The Dive Down

By The Dive DownLeisure Games

The Dive Down episodes

January 29, 2021 Episode 109: Historic Gruul: Smashing & Flashing to Victory
This week we Dive Down into Gruul Aggro in Historic. After a strong representation and showing in the recent MPL and Rivals Historic weekend events, Gruul looks to be the tier 1 aggro deck in the format. We guide you through deck construction, piloting the deck, and playing against it! Before that, we walk through a meta breakdown on the past month or so of Modern, and are again forced to discuss a certain escaping Titan.
The Break Down: Deep, Deep Modern Meta
The Dive Down: A Truly Busted 2
The Dive Down, pt. 2: A Truly Busted 6
Download the FREE Untapped Companion to track your stats, see your decklists, get details on your performance and more! Use our link to help us out without spending anything: https://mtga.untapped.gg/companion?utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=youtube&utm_campaign=divedown
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:
5:58 - The Break Down Begins: A Modern Update
7:02 - January 23rd Modern Qualifier
11:14 - the top 32
14:15 - A modern meta analysis
22:45 - How modern feels right now (aka Uro talk)
30:50 - The Dive Down Begins: Gruul is Kuul
35:20 - How Gruul works in Historic
36:20 - The 1 drops
41:15 - The 2 drops
59:30 - The 3 drops
1:08:01 - The 4 drops and beyond
1:17:02 - The manabase
1:20:20 - Sideboarding and sideboard tactics
1:25:01 - Playing as Gruul
1:34:49 - Playing against Gruul
1:42:35 - Who is this deck for?
1:46:53 - Signing off
Links from this week's episode:
Alatheio's Modern Analysis: https://www.reddit.com/r/ModernMagic/comments/l31jyc/mtgo_modern_major_events_review_20201221_20210120/
Gruul Aggro: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/gruul-aggro-9590cf15-ec7b-4014-9d20-1114d43b8370#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 Monday 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 49 min
January 22, 2021 Episode 108: Kaldheim Spoilers: Hot Takes on Cool Cards, Vol. 2 ft. AspiringSpike
We head back to Kaldheim for more spoiler takes, this time joined by regular guest host Evart Moughon, aka Aspiring Spike! What cards have what it takes to make an impact in Magic's non-rotating formats? We don't really know, but we have some thoughts... We also discuss the recent MPL and Rivals Historic weekend events, and break down the current meta.
The Break Down: It's the MPL, Y'all
The Dive Down: He's Finally Back
The Dive Down, cont: Cards Evart Likes
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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:
3:00 - Housekeeping
5:18 - The Break Down begins: MPL and Rivals Historic weekend!
7:44 - A brief explanation of the MPL
9:55 - The overall metagame and our thoughts on the big 3
20:42 - Some thoughts on the Historic metagame
23:46 - Deck performance data
29:40 - The Dive Down begins: Kaldheim spoilers, Vol. 2
30:20 - Doomskar
39:18 - In Search of Greatness
47:20 - Mystic Reflection
54:38 - Magda, Brazen Outlaw
59:15 - Tibalt's Trickery, revisited
1:02:54 - Snow Duals, revisited
1:05:56 - Old-Growth Troll, revisited
1:07:27 - Valki/Tibalt, revisited
1:09:40 - Immersturm Predator
1:13:40 - Reidane, God of the Worthy
1:17:57 - Cosima, God of the Voyage
1:21:20 - Birgi, God of Storytelling
1:27:15 - Ascendant Spirit
1:29:08 - Vega, the Watcher
1:33:08 - Skemfar Avenger
1:34:19 - Jaspera Sentinal
1:36:25 - Toski, Bearer of Secrets
1:38:29 - Bind the Monster
1:43:46 - Parting thoughts, is this set good?
1:46:54 - Our Most Anticipated Cards
Links from this week's episode:
MTG data: https://twitter.com/mtg_data
h0lydiva: https://twitter.com/h0lydiva
Ball Lightning, phd: https://twitter.com/jpball5
Ball Lightning, phd's MPL spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bkg1UE2HxEU-2vnS-3tQbm9VwqWtsPMGh3kitGZwTL0/edit#gid=1855992740
Kaldheim spoilers: https://scryfall.com/sets/khm?order=name&as=grid
Find Aspring Spike on twitter: https://twitter.com/MoughonEvart
and on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/aspiringspike
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 Monday 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 54 min
January 19, 2021 Bonus 11: Breaking into Pyro Prison ft. FluffyWolf2
In our latest bonus episode, Modern streamer and Pyro Prison stalwart FluffyWolf2 joins us for a conversation about earning a reputation for championing a single deck, the state of Modern, and lessons learned streaming MTGO.
