The Mana Pool

The dorks take a look at the new Marvel Magic set, because why not. Marvel Super Heroes Mechanics - https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/feature/marvel-super-heroes-mechanics Card Image Gallery - https://magic.wizards.com/en/products/marvel/marvel-super-heroes/card-image-gallery Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch. Become a Lifeguard on Pat...

The dorks are doing something a little different this week. The Summer Game Fest happened recently, showing off all kinds of new and upcoming video games. Each of us have picked out a handful of the games shown at the SGF that we're excited about or that just look really cool. From the biggest reveals like Final Fantasy & Zelda to the midsized releases like Castlevania & Star Wars all the way to t...

Oh my god this guy is SO big and scary! How am I ever gonna...oh. Is that all? Huh. This week we're doing the opposite of last week, with enemies that look big and scary that turn out to be...nothing. Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch. Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! –  patreon.com/themanapool Podcast RSS Feed:  themanapool.libsyn.com/r...

Oh look, a cute little turtle lizard guy with a teeny little knife! Why's he just walking towards us? What does he think he's gonna OH DEAR LORD WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE! We're talking about enemies that look like they'd be pushovers, but will instead absolutely wreck you for one reason or another. We'll do the inverse of this on a future episode, so be sure to give us your ideas! Come join us in the f...

The FINAL definition of vamp on the Merriam-Webster site says "Improvise, extemporize." That's the one we're using here. Not "a woman who uses her charm or wiles to seduce and exploit men," which is the FIRST definition. What the actual hell? On this Dorks Just Chatting, Chewie talks all about his newly-purple beard and his mom's stay in the hospital. Dirk has no idea when things happened and tell...

The dorks have returned! You know when there's a game or movie or whatever media that, when you look at it, you just know that this is gonna be right up your alley? But then you give it a shot and it just...isn't? What's that about? We're going to give lots of examples of this phenomenon for ourselves and try to figure out what happened with each other them. Let us know about things that seem like...

This is what happens when there's no Dirk and when the Pooligans don't give us a direction. You can't just leave us to our own devices! We cannot be trusted! Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch. Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! –  patreon.com/themanapool Podcast RSS Feed:  themanapool.libsyn.com/rss YouTube:  youtube.com/TheManaPool The De...

The dorks return to Magic to take a look at Secrets of Strixhaven, the new set that amazingly isn't based on some other IP! Two of the dorks actually went to a prerelease for it, so they have Thoughts. You know the drill, mechanics then the card image gallery bouncing around looking at cool stuff. Oh, because of the main new mechanic there are a lot of Scar and Illidan Stormrage references, so you...

We've done it! We're made it to three quarters of four figures! To celebrate doing this for over 18 years (not quite half our lives) we're going to take a look at what it's been like being a nerd over the course of our lifetimes. How we're viewed by society and even the very defintion of "nerd" have changed a lot over the years, so we're digging into it from our own experiences. To help us with th...

And then it all came crashing down. After Overwatch, the Devil Himself took over and ran decades of goodwill into the ground in the pursuit of the mighty dollar. And also other...problems...came to light that accelerated the fall. But is it all doom and gloom forever? Can Blizzard save itself under the control of...Microsoft? Wait, seriously? Why Jeff Kaplan left Blizzard:  https://kotaku.com/over...

We pivoted away from our second Blizzard show to save Brian's mental health, but we'll do it very soon! Instead we're doing a DJC that starts with the titular question and just goes from there, as these shows tend to do. Also, I think Dirk talks more on this episode than he has on a single episode in YEARS. Hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did! Come join us in the future! The show is...

Remember when Blizzard was great? Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo were some of the most powerful IPs in gaming, and they all came from a singular company that could do no wrong. It was truly a glorious time to be alive. So let's bask in the warm glow of nostalgia for this episode, remembering only the good times back before the Devil Himself took sole control and destroyed two and a half decades o...

