The Dive Down

By The Dive DownLeisure Games

The Dive Down episodes

October 20, 2021 Episode 146: The Road to Las Vegas II: Jund, UW, Hammer
This week we dive into part two of our series in our anticipation of the return to paper Magic — The Road to Vegas. Dave, Stan, and Shane go through the ins and outs of the next tier of Modern's meta. We're looking at two boomer decks — Jund (secretly zoomer?) and UW Control — and one newmer deck in Hammer. Find out which one we think is best positioned for MTG Vegas. Before that we talk about the latest Historic changes, and go through the results of one of last week's MTGO Modern PTQs. Stan controls. Shane hammers. Dave ionizes.
The Break Down: Modern Super Showcase WKQ
The Dive Down: Boomer Decks
The Wind Down: The Short List
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 "thedivedown2021"
Timestamps:
3:33 - Housekeeping
5:36 - Historic Bannings!
10:29 - Historic digital only card changes!
16:13 - The Modern PTQ Top 16 analysis
25:56 - The PTQ meta
34:18 - The Dive Down begins: The Road to Vegas vol.2
36:20 - Dave on Jund Saga
1:05:52 - Stan on Azorius Control
1:29:18 - Shane on Hammertime
1:51:35 - What's on our decks to play shortlist?
Links from this week's episode:
Modern PTQ Results: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/modern-premier-2021-10-16?xd2
Moonblade Deck: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/modern-challenge-2021-10-17?xd2#talisker_st_place
Jund Saga: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4325030#paper
UW Control: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/modern-premier-2021-10-16
Hammer: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4109042#paper
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
Leave us an audio message in our PodInbox: https://www.podinbox.com/thedivedown
email us: [email protected]
twitter: https://twitter.com/thedivedown
Support The Dive Down
1 hr 55 min
October 13, 2021 Episode 145: The Nation Speaks — Your Questions Answered
This week's ep is a Patreon request by one of the first citizens of The Dive Down Nation - KilgoreTrout, aka Jason! He asked us to do a Q&A episode, and to make it even more fun we brought in some new technology to get audio submissions. We got questions from citizens around the world about Magic, collecting, and podcasting - so thanks to everyone who got involved! And special thanks to Jason for being a true citizen for so long!
The Break Down: Still Had to Get A Challenge In
The Dive Down: Hear Our Voices, Hear Your Voices
The Dive Down, pt2: Call Me Maybe
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 "thedivedown2021"
Timestamps:
4:06 - Housekeeping
6:49 - The Break Down - More Modern Meta
21:00 - Sunday's Top 8
25:55 - The Dive Down begins - Questions... AND ANSWERS!
27:18 - Inside the Grinder's Studio
38:53 - What are we most excited about for CFB Vegas?
41:53 - How to play 8+ rounds of Magic?
47:45 - What are our favorite foils?
50:25 - What is the best Limited set of all time?
55:34 - What Modern Horizons cards would be safe in Standard?
1:02:26 - What does "bolting the bird" really mean anymore?
1:06:40 - How do we value our collections?
1:15:20 - How do we see ourselves engaging with Magic over the rest of our lives?
1:18:07 - How do we get the most bang for our buck in Magic?
1:28:02 - What cards do we want unbanned in Modern?
1:33:54 - What are our favorite topdecks?
1:37:23 - What decks would we buy first?
1:39:50 - What decks would we not play in paper?
1:41:38 - What would we be podcasting about if it wasn't Magic?
1:47:35 - Closing out
Links from this week's episode:
Saturday's Challenge: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/modern-challenge-12345852#paper
Sunday's Challenge: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/modern-challenge-12345858#paper
DemonicTutor's Yawgmoth VOD: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1172755666
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
Submit an audio question to our PodInbox: https://www.podinbox.com/thedivedown
email us: [email protected]
twitter: https://twitter.com/thedivedown
Support The Dive Down
1 hr 50 min
October 07, 2021 Episode 144: The Road To Las Vegas: Murktide v. Burn
In the first episode of a new miniseries (???), Stan and Shane talk about their experiences testing two of the top decks in the format in their preparation for the CFB Vegas event in November. How do Izzet Murktide and Boros Burn perform right now? Why are they good, and what might be their fatal flaws? Only one way to find out!
The Break Down: Dave's Not Here, Man
The Break Down, cont: Some Good Good Challenges
The Dive Down: Matchups and Putdowns
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 "thedivedown2021"
Timestamps:
3:07 - Housekeeping
6:16 - The Break Down begins
15:00 - Sunday's Challenge
21:30 - What these Challenges tell us
25:04 - Cool Deck(s), Inc.
27:35 - The Dive Down begins - The Road to Vegas
34:41 - Stan on Izzet Murktide
38:44 - Why has Murktide been successful, and how is it positioned right now?
