Wed, 2 December 2009  Hello again, and welcome to The Avant-Card Show. This is Mike, filling in for... Wait, what? I mean The Mana Pool. This is The Mana Pool. You'll understand my confusion soon.
Unfortunately, due to hardware/software issues and scheduling conflicts, we are Dirkless yet again (and unfortunately, due to sleep issues and schoolwork conflicts, our Brian has to leave before the end), but to make up for it we invited some very special guests. Joining us tonight are Christian and Bryan, head honchos of The Avant-Card Show podcast, another wonderful casual-centric program.
So listen in as we discuss the usual quick bit of news, the various colors of our personalities, and give some valuable insight to how we approach the strategies and complications of multiplayer card-gaming. Be sure to stick around for a truly massive heap of off-topic chatter that I'm sure will be an absolute delight. This was another one of those "most fun ever" episodes to record, and we all really want to thank Christian and Bryan for joining us. You can check out their show at www.avantcardshow.com
Music for this episode is Bloody Tears from the Perfect Selection: Dracula Battle album by Naoto Shibata PROJECT. No idea where to find them, but you can start with Wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_Selection_Dracula_Battle
Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-107-crisis-on-infinite-dorks-t438.html Check out our archive at http://themanapool.libsyn.com Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/themanapool Visit Cardshark! http://www.cardshark.com Cardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.asp Subscribe to our RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Direct download: Episode_107_-_Crisis_on_Infinite_Dorks.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 6:29 PM Comments[0] |
Sun, 22 November 2009 Hey look, it's a new episode! First off, we spend some time responding to listener feedback, as we have a lot of it. You should send us some too! Then we have lots of Magic news to go over. There's some discussion about the new Premium Deck Series: Slivers. The new Grand Prix schedule was released, not that we care terribly much, but we do take a few minutes to make fun of the new alternate art foil Umezawa's Jitte. Then right around here Dirk's computer died, so he was unable to be with us for the rest of the show. Then there's the announcement of the new Deckbuilder's Toolkit, which actually sounds pretty cool. And finally, there's some information about Duels of the Planeswalkers and MTG: Tactics, but not much.
Deckbuilder's Toolkit: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/312 Premium Slivers decklist: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/other/110509a
Then we get to the part everyone's been waiting for - the winners of the Duel Decks Contest! If you were picked as a winner, please email us with your mailing address and we'll see to it that you get your prize. If you want to know who won, keep listening! If you want to know what the winning submissions look like, just hit the forums! Thanks a lot to everyone who entered!
Music for this episode: Weeeeee! by Threebrain I have no idea where to find it, just search for "gonads and strife” and you'll find it.
Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-106-what-contest-t433.html Check out our archive at http://themanapool.libsyn.com Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/themanapool Visit Cardshark! http://www.cardshark.com Cardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.asp Subscribe to our RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Comments[0] |
Wed, 11 November 2009  Because winning by knocking your opponent's life total down to zero is SO last season, we're having a fire sale on all the other nifty ways to win. Alternate win conditions for all! We've got Epic Struggles, Darksteel Reactors, Chance Encounters, and Poison. For those workaholics out there, we have a few Coalition Victories, Helix Pinnacles, and even one Barren Glory in the back corner. None of these float your boat (in your Mana Pool, of course)? Then keep browsing, we've got lots more.
And while we're at it, we're also having a fire sale on alternate ways to lose! We've got Pacts, Phage (blinking sold separately), several flavors of Lich, and three types of Final Fortune. If you're sick of Test of Endurance, we can turn your life gain into a loss with Transcendence! And if you act now, we'll even throw in two ways to force the game into a draw, just to thoroughly annoy your opponents. Operators are standing by!
Music for this episode is the Slap Chop Rap by DJ Steve Porter. Check out the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWRyj5cHIQA Check out more stuff at http://www.djsteveporter.com
Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-105-alternative-lifestyles-t424.html Check out our archive at http://themanapool.libsyn.com Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/themanapool Visit Cardshark! http://www.cardshark.com Cardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.asp Subscribe to our RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Comments[0] |
Sat, 31 October 2009 In this episode, Mike gets distracted by something early on. But that's not the actual content of the show! Brian and I kick it off by each opening a pack of Zendikar and going through the contents. Then we switch gears and talk about Brian's PTQ experience from a few weekends ago. He did really well. His deck list is in the forum thread for this episode, give it a look and let us know what you think.
And of course, we had to go over the freshly released lists for Duel Decks: Garruk vs. Liliana. Rancor! Mutilate! Beasts! Yay! We go over each list, giving a pretty detailed rundown on how we think each one will work. Then of course we have to pick a winner. Keep listening to find out who we thought might come out ahead this time.
Music for this episode is freakin' great, you should go check it out! Carl Sagan - A Glorious Dawn ft. Stephen Hawking by John Boswell Youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSgiXGELjbc Check out more Symphony of Science: http://www.symphonyofscience.com
Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-104-ptq-results-duel-decks-and-olive-oil-t421.html Check out our archive at http://themanapool.libsyn.com Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/themanapool Visit Cardshark! http://www.cardshark.com Cardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.asp Subscribe to our RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Direct download: Episode_104_-_PTQ_Results_Duel_Decks_and_Olive_Oil.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 9:02 PM Comments[0] |
Sun, 25 October 2009  And in this episode, we bid a fond farewell to the Lorwyn/Shadowmoor mega block. We're gonna take a look back at the stuff that is gone from this Standard. All those cards that we loved, hated, despised, thought were nifty, and were beaten by are getting one last look before heading off to Extended Land forever and ever amen.
And then, not to get stuck looking at the past, we forge ahead into the present! We're taking a look ahead at the cards in Zendikar that tickle our various fancies. Whether we're talking about stuff that just looks cool, or potential Standard powerhouses, or stuff we think is just silly, we're gonna cover it.
Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-103-standard-rotation-the-faerie-tale-is-over-t419.html Check out our archive at http://themanapool.libsyn.com Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/themanapool Visit Cardshark! http://www.cardshark.com Cardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.asp Subscribe to our RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Direct download: Episode_103_-_Standard_Rotation_The_Faerie_Tale_is_Over.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 6:23 PM Comments[0] |
Wed, 14 October 2009 Hello again, and welcome to The Mana Pool! This is Mike, filling in for Chewie on the show notes while he's busy getting a previous episode uploaded. For those of you who've been anxiously awaiting our customary Prerelease story time episode, this is your lucky day! Not only do we have that, but due to scheduling conflicts and hateful technological mishaps, it took us so long to get this one recorded that we also have Launch Party stories as well. As usual, Chewie and Brian took very good notes, and they have several fine tales of epic plays, bad beats, and very interesting cards. Did I have any good stories for this episode? Yes and no.
Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-102-zendikar-limited-experiences-t413.html Check out our archive at http://themanapool.libsyn.com Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/themanapool Visit Cardshark! http://www.cardshark.com Cardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.asp Subscribe to our RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Direct download: Episode_102_-_Zendikar_Limited_Experiences.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 10:20 PM Comments[0] |
Tue, 6 October 2009 Well...better late than never. This is the fabled lost episode 102 of The Mana Pool. Okay, so it's not so much fabled, and it was never really lost. But I do apologize for this episode being so incredibly late. I suddenly found myself working 6 or 7 days' worth of work in a 5 day period, and by the time I got home, I didn't want to do anything at all. But enough of lateness excuses!
I'd also like to apologize for the content of this episode. You see, it's just me, Mike, and my roommate Scott going over some previews. I'm not...entirely sure what happened, but something about this episode just felt off. We did the rest of the previews, and Scott had a few interesting n00b questions for us, but that's about it. I do remember the music, though.
Music for this episode: Whack It by Swift Check them out at http://www.swift-band.com
Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-101-late-zendikar-preview-3-t412.html Check out our archive at http://themanapool.libsyn.com Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/themanapool Visit Cardshark! http://www.cardshark.com Cardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.asp Subscribe to our RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Comments[0] |
Sun, 27 September 2009  WE MADE IT! Thanks to everyone who has listened, commented, criticized, and offered feedback, advice, help, and ideas for these hundred episodes. We really appreciate all of you who have stuck with us all this time, all of you who have stuck with us since we joined the MTGCast, and all of you who have just discovered us.
And a special thanks goes out to Eric from St. Louis who is Mr. Suitcase who is thewachman who is one of the hosts of Monday Night Magic. Not only did he send us a congratulatory audio file to put in this episode, he also convinced others to do so too. Thanks to Trevor, Tom, and Kevin from MTGRadio for their support. Thanks to Christian, Bryan, Aaron, Jeff, and Claire over at the Avant-Card Show for being complete ripoffs of us but having a girl so it's okay...I mean for all the ribbing and poking and insulting and general fun we've had since you guys got started. Really, we love you guys. Thanks to the Road Warrior Chris Otwell, not only for the audio file, but for all the work he does behind the scenes each week to keep the MTGCast network running smoothly. And finally, thanks to Noah Whinston, formerly of the Sunday Super Show, for sticking with us since episode 10 (a Morningtide preview episode), even though we're not technically his cup of competitive-style-Magic tea.
What, you want to know what's actually in this episode too? Geez you people are picky! Due to real life getting in everyone's way, our 100th episode extravaganza sort of got scaled back a bit. Then, due to technical difficulties, our first idea kind of got shot down. Brian had the brilliant idea to run through 100 cards that mean something to us for our 100th episode. That's 25 apiece! So we made our lists and went for it. So this episode didn't end up being 100 hours long, we decided to stick with a 30 second time limit for each card, complete with a buzzer of some sort so we'd know when to stop.
Of course, the end of the show sort of disintegrates into a lot of random nonsense involving the questionable music collection of the lead dork. We would like to stress that all of this music is used without permission and is owned by the respective copyright holders or rights owners or whatever. But it's just us being silly, which apparently you listeners enjoy. So I hope you enjoy, and thanks again for everything. We couldn't do this without you guys, so hopefully you'll push us to do another hundred shows!
Find the Avant-Card Show at http://www.avantcardshow.com Find the rest on the MTGCast, located at http://mtgcast.com
Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-100-no-title-necessary-t407.html Check out our archive at http://themanapool.libsyn.com Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/themanapool Visit Cardshark! http://www.cardshark.com Cardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.asp Subscribe to our RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Comments[0] |
Mon, 21 September 2009 More Zendikar previews! Join us this episode for lots more Zendikarian goodness, along with a discussion of temporal mechanics and a special guest of sorts. This episode also includes a good 11 minutes of lost footage from the previous episode, including our take on Nissa Revane, Nissa's Chosen, and a somewhat depressing Mike story. There's a brief discussion of the Banned & Restricted List updates in there too.
Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-99-zendikar-preview-2-t402.html Check out our archive at http://themanapool.libsyn.com Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/themanapool Visit Cardshark! http://www.cardshark.com Cardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.asp Subscribe to our RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Comments[0] |
Tue, 15 September 2009 Hey, Mike here. Well, here it is, the episode we all knew had to be coming. Thank goodness that we were all looking forward to it, too! It's the first big episode of Zendikar previews here on the Mana Pool, and we decided to go for a bit of a different structure this time. Rather than just go up the list, Brian had the foresight to group the cards into convenient broader discussion topics, based on mechanics, themes, and/or content. Give us your feedback on how you think it worked out.
But yes, listen in for an episode full of Vampires, Fire, and Arguing on the Internet. And also another Brian with Phasing. We'll try to work on that...
Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-98-zendikar-preview-1-t397.html Check out our archive at http://themanapool.libsyn.com Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/themanapool Visit Cardshark! http://www.cardshark.com Cardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.asp Subscribe to our RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Comments[0] |
Tue, 8 September 2009  DISCLAIMER: In an effort to keep our listeners safe while listening to our show, we have decided to forgo any and all comedy this episode. We here at The Mana Pool are committed to your well-being, and we certainly don't want anything bad to happen to any of you (with only very few exceptions). That being said, we hope you enjoy this funny-free episode of The Mana Pool. Thank you and drive around.
To begin the show, we have a small collection of Zendikar previews. We figured from these cards that land will probably be pretty big in this block, so we decided to take that idea and run with it. Actually, it was Brian's idea, but his head is big enough already. That's probably why he was in and out of the episode all night. Spoiler: He didn't make it all the way to the end.
To start off this land-tastic episode, I take my Land Deck...Out of the Deck Box! It's a deck built around Earth Surge, which is one of the crappiest cards to come out of the Ravnica Block (a tie-in to last week!). But I made it work. As always, for a full decklist, check out the forums. Then we spend a fair amount of time taking a look back at some of our favorite lands. We're talking cycles of lands, weird land, useful land, just whatever you can think of. Except Sorrow's Path. Hit the forums and tell us about some of your favorite lands!
And finally, we end the episode on a bit of a rant, as I pull out the old Chewie's Soapbox from my time doing the Cardshark Member Newsletter back in the day. This rant is about Tazeem, that promotional planar card you could ONLY get by going to the Planechase Release Event. Let us know how you feel about the exclusive promo card.
Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-97-land-before-time-t393.html Check out our archive at http://themanapool.libsyn.com Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/themanapool Visit Cardshark! http://www.cardshark.com Cardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.asp Subscribe to our RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Comments[0] |
Sat, 5 September 2009 Holy crap it's the Mana Pool! Wizards has revealed the last two Planechase decks, so we check out each and every plane on this fabulous tour of the multiverse. Keep an ear out for lots of informational sound-related material - like what being on fire sounds like, and discussions on spheres on the vertical surface that holds up the ceiling. Doosh!
Because we talked about bad mechanics on the last episode, we mentioned Ravnica quite a few times. So Dirk thought we should do a block review of Ravnica as a whole. So we did! We take each of the 10 guilds of Ravnica and go over what their deal is. This includes but is not limited to: their mechanic, their philosophy, their place in the Ravnican society, and a few nifty cards from each one. We really loved Ravnica block.
And a big thank you goes out to all the people who entered the Duel Decks Contest! We're going to get started on that at some point and determine winners...at some point. Download this episode here: right here! Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-96-reflection-on-ravnica-t391.html Check out our archive at http://themanapool.libsyn.com Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/themanapool Visit Cardshark! http://www.cardshark.com Cardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.asp Subscribe to our RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Comments[0] |
Thu, 27 August 2009 
On this episode, we've got a cameo by my new roomie Scott. He's one of my best and oldest friends, and he was one of the people I played Magic with back in the days of Homelands when I played the first time. But that's just the intro, there's a lot more where that came from. First up, there's Planechase. As of this recording, two of the decks had been shown, so of course we have to go over those. We give you an in-depth into each of the planar cards, and we mention the Magic decks as they relate to the planes. There's lots of discussion and the usual bickering. Dirk came up with a great topic for this episode. We're going to take a look at some of the mechanics of old and tell you about the ones we think are great, and the ones we think are crap. Where do you think Cycling fits in? What about Radiance? Sweep? Ninjutsu? Let's not forget Flashback and Shadow. Hit the forums and let us know what mechanics you really liked or really hated. And this is the LAST CHANCE to enter the Duel Decks Contest! DON'T FORGET!
Download this episode here: right here! Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-95-classical-mechanics-t388.html! Duel Decks Contest!: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/duel-decks-contest-t363.html Check out our archive at http://themanapool.libsyn.com Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/themanapool Visit Cardshark! http://www.cardshark.com Cardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.asp Subscribe to our RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Comments[0] |
Thu, 20 August 2009  We are joined this episode by none other than the architect of the Cutie-Pie Deck Challenge herself, Claire! Most excellent! Tasteless innuendo and bad jokes abound. Of course, we have to go over what happened during the Challenge. Spoiler: I WON! We discuss the spoils of victory, the lady's prerogative, and creepy people on the internet.
Then we get underway with the news. First off, there's the new full-art Zendikar lands. Then we have the list of cards in From the Vault: Exiled. And we FINALLY know how Planechase works. Next episode we'll have a few more planar cards and decklists for you, this one was recorded before they showed any of that stuff.
Then, since we took so incredibly long on all the news and whatnot, we decided to skip our previously agreed-upon topic for this episode. We just don't have the time to properly devote to it. Check it out next episode. Instead, we take a request from a listener and take Brian's Jund Wickedness Out of the Deck Box. As always, see this episode's forum post for the full decklist. This one is definitely one to check out, as it has a whole lot going on.
