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 new sideboard tool, flexslot.gg, which he developed himself and is free for anyone to use. Finally, w...
Sep 21, 2023•1 hr 40 min•Ep. 241
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 some time talking about two cards that look to be new format staples: Agatha's Soul Caludron and Up t...
Sep 14, 2023•1 hr 47 min•Ep. 240
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 the sets designed before Modern was created impact the birth of this format? How did the format move from ...
Sep 07, 2023•1 hr 52 min•Ep. 239
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/thedivedown Show the world that you're a proud citizen of The Dive Down Nation with some merch from the st...
Aug 31, 2023•1 hr 37 min•Ep. 238
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 that, we talk with Devon about his recent RCQ win, Rac Sac, and how it feels to claim lots of goblin...
Aug 24, 2023•1 hr 38 min•Ep. 237
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 Preordain (aka Stan Loves Cantrips) Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/the...
Aug 17, 2023•1 hr 44 min•Ep. 236
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 some wizards into Rhinos. The Break Down: Preordain Unbanned! The Break Down (cont.): Modern Horizon 3 ...
Aug 10, 2023•1 hr 40 min•Ep. 235
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 Rhinos? The answers and what we think they mean might surprise you. • Only 10 Decks Had 50%+ Win Rate • T...
Aug 03, 2023•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 234
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 draft of the archetypes — nothing like a little competition on top of competition. Shane goes all in on Scam...
Jul 27, 2023•1 hr 38 min•Ep. 233
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 and Dave takes a spin with the Twitter hype deck of the week — UB Ring Control by Talisker. • Mono-B...
Jul 20, 2023•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 232
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 consistent results among the format's top archetypes, interesting trends within online data, and how we ...
Jul 13, 2023•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 231
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 — and try to create a roadmap for how to think about playing against format-warping cards in general. Fi...
Jul 06, 2023•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 230
We finally return to Modern!! Shane and Devon join forces to break down a bunch of tournaments from last weekend, including the NRG Chicagoland Modern $10k, a huge Japanese paper tournament, and some wild MTGO Challenges. After that, they look more closely at The One Ring (and some other cards) and how it's quickly changing the face of Modern. The Break Down: Mono-G Tron has legs in Chicago The Break Down, cont: Living End returns to MTGO The Dive Down: Devon returns to... Modern? Become a citiz...
Jun 29, 2023•1 hr 41 min•Ep. 229
Ryan Spain, now the Creative Director of Magic Online at Daybreak Games, returns to The Dive Down to talk about the transition of MTGO from WOTC to Daybreak, goals and hopes for the platform's future, and the realities of managing such monolithic software. We learn about how Magic card frames pose challenges for MTGO's file sizes, how two factor authorization was developed, and why MTGO still doesn't exist on Macs. Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown Sho...
Jun 22, 2023•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 228
This week Shane welcomes back two friends of the show — Devon O'Donnell (aka d00mwake) & Evart Moughton (aka aspiringspike) — to sub in for Dave and Stan and talk Post-RC Pioneer hype decks and where cards from Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth could find homes in Modern. That's right, two guests, two formats, and a whole lotta takes. Devon loves Evart's dogs. Evart loves The One Ring. Shane registers quiet skepticism about all these hobbits. • Devon & Evart's Wild Weekend • Post-...
Jun 16, 2023•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 227
The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth spoilers are in full swing, so we dive into a bunch of cards that could see play in existing Modern decks or even create some new ones. Plus we recap the results of the latest Pioneer Regional Championship in Dallas. We attempt to Press the Enemy and get a Stern Scolding. But we Forge Anew with some Orcish Bowmasters and a determined Frodo in the legendary lands of Rivendell. After that we encounter the denizens of Khazad-dûm and Moira. Then Stan crac...
Jun 08, 2023•1 hr 50 min•Ep. 226
This week on The Dive Down we go deep on that deck that people can't stop talking about — Boros Convoke in Pioneer. Dave and Devon talk about the core strategy of the deck, the flex cards and why people use them, how to mull, what to keep, and matchups — the good, the bad, and the middle. Get ready for Devon to explain how his perceptions about some matchups have changed since he started playing the deck and for Dave to have an argument with ChatGPT about math. Finally, we talk about what's on D...
