The Mana Pool

The dorks discuss the recent March of the Machine: Aftermath leak and WotC's reaction of sending the PINKERTONS after a random YouTuber. And we've got Squee here with us this week to remind us of the Dungeons & Dragons Open Gaming License shenanigans from just a few months ago. And because we missed him of course. Who Are Those Guys? - https://www.historians.org/research-and-publications/perspecti...

The dorks take another look at the fully revealed March of the Machine! We're spending more time on Battles and the team-up cards, but we bounce all around the set to see what looks good. And we'll laugh at some of the ways the Phyrexians got slapped down of course. Let us know what you think of the set! MoM Card Image Gallery - https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/card-image-gallery/march-of-the-mac...

The dorks dive back into March of the Machine for the first time since the initial preview. We hit all the mechanics, including one that isn't in the article. We'll even explain everything about the brand new card type! Then we'll bounce around the card image gallery as usual, picking out stuff that catches our eyes. What do you think of Battles?  March of the Machine Mechanics - https://magic.wiz...

The dorks dive into a long discussion about the pros and cons of expanding a game. Board game expansions, video game expansions, downloadable content, all that stuff. How old is the idea of adding onto a game? What are some of the firsts in various categories of expansions? We'll tackle all this and a lot more in this episode. It was a lot of fun and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did! Come jo...

The dorks dive into the first look at the Lord of the Rings set! As Tolkien fans we range from "very much" to "insanely huge" so we're looking hard at the cards that were revealed as Magic cards but more importantly, as Middle Earth lore! If you've ever been curious about the inner workings of Tolkien or if you just enjoy listening to nerds nerd out then this episode will be great!  The First Look...

The dorks called a last-minute audible and did a Dorks Just Chatting episode. We ended up hitting on video games without combat early and just stayed there pretty much the whole time. What are your favorite nonviolent video games?   Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on  Twitch   Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! –  www.patreon.com/themanapool Podca...

The dorks dive into one of the most complicated sets of Magic ever made, Future Sight, and give it the Mythic Conscription treatment. Does this set work through this particular lens? Which dorks will almost come to blows over this discussion? Will the Goyf goyf the dorks? These answers and more are answered in this episode! Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish)...

The dorks take a look at the recent preview of March of the Machine and all the crazy stuff contained therein. What happens when you put a vampire on a dinosaur? Who's that riding the frog monster? Why is Chandra crying? Are those giant Phyrexian murder tentacles? We'll attempt to answer all of these questions on this episode! Mothership article -  https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/announcements/a...

The dorks got together to discuss a horrible illness, prerelease experiences, breaking away from a game you've played a long time, and video games in general!   Sorry this was so late, I've been going through a lot in the last couple weeks besides just the sickness.   Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on  Twitch   Become a Lifeguard on Patreon!...

The dorks return for another look at Phyrexia: All Will Be One! Well, most of us. Apparently compleation wasn't good for poor Brian. But even without him guiding us along, we go through a mess of new cards and have fun goofing off in between them in true TMP fashion. Phyrexia: All Will Be One Mechanics -  https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/feature/phyrexia-all-will-be-one-mechanics Come join us in...

Hey look, the dorks are back for 2023! And we're starting off the year by leaning into Neverending Preview Season and taking our first look at Phyrexia: All Will Be One. Who's getting compleated by the MTG Borg? You probably know already! But listen anyway because we're checking out the mechanics and then hitting the card image gallery. Here's to 2023 being better than the last one! Phyrexia: All...

The dorks weather some last-minute technical difficulties to gather together and discuss the Late December Holiday that we all do, Christmas! We're talking favorite traditions, gift-opening, music, and of course Christmas movies! No not Die Hard. And Chewie gives his explanation about why he claims to hate Christmas. Sorry this one's a bit late, but life seems to happen a lot around the holidays....

Three dorks get together for a random bunch of conversations! Among the discussions are: Broken phone screens, playing VR again, one ridiculous bad day, making cookies, NDAs, office Christmas parties, where do you want to visit?, things that draw us to media immediately, video game tastes, Rez Infinite, and breaking boxes. Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) E...

