The Mana Pool

What's that?  A live episode?  Where did this come from?  Well honestly it came from Brian's house, but that's not important.  Due to a lack of Dirk during this episode's recording, Brian decided Mike and I should roll over there to play his newly-bought Scars of Mirrodin Intro Packs.  He had Myr of Mirrodin, Metalcraft, and Phyrexian Poison.  We played a three-man game, then traded decks and did...

Moo.

After beginning with a study into arcane languages and comic strips, we're gonna set this thing on FIRE!  We'll take a look at a few of the new products Wizards has in store, the Magic Online Deck Series: Legacy and the Premium Deck Series: Fire & Lightning, then move into Brian's new idea for a segment.  There's no official name, so I'm going to call it Core Set: Mana Pool Edition.  He has come u...

In this action-packed episode of The Mana Pool, we're taking a look at all the two-for-ones in Magic.  No, not Buy One Get One Free, and not killing a creature in response to it being targeted by an aura.  We're talking about a whopping TWO power for ONE mana!  Back in the day this defined entire tournament scenes, but were all of them that good?  Well stay tuned and find out, because we're gonna...

This episode is a little random.  We begin with a brief discussion of why not to buy cheap ice cream sandwiches.  I then offer up Mike's phone number in case anyone wants to call him.  Then we point out how we're not going to take money from our listeners, but gifts are appreciated when appropriate. Of course, we have a main topic.  It's Mortal Instinct Fighter Calibur Vs 2 - 3D Alpha Forever!  On...

Hello again, and welcome to the show notes!  This is Mike, filling in on this for Chewie while he puts the finishing touches on the previous episode (the secret ingredient is love). When Wizards decided to go back to Mirrodin for another block, of course they had to have in mind what had come before.  Today we all take the time to think and talk about cards from the original Mirrodin block that wo...

Here it is, the long-awaited Episode 150!  What are we doing special to celebrate this landmark occasion? ...not much, really.  Eric of the Many Names made up a Mad Lib for us, which you'll hear in the intro.  He's a sweetie like that.  We talk about the new Premium Deck Series a bit, hit the announcement for the new Duel Decks (Knights vs. Dragons) and talk about the Faction Packs that will be in...

On this fun-filled episode of The Mana Pool, we join three of our four heroes in a flashback to the Scars of Mirrodin Prerelease, where two of the three did very well, and the third of three did not so well.  And one of the three heroes opened two Mythics, but to find out which hero opened which Mythics, you'll have to listen! Also included in this action-packed episode is a look at the Scars Intr...

This episode marks the somewhat-awaited return of Brian's Magic Mad Libs! We also take a look at the changes to the Banned & Restricted List as well as some of the changes in the Comprehensive Rules. Don't worry, Mike actually had some notes this time instead of just randomly poking through the list. And it's time for us to take a look at the full card list for Scars of Mirrodin and poke through i...

Sorry to break the streak, but due to extreme overwork there is not a guest host this week.  Unless you count Zombie Chewie, who is filling in for Chewie this week.  It's hard to tell the difference but trust me, he's there.  Is two episodes in a row even considered a streak?  We'll start over if work ever calms down for me.  But instead, enjoy our admittedly late takes on some of the new cards fr...

We are joined this week by Trevor and Tom from MTG Radio, another fabulous podcast on the MTGCast Network, one that focuses primarily on the excellent format known as Elder Dragon Highlander.  If you're at all interested in EDH, you should definitely check them out.  If you're not interested in EDH, you should listen to them anyway because they're awesome.  Otherwise we wouldn't have them on the s...

Kicking off our series of episodes with guests hosts from all over the place, we are joined by none of than Jungle Rat Rob! You may know Rob as the guy who did No One Expects the Mana Pool and Mana Pool 2: Electric Boogaloo for us. He's also one of the hosts of The Retro League, a podcast about classic video games, which I've been listening to religiously for a few months now. It's awesome, you ca...

In this episode, we're going to veer off the usual beaten path a little bit.  First off, we have to talk some more about our last get-together at Dirk's house that was featured on the last episode.  Especially once we get to what happened after the last episode - Respawn Magic!  After we finished the Planechase game that you listened to, we shuffled up some decks and played one game of Magic that...