For the record, Claire doesn't just sound hot. She totally is. Like damn.
Music for this episode: Beautiful by Ill Mic. Check them out at http://www.illmic.com
Download this episode here: right here! Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-94-the-hotness-t384.html Duel Decks Contest!: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/duel-decks-contest-t363.html Check out our archive at http://themanapool.libsyn.com Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/themanapool Visit Cardshark! http://www.cardshark.com Cardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.asp Subscribe to our RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Comments[0] |
Thu, 13 August 2009  Hey, Mike here. Welcome back to another hot summer episode of The Mana Pool! You don't even have to worry about getting burned if you stay in too long anymore.Anyway, we were getting a pretty impressive amount of listener input that essentially boiled down to one core issue: People want more "Out of the Deck Box"! Lucky for all of you, we came prepared. Not only is this episode exclusively devoted to the feature, but they're all comparative, as well. With Chewie, Dirk, and myself in this episode (no Brian, due to various lawyering examinations) we have 3 pairs of decks to compare among the hosts, giving you 6 unique decks to tweak and critique if the Muse so strikes you. Each deck list, of course, will be available in the forum thread for the episode. Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-93-it-came-out-of-the-deck-box-t383.html Duel Decks Contest!: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/duel-decks-contest-t363.html Check out our archive at http://themanapool.libsyn.com Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/themanapool Send me an article at submissions@cardshark.com Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com Cardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.asp Subscribe to our RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Direct download: Episode_93_-_It_Came_Out_of_the_Deck_Box.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 11:15 PM Comments[0] |
Thu, 6 August 2009  Let's talk about some stuff, shall we? We FINALLY got to play the first round of post-edit Divine vs. Demonic! Yay! We made a few changes to the decks, trying to bump the Demonic deck into the same league as the Divine one. Listen in to find out if we succeeded or just made it worse.
Wizards announced the Premium Deck Series: Slivers. So we talk about it. At great length. Opinions abound. There's even a little bit of prestidigitation, as we try to figure out what the lone mythic rare might (or even should) be. Wow, I spelled that right on the first try, but screwed up when I wrote “myhtic”.
Then, in an effort to get away from M10 for a little while, we take a step back and look at Alara Reborn. Favorite cards, underrated cards, underused cards, and just cards we think are nifty - we all weigh in on the set as a whole. And you know what? Turns out we liked it.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Time is running out! Enter the contest! The link is right down there!
Forum thread for this episode:
http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-92-use-silver-for-werewolf-infestation-t378.html Direct download: Episode_92_-_Use_Silver_for_Werewolf_Infestation.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 5:37 PM Comments[0] |
Thu, 30 July 2009  On this episode, we have even more
Magic 2010! Don't worry, next week we're gonna ease up off the M10
for a while. But we had to stay with it this time, because there's a
Launch discussion to be had! Brian and I attended, along with
Jonathan and Logan. It was Logan's first tournament, so we asked him
to join us on this episode, not only to tell us how he did, but to
give us his perspective on the whole tournament thing. Comments[0] |
Mon, 20 July 2009  Wow, we've made it up to 90. You
believe that? To celebrate this auspicious occasion (not really) we
have a whole mess of episode for you. After a somber intro, where we
dedicate this episode to a friend who is no longer with us, we go
into further detail about the new Duel Decks Contest here on The Mana
Pool. You can find the official forum announcement for the contest
here: Direct download: Episode_90_-_Instructions_on_Not_Attacking_Dirk_Multiplayer_Combat.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 10:31 PM Comments[0] |
Fri, 10 July 2009 This is truly a momentous occasion! Not only do we have all four of the hosts of The Mana Pool present for this recording, but we also have everyone's favorite guy with a bullseye painted on him, AJ! We also have Mrs. Kill AJ and The Hot One helping out for a moment in the intro. You heard it, girls on The Mana Pool! Even if it was just for a second.Right then. Previews! We've got another full load of M10 previews for you on this episode. We have everything from spiders whose art actually wasn't changed to legless angels to angels wearing pasties to the white Shock. You'll hear us rant and drone on and on about the minutiae of each card, as well as the usual nonsensical conversating that you know and love. Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-89-magic-2010-preview-3-t361.html Check out our archive at http://themanapool.libsyn.com Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/themanapool Send me an article at submissions@cardshark.com Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com Cardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.asp Subscribe to our RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Comments[1] |
Wed, 8 July 2009 Chewie here. On this episode you've got me, Brian, and Mike going over a whole crapload of Magic 2010 previews. There's really not much else to say about this particular episode, you know? It's a preview episode, after all. Although we do go over quite a few of the old Lords, so it's like a bit of a history lesson too.There are, however, a few interesting questions to be answered in here. Like will the Ant Queen get to finish her smoothie? And what's up with that guy with the antlers, the cape, and the ZZ Top beard? What's more terrifying that Jet Li coming at you with a boot to the skull? And what's up with the lion turning into a soldier, and the insect into a vampire? Listen in to find out... Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-88-magic-2010-preview-2-t360.html Check out our archive at http://themanapool.libsyn.com Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/themanapool Send me an article at submissions@cardshark.com Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com Cardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.asp Subscribe to our RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Comments[0] |
Fri, 3 July 2009 Brian here, yet again. This episode sees the cast of The Mana Pool, with the long-awaited return of Dirk, finally getting to a subject we’ve been approaching for weeks: multiplayer combat! Hold on to your hardhats, because here we...uh...wait. Our plans, apparently more fragile than a Faberge Egg, have been broken in half by the launch of the Magic 2010 page on the main Magic website, complete with visual spoiler. Yay for previews! The episode kicks off with a shout-out to the new members on the forums and to the Facebook group. Welcome all. Then, we go into some responses on the forums to our last few episodes. Feedback is always appreciated and actually does help us when we record the shows. Disagree with us about a point we make, think that Dirk is the funniest man alive, or catch us on a blatant error? Head to the forums! We then follow up on some reactions to the Magic 2010 rules changes, including Dirk’s first impressions, and the results of the first games Chewie and I have played under the new rules. Chewie and Dirk have also been playing Duels of the Planeswalkers recently and briefly share their experiences. After that, it’s on to Magic 2010 previews! Join us as we walk down a sort of memory lane with standbys like Serra Angel (now Uncommon!), Clone, and Birds of Paradise. We’ll also see old faces seeing new life like Black Knight (aww yeah), Ball Lightning, and Lightning Bolt (the one and only). Finally, since Magic 2010 is the first Core Set since Beta with new cards in it, we have new favorites like Child of Night, new duel lands, and Ant Queen. Do your exterminators have captains? They better. Finally, we’ve got some news. I’d tell you what it is, but you need to listen to find out. No cutting in line! All I’ll say is, oh wait, you have to listen! Ha. Finally finally, we quickly hit the recent Banned/Restricted List announcements and Magic shoes. Not magic shoes (Like Mike), Magic Shoes. They are NOT guaranteed to make you into a basketball legend. Thanks for listening to The Mana Pool as always, and get ready for some goodness in Magic 2010. LIGHTNING BOLT! Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-87-magic-2010-preview-1-t359.html Check out our archive at http://themanapool.libsyn.com Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/themanapool Send me an article at submissions@cardshark.com Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com Cardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.asp Subscribe to our RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Comments[0] |
Mon, 22 June 2009 Hello again, and welcome to episode 86 of the Mana Pool! Brian here, as your on-duty lifeguard for this episode. Please make sure that your life vests are securely fastened and your diving boards are locked in their upright positions, because today we’re going to hit the rapids. We should reiterate that The Mana Pool is not responsible for any lost or damaged items, limbs, or personality traits. We open up with the usual formalities, including being Dirkless yet again, and shouting out to new members on the forums and the Facebook page. We are also now on Twitter, so check out the new link at the bottom of these notes and follow us as we go about our (normal?) lives. We’ve got some updates on Chewie’s upcoming match against the Avant-Card Show podcast, which has changed somewhat. You can still find them at http://www.avantcardshow.com At this point we embark on a long rant regarding pro players, casual players, new players, skill levels, stereotypes, and common misconceptions. This is kind of an offshoot of last week’s thorny topic of the M10 rules changes, more regarding how others have reacted to the changes and what their discussions have said about them as players and theorists. Regardless of whether you’ve been playing for 20 minutes or 20 years (how’d you manage that, anyway?), you’ll hopefully find this rant/discussion/ramble interesting. Don’t get caught up here, though, because we’ve got a ways to go. Allied and enemy color pairings, favorite cards, crazy situations, and untold wit abound. Duels of the Planeswalkers on your right, rocky patches on your left, and an introduction to our Divine vs. Demonic series straight ahead stand between you and the shore. Should you reach the end of this expedition, make sure to tip your dorks and come back soon!
Direct download: Episode_86_-_A_Truly_Astonishing_Amount_of_Random_Magic_Musings.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 10:57 PM Comments[0] |
Sun, 14 June 2009  Hey there, all you Mana Pool listeners! Brian here, subbing in for Chewie. He worked 12 hours on the day that we recorded this episode, only to come home and run the recording less than 2 hours later, and he needed a bit of a break. You’d never guess it from the episode, though, ‘cause we’re all firing on all cylinders for this one. When I say "we", I don’t mean Dirk, because he’s not going to be with us for this episode and another or so due to computer death problems. Never fear, as we’ve got a mystery guest host, whose identity is unknown for at least a minute or so into the episode. [Chewie note: It's Bill, who is kurai_seraphim on the forums].We cover quite a bit of ground here before we even get into the meaty, juicy topic that the episode covers. We go over Cardshark member promotions for June, new members on the forums and Facebook [Chewie note: International, baby!], and the usual routine. Then, Chewie answers a challenge from the Avant-Card Show Podcast of the utmost importance - nudity is at stake! No, Chewie will not be naked, we promise. Maybe. After that, Duels of the Planeswalkers release information is discussed. Anybody got a spare $10 (and an Xbox 360)? Then, we get into the main topic. This was going to be the next installment in our ongoing multiplayer series, but Wizards forced us to change course with the publication of rules changes accompanying Magic 2010. These changes are huge and will impact the way you play the game from now on, so love them or hate them, you’d best listen up. Mulligans are like going to bed? Creatures getting tired? The end of Magic? Tune in to find out what I’m talking about! Find the Avant-Card Show here: http://www.avantcardshow.com M10 Rules Update here: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/42a Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-85-m10-rules-update-discussion-t349.html Check out our archive at http://themanapool.libsyn.com Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Send me an article at submissions@cardshark.com Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com Cardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.asp Subscribe to our RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Direct download: Episode_85_-_M10_Rules_Update_Discussion.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 3:59 PM Comments[0] |
Mon, 8 June 2009  Can we say that?This time we've got a lot to go over. We're Dirkless again due to his recent computer problems, but we're joined by my old roommate Corey again, so that evens out. We've got a mess of feedback to go over first. Then Brian and I have to tell you about the recent PTQ we attended. We ran the decks that were being tested in the last episode, just so you know. No last minute deck swaps for us. Then we get to the true purpose of this episode. We're discussing multiplayer deckbuilding. More specifically, we're going to focus on the differences between building a deck to take on one person and building a deck to handle multiple opponents. Of course, we sprinkle liberally with our own personal experiences and knowledge. And there's plenty of giggling, joking, tangential nonsense, and picking on each other, as per usual. What sort of episode would it be without all that? Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-84-can-we-say-that-multiplayer-deckbuilding-t344.html Check out our archive at http://themanapool.libsyn.com Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Send me an article at submissions@cardshark.com Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com Cardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.asp Subscribe to our RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Direct download: Episode_84_-_Can_We_Say_That_Multiplayer_Deckbuilding.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 6:08 AM Comments[0] |
Mon, 1 June 2009  This is probably not what you were expecting, is it? Due to recording time problems, it was either this or no show at all. And since I know what happens to you rabid Mana Pool fans out there when you don't get your weekly fix, Brian and I came up with a solution. Let us know if you thought this was good, bad, terrible, stupid, didn't care, greatest thing ever, or whatever you think. Please give us some feedback here, we're curious. What you're hearing here is us testing for the PTQ that happened this past weekend. Some people requested that we try playing a game or more on the air, so we decided to give it a shot, killing two birds with one stone. Brian's playing a Bant Aggro - Finest Hour deck, and I'm playing a Jund Aggro - Cascade deck. We'll hit you with how the decks performed at the PTQ next episode, as well as get back to our multiplayer shows.
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Wed, 27 May 2009 Prepare yourselves for a wild ride. That's all the warning you get.
We're also going to talk about some of those cards that we just absolutely hate to see on the table across from us. Of course this covers the obvious things like Stasis and Portcullis, but also the more subtly miserable cards like Fatespinner and Telepathy. We'll go over what exactly it is about all these cards that we despise so much.
Forum thread for this episode:
http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-82-back-in-the-day-multiplayer-cards-t339.html Direct download: Episode_82_-_Back_in_the_Day_Multiplayer_Cards.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 5:48 PM Comments[1] |
Tue, 19 May 2009  This episode was a complete mess, but not for you to listen to. Allow me to explain. First, we are joined by our old friend AJ of "Kill AJ" fame. This leads to our pre-recording conversation becoming a completely random mess that I really wish we could have recorded. Then we have a bit of listener feedback, which we always appreciate. Hint hint!
Then there's some news. The Xbox 360 Live Arcade game, Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers, is coming out soon, and the list of Achievements has been released, so I spend a couple minutes going over that. Then Mike gets all giddy about the latest Rules Update that happened a couple weeks ago, and he goes over the various functional changes from this update. Believe it or not, this is actually interesting enough to pay attention to. To follow along yourself, go here: http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/35b&page=2
Then there's this bit of news about Planechase, which sounds like a new Vanguard-ish type of thing. Whatever it may be, we're going over the press release with a fine-tooth comb. Actually it's a shoeshine brush, but whatever. To follow along yourself again, go here: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/187
Then I have a bit of Magic-playing news about my trip to Newport News, VA for Mother's Day. My cousin took me to a cyber cafe/card-playing location called Cyberwocky where I did lots of trading and was involved in a pickup Emperor game, something that is completely unheard of around here. It was great, so I talk about it.
Then we wanted to hit some of the high points of Alara Reborn, and this is where things started to fall apart. Brian suddenly realized that he had to go. Then Mike suddenly and involuntarily left us. While he was trying to get back, the rest of us soldiered on. He finally returned to us, sans some of his enthusiasm (not a word you'd usually associate with Mike, but he had a big Rules Update to go over this episode), and the episode ended shortly thereafter.
The real problems came when I tried to put this show together. Four and a half minutes of footage were covered in the horrible clicks that I only sort of managed to remove. I love you guys so much that I recorded a quick apology right before that part. Then the freaking edited-completely-except-for-music file decided it didn't want to save properly and I had to do it all over again. And then I had serious troubles getting the music for this episode to include both left and right stereo channels when I copied it over. But I eventually figured it out. As I write this, I should have been in the bed 45 minutes ago, but I wanted it all ready to upload tomorrow before we record the next show. That's how much I love you guys. Sleep is not as important as getting the episode out sometime before we record the next one, you know?
Music for this episode: Slave by Social Outcast u.b. Check them out at http://www.myspace.com/socialoutcastub
Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-81-would-you-like-some-content-with-your-tech-t334.html Check out our archive at http://themanapool.libsyn.com Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Send me an article at submissions@cardshark.com Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com Cardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.asp Subscribe to our RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Direct download: Episode_81_-_Would_You_Like_Some_Content_with_Your_Technical_Difficulties.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 3:49 PM Comments[4] |
Tue, 12 May 2009  Hey there, all you Mike fans! This is me, filling in on the notes for Chewie this week as a special treat for everyone who missed me (hi, Mom!). Unfortunately, we're less one Dirk this time, as he had some stuff to take care of and didn't feel like he had anything in particular to contribute to the subject matter of the episode.Anyway, we kick things off with a special little featurette that might come back if people like it enough. As we get settled, it's Nature versus Technology as storms begin to rage in the background and threaten our precious electricity. From there, we get to the Cardshark Member Promotions (featuring everyone's favorite free uncommons), the final chapter of the Jace vs. Chandra evolution, and then we all get to hear about how Brian and Chewie did at the Alara Reborn Launch Party. Very informative, very entertaining. Welcome back to The Mana Pool! Music for this episode: Your Heroes are Dead by Social Outcast u.b. Check them out at http://www.myspace.com/socialoutcastub Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-80-ready-for-launch-arb-t330.html Check out our archive at http://themanapool.libsyn.com Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Send me an article at submissions@cardshark.com Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com Cardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.asp Subscribe to our RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Comments[1] |
Sun, 3 May 2009 First off, I just wanted to say sorry for the lateness of this episode. I'm sure you'll hear about why in the next one.
