The Mana Pool

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...

Hello again, and welcome to the second preview episode for the upcoming Rise of the Eldrazi release.  This is Mike, writing the show notes at the very last minute, several days after the recording, possibly because I'm a lazy dope.  I'll leave the proof of whether or not that's true as an exercise for the listeners. So yes!  Rise of the Eldrazi previews!  They pretty much speak for themselves!  I...

Surviving tornadoes, tearing the space-time continuum, attempting to predict the future, B&R list updates, the largest Magic event in history, nifty Tainted Sigil tech, Phyrexian boobs, reprint policies - and all that happens in the first quarter of the show!   Then we go off on the important stuff, which is of course Rise of the Eldrazi previews.  There are lots and lots, including our take on th...

Hey there, fellow geeks. This is Dirk. I got roped into writing the show notes again since Brian didn't feel like getting around to them (Brian: hey! I'm a busy guy, what with all of this.. stuff... and other stuff!) So anyway, this wasn't a shorter episode, so let's get to it.   We have the usual opening; we're still brought to you by Cardshark and all of that jazz. We've gotten some emails. Bria...

Hey look, another episode of us playing Magic live and in person! There's not much to say really, so here's a quick rundown. The four of us got together for another reason, but we couldn't skip playing Magic and recording it for our beloved listeners. So we broke out the microphone, the laptop, and the something soft to put the mic on and went to town.   Mike did the work putting this episode toge...

Hello again, boys, girls, and other various creatures of the multiverse! This is Brian, bringing you a quick overview of tonight's (today's? yesterday's?) show.   The first thing you will notice is that we have an extra voice with us. No, not Dirk, although Dirk has gone from being a common host to an uncommon host lately. Maybe he'll have a higher toughness for the same cost now. No, we were hono...

Before you get too excited, there's lots of stuff to go through before the big topic. We've got an announcement about Cardshark and a new site design. And there's the March Member Promotions while we're on the topic of Cardshark. Then we crack open a pack of Zendikar and a pack of Worldwake and discuss what we've got. Remember Mad Libs? We've got a Mad Magic Lib for you. Let us know what you think...

Chewie here, and this is an episode quite unlike most of our others.  Mike and Brian went to the Star City Games 5K tournament in Richmond, and this episode is all about their experiences.  They both did Saturday (Standard) while Mike tackled Sunday as well (Legacy).  Hear all about how they did and what they thought in this very episode!   And while we're on the subject of tournament Magic, let's...

Is that some Duel Decks? We've got the decklists for the new Phyrexia vs. the Coalition Duel Decks, which we went over with great excitement. You don't get to hear that though. You get to hear the second take, due to some technical difficulties. Don't worry though, we made it sound just as good as the first.   Because of those tech problems we recorded the second half of the show the next night, w...

Hey, this is Mike here.  Hello again, and welcome to the... uh... um... *mumble*  I really should have written these show notes back when Chewie first asked me to.  Thankfully, he's around to remind me about all the interesting things we talked about on this most recent episode of The Mana Pool! The first topic this time is the experience of the Worldwake Prerelease and Launch.  You'll get to hear...

Poor Dirk, falling in the well again. Oh well. No pun intended there, really.   So here we are again with the last round of Worldwake previews. There are some doozies in this one too. From Wurms that blow up the world to stupid turtles to elementals that make wolves to a crazy go nuts Upwelling guy, we cover it all. At least all of it that was up when we recorded. Enjoy the cards and the ridiculou...

It's the time again! Previews galore, this time for Worldwake! Mix around 30 parts preview cards with something like 5 parts Magic news, and you get this episode!   Show notes are for punks on episodes this straightforward, so that's enough of that.     Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-114-worldwake-previews-1-t459.html Check out our archive at http://themanap...

This is it. Years in the making. Epic in scope. The episode many have clamored for has finally become a reality. The time has come. The four hosts have once again gathered. And the number 113 will never...be...the same. Okay, enough of all that. But really, ever since The Mana Pool #15 waaaaaaay back in March of '08, we have had an overwhelmingly positive response to our Multiplayer Mayhem episode...

Through all the lag problems, special guests leaving early, and nauseous hosts, we bring you this momentous episode! Wizards of the Coast has included us in their pooled Worldwake preview cards, sending us 5 preview cards to go over on the show! They're not exclusive, but we're getting there! In an effort to make this even more special we grabbed Ben, who is Panahinuva on the forums and is easily...

Hello again, and welcome to the Show Notes! This is Mike, here to give you a quick rundown of what we're up to. Before you start playing a game, you need to have a solid idea of whether or not you can do well enough to win. Given some thought (and depending on how the deck is built), your opening hand should be able to give you a fair approximation of an answer. Whether or not to mulligan any pote...

Chewie here, bringing you what we think will become another one of those "classic" episodes of The Mana Pool. Thanks to Bill (Kurai_Seraphim) for hitting us with this idea. We're going to take a look at the various mechanics in Magic. Big deal, nothing classic about that, right? Wrong! We're looking at them from a flavor perspective! We take all this reminder text and try to make some sense out of...

Brian here once again, telling you about the show so you know what you're getting into. Of course, you never really know what you're getting into here at the Mana Pool until you start to listen. We start off with the usual rigmarole. As a side note, we love that listeners are sending us more emails than ever. Keep them coming! It provides us great feedback on the things you like (and don't like) a...