The Dive Down

Episode 142: Consider This: Sleeve/Believe/Heave: Midnight Hunt ed.

Episode  |  September 23rd, 2021  |  1 hr 35 mins

The latest set has hit the digital shelves of Magic Online and Arena, and we are here to dig into a few new decks and run them through the Sleeve/Believe/Heave wringer! We first look at Esper Reanimator and Jeskai Phoenix in Modern, then head over to Magic Arena and dive into Izzet Delver in Historic. Do the cards of Midnight Hunt have what it takes to make an impact? Let's find out!

Episode 141: Innistrad: Midnight Hunt Spoilers, Pt. II

Episode  |  September 15th, 2021  |  1 hr 55 mins

This week, Stan leave Dave and Shane to their own devices as he returns to a parental-leave induced bliss. With dad gone, the last two friends decide to go wild and cover SCG's recent Historic satellites in a quick and fun break down followed by arguing about too many cards for far too much time. And they thought this would be a short one! Dave considers light up the night. Shane says the world "cool" 500,000 times in two hours. Somewhere, in the midst of a dream, Stan cringes.

Episode 140: Midnight Hunting & The Latest Historic Decks

Episode  |  September 9th, 2021  |  1 hr 50 mins

This week we're getting to band back together. Stan returns to take Shane and Dave through a tour of the format he's been playing most recently — Historic. He's learned a lot from playing at all times of the night and day and night and who knows what time it is anyway? After that, the team fully jumps into the Midnight Hunt. Dave likes some cards. Shane doesn't like them. Stan knocks the rust off.
The Break Down: Stan's Back... But For How Long?
The Break Down, cont: A Taste of Historic
The Dive Down: Midnight Hunt, Part 1

Episode 139: Spiking the New Modern, ft. Aspiringspike

Episode  |  September 1st, 2021  |  1 hr 52 mins

This week, Dave and Shane recruited our old friend Evart Moughon, aka Aspiringspike, to help us wrap our heads around all things Modern. We talk about his deck selection at the HBMO, the ever-changing Modern metagame, and his thoughts about the best decks in the format. Before that, we discuss Magic's 2022 product release roadmap. Does Spike think Hobbit aggro will be the new tier 0? Listen and find out!
The Break Down: All About 2022
The Dive Down: Dress Down Dive Down
The Dive Down, cont: Just a Lot of Questions About Modern

Episode 138: Evaluating the Impact of Modern Horizons 2, ft. Mishra's Babble

Episode  |  August 25th, 2021  |  1 hr 58 mins

With Stan and Dave out this week, Shane recruited the hosts of Mishra's Babble for another crossover episode. They spend time evaluating the metagame and decks from the Hunter Burton Memorial Open, then head into The Dive Down to evaluate the impact of MH2 on the meta, their deck selection, and how they think about the format.
The Break Down: Meet The Babblers
The Break Down Pt.2: HBMO
The Dive Down: MH2 is Still Crushing It

Bonus 14: My Other Hammer is Also Red ft. MHayashi

Episode  |  August 20th, 2021  |  1 hr 5 mins

MTGO grinder and deck designer, Matt Hayashi, aka MHayashi, joins Stan to talk about Mono Red Obosh, Hammer of Bogardan, and some of Matt's other favorite strategies in Modern.

Episode 137: Does Stoneblade Cut It in This Meta?

Episode  |  August 11th, 2021  |  1 hr 45 mins

This week we tackle a top-tier Patreon request! Sean D asked us to look at Stoneforge Mystic in Modern, and we were more than happy to oblige. We each played a deck featuring Stoneforge in very different ways, and of course are happy to bring you our takes. Before that, we take a look at two wild Modern challenges that give us a lot of hope! And don't miss Housekeeping for some very important announcements!
The... Housekeeping??: A Can't Miss Housekeeping
The Break Down: More Modern Challenges
The Dive Down: Rock, Paper, Stoneblades

