The Mana Pool

This episode is all over the place with a series of topical...topics. Ahem. The dorks are showcasing several of the segments we do here on the show, beginning with the always-adorable Sam Quiz. We've also got a Magic Mad Lib (consequence-free this time) and an Ixalan block Story Circle! And if all that wasn't enough, we've also got a discussion about the addition of Jace the Mind Sculptor and Bloo...

We all love the Magic Mad Libs, right? We rattle off some cards, we get a funny story, we laugh, and that's it, right? But what if our Mad Lib was actually hiding something from us? What if...there were consequences? In the aftermath of our Mad Lib, we're building a new set! With some stipulations coming from the Mad Lib itself, it's up to the dorks to figure out how to make this random nonsense w...

The dorks put TWO sets under the Mythic Conscription microscope, focusing on Homelands, originally part of Ice Age block, and Coldsnap, the eventual finish to the Ice Age block! With over a decade between the two releases, card and set design changed a lot, so let's take a look at each one and see what the differences are! Support us on Patreon! –  https://www.patreon.com/themanapool Intro & Outro...

Has your playgroup ever issued a ban on certain cards or combinations of cards? Have you ever made the decision to stop playing something because, while it might have been effective, it just wasn't FUN? That's what the dorks are discussing this week with our own experiences playing lots of Magic as a group over the years. Also WotC has revealed the structure of MTG Arena's in-game economy and card...

It's time! Chewie & Mike went to the Rivals of Ixalan Prerelease, so that means the handy digital recorder went too! We recorded our thoughts & experiences after deckbuilding and after each round, with a super special surprise in round 1! What did Chewie do that was incredibly impressive? What insane bomb did Mike not play? Listen to find out! After the tourney we went to have celebratory Mexican...

The full Rivals of Ixalan set is upon us! The dorks spend this episode going through the Card Image Gallery picking out more sweet cards that we feel like talking about! There are a few reprints from Ixalan in Rivals of Ixalan, let's talk about that. Also the RIX rules update happened. Also Patrick Sullivan rants about Ravenous Chupacabra. Also we miss Brian. Rivals of Ixalan Card Image Gallery - ...

The dorks are back! We have returned from our holiday break just in time to take a look at the insane cards from Rivals of Ixalan! Seriously, have you looked at these? There's a lot of concentrated awesome going on here. The mythics seem to be nuts. We have a cycle of Elder Dinosaurs. Elder. Dinosaurs. So awesome! Rivals of Ixalan Card Image Gallery -  https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive...

It's the final TMP of 2017! We're talking about the newly revealed Rivals of Ixalan mechanic, Ascend. Then we have to talk about the end of Duel Decks, and how that's sad but not terribly sad. The bulk of the episode is a Mythic Conscription for Alliances, the follow-up to Ice Age. This set...this set, man. It's uh...it's a set. Of cards. It's a tough one for the MC treatment because some of these...

We're back after Chewie's vacation! We begin with a Sam Quiz, like you do after a week off. We've got surreal Unstable variants to talk about. Like a lot of them. Holy crap these are insane. Then there's a tiny bit of Rivals of Ixalan. Then we have a long but well worth it listener submitted Magic Mad Lib, sent to us by Mike XIV. Thanks man! We end the episode with some final thoughts as always. W...

We begin this episode on a much less happy note and address the current ugly situation in the Magic online community. Seriously though, why is it so hard to just be decent to people? Then it's on to the Unstable cards! We're bouncing around looking at whatever jumps out at us in the full set. And since there's just SO MUCH lunacy in the set, there are plenty of things to do the jumping. Like a lot...

On this episode of TMP, the dorks are giving a eulogy. Actually it's another Mad Lib by lvl99luck, but it'll make sense when you listen to it. Good night, sweet Rogue Kavu. After that we're off to talk about Unstable! It's the first Un set in the podcast's lifetime, and we're all over it. We're making sense of all the jargon surrounding Contraptions, explaining Rules Lawyer, and taking turns makin...

Happy Birthday TMP! After ten whole years of talking Magic almost every week, the dorks have decided to take a week off. Not from podcasting, from Magic-talking. Since we've been going for so long, we're looking back at the world of 2007 to see how things were back then. From there we sort of tangent off into things we've been into since then, things we're into now, and how we're all completely di...