Find Fluffy at:
twitch.tv/fluffywolf2
twitter.com/fluffywolf2
fluffywolf2.com
Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown
Now get 15% off your first 3 months of ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=t... and use code "thedivedown"
Download our favorite Magic Arena companion tool at http://untapped.thedivedown.com
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
[Support The Dive Down](patreon.com/thedivedown)
Support The Dive Down
1 hr 9 min
January 15, 2021 Episode 107: Kaldheim Spoilers: Hot Takes on Cool Cards, Vol. 1
The first batch of Kaldheim spoilers have dropped, and we're here to provide our patent-pending hot takes. We answer important questions like: what Izzet card will Stan overrate, what Green 5-drop will Shane think just might work, and what reasonable stance will Dave take on every card we discuss? Prior to that we finish up our mutual journey through Zendikar Rising by finding some Cool Decks for our latest installment of Cool Decks, Inc.
The Break Down: Gazpacho Decks, Inc.
The Dive Down, pt 1: Cards Dave Loves
The Dive Down, pt 2: Cards Shane & Stan Hate
Download the FREE Untapped Companion to track your stats, see your decklists, get details on your performance and more! Use our link to help us out without spending anything: https://mtga.untapped.gg/companion?utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=youtube&utm_campaign=divedown
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:
3:33 - Housekeeping
6:51 - The Break Down Begins: Cool Decks Inc
7:37 - Bant Snowblade
10:01 - Boros Land Destruction
13:39 - 4C Lutri
16:35 - The Dive Down Begins: Kaldheim Spoilers
19:03 - Kaldheim Mechanics
38:44 - Snow Duals
42:53 - Tibatl’s Trickery
48:49 - Alrund, God of the Cosmos
53:35 - Annul
54:21 - Behold the Multiverse
57:40 - Dragon Berserker
1:01:25 - Esika, God of the Tree
1:05:47 - Goldspan Dragon
1:09:00 - Kaya’s Onslaught
1:11:39 - Koll, the Forgemaster
1:15:19 - Niko Aris
1:18:47 - Old-Growth Troll
1:23:33 - Ravenform
1:26:23 - Rise of the Dread Marn
1:29:24 - Saw It Coming
1:33:37 - Spectral Steel
1:35:28 - Valki, God of Lies
1:43:37 - Our Parting Thoughts
Links from this week's episode:
Niambi Stoneblade: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/3678247#paper
Boros Land Destruction: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/3678255
4C Lutri: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/3671439#paper
Kaldheim mechanics: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/kaldheim-mechanics-2021-01-07
Kaldheim spoilers: https://scryfall.com/sets/khm?order=name&as=grid
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 Monday 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
January 08, 2021 Episode 106: Modern: Stop. Hammertime.
This week we asked our patrons to tell us what deck to do our next dive on, and they chose one of the up-and-comers of Modern: Hammer Time. And what do you know, it performed incredibly well at the ManaTraders Modern Tournament and put 4 decks into the latest Challenge top 8. What timing! We first go deep on the ManaTraders tourny, then head into the Dive Down to provide a thorough overview of Hammer Time: how do the pieces work together, how you should think about playing it, and how people will try to hate you out.
The Break Down: Modern Manatraders Meta Madness
The Dive Down: The 0s and 1s
The Dive Down, cont: The 2s and +10/+10s
Download the FREE Untapped Companion to track your stats, see your decklists, get details on your performance and more! Use our link to help us out without spending anything: https://mtga.untapped.gg/companion?utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=youtube&utm_campaign=divedown
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:
2:39 - Housekeeping
6:39 - Break Down Begins
8:03 - Dave’s Tournament Report
12:36 - Manatraders Modern Metagame
40:27 - Dive Down Begins - Hammer Time
41:31 - What is Hammer Time?
48:44 - Steelshaper’s Gift & other cards that get hammers
51:50 - Sigarda’s Aid & other cards that cheat on equipment costs
58:42 - Ornithopter & other cards that wield hammers
1:03:41 - Mishra’s Bauble & other support cards
1:15:03 - Auriok Champion & other sideboard cards
1:19:23 - Playing the deck to various levels of success
1:27:14 - Keep or Mulls
1:32:43 - How to beat Hammer Time
