The Mana Pool

We're joined again here at The Mana Pool by Eric of Many Names, who can add one more name to his repetoire - Judge. Yes, Eric went to GP: Kansas City and passed his test, so you guys get to hear all about it right here!Then we've got another handful of listener mail, including one that we took extra care to answer. It involved either moving cards from Standard back to Alpha, or bringing cards back from Alpha to the current Standard. We weren't sure which, so Brian took one, and the rest of us went the other way. Either way it was an interesting discussion, hope you guys enjoy it as much as we did.Dirk and I discussed Duels 2012 a bit, and then we had to turn to the elephant in the room. And yes, we talked about it for a good while. And we have lots of good discussion about it and the reasons that we either are or are not surprised by it. Let us know what you think!We're talking about the Jace and Stoneforge Mystic bannings here, by the way. Just so we're clear.Eric on Twitter: http://twitter.com/thewachmanIntro Music - Diamond by Swift - http://www.swift-band.comBreak Music - No breaks, we're on a mission!Be sure to check out all the great stuff on the website! - http://themanapool.comForum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-184-time-travel-and-room-elephants-t689.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

No really. They dropped a TON of stuff on us since our last recording. Apparently I was even allergic to some of it. Well, that or nerds, not sure which. But yeah, we're trying desperately to keep up, so much so that we enlisted the aid of the ever-awesome Eric of Many Names once again! He's going to help us out with the new M12 cards, the new Commander cards, and the other cards in the Commander decks. Mike also guides us through a relatively painless Rules Update. And of course, we knocked out a few of the many emails we've gotten since the last episode. And now, a lot of links to all this stuff:Eric on Twitter: http://twitter.com/thewachmanM12 previewshttp://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/731Commander previewshttp://www.wizards.com/magic/tcg/productarticle.aspx?x=mtg/tcg/commander/cigCommander decklistshttp://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/732Rules updatehttp://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/146a&page=1Intro Music - Diamond by Swift - http://www.swift-band.comBreak Music - Forest of Death 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-183-drowning-in-previews-t682.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 few Skype problems that apparently cleared up just a short while before recording (for everyone but Brazil and Dirk it turns out) we finally got an episode started. And after Dirk reinstalled Skype, he joined us too. We started this episode off by catching up with our email! Yes, we covered EVERY email we had in the inbox!If you couldn't tell from the title, we spent the rest of the episode talking about the Commander previews. We've only seen a couple days' worth at the time we recorded this, and it's already ridiculous. And these are just the new cards! I'm sure some of the stuff they've reprinted to put in these things is equally nuts.Commander Image Gallery: http://www.wizards.com/magic/tcg/productarticle.aspx?x=mtg/tcg/commander/cigAnd watch out for a small rant at the end by Chewie. If you have any contact with Wizards, please refer them to this rant. Thank you.Intro Music - Diamond by Swift - http://www.swift-band.comBreak Music - No time for love, Dr. Jones!Be sure to check out all the great stuff on the website! - http://themanapool.comForum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-182-commander-conquer-generals-t680.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 time around, we've got even more listener mail! Reading the mail leads to some interesting conversations. We discussed cheating a little bit, complete with judge-type commentary by Bryan from the Avant-Card Show, who happens to be a Level 2 Judge. There's a little bit of speculation about Innistrad (completely baseless, the best kind!). And just in case we're right, you heard it here first! Innistrad's going to deal with things dying and possibly life totals. HA!We've also got another listener-supplied Mad Lib! This one is from Tosus, our old buddy out in Germany, and it's a good one.Then we finally get to talk about the cycles in New Phyrexia, after a brief discussion of what cycles are in the first place. Then we realized...there really aren't that many cycles in the set. The Praetors, the Chancellors, the Exarchs, the Shrines, and the Souleaters. I think that might be it. But we went into detail for each cycle, so it works out well. Let us know if you have any thoughts on the cycles of New Phyrexia.Intro Music - Diamond by Swift - http://www.swift-band.comBreak Music - Release the Wolves 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-181-cycles-of-compleation-t678.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