In this Mike-free show, we're here to talk the Alara Reborn Prerelease. We decided that it made more sense to record on a night that Brian could join us, since he was at the Prerelease, so we had to do it on a night Mike was unavailable. Sorry to all the Mike fans out there, he should be back next episode.
So join us for a complete look at how we did. All three of us competed in the Sealed portion. Guess what colors Dirk played! For that matter, guess what all of us played. It actually matches what you would think. Then Dirk and Brian did a draft. Guess what colors Dirk played! I bet you guess wrong! Hit the forums if you haven't already and let us know how you did. And if you want to cheat, you can check out the forum thread for this episode to see all 5 decklists. The link is right down there if you're not already on the forums.
Music for this episode: I Don't Vote Republican by Social Outcast u.b. Check them out at http://www.myspace.com/socialoutcastub
Forum thread for this episode:
http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-79-alara-reborn-prerelease-spectacular-t324.html Direct download: Episode_79_-_Alara_Reborn_Prerelease_Spectacular.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 6:13 PM Comments[2] |
Fri, 24 April 2009 And the final Alara Reborn Preview is upon us! We are Mikeless in this episode, but that's okay because we have joining us the amazing Jason, also known as garthok84 on the forums, who was the third place winner of our big contest at the beginning of the year. He takes up the slack from Mike's absence and is generally a horrible human being throughout the entire episode. Which is what we look for in a guest host named Jason. But of course, we have a whole thoctar-load of previews to get through. Which is really hard considering all the random tangents, animal interruptions, challengers appearing, and poisoning of the forum members that are going on. But we eventually get through them all. You know, eventually. It's a seriously funny ride this time around though, so if you can make it through the whole thing, we hope you enjoyed it. Contrary to what you hear me say in this episode, we did not go past two hours. I just thought we did because I can't tell time. Alara Reborn Visual Spoiler: http://www.wizards.com/magic/tcg/article.aspx?x=mtg/tcg/alarareborn/spoiler
Check out our archive at http://themanapool.libsyn.com Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Send me an article at submissions@cardshark.com Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com Cardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.asp Subscribe to our RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Comments[0] |
Wed, 22 April 2009 Hello to all you folks out there in Internet Land! This is Mike, filling in on the notes for Chewie because... uh... because he told me to, really. Welcome to another Alara Reborn preview episode! As usual, Wizards dumped a whole truckload of stuff on us through the main site and other venues since we last sat down to record, so we're just doing a partial update of the official spoiler list as it stands (stay tuned later in the week for the rest). We are Brian-less this time, as Chewie does not have veto power over Tom, but we were able to get Bill (of kuraiseraphim fame) to join in, with a special silent mystery guest (Warning: episode contains spoilers regarding the identity of the mystery guest). Fire up your audio player of choice and look forward to good burn, awesome names, Chewie only getting B/R cards, solid commons, and the Yeti hitchhiker. Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-77-alara-reborn-preview-2-t319.html Check out our archive at http://themanapool.libsyn.com Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Send me an article at submissions@cardshark.com Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com Cardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.asp Subscribe to our RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Comments[2] |
Wed, 15 April 2009 We are again Dirkless this episode, as he is off with his bride gallivanting around our nation's capital. So instead we have Ben, known on the forums as Panahinuva, who was one of our contest winners from a few months ago. Most excellent. Well you know what the deal is. First we have some stuff to go over as usual, shout-outs and whatnot. Be sure to check out the Avant Card podcast, brought to you by Christian, who is SpaceNinja on the forums. Episode 3 is out now, which is very funny. You can find it at www.avantcardshow.com. And then we jump into the Alara Reborn previews. For those of you following along at home, we start at Unscythe, Killer of Kings and go all the way up the visual spoiler to Jenara, Asura of War. We skip over the couple we've mentioned before of course. If you want to follow along or just check out all the previewed cards, go here: Wake up Mike. Mike? Helloooo?
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Mon, 13 April 2009 On this episode, we begin Mikeless, because something stupid happened at work. Then we dive into Brian's Scarecrow Deck, which was requested as an Out of the Deck Box. Here's the list for that. Comments[0] |
Mon, 6 April 2009  First off, Brian got sick and died, so we are without his services for this episode. Then there's a bit of Magic news, including Alara Reborn Intro Pack decklists and the announcement of Zendikar. Then there's the feedback we've gotten from people in various places, new members on the Facebook group, and all that good stuff. And Cardshark Member Promotions, because it's a new month. Zendikar: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/153 Alara Reborn Intro Packs: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/159 And be sure you check out the April Fool's Draft Viewer. Click around and check out the packs. No really. It's well worth it. http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/activity/158 Then we have a very special thank you to send out to Elton Sean, who did something supremely thoughtful for us. We really appreciated it, and so we spend a fair chunk of time talking about it. And that leads us to the next bit of the show. Lots of people playing Magic right now have either quit playing at some point in the past or at least thought really hard about quitting. We discuss those times for each of us: what caused us to think about quitting, and why we ultimately decided against it. Then it's time for some dragons. There was a request at least a hundred years ago for an Out of the Deck Box featuring Dirk's Dragon Deck. So of course we had to honor that request. Mind you it hasn't been updated in a while, and we even discussed ways to make it better. Here's the entire list. Dirk's Dragon Deck 1 Vampiric Dragon 3 Ryusei, the Falling Star 4 Kilnmouth Dragon 3 Two-Headed Dragon 3 Dragon Tyrant 2 Bladewing the Risen 3 Bladewing’s Thrall 3 Furnace Whelp 2 Furnace Dragon 1 Rorix Bladewing 1 Homura, Human Ascendant 1 Oversold Cemetery 4 Zombify 1 Tatsumasa, the Dragon’s Fang 3 Eon Hub 2 Cryptic Gateway 3 Quicksilver Amulet 2 Urborg Volcano 9 Mountain 9 Swamp x 9 Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-74-gifts-quitting-and-dragons-t310.html Check out our archive at http://themanapool.libsyn.com Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Send me an article at submissions@cardshark.com Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com Cardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.asp Subscribe to our RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Direct download: Episode_74_-_Gifts_Quitting_and_Dragons.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 7:45 PM Comments[0] |
Mon, 30 March 2009  Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-73-shred-memory-t308.html Comments[1] |
Sun, 22 March 2009  There's a lot going on in this episode. First off, we have lots of Mana Pool news. New members on the forums, new people in the Facebook group, some comments on the MTGCast page, stuff like that. Also, I got a job. Yay employment! There's also that whole bit about From the Vault: Exiled, but we really don't know enough about it to do anything other than read the stuff on the announcement, found here: Comments[0] |
Fri, 13 March 2009  Man, this whole show has gone to the dogs. Well, hounds. And it's for the birds. And cats. And even rabbits and slugs and leeches. We're taking a look at the way Magic handles real-world animals. Any creature type that is a real animal, I have taken a look at and figured out how many there are and what, if anything, ties them all together. Since I did this, I'm going to torment my fellow dorks by making them guess what animals are where on the list. It's a lot of fun. So sit tight and check out the entire menagerie. And no, goblins don't count. Comments[0] |
Sun, 8 March 2009  On this extra-long and woefully non-creatively named episode, we have lots and lots of stuff to go through. First off, there's all the new member promotions on Cardshark. The featured promotion is especially interesting, be sure to check it out. We have new members on the Facebook group, new members on the forums, and a quick message to one of our forum members, involving the words “dude” and “dork”. We have a comment on the hosting site about an article by Kelley Digges, so we have to comment on that. And then there's news involving some of our fellow Magic podcasters. There's a quick apology to Mr. Suitcase for our promo ruining his show. Sorry about that. Then there's an announcement about Avant Card, a new podcast by our very own forum member and big dork spaceninja. You can find that here: Comments[0] |
Thu, 26 February 2009  In this episode, your four hosts definitely do NOT get lives. Trust me on this. Comments[1] |
Sat, 21 February 2009  For anyone joining us from the MTGCast, welcome to The Mana Pool! Come on in, the water's fine. For everyone else, welcome back. Please use your assigned locker space for changing into your trunks. Also, please wait until us hosts get out of the locker room, because we definitely don't need to be here to see that. Comments[0] |
Thu, 12 February 2009  Welcome to our random nonsense episode. I'm dying slowly and pitifully, Mike's sleep schedule is being treated like a pinball, Brian's classes are eating into his social activities, and Dirk plays WoW. Not only that, but we're going to attempt to humanize ourselves just a little bit. We're gonna give you a look at your dorky hosts from a different perspective – what we're doing when we're not playing Magic or podcasting about Magic. Are we really big dorks, or are we actually cool people who play Magic? Find out here! Next up is the contest story that won second place, from Ben Ahrendt. That's Panahinuva on the forums, and the guest host on episode 63. It's a great story, as narrated by our own Brian Baker. We tried to get Ken Follett, but he didn't return our calls. And Don LaFontaine died last year, so he was out. So we went with our third choice, the guy that does the game footage recap commentary on Inside the NFL, but we have no idea who he is. So it was up to Brian, and he performed admirably. There were some recent changes to the Comprehensive Rules that were posted on the Magic website. Mike wanted to go over a few of the more interesting ones (in theory). He covered Eye for an Eye, Gilded Drake, Guardian Beast, and Sorrow's Path. Turns out they finally made it not completely useless, but still absolutely terrible. You can find the full list here: http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/23c&page=1 And then we move into the second round of Jace vs. Chandra games. We made a few changes to each deck and pitted them against each other yet again. After listening to the results, hit the forums and let us know if you have any recommendations for the next round of changes. Music for this episode is the Main Theme from Super Smash Bros. Brawl on the Wii. Holy crap it's great. Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-67-potent-potables-t294.html Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Comments[0] |
Fri, 6 February 2009 
It's the Conflux Prerelease Bonanza! Okay, I'm totally not gonna call it that. But in this episode, we all get together and tell you about the Prerelease. Spoiler alert: Mike the did the worst of us all. We also get Bill, winner of the Mana Pool Contest and Kurai_Seraphim on the forums, to join us to tell us how he fared. There's also a brief sidebar on cheating, a bit of discussion about some of the cards in the new set, and even a quick look ahead at Alara Reborn. I mean quick, too. Like just a few seconds. But it's in there! And there are new member promotions on Cardshark (since it's a new month) and new members on the forums to welcome. Yay new people! Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-66-conflux-prerelease-t293.html Comments[0] |
Thu, 29 January 2009 Alas, we are Dirkless yet again! Luckily (for him), he has a good excuse this time. We are also Mikeless. Is that even a word? Also luckily, he has a good excuse too. I'd hate to have to kill a dork in anger, you know? Before we got to the show though, Brian and I had to finish a game. Luckily, I was able to summon up a garthok84 from the forums to fight for me. Then he decided to stick around and guest host this episode for us. It's Jason McFarland, guest host extraordinare and third place winner of The Mana Pool Contest! So yeah, it's more Conflux previews. Nine cards' worth of goodness, in fact. Never mind the random tangent about whether or not narrow cards that work well in block are are good or not. Or the fifteen minute discussion about the last card (arguably the most important, from a tournament perspective). Or the assorted other random nonsense that comes up all the time. Yeah. Thanks for putting up with all our crap. Enjoy the Prerelease! Conflux Visual Spoiler: Comments[0] |
Tue, 27 January 2009 Brains! No, wait, that's not right. Previews! After you pay for this episode, you'll get to hear our takes on 13 more Conflux preview cards. Now all you have to do is figure out where to insert the money... Conflux Visual Spoiler:
Comments[0] |
Thu, 22 January 2009 In this originally-named episode, we're gonna hit more Conflux previews! But first, we're gonna give you the story that won third place in the contest, submitted by Jason McFarland, who is garthok84 on the forums. It involves my favorite format ever and a terrible, horrible, soul-crushing way to lose. But before that, we've got a promo to play for Mr. Suitcase, a podcast over on the MTGCast. Preceding that, there's a bit of a rules issue that recently came to my attention that we wanted to clear up involving Unearth, in case some of you don't know it. I didn't know it. Before we get to all that though, we introduce you to Ben Ahrendt who is Panahinuva on the forums and the second place story in the contest, who joins us for this stupidly overpowered preview episode. I mean really, Nicol Bolas and Progenitus in the same episode? You're lucky your iPod can hold this entire episode at all. Holy crap. If you want to see the answer to the Unearth-Blink issue written out, go here and scroll down awhile. You'll find it eventually. http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/askwizards/1008 Conflux Visual Spoiler: http://www.wizards.com/magic/tcg/article.aspx?x=mtg/tcg/conflux/spoiler Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-63-conflux-previews-2-t287.html Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Send me an article at submissions@cardshark.com Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com Cardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.asp RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Comments[0] |
Mon, 19 January 2009 In this episode of The Mana Pool, our heroes bravely withstand a goblin attack to bring you the first round of Conflux previews. There are 17 cards to go over, and they manage to hit every one of them without any major casualties, although Dirk may never walk again. Tune in next week to see which of your hosts learns a valuable lesson. The Mana Pool – Mondays on the WB! No wait, they're not that anymore. Never mind then, their TV show got canceled. You'll just have to get your episodes off the internet like everyone else. And congratulations to the winners of the First Official Mana Pool Contest (Not an Official Name)! What, you don't know who won? Then you haven't listened to this episode yet! Music for this episode is Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals by Raymond Scott. Again with the music you might recognize from a misspent youth watching Looney Tunes. Next episode will be something different, I assure you. Probably no music at all actually, so you better enjoy this one. Forum thread for this episode:http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-62-conflux-previews-1-t286.html Comments[0] |
Mon, 12 January 2009 Welcome to the first Mana Pool episode of 2009! We of course have to start off predictably with some Magic-related New Year's resolutions. We all resolve to play more Magic than we have in recent times, so that must be the dork equivalent of “lose weight”. I actually resolve not to lose weight, even though Wii Fit says I'm morbidly obese, but that's neither here nor there. Then we get into the meat of the episode. We're going to start a deck evolution sort of thing, much like we did with the Clash Deck, except that we're actually going to do this one more than once. But instead of just building a deck and going from there, we're going to change it up a bit. We're going to take two decks and evolve them parallel to each other. And not just any two decks, no no no. We're starting off with the Duel Decks: Jace vs. Chandra. And boy are these decks a blast to play against each other. We've played some games with them straight out of the box, and we're going to make some changes and get back to you with the results, along with more changes. It'll be a running feature here on the show, at least until Brian gets bored with it. Music for this episode is Powerhouse by Raymond Scott. It's classic music that was used a lot by Warner Bros for the Looney Tunes. You'll definitely recognize it. Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-61-checked-on-new-year-s-resolution-t282.html Direct download: Episode_61_-_Checked_on_New_Years_Resolution.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 7:43 PM Comments[0] |
Thu, 18 December 2008 Greetings one and greetings all. This is Brian, taking a break from rambling on the air (internet?) waves to do some typing for you. Here you'll find Episode 60 of the Mana Pool, now with 75% less Dirk (don't worry, he'll be back, he's just experiencing recent matrimony, that's all). In this episode, there's some news that we need to go over. And when I say some news, I mean so much news that you might think that this was a news show or something. Seriously. We go over Cardshark member promotions for December, talk about Wizards' prerelease survey and related changes, the banned and restricted list, changes coming to a Magic Online near you, a brand new Duel Deck set coming out next year, and throw in a quick plug for the ongoing contest being run right here at the Mana Pool. See the links below for all that stuff. Oh yeah, and Worlds 2008 happened too. We'll tell you who won all the good stuff. After three hours of news, we do have some content for you- binder pulls! What's that mean? Listen in and find out, and you'll soon find yourself flipping/digging/pawing/scratching/eating your way through your collection for hidden gems (Volrath's Dungeon) and lackluster duds (Molten Sentry). This was a fun one to put together, and we hope that you enjoy. Cardshark Member Promotions http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.asp Prerelease News http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/13c Banned & Restricted List Announcement http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/15a MTGO Changes http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/17a Duel Decks: Divine vs. Demonic Announcement http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/1737 Music for this episode: Devour by Shinedown. Totally awesome. Check them out at http://www.shinedown.com And don't forget to send your contest entries to us at themanapool@cardshark.com. For full contest rules and whatnot, see the link below. Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-60-news-and-a-binder-pull-two-bits-t274.html Contest information: the-mana-pool-contest-announcement-t261.html Direct download: Episode_60_-_News_and_a_Binder_Pull_Two_Bits.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 9:02 PM Comments[0] |
Mon, 8 December 2008  Chewie here. Mike was good enough to write the show notes for this episode, but there are a couple things that bear mentioning first. Sorry about the horrible clicking sounds that show up for the first 9 minutes or so. We still have no idea what causes them, and we just happened to not check the file after we recorded it. So of course, we have clicking sounds, because we didn't check for them first. Murphy and his stupid laws. The other thing is that I have a brand new headset that my beautiful and thoughtful girlfriend Alexis got me for my birthday. Let me know if it sounds better or worse than the desktop mic. Now, having said that, here are the show notes originally intended for this episode. Hello again, and welcome to The Mana Pool! This is Mike, filling in for Chewie on the show notes this week. Speaking of this week, every Magic player knows the appeal of a quality "Enchant Creature" card. Why settle for simply playing creatures as-written when you can make them better? Yeah, that knight is pretty decent with his first strike and 2/2 body, but how about making him bigger, giving him flying and trample, and hey, let's throw some shroud on there for good measure. The only problem is that you have to dump a big pile of cards into your graveyard if something happens to the creature. Because of that built in risk of giving your opponent card advantage, most "serious" players avoid them. But "serious" is nothing we've ever taken seriously. This week we have another comparative Out of the Deck Box feature, looking at what happens when 3 different dorks embrace the allure of the aura and make it the focus of their decks. From Dirk, we have a Green build geared towards making a creature so big, it would send Galactus running for cover. Mike submits a huge pile of White and Blue cards dedicated to exploiting the interactions between great auras and creatures that love to have them around. Finally, Chewie shows us what happens when some Red, White, and Blue auras with CIP triggers are put into a deck made to flip them in and out of play. Whether it's magical rope ladders, terrible land bases, or way too many ideas in a deck at once, this is another episode with something for everyone. And don't forget to send your contest entries to us at themanapool@cardshark.com. For full contest rules and whatnot, see the link below. We're now being broadcast on Radio Free Subspace! We're on Thursday nights at 8pm, but check it out anytime. It's an eclectic mix of all kinds of music and whatnot, and it's pretty cool. Give it a listen here: http://loudcity.com/stations/radio-free-subspace Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-59-out-of-the-deck-box-combo-auras-t268.html Contest information: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/the-mana-pool-contest-announcement-t261.html Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Send me an article at submissions@cardshark.com Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Direct download: Episode_59_-_Out_of_the_Deck_Box_Combo-_Auras.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 8:22 PM Comments[0] |
Tue, 2 December 2008 It's official: Mike is leaving us. Not the show, he'll still be here as the rules guy and the old-school knowledge. But he's physically leaving us to take a job that is about 8 hours away. And he's doing so relatively soon. So he decided that we should all get together and play Magic one more time before he wandered off to the far reaches of what-have-you.