42:32 - Murktide's matchups
1:01:13 - Some final thoughts on Murktide
1:06:40 - Shane on Boros Burn
1:07:31 - What's up with Burn?
1:10:32 - Burn's matchups
1:32:10 - Some thoughts on Burn
1:40:46 - What to try next?
1:43:00 - Closing out
Links from this week's episode:
Saturday's Challenge: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/modern-challenge-12344224#paper
Sunday's Challenge: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/modern-challenge-12344230#paper
Mardu Midrange: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4342367#paper
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
Support The Dive Down
1 hr 45 min
September 29, 2021 Episode 143: The People's Meta: A Deeper Modern
On this week's episode Shane and Dave explore the depths of Modern in what we are calling.... "The People's Meta." We look at every deck from a recent 5-0 League dump to discuss their place in the metagame, what makes them interesting, and how they are implementing new cards and strategies. Before that, we go through Saturday's Showcase Challenge to look at what people are bringing to the top tournaments.
The Break Down: Showcasing Modern
The Dive Down: Mainstreams and Roguestreams
The Dive Down, cont: More. Patron. Shoutouts.
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 "thedivedown2021"
Timestamps:
3:25 - Housekeeping
5:00 - The Break Down - Saturday's Modern Showcase Challenge
14:30 - The Showcase top 8
21:12 - The Dive Down beings - The People's Meta
30:19 - The Current Mainstream
55:37 - The Past Mainstream
1:26:05 - The Upcoming Rogues
1:48:03 - Thoughts on Modern
1:51:01 - Closing out
Links from this week's episode:
Saturday's Showcase Challenge: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/modern-challenge-12342275#paper
The League Dump: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/modern-league-2021-09-24#paper
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
Support The Dive Down
1 hr 53 min
September 23, 2021 Episode 142: Consider This: Sleeve/Believe/Heave: Midnight Hunt ed.
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!
The Break Down: Star Studded Challenges!
The Dive Down: Sleeve/Believe/Heave: Mend These Decks!
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 "thedivedown2021"
Timestamps:
2:40 - Housekeeping
5:15 - The Break Down: Modern Challenges
24:47 - Sunday's Challenge
30:01 - Cool Decks, Inc
36:51 - The Dive Down begins: S/B/H, Midnight Hunt ed.
39:42 - Esper Reanimator
1:00:58 - Jeskai Phoenix
1:20:28 - Izzet Delver
1:34:07 - Closing Out
Links from this week's episode:
Saturday's Challenge: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/modern-challenge-12340205#paper
Sunday's Challenge: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/modern-challenge-12340211#paper
Jund Sac: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4311126#paper
Dredge: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4311118
Esper Reanimator: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4311099#paper
Jeskai Phoenix: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4311100#paper
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
Support The Dive Down
1 hr 36 min
September 15, 2021 Episode 141: Innistrad: Midnight Hunt Spoilers, Pt. II
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.
The Break Down: SCG Historic Satellites + $5k
The Dive Down: Innistrad: Midnight Hunt Spoilers, pt.II
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 "thedivedown2021"
Timestamps:
3:04 - Housekeeping
5:06 - The Break Down: The SCG Historic Championship Qualifier
14:15 - The Dive Down: Innistrad: Midnight Hunt, vol.2
15:40 - The Adversary Cycle
33:39 - Ghoulcaller's Harvest
37:49 - Willow Geist
40:23 - Sunset Revelry
42:34 - Meathook Massacre
45:40 - Fateful Absence
50:10 - Light Up The Night
55:02 - Turn the Earth
58:07 - Lunarch Veteran
1:01:30 - Delver of Secrets
1:07:54 - Secrets of the Key
1:12:11 - Otherworldly Gaze
1:14:51 - Malevolent Hermit
1:19:09 - Patrician Geist
1:22:46 - Suspicious Stowaway
1:25:39 - Outland Liberator
1:29:00 - Rem Karolus, Stalwart Slayer
1:31:35 - Slaughter Specialist
1:34:29 - Adeline, Resplendent Cathar
1:36:37 - Teferi, Who Slows the Sunset
1:39:47 - Dennick, Pious Apprentice
1:41:43 - Jerren, Corrupted Bishop
1:44:10 - Cathartic Pyre
1:45:17 - Memory Deluge
1:47:37 - The cards we are most sure about
1:49:23 - The cards we are most unsure about
1:50:09 - What cards do we want to be good?
1:50:55 - What cards will have the biggest impact on non-Modern formats?
1:52:00 - What cards will have the biggest impact on Modern?