Episode 136: Historic Horizons: New Cards Same as the Old Cards

Episode  |  August 4th, 2021  |  1 hr 46 mins

Jumpstart: Historic Horizons is upon us, and we are contractually obligated to have takes for you. So here they are. We go over the new mechanics, the economy issues, and, most importantly, the stand-out cards in the set. Before that, we look at some of the most recent high-level Historic tournaments to take a look at the current meta before it gets shaken up.
The Break Down: Historic Insights
The Dive Down: Seeking Perpetual Conjuration
The Dive Down, cont: Just a Whole Lot of Cards

Episode 135: Modern ManaTraders and Metagamers

Episode  |  July 28th, 2021  |  1 hr 43 mins

This week we do a deep dive into some STATS. We look at the big ManaTraders event from last weekend - what decks made it to the swiss, and how did they perform? We even get a tournament report from the one host who qualified! Following that, we take a look at the evolving Modern metagame from the last 3 weeks of tournament data to see how the format is shaking out.
The Break Down: Historic What?
The Dive Down: Crashing ManaTraders
The Dive Down, cont: Hammer Seems Good

Episode 134: Five Cards You Want Banned in Modern

Episode  |  July 21st, 2021  |  1 hr 50 mins

In this weeks ep, we reveal the results of The Dive Down Nation's Modern Ban survey. What are the five cards you voted on to be removed from Modern, and more importantly.... what are our takes on the results?! Before that, we go over some Tasha's Hideous Laughter math that citizen of the Nation Stefan generated, and briefly discuss Sunday's Modern Challenge Top 8!

Episode 133: Izzet You Glad We Played Murktide?

Episode  |  July 14th, 2021  |  1 hr 46 mins

First up this week, we take a quick spin through last week's Modern Leagues and pick out a few extremely cool decks to chat about. After that it's an Izzet world and we just delve right into it. That's right, it's UR week on The Dive Down (again) as we take a deep look at one of the latest best decks of Modern Horizons 2 Modern — Izzet Murktide. We discuss why we think the deck is suited to the meta right now, how to play it, and how to beat it (we think). Tune in to find out if this is a control deck, a midrange deck, or a tempo deck — we have a definitive answer! (Warning: We do not have a definitive answer.)

Shane loves Counterspell. Dave loves Garden State. Stan loves 8-2s.

Episode 132: Venture Into the Adventure: MTG n' D&D Spoilers v1

Episode  |  July 7th, 2021  |  1 hr 52 mins

Well, we've finally arrived at The Forgotten Realms, and talk about what mechanics and cards from the latest set we think have the potential to impact Historic, Modern, and Pioneer. Before that, we talk about the weekend's Modern Challenges to continue to keep up with the dynamic Modern meta.

Episode 131: Still Crushing on Modern Horizons 2

Episode  |  July 1st, 2021  |  1 hr 40 mins

SPECIAL NOTE: We had issues with Dave's audio this week, so he sounds bad! We are sorry!
In this week's episode we continue to explore the developments and decks of the Modern Horizons 2 metagame. We first explore 4 Modern events that took place over the last weekend, then talk about our experiences playing some of the latest contenders in Modern. Is Stan converting to a full-time Enchantress player? Did Shane purchase another set of Stoneforge Mystics? Did Dave.... oh wait Dave always loves Rakdos.

Episode 130: Sleeve/Believe/Heave Modern Horizons 2 Blue Decks ed.

Episode  |  June 24th, 2021  |  1 hr 50 mins

Stan and Shane played a whole lot of blue spells for the latest installment of Sleeve/Believe/Heave, featuring some emerging Modern Horizons 2 strategies. We chat about our findings with the Izzet Delver decks, Izzet Food, Jeskai Monkey Blade, and more!

Bonus 13: Filing Taxes with SpiderSpace

Episode  |  June 18th, 2021  |  1 hr 14 secs

In our latest bonus episode, we're joined by a genuine MTGO stalwart, Gabe Maxson aka SpiderSpace to chat about Modern, content creation, and white taxes decks.

Episode 129: The First Decks of Modern Horizons 2

Episode  |  June 16th, 2021  |  1 hr 54 mins

On this week's episode we attempt something ambitious - looking at every deck in the most recent Modern deck dump that features MH2 cards. And that's almost all of them! Join us as we talk about the latest decks, trends, and dare we say it, strategies in Modern.