So we did. The four Mana Pool hosts gathered at my beautiful girlfriend's house, had a practice Thanksgiving (Dorksgiving) and played a mess of Magic. We then retired to my fabulous crappy apartment to record an episode live instead of over Skype. We were joined by Kat, Mike's girlfriend, who was sitting on my bed making a cute little robot doll while we recorded. She played the part of the peanut gallery during the show.
And here it is. We had just finished playing seven games of multiplayer free-for-all Magic, and then we came here to bring you all the big moments in every game. We also went over the slow moments. And the one game that we all thought would never actually end. And those couple games that just ended suddenly and with great style. So yeah, you'll get the full story of our (possibly) last gathering of the Mana Pool hosts for the purposes of playing Magic for hours on end. At least the last one that won't be a super-special occasion. We hope you enjoy!
And don't forget to send your contest entries to us at themanapool@cardshark.com. For full contest rules and whatnot, see the link below.
Music for this episode: B.Y.O.N.E.S. (NES Of A Down Extended Mix) by detalub0
We're now being broadcast on Radio Free Subspace! We're on Thursday nights at 8pm, but check it out anytime. It's an eclectic mix of all kinds of music and whatnot, and it's pretty cool. Give it a listen here: http://loudcity.com/stations/radio-free-subspace
Forum link for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-58-multiplayer-mayhem-for-mike-t267.html Contest information: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/the-mana-pool-contest-announcement-t261.html Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Send me an article at submissions@cardshark.com Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Direct download: Episode_58_-_Multiplayer_Mayhem_for_Mike.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 7:50 PM Comments[0] |
Tue, 25 November 2008  For this episode, we are Brian-less. Of all the terrible things that could have happened to cause his absence for this first episode of the new year of casting, this is perhaps the worst. He's lost his voice. Let's hope he survives.Everyone that plays Magic started playing at some point. Which means that after everyone started playing, there was a new set that came out. This episode is all about our first new set. For Mike, that was Fallen Empires. For me, it was Homelands. Please don't hold that against us, at least we got over it and are still playing. For Dirk, it was Onslaught. We're going to take a look at each new set and explore the world they've created for it, which covers the story and the flavorful aspects. We'll then discuss the mechanical leitmotif for each set, meaning the keywords included and any strong themes running throughout the cards. And of course, the meat of each set review will be a look at the notable cards that originated there. We'll be hitting cards we just really like, cards that are excessively powerful, cards that are historically important, and cards that were just a lot of fun. So sit back, relax, and take trip down our memory lane as we take a look at our first new sets. For those of you that weren't playing back in these times, especially the dark ages of Fallen Empires and Homelands, you'll get a look at where things were back then, and perhaps an idea of where they're going now. And don't forget to send us your contest entries! For the full scoop, check out the link below. We're now being broadcast on Radio Free Subspace! We're on Thursday nights at 8pm, but check it out anytime. It's an eclectic mix of all kinds of music and whatnot, and it's pretty cool. Give it a listen here: http://loudcity.com/stations/radio-free-subspace Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-57-ancestral-memories-t263.html Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Comments[0] |
Tue, 18 November 2008  Welcome to our one year anniversary episode! To be perfectly honest, there's not terribly much that is completely new and awesome in this show. We really wanted to stick with one of our core concepts, something that the fans really appreciate. So we went over the Cardshark Member Promotions for the month of November and called it a day. You can find them here: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.asp Okay, not really. First there's a big announcement about the first Mana Pool Contest. We want everyone to send in their best Magic story. Cardshark.com, our fabulous sponsors, are donating a box of Shards of Alara to the cause, and each host picked out some of their foil rares to add to each winner. For the full list of prizes and the full contest rules and regulations rundown, see the forums. Or click right here: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/the-mana-pool-contest-announcement-t261.html As I said, we really wanted to do something that the listeners would really enjoy, a fan-favorite type of thing. So we decided to do an entire episode of Out of the Deck Box! We each picked out one of our decks that we really enjoy and went to town. I told everyone about my Pestilence deck. Brian expounded on his Shared Fate deck. Dirk discussed his Saviors deck. And Mike finished us up with his Big Black Stupid deck. We went through each deck and hit the important cards, the important concepts, the ideal plays, and the reason we love it so much. Thanks again to everyone who has listened, posted on the forums, emailed us, and generally did anything whatsoever to keep the show going. We appreciate all of you, and we hope to keep entertaining you for the next year to come. Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-56-the-one-year-episode-t262.html Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Send me an article at submissions@cardshark.com Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Comments[0] |
Mon, 17 November 2008  In honor of our one year anniversary of podcasting, I wanted to give everyone a look behind the scenes. Here are some of the bits that didn't quite make it onto the feed for your listening pleasure. The rest is explained in the clip. Thanks a lot for listening throughout the year everyone, and enjoy the completely non-Magic goodness in this Bonus Episode! Comments[0] |
Thu, 6 November 2008  As the race for the Mana Pool Presidency heads to the finish line, the political ad campaigns are starting to get dirty. The last round of ads will be sprinkled throughout this episode so you can have all the information you need when you get to the polls.In this episode, we're taking a look at the Booster Draft format. Brian did a Shards of Alara draft on Magic Online and saved the results, so we're going to take a look, pick by pick, at the entire thing. We'll check out the cards in each pack and try to figure out just exactly what Brian took, or should have taken, and after we're all done we'll check out the deck he built and he'll tell us how he did with it. In other news, here's the link to the article unveiling the full decklists for Duel Decks: Jace vs. Chandra. http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/11 Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-55-take-your-pick-t258.html Comments[0] |
Wed, 29 October 2008 Everyone loves Out of the Deck Box, right? So why don't we do a whole episode where we each pick one of our many (many) decks and tell you folks all about it? Sound like a plan? Well tough. We're not doing that. Instead, Brian thought we should each pick a deck that wasn't our own and talk about it. After lots of “huh?” we decided that it was, in fact, a good idea. Brian kicked us off by talking about my old roommate Corey's Sneak Attack deck. Dirk wanted to tell everyone how my Poison Ping deck works. Mike wanted to discuss Dirk's Bird tribal deck. Since I have a Bird deck too, Brian went over it and we spent a while discussing the similarities and differences. We'll have to do this again with some other decks, it's a lot of fun. And I finished things off by expounding on a deck with a very touching origin, Mike's Killer Instinct deck. It's a nice and simple episode, but it was a lot of fun. We hope you guys enjoy it as much as we did. Oh yeah, if you'd like a look at the decklists in their entireties (is that even a word?), then check out the forum link at the bottom of these show notes. It'll be on the Facebook group too in case you guys wanna check it out there.
Direct download: Episode_54_-_Out_of_Someone_Elses_Deck_Box.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 7:49 PM Comments[0] |
Mon, 27 October 2008 Chewie here. First off, I'd like to apologize for the lateness of this episode. We recorded it almost a week ago, but I've been bouncing back and forth between really busy and seriously exhausted, so it's all my fault. You can spread around the blame with the other dorks if you want though, I'm not going to stop you.In this episode, Mike thought we should take a closer look at the Shards. Of Alara. Since this is a block just oozing with flavor, everyone seems to be talking more about the flavor and philosophy and whatnot of this one than they have in previous sets. Not ones to stand idly by while the bandwagon trundles along without us, we hopped on. And what a buffet it is! We looked at the flavor of the shards in various ways, including but not limited to: - The colors that comprise each shard - The colors that are missing from each shard - The mechanical identity of each shard - Citing examples from flavor text - General setting and feel of each shard In other news, there's also news in this episode. Wizards recently revealed the name and whatnot for the final set in the Alara block. You can find it, if you are so inclined, here: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/1702 Wizards also FINALLY gave us some information about the next iteration of Duel Decks. Jace vs. Chandra is coming Nov. 7, and it looks to be seriously awesome. Two 60-card decks, each with 4 rares, which includes the foil alternate art versions of Jace Beleren and Chandra Nalaar. Six cards get new artwork featuring the planeswalkers in action. Control vs. Burn, baby! I can't wait. Check out the announcement showing some of the art the product information pages in the links below. http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/1700 http://www.wizards.com/magic/tcg/productarticle.aspx?x=mtg/tcg/jacevschandra/productinfo Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-53-savoring-shards-exploring-the-flavor-of-alara-t253.html Direct download: Episode_53_-_Savoring_Shards-Exploring_the_Flavor_of_Alara.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 9:49 PM Comments[0] |
Fri, 17 October 2008 It must have been a full moon or something. Perhaps Karma reached out to slap us. Whatever the deal was, we had serious problems actually getting this episode recorded. The recording program didn't seem to want to record. Part of the way through, Brian decided to turn into Optimus Prime transforming into a truck. He didn't actually make it all the way through to the end of the episode. After he transformed, he rolled out. Dirk absolutely forgot how to read set labels. And we realized again that we were all incredibly stupid about Tarmogoyf when Future Sight broke. This episode, we decided to talk about the recent Standard rotation. A truly ridiculous number of cards left Standard when Shards of Alara came out, putting an end to the largest Type II environment...ever. We lost Coldsnap, Time Spiral, Planar Chaos, Future Sight, and the Timeshifted sheet. Well, we didn't lose them, they just rotated out of most popular Constructed format. Extended and whatnot still have them, don't panic. To commemorate this, we decided to take a look back at these sets from a different point of view. We wanted to check out some of the cards that came out of nowhere to define the format (Tarmogoyf, of course). We also wanted to take a look at some cards that just didn't live up to the hype. Not just the hype that Wizards built up, but the expectations we had about how much some of the cards would do. I think you'll find that our discussion leads us to believe that there's a lot more to be discovered and explored in the cards that just rotated out of Standard. Not only do we have serious technical issues on this episode, but we also have what could be the single most awesome thing ever. Perhaps we had such problems because Karma wanted to balance out this particular show. One of our longtime listeners, JungleRatRob, decided to do a remix. He took a truly staggering number of audio clips from the show and mixed them with Weapon of Choice by Fatboy Slim. He sprinkled in a few of Strong Bad's "DELETED" buzzers for humorous impact. What he got out of it was a piece of pure, unadulterated AWESOME. I'll be honest with you, I was in tears the first time I heard it because I was laughing so hard. Even my Mom liked it, and she doesn't listen to the show at all. As Mike put it: "Our musical entertainment is a survey of the true heart of the show. The rambling of lunatics, that is." Amen to that. He really managed to avoid any of the actual content of the show and deliver a piece of music that really cuts down to who we are and why we love to do the show. And for that we are forever indebted to you, JungleRatRob, for the effort you put into this, becaues you did for us. We appreciate it more than you can possibly imagine. Music for this episode: No One Expects the Mana Pool by JungleRatRob Look for it for individual download soon, right here on our feed. Hit the forums and tell us what you think. Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-52-standard-rotation-time-flies-in-a-snap-t248.html Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Send me an article at submissions@cardshark.com Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Direct download: Episode_52_-_Standard_Rotation_-_Time_Flies_in_a_Snap.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 12:27 AM Comments[0] |
Thu, 9 October 2008 Whether it's caused by eroding your memory, freezing your brain, dampening your thoughts, having your secrets drowned or your grimoire stolen, glimpsing the unthinkable, looting, brokering, or just being driven insane by the sound of the millstone relentlessly grinding away, Milling is never a fun way to lose a game of Magic. But it sure is a great way to win a game of Magic! If you can get it to work, that is. In this episode, which is brought to you with one more Polar Kraken than usual, we're going to take a long, hard look at being run out of cards. We have three decks that each win by depleting your opponents' libraries, albeit each one does so in its own particular fashion, which you can see further down in the show notes. Different colors go about milling in different ways, and we'll cover all the ones that come to us. Keep an ear out for a lively biological discussion about the classification similarities and disparities between crustaceans and cephalopods. And no, I'm not making that up. Dirk’s Milling Deck Creatures: Drift of Phantasms x3 Soratami Mindsweeper x2 Lore Broker x4 Belltower Sphinx x4 Blizzard Specter x2 Vedalken Entrancer x4 Thought Courier x1 Lurking Informant x4 Artifact: Millstone x2 Enchantment: Seal of Doom x4 Instant/Sorcery: Last Gasp x3 Psychic Drain x4 Glimpse the Unthinkable x3 Lands: Swamps x8 Islands x8 Dimir Aqueduct x4 Brian's Milling Deck 10:Plains 11:Island 2:Azorius Chancery 1:Boreal Shelf 4:Ink Dissolver 3:Drowner of Secrets 3:Fallowsage 3:Information Dealer 3:Silvergill Adept 2:Wandering Graybeard 1:Surgespanner 1:Stonybrook Schoolmaster 1:Grimoire Thief 1:Riptide Chronologist 4:Merrow Commerce 3:Memory Sluice 2:Forced Fruition 2:Pemmin's Aura 2:Summon the School 1:Hoofprints of the Stag Mike's Squid (Mollusc?) Alarm Land (22) 15: Island 2: Cephalid Coliseum 2: Saprazzan Skerry 2: Sveylunite Temple 1: Shelldock Isle Creature (14) 2: Cephalid Broker 2: Cephalid Looter 2: Chronozoa 2: Riptide Shapeshifter 1: Arcanis the Omnipotent 1: Isleback Spawn 1: Magus of the Future 1: Murkfiend Liege 1: Polar Kraken 1: Tidespout Tyrant Non-Creature (24) 4: Accumulated Knowledge 4: Rune Snag 4: Serum Visions 4: Wistful Thinking 2: Capsize 2: Feldon's Cane 2: Homarid Spawning Bed 2: Intruder Alarm
Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-51-ransacking-the-library-fifty-three-to-go-t240.html Direct download: Episode_51_-_Ransacking_the_Library_-_Fifty-Three_to_Go.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 8:52 PM Comments[0] |
Thu, 2 October 2008 Hey all! This is Brian, taking the reins of the show’s writing department for a week, and what a week it is to be here. The Mana Pool is proud to present its 50th Episode spectacular. Lions! Squires! Mana-producing, vigilancing, multi-color bears! We’ve got it all, so come on in! In this episode, we’ve got 50% more hosts than usual. Dirk, sadly, could not be there for reasons that Chewie will kill him for later. In the meantime, we’re joined by guest hosts in the form of Thomas (Mike’s brother), AJ (dorking group member from days past), and Jason (garthok84 of the forums, and an increasingly present guest host). The six of us crowd around the proverbial campfire that is the internet recording program and regale you and each other with our stories from the Shards of Alara prereleases. With 4 locations, somewhere over 7 decks, and more Masters of Etherium and Broodmate Dragons than you can shake a very large stick at, this is the episode you don’t want to miss! After you listen to the show, log on to the forum thread for this episode. Tell us what you thought about it, and while you’re at it, share your own stories from the prerelease if you made it out. [Chewie note: All the decklists that were given to me by the various hosts and guest hosts and no-shows will also be posted in the forums, so go check them out there.] Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-50-super-special-shards-prerelease-dorkstravaganza-t239.html Direct download: Episode_50_-_Super_Special_Shards_Prerelease_Dorkstravaganza.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 9:40 PM Comments[0] |
Thu, 25 September 2008 Hello again, and welcome to The Mana Pool! Mike here one last time with one last rundown of one last Shards of Alara Preview episode before the Prerelease. We're finishing up from where we left off last time, and covering the additional cards that were shown Wednesday and Thursday. Unfortunately, Brian could not be with us, but we have our wonderful guest host Jason filling in for him again.