Jun 01, 2023•1 hr 41 min•Ep. 225
Stan and Shane combine forces to discuss the NRG Pioneer $10K in Minneapolis, and then give some hot takes about the changes to the B&R cadence and Standard's new 3-year rotation. What latest tech from March of the Machine (and it's Aftermath?) had an impact in Pioneer? And what do WOTC's changes mean for the future of our formats? Listen and find out! The Break Down: Hyrule via Knutsford The Break Down, cont: An 160 All-Foil Control Mirror The Dive Down: Strong Feelings About B&Rs Becom...
May 25, 2023•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 224
This week d00mwake joins Shane and Dave to go through a quick tour of the weirdness that happened in Modern and Pioneer MTG this week. We dive deep into the wild Modern Challenge on 5/13, a new + interesting deck d00mwake has been playing in Pioneer, and the somewhat surprising places new cards have appeared in the last few weeks. Dave declares his love for Sultai Shadow. Shane wonders if Ob Nixilis is really a win more. Devon takes us through an interesting new Boros Tokens list he's been worki...
May 18, 2023•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 223
This week it's time for... you guessed it... more card talk on The Dive Down. With Dave out, Stan and Shane do double duty with a look at the cards that stand tall in the Aftermath of MOM and ask the question: how many bulk rares do you have to sacrifice to despark a planeswalker? After that we take a quick trip to Middle Earth to talk about some tempting new information. Listen. Now. You've been tempted. • Some Aftermath • Some Rings • A Pack is Cracked! Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation...
May 11, 2023•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 222
We kick off the show with a chat about a ton of Modern data that's been collected since the Yorion ban, and review matchups for the top decks in the format. Then we dive into four new Pioneer decks d00mwake helped put together to keep experimenting with cards from March of the Machine. Stan takes another Elves deck through the grinder, but Gruul with dinosaurs? Devon then plays his own Gruul dino deck, but with Reckless Stormseekrs and Esika's Chariots. Dave draws a bunch of cards with blue conv...
May 04, 2023•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 221
It's Sleeve Believe Heave week for new cards from March of the Machine. We play Modern and Pioneer with cards like Ancient Imperiosaur, Rona, Herald of Invasion, Fairie Mastermind, and more! The Break Down: Four Modern decks! The Dive Down: Some Pioneer decks too! 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.thedivedown.com/store Check out our sponsor Ba...
Apr 27, 2023•1 hr 37 min•Ep. 220
This week we get to look at the first paper Modern tournament featuring the new cards of March of Machines - the $20K Modern RCQ that took place in Richmond this past weekend. We go over the metagame, the performances, and the top 12 decks! Following that, d00mwake is back to talk to us about a bunch of brews he has for Pioneer, featuring some hot tech from MOM. Is Jeskai Ascendancy back? Is Invasion of Tarkir going to change Pioneer? We don't actually know yet, but we sure can hope! The Break D...
Apr 20, 2023•1 hr 41 min•Ep. 219
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 omens via Omen Hawker. The Break Down: Dave is back to tell us we did a good job The Dive Down: Shane a...
Apr 13, 2023•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 218
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, Halo Forager, The Sword of Once and Future, Elesh Norn, and more! Become a citizen of The Dive Down Na...
Apr 06, 2023•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 217
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 Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown Show the world that you're...
Mar 30, 2023•1 hr 51 min•Ep. 216
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 play some new Innistrad cards. We break down which decks get the biggest boost from the latest upda...
Mar 23, 2023•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 215
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 go deep on the new Pioneer Sac decklists featuring Tyvar. It's like two shows in one — enjoy the Dec...
Mar 16, 2023•2 hr 7 min•Ep. 214
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://www.patreon.com/thedivedown Show the world that you're a proud citizen of The Dive Down Nation with so...
Mar 09, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 213
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 from his new home in the UK. Hear what we sound like during a daytime recording (for the first time ev...
Mar 02, 2023•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 212
