The Mana Pool

In this episode, we hit the few cards that popped up between the last episode and Thursday. Mirrorweave and Tattermunge Maniac take up quite a bit of the discussion this time around. You know, because they're awesome. In totally different ways. Check out the Shadowmoor official preview archive here: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=magic/shadowmoor/spoiler Then, since we ran out of cards with lots of time left, we go over a couple of the decks posted in the Pimp My Deckbox thread. We're leaning towards renaming this to "Bring out Yer Deck!" at the moment, but you never know with this mercurial group of dorks. Anyway, we take a look at a deck posted by garthok84 and then another by myboyfriendsagamergod. Man, that's a mouthful. We tried to keep each individual's particular situation in mind when suggesting things (budget, collection size, and in the case of the second one, boyfriend's a dork) so we didn't just say things like "You totally need 4 of the Ravnica Dual Lands and the Onslaught Fetch Lands, then some Garruk and Tarmogoyf and Jitte." Anyway, here's to some basic advice. Let us know what we did right (and wrong) in this segment.Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-24-shadowmoor-previews-4-and-more-t156.htmlEmail us at [email protected] Send me an article at [email protected] Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool

Shadowmoor looms nigh, and we have the preview cards to prove it. Only nine cards to go over this time, which means we actually have time to go over a couple other things. Actually, we really just go over the Member Promotions for April on Cardshark. Then we dive into the preview cards. Again, to make this paragraph seem a little longer, I'll give you my favorites out of these. I really like Din of the Fireherd and Burn Trail. Burn Trail introduces Conspire, a new keyword, and I think you'll find it interesting. If you want to follow along, here's the preview page, which for some reason I forgot to put on the previous preview episodes.

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=magic/shadowmoor/spoiler

Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-22-shadowmoor-previews-3-t153.html Email us at [email protected] Send me an article at [email protected] Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool

Here we go again with the Shadowmoor previews. This time we have 18 new cards to discuss for your benefit and amusement. Listen as Brian rambles, Dirk goes green, Squanto hates, and I attempt to keep everyone on task and fail miserably. My favorites, just so this show description is a little bit more than two lines? Tower Above and Dusk Urchins. Tower Above is the first mention of a new keyword, Wither. Check this episode out for the full story, and watch out for the next previews episode coming soon.

Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-21-shadowmoor-previews-2-t151.htmlEmail us at [email protected] Send me an article at [email protected] Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool

Music for this episode is Release the Wolves by Swift, off their 4th album, The Absolute Uncontrollable. Check out Swift at http://www.swift-band.com

In this episode, we tackle the first of the REAL Shadowmoor preview cards, totalling 14 in all. Yes, Episode 19 - Breaking News was all fake cards. But, given the fact that no one made any sort of conversation on the forums, I'm guessing everyone either immediately got it, or didn't care, or didn't listen to the show, or hates us. Fair enough. There's really nothing else to say about the show, so I hope you enjoy listening to what we think about all these random new cards.

Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-20-shadowmoor-previews-1-t149.htmlEmail us at [email protected] Send me an article at [email protected] Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool

This episode is a bit different. We go over what I originally assumed to be 4 preview cards for Shadowmoor. I found them on the site Sunday night after the update. When the dorks got together to discuss them, they were no longer there. I don't know if it was a glitch in the uploading process or what, but they're not there anymore. So we decided to go over them separately and get back together later to go over the cards that are now on the Card Preview Archive for Shadowmoor. Nothing else happens in this episode other than some discussion and wondering what the deal could be, so have at it.

Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-19-breaking-news-t145.htmlEmail us at [email protected] Send me an article at [email protected] Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool

In this episode Squanto, Brian and I give out some generally useful information. First up is the Gatherer, the official Magic database. You can find it at http://gatherer.wizards.com. This is easily the most powerful tool out there for tracking down cards for any reason whatsoever. We'll tell you all about how to use it, including a few things that you might not know. Try searching for the word Ravager under Mirrodin Block. Didn't get anything did you? Find out why in this episode!

It's odd. At the end of the last episode, Squanto said we would be giving out tips for new players. After we recorded but before the show was posted, Molly (myboyfriendsagamergod on the forums) put up a thread asking for deckbuilding advice. Several of us on the forums chimed in with advice. For the second part of this episode, we go through this advice and even more advice for the novice deckbuilder. These are some fundamentals for building a deck, so even accomplished players should give it a listen. Note that this doesn't necessarily apply to building tournament-worthy decks, but primarily casual play decks.

