The Mana Pool

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...

We start off this episode with lots of news. I mean lots of news. We have the colors for the Magic 2011 Intro packs, which ordinarily wouldn't be a big deal. But this time they're multicolored! Wha? http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/457 Then we have the announcement for the next Duel Decks. This time it's gonna be Elspeth vs. Tezzeret. Maybe that means we'll be...

And the letter 6! We start off this episode with lots of little things. Explanations for late episodes, listener emails, new products (Archenemy) and old products available to new people (Duels of the Planeswalkers on PC). Easy enough, right? Of course, we're a little silly after such a long time away from our microphones. Archenemy feature article: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.as...

Yes, we're finally doing an episode about EDH! Not just any episode about EDH, but a LIVE episode about EDH! You'll see Brian piloting a Doran the Siege Tower deck, Dirk with my Wort, Boggart Auntie build, Mike with his brutal take on Scion of the Ur-Dragon, a terribly mana-screwed Chewie playing his Progenitus crazy good stuff nonsense, and finally our special guest AJ with his monowhite Commande...

Welcome to this much-delayed episode of The Mana Pool!  Chewie here, and I'd just like to say sorry about that.  If this one wasn't worth the wait, the next episode should make up for it.  Trust me on this one.  But first, this episode!  We start off with some random stuff, and here are the links that go with those things! Chuck & Beans strip about Magic, sort of http://www.shoeboxblog.com/?p=1693...

Chewie here. On this episode, it's just me and Mike. So this time, we decided to do something entertaining that wasn't an actual "topic," so we decided to do a couple of Out of the Deck Box comparisons. We both have a Grixis deck, and we both have a Big Green Stupid deck, so that's what we decided to go with. As always, look for the decklists in the forum post for this episode. Hope you guys enjoy...

On this episode, we have the second coming of the Eldrazi! In other words, found out how we all did at the various and sundry Launch Parties for Rise of the Eldrazi. There are 4 tournaments to discuss, but Dirk didn't go. Figure that out. Oh, then there's another Magic Mad Lib. Aw yeah! And then, we hearken back to something that hasn't seen the light of day since waaaaay back in Episode 41! *comm...

This is it. The Eldrazi have been loosed upon this world.  It was only a matter of time until they crossed paths with the dorks of The Mana Pool - and that time has come. Inside this digital audio construct, you will learn what happens when an unstoppable force meets...a bunch of dorks. Oh, and there's a Magic Mad Lib too. Don't forget that. Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforu...

Thank you for purchasing the latest episode of The Mana Pool. A credit has been charged to your account. Don’t worry if you didn’t give us a card number; we know it already. The dorks have gathered once again to bring you a valuable, consumer-tested product sure to delight children of all ages and a few adults as well. This episode is chock full of new, never-before-heard content. As you listen to...