1:37:48 - Why is Hammer so good right now?
1:42:14 - Who is this deck for & other parting thoughts
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 Monday 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 48 min
January 01, 2021 Episode 105: 2020: A Real Year.
2020 is a year that did, in fact, happen. And we are here to talk about the year of Magic: The Gathering and our place in it. And maybe make fun of our bad takes. We review Modern, Pioneer, and Historic through 2020, talk about our favorite (and least favorit cards) from the year, review our best (and worst) picks to click, and more! Thanks for your amazing support through 2020. We appreciate you.
Download the FREE Untapped Companion to track your stats, see your decklists, get details on your performance and more! Use our link to help us out without spending anything: https://mtga.untapped.gg/companion?utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=youtube&utm_campaign=divedown
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:
3:05 - Housekeeping
7:00 - 2020 begins with hope
9:00 - The loss of paper and gain of virtual
13:18 - Modern in 2020
30:54 - Pioneer in 2020
38:40 - Historic (and magic arena) in 2020
57:40 - Part 2: A year of The Dive Down
58:00 - Our favorite eps of the year
1:05:40 - Favorite deck and card dives
1:23:40 - Our best and worst picks to click
1:30:11 - Our worst sleeve/believe/heave take
1:33:30 - Our favorite cards of the year
1:37:02 - Our least favorite cards of the year
1:40:55 - Our best MTG experiences of the year
1:42:40 - Guests of the year
1:44:43 - Was 2020 a good year for MTG?
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 Monday 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
December 24, 2020 Episode 104: Must-Knows For (Today's) Modern Tournaments
This week we take a journey into the ManaTraders Modern Tournament Series. We talk about the decks we played with and against, potential mental and strategic approaches to events like these, and some hot hot takes about Modern and Magic. We also spend some time talking about Stan's recent successes, and the first batch of Kaldheim spoilers!
The Break Down: Stan's Satellite Results!
The Dive Down: Our Manatraders Results!
The Wind Down: Kaldheim Spoiler Results!
Download the FREE Untapped Companion to track your stats, see your decklists, get details on your performance and more! Use our link to help us out without spending anything: https://mtga.untapped.gg/companion?utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=youtube&utm_campaign=divedown
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:
3:29 - Housekeeping
6:02 - The Break Down begins: Stan’s SCG Tour Online Report
14:20 - New Insights on Historic Neostorm
25:12 - The Dive Down begins: Introducing the Manatraders Modern Qualifiers
34:30 - Who’s Playing in Manatraders Qualifiers?
39:50 - N=31 Metagame Analysis
46:30 - Trying to qualify with Elves, Bogles, and Ponza
52:38 - Trying to qualify with UR Prowess
1:01:16 - Trying to qualify with Mono-Red and GW Titan
1:15:36 - Let’s Talk About Modern…
1:22:38 - Tournament Takeaways
1:36:15 - The Wind Down begins: Kaldheim Spoilers, part 1
Links from this week's episode:
The December Manatraders tournament: https://www.manatraders.com/tournaments/9
Ongoing Kaldheim Spoilers: https://scryfall.com/sets/khm?order=spoiled&as=grid
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
Support The Dive Down
1 hr 55 min
December 18, 2020 Episode 103: The Best Decks in Historic
This week The Dive Down goes back to Historic. After bursting out briefly in song, the crew breaks down the metagame from last weekend's SCG Satellite Tournaments and reels in shock from one or two insights. Dave manages to make a recap of the Arena Open all about him. Stan is unsurprised. Shane is amused. After that we dive down into three of the best decks in Historic... that we haven't spoken about that much yet.
The Break Down: Satellite Results
The Break Down, pt 2: Customer Servicing into Day 2
The Dive Down: Best Titans, Best Wizards, Best Cats
Download the FREE Untapped Companion to track your stats, see your decklists, get details on your performance and more! Use our link to help us out without spending anything: https://mtga.untapped.gg/companion?utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=youtube&utm_campaign=divedown
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:
1:50 - Housekeeping