We have a couple of cards that are not in the same cycle, one that isn't Skyshroud Elf, even more awesome names, and a really gross guy (but that's a plus).
As always, send us your emails, and feel ever so welcome to visit us on the forums and the Facebook group. If you're going to the prerelease, have fun! By the way, Chewie's Prerelease Survival Guide for Shards of Alara can be found at:
Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-49-shards-of-alara-preview-5-t236.html Direct download: Episode_49_-_Shards_of_Alara_Preview_5.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 9:47 PM Comments[0] |
Tue, 23 September 2008 Hello again, and welcome to The Mana Pool! Mike here again with yet another rundown of yet another Shards of Alara Preview episode. All the customary hosts are present and accounted for (no special guests, unfortunately), and we start to tackle the first part of a massive info dump that showed up in the Visual Spoiler over the past weekend. Tune in later in the week to get completely up to date. Today, we have a very encouraging member of a new cycle, a vampire that likes to brawl, a card with an even better name ever, and just a bunch of other neat, neat cards. We close with a couple of interesting (at least to me) rules notes from the Masters Edition 2 FAQ. Keep sending us your questions and comments (the email address given below broadcasts to all the hosts), and keep telling your friends. Maybe someday the name of our podcast can be in blue letters below a card from a massive weekend info dump. And you'll have heard about it first! Shards of Alara Visual Spoiler: http://www.wizards.com/magic/TCG/Article.aspx?x=mtg/tcg/shardsofalara/spoiler Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-48-shards-of-alara-preview-4-t235.html Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Send me an article at submissions@cardshark.com Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Direct download: Episode_48_-_Shards_of_Alara_Preview_4.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 10:35 PM Comments[0] |
Fri, 19 September 2008 In a world where Shards of Alara preview cards are shown at a rate much less frequent than in previous sets, there is no need for two episodes of The Mana Pool in a week. In this world, episode 47 of The Mana Pool is just being released, instead of coming out late last week. It covers the preview cards shown from September 10 to September 17 on the Magic website's Shards of Alara Visual Spoiler, found here: http://www.wizards.com/magic/tcg/article.aspx?x=mtg/tcg/shardsofalara/spoiler Also in this world, there is no Dirk on episode 47. Instead, he has been replaced by AJ, one of the other dorks that played Magic with the host dorks in college. He may or may not be using a Rock Band microphone to record. Please feel free to make fun of him either way, because it's funny. However, using a Logitech USB Desktop Microphone to do vocals in Rock Band would be funnier. And finally, in this world gone mad, the new Magic Player Rewards textless cards have been shown, and we totally tell you all about them. If you'd like to see them as well as listen to us rant and rave about them, all you have to do is click the following link: http://www.wizards.com/magic/TCG/Resources.aspx?x=magic/rewards/welcome Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-47-shards-of-alara-preview-3-t233.html Direct download: Episode_47_-_Shards_of_Alara_Preview_3.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 4:06 PM Comments[0] |
Tue, 9 September 2008 Hello again, and welcome to The Mana Pool! Mike here again with a rundown of our second Shards of Alara Preview episode. Unfortunately, Brian could not join us because of other schedule obligations. Fortunately, we have a special guest. It's Jason (garthok84 of the forums), who had previously appeared to help us out in the Eventide prerelease aftermath, and he does not disappoint. We start things off by taking care of a few things we missed the first time around. A new Cardshark Member Promotion for September appeared, hosted by one of our premium sellers, and it's quite spiffy. We have a few comments regarding the updates to the DCI Banned and Restricted List that were announced a week or so ago, as well as the announcement that States will start again in the U.S. in November, as well as Champs in Canada. Then it's preview cards! Among them are revelations of three new keyword abilities, a Jedi, Doran 2.0, and a pants-wettingly powerful Planeswalker. The cards are great, conversation is good, and the episode isn't an hour and a half long. What is there not to love? Thanks again for listening, and keep sending in your comments and questions. Who knows, maybe someday we can have a “mailbag” segment, like all the grownup radio shows. Have fun, and go play some Magic! Or listen to the episode. You know, whatever. Cardshark Member Promotions: Direct download: Episode_46_-_Shards_of_Alara_Preview_2.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 10:03 PM Comments[0] |
Mon, 8 September 2008 Hello, all, and welcome to the month of September. This is Mike, coming back from a weekend full of forgetting I agreed to write the show notes for this episode. Because this was our first episode of the month, we get things started with a rundown of the new Cardshark Member Promotions for September. Raffles! Free cards! Great deals! That guy who keeps trying to give away his excess Dissension uncommons (in addition to the other free cards he sends, of course)! A semi-stealthy update to the Shards of Alara minisite means we're also officially starting Shards of Alara previews. There's a new Planeswalker, some funky artifact shenanigans, the best name ever, and NOT Bitterblossom. I wish I could remember more, but yeah... I forgot to write the show notes until just a little while ago. Have fun with the episode, and enjoy the links to the Cardshark Member Promotions and the Visual Spoiler for Shards of Alara. Cardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.asp Shards of Alara Visual Spoiler: http://www.wizards.com/magic/tcg/article.aspx?x=mtg/tcg/shardsofalara/spoiler Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-45-shards-of-alara-preview-1-t228.html Direct download: Episode_45_-_Shards_of_Alara_Preview_1.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 10:35 PM Comments[0] |
Sat, 30 August 2008  In this episode, we cover a fair bit of news. There's a new look on our forums page. There's a new look for the Magic website. There are lots more pictures of your host dorks on our Facebook group, in case you want to know what we have looked like over the years. Here's a hint: We looked like dorks. There's also the matter of Shards of Alara previews. No, don't worry, the official previews haven't started yet. But they have shown a couple of interesting things. One is the Hellkite Overlord, which we mentioned on the last show. This time, we give you the full rundown of what the card does. If you'd like to follow along, go to Gatherer and look it up. The other interesting bit of info is the unveiling of the Shards of Alara Prerelease and Launch Party card. Just one for both this time, but boy is it amazing. It's a planeswalker. If you'd like to follow along, check it out here: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/arcana/1660 Then we get into the meat of the episode. Since these episodes seem to be very popular, we like to do them whenever we get a chance. Last weekend, your four host dorks managed to get together to play some Magic. We got in four good games and one horrible waste of time. Don't play Assassin with just four people, okay? Trust us. Each game came complete with ridiculous card interactions that you just won't see anywhere but a multiplayer casual game, and we kept note of all the hilarity so we could bring it to you, our faithful listeners. We hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed playing. Quick aside: For anyone interested in how my fantasy draft went, I got Adrian Peterson, Clinton Portis, Carson Palmer, TJ Houshmandzadeh, and Braylon Edwards for my core starters. Aw yeah. Music for this episode: Swift - To Phoenix by Foot, off their third album A Communication Manual Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-44-more-multiplayer-mirth-and-merriment-t222.html Direct download: Episode_44_-_More_Multiplayer_Mirth_and_Merriment.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 12:54 PM Comments[0] |
Thu, 21 August 2008 This time, we actually stay on task most of the time! We start off by discussing some basic combat strategy. Attacking, blocking, looking ahead in the game, etc etc. Then we move into tricks. We cover some of the different types of tricks, what they do, and how to use them. It's a much more enjoyable episode than last time, I assure you. That's all you get for now because I seem to have hurt my back and can't really sit here long enough to give you more in-depth show notes. Thanks for listening!Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-43-back-to-basics-combat-strategies-tricks-t217.html Direct download: Episode_43_-_Back_to_Basics-Combat_Strategies__Tricks.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 11:37 PM Comments[0] |
Thu, 14 August 2008 In this episode, we go over that most entertaining of phases, the combat phase. We cover all the steps of combat, what each step entails, and what sort of things you can and can't do in each step. In fact, I'm going to let Mike handle this via IM:“The way I remember it, it started with a general overview of the structure of the turn, then we looked closer at the general structure of combat, then we went through combat very carefully, step-by-step, and spoke in some detail about special abilities that affect certain steps. With the usual amount of anecdoting and pointless rambling sprinkled in there. And Brian giving explanations that take twice as long and make half as much sense =P” So there you have it, straight from the Rules Guy's mouth. Or fingers, since he typed that. We don't call Brian the Lead Rambler for nothing, and we do love him for it. Of course, if we're going to call out Brian for his rambling, then we should also call out Mike for randomly waxing about pre-Sixth Edition rules and how they didn't make any sense. He does that at least twice in this episode, perhaps more. And while we're at it, we pick on Dirk for not knowing something obvious close to the beginning of this episode. It turns out he's not dumb, he was actually not paying attention because he was trying to find something related to the Shards of Alara discussion we had just prior to recording. And of course, let's not leave me out of the merrymaking. I cannot for the life of me figure out how to make a Facebook page for the show. Not at all. Behind the scenes here at The Mana Pool! Right then, hope everyone enjoys the episode and learns something useful. Or at least remembers something useful. Or at least gets a kick out of a bunch of dorks discussing combat until we're ready to actually fight. Thanks for listening, and if you know how to start a Facebook page for the show, please let me know. Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-42-back-to-basics-the-combat-phase-t212.html Direct download: Episode_42_-_Back_to_Basics-The_Combat_Phase.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 11:02 PM Comments[0] |
Thu, 7 August 2008 
On this episode of The Mana Pool, we decided to practice what we preach. Last time, we gave you the basics on Sealed. For this episode, we wanted to show you those basics in action. To do this, we've done two things. First, I opened a Sealed pool of cards (a Shadowmoor Tournament Pack and two Eventide Booster Packs) and copied down the contents. I then sent the list to Dirk, Mike, Brian, and myself. Each of us had the following assignment: Build a Sealed Deck out of this pool, write it down, and be prepared to discuss. Amazingly, all four of us did this assignment, and we discussed our four very different decks. Just as a quick preview, there was a black/green deck, a green/white deck, a green/red deck, and a black/white deck. So not only have we talked about building a Sealed deck, but we have shown that there is no absolutely “right” way to build one out of a given pool. You can find the entire Sealed pool and our decklists here: http://themanapool.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=366568
And you'd think that would have been a good episode, right? Wrong! That wasn't enough for you, our dear listeners. We had to take it a step further. Not only did we build 4 different decks before we recorded, but we also decided to build another one from an entirely different Sealed pool live on the air! I opened up the cards at the beginning of the episode, and during the discussions of the individual decks, I was sorting and typing up this new list. It went out to the dorks, and we went through the entire process of building a deck out of it. There's much discussion, disagreement, explanation, reasoning, despair, and ultimately, harmony. You can find the entire pool and the final decklist in the same post as before, but here's the link again: http://themanapool.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=366568
Hopefully you found this educational, or enlightening, or at least entertaining. Let us know what you thought, whether you do it on the forums, in the Facebook group, or just in an email, so we'll know if we should do something like this in the future.
Forum thread for this episode:
http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-41-back-to-basics-the-sealed-deck-process-in-action-t209.html
Direct download: Episode_41_-_Back_to_Basics-_The_Sealed_Deck_Process_in_Action.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 11:04 PM Comments[0] |
Fri, 1 August 2008 In this episode, in keeping with the recent Prerelease and Launch Parties for Eventide, your host dorks bring you the basics of Sealed Deck play. We cover color selection, creatures, the curve, removal, land counts, and whatever else comes to mind, sprinkled with our own experiences and anecdotes as per usual. Please excuse the horrendous pops that show up for the first 15 seconds or so, but we didn't catch it in time to re-record that part. Stay tuned for the next episode for a follow-up to our Sealed Deck tips.In other news, there is now a Facebook group for The Mana Pool. We're under Common Interest – Hobbies & Crafts, since I couldn't think of anything else that fit better. Just do a search for The Mana Pool and join up! I'm going to try to make it not just another forums page by doing something different with it, I just don't know what yet. Music for this episode: The Picard Song by Dark Materia. Engage!
Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-40-back-to-basics-sealed-deck-t208.html Direct download: Episode_40_-_Back_to_Basics_-_Sealed_Deck.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 9:00 PM Comments[0] |
Fri, 25 July 2008 This episode kicks off a series we've decided to call Back to Basics. Since Wizards of the Coast is focusing on acquisition this year, we thought it would be nice to spend a few episodes focusing on some of things that would be relevant to newer players, affectionately referred to as “noobs”. For this episode, we've started with the basics. Each of us (except Dirk, who chose his girlfriend and Dark Knight over us for some reason) go over how we started playing Magic back in the day, and all the anecdotal fun that goes along with that. After covering the beginning, we decided to go over some of the misconceptions we had when we were noobs. That leads to more interesting anecdotes, of course. From there we move into some of the mistakes that we see new players making all the time. And we mean things all new players do, like over-protecting your life total and using combat tricks at inopportune moments. More anecdotes, of course. We have lots of stories to tell. Some of them are interesting, others not so much. Hopefully we'll avoid these later ones. If you are in fact a newer player, then we would like to offer you a wondrous resource for helping you learn all there is to know about the game. That resource is the Magic Academy, a column on the Magic website written specifically for you. The column assumes you know the basics of how stuff works, and goes from there. It's really good stuff. Even if you're not a noob, you should still check this out. I read every column when they were writing this thing, and I've been playing for years. Here's the link to the entire run on the Magic site: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/academy/home And of course, we end the episode with a call for topics. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions or requests for a topic for the Back to Basics series, then please please please let us know. Our email address is directly below, as is the link to the forum thread for this episode. If you'd like to go straight to Show Ideas on the forums, here's the link to the last page of the thread: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/show-ideas-t90-105.html Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-39-back-to-basics-the-basics-t203.html Direct download: Episode_39_-_Back_to_Basics_-_The_Basics.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 1:45 AM Comments[0] |
Mon, 21 July 2008  On this special Prerelease episode of The Mana Pool, we are joined by a special guest. You know him as garthok84 from the forums, and as a matter of fact so do we, but his name is Jason. He was good enough to join us on the show with virtually no warning and no prep time whatsoever, so we appreciate that quite a bit. Everyone give a big thanks to him on the forums for making the episode much more interesting, because without him we'd have been the usual amount of dorky. We kick the episode off with a bad beats story. No, not a game of Magic. This bad beats story is the series of unfortunate events that happened on the morning of the Prerelease. I told this story to Jason, and a couple judges, and a handful of listeners, at the Prerelease, and they agreed that it is a story that must be shared with the world, so here you go. Hopefully it's so bad that it will make you feel better about yourself. Let's just say old Murphy and his laws were running rampant across my life that morning. Then of course we have to go into everyone's Eventide Prerelease experience. We nitpick Jason's deck, make fun of Mike's inability to build a 40 card deck on the first try (or even the last try), praise Dirk for his awesomeness, make fun of Brian for using Worm Harvest even though last week he claimed it was one of those cards you probably shouldn't run, and wonder at the sheer number of bombs in my deck (keep listening to see whether or not they actually did me any good). If you want to see the decks we used, they'll be listed in the Eventide Prerelease Deck Lists thread on the forum, found here: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/eventide-prerelease-deck-lists-t199.html We finish the episode up with an actual Magic bad beats story from Jason, who recounts the experience of his friend at the Prerelease. It's really short, pretty simple, and so incredibly painful that it warrants its own paragraph in the show notes. I can't even put it here, you just have to listen. Yeah, it's that bad. Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-38-the-eventide-prerelease-ordeal-t202.html Direct download: Episode_38_-_The_Eventide_Prerelease_Ordeal.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 10:15 PM Comments[0] |
Thu, 10 July 2008  Ah, summer. The sun shines brightly, the birds sing sweetly in the trees, and a young dork’s fancy turns to thoughts of the last few Eventide preview cards we’ll be talking about before the big event this weekend. Mike here again, as Chewie insists that the posting of the show goes much faster whenever he doesn’t have to write the show notes himself (it does).
Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-37-eventide-previews-and-the-last-tribal-war-t197.html Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Send me an article at submissions@cardshark.com Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Direct download: Episode_37_-_Eventide_Previews_and_the_Last_Tribal_War.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 9:45 PM Comments[0] |
Tue, 8 July 2008 Hey, this is Mike here, filling in for fearless leader Chewie, who is currently busy eating ice cream and playing Rock Band (or watching The Muppet Show; he wasn't very clear on that point). In this episode, Brian is back above the weather, giving us our customary cadre of dorks. Direct download: Episode_36_-_A_Staggering_Amount_of_Eventide_Previews.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 9:56 PM Comments[0] |
Sun, 6 July 2008 In this episode, we are without Brian, who is feeling under the weather. With the lead rambler missing, you'd think this episode would be shorter, wouldn't you? Shows you what you know, we can all ramble just fine whether we have Brian or not. Sorry for yet another long episode. But what an episode it is! First off we go over the results of the Onslaught vs. Lorwyn Tribal Wars for Wizards! Mike and I played these games in the morning before we did the Rock Band and Magic featured in the last episode. Wizards! They're slow, they're boring, and they're a bit silly when taken all together. Who won? I'm not going tell you! Give us a listen and find out. It actually wasn't boring to discuss, so hopefully you'll enjoy it. Then, of course, we had to hit the preview cards. I must say, I'm getting more and more excited about Eventide as they show more and more cards. Every card that had been shown as of Thursday July 3 is discussed here. Technically, that should have been all the cards that have been shown thus far because July 4 is an American holiday, but lo and behold on Friday they revealed another seven cards! On a national holiday! Oh well, we'll grab those next time. For now, we touch on the twelve cards that popped up since the last episode. Thanks for listening and enjoy! Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-35-eventide-previews-3-and-then-some-t195.html Direct download: Episode_35_-_Eventide_Previews_3_and_Then_Some.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 10:13 PM Comments[0] |
Tue, 1 July 2008 In this episode, we take on the nine new Eventide cards that have been previewed on the Magic site since the last episode. Not only the cards in the visual spoiler and the day's articles, but also a few cards that showed up in the Eventide primer video in Monday's Arcana. Tuesday's video had no new cards, but it's a good way to familiarize yourself with Chroma, the new ability word in Eventide. Here are the relevant links. Eventide Visual Spoiler: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=magic/eventide/spoiler Eventide Video #1: Hybrid: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/arcana/1622 Eventide Video #2: Chroma: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/arcana/1623 But now for the meat of the episode. The last two game sets of Tribal Month have been pushed back yet again by a momentous gathering of the dorks. This past weekend, your host dorks (that's Mike, Brian, Dirk, and me, Chewie) gathered at my lovely girlfriend's house (she has the most room) to play Magic. We were joined in this gathering by one of our college dorks who is now in grad school way out of town, the oft-mentioned AJ. It was a lot of fun to have AJ playing around the table with us again, even when he won with a Mana Echoes-fueled Fireball out of nowhere in the first game. We were finally able to put our mantra of “Kill AJ” to good use again, since he was actually sitting there with us. Seven games were played, and we took notes to pass the games along with you listeners, since everyone seemed to enjoy the last time we did it. That was Episode 15 just in case you missed it and enjoy that sort of thing. Thanks everyone for listening, and if you've stumbled upon this episode because of the Eventide previews, feel free to give some of the rest of the episodes a chance. Just excuse the first episode, we didn't quite know what we were doing yet. Music for this episode: Together Again by The Muppets You might recognize this, it's the opening song from The Muppets Take Manhattan, played here in honor of having AJ back with us. Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-34-eventide-previews-multiplayer-free-for-all-2-t193.html Direct download: Episode_34_-_Eventide_Previews_and_Multiplayer_Free-For-All_Extravaganza_2.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 11:34 PM Comments[0] |
Mon, 30 June 2008 In this episode, we give you the result of the Onslaught vs. Lorwyn Goblin Tribal War thing. The captain for the Onslaught deck was the Goblin Warchief, and the Lorwyn deck got the Mad Auntie. Who won? I'm not going tell you. You'll just have to listen. You can find the decklists for these two decks here, eventually: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/tribal-month-t179.html Then, Tribal Month gets preempted by the Eventide previews, which have started just a bit early. We'll get back to the various things we wanted to discuss eventually, but as big breaking news, the previews just won't wait. We cover all the officially spoiled cards as of the week before official previews started. Starting from the bottom of the page and going up, we go from Doomgape to Thunderblust. I really wish I was making that up, because it sounds quite silly. Anyway, stay tuned for multiple episodes a week for the preview weeks, where we'll be going over all the cards found there. You can find the full visual spoiler here: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=magic/eventide/spoiler Then, we decided to go back a bit and cover some news we missed. First off is the announcement of From the Vault: Dragons, a Limited Edition boxed set. It includes 15 foil dragons from the history of Magic, including a new dragon that will appear in Shards of Alara. Of the 15, 6 will have newly commissioned art. Find the full announcement here: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/arcana/1589 And finally, we hit the relatively recent announcement of a second edition of Duel Decks. Last time we had Elves vs. Goblins, but this time we get Jace vs. Chandra. Some of the best control and burn cards from the history of the game will be featured in these ready to play 60 card decks, along with foil alternate-art versions of those mighty planeswalkers, Jace Beleren and Chandra Nalaar. Find the full announcement here: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/arcana/1608 Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-33-eventide-previews-and-more-t192.html Direct download: Episode_33_-_Eventide_Previews_and_More.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 11:52 PM Comments[0] |
Fri, 20 June 2008  In this episode we are Dirkless. Whoa, that looks like a real word. Playing the role of Dirk in this episode is Thomas, Mike's brother, who you may remember from the episode that discussed how Time Spiral had several hints about the tribes that were going to appear in Lorwyn. Okay, so he's not playing the role of Dirk. He's playing the role of Thomas. He's a natural for the role, oddly enough. Since it's Tribal Month here on the Mana Pool, we decided we should do more than just focus on the tribes everyone knows. Elves and Goblins get all the glory. What about some of the lesser known tribes? Speaking of which, what makes a tribe a tribe? Is it a number? The presence of a “lord” of some type? Or is it all psychological? We'll discuss all this and more, as well as go into a few other areas of tribal concern. Spaceninja posted in the Pimp My Deckbox thread about his Pegasus deck and asked what everyone's favorite B-list tribes were. So of course we had to rattle off a few of those. Thanks for the inspiration! And speaking of B-list tribes, we take a look at Brian's deck built around the Assembly-Worker creature type (quite possibly a U or V-list tribe) and Thomas' deck built around Skeletons. Boy are they, um, resilient. Brian's Assembly-Worker Deck 10: Forest 4: Urza's Factory 3: Urza's Mine 3: Urza's Power Plant 3: Urza's Tower 1: Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers 4: Assembly-Worker 4: Woodland Changeling 2: Game-Trail Changeling 2: Joiner Adept 1: Seedborn Muse 1: Kamahl, Fist of Krosa 2: Garruk Wildspeaker 2: Door of Destinies 2: Riptide Replicator 2: Doubling Cube 1: Mindslaver 2: Doubling Season 3: Reap and Sow 3: Recross the Paths 2: Sylvan Scrying 3: Luminescent Rain Thomas' Skeleton Deck 20 Swamp Artifacts 2 Banshee’s Blade 2 Bonesplitter 3 Demon’s Horn 2 Carrionette 2 Corrosive Mentor 2 Drudge Skeletons 3 Flayed Nim 2 Kjeldoran Dead 4 Lim-Dûl’s High Guard 3 Skeleton Scavengers 3 Unworthy Dead 2 Bad Moon 1 Drudge Spell 2 Unholy Strength 3 Lose Hope 2 Steal Strength 2 Night’s Whisper Music for this episode: The Nightlife by ARDEN Check out ARDEN at www.myspace.com/thebandarden Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-32-the-minority-report-t187.html Comments[0] |
Mon, 16 June 2008  Welcome back to Tribal Month! This time, we start off with a quick discussion of the Eventide Booster Pack preview that showed up on the Magic website for a few days. Here's the link that worked for us after they took it down, hopefully by the time you read this it'll still be working. Be sure to run your mouse over the Overbeing of Myth to see the full text. http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=magic/preview/evepack Next up we have the results of the first Old School vs. New School Tribal Decks Overly Long Named Thing, Onslaught Soldiers vs. Lorwyn Soldiers! Who won? Well you'll just have to listen to find out, won't you? Remember, we went with an almost Highlander deck for each one, only including cards that dealt specifically with Soldiers from each block, with one Captain as a four-of. The Captains were chosen by a vote on the forums, so thanks very much for everyone that participated in that. You can keep voting for non-Soldiers if you like. There was a bit of a problem with this format though. The Lorwyn Soldiers are woefully underrepresented, so we decided to allow for backup from Knights (slightly better class of soldier, right?), flavorful cards from the Lorwyn block (Coordinated Barrage, Daily Regimen), Kithkin cards (Wizened Cenn, Kithkin Harbinger), and finally non-rare Changelings (Changeling Sentinel, Avian Changeling). They also get two Captains, just to keep the numbers the same. The Onslaught Captain is Daru Warchief, and the Lorwyn Captains are Kinsbaile Borderguard (unanimous vote!) and Cenn's Tactician. The full decklists will be published in the Tribal Month thread on the forums (also where you can vote for the rest of the tribes), found here: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/tribal-month-t179.html In honor of Tribal Month here on the Mana Pool, we decided to dig around and find a tribal deck we could bring Out of the Deck Box for your listening pleasure. Since 3/4 of us have Zombie decks, we decided to go with that. Here are the decklists for those lovable undead guys. 20 Swamps 1 Lord of the Undead 1 Vengeful Dead 2 Boneknitter 2 Noxious Ghoul 2 Severed Legion 2 Soulless One 2 Twisted Abomination 2 Undead Warchief 3 Shepherd of Rot 4 Festering Goblin 4 Gravedigger 1 Aphetto Dredging 1 Debtor's Knell 2 Bubbling Muck 2 Cruel Revival 2 Dark Banishing 2 Eradicate 2 Patriarch's Bidding 3 Consume Spirit
Mike's Zombies 17 Swamp3 Spawning Pool 1 Unholy Grotto 4 Soulless One 4 Stromgald Crusader 4 Twisted Abomination 4 Undead Warchief 3 Bone Dancer 2 Grave Defiler 2 Gravedigger 2 Gravespawn Sovereign 1 Grotesque Hybrid 1 Helldozer 1 Lord of the Undead 4 Innocent Blood 4 Strongarm Tactics 3 Feast or Famine Chewie's Zombies 18 Swamp 2 Barren Moor 2 Unholy Grotto 2 Carrion Feeder 4 Festering Goblin 2 Skirk Ridge Exhumer 2 Rakdos Guildmage 2 Zombie Master 2 Lord of the Undead 1 Zombie Trailblazer 1 Undead Gladiator 2 Vengeful Dead 2 Brain Gorgers 3 Soulless One 3 Undead Warchief 1 Balthor the Defiled 2 Noxious Ghoul 2 Twisted Abomination 2 Gempalm Polluter 1 Nefashu 2 Gravespawn Sovereign 2 Feeding Frenzy 2 Zombie Infestation
Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-31-soldiers-and-zombies-and-merfolk-oh-my-t186.html Direct download: Episode_31_-_Soldiers_and_Zombies_and_Merfolk_Oh_My.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 12:11 AM Comments[0] |
Thu, 5 June 2008  Well, this was going to be our first Tribal Month episode, but Wizards went and threw a curve ball at us. There's a big bunch of announcements that appeared this week, and we're here to give you our two cents' worth. Well, there's four of us, so that's eight cents. Don't spend it all in one place. We discuss the changes, talk about some of the things Mark Rosewater said about the changes, and then talk about the changes some more. There's a new rarity (mythic rare!), a land in each booster (one less common), and smaller set sizes from here out (compensates for the other two changes). Also, they're changing up the way preconstructed decks are put together (still the same price though) and how the Magic novels are published (not that anyone's really going to notice). Now that I've typed all that, you can go listen to us rant about each of these tidbits. Find those announcements here:http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/daily/20080602 And Rosewater's article here: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/daily/mr334 Then there's the obligatory discussion about the Old vs. New Tribal War that we're going to wage. Onslaught vs. Lorwyn, with the four tribes that cross over going head to head. Elves, Goblins, Soldiers, and Wizards from each block will attempt to beat the living crap out of the other block's tribe. But each deck needs a captain, and that's where you guys come in. We need you to hit the forums and let us know which option for captain is the best one. You can find those options in the forums, here: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/tribal-month-t179.html And last but not least, we bring Dirk's infamous Elf deck Out of the Deck Box, courtesy of a request by Mayshod. And speaking of which, here it is. It might not look utterly terrifying, but in a game consisting of 4-8 people, it's pretty freakin' scary. Trust us all on this. Freakin' scary. Land 18 Forest Creatures Other Spells Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-30-and-now-for-something-not-completely-different-t185.html Direct download: Episode_30_-_And_Now_For_Something_Not_Completely_Different.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 11:59 PM Comments[0] |
Thu, 29 May 2008  In our triumphant return from a vacation hiatus, we promptly decided to skip the show we were going to do and do this one instead. Please forgive the quality of this episode, both content and sound quality, as it was kind of slapdash. On Memorial Day, your host dorks got together along with Chris (PhoenixRising422 on the forums) and Michael (Science_Fixes_Everything on the forums) to do a bit of dorking. Not just any dorking, it turns out, we did a Cube Draft! After we were done with all that, we rolled over to my apartment to record the show. So there were six of us sitting in my bedroom (only four real chairs, a video game chair on the floor, and the bed) trying desperately to be heard by the mic. Plus, I was getting sick when we recorded (am fully sick as I post this episode now) so I might sound a little...terrible. But enough excuses, what about this Cube thing? Brian, being as he has more free time than he has sense now that his finals are over, decided to create a Cube so we could do a draft. A Cube is a whole mess of cards put together for the purpose of being drafted. He put a lot of effort into balancing the colors, the curve of each color, and putting in plenty of threats as well as answers, and it really turned out to be a whole mess of fun. So join us as all six of us discuss our decks as well as the games we played. You can find the entire list of the contents of the Cube on our website. Here's the link:
Or if you'd rather download the Word file that lists the Cube contents in a handy-dandy table, then there's a link to that too!
Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-29-to-the-third-power-cubed-t180.html This episode's music: No music this time, I'm sick. Direct download: Episode_29_-_To_the_Third_Power_Cubed.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 11:44 PM Comments[0] |
Wed, 7 May 2008  There is two of us! If you don't get the reference, please refer to Ali and Ali's sister. If you don't get that reference, then I bet you don't know how to type with boxing gloves on. If you didn't get that one either, you apparently haven't been subjected to the joy that is Strong Bad. But that's for neither here nor there, this is a Magic podcast! So back to the subject at hand. There is two of us! This time, due to finals, dead internets, and various other issues, Mike and I are the only hosts. But that's okay, because we said so. This is sort of a potpourri episode, where we throw lots of things at you. We figured out a few more slang terms that we didn't cover last time, so first we handle those. Then, of course, we have to talk about the Shadowmoor Launch Party and how we all did there. Spoiler: We didn't all fail horribly this time. We then finish up with a quick announcement about an upcoming project that we want to tackle, but we need your input to help us out. So roll on over to the forums and let us know what you think! Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-28-a-two-man-assortment-t172.html Comments[0] |
Mon, 5 May 2008  In this episode Mike, Dirk, and I finish the discussion of the many, many terms that get thrown around in a game of Magic. Not the usual things like keyword abilities and phases of the turn and whatnot. Oh no, we're talking about the unique language that Magic players have invented to describe what's going on. Have you ever topdecked a fatty? Have you ever looted into burn? How about that time your opponent was tapped out and you decided to roll with an alpha strike, only to have him pitch a card to use his trick? And everyone has chumped with a weenie, whether they want to admit it or not. If you have no idea just what in the name of Jonny Magic I'm talking about, then this is definitely the episode for you. Since the discussion ran so incredibly long, I had to split it up into two parts. This is the last hour of that discussion, where we cram in more slang than you can fog an alpha strike with. Did that sentence make any sense at all? Keep listening to find out. Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-27b-talking-the-talk-part-2-t169.html Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Send me an article at submissions@cardshark.com Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool This episode's music: M-16 by Ill Mic Check Ill Mic out at http://www.illmic.com Comments[0] |
Thu, 1 May 2008 In this episode Mike, Dirk, and I begin the discussion of the many, many terms that get thrown around in a game of Magic. Not the usual things like keyword abilities and phases of the turn and whatnot. Oh no, we're talking about the unique language that Magic players have invented to describe what's going on. Have you ever topdecked a fatty? Have you ever looted into burn? How about that time your opponent was tapped out and you decided to roll with an alpha strike, only to have him pitch a card to use his trick? And everyone has chumped with a weenie, whether they want to admit it or not. If you have no idea just what in the name of Jonny Magic I'm talking about, then this is definitely the episode for you. Sadly, the discussion about slang terms ran incredibly long, so all you're getting here is the first half of the conversation. Stay tuned for Episode 27b, coming soon to an Internet near you. Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-27a-talking-the-talk-part-1-t167.html Comments[0] |
Thu, 24 April 2008 This episode, we have some special guests joining us on the show. Chris and Molly, better known as PhoenixRising422 and myboyfriendsagamergod on the forums. Shadowmoor was his first Prerelease, and this episode was recorded on his birthday, so we decided to have him on to give us his perspective on the tournament. Actually, Brian and I tell you how we did too. We then get Mike and Molly to give us their ideas about the set now that it's gone public. Tune in for lots of random discussions about the tournament, thoughts on the new set, and just general dorkiness in general. Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-26-prerelease-stories-and-special-guests-t161.html This episode's music: Breathless by Swift Check Swift out at http://www.swift-band.com Direct download: Episode_26_-_Prerelease_Stories_and_Special_Guests.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 8:26 PM Comments[0] |
Fri, 18 April 2008  In this extra special long episode, we take on the (almost) last of the preview cards. There will be one more small bit up by the time you read this, but we wanted people to be able to listen to the show before the Prerelease. Not only do we cover the four easy-to-find previews, but thanks to Brian we also uncover 5 preview cards hidden in the YouTube embedded videos in the feature article for today. And these hidden cards are all commons, so you're bound to see them at the Prerelease, whether they're in your deck or your opponent's, so be sure to listen closely. Once that's done, we go back to a segment that hasn't popped up lately. What could it be? Out of the Deck Box! Requested a LONG time ago, Dirk and I finally discuss our UB Discard decks, which are then compared and contrasted. Here they are in their entirety. Dirk's UB Discard Deck Creatures 2 Nezumi Shortfang 3 Abyssal Specter 4 Screeching Buzzard 1 Lore Broker 2 Fatespinner 1 Silent Arbiter Spells 4 Consume Spirit 2 Syphon Soul 1 Liliana Vess 3 Dark Ritual 3 Syphon Mind 4 Megrim 2 Honden of Night's Reach 2 Honden of Seeing Winds 3 Evacuation 3 Skullcage Lands 8 Island 12 Swamp Chewie's UB Discard Deck Creatures 4 Solemn Simulacrum 4 Screeching Buzzard 4 Abyssal Nocturnus 4 Lore Broker 1 Magus of the Jar 1 Nihilith 1 Myojin of Night's Reach Spells 4 Megrim 3 Wheel and Deal 3 Evacuation 2 Howling Mine 2 Time Spiral 1 Temporal Cascade 2 Ill-Gotten Gains 1 Windfall 1 Debtor's Knell 1 Prosperity 1 Well of Knowledge 1 Words of Waste 1 Memory Jar 1 Oversold Cemetery Lands 2 Tainted Isle 2 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea 2 Dimir Aqueduct 4 Island 12 Swamp Then we finish up by giving you the rest of the tokens in Shadowmoor, along with a quick word of advice about hybrid cards for anyone going to the Prerelease. Thanks for listening and everyone have fun at the Prerelease! Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-25-shadowmoor-previews-6-t159.html Comments[0] |
Thu, 17 April 2008  On this episode, we have technical difficutlies. Difficulties. See? It's just Brian and me, because apparently everyone else decided to run off to a foreign country with the hopes of getting a big musical career launched. It was news to me too. Anyway, something about connecting my computer and Brian's computer equals some kind of horrible joke in which we are the punch line. You'll hear Brian responding to stuff that I haven't said yet. Not because he's a psychic with amazing powers, but because Skype hates us. Hopefully you won't notice too much, as we went to great lengths to keep this from getting completely out of control. We marginally succeeded.But other than that, we handle more Shadowmoor previews! Personally, I really like Murderous Redcap. And Torrent of Souls. And especially Midnight Banshee. Oh, the Deus of Calamity is awesome too. You know what, almost all of these are just good cards. You should totally listen to this episode. Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-24-shadowmoor-previews-5-and-less-t157.html Direct download: Episode_24_-_Shadowmoor_Previews_5_and_Less.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 7:35 AM Comments[0] |
Mon, 14 April 2008  In this episode, we hit the few cards that popped up between the last episode and Thursday. Mirrorweave and Tattermunge Maniac take up quite a bit of the discussion this time around. You know, because they're awesome. In totally different ways. Check out the Shadowmoor official preview archive here: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=magic/shadowmoor/spoiler Then, since we ran out of cards with lots of time left, we go over a couple of the decks posted in the Pimp My Deckbox thread. We're leaning towards renaming this to "Bring out Yer Deck!" at the moment, but you never know with this mercurial group of dorks. Anyway, we take a look at a deck posted by garthok84 and then another by myboyfriendsagamergod. Man, that's a mouthful. We tried to keep each individual's particular situation in mind when suggesting things (budget, collection size, and in the case of the second one, boyfriend's a dork) so we didn't just say things like "You totally need 4 of the Ravnica Dual Lands and the Onslaught Fetch Lands, then some Garruk and Tarmogoyf and Jitte." Anyway, here's to some basic advice. Let us know what we did right (and wrong) in this segment. Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-24-shadowmoor-previews-4-and-more-t156.html Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Send me an article at submissions@cardshark.com Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Direct download: Episode_23_-_Shadowmoor_Previews_4_and_More.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 10:17 PM Comments[0] |
Thu, 10 April 2008 Shadowmoor looms nigh, and we have the preview cards to prove it. Only nine cards to go over this time, which means we actually have time to go over a couple other things. Actually, we really just go over the Member Promotions for April on Cardshark. Then we dive into the preview cards. Again, to make this paragraph seem a little longer, I'll give you my favorites out of these. I really like Din of the Fireherd and Burn Trail. Burn Trail introduces Conspire, a new keyword, and I think you'll find it interesting. If you want to follow along, here's the preview page, which for some reason I forgot to put on the previous preview episodes. http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=magic/shadowmoor/spoiler Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-22-shadowmoor-previews-3-t153.html Comments[0] |
Mon, 7 April 2008 Here we go again with the Shadowmoor previews. This time we have 18 new cards to discuss for your benefit and amusement. Listen as Brian rambles, Dirk goes green, Squanto hates, and I attempt to keep everyone on task and fail miserably. My favorites, just so this show description is a little bit more than two lines? Tower Above and Dusk Urchins. Tower Above is the first mention of a new keyword, Wither. Check this episode out for the full story, and watch out for the next previews episode coming soon.Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-21-shadowmoor-previews-2-t151.html Music for this episode is Release the Wolves by Swift, off their 4th album, The Absolute Uncontrollable. Check out Swift at http://www.swift-band.com Comments[0] |
Sat, 5 April 2008 In this episode, we tackle the first of the REAL Shadowmoor preview cards, totalling 14 in all. Yes, Episode 19 - Breaking News was all fake cards. But, given the fact that no one made any sort of conversation on the forums, I'm guessing everyone either immediately got it, or didn't care, or didn't listen to the show, or hates us. Fair enough. There's really nothing else to say about the show, so I hope you enjoy listening to what we think about all these random new cards. Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-20-shadowmoor-previews-1-t149.html Comments[0] |
Mon, 31 March 2008 This episode is a bit different. We go over what I originally assumed to be 4 preview cards for Shadowmoor. I found them on the site Sunday night after the update. When the dorks got together to discuss them, they were no longer there. I don't know if it was a glitch in the uploading process or what, but they're not there anymore. So we decided to go over them separately and get back together later to go over the cards that are now on the Card Preview Archive for Shadowmoor. Nothing else happens in this episode other than some discussion and wondering what the deal could be, so have at it. Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-19-breaking-news-t145.html Comments[0] |
Thu, 27 March 2008  In this episode Squanto, Brian and I give out some generally useful information. First up is the Gatherer, the official Magic database. You can find it at http://gatherer.wizards.com. This is easily the most powerful tool out there for tracking down cards for any reason whatsoever. We'll tell you all about how to use it, including a few things that you might not know. Try searching for the word Ravager under Mirrodin Block. Didn't get anything did you? Find out why in this episode! It's odd. At the end of the last episode, Squanto said we would be giving out tips for new players. After we recorded but before the show was posted, Molly (myboyfriendsagamergod on the forums) put up a thread asking for deckbuilding advice. Several of us on the forums chimed in with advice. For the second part of this episode, we go through this advice and even more advice for the novice deckbuilder. These are some fundamentals for building a deck, so even accomplished players should give it a listen. Note that this doesn't necessarily apply to building tournament-worthy decks, but primarily casual play decks. Out of the Deck Box (Possibly Soon to be Renamed) This week we take a look at Brian's WR Rescue deck, as requested in the forums. Land (22): 9:Plains 9:Mountain 3:Terramorphic Expanse 1:Island
Creatures (23): 4:Whitemane Lion 4:Aven Riftwatcher 3:Stonecloaker 2:Stormfront Riders 2:Calciderm 2:Keldon Marauders 2:Icatian Javelineers 2:Magus of the Disk 1:Dust Elemental 1:Soltari Priest
Non-Creature Spells (15): 3:Cloudstone Curio 3:Momentary Blink 3:Lightning Helix 2:Fatal Frenzy 2:Dead//Gone 2:Brute Force Due to a complete lack of intelligence on my part, there is no music on this episode. You can feel free to hum whatever bit of music you'd like to hear. Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-18-some-useful-information-t138.html Comments[0] |
Sun, 23 March 2008  In this episode, your host dorks discuss the recent trip to Friday Night Magic. We also reinforce for everyone why we are definitely not a podcast for the hardcore tournament player. Dirk play Treefolk, Squanto played Merfolk Aggro, Brian played burn with Countryside Crusher, and I played Elves. The results were not pretty, but a good time was had by all. While we were there we got to meet PhoenixRising422 from the forums (Chris) and determined that he was, in fact, also a dork. So life is good. Garthok84 on the forums (Jason) named an idea we mentioned a long time ago: Pimp My Deckbox. Give us your deck and we'll see what we can come up with for you. Note: We are not master deckbuilders and we're not going to help you tune your deck to win that Extended PTQ. But we can help you get a deck idea rolling or help you fix up a deck that just doesn't seem to be working properly. In this episode's Out of the Deck Box (possibly soon to be renamed), we're going to take a look at my Poison Ping deck. Here it is in all its glory. Poison 4 Marsh Viper 4 Sabertooth Cobra Ping! 4 Viridian Longbow 2 Psionic Gift 2 Hermetic Study Untapping 4 Seeker of Skybreak 2 Seedborn Muse 1 Patron of the Orochi 3 Intruder Alarm 2 Pemmin's Aura 4 Vitalize 2 Awakening Setup 4 Sakura-Tribe Elder 2 Worldly Tutor 2 Defense of the Heart
Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-17-fnm-with-the-mana-pool-t135.html Comments[0] |
Wed, 12 March 2008  What are all these people doing in my apartment? In this episode, we, your host dorks, are discussing the three player psycographies that Magic R&D uses to design cards for certain types of players. Those psycographies are Timmy, Johnny, and Spike. Or, the Power Gamer, the Combo Player, and the Tournament Winner, to use their stereotyped and slightly misleading epithets. After running Timmy, Johnny, and Spike out of my place of residence, we discuss their various attributes, as well as try to figure out where we all fall in the spectrum. Also, the new month (since the last episode, that is) means you get to hear the Cardshark Member Promotions for March. Check out the deals!
Listeners, help us figure out where Squanto falls (after he drinks your milkshake, that is). He's unsure of his player type, so he's going to post some random cards instead of the usual Notable Cards so you guys can help him figure it out.
Mark Rosewater's articles about Timmy, Johnny, and Spike
Out of the Deck Box (Possibly Soon to be Renamed) this week is Brian's Korlash deck, as requested in the forums. Here it is in all its glory. 23: Swamp
Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-16-timmy-johnny-and-spike-t129.html
March is also Classical Music Month here at The Mana Pool! Comments[0] |
Fri, 29 February 2008 Last weekend the dorks gathered! With Mike visiting Brian, we set aside all of Saturday for Magic playing! Dirk and I joined them at Brian's house, and much dorking ensued. We started at about 10:30am. There was a break for lunch, let's say an hour just to be safe. Then we concluded the day's events around 8:30pm. Yes friends, that is most definitely 9 hours of dorking. There was a small break for something else Magic-related, keep reading for more info on that.
In all, 11 games were played. I wrote down what everyone was playing and made a few notes about the big plays in each game. Nothing terribly in-depth, just enough to remind us what was going on. In this episode, we discuss these 11 games and tell you all about how awesome they were. That's pretty much it, really.
