The Mana Pool

The dorks are back with another edition of There's No Plane Like Home! We're tackling (sort of) three planes this episode...and they're all the same plane! We're starting on Argentum, then moving on to Mirrodin, and ending on New Phyrexia! From quiet empty paradise to mostly good generic fantasy world (plus metal) to horrific war zone, we're covering the entire history of the plane! Come join us i...

After some technological difficulties on Mike's part, the dorks decide to forge ahead without him! We're doing a Mythic Conscription for Visions, the follow up to Mirage. But where Mirage was loaded with good fodder for a Mythic Conscription, Visions is a little less...diverse. But hey, at least we got Mike back partway through the episode! Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays...

First up the dorks are taking a look at the brand new reveal of Modern Horizons! Two of them hadn't seen it yet, so we get actual first impressions! Then it's time for the main topic of this week's episode, suggested by the TMP Discord server - deckbuilding! We'll explain why some old deckbuilding rules we learned aren't great and offer up plenty of actual tips. And we'll even go further than that...

The dorks are back on Trivester with Brian's custom MTG RPG! This episode is pretty heavy on the combat encounters and light on the narrative, but I'm sure we'll get back to the mystery in the next installment! If you want to know who gets mauled horribly out of nowhere, who is stalking the party through the jungle, and who you should have rolling your D20s, you're in for a treat!  If you have no...

Don't worry, Dirk doesn't really ruin EVERYTHING. In fact, Dirk was on fire for most of this episode. Like in Overwatch or NBA Jam, not like actual fire. Anyway... This episode we're putting Mirage through a Mythic Conscription. And unlike several of the Conscriptions we've done for older sets, this one actually has plenty of cards to talk about. During the episode we even dig up some actual recen...

The dorks begin with an oddly appropriate Magic Mad Lib (written by Chewie this time!) and then dive into another edition of There's No Plane Like Home. To follow up last week's Theros episode we decided to go to the OTHER plane where the gods are definitely real and you can totally talk to them: Amonkhet. It turns out the Amonkhet discussion is really...weird. Compared to other planes, Amonkhet r...

The dorks are back! We've got an epic-length Mad Lib that Brian wrote! It's seriously long, but the payoff is totally worth it. Just don't deathtouch yourselves, please. After that it's time to return to a segment we started late last year! It's (now) called There's No Plane Like Home! We're looking at how everyday life on the various planes of Magic might be. This episode we're focusing on Theros...

The dorks are live at the Ravnica Allegiance Prerelease! Brian, Mike, and Chewie went to House of Cards in Winston-Salem, NC to partake in this sweet guildy goodness! Brian got his second choice (Gruul, they were out of Orzhov), Mike got his first choice (Gruul), and Chewie asked for the least popular guild and ended up with Azorius! How'd we do? What'd we open? Who is this weird guy whose name is...

Not only are there more Ravnica Allegiance cards to talk about, but there's also actual news! News that dropped on the day of recording, so we can get in there early! Ravnica Allegiance: Mythic Edition was announced, complete with a less-stupid way to buy it and more super sweet planeswalker art! And that's not even the big news! The next set is called War of the Spark! And...okay that's literally...

We're back for 2019! And so is preview season! That's right, it's time to take a look at the entire mess of new Ravnica Allegiance cards that have popped up since our last episode. We've got planeswalkers, four-power fliers, and...a mutant. Not any special kind of mutant. Not a Fish Crab Mutant or a Jellyfish Hydra Beast Mutant, just a mutant. He was made from the vat of forearm juice, apparently....

Ravnica Allegiance has started peeking out from the Christmas presents, so we're looking at the mechanics! Remember this was recorded on Thursday, so we didn't have the Azorius mechanic yet. Sorry about that. We're also checking out the promos and whatnot while we're on the Allegiance kick. Then it's time for reflection. We're going to look back at Magic's 25th anniversary, for better and worse. A...

The dorks slog through...I mean take on a Mythic Conscription for Fallen Empires! This is a set that is notorious for its lack of...well, much of anything. As a result, we'll be looking at the entire set rather than just the "rares" and talking about a lot of tangentially related stuff! After that it's time to have some fun with another listener-submitted Mad Lib! This one is from Eric He, and I t...

