The Mana Pool

Holy crap, a live episode? Is this why there's no Innistrad episode yet? I think it must be! Dirk, Mike, and Chewie gathered together to play some Magic, and so of course we recorded some of it for you. Because we love you guys. No really. You think we get together and have to put up with each other in person because we like each other or enjoy playing this game? Nope, it's just to give our listeners something different to listen to, that's it!First up we have a Commander game. Mike's using his edited Mimeoplasm deck, I'm using Hanna, Ship's Navigator, and Dirk is using his brand new Sharuum the Hegemon deck. This one was a lot of fun and fairly brutal. You'll get a kick out of it.After that we played a 60-card game that was completely brutal. There was just little to no hope for those of us that didn't win. You'll hear it. We made up for that horrible beating by playing another 60-card game that was much more awesome. Since it's such a great thing to finish on a good game, we called it there. We went on to play some Planechase, more EDH, and more 60-card games, since we were there another 5 hours or so, but sadly we couldn't record them all for you. Trevor wouldn't have let us anyway.Intro (and new Outro!) Music - Diamond by Swift - http://www.swift-band.comBreak Music 1 - DuckTales Theme SongBreak Music 2 - Darkwing Duck Theme SongBe sure to check out all the great stuff on the website! - http://themanapool.comForum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-194-cleverly-titled-live-episode-live-t706.htmlCheck out our archive at http://themanapool.comJoin our Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/TheManaPoolEmail us at [email protected]Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/themanapoolCardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/Promotions/Member-Promotions.aspxSubscribe to our RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool

This episode is all about recapping the events of the Star City Games Open Series that took place in Richmond just a couple weekends ago. Do you want to know what the dorks were playing? What led Mike on his winning, then losing, then winning tear? What's up with Brian's odd silence on the matter? And what the hell was Chewie doing the whole time, since he certainly wasn't playing? All this and more will be covered right here in this very episode!But that's not all! There's also a discussion about the lineup of From the Vault: Legends. And the new artwork that some of the cards are showing off, of course. Oh, and we weigh in with our two cents about the sudden announcement that Pro Tour Philadelphia was changed from Extended to Modern with only 3 weeks to go. That's a big one, so even we casual players had an opinion on it.From the Vault: Legends can be seen here: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/774Donate to Dustin's Extra Life page! Help out some sick kids! - http://extra-life.org/participant/vognastyIntro (and new Outro!) Music - Diamond by Swift - http://www.swift-band.comBreak Music - Go Go Power Rangers from The Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers TV ShowBe sure to check out all the great stuff on the website! - http://themanapool.comForum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-193-scg-open-stories-t705.htmlCheck out our archive at http://themanapool.comJoin our Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/TheManaPoolEmail us at [email protected]Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/themanapoolCardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/Promotions/Member-Promotions.aspxSubscribe to our RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool

Holy crap it's the Mana Pool! Because you asked for it (well, at least a couple of you asked for it) this is an Out of the Deck Box episode! We're taking a look at Mike's mono-white Wrath of Emeria deck in all its world-destroying glory. Then Dirk cries havoc! and lets slip the Slivers of war. Brian is up next with his Grixis-colored Phyrexia-aligned Rage Extractor deck, which made its first appearance at our last gathering. I bring up the rear with a look at my Progenitus Commander deck, with a name that I blatantly stole from Claire, formerly of the Avant-Card Show.Of course, that's not all we did this episode. We took a look at the decks that were at the top of the standings at US Nationals, with their pigeons crapping all over everything and giving people meningitis. And while Brian was away on baby care duties, we went over some emails, of course. We always have emails. And because I've patterned my podcasting manner (loosely, of course) after Kermit the Frog, the music is from The Muppet Show. Oh yeah.Intro (and new Outro!) Music - Diamond by Swift - http://www.swift-band.comBreak Music - The Muppet Show ThemeBe sure to check out all the great stuff on the website! - http://themanapool.comForum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-192-completely-out-of-the-deck-box-t703.htmlCheck out our archive at http://themanapool.comJoin our Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/TheManaPoolEmail us at [email protected]Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/themanapoolCardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/Promotions/Member-Promotions.aspxSubscribe to our RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool

We are joined this week by the highly entertaining Bigheadjoe of Yo! MTG Taps and formerly of SCG Live. He fits right in as one of the dorks, and I think you'll enjoy having him on to take Mike's place this episode. Hold out until the end to hear an announcement from Joe about his new wrestling podcast.We begin with Brian's experience at a recent FNM, followed by a massive bout of nostalgia. I'm not entirely sure what that means, but I remember it was pretty awesome. Then we have a nice discussion about the M12 Event Decks, FNM promo cards, and have a bizarre example of M12 print runs. Blood Ogre, Angel's Mercy, Garruk's Companion, Child of Night - in that order, first 4 cards, of all three packs I opened on the air. What the hell? Oh, and we finish the episode off with a nice big discussion about our favorite mechanics, a topic Dirk came up with a long time ago that we're finally getting around to. Yeah, we've been putting it off for at least a couple months. I want to apologize for my (Chewie's) voice doing the Max Headroom thing this episode. It starts around a third of the way through, and it lasts the entire damn episode. I have no idea what caused it, but since it's just me and I wasn't speaking as much as usual this episode, I just let it go. Sorry again, hope you can make it through.Follow Joe on Twitter - http://twitter.com/omgwtfbhjftwIntro (and new Outro!) Music - Diamond by Swift - http://www.swift-band.comBreak Music - Opening Theme from GI Joe: The Movie - taken from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DN034sBeF4cBe sure to check out all the great stuff on the website! - http://themanapool.comForum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-191-bigheadjoe-and-the-mechanics-t702.htmlCheck out our archive at http://themanapool.comJoin our Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/TheManaPoolEmail us at [email protected]Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/themanapoolCardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/Promotions/Member-Promotions.aspxSubscribe to our RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool

Before recording this episode, I put out a call for some topics that we could talk about that required no preparation ahead of time, and boy did you guys come through! We got a whole massive list of stuff to talk about. After we covered the Innistrad news from the San Diego Comic Con, of course. Don't let's be silly. Mark Rosewater tweeted a recap of the information that was revealed, and I gathered up all those tweets so we could then share them with all of you listeners out there.We go through a few emails, which is where we get our first major discussion. Tosus asks what he should do with his $500 worth of free stuff, so we kick that around for a bit. Then there's a bit of reflection on the multiplayer products Wizards has released over the last few years, followed by a discussion on whether or not Commander should become a sanctioned format. Then there's some serious discussion about how to keep things fresh when playing with the SAME people all the time. Even if it's the SAME people using the SAME decks, you can still change some stuff up to make it fun, and we're gonna give you some suggestions.Thanks to everyone who gave us some show ideas, we're gonna hold on to the ones we didn't get to for future shows!Intro (and new Outro!) Music - Diamond by Swift - http://www.swift-band.comBreak Music - Creepy Doll by Jonathan Coulton - http://www.jonathancoulton.com/Be sure to check out all the great stuff on the website! - http://themanapool.comForum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-190-quick-hits-well-for-us-anyway-t701.htmlCheck out our archive at http://themanapool.comJoin our Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/TheManaPoolEmail us at [email protected]Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/themanapoolCardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/Promotions/Member-Promotions.aspxSubscribe to our RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool

This episode has it all - thrills, chills, suspense, controversy, a happy reunion and a heartfelt goodbye. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll yell at your mp3 player.Well, maybe not all of that. But most of it! This episode sees the return of our disease-ridden rambler Brian! Okay, so that's a bit much, but whatever he's back yay! To celebrate being back, he's got a brand new idea for the show - Magic Jeopardy! With 30 questions across 6 categories, he's going to put the other three dorks to the test! Who will come out ahead? And what sort of controversy will arise? Let us know what you think of the Magic Jeopardy so we'll know if we should bother doing it again.After that, we answer another mess of emails and rules questions from our inbox, and one in particular catches our eye. A couple episodes ago, Ben sent us a question about casting voice talents for a Magic cartoon, which we discussed briefly. Ryan Gregersen went several steps beyond and sent us his ideas for the cast of a live-action Magic: the Gathering movie, complete with IMDB links! So of course this discussion sidetracked us for a good long time while we looked up actors and kicked ideas around. It was a lot of fun, we hope you guys enjoy it as much as we did.And if you are at all interested in helping out with Extra Life as described at the beginning of the episode, my good friend Dustin's donation page can be found below. If you don't want to help him out, then start your own drive and get people to donate to you! All that matters is that you're helping!http://extra-life.org/participant/vognastyIntro (and new Outro!) Music - Diamond by Swift - http://www.swift-band.comBreak Music - The Weight of Instruction by SwiftBe sure to check out all the great stuff on the website! - http://themanapool.comForum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-189-magic-jeopardy-and-the-movie-t697.htmlCheck out our archive at http://themanapool.comJoin our Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/TheManaPoolEmail us at [email protected]Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/themanapoolCardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/Promotions/Member-Promotions.aspxSubscribe to our RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool

After a bit of email and some news (including our long-lost interview with Amanda, which can now be found on Red Site Wins), we are joined by two very special guest hosts. No longer do we need wonder if these two are actually one and the same person, because I heard them both talking at the same time! Our two special guests are none other than the returning Adam Styborski and first time guest but long-time dork Chris Lansdell. If you want to find more about our guests, consult the links below.With introductions out of the way, we proceeded to talk about the various M12 events we attended, which included a vicious bad beats story from Stybs. After spending some time on M12 as a whole, we decided to do a Story Circle with our hosts. Apparently Chris does this a lot, since he ripped off the idea for his own show. But that means a better deck for all involved, right? We started with Pyromancy, and it just went out of control from there. With all the cards we rattled off, there's a wonderful starting place for all you deckbuilders out there. Probably three or four starting places, actually. From here the discussion went far afield, covering such random topics as planking, scrapple, old Hot Pockets commercials, and Billy Madison. I really wish I was making this up. Hope you guys enjoy!Our long-lost interview with Amanda Stevens is on Red Site Wins: http://redsitewins.com/2011/06/02/amanda-chewie-and-3-other-dorks-aka-the-mana-pool-interview/Adam StyborskiWeekly columnist for DailyMTG: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Archive.aspx?author=Adam%20StyborskiThe Pauper Cube: http://thepaupercube.wordpress.com/Writer for Gathering Magic: http://www.gatheringmagic.com/author/adamstyborski/Casual Editor for Quiet Speculation: http://www.quietspeculation.comTwitter: @the_stybsChris LansdellHost of Horde of Notions: http://www.hordeofnotions.com/Writer for Mana Deprived: http://manadeprived.com/chris-lansdellOccasional host of Mana Screwed: http://mtgcast.com/?cat=57Twitter: @lansdelliciousIntro (and new Outro!) Music - Diamond by Swift - http://www.swift-band.comBreak Music - Bending Back As Far As I Can by SwiftBe sure to check out all the great stuff on the website! - http://themanapool.comForum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-188-horde-of-serious-notions-of-fun-t695.htmlCheck out our archive at http://themanapool.comJoin our Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/TheManaPoolEmail us at [email protected]Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/themanapoolCardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/Promotions/Member-Promotions.aspxSubscribe to our RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool

We are joined this episode by one Robert Martin, also known as The Beme. You might know him as the interviewer from The Men of Magic, or maybe from the Hardcast, or maybe even the suddenly-defunct Mana Screwed podcast (go listen to their episodes, dash it all!). He also pops up on Monday Night Magic sometimes! But today, he's here with us!At least, he starts out here with us. Due to circumstances beyond his control, he had to leave us before we actually got to the meat of the episode. He did stick around long enough to give us his take on the new Chandra and Garruk though, and those are the important ones. Before he left, we were reading listener mail and determining the best way to tell our listeners to RTFC. Ah, like that.But after that, we took a nice long look at the full set of Magic 2012, and I'm pretty sure we like it. I mean, it sure sounds like we do. Also, Dirk is calling it! Amphin Cutthroat is heralding the introduction of Salamanders in Innistrad! HA!I'd like to apologize to everyone expecting something removal-related for this appropriately-numbered episode. In all honesty, we had forgotten that this one was going to be 187. We prostrate ourselves before you and humbly beg forgiveness.Follow Robert on Twitter: http://twitter.com/thebemeIntro (and new Outro!) Music - Diamond by Swift - http://www.swift-band.comBreak Music - Children of Africa (The Story of Us) by Symphony of Science - http://www.symphonyofscience.com/Be sure to check out all the great stuff on the website! - http://themanapool.comForum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-187-guest-interrupted-and-m12-t694.htmlCheck out our archive at http://themanapool.comJoin our Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/TheManaPoolEmail us at [email protected]Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/themanapoolCardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/Promotions/Member-Promotions.aspxSubscribe to our RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool

After many requests for us to talk about the various cards in the new Commander decks, we decided to go one better. We all gathered at Brian's house, picked out one of the Commander decks, and played them in a 4-player game. Yeah yeah, we know everyone else is doing this too. The reason everyone else did this is because these decks are freakin' awesome, and people love to hear about them! So we jumped on the bandwagon with the rest of the world. The upside of us doing it is you get to hear our...unique take on things.Just so we're clear here, Brian chose Zedruu the Greathearted, Dirk was playing Kaalia of the Vast, Mike had Riku of Two Reflections, and Chewie was rolling with The Mimeoplasm. Spoiler Alert: The Mimeoplasm became something completely ridiculous every time it got played, but Riku set the record for number of times entering the battlefield. Oh, and Veteran Explorer is the greatest thing ever for multiplayer. Trust me on this. Go to Cardshark and buy some.Intro Music - Diamond by Swift - http://www.swift-band.comBreak Music - This was just one game, we didn't take a break!Be sure to check out all the great stuff on the website! - http://themanapool.comForum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-186-commander-shenanigans-live-t692.htmlCheck out our archive at http://themanapool.comJoin our Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/TheManaPoolEmail us at [email protected]Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/themanapoolCardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/Promotions/Member-Promotions.aspxSubscribe to our RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool

This is a weird one. Eric of Many Names joins us one final time before his family gets back into town, so we're trying to make the most of it. We mine his brain for some information about Cube Draft on behalf of one of our listeners. More specifically, he talks about creating your own Cube. For reference, you can find Eric's own Cube list here.And of course, we have a full load of M12 previews to go over, starting with the new Jace! We recorded this well before they revealed any other new planeswalkers, so be patient and you'll hear us rant about them eventually.There was also a momentous decision by the US Supreme Court that we discussed for a short while. Don't worry, it's definitely something Magic dorks are interested in. Well, a good number of you anyway.I'd like to dedicate this episode to Mario, Jumpman, and Ryu Hayabusa. They died so we could have appropriate music for the various times the call got cut off due to power outage at Chewie's house, Eric being forcibly muted, and Skype deciding it was sick of us being able to hear each other. Remember them fondly, everyone!Eric on Twitter: http://twitter.com/thewachmanIntro Music - Diamond by Swift - http://www.swift-band.comBreak Music - Too many other issues for a break!Be sure to check out all the great stuff on the website! - http://themanapool.comForum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-185-cubes-power-outages-and-m12-t691.htmlCheck out our archive at http://themanapool.comJoin our Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/TheManaPoolEmail us at [email protected]Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/themanapoolCardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/Promotions/Member-Promotions.aspxSubscribe to our RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool