The Dive Down

By The Dive DownLeisure Games

The Dive Down episodes

August 11, 2021 Episode 137: Does Stoneblade Cut It in This Meta?
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
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:
2:39 - Housekeeping
8:26 - The Break Down: More Modern Challenges
26:20 - The Dive Down: Revisiting Stoneforge
29:00 - Stoneforge's History in Modern
37:27 - The Decks We Tested
42:06 - Nettlecyst Non-Blade
59:34 - Esper Blade
1:11:39 - Orzhov Griefanimatorblade
1:37:10 - Our Takes on Stoneforge in Modern Today
1:42:00 - Closing Out
Links from this week's episode:
Saturday's Challenge: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/modern-challenge-12326162#paper
Sunday's Challenge: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/modern-challenge-12326167#paper
Orzhov Nettle-non-blade: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4197511#paper
Esper Blade: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4206684#paper
Orzhov Griefanimateblade: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4212787#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 46 min
August 04, 2021 Episode 136: Historic Horizons: New Cards Same as the Old Cards
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
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:
2:20 - Housekeeping
8:31 - The Break Down Begins!
10:14 - The Historic Tournament Metagame
20:59 - The Winning Decks in Historic
25:49 - What We're Looking for in Historic Horizons
34:12 - The Dive Down Begins! Introducing Historic Horizons
38:44 - The Digital Mechanics of Historic Horizons
50:50 - Our Takes on Digital Mechanics
1:02:19 - Finally Talking About the Cards
1:04:13 - The White Cards
1:12:00 - The Blue Cards
1:20:25 - The Black Cards
1:26:00 - The Red Cards
1:34:30 - The Green Cards
1:37:40 - The Gold Cards
1:40:05 - The Artifacts
1:40:54 - Takes on Historic Horizons Cards
1:44:38 - Closing Out
Links from this week's episode:
Historic Horizons Announcement: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-digital/what-mtg-arenas-jumpstart-historic-horizons-2021-07-26
The New-to-Magic Cards: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/card-image-gallery/jumpstart-historic-horizons
The Packet Lists: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-digital/jumpstart-historic-horizons-packet-lists-2021-07-26
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 47 min
July 28, 2021 Episode 135: Modern ManaTraders and Metagamers
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
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:
2:31 - Housekeeping
3:35 - The Break Down begins - Historic Changes are Afoot!
15:15 - The Historic Horizons leak
28:45 - The ManaTraders Modern Event
30:50 - The ManaTraders Modern Meta
44:44 - The MT Top 8
51:40 - Fighting HammerTime
53:40 - Stan's Footfalls Tournament Report
1:08:57 - A Look at the Competitive Modern Meta
1:17:15 - Looking More Closely at the Top Modern Decks
1:31:40 - What's Not at the Top?
1:34:35 - Takes on the Meta
1:41:40 - Closing Ou
Links from this week's episode:
Bamzing's ManaTraders breakdown: https://www.reddit.com/r/ModernMagic/comments/oqhs4y/manatraders_series_modern_decklists_july_2021/
WIll Krueger's HammerTime writeup: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13NtaEE5xyhElk68kxcI9XYteWw6Je-hlXzik64otj3U/edit
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 44 min
July 21, 2021 Episode 134: Five Cards You Want Banned in Modern
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!
The Break Down: Tasha's Hideous Mathter
The Dive Down: The Nation Decides
The Dive Down, cont: What if Nothing?
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:
2:45 - Housekeeping
7:10 - The Break Down - Tasha's Hideous Math
17:33 - Breaking News! The Sunday Challenge Top 8
22:22 - The Dive Down Begins
23:46 - Lurrus of the Dream-Den
25:57 - The case for banning Lurrus
38:02 - The case against banning Lurrus
44:40 - The final verdict on Lurrus
47:57 - Mishra's Bauble
51:40 - The case for banning Bauble
58:31 - The case against banning Bauble
1:04:36 - The final verdict on Bauble
1:07:22 - Primeval Titan
1:08:55 - The case for banning Titan
1:13:20 - The case against banning Titan
1:15:20 - The final verdict on Titan
1:18:37 - Teferi, Time Raveler
1:19:28 - The case for banning Teferi
1:24:05 - The case against banning Teferi
1:27:29 - The final verdict on Teferi
1:29:45 - Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
1:30:40 - The case for banning Ragavan
1:36:40 - The case against banning Ragavan
1:38:10 - The final verdict on Ragavan
1:39:15 - Should we ban... Nothing?
1:41:10 - The Wind Down - what didn't make the top 5?
1:48:38 - Closing out
Links from this week's episode:
How Hideous is Tasha's Laughter: https://www.reddit.com/r/ModernMagic/comments/omalkc/how_hideous_is_tashas_laughter_what_the_numbers/
Sunday's Challenge: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/modern-challenge-2021-07-19
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
July 14, 2021 Episode 133: Izzet You Glad We Played Murktide?
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.
The Break Down: Some Cool Decks We Saw
The Dive Down, pt 1: An 8/8 for Two
The Dive Down, pt 2: Izzet Just Death's Shadow?
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 "thedivedown2021"
Timestamps:
4:00 – Housekeeping
8:36 – The Break Down begins – Cool Decks, Inc!
10:15 – 4C Carth the Lion Superfriends
17:30 – Sultai Tokens
22:00 – Izzet Phoenix
25:49 – Hammertime ft. Ingenious Smith
32:38 – The Dive Down begins – Izzet Murktide!
39:00 – The Spells
42:50 – A Mishra’s Bauble digression
47:07 – The Sideboard
49:40 – The fundamental strategies of Murktide
1:00:15 – Is this a Control deck?
1:07:41 – A Murktide Regent digression
1:12:00 – Is this a Graveyard deck?
1:20:33 – A Counterspell digression
1:23:20 – Tactics & Sequencing
1:33:50 – Our experiences playing
1:44:41 – Closing out
Links from this week's episode:
4C Carth Superfriends, as trophied by Greenhide1
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4136337#paper
BUG Tokens, as trophied by Litledude123
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4129352#paper
MODERN Izzet Phoenix, as trophied by AspiringSpike
https://twitter.com/MoughonEvart/status/1413522001583554568
Hammertime with Ingenious Smith by Hamuda
https://twitter.com/hamudao3/status/1413998949728411648?s=20
2nd Place Izzet Murktide deck from Saturday’s Modern Challenge from DO0MSWITCH
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/modern-challenge-2021-07-11?xd2#domswitch_nd_place
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 47 min
July 07, 2021 Episode 132: Venture Into the Adventure: MTG n' D&D Spoilers v1
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.
The Break Down: Another Heartfelt Thanks//It's Darcy B's World
The Dive Down: Spoiled by Spoilers
The Wind Down: Venture Bros.
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:
3:08 - Housekeeping
6:09 - The Break Down begins- Modern Challenges
9:37 - A Murktide Regent and Izzet diversion
15:27 - The Cascade decks
22:18 - More thoughts on the Challenge
27:56 - The Challenge top 8
29:29 - The Sunday Challenge
33:29 - What We're Buying
39:10 - The Dive Down begins - Venture into the Adventure!
41:12 - Our History with D&D
50:44 - Dungeons
58:21 - D20s
1:05:34 - Creature Lands
1:10:13 - Classes
1:15:25 - Pack Tactics
1:18:06 - Cards that Inspire Us
1:18:58 - Treasure Vault
1:21:08 - Portable Hole
1:23:15 - Demilich
1:26:12 - Flameskull
1:29:14 - Circle of Dreams Druid
1:31:46 - Oswald Fiddlebender
1:34:59 - Grim Wanderer
1:36:52 - Yuan-Ti Malison
1:38:31 - Hand of Vecna
1:40:40 - Sphere of Annihilation
1:41:54 - Devour Intellect & Eye of Vecna
1:44:35 - The Wind Down - Venture Bros.
Links from this week's episode:
Saturday's Challenge: https://www.reddit.com/r/ModernMagic/comments/odmf2t/modern_showcase_challenge_results_jul_3_2021/
Sunday's Challenge: https://www.reddit.com/r/ModernMagic/comments/oeac16/sunday_modern_challenge_results_jul_4_2021/
Adventures in the Forgotten Realms: https://scryfall.com/sets/afr
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
July 01, 2021 Episode 131: Still Crushing on Modern Horizons 2
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.
The Break Down: Together Again
The Dive Down: 68 Degree Basement
The Dive Down, cont: Rakdos, Hammer, Enchantress
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 "thedivedown2021"
Timestamps:
3:40 - Housekeeping
7:35 - The Break Down begins - the evolving Modern meta
8:58 - The MOCS Showcase
15:40 - Insight Modern 5k
29:42 - Modern Challenges
31:09 - Takes on the Meta
37:23 - The Dive Down begins - S/B/H MH2v2
38:18 - Rakdos ft. Lurrus
1:02:39 - Mono-W Hammertime ft. Lurrus
1:21:00 - Selesnya Enchantress
Links from this week's episode:
MOCS Champions Showcase: https://magic.gg/decklists/2021-magic-online-champions-showcase-season-1-modern-decklists
Insight Esports Modern 5k: https://mtgmelee.com/Tournament/View/6888
6/27 Modern Challenge: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/modern-challenge-12309177#paper
6/28 Modern Challenge: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/modern-challenge-12309183#paper
Rakdos Rock: https://www.streamdecker.com/deck/6W2Hiwbm_
_Mono-White Hammer: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4109042#paper
Selesnya Enchantress: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4100268#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 41 min
June 24, 2021 Episode 130: Sleeve/Believe/Heave Modern Horizons 2 Blue Decks ed.
