The Dive Down

By The Dive DownLeisure Games

The Dive Down episodes

April 28, 2022 Episode 171: 6 Ways You Can Get Better at Magic
In a special patron-requested episode, our three friends provide a roadmap to improvement for key Magic skills and other useful habits. We also kick off the show with run downs and reactions to the latest Magic Arena announcements for Explorer and Pioneer.
Huge thanks to Codi for supporting our show at the esteemed Double-Sided Diamond Dust Rare level, which has earned them the coveted opportunity to select an episode topic for the show.
The Break Down: An Explorer Exposition Dump
The Dive Down: Getting Better at Magic: Stan Proposes Practice
The Dive Down, 2: Getting Better at Magic: Dave and Shane Reject Practice
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Timestamps:
4:28 - Housekeeping
7:30 - The Break Down - Explorer!
18:16 - How are we feeling?
26:05 - The potential decks of Explorer
32:35 - What are we playing in Explorer?
34:40 - An artistic diversion
37:57 - The Dive Down - How to get better at Magic
39:39 - 1) Play more Magic
42:20 - 2) Play both sides of the battlefield
49:42 - 2a) Do the math
1:03:24 - 3) Identify the decks you excel at
1:10:38 - 4) Mulligan better
1:22:15 - 5) Treat your games as experiments
1:41:49 - 6) Get feedback on your play
1:48:00 - Some conclusions
Links from this week's episode:
The announcement of Explorer: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-digital/mtg-arena-state-game-streets-new-capenna-2022-04-21
PVDDR's Best plays in Magic history: https://pvddr.substack.com/p/the-best-plays-in-the-history-of?s=w
Our opening music is Nowhere - You Never Knew, and our closing music is Space Blood - Goro? Is That Your Christian Name?
Watch us stream our episodes every Sunday night at 8pm Central: https://www.twitch.tv/thedivedown_shane
email us: [email protected]
twitter: https://twitter.com/thedivedown
Leave us an audio message: https://www.podinbox.com/thedivedown
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1 hr 53 min
April 21, 2022 Episode 170: Who Runs the Streets of New Capenna?
The full set of New Capenna has been revealed, so on this week's show we complete our run through of all the cards in the set. We go through the families, argue about how good Luxior is going to be (or not be), try to avoid taking an endless detour as we speculate about Giada, and wonder if there's a shadow of a chance that Shadow of Mortality has what it takes. But before that, we spend some time looking through recent Pioneer results with a focus on Izzet Control.
The Break Down: It's Back: Two Pioneer Challenges
The Dive Down: Dave Proposes Cards
The Dive Down, pt.2: Stan and Shane Reject Cards
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Timestamps:
3:45 - Housekeeping
7:10 - The Break Down begins: Pioneer challenges are back!
10:16 - 4/16 Challenge metagame
10:40 - Izzet Control
18:05 - Mono-G Ramp
22:10 - 4/16 Top 8 and Mono-W Devotion
25:55 - Mono-U Spirits
28:22 - The 4/17 Challenge
34:26 - Some Pioneer thoughts
44:08 - A smelly interlude
47:21 - The Dive Down begins - more Capenna spoilers!
49:17 - Luxior, Giada's Gift
57:47 - Endless Detour
1:02:58 - Rocco, Cabaretti Caterer
1:07:12 - Void Rend
1:10:52 - Urabrask, Heretic Praetor
1:14:27 - Shadow of Mortality
1:20:56 - Patch Up
1:23:10 - An Offer You Can't Refuse
1:25:10 - Unlicensed Hearse
1:29:48 - Giada, Font of Hope
1:33:04 - Tenacious Underdog
1:35:34 - Titan of Industry
1:36:50 - Boon of Safety
1:38:50 - Against the Odds: Aven Heartstabber, Tainted Indulgence
1:42:53 - What cards we want to cast most?
1:46:34 - Closing out
Links from this week's episode:
4/16 Pioneer Challenge: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/pioneer-challenge-12409669#paper
4/17 Pioneer Challenge: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/pioneer-challenge-12409673#paper
Faithless Looting's Epic Luxior Thread: https://twitter.com/FaithlessMTG/status/1513621542097334277?s=20&t=O0MEhNqOBhkhOWCMN6D_xA
Our opening music is Nowhere - You Never Knew, and our closing music is Space Blood - Goro? Is That Your Christian Name?
