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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Syndication

Episode 26 - Prerelease Stories and Special Guests  

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 
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: 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: 8:26pm EDT

Episode 25 - Shadowmoor Previews 6  

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
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_25_-_Shadowmoor_Previews_6.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:15am EDT

Episode 24 - Shadowmoor Previews 5 and Less! 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 
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_24_-_Shadowmoor_Previews_5_and_Less.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 7:35am EDT

In order to get this to the most people, I've decided to put this up on my RSS feed as well as send it to the boss at Cardshark.  Inside you'll find anything you could ever want to know about going to the Prerelease.  Included are tips for preparation, getting there, surviving once you get there, and actually playing.  There's a quick tutorial on building your deck with a focus on the new set.  I also give a rundown of mechanics new and old that will be in the set, along with a few tips for each one.  I hope this is some help to you.  Stay tuned for a new episode of The Mana Pool coming soon!
Direct download: Prerelease_Survival_Guide_shadowmoor.doc
Category:general -- posted at: 8:02am EDT

Episode 23 - Shadowmoor Previews 4 and More! 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: 10:17pm EDT

Episode 22 - Shadowmoor Previews 3

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
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_22_-_Shadowmoor_Previews_3.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 7:43am EDT

Episode 21 - Shadowmoor Previews 2 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
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


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

Direct download: Episode_21_-_Shadowmoor_Previews_2.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 7:58pm EDT

Episode 20 - Shadowmoor Previews 1  

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
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_20_-_Shadowmoor_Previews_1.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:58am EDT

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
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_19_-_Breaking_News.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:04pm EDT