On Game Day, we all gathered at Dirk's place to play some Magic!  And you are listening to the fruits of that labor.  We started off with a quick recap of the day's events thus far, then played a knock-down, drag-out game of Archenemy, featuring Brian's custom Archenemy deck and Scheme deck.  No I'm not going to tell you who won.  Really now, listen to the episode.  The ending was really freakin'...

Are you ready for this? I CAN’T HEAR YOU! Are you ready for the latest, (probably not the) greatest, absolutely most current episode of the Mana Pool?! I hope so, because HERE IT IS! Pumped yet? Well, you will be. This is Brian, here to bring you the highlights and higher-lights of episode 142 of the Mana Pool. First off, we go over listener emails. Listen closely, listeners, because while you’re...

Greetings!  A big hello and welcome to all of you Mana Pool listeners out there!  This is Brian!  I’m talking like this because I’ve taken the BAR EXAM and thus don’t have to/can’t complain about it anymore! Ahem. Thanks for tuning in.  We’ve got quite the interesting show for you hear today/tonight/tomorrow (how is that possible?).  However, we misplaced our Dirk, so you’ll have to wait til next...

Between vacations to Canada and the Bar exam, half of the host dorks have gone missing!  But never fear, we'll find them.  But until then, you're stuck with just me and Mike, taking it nice and easy this week.  We start off with a little bit of random nonsense, then jump right into the big spoiler for Scars of Mirrodin.  If you're looking to avoid this, skip ahead to about the 13 minute mark and y...

Well hello there everybody.  This is Mike, filling in for Chewie on the show notes because something something I don't even know.  There's probably a perfectly reasonable explanation.  But hey, that's what friends are for.  Speaking of, by way of Brian's creative genius, we have a very special episode for you tonight. I'm sure all of you out there at some point have dreamed up some custom cards, o...

Well we've got lots of stuff for you this episode. First off, there's a Magic Mad Lib, provided by jars from the forums. Then we have some controversial stuff. We kick it off with Hornet Sting again, this time going into a deeper discussion about what may or may not be wrong with the card on any number of levels. Then we hit the Esper Charm incident described by Cedric Phillips on StarCityGames. T...

Hey there, all of you Mana Pool listeners! If you’re not a Mana Pool listener, you’re in the wrong place. Otherwise, hey! This is Brian. My rambling has spilled over onto the show notes, no longer content to take up 80% of the podcast air space. Mike and I handle the usual tasks of intro matters, listener emails, and Cardshark member promotions for July. Why us instead of Chewie? You’ll have to fi...

Well hello there. What's a dork like you doing on an internet like this? Ah, that makes sense. No, I won't tell your mom. This is Mike, taking the reins of the show notes while Chewie is working hard preparing the previous episode, sneaking it in underneath our rolling storage limit on the hosting site. You'll notice a familiar unfamiliar voice on this episode, as we once again have Eric the Pluro...

NOTE:  THIS EPISODE (AND THUS THE DISCUSSION ABOUT POSSIBLE CHANGES TO DEATHTOUCH) WAS RECORDED WAY BEFORE WIZARDS SAID ANYTHING ABOUT IT. THANK YOU, THE MANAGEMENT Eric of Many Names is back with us again, adding fuel to the various and sundry fires.  Speaking of fires, after a somewhat brief rant to clear out my system, we start this episode off right by looking at the new Extended format and th...

We're all here this time!  First up it's our take on the M11 Prerelease and Launch cards, both of which are hardcore badassed.  Then there's the last Archenemy deck, so of course we have to read the Scheme flavor texts out loud.  And of course, my archnemesis has returned for this episode, those bastard clicks!  I dealt with them as best I could, but they're never gonna die! Then we decide to take...

Oh yes, it's spoiler time baby!  We got the pooled spoilers again, this time it's Magic 2011!  And it's not just us, oh no.  We called in the reinforcements again for the spoilers, this time in the form of the inimitable Eric of Many Names.  We've got the return of Mana Leak, who has been missing from Standard since 9th Edition rotated out oh so long ago.  And two new cards, Back to Nature and Gar...

Holy special guest hosts, Batman! Because we lost our own Brian, we decided the only way to possibly fill the void was with another Bryan. But since no one can possibly ramble as much as Brian, we threw in the added bonus of Christian. Both of these guys are from the (sabbaticalized) Avant-Card Show, and they were gracious enough to join in the fun this episode. First up we have the Duels of the P...