6:56 - SCG Historic Satellites

28:56 - Dave Plays the Arena Open

40:35 - The Dive Down Begins
43:07 - Shane Plays Historic Sultai

1:11:01 - Stan Plays Historic Neostorm

1:29:36 - Dave Also Plays Historic Sacrifice

1:49:05 - Closing Out
Links from this week's episode:
Stan's Lovely Star City Breakdown:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Jw2JuAFYQmldURZrqr1IkeLn51tsThogo6DWvqSM4wM/edit#gid=0
Cool Decks Inc, #1 (Izzet): https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/3620885#paper
Cool Decks Inc, #2 (Sultai Explore): https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/3622893#paper
Dave's Auras Open List (Bo1): https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/3624511#paper
Dave's Auras Open List (Bo2): https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/3624523#paper
Shane's Sultai: https://www.coolstuffinc.com/a/kyleboggemes-11262020-sultai-midrange-in-historic
Stan's Neoform: https://tinyurl.com/y8tyomw4
Dave's Rakdos Sac: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/3624554#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
Support The Dive Down
1 hr 56 min
December 11, 2020 Episode 102: A Tribal Quest: Hives, Grenades, and Skeletons
It's time for another top-tier Patron request episode! This time, long-time citizen of the nation Sean asked us to talk about tribal decks. We cover the history of tribes in Magic, common aspects of tribal decks, and do a Sleeve/Believe/Heave of some of the less popular tribes of Modern. Prior to that, we spend a long time breaking down the Historic decks and meta of the Zendikar Rising Championship that took place last weekend!
The Break Down: A Historic Championship
The Dive Down: Tribe Talk
The Dive Down, cont: Which Deck Will Stan Qualify With?
Download the FREE Untapped Companion to track your stats, see your decklists, get details on your performance and more! Use our link to help us out without spending anything: https://mtga.untapped.gg/companion?utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=youtube&utm_campaign=divedown
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:
4:27 - Housekeeping
9:42 - The Break Down: Championship Chat
12:20 - The Championship meta
21:40 - The Top 64 meta
29:05 - The Top 8
41:03 - Some takes
45:13 - Cool Decks, Inc.
50:25 - The Dive Down: Tribal Time
53:02 - A brief history of tribes in Magic
58:38 - What are the common features of these decks?
1:02:58 - The lords and lieutenants of tribal decks
1:10:55 - The best cards for tribal decks
1:13:40 - Testing lesser-known tribal decks: 5-Color Elementals
1:29:03 - Goblins Combo
1:35:50 - 8-Whack Goblins
1:40:44 - Slivers
1:53:22 - Tribal takeaways
1:57:03 - Closing out
Links from this week's episode:
Zendikar Rising Championship Coverage: https://magic.gg/events/zendikar-rising-championship
5-Color Elementals: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/3574926#paper
Goblin Combo: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/goblins#paper
8-Whack: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/3468163#paper
Slivers: https://mtgdecks.net/Modern/slivers-decklist-by-justburn420-1060211
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
Support The Dive Down
2 hr
December 04, 2020 Episode 101: Historic 101: An Intro For Casual Spikes
For the first week of our NEXT 100 episodes, we finally took the plunge into Magic Arena's non-rotating format: Historic. We will help you understand how to assess and buy into Historic, what the decks and meta are like, what playing on Arena is like, and our thoughts on if Best of One is really Magic.... Enjoy the beginning of a new podcast adventure!
The Dive Down: 88 Goblins
The Dive Down, cont: Pants, Pants, Pants
The Dive Down, cont: Gruul Smash
Download the FREE Untapped Companion to track your stats, see your decklists, get details on your performance and more! Use our link to help us out without spending anything: https://mtga.untapped.gg/companion?utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=youtube&utm_campaign=divedown
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:
3:35 - Housekeeping
7:07 - The Dive Down: The Dive Down Does Historic
7:33 - Why are we covering Historic?
23:00 - What does this mean for The Dive Down?
26:42 - What were our expectations for Historic?
28:33 - How can you buy into Historic, and the economy of Arena
41:00 - The meta and decks in Historic
43:07 - Quick sidebar: how much Historic did we play?
46:53 - The decks of Historic:
47:40 - Azorius Auras
57:40 - Mono-Red Goblins
1:05:58 - Gruul Aggro
1:13:04 - Sultai Midrange
1:19:30 - Rakdos Sacrifice
1:23:07 - Other decks in brief
1:28:08 - Our thoughts on Historic's meta
1:31:43 - Best of One vs. Best of Three
1:39:30 - The competition on Arena
1:43:15 - Monitoring the Historic meta and some economy talk
1:49:45 - Closing out
Links from this week's episode:
Mono-Red Goblins: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/historic-goblins-3896#paper
Azorius Auras: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/historic-azorius-aggro#paper
Gruul Aggro: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/3575700#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
Support The Dive Down
1 hr 52 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,…