Watch us stream our episodes every Sunday night at 8pm Central: https://www.twitch.tv/thedivedown_shane
email us: [email protected]
twitter: https://twitter.com/thedivedown
Leave us an audio message: https://www.podinbox.com/thedivedown
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1 hr 49 min
April 14, 2022 Episode 169: The Families of New Capenna and Old Fort Worth
The Dive Down visits sunny Texas for SCGCON Dallas! We chat about our very first free preview card from Streets of New Capenna, other highlights from the set so far, and our experiences playing paper Magic all weekend.
The Break Down: Move Shane Get Out Da Way
The Dive Down: Cards in Shards
The Wind Down: The Fort Worth Main Street Arts Festival
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Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown
Get 15% off your first 2 months of ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use code "THEDIVEDOWN2022"
Timestamps:
3:08 - Housekeeping
7:13 - Our preview card - Out of the Way!
16:07 - The first batch of New Capenna spoilers
16:42 - The common lands
18:31 - Sorry, weird audio glitch! An Offer You Can't Refuse
23:28 - Strangle
26:44 - Grisly Sigil
30:04 - Unlucky Witness
33:21 - A Little Chat
35:31 - Gala Greeters
39:39 - Make Disappear/Rob the Archives
42:54 - Brokers Charm
44:39 - Disciplined Duelist
47:15 - Devilish Valet
49:49 - Mage's Attendant
51:50 - Evolving Door
53:32 - Ob Nixilis, the Adversary
59:30 - Professional Face-Breaker
1:01:31 - Vivien on the Hunt
1:03:58 - Elspeth, Resplendent
1:06:39 - Cut Your Losses
1:08:14 - The Dive Down begins: Our SCGCon Dallas experiences
1:09:32 - Shane and Stan talk FAB, Pioneer, and Modern
1:28:41 - The Dive Down, cont: Dave talks Modern
1:35:22 - Shane and Stan talk Pioneer
1:41:15 - The Modern 30k Meta
Links from this week's episode:
Our Spoiler video: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/AymuqSbd80U
Streets of New Capenna Spoilers: https://scryfall.com/sets/snc?as=grid&order=spoiled
The Modern 30k: https://mtgmelee.com/Tournament/View/9196
Our opening music is Nowhere - You Never Knew, and our closing music is Space Blood - Goro? Is That Your Christian Name?
Watch us stream our episodes every Sunday night at 8pm Central: https://www.twitch.tv/thedivedown_shane
email us: [email protected]
twitter: https://twitter.com/thedivedown
Leave us an audio message: https://www.podinbox.com/thedivedown
Support The Dive Down
1 hr 49 min
April 07, 2022 Episode 168: A Pre-Travel, Post-Lurrus Meta Deep Dive
The gang is reunited this week for an episode full of new cards, pivot tables, and tournament surprises. We start off with our initial reactions to the new charms spoiled from Streets of New Capenna, and imagine the impact of the complete triome cycle on our favorite formats. Then we go over the results of March's Modern metagame, the Manatraders Modern tournament, and the latest NRG results to analyze the growing and shrinking popularity of various decks in a post-Lurrus metagame. Finally, we wrap up with a Wind Down of our plans for SCG Con Dallas. Turns out... it's technically in Fort Worth!
The Break Down: Greetings from New Capena
The Dive Down: Greetings from Fort Wayne
The Wind Down: Greetings from Dallas/Fort Worth
Check out our NEW SPONSOR, Barrister and Mann! https://www.barristerandmann.com/ Use code THEDIVEDOWN2022 for 15% off your first order of some incredible fragrances, soaps, beard oils, and more.
Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown
Get 15% off your first 2 months of ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use code "THEDIVEDOWN2022"
Timestamps:
4:59 - Housekeeping
8:50 - We're getting a preview card!