Out of the Deck Box (Possibly Soon to be Renamed)

This week we take a look at Brian's WR Rescue deck, as requested in the forums.

Land (22):

9:Plains

9:Mountain

3:Terramorphic Expanse

1:Island

Creatures (23):

4:Whitemane Lion

4:Aven Riftwatcher

3:Stonecloaker

2:Stormfront Riders

2:Calciderm

2:Keldon Marauders

2:Icatian Javelineers

2:Magus of the Disk

1:Dust Elemental

1:Soltari Priest

Non-Creature Spells (15):

3:Cloudstone Curio

3:Momentary Blink

3:Lightning Helix

2:Fatal Frenzy

2:Dead//Gone

2:Brute Force

Due to a complete lack of intelligence on my part, there is no music on this episode. You can feel free to hum whatever bit of music you'd like to hear.

Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-18-some-useful-information-t138.html Email us at [email protected] Send me an article at [email protected] Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool

In this episode, your host dorks discuss the recent trip to Friday Night Magic. We also reinforce for everyone why we are definitely not a podcast for the hardcore tournament player. Dirk play Treefolk, Squanto played Merfolk Aggro, Brian played burn with Countryside Crusher, and I played Elves. The results were not pretty, but a good time was had by all. While we were there we got to meet PhoenixRising422 from the forums (Chris) and determined that he was, in fact, also a dork. So life is good.

Garthok84 on the forums (Jason) named an idea we mentioned a long time ago: Pimp My Deckbox. Give us your deck and we'll see what we can come up with for you. Note: We are not master deckbuilders and we're not going to help you tune your deck to win that Extended PTQ. But we can help you get a deck idea rolling or help you fix up a deck that just doesn't seem to be working properly.

In this episode's Out of the Deck Box (possibly soon to be renamed), we're going to take a look at my Poison Ping deck. Here it is in all its glory.

Poison

4 Marsh Viper

4 Sabertooth Cobra

Ping!

4 Viridian Longbow

2 Psionic Gift

2 Hermetic Study

Untapping

4 Seeker of Skybreak

2 Seedborn Muse

1 Patron of the Orochi

3 Intruder Alarm

2 Pemmin's Aura

4 Vitalize

2 Awakening

Setup

4 Sakura-Tribe Elder

2 Worldly Tutor

2 Defense of the Heart

Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-17-fnm-with-the-mana-pool-t135.htmlEmail us at [email protected] Send me an article at [email protected] Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool March is also Classical Music Month here at The Mana Pool! Opening music: First Promenade from Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky Closing music: Fanfare for the Common Man by Aaron Copland

What are all these people doing in my apartment? In this episode, we, your host dorks, are discussing the three player psycographies that Magic R&D uses to design cards for certain types of players. Those psycographies are Timmy, Johnny, and Spike. Or, the Power Gamer, the Combo Player, and the Tournament Winner, to use their stereotyped and slightly misleading epithets. After running Timmy, Johnny, and Spike out of my place of residence, we discuss their various attributes, as well as try to figure out where we all fall in the spectrum. Also, the new month (since the last episode, that is) means you get to hear the Cardshark Member Promotions for March. Check out the deals!

Listeners, help us figure out where Squanto falls (after he drinks your milkshake, that is). He's unsure of his player type, so he's going to post some random cards instead of the usual Notable Cards so you guys can help him figure it out.

Mark Rosewater's articles about Timmy, Johnny, and Spikehttp://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/daily/mr11http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/daily/mr220

Out of the Deck Box (Possibly Soon to be Renamed) this week is Brian's Korlash deck, as requested in the forums. Here it is in all its glory.

23: Swamp1: Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth4: Korlash, Heir to Blackblade2: Nightmare2: Fleshwrither4: Twisted Abomination2: Lord of the Undead2: Mournwhelk1: Kagemaro, First to Suffer4: Grim Harvest4: Tendrils of Corruption3: Nameless Inversion1: Makeshift Mannequin2: Consume Spirit1: Revive the Fallen3: Loxodon Warhammer1: Mirror Gallery

Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-16-timmy-johnny-and-spike-t129.htmlEmail us at [email protected]Send me an article at [email protected]Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.comRSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool

March is also Classical Music Month here at The Mana Pool! Opening music: Ode to Joy from Beethoven's Ninth SymphonyClosing music: A Night on Bald Mountain by Modest Mussorgsky

Last weekend the dorks gathered! With Mike visiting Brian, we set aside all of Saturday for Magic playing! Dirk and I joined them at Brian's house, and much dorking ensued. We started at about 10:30am. There was a break for lunch, let's say an hour just to be safe. Then we concluded the day's events around 8:30pm. Yes friends, that is most definitely 9 hours of dorking. There was a small break for something else Magic-related, keep reading for more info on that.