The dorks bring back a featured segment they haven't done a good long while...a Flavor Fight! We've called it many things over the years, mostly involving words from the titles of fighting games. This time, we went with the Random Card feature in Gatherer until we hit gold creatures! The bracket is set, the rules are fuzzy, and the dorks are ready to argue! Can a monk withstand a faerie's feminine...

We've got a card to reveal for UMA! It's Visions of Beyond! We spend some time wondering what that means for the rest of UMA (like, is there some kind of milling subtheme?) then go over the cards that were revealed via the Ultimate Box Toppers. After that we've got a pretty sweet Mad Lib, sent in to us by listener Magnor Criol. It's a good one, so thanks a lot Andrew! Come join us in the future! T...

The planes of existence in Magic are plentiful, and each one is loaded with its own flavor and history. Given that, it's only natural that almost every playgroup has had a discussion about which plane would be the best (or worst) one to live on! The dorks are going deep on that conversation on this episode, trying to figure out what it would be like for the average everyman to live on Ravnica and...

The dorks are returning to Trivester for the MTG RPG! And it hasn't even been a year this time! Karim, Alaric, and the Angel are heading towards the tower in the distance. As they make their way through the jungle they'll encounter some...interesting wildlife. Once they get to the tower they've got to deal with a crazy mage, a mysterious door, and an adorable dinosaur before a sudden revelation le...

This week, Brian really wanted to talk about how the Standard rotation affected Brawl. Not how it affected Brawl in general exactly, but how it affected his Brawl decks specifically. So we're talking about what's coming out of his five decks and talking to chat for replacements! It's essentially a big deck-tweaking episode! Let us know what you think! And if you think this episode's name is weird,...

No we're not talking about spooky stories, we're doing a Mythic Conscription for Legends! And Legends is REALLY weird. Seriously. Legends was the third Magic expansion ever. It was the first set to introduce legendary cards and multicolored cards, so it makes sense that they hadn't exactly gotten a handle on it yet.  You'll also get to hear about how we survived the latest hurricane and Brian's si...

It's Prerelease time! So of course, the dorks take the handy dandy digital recorder to Lucky's for what will be the final Prerelease there before it closes up (again). We'll check in before the event starts and between each round to let you know how the format looks, what cards are working or not working for us, things like that. You know the drill by now, right? Also, the episode begins with a Sa...

This episode is all about helping casual players manage their first tournament of each type. Starting with Prereleases then moving into FNM, PPTQ, and finally a Grand Prix or SCG Open, we'll give you some general tips for how to prepare and what to expect at each level. Whether you've never been to a tournament in your life or you're a regular FNM player that wants to attend your first GP, we've g...

The full Guilds of Ravnica set is up, so the Dorks are poking around in there to find all the best and neatest stuff! There's a listening stick, a very friendly beast, and a chance for glory! We've got angels, vampires, bugs, and...lockets? This set looks SO sweet! Oh, and the open beta for Magic Arena begins soon! You know, if you're interested at all. Guilds of Ravnica Card Image Gallery:  https...

Our exclusive (and free) Guilds of Ravnica preview is here! It hits a note for all four dorks, which is pretty neat for a single card. After that there are a lot of sweet Guilds cards to talk about, so we're gonna spend the entire episode doing that! Our exclusive preview card, Hatchery Spider -  http://themanapool.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Hatchery_Spider_EN.png Guilds of Ravnica Card Image...

It is time once again to return to Ravnica. Or return to Return to Ravnica. Ravnica 3: Secret of the Ooze. But enough with the jokes, Guilds of Ravnica is here! The dorks (minus Mike) are going over the guild mechanics and all the sweet promos that have been revealed thus far! We've got an enormous wurm with dainty little feet, Emmara on keto, super sweet basic lands and even sweeter Masterpiece-l...

It's a live episode! The dorks gathered at Brian's house to play a game with the Commander 2018 decks! Will Chewie actually be able to play this time? Will the cats let us play the damn game? Will we be done in time for lunch? All these answers and more can be found in this episode of TMP! Come join us in the future! The show will be live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on  twitch.tv/the...

Professor Beard is back! In his first lecture he taught us all about the evolution of the Graveyard ( Episode 509 ), where we were amazed at just how much of the Graveyard's flavor and function came early in Magic's life. This time the Prof is teaching us all about RFG, which is Removed From Game. Also Set Aside. Also Hovering 8 Inches Above the Table. Eventually, it became the Exile we know and l...