Episode 96: The Unifying Theory of Good Magic Formats

This week Stan and Shane pair up to explore what can make Magic great, and why Modern has been a fan favorite in 2020. Before that, we look at a quartet of Modern and Pioneer challenges to see where the meta is headed. The Break Down: Breaking it Down The Dive Down: Building it Up The Wind Down: Moving it Around Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown Get 15% off your first 3 months of ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use code "thedivedown" Timestamps: 4:43 - Housekeeping 8:44 - The Break Down begins 9:28 - Modern Challenges 22:37 - The Modern Challenge Meta 24:40 - Pioneer Challenges 28:02 - The Pioneer Challenge Meta 33:06 - The Dive Down begins - The Unifying Theory of Good Magic Formats 37:55 - Laying out the signs of a healthy format 44:38 - Evaluating diversity in Modern 53:46 - What is good gameplay? 1:03:47 - What are the different incentives to play Modern? 1:12:22 - What are the untapped possibilities in Modern? 1:21:48 - How can a good format go bad? 1:31:12 - The Wind Down - Moving it Around 1:40:56 - Closing Out Links from this week's episode: Modern challenge #1: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/modern-challenge-12218052#paper Modern challenge #2: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/modern-challenge-12218058#paper Pioneer challenge #1: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/pioneer-challenge-12218055#paper Pioneer challenge #2: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/pioneer-challenge-12218059#paper Our opening music is Nowhere - You Never Knew, and our closing music is Space Blood - Goro? Is That Your Christian Name? email us: [email protected] twitter: https://twitter.com/thedivedown