Content warning: Mentions of suicide and child abuse For this milestone episode we wanted to do something special and different. So we're taking a look at the so-called Satanic Panic that happened back in the 1980s and discussing what caused it, what effects it had, and how it...never actually ended. This one is drastically different than our usual fare, just so you know. Come join us in the futur...

The dorks return to take another look at The Brothers' War and whatever cards caught our (and Twitch Chat's) eye. First though, we have to take a quick detour to laugh at Hasbro. Their stock was downgraded by Bank of America because they've been focusing on short term profits over longevity, which is something we've been complaining about for LITERAL YEARS.  Kotaku article - https://kotaku.com/mtg...

The dorks dig into The Brothers' War for the first time! We'll take a look at the mechanics and then dive into the card image gallery and bounce around all the stuff that catches our eyes! You know the deal by now. The Brothers' War Mechanics: https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/feature/the-brothers-war-mechanics BRO CIG - https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/card-image-gallery/the-brothers-war Come jo...

The dorks get together to talk about Halloween! Trick or treating, candy, costumes, tv specials, what scared us when we were kids, just whatever we can think up. Let us know what you think of Halloween! Who knew Halloween was so divisive? Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on  Twitch Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! –  www.patreon.com/themanapool P...

The dorks return to take another look at the murky waters that are video game genres! We'll be rattling off a genre, giving some examples of it, and discussing pros and cons of each one. We're hitting less of them this time around because some of the ones we did hit are much bigger this time around. Be sure to tell us what games you love or hate in any given genre! Check out the JWST stream playli...

After the last thoroughly depressing episode of TMP, the dorks return with something hopefully more upbeat. We're talking about hobbies, and how we engage with them! We'll discuss the levels of engagement one can have with a given hobby, like Magic or Star Wars. We'll cover ways to disengage with a hobby when it becomes necessary or wanted. We'll talk about gatekeeping, which is the dark side of f...

The announcement of the 30th Anniversary thing really rubbed Chewie the wrong way, and none of the other dorks understood it either. So here's an episode about WotC's decline into the role of Evil Corporation, with lots of talking points provided by you, the fans!  Sorry we didn't actually get to the positive things we wanted to talk about. But damn WotC, could you just not be so horribly money-gr...

The dorks get together to discuss some of the pros and cons of the various genres of video games, despite the fact that genres don't actually mean much of anything in video games anymore. We didn't cover them all (not even close) so there will be a part 2 and probably a part 3 in the future! What are your favorite and least favorite games in the genres we covered this episode? And what genres shou...

The dorks return once again to comb through the Dominaria United card image gallery to find interesting cards to talk about. There is no shortage of them in this set, holy crap. Be sure to let us know what you think and tell us how you did at the prerelease! Dominaria United CIG -  https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/card-image-gallery/dominaria-united Check out the third video on The De...

On this episode it's all Dominaria United all the time! We're bouncing around the Card Image Gallery and picking out cards  and cycles that jump out at us!  Seriously though, where is the Balduvian Atrocity's face? Dominaria United CIG -  https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/card-image-gallery/dominaria-united Check out the second video on The Deep End, Chewie's new YouTube channel! -  ht...

The dorks dive into the first day of Dominaria United previews! We'll cover the mechanics, a handful of the many many cards shown that first day, and even briefly check out what's coming in Magic for the next year. Oh, and there's a Magic Mad Lib in the middle that Brian has been trying to do for the last month or so. Hope you enjoy that as much as we did! Dominaria United Mechanics - https://magi...

Sorry this episode is so late! Life happens, ya know?   In this episode the dorks do a Mythic Conscription for the second set in the Time Spiral block, Planar Chaos! How will the color shifting and alternate legendaries affect the rares? Guess you better listen to the episode huh?   Also there is an extremely rare request to help out a friend of Chewie's monetarily. So please help if you can and s...