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
Contest information: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/the-mana-pool-contest-announcement-t261.html

Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com
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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

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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!

To honor our one-year anniversary, we offer you this song for direct download.  By taking sound clips from around 10 episodes and splicing them together with Weapon of Choice by Fatboy Slim and a few of the DELETED buzzer sounds from Strong Bad Emails, Rob Anderson created something we dorks will treasure always. 

First featured in episode 52, this piece of audio goodness really captures the personalities of hosts of The Mana Pool.  He cuts down through all the Magic and the content of the show to show you a glimpse of who we really are and why we love doing the show.  So here it is for all to enjoy at your convenience.  I give you No One Expects the Mana Pool by JungleRatRob.

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
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