After another adorable Sam Quiz, we've got our work cut out for us. We have decided, perhaps foolishly, to do a Mythic Conscription for Magic's first full size expansion. If you know your history, you know that means Ice Age - the home of cumulative upkeep, massive text boxes, and commons sitting in the rare slot. This set was created in the dark days of Magic design, when no one really knew what...

Roughly once a year the dorks take a look at media outside of Magic and turn some bits of it into cards! We've done video games, movies, television, and books (we think that's all thus far). This time we're looking at sequential art, also known as comics! From comic books to webcomics to newspaper comics, we're covering some of all of it! What's your favorite thing in the medium of comics? And wou...

We need to have a talk. Why do nerds always react so negatively to new things? Why are they always so against new people liking the things they like? Why is it that they always seem like horribly entitled jerks? The dorks are looking to answer all these questions if we can. Just to show that we're human too, we're starting off with many examples of times we've had nerd rage of our own. Then we'll...

Due to Chewie being unfit for recording this week, it's time to get another live episode out of the can! A few weeks ago the dorks got together to play some Magic! We recorded the Commander 2017 show that went up two episodes ago, but we ALSO recorded some Archenemy: Nicol Bolas! We played one game with Mike in the role of Bolas then we broke for dinner. It was delicious, in case you're interested...

The dorks have returned! It's been two weeks since we recorded a show, and we're dying to get back into it. We begin with a short Sam Quiz, then a long Mad Lib! After that it's off to discuss our Prerelease experiences. Chewie & Brian did a Two-Headed Giant prerelease, Brian did a solo one, and Mike did some drafting the following week. Do you like pirates? How about dinosaurs? Dr Langeskov, the T...

Preview season for Ixalan was a little weird due to the big leak. So even though the entire set has been revealed now, there's just...not much left to talk about. And since we were going to be missing Mike anyway, we decided to get a live episode out of the can! A few weeks ago the Dorks gathered at Brian's house to play some Magic! We played a game with the then-somewhat-newly-released Commander...

This episode begins with super sexy Unstable lands. Then we bounce around Iconic Masters and try to figure out 1) what exactly is the point of this set? and B) why are there so many kitties in the art? After that it's back to Ixalan! There's still a lot awesome stuff here to talk about, including the new Vraska, terrors of the sky, and what weird monkey goblins put in cannons. Unstable Lands -  ht...

We recorded this the same day as the MTG Arena reveal, so the first part of the episode revolves around that. How we feel about what we've seen, expectations, hopes & dreams, that sort of thing. From there it's time to dive into more Ixalan! There's the new Cradle, the old dinosaurs, the promos, and of course, the Card Image Gallery! This set is a crazy mishmash of lots of things that nerds love.....

Yarrr, it be a Sam Quiz, then story time! After that it's time to talk Ixalan! There are feathered dinosaurs, pirates with their treasure, beautifully colored merfolk, and religious fanatic vampires. This set is gonna be AWESOME! We also get to look at the new Jace and the new (lack of) Planeswalker Uniqueness Rule. After that we dive into a bunch of the revealed cards and marvel at how much fun a...

After a brief discussion about Fuller House and a not-so-brief discussion about our experiences with the Great North American Eclipse, we're actually going to talk about Magic! Seriously though, the total eclipse was amazing and moving. Like wow. We're doing a Commander 2017 Story Circle! After discounting the Eminence commanders and a few of the less interesting legends in the set, we finally dec...

Let us tell you a tale, a tale of a dude. That dude is Travis, and he just keeps having problems. Poor Travis. Maybe if he wasn't so awesome he wouldn't run into so much trouble. Or maybe he just really sucks. Hey look, Brian's back! And look, we have a lot more Commander cards to talk about! Yay! And look, the Cat Dragon token is SO ADORABLE! I WANT ONE! Please excuse Chewie's mic the first 2.5 m...

These Commander 2017 cards are SO MAJESTIC! Seriously. Mike forgot how to speak. Dirk forgot how to read. Chewie almost choked to death. And they were SO MAJESTIC that Brian wasn't even here. Look at all that majesty! But because we got so caught up in the multicolored cards (mostly the legends), we opted to leave the monocolored cards until next week so Brian can join in on the fun. Commander 201...

We begin with another Sam Quiz, which was a little tricksy. Then, after a brief story of personal injury and public surgery from Chewie we get right into it! We're doing a Mythic Conscription for Dissension, finishing out the original Ravnica block. This set, much like some of the other Ravnica sets, was a little hard to do. Or maybe easy. We're not sure. There's a bizarre switch with the leadersh...