1:54:00 - Closing out
Links from this week's episode:
Historic $5K SCG TOUR ONLINE CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIER: https://mtgmeta.io/tournaments/4059
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
Support The Dive Down
1 hr 56 min
September 09, 2021 Episode 140: Midnight Hunting & The Latest Historic Decks
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
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 "thedivedown2021"
Timestamps:
3:19 - Housekeeping
5:58 - The Break Down: The new decks of Historic
8:49 - The Jeskai decks
22:54 - Counteracting Jeskai
26:18 - Cascade combo
29:25 - Gruul Shamans
35:31 - Scurry Oak combo
37:52 - Merfolk
41:09 - Mono-Red variants
45:43 - Vesperlark combo
49:00 - What we're playing
52:50 - The Dive Down: Innistrad: Midnight Hunt!
54:50 - The mechanics of Innistrad
1:05:39 - The cards begin - Consider
1:08:03 - Play With Fire
1:09:30 - Infernal Grasp
1:11:34 - Champion of the Perished
1:12:34 - The land cycle
1:15:45 - Wrenn & Seven
1:19:07 - Poppet Stitcher
1:22:50 - Rite of Harmony
1:26:00 - Curse of Silence
1:27:59 - Croaking Counterpart
1:29:34 - Vampire Socialite
1:30:59 - Bladestich Scaab
1:31:58 - Diregraf Rebirth
1:33:48 - Brutal Cathar
1:36:05 - Curse of Shaken Faith
1:38:35 - Flame Channeler
1:40:57 - Faithful Mending
1:47:05 - Predictions
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
Support The Dive Down
1 hr 51 min
September 01, 2021 Episode 139: Spiking the New Modern, ft. Aspiringspike
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
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 "thedivedown2021"
Timestamps:
2:52 - Housekeeping
6:10 - The Break Down: Magic's 2022 product roadmap
6:50 - Returning to Innistrad (again!)
12:14 - Returning to Kamigawa! Demon Crime Lords!
18:22 - Returning to Dominaria!
21:03 - Returning to Double Masters and Jumpstart!
22:39 - Pioneer Challenger Decks
28:41 - Secret Lairs and Universes Beyond
43:26 - The Dive Down: Talking Modern with Spike
43:45 - The Hunter Burton Memorial Open
48:50 - How do the paper and online meta differ?
51:40 - Grixis Dress Down Shadow
57:08 - Spike's favorite Dress Down interactions
59:07 - The evolving Modern meta
1:06:44 - Is there a best DRC deck?
1:11:20 - How do you think about playing a DRC deck?
1:15:24 - How can you wrap your head around the meta?
1:20:40 - Spike's take on the meta
1:25:40 - Defining tiers in Modern
1:27:34 - Hammertime time
1:30:58 - What keeps decks out of the upper tiers?
1:35:40 - How do we feel about MH2 Modern?
1:37:04 - Evart's trophy race
1:40:00 - What's your favorite MH2 card?
1:43:25 - Pro or anti-Core set?
1:46:15 - What is it about Modern?
1:48:31 - Where to find Spike
1:51:07 - Closing out
Links from this week's episode:
Aspiringspike on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/aspiringspike
Aspiringspike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MoughonEvart
Rakdos Mid ft Den of the Bugbear: https://www.streamdecker.com/deck/VjqTVfP45
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
Support The Dive Down
1 hr 53 min
August 25, 2021 Episode 138: Evaluating the Impact of Modern Horizons 2, ft. Mishra's Babble
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
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 "thedivedown2021"
Timestamps:
3:07 - Housekeeping
4:30 - Introducing our guest hosts
16:25 - The Break Down: The Hunter Burton Memorial Open
19:10 - The Top 300 Meta
29:35 - The Top 128 Decks
38:47 - The Top 32 Decks
46:35 - The Top 8
1:12:15 - The Dive Down: The Impact of MH2
1:13:10 - Efficiency
1:21:32 - Flexibility
1:24:45 - What strategies and mindsets have shifted?
1:37:22 - What opportunities are there in Modern?
1:47:30 - How can we learn from our experiences?
1:55:02 - Where to find our guests and closing out
Links from this week's episode:
Mishra's Babble Podcast: https://anchor.fm/francisco-pawluszek/
Fran on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/fpawlusz
Evan on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/evaros
Gabe on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/spiderspace
HBMO Decks: https://www.mtgel.com/deck/1
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
Support The Dive Down
1 hr 59 min
August 20, 2021 Bonus 14: My Other Hammer is Also Red ft. MHayashi
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.
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 "thedivedown2021"
MHayashi's Twitter: https://twitter.com/MHayash55780121
MHayashi's YouTube channels:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvVnz4iBRxBtVI2oe80S3kg?view_as=subscriber
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVnBRe8ri0glLI0_5G-L11g
MHayashi's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MagicMatt
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
Support The Dive Down
1 hr 5 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,…