10:59 - Streets of New Capenna early spoilers - The Triomes
18:24 - The Charms - Obscura Charm
22:35 - Maestro's Charm
25:52 - Riveteers Charm
29:23 - Cabaretti Charm
33:03 - The Dive Down begins - March's metagame report
33:30 - The top decks
39:48 - The top cards
43:22 - The most winning decks
46:51 - The NRG Modern 20k
48:30 - The NRG meta
55:50 - The winrates
1:05:55 - The top 8
1:10:15 - The Manatraders Modern event swiss meta
1:14:20 - The best decks of Manatraders
1:17:20 - The top 8
1:23:05 - The Wind Down begins - SCGCon Dallas
1:28:57 - What we are playing in Dallas
1:39:55 - Closing out
Links from this week's episode:
Streets of New Capenna spoilers: https://scryfall.com/sets/snc?as=grid&order=spoiled
The NRG tournament: https://mtgmelee.com/Tournament/View/8591
Our opening music is Nowhere - You Never Knew, and our closing music is Space Blood - Goro? Is That Your Christian Name?
Watch us stream our episodes every Sunday night at 8pm Central: https://www.twitch.tv/thedivedown_shane
email us: [email protected]
twitter: https://twitter.com/thedivedown
Leave us an audio message: https://www.podinbox.com/thedivedown
Support The Dive Down
1 hr 42 min
March 31, 2022 Episode 167: The Pro Tour Returns! ft. Dom Harvey
This week Dave got lost in a cave while vacationing, so Dom Harvey joins the show to react and contextualize Wizard's official announcement that the Pro Tour is back! We break down the new competitive organized play systems, how it fits into the casual spike lifestyle, and how it supports Magic's highest level players. We warm up with a break down of some wild weekend top 8s.
The Dive Down: Enter the Pyramid
The Dive Down, cont: The Road to Regionals
The Dive Down, cont: The Life of a World Champion
Check out our NEW SPONSOR, Barrister and Mann! https://www.barristerandmann.com/ Use code THEDIVEDOWN2022 for 15% off your first order of some incredible fragrances, soaps, beard oils, and more.
Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown
Get 15% off your first 2 months of ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use code "THEDIVEDOWN2022"
Timestamps:
1:55 - Dom's Housekeeping
7:57 - Housekeeping
10:32 - The Break Down begins: The Super Qualifier
24:07 - The Showcase Challenge
40:53 - Cool Decks, Inc - Rakdos Midrange "Blink"
43:56 - The Dive Down begins: The Pro Tour is back!
51:29 - The World Championship
57:21 - Regional Championships and Qualifiers
1:17:41 - The Pro Tour itself
1:27:24 - How do we feel about this?
1:37:58 - What goals can people have now?
1:46:42 - What's missing?
1:50:22 - Find Dom online and closing out
Links from this week's episode:
Find Dom online: https://linktr.ee/domhrv
The Return of the Pro Tour!: https://magic.gg/news/return-of-the-pro-tour-faq
Our opening music is Nowhere - You Never Knew, and our closing music is Space Blood - Goro? Is That Your Christian Name?
Watch us stream our episodes every Sunday night at 8pm Central: https://www.twitch.tv/thedivedown_shane
email us: [email protected]
twitter: https://twitter.com/thedivedown
Leave us an audio message: https://www.podinbox.com/thedivedown
Support The Dive Down
1 hr 54 min
March 28, 2022 Bonus 19: Probably Better Known As ft. Saffron Olive
Dave and Stan meet Saffron Olive from MTG Goldfish, and talk about Seth's sleep schedule, his MTG origins, and how the deck names in MTG Goldfish get fixed.
Check out our NEW SPONSOR, Barrister and Mann! https://www.barristerandmann.com/ Use code THEDIVEDOWN2022 for 15% off your first order of some incredible fragrances, soaps, beard oils, and more.
Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown
Get 15% off your first 2 months of ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use code "THEDIVEDOWN2022"
Links from this week's episode:
www.mtggoldfish.com
https://twitter.com/saffronolive
Our opening music is Nowhere - You Never Knew, and our closing music is Space Blood - Goro? Is That Your Christian Name?
Watch us stream our episodes most Sunday nights at 8pm Central: https://www.twitch.tv/thedivedown_shane
email us: [email protected]
twitter: https://twitter.com/thedivedown
Leave us an audio message: https://www.podinbox.com/thedivedown
Support The Dive Down
1 hr 7 min
March 24, 2022 Episode 166: All Shadow, No Doubt (ft. Michael Rapp)
This week, Shane's on vacation and Stan's late so Dave gets to do whatever he wants. And what he's decided is to check in with friend of the show and certified shadow scientist Michael Rapp about where everyone's avatar is headed these days. That's right, it's time for a deep dive on (mostly) Grixis Death's Shadow (along with a few other things). But first, we chat about Michael's recent trip to Indy and break down the Modern meta there.