Even though we ran through over 30 emails in the last episode, we still have more! So we took another chunk out of the remaining emails. I really enjoy doing lots of listener mail, because it lets us talk about all kinds of things we wouldn't ordinarily talk about. For instance, an email gave me a perfect segue into discussing a new repacked product thing I got at Target!But of course, we had to talk about lots of other things this episode! Which we were able to do, because Brian couldn't be with us. Apparently he couldn't stop coughing for more than a few seconds at a time, so he opted out. Of all people though, Dirk really picked up the slack Brian left us. He's on fire! (be sure to read that in the NBA Jam announcer voice)As far as what other stuff, it was all M12 all the time baby! Well not really, but we did talk about all the M12 stuff that has come to light since our last recording. It's all down there in those links Mechanics and whatnot: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/144Buy-a-box Promo: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/716Core Set Survivor: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/718New Dragon: http://twitpic.com/51sipeOld Dragon: http://twitpic.com/51sjyhIntro Music - Diamond by Swift - http://www.swift-band.comBreak Music - Out of the Frame by S.C.A.N.Be sure to check out all the great stuff on the website! - http://themanapool.comForum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-180-headline-m12-goes-bloodthirsty-dies-t675.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

It's that time again! We've left our listener emails for far too long, and now we've got to devote an entire episode to them! I was afraid this episode was going to end up kind of boring, but I was wrong. The great thing about going over a whole load of listener mail is that they lead us to all kinds of places. I'm talking everything from the Rapture to Standard to Cyndi Lauper to another take on a Magic RPG and all points in between. It's a heck of a trip, thanks to all of our emailers for leading us along! If you guys would like to email us in the future, we have a new email address! It's [email protected], please start sending your emails there!In between all this nonsense, we managed to actually talk about some things that matter, like the new planeswalker and decklist and trailer from Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012, which you can find right here on http://themanapool.com. And we did a new Mad Lib too! We also talked about the New Phyrexia Event Decks (holy crap!) which you can find here:http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/714Floor Rules in case of Rapture:http://dl.dropbox.com/u/408510/mrpg.txtAbe Sargent's Magic RPG:http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/15084.htmlEd Grabianowski's Magic RPG:http://io9.com/5799753/playing-magic-the-gathering-as-an-rpgIntro Music - Diamond by Swift - http://www.swift-band.comBreak Music - no breaks this time!Be sure to check out all the great stuff on the website! - http://themanapool.comForum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-179-listener-appreciation-sequel-t672.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 a very special guest, Adam Styborski. He writes the Serious Fun column for the mothership, he writes for GatheringMagic, he's the Casual Editor over at Quiet Speculation, and he writes a Pauper Cube blog. Here are the links!- http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Archive.aspx?author=Adam%20Styborski- http://thepaupercube.wordpress.com/- http://www.gatheringmagic.com/author/adamstyborski/- http://www.quietspeculation.com- Twitter: @the_stybsWe talked to Adam for a while about his writing, his playing, and whatever else Brian thought up. Then we all discussed the New Phyrexia Prerelease, which most of us ended up attending. One of us was gunslinging, can you guess which one? After that, we did one of our nonsensical but fun Magic Mad Libs! And yes, Stybs helped out!Then we started talking about Equipment. Which ones we love, which ones are awesome, which ones are awesome for multiplayer. Whatever we could think of. Adam had some especially interesting things to say on this topic, so pay attention. You, in the back! Head up off the desk!Intro Music - Diamond by Swift - http://www.swift-band.comBreak Music - The Poetry of Reality by The Symphony of Science - http://www.symphonyofscience.comBe sure to check out all the great stuff on the website! - http://themanapool.comForum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-178-serious-fun-with-adam-styborski-t671.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

That's right, we've got a stupid amount of content for you on this episode of The Mana Pool! First off, Brian's unable to join us until later, so we have a special guest host - Tosus! You might remember him from the excellent custom cards posted on our Facebook page during our last big contest, or perhaps you remember that he's the guy who made the intro you hear on this episode. Either way, here he is joining us for an episode while he's in the USA.Right, content! First off, I have to recount meeting Ben and Tosus in person last weekend, and how neither of them could stand up to my mighty Progenitus EDH deck. So what if they stomped me every other game?Then Mike tells us all about his experience at the SCG Open in Charlotte NC. Since Brian wasn't with us to ramble on forever, Mike took care of it for him. There was a rules update too, and Mike explains a couple of the interesting things that came out of that. Then we have to give a bit of opinion about the New Phyrexia leak and the Guillaumes that caused it. Oh look, there's Brian!There's a short break followed by a big announcement for next episode, be sure to listen carefully! Then Brian tells us all about his SCG Open weekend. And finally, we're able to get to the New Phyrexia cards. We take a look at all the cards with Phyrexian Mana in their costs, so check it out to see what we think. Then...we ran out of time, so we picked out a couple other quick ones and called it a night. See? Very little nonsense this episode!Intro Music - Diamond by Swift - http://www.swift-band.comBreak Music - Enjoy the Silence 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-177-lots-of-actual-content-t667.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/Mem ... tions.aspxSubscribe to our RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool