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!
The Break Down: Modern Challenges
The Dive Down: Sleeve/Believe/Heave Modern Horizons 2 Blue Decks ed.
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:
3:35 - Housekeeping
5:38 - The Break Down - Two Modern Challenges
19:38 - Sunday's Challenge
28:31 - Challenge Trends
37:33 - The Dive Down Begins - Jeskai Tempo
43:55 - A Prismatic Ending Sidebar
49:05 - A Ragavan Sidebar
59:04 - A Kaldra Compleat Sidebar
1:05:41 - Izzet Urza Food Midrange
1:13:39 - Stan Quizzes Shane on Urza Food
1:23:44 - Delver in Modern
1:27:06 - Izzet Delver v2
1:30:39 - A Dragon's Rage Channeler Sidebar
1:32:30 - Back to the Deck
1:37:06 - Delver vs. Stoneblade
1:40:05 - An Urza's Saga Sidebar
1:48:30 - Closing Out
Links from this week's episode:
Saturday's Challenge: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/modern-challenge-2021-06-20
Sunday's Challenge: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/modern-challenge-2021-06-21
Jeskai Control/Tempo: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4070264#paper
Izzet Urza Food: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4089146
Izzet Delver variants:
V1: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4074067#paper
V2: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4089149
Stan version: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4074197#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 51 min
June 18, 2021 Bonus 13: Filing Taxes with SpiderSpace
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.
Find SpiderSpace at:
https://www.twitch.tv/spiderspace
https://twitter.com/spiderspacemtg
Hear Mishra's Babble at https://anchor.fm/francisco-pawluszek/episodes/Ep-5-Modern-Continues-to-Evolve-e12qogj
SpiderSpace's Flickerwisp Lines for Aspiring Taxes Players: https://twitter.com/SpiderSpaceMTG/status/1313308453041922048
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 "thedivedown2021"
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 1 min
June 16, 2021 Episode 129: The First Decks of Modern Horizons 2
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.
Housekeeping: A Heartfelt Thanks
The Break Down: 99 Decks
The Break Down, pt2: The Bell Returns
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 "thedivedown2021"
Timestamps:
6:58 - Housekeeping
10:15 - Some high-level Deck Dump stats
11:52 - The most seen MH2 cards so far
20:08 - The most seen old cards
21:35 - Some more deck dump stats
23:42 - The deck dump begins: Mono-black Food, Living End, Lantern Control, Azorious Affinity, Obosh Red
32:17 - Orzhov Stoneblade Blink, Living End variants, Azorious Stoneblade, G Hardened Scales, Golgari Elves
42:51 - Boros Burn, Azorious Blink, Izzet Delver, Golgari Elves, Elementals, Azorious Control
51:33 - Urza Affinity Food, Azorius Affinity and Urza's Saga talk
1:02:04 - Grixis Delirium, Jund, Orzhov Stoneblade Blink
1:11:49 - Orzhov Reanimator, Domain Zoo, Boros Taxes
1:17:41 - The Bell Returns! Abzan Blink, Merfolk, Esper Stoneblade, W Taxes, Jeskai Delver, Azorius Urza Control, Selesnya Enchantress, G Tron, Glimpse of Tomorrow, Orzhov Stoneblade
1:27:08 - Temur Cascade, Gruul Scales, Boros Prowess, Orzhov Stoneblade Control, Yawgmoth, Golgari Food, the Rock, Arclight Phoenix, Orzhov Shadowblade, Gruul Ponza, Blue Moon
1:37:00 - Amulet Titan, Rakdos Shadow, Rakdos Skelemental, Mardu Reanimator Electrodominance stuff, Hammertime, Sultai Urza Artifact stuff, Grixis Shadow, Golgari Food, Humans
1:45:07 - Izzet Delver, Foodvine, Crabvine, Jund Shadow, 4C Cascade Nahiri Control, Red Prowess, Azorius Affinityblade, Orzhov Reanimator, Titania Titan
1:50:35 - Fast takeaways and closing out
Links from this week's episode:
June 11th Modern League Deck Dump: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/modern-league-2021-06-11
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 55 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,…