and unexpected decks from the return of the Pro Tour, then chat about some of the early previews from March of the Machines. Th...

This week Dave and Shane invite Devon O'Donnell (aka d00mwake) over to help us prepare for the return of the Pro Tour! We go deep on Pioneer as we take a look at the recent meta and last weekend's MTGO Challenges (or whatever they're called), go over where established decks are picking up new tech from ONE, and lastly run through a bunch of sleeper decks and their potential for a PT break through...

This week Shane and Dave dive into results from the first weekend of Magic after ONE. It looks like the set has had more impact on Modern and Pioneer than we thought possible with upgrades coming to several decks and even a couple of new brews emerging. Are THE Mycosynth Gardens ready for Prime Time? Is Venerated Rotpriest the card that will make Infect ripe again? Is Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler the r...

Here it is — Part 2 of our tour through Phyrexia: All Will Be One. But this week we've called in some reinforcements in the form of Sky Mason, aka DarthJacen on Playing Pioneer, Twitch, and Twitter. While Shane engages in another flight of fancy about a Green 7 drop and Dave speculates about edicts or bolts or something, Sky helps us get through cards that have real potential in Pioneer and M...

This week Shane and Dave dive into the weirdness that is Phyrexia: All Will Be One. What card will be our number one for hype this spoiler season? What card that we think will see very little play counters spells with mv one? What Phyrexian Mite is a 1/1 for 1 with Toxic 1 and is number one in our hearts? How many more ones can I fit in this description? At least one. At least one. Join us this we...

This week Dave and Shane work on becoming Masters of their Domain with a quick dive into a deck that has been a bit of surprise in modern lately — Modern Domain Zoo. We debate which two drops are the best in this deck, wonder why this deck even has one drops, and finally, most domainedly, talk about killing opponents from the low teens with gameplans that include double Tribal Flames. But before a...

Dave and Shane kickoff 2023 in Magic in our first Stan-less episode of his hiatus. We take a quick tour around the formats we love: we first spend time on a tour of Modern via recent MTGO events, then through Pioneer via Frank Karsten's most recent assessment of the combined RC meta. But first we talk about this weekend's NRG Championship Series Finals. And then before that we also cry some becaus...

Surprise! We got one more episode out of Stan before he heads off to the UK — and it's a good one. It's time for our annual chat about our 2023 goals as Magic players, podcasters, friends, and frenemies. We touch on some ideas we have for expanding the show, expanding our planewalking skills, and on how we all feel like we need to fight to stay engaged and curious in life as old age creeps in. No...

For our final episode of the year, we're kicking off with a huge announcement of things to come in 2023. Then we dive into the hottest cards and decks of the year. Yes it's true, Stan is fleeing the country. But we're not letting him leave the podcast just yet. Change is coming, sure, but the show will go on as our three friends figure out how to manage the unique challenge of timezone management....

Jeskai Breach has been dominating the paper and MTGO scenes for months, and Stan's obvious pleas have finally been answered. The boys dive into the deck to figure out some quick tips on what it takes to combo off. We also break down the results from NRG Louisville, including deck win rates across Saturday's Modern tournamnet, and the epic conclusion to the Player of the Year race. Become a citizen...

Annnnnnnd we're back. Now that your faithful hosts have or have not recovered from Episode 200, Dreamhack, Thanksgiving, NRG Chicago, international travel, and other... ailments... it's time for the three friends to embark on the next 200 episodes of the show. To kick off the dawning of this new age of TDD, we're first going to spend some time talking about NRG Chicago and Stan's incredible perfor...

Well, we finally made it — episode 200! And it's your Rhino Boyz live, together, and in the same room in a small studio outside of Atlanta during Dreamhack. To celebrate ep 200, we deliberated over a list of 200 important cards from Modern's past and present, broke them down into categories.... and then did what we do best — talked about them. Join us as we reminisce about Modern's past, celebrate...

The anticipation is almost over. What started as a blink our collective eye way back in the spring has come to pass. It's time for RC Atlanta. As the rhino boyz prepare to head down to Dreamhack to... cover(?)... the event, we turn to new friend of the show Sky Mason, aka darthjacen, from Playing Pioneer to help us work through the latest decks, trends, and strategies for Pioneer. It's a great fin...

In this second installment of The Brothers' War spoilers, Dave and Shane lament the lack of Stan this week while chatting the plusses and minuses of 20-ish new cards that just might impact Modern and Pioneer. Is Third Path Iconoclast the new Seasoned Pyromancer? Will Woodcaller Automaton get Karn the Great Creator banned? Is Sarinth Steelseeker the sleeper card of the set? I guess we'll find out....

It's that time of year again — we're fitting one more set into 2022, so it's time for us to talk about early impressions of the first batch of cards from The Brothers' War. It's a set dripping with nostalgia from here to 1994. Tune in to hear us talk about Teferi, Urzas, Wurms, and more! Before we do that we make a quick checkin on Stan's RCQ preparations on 4c... Kaheera? Karuga? Jegantha? B...

In this week's episode, we break down the Nerd Rage Gaming $10k Team Trios Trial and the $5k Modern Trial in Newark, Ohio. We look at the overall metagame, the new breakout decks in Modern, and what did well (and not so well). Following that, we take a bit of time to talk about some decks we've been playing in Modern and Pioneer! We share our hands-on experiences getting better with RB Scam, the s...

What does Modern look like now that Yorion is banned? On this week's show we go through the complete Friday October 14 deck dump to discuss our expectations for the format's staples and other rogue decks. We consider the contenders for the "best new deck," including Murktide, Creativity, and Hammer. Plus we take stock of the initial attempts at 4C Omnath decks in 60 cards. And imagine the potentia...

Yorion is banned, rejoice! To celebrate, we're scamming it up with Rakdos Scam aka Rakdos Elementals aka Rakdos Midrange aka Rakdos Blink. A deck that goes by many names but it's only got one thing on it's mind. Turn 1 Grief, baby! It's a Modern deck dive of undying proportions. We kick off with a Break Down of Modern's B&R. Did WOTC go far enough? Did the right card get banned? And where does...