We took another break from the free-for-all so Mike and I could do a Winston Draft with six packs of Scourge that I had for some reason. For those of you that don't know, a Winston Draft is a two-man draft format that is loads and loads of fun. I have written two Winston walkthroughs for Cardshark, and you guys should definitely check it out if you can't regularly get 7 other people together for a friendly draft. Here are the articles. Time Spiral Winston Lorwyn Winston
And finally, for this episode's edition of Out of the Deck Box (Possibly Soon to be Renamed), Brian gives us a look at his Ink-Treader Nephilim deck, which is always a blast to play. Here's the list, and check out the episode for Brian's explanation on how it works and why it's fun.
Land (22)
Forum topic here: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/viewtopic.php?t=125
February is Classical Music Month here at The Mana Pool! Direct download: Episode_15_-_Multiplayer_Free-For-All_Extravaganza.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 12:15 AM Comments[0] |
Sat, 16 February 2008  What is okay to play in a casual setting? Can you break out your hardcore land destruction deck around the kitchen table? Is it okay to play a 20-counterspell deck in the Casual room on MTGO? Do your friends hate you when you whip out your mono-black heavy discard deck? Brian leads us in a discussion of deck-type etiquette when playing in a non-tournament environment. Give us your opinions on the forums!
Direct download: Episode_14_-_Casual_Etiquette_and_We_Has_a_Flava.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 11:19 AM Comments[0] |
Fri, 8 February 2008  First we have to resurrect Squanto, since Vegas worked him to death. From there, the episode takes off and never really stops. Squanto, Mike, Brian, and I discuss the differences between the three major types of Magic decks: Aggro, Control, and Combo. At great length. No really, we're really pretty thorough. Pros, cons, examples, rantings, ravings, questions, arguments. Pretty much everything except the kitchen sink and a shotgun blast.
Then we introduce a new segment to the show, Out of the Deck Box (possibly to be renamed later), where one of us dorks just picks a deck from his casual collection and talks about it. Since this was my idea, I started it up with my oldest surviving deck idea and one of my all-time favorites to play. I simply call it the Graveyard Deck. Here's the list: Creatures 4 Nether Shadow 4 Ashen Ghoul 4 Nether Traitor 4 Abyssal Gatekeeper 2 Phyrexian Plaguelord 1 each of the following: Ascendant Evincar; Mortivore; Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder; Havoc Demon; Patron of the Nezumi; Braids, Cabal Minion; Magus of the Abyss; Woebringer Demon; Dross Harvester; Liege of the Pit; Devouring Strossus; Hell's Caretaker; Sek'Kuar, Deathkeeper Spells 4 Buried Alive 2 Dread Return 1 each of the following: Recurring Nightmare; Attrition; Death Pit Offering; Hecatomb; Land 2 Cabal Coffers 1 Phyrexian Tower 19 Swamp
Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/viewtopic.php?t=118 Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Send me an article at submissions@cardshark.com Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool February is Classical Music Month here on The Mana Pool! Opening music: Hallelujah chorus from Messiah by Handel Closing music: Mars, Bringer of War from The Planets by Gustav Holst Direct download: Episode_13_-_Deck_Types_and_a_New_Segment.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 7:36 AM Comments[0] |
Mon, 28 January 2008  On this episode, the whole dorky crew goes over what they played at the Morningtide Prerelease and how it went for them. We cover our single Sealed flight experience, then how Two-Headed Giant treated us. Spoiler: It stomped us. Hard. Of course, then we just had to talk about some of the other stuff going on at the tournament, but that's nothing worth mentioning in the show notes. Except that we were basically accused of cheating before the tournament even started. How's that? Listen and find out! We couldn't let the new set come out without mentioning how some of the new cards in the set work with cards from previous sets, of course. Here are the quick combos we came up with. Everbark Shaman and Battlewand Oak Slithermuse and Stormbind Spitebellows and Momentary Blink Veteran's Armanents and Militia's Pride Maralen of the Mornsong and Aven Mindcensor Forum thread for this episode: Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Send me an article at submissions@cardshark.com Forums located at http://cardshark.freeforums.org Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Opening and closing music: Storm Warning by Ill Mic Check out Ill Mic at http://www.illmic.com Direct download: Episode_12_-_Prerelease_Anecdotes__More.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 9:35 PM Comments[0] |
Thu, 17 January 2008  You know, we do 13 cards and we go to right around an hour. This time we only had 5 cards, so how long did we go? Right around an hour. In this episode, we discuss, at great length, some of the things you can do with the 5 preview cards that have popped up since the last episode. We actually came up with some doozies this time, let us know what you think. http://cardshark.freeforums.org/viewtopic.php?t=105 We also take a fair amount of time to discuss the Prerelease experience, so if you're thinking about going, be sure to listen closely. Also check out my Prerelease Survival Guide, located on the home page of Cardshark. We also go into a few topics that we've had to put on the backburner due to Morningtide previews, but they'll all be coming up sometime soon. This is the last of the preview Not-Quickies, so next week we'll be back to the random stuff that we come up with off the tops of our heads, exclusive to the Mana Pool. Big shoutout to wolfstalker for helping us spread the word! Forum thread for this episode here: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/viewtopic.php?t=107 Morningtide Card Preview Archive: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=magic/morningtide/preview Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Send me an article at submissions@cardshark.com Forums located at http://cardshark.freeforums.org Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Direct download: Episode_11_-_Final_Morningtide_Not-Quickie.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 9:27 PM Comments[0] |
Wed, 16 January 2008 Wow. We've done this for 10 episodes now. That's pretty crazy. Seems like only a couple months ago we got this whole thing started...
Oh wait, I guess that's when it was. Never mind then. Mike, Brian, Squanto and I (da Chewie, of course) discuss the 13 new Morningtide preview cards to come out since our last look. This was supposed to be a quickie episode, but with 13 cards to talk about, we're lucky to fit it to within an hour (PROTIP: We just missed it).
Also in this episode is the second mention of Brian's Prerelease article thing. We want you, the listeners, to hit us with your Prerelease experiences. Give us decklists, records, stories, whatever you can come up with. You can post them here on the forums in the Prerelease thread (not made yet) or you can email them to us. However you want to do it is fine with us. Brian will sift through the stuff, pick out some favorites, and incorporate that into his big Prerelease article that he'll write for Cardshark.
Direct download: Episode_10_-_Morningtide_Not-Quickie_2.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 12:02 AM Comments[0] |
Thu, 10 January 2008 Well, this was supposed to be a quick episode. Mike, Brian and I take on seven more official Morningtide preview cards, four from the preview page and three from the Player Rewards Program email. Included is much discussion on these new cards, which are by far my favorite yet. We went a little bit longer than we meant to, but only so we could bring you the best discussion we possibly could. We also mention a new way for you, the listener, to interact with us! If you attend the Morningtide Prerelease, send us your decklist and/or a quick rundown of your experience. You can email it to us or post it here on the forums. Brian will sift through any and all information you supply and pick out his favorites. He will include these favorites in a future article for the Cardshark content page about the Prerelease. So by all means, go to the Prerelease and take some notes! This episode's forum thread: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/viewtopic.php?t=101 Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Send me an article at submissions@cardshark.com Forums located at http://cardshark.freeforums.org Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Direct download: Episode_9_-_Morningtide_Previews_Not-Quickie.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 8:43 PM Comments[0] |
Tue, 8 January 2008 Hey look, an episode that's actually UNDER an hour long! Perfect for that drive to work, waiting for the bus, or ignoring your teacher/boss for 20 minutes!
Direct download: Episode_8_-_Morningtide_Previews_Quickie.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 8:47 PM Comments[0] |
Mon, 7 January 2008 In this episode Squanto, Mike, Brian, Dirk and I (da Chewie!) take on the issue of proxies. When is it okay to use proxies? When is it not okay? And what should you do when confronted with someone using proxies? And what about using your foil lands in place of normal lands at a Limited event? We tackle these hot-button issues right here in the Mana Pool.
Next up we hit even more Morningtide preview cards on the official Wizards Morningtide previewed card archive. Not content with the 16 we covered in episode 6, we discuss 12 more cards that have popped up since that episode was recorded. http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=magic/morningtide/preview
Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Send me an article at submissions@cardshark.com Forums located at http://cardshark.freeforums.org Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool
Opening and closing music: Lovesick by Swift Check out Swift at http://www.swift-band.com Direct download: Episode_7_-_Etiquette_Question_2_and_More_Morningtide.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 11:40 PM Comments[0] |
Thu, 3 January 2008 It's the Best of 2007 show for the Mana Pool! Squanto, Brian, Dirk and I (da Chewie!) discuss all the best things to come out of the Mana Pool in 2007. This includes but is not limited to the Best Single Card We Never Got Around To Discussing, the Thousand-Year Elixir. We go over the Chris Millar article that discusses the Elixir, and talk about Brian's experiences both with and against it. Here's the article: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/daily/cm99
Then comes the part everyone wants to hear, the Morningtide preview cards. Wizards is doing something new this time around by having all the cards officially previewed in magazines and various other places listed in one spot. At the time of this recording there were 16 cards here, but there are definitely more already, so go check it out. We're going to cover anything that has come up since this episode next time, so stay tuned. Here's the link: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=magic/morningtide/preview
Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Send me an article at submissions@cardshark.com Forums located at http://cardshark.freeforums.org Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com RSS feed located at http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool
Opening and closing music: Slave by Social Outcast u.b. Check out Social Outcast u.b. at http://www.myspace.com/socialoutcastub Direct download: Episode_6_-_Best_of_2007_and_Morningtide_Previews.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 8:12 PM Comments[0] |
Tue, 18 December 2007 In this episode Mike, Brian, and Thomas join me (the Chewie!) for some scrumptious dorkiness! This time we go over some of the Standard decks that did well and made it big at Worlds this year. The big standout is the return of Dragonstorm, this time in mono-red with Spinerock Knoll as the super-secret tech. But we cover several other big decks too. In the middle of that there's a very short rant about playing tournament-level decks in the Casual Magic room on Magic Online, just to warn you. Then Mike poses a question about playing in multiplayer. What if you have a guy who just plays one deck all the time? Not one semi-decent deck because it's all he has, but one seriously overpowered infinite combo mill-you-all-for-your-entire-library deck? We discuss a few options for what to do about this guy, and not all of them are nice. Then it sort of turns into a semi-intervention. Then we finish with my favorite Swift song of all time. Big shoutout to Piroflameboy on the forums! You're officially our first fan! Thanks muchly, yo! Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Send me an article at submissions@cardshark.com Forums located at http://cardshark.freeforums.org Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com RSS Feed located at http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Opening music: Swell Guy by Swift Closing music: The Guatemalan by Swift Check Swift out at http://www.swift-band.com Direct download: Episode_5_-_Worlds_Standards_and_a_Multiplayer_Etiquette_Question.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 8:04 PM Comments[0] |
Wed, 12 December 2007 Note: This episode was recorded the night before Rosewater's article "What Do You Know, Part II", but due to technical difficulties and time constraints, it was not posted before the article came out. The rotating cast of dorks keeps on spinning. Joining me again this episode is Mike, our resident rules guru and all-around Mike kinda guy. The latest edition to the cast joins me as well. That's Thomas, who is Mike's brother and freshly bearded. First on the agenda is a price comparison. We compare all the Future Sight and Lorwyn rare dual lands at Cardshark and at our unnamed-yet-really-well-known competitor. Spoiler alert: Cardshark is really a lot cheaper. No kidding. Next up, we discuss how the Time Spiral block and 10th Edition managed to sneak members of the Lorwyn tribes in under a big sheet that said “Nostalgia?. No really, did anyone really expect anything when they timeshifted Verdeloth the Ancient or Lord of Atlantis? Of course not, you just thought it was a nod to the old-school. What about Merfolk Looter and Siege-Gang Commander in 10th Edition? Didn't notice that either, did you? We touch on lots of these cards and how they fit into Lorwyn's race-based tribes. And before anyone gets lost in all the hype surrounding the races of Lorwyn, we talk about how the classes of Lorwyn can matter too. Do you have a Soldier deck that needs some attention? Militia's Pride doesn't need Kithkin to work well, and neither does the Kinsbaile Balloonist. Veteran of the Depths works wonders with the Catapult Squads and Catapult Masters in my Soldier deck, and there's not a single other Merfolk in there. Just some food for thought about a few of the classes that are prevalent in Lorwyn and how they could fit into your class-based tribal decks. Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com Send me an article at submissions@cardshark.com Forums located at http://cardshark.freeforums.org Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com RSS Feed located at http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool Opening music: Whack It by Swift Closing music: Enjoy the Silence by Swift Check Swift out at http://www.swift-band.com Direct download: Episode_4_-_Dual_Costs_the_Sneaky_Setup_and_a_Classy_Finish.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 10:06 AM Comments[0] |
Tue, 4 December 2007 Welcome to The Mana Pool. Come on in, the water's fine. I'm Chewie, as always. Joining me today: Direct download: Episode_3_-_Clash_Revisited_Random_Lorwyn_and_Duel_Decks.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 11:44 PM Comments[0] |
Sun, 18 November 2007 Welcome to the second episode of The Mana Pool! I'm your host, Chewie, and I'm joined by another group of dorks this time. Brian - occasional writer for Cardshark, law student, and not a pro. In this episode, we discuss a few cards from Lorwyn that aren't tournament killers, aren't big cash cards, and aren't getting the respect or attention they deserve. Brian has come up with five cards to check out, keep an eye on, and get your creative synapses firing. Then we tackle an idea that Squanto had while work was slow one day. Clash is a cool new mechanic, but is it feasible (or even possible) to build a deck that uses clash specifically to win? I came up with a red and white deck skeleton that does just that. Here's that list for your perusal. Creatures (20) Spells (20) This deck is completely untested and is only theoretical, but we're going to put it together, test it out, and get back to you in an upcoming episode about how it performs. Email me at themanapool@cardshark.com Forums located at http://cardshark.freeforums.org Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com This episode's music music by Ill Mic, find them at http://www.illmic.com A big thanks to my podcasting mentor James. He's teaching me all the ins and outs of podcasting. If something's not right on my show, it's because I didn't get his help with it. If you like comics at all, check out his podcast at www.comicbooksavant.com. He's in the middle of his 50th episode extravaganza at the moment, so jump right in and have fun. Direct download: Episode_2_-_Fun_Rares_and_Clashing_to_Win.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 11:53 PM Comments[0] |
Sat, 10 November 2007 Welcome to the first episode of The Mana Pool! I'm your host, Chewie, and I'm joined by a big group of dorks that consist of: Brian - occasional writer for Cardshark
In this episode, we roll over to Cardshark and explain how it works and why it's great. Then we hit many of the new Standard decks that have cropped up since Lorwyn became legal, including the decks that made Top 8 at Grand Prix Krakow. Join us as we pick apart the new decks and pick on each other.
Email me at themanapool@cardshark.com Forums located at cardshark.freeforums.org Cardshark located at www.cardshark.com
This episode's music by Social Outcast UB Special thanks to Rhadamanthus for all the behind the scenes help! Mike rules! <a href="http://www.podcastalley.com/"> My Podcast Alley feed!</a> {pca-4d2e497f7b3144c0aad54e81f9c1dfa2}(this bit of text is purely to claim this feed on Podcast Alley, please feel free to ignore) Direct download: Episode_1_-_Cardshark_and_Lorwyn_Standard.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 12:21 PM Comments[1] |
Fri, 9 November 2007 The Mana Pool is open! I just need to pour in some chlorine, get the pump up and running again, and erase all the graffiti those lousy planeswalkers left all over the place. Honestly now, who really needs to know "Vess Pwnz" or "LOL @ Teferi" or "For a good time, 'walk to Ravnica"? As soon as I get all this mess cleaned up, then we'll be open for business. The Mana Pool, brought to you by Cardshark and hosted by your favorite lovable Content Editor, Chewie, is a new Magic: The Gathering podcast. The first episode will be up later this week. Until then, check out this promo for a taste of things to come. feeds.feedburner.com/TheManaPool
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The Mana Pool
Join Brian, Mike, Dirk and Chewie as they discuss all things Magic: The Gathering. Since there are plenty of tournament and strategy podcasts out there, we've decided to focus on the fun of the game in all its many forms, from Prereleases to multiplayer free-for-alls to whatever else we can come up with. Give us a listen!
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