This is one crazy episode we've got here for you, folks! New Phyrexia has been completely spoiled, and we decided to have fun with it this time. To that end, everything in this episode is a look at the new set, no exceptions (except for all the tangents, of course). I mean it, we had no other topics this time around, nothing else we wanted to talk about, not even listener mail! New Phyrexia is serious business, much like the internet.And when Brian steps away for a few minutes on baby business, I bring in the heavy hitters. We're joined by a pair of old friends (podcast whores) to look over all this new stuff. First off, joining us for a short while from his car, we have Eric of Many Names. Rubber pants are optional, of course. Then we're joined by none other than our favorite Ben Shout-Out recipient...Ben! Known as Panahinuva on forums all across the internet, he had a class let out early and was able to join us for the second half of the show.So yes, we're just crawling with dorks. It was really a stupid amount of fun having these guys on the show to talk about the compleation of Mirrodin, you guys are gonna enjoy it! Find out which card makes Mike want to go lie down for a while, causes Brian to wish suicide on his opponent, and forces Dirk to consider rage-quitting. Also find out which card has flavor implications that had me laughing uncontrollably for a long time. I blame Ben and his roommate, personally.New Phyrexia Visual Spoiler:http://www.wizards.com/magic/tcg/articl ... a/spoiler#Oh, and just because I forgot to mention it this episode, don't forget that we still have lotsa free stuff to give away for random reasons. Try to impress us and you might just get something! Free stuff is courtesy of Top Deck Games in Kernersville, NC. Randy's the owner, and he can be reached at 336-996-8088. Give him a call and see if he'll cut you a deal! Be sure to tell him we sent you!Intro Music - Diamond by Swift - http://www.swift-band.comBreak Music - The Sons of Fate by The Protomen - http://www.protomen.comBe sure to check out all the great stuff on the website! - http://themanapool.comForum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-176-bludgeon-brawl-at-lightning-helix-camp-t666.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/Mem ... tions.aspxSubscribe to our RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool

We are living in an age of villains. In case you haven't noticed, the bad guys are winning. The Eldrazi are free. Nicol Bolas is still scheming. And now, the Phyrexians have taken over the plane formerly known as Mirrodin. During these dark times, who do we turn to for hope? The planeswalkers? Bah. Since this new breed of 'walkers came to light, the heroes haven't had much in the way of victory. Dark times indeed.To combat this, today we will remember the heroes of yore. The ones who fought against, and triumphed over, the evils that now beset us daily. Powerful planeswalkers, mere humans, and even artificial beings that we used to look to when things were at their darkest. Perhaps this discussion will inspire a new hero to step forth and save us. Is there a man among you here? Is there not one who values courage over life?Whoa, I sort of went off the deep end there. And did I quote some Protomen there at the end? That's the song featured in this episode, how appropriate. Huh, I need to start sleeping more. Right then, back to the episode. We also have a brief discussion about the new Wizards event scheduling, particularly how it relates to a certain other high-level tournament series. Then we've got the New Phyrexia preview cards that have been spoiled! Yay! There aren't many, but see which one had Dirk quite literally flustered. Also, I used the word "eidetic" during this episode. Go me.Announcement about 2012's Tournament Structure:http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/news/041411aNew Phyrexia Visual Spoiler:http://www.wizards.com/magic/tcg/article.aspx?x=mtg/tcg/newphyrexia/spoiler#Free stuff mentioned at the end of the episode courtesy of Top Deck Games in Kernersville, NC. Randy's the owner, and he can be reached at 336-996-8088. Give him a call and see if he'll cut you a deal! Be sure to tell him we sent you!Intro Music - Diamond by Swift - http://www.swift-band.comBreak Music - Vengeance by The Protomen - http://www.protomen.comNew website is live! - http://themanapool.comForum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-175-heroes-of-mike-and-magic-t665.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