The dorks (most of them anyway) return to do exactly one (1) episode on the TMNT MTG set. There are improved versions of old mechanics, video game nostalgia, and lots of ampersands. What's your take on the turtle set, and have you ever had turtle soup? Mechanics: https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/feature/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-mechanics Gallery: https://magic.wizards.com/en/products/teenage-...

The dorks are joined this episode by our old buddy and former Monday Night Magic host Squee! Or Bill, if you prefer. And we're talking about rogues across all media. The archetype of The Rogue is far wider than just the D&D definition of sneaking around in the shadows to pick locks and stab people in the back, and we'll be going into detail about all the different aspects of roguishness with plent...

The dorks dive into the idea of crossovers, when intellectual properties show up in other intellectual properties. We're placing examples on a two-axis spectrum and discussing the good, the bad, the stupid, the greedy, and the ugly. Let us know about any types we missed and tell us about your favorite (or least favorite) media crossover you've encountered! Come join us in the future! The show is l...

The dorks return for our second week on Lorwyn Eclipsed, which is officially more than Wizards of the Coast spent previewing the entire set. Sigh. So join us as we bounce around the gallery as usual! Just uh...ignore the bit about feet. Gallery: https://magic.wizards.com/en/products/lorwyn-eclipsed/card-image-gallery Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern...

It all comes full circle eventually. We first went to Lorwyn waaaay back in 2007, when The Mana Pool started, and we haven't been back since. Until now! The dorks are taking a look at the mechanics and then diving into the full set, focusing on the returning characters! We'll bounce around the rest of the set next episode! Mechanics:  https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/feature/lorwyn-eclipsed-mecha...

Hey it's the first episode of 2026! And the dorks are back in force, with a big look at the different types of aliens and how they're depicted in media. We're talking aliens that are friendly, absolutely not friendly, just sort of passing through, and not even sentient, and how they've been shown in movies, shows, games, comics, and whatever else comes up. And at the end we'll dip into some real s...

For the last episode of 2025, the dorks (except Dirk) spend an entire episode inadvertently discussing a lot of nostalgic stuff. It kicks off with GI Joe movies and Ghostbusters lore (with some Dave Coulier thrown in, for some reason?). Then we move into video games for the majority of the show, pitching ideas for applying a randomizer to old games, point & click adventure game Moon Logic, smashin...

Welcome to Supply Lines, a running feature here on TMP where the dorks will be looking at resource management in games. What games? All games, because Chewie is convinced that they're all just different styles of resource management dressed up in genre pants. This is the third Supply Lines episode, and the second about the most popular tabletop RPG of all time, Dungeons & Dragons. On the first one...

The dorks are discussing the different types of vehicular transporation you can find in video games. From the cutscene/background only vehicles to the ones that essentially are the player, we're covering as many as we can think of, with plenty of suggestions from the TMP Discord (see, that's why you should totally join!) to round us out. Be sure to let us know what your favorite vehicle is!   Come...

The dorks continue checking out the Avatar set! And it's just after Chewie's 45th birthday! What is going on here? Where is the Avatar? What happened to my cabbages? Gallery: https://magic.wizards.com/en/products/avatar-the-last-airbender/card-image-gallery   Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch. Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! –  patreon....

Yup, the dorks are looking at the Avatar: The Last Airbender set. And it's our 18 year anniversary! Holy crap! Mechanics: https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/feature/avatar-the-last-airbender-mechanics Gallery: https://magic.wizards.com/en/products/avatar-the-last-airbender/card-image-gallery   Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch. Become a...

The dorks (except Mike) get together to discuss what we've been playing lately along with a bit of personal nonsense. You know how it is, we're dorks and we're just chatting! Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch. Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! –  patreon.com/themanapool Podcast RSS Feed:  themanapool.libsyn.com/rss YouTube:  youtube.com/T...

Since it's Halloween time the dorks thought they'd get into the spirit of things by telling you all about some spooky stories. These come from folklore, our childhood, the bookstore, and the internet, and all of them spooked us, or unsettled us, or at the very least just stuck with us, and we want to share them with you. We also got several suggestions from the TMP Discord, which you should totall...