The Break Down: Shane’s Gone, Stan’s Late
The Dive Down: Why Street Wraith is a Bad Card Now
The Dive Down (pt.2): Shadow, Prepared Three Ways
Check out our NEW SPONSOR, Barrister and Mann! https://www.barristerandmann.com/ Use code THEDIVEDOWN2022 for 15% off your first order of some incredible fragrances, soaps, beard oils, and more.
Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown
Get 15% off your first 2 months of ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use code "THEDIVEDOWN2022"
Timestamps:
2:45 - Break Down Begins: Michael's Team at SCG Con Indianapolis
8:50 - Indianopolis Top 6 Begins
24:43 - The Indianapolis Modern Metagame
38:50 - How Michael's Team Prepared for Indy
44:19 - Dive Down Begins: Michael's Relationship with Death's Shadow
50:09 - The Lurrus Era of Shadow
56:27 - The First Weekend after Lurrus Was Banned
1:02:15 - The "Stock" Grixis Shadow Deck
1:15:3 - An Ode to Dress Down
1:20:00 - GDS, Still Hard to Play
1:25:35 - Murktide Shadow
1:33:27 - Mardu Shadow
1:37:39 - Jund Shadow
1:42:35 - Closing Out
Links from this week's episode:
Michael's Twitter: https://twitter.com/RappaciousOne
Michael's recent article on the Card Kingdom Blog (includes write-ups and decklists): https://blog.cardkingdom.com/the-rumors-of-deaths-shadows-demise-have-been-greatly-exaggerated/
All Articles: https://blog.cardkingdom.com/author/mrapp2/
Discord server: https://discord.gg/wYCx6N4
Our opening music is Nowhere - You Never Knew, and our closing music is Space Blood - Goro? Is That Your Christian Name?
Watch us stream our episodes every Sunday night at 8pm Central: https://www.twitch.tv/thedivedown_shane
email us: [email protected]
twitter: https://twitter.com/thedivedown
Leave us an audio message: https://www.podinbox.com/thedivedown
Support The Dive Down
1 hr 47 min
March 18, 2022 Episode 165: The People's Meta: Life After Lurrus
We are back with the second installment of The People's Meta! With Lurrus gone, and the first big paper tournament happening in the Hunter Burton Memorial Open, there's no time like the present to take a look at what's happening in Modern. We categorize and talk about every deck in a recent 5-0 League dump and break down what's changing in the wide open world of Magic Online. We then take some time to look at the paper metagame of the HBMO, examine what's changing, and take a gander at what did well down in Texas.
The Break Down: Dave Breaks Down
The Break Down, pt.2: Dave Dissects a Dump
The Break Down, pt.3: The 2022 HBMO
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Timestamps:
7:10 - Housekeeping
12:00 - The Break Down - The Post-Lurrus meta
14:35 - Death's Shadow decks
26:58 - Murktide
28:54 - Hammertime
30:05 - Blink
37:34 - Amulet Titan
42:56 - RBx Midrange
52:32 - Burn/Prowess
56:23 - Control
1:00:10 - Cascade
1:01:04 - Creativity
1:03:10 - Dredge
1:06:05 - Hardened Scales
1:11:50 - Creature Combo decks
1:16:55 - Prowess
1:18:50 - Midrange
1:21:35 - Humans and others
1:25:13 - Tron and others
1:31:55 - Combo junk drawer
1:34:55 - Other oddities
1:38:15 - Mono-Red Stuff
1:42:15 - The Hunter Burton Memorial Open
1:43:45 - The HBMO meta
1:47:10 - The Day 2 meta
1:50:30 - The Top 8
1:54:03 - What did we learn?
1:59:49 - Closing out
Links from this week's episode:
The 3/11 Deck Dump: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/modern-league-2022-03-11#paper
The Hunter Burton Memorial Open: https://hunterburtonmemorialopen.com/
Decklists and standings from HBMO: https://www.hbpairings.com/
Our opening music is Nowhere - You Never Knew, and our closing music is Space Blood - Goro? Is That Your Christian Name?