In all, 11 games were played. I wrote down what everyone was playing and made a few notes about the big plays in each game. Nothing terribly in-depth, just enough to remind us what was going on. In this episode, we discuss these 11 games and tell you all about how awesome they were. That's pretty much it, really.

We took another break from the free-for-all so Mike and I could do a Winston Draft with six packs of Scourge that I had for some reason. For those of you that don't know, a Winston Draft is a two-man draft format that is loads and loads of fun. I have written two Winston walkthroughs for Cardshark, and you guys should definitely check it out if you can't regularly get 7 other people together for a friendly draft. Here are the articles.

Time Spiral Winstonhttp://www.cardshark.com/content/view_article.asp?article_id=4036

Lorwyn Winstonhttp://www.cardshark.com/content/view_article.asp?article_id=4111

And finally, for this episode's edition of Out of the Deck Box (Possibly Soon to be Renamed), Brian gives us a look at his Ink-Treader Nephilim deck, which is always a blast to play. Here's the list, and check out the episode for Brian's explanation on how it works and why it's fun.

Land (22)8: Forest3: Island3: Mountain2: Plains2: Azorius Chancery2: Boros Garrison1: Gruul Turf1: Simic Growth Chamber Creatures (11)4: Ink-Treader Nephilim3: Autochthon Wurm2: Intet, the Dreamer2: Razia, Boros Archangel Non-Creature Spells (27)4: Polymorph2: Magma Jet2: Cytoshape2: Blind with Anger2: Psychotic Fury1: Vanish into Memory1: Ovinize4: Farseek3: Journey of Discovery3: Reminisce2: Tel-Jilad Stylus1: Seal of Primoridum

Forum topic here: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/viewtopic.php?t=125Email us at [email protected]Send me an article at [email protected]Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.comRSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool

February is Classical Music Month here at The Mana Pool!Opening music: Flight of the Bumblebee by Nikolai Rimsky-KorsakovClosing music: O Fortuna by Carl Orff

What is okay to play in a casual setting? Can you break out your hardcore land destruction deck around the kitchen table? Is it okay to play a 20-counterspell deck in the Casual room on MTGO? Do your friends hate you when you whip out your mono-black heavy discard deck? Brian leads us in a discussion of deck-type etiquette when playing in a non-tournament environment. Give us your opinions on the forums!

Have you ever read a Magic novel? Do you check out the flavor text and wonder what is going on? Or is it all just a card game to you? We discuss some of the flavor of the game, from stories and characters to the evolution of Magic art since Alpha. Let us know what you think about the flava of the game!

Out of the Deck Box! This week Mike shows off a deck that has come to be known simply as "The 5-Color Deck". Here it is in all its unsleeved glory! Land (20) 7: Forest 2: City of Brass 2: Island 2: Mountain 2: Plains 2: Reflecting Pool 2: Swamp 1: Crystal Quarry Artifact(7) 3: Lotus Petal 2: Etched Oracle 1: Lotus Bloom 1: Platinum Angel Multicolor (12) 4: Guided Passage 1: Cromat 1: Dune-Brood Nephilim 1: Genju of the Realm 1: Glint-Eye Nephilim 1: Nicol Bolas 1: Palladia-Mors 1: Vaevictis Asmadi 1: Witch-Maw Nephilim White (1) 1: Honden of Cleansing Fire Blue (1) 1: Honden of Seeing Winds Black (1) 1: Honden of Night's Reach Red (1) 1: Honden of Infinite Rage Green (17) 4: Kodama's Reach 4: Utopia Tree 4: Wall of Blossoms 2: Forgotten Ancient 1: Constant Mists 1: Honden of Life's Web 1: Regrowth Forum topic here: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/viewtopic.php?t=122Email us at [email protected] Send me an article at [email protected] Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool February is Classical Music Month here at The Mana Pool! Opening music: Also Sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss Closing music: Ride of the Valkyries by Richard Wagner