Episode 254: RC Atlanta is Over and So is 2023

With all the discourse swirling around Dreamhack Atlanta, the Dive Down boys decide to avoid it at all costs and just look at the cold hard facts - which decks did well, which decks did poorly, what did the matchup spreads look like, and where does Pioneer go from here. We also wrap up the show with an extended wind down recapping some of our favorite moments from Magic, podcasting, and pop culture.

Finally, at long last, UW control is good (in Pioneer). Thanks to Temporary Lockdown lining up just right against the latest builds of Rakdos Midrange and the up and coming Amalia combo, along with a ton of other counterspells and removal cards, control finally found a weekend to dominate the metagame.

And in case you were wondering what kind of movies, music, TV, podcasts, and video games we've been consuming all year, we take a chance to finally recap our favorites from the year as well.

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Timestamps:
2:55 - The Heavy Play fence
4:34 - This week's episode/housekeeping
9:59 - The Break Down: The Atlanta Pioneer RC
37:21 - Takeaways from the weekend
52:14 - What's up with this meta?
1:00:20 - Stan Smells Better
1:02:13 - The Wind Down: Your hosts are talking
1:03:08 - Our favorite Magic things this year
1:07:30 - Best new host of the year
1:09:16 - Our favorite episodes of the year
1:13:59 - Stan's favorite thing
1:14:35 - The card(s) of the year
1:16:51 - The card(s) we would revoke from existence
1:19:30 - Magic is good
1:21:25 - Music we liked this year
1:25:32 - Movies we liked this year
1:28:38 - TV we liked this year
1:33:30 - Podcasts we liked this year
1:40:41 - Video games we liked this year
1:46:42 - Wrapping up

Links from this week's episode:
https://melee.gg/Tournament/View/28009
https://twitter.com/karsten_frank/status/1736897130722140214/photo/2

Our opening music is Nowhere - You Never Knew, and our closing music is Space Blood - Goro? Is That Your Christian Name?

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