Watch us stream our episodes every Sunday night at 8pm Central: https://www.twitch.tv/thedivedown_shane
email us: [email protected]
twitter: https://twitter.com/thedivedown
Leave us an audio message: https://www.podinbox.com/thedivedown
Support The Dive Down
2 hr 2 min
March 16, 2022 Bonus 18: How to Win a Pro Tour ft. Eli Kassis
Shane and Stan sit down with the newly crowned Neon Dynasty Set Champion, Eli Kassis! We talk about Eli's deck selection and preparation for the Set Championship, the role of a testing team, and more.
Check out our NEW SPONSOR, Barrister and Mann! https://www.barristerandmann.com/ Use code THEDIVEDOWN2022 for 15% off your first order of some incredible fragrances, soaps, beard oils, and more.
Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown
Get 15% off your first 2 months of ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use code "THEDIVEDOWN2022"
Links from this week's episode:
https://twitter.com/Eli_Kassis
Our opening music is Nowhere - You Never Knew, and our closing music is Space Blood - Goro? Is That Your Christian Name?
Watch us stream our episodes every Sunday night at 8pm Central: https://www.twitch.tv/thedivedown_shane
email us: [email protected]
twitter: https://twitter.com/thedivedown
Leave us an audio message: https://www.podinbox.com/thedivedown
Support The Dive Down
50 min
March 08, 2022 Episode 164: The Dream(-Den) is Over
Well they finally went and did it. Wizards of the Coast (kinda) surprised the entire Magic Non-Rotating Format World by sending everyone's favorite Nightmare Cat back to her den to think about what's she's done. In case that previous sentence isn't clear, I'm trying to say that they banned Lurrus of the Dream-Den in Modern and Pioneer. After (tearfully) throwing away an entire month of episodes we had planned out before this news, the three friends gather their composure and do what you pay (or don't pay) them to do — make predicitions about what will happen in Magic and just generally react to the news. Stan seems excited for Murktide. Dave seems excited for Obosh. Shane seems excited for things to stay mostly the same.
The Break Down: What Happened
The Dive Down: What We Think Will Happen
The Wind Down: What We Hope Will Happen
Check out our NEW SPONSOR, Barrister and Mann! https://www.barristerandmann.com/ Use code THEDIVEDOWN2022 for 15% off your first order of some incredible fragrances, soaps, beard oils, and more.
Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown
Get 15% off your first 2 months of ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use code "THEDIVEDOWN2022"
Timestamps:
4:48 - Housekeeping
7:39 - The Break Down - Bye Bye Lurrus
8:43 - The rationales of the banning
22:10 - Did this go far enough?
31:24 - What's the impact of the Lurrus ban?
40:02 - Some hot takes
42:35 - A smelly diversion
45:50 - Stan's Monthly Meta Report
54:28 - The impact of losing Lurrus for the best decks
1:17:36 - The month-to-month change since Jan
1:19:58 - What the loss of Lurrus unlocks - Liliana(s)
1:25:56 - Seasoned Pyromancer
1:28:20 - Bedlam Reveler
1:30:09 - Lightning Skelemental
1:31:38 - Nettlecyst
1:32:40 - Asmo
1:33:43 - Plague Engineer
1:34:59 - Ranger-Captain of Eos
1:38:03 - Showdown of the Skalds
1:39:03 - Grist
1:39:41 - General Ferrous Rockerick
1:40:18 - What does Jund look like now?
1:43:14 - Dark Confidant
1:44:21 - Our final thoughts
Links from this week's episode:
The B&R: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/news/march-7-2022-banned-and-restricted-announcement
Our opening music is Nowhere - You Never Knew, and our closing music is Space Blood - Goro? Is That Your Christian Name?
Watch us stream our episodes every Sunday night at 8pm Central: https://www.twitch.tv/thedivedown_shane
email us: [email protected]
twitter: https://twitter.com/thedivedown
Leave us an audio message: https://www.podinbox.com/thedivedown
Support The Dive Down
1 hr 48 min

About The Dive Down

From the publisher's feed

The Dive Down is a weekly podcast for people who love Magic: The Gathering but like talking about other things too. From videogames, to parenting, to 3D printing, and beyond. Each week hosts Dave,…