The Mana Pool

This is truly a momentous occasion! Not only do we have all four of the hosts of The Mana Pool present for this recording, but we also have everyone's favorite guy with a bullseye painted on him, AJ! We also have Mrs. Kill AJ and The Hot One helping out for a moment in the intro. You heard it, girls on The Mana Pool! Even if it was just for a second.Right then. Previews! We've got another full load of M10 previews for you on this episode. We have everything from spiders whose art actually wasn't changed to legless angels to angels wearing pasties to the white Shock. You'll hear us rant and drone on and on about the minutiae of each card, as well as the usual nonsensical conversating that you know and love. Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-89-magic-2010-preview-3-t361.htmlCheck out our archive at http://themanapool.libsyn.comEmail us at [email protected]Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/themanapoolSend me an article at [email protected]Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.comCardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.aspSubscribe to our RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool

Chewie here. On this episode you've got me, Brian, and Mike going over a whole crapload of Magic 2010 previews. There's really not much else to say about this particular episode, you know? It's a preview episode, after all. Although we do go over quite a few of the old Lords, so it's like a bit of a history lesson too.There are, however, a few interesting questions to be answered in here. Like will the Ant Queen get to finish her smoothie? And what's up with that guy with the antlers, the cape, and the ZZ Top beard? What's more terrifying that Jet Li coming at you with a boot to the skull? And what's up with the lion turning into a soldier, and the insect into a vampire? Listen in to find out...Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-88-magic-2010-preview-2-t360.htmlCheck out our archive at http://themanapool.libsyn.comEmail us at [email protected]Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/themanapoolSend me an article at [email protected]Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.comCardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.aspSubscribe to our RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool

Brian here, yet again. This episode sees the cast of The Mana Pool, with the long-awaited return of Dirk, finally getting to a subject we've been approaching for weeks: multiplayer combat! Hold on to your hardhats, because here we...uh...wait. Our plans, apparently more fragile than a Faberge Egg, have been broken in half by the launch of the Magic 2010 page on the main Magic website, complete with visual spoiler. Yay for previews! The episode kicks off with a shout-out to the new members on the forums and to the Facebook group. Welcome all. Then, we go into some responses on the forums to our last few episodes. Feedback is always appreciated and actually does help us when we record the shows. Disagree with us about a point we make, think that Dirk is the funniest man alive, or catch us on a blatant error? Head to the forums! We then follow up on some reactions to the Magic 2010 rules changes, including Dirk's first impressions, and the results of the first games Chewie and I have played under the new rules. Chewie and Dirk have also been playing Duels of the Planeswalkers recently and briefly share their experiences. After that, it's on to Magic 2010 previews! Join us as we walk down a sort of memory lane with standbys like Serra Angel (now Uncommon!), Clone, and Birds of Paradise. We'll also see old faces seeing new life like Black Knight (aww yeah), Ball Lightning, and Lightning Bolt (the one and only). Finally, since Magic 2010 is the first Core Set since Beta with new cards in it, we have new favorites like Child of Night, new duel lands, and Ant Queen. Do your exterminators have captains? They better. Finally, we've got some news. I'd tell you what it is, but you need to listen to find out. No cutting in line! All I'll say is, oh wait, you have to listen! Ha. Finally finally, we quickly hit the recent Banned/Restricted List announcements and Magic shoes. Not magic shoes (Like Mike), Magic Shoes. They are NOT guaranteed to make you into a basketball legend. Thanks for listening to The Mana Pool as always, and get ready for some goodness in Magic 2010. LIGHTNING BOLT!Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-87-magic-2010-preview-1-t359.htmlCheck out our archive at http://themanapool.libsyn.comEmail us at [email protected] us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/themanapoolSend me an article at [email protected] located at http://www.cardshark.comCardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.aspSubscribe to our RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool

Hello again, and welcome to episode 86 of the Mana Pool! Brian here, as your on-duty lifeguard for this episode. Please make sure that your life vests are securely fastened and your diving boards are locked in their upright positions, because today we're going to hit the rapids. We should reiterate that The Mana Pool is not responsible for any lost or damaged items, limbs, or personality traits.

We open up with the usual formalities, including being Dirkless yet again, and shouting out to new members on the forums and the Facebook page. We are also now on Twitter, so check out the new link at the bottom of these notes and follow us as we go about our (normal?) lives. We've got some updates on Chewie's upcoming match against the Avant-Card Show podcast, which has changed somewhat. You can still find them at http://www.avantcardshow.com

At this point we embark on a long rant regarding pro players, casual players, new players, skill levels, stereotypes, and common misconceptions. This is kind of an offshoot of last week's thorny topic of the M10 rules changes, more regarding how others have reacted to the changes and what their discussions have said about them as players and theorists. Regardless of whether you've been playing for 20 minutes or 20 years (how'd you manage that, anyway?), you'll hopefully find this rant/discussion/ramble interesting.

Don't get caught up here, though, because we've got a ways to go. Allied and enemy color pairings, favorite cards, crazy situations, and untold wit abound. Duels of the Planeswalkers on your right, rocky patches on your left, and an introduction to our Divine vs. Demonic series straight ahead stand between you and the shore. Should you reach the end of this expedition, make sure to tip your dorks and come back soon!

Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode86-a-truly-astonishing-amount-of-random-magic-musings-t353.htmlCheck out our archive at http://themanapool.libsyn.comEmail us at [email protected]Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/themanapoolSend me an article at [email protected]Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.comCardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.aspSubscribe to our RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool

Hey there, all you Mana Pool listeners! Brian here, subbing in for Chewie. He worked 12 hours on the day that we recorded this episode, only to come home and run the recording less than 2 hours later, and he needed a bit of a break. You'd never guess it from the episode, though, 'cause we're all firing on all cylinders for this one. When I say "we", I don't mean Dirk, because he's not going to be with us for this episode and another or so due to computer death problems. Never fear, as we've got a mystery guest host, whose identity is unknown for at least a minute or so into the episode. [Chewie note: It's Bill, who is kurai_seraphim on the forums].We cover quite a bit of ground here before we even get into the meaty, juicy topic that the episode covers. We go over Cardshark member promotions for June, new members on the forums and Facebook [Chewie note: International, baby!], and the usual routine. Then, Chewie answers a challenge from the Avant-Card Show Podcast of the utmost importance - nudity is at stake! No, Chewie will not be naked, we promise. Maybe. After that, Duels of the Planeswalkers release information is discussed. Anybody got a spare $10 (and an Xbox 360)?Then, we get into the main topic. This was going to be the next installment in our ongoing multiplayer series, but Wizards forced us to change course with the publication of rules changes accompanying Magic 2010. These changes are huge and will impact the way you play the game from now on, so love them or hate them, you'd best listen up. Mulligans are like going to bed? Creatures getting tired? The end of Magic? Tune in to find out what I'm talking about!Find the Avant-Card Show here: http://www.avantcardshow.comM10 Rules Update here: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/42aForum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-85-m10-rules-update-discussion-t349.htmlCheck out our archive at http://themanapool.libsyn.comEmail us at [email protected] me an article at [email protected] located at http://www.cardshark.comCardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.aspSubscribe to our RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool

Can we say that?This time we've got a lot to go over. We're Dirkless again due to his recent computer problems, but we're joined by my old roommate Corey again, so that evens out. We've got a mess of feedback to go over first. Then Brian and I have to tell you about the recent PTQ we attended. We ran the decks that were being tested in the last episode, just so you know. No last minute deck swaps for us.Then we get to the true purpose of this episode. We're discussing multiplayer deckbuilding. More specifically, we're going to focus on the differences between building a deck to take on one person and building a deck to handle multiple opponents. Of course, we sprinkle liberally with our own personal experiences and knowledge. And there's plenty of giggling, joking, tangential nonsense, and picking on each other, as per usual. What sort of episode would it be without all that?Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-84-can-we-say-that-multiplayer-deckbuilding-t344.htmlCheck out our archive at http://themanapool.libsyn.comEmail us at [email protected] me an article at [email protected] located at http://www.cardshark.comCardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.aspSubscribe to our RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool

This is probably not what you were expecting, is it? Due to recording time problems, it was either this or no show at all. And since I know what happens to you rabid Mana Pool fans out there when you don't get your weekly fix, Brian and I came up with a solution. Let us know if you thought this was good, bad, terrible, stupid, didn't care, greatest thing ever, or whatever you think. Please give us some feedback here, we're curious.

What you're hearing here is us testing for the PTQ that happened this past weekend. Some people requested that we try playing a game or more on the air, so we decided to give it a shot, killing two birds with one stone. Brian's playing a Bant Aggro - Finest Hour deck, and I'm playing a Jund Aggro - Cascade deck. We'll hit you with how the decks performed at the PTQ next episode, as well as get back to our multiplayer shows.

Music for this episode: Respect the Blade by SwiftCheck out Swift at http://www.swift-band.com

Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-83-testing-an-experiment-t340.htmlCheck out our archive at http://themanapool.libsyn.comEmail us at [email protected]Send me an article at [email protected]Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.comCardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.aspSubscribe to our RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool

Prepare yourselves for a wild ride. That's all the warning you get.

This episode, we're taking it back. All the way back to our college days when we would spend many hours of the night, many times a week, playing big round table multiplayer Magic. To help us take it all the way back that far, we have my old roommate Corey joining us for the first time. You may remember hearing about him on previous shows, and now you get to experience him firsthand and find out why he sticks out in our minds.

What we're discussing here today are specific cards in multiplayer. More to the point, we're discussing those cards that we just love to play in multiplayer. Everything from the staples like Syphon Soul and Forgotten Ancient to the finishers like Insurrection and Verdant Force – why we like them and what makes them great for multiplayer. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

We're also going to talk about some of those cards that we just absolutely hate to see on the table across from us. Of course this covers the obvious things like Stasis and Portcullis, but also the more subtly miserable cards like Fatespinner and Telepathy. We'll go over what exactly it is about all these cards that we despise so much.

Of course, along the way we get sidetracked, erupt into fits of laughter, go off on tangents, and pick on each other mercilessly. Like more than usual, I mean. Apparently good old Chuck (one of my nicknames for Corey, Chuck Steak) is a bad influence on us. Or maybe a good influence. Whichever it is, I hope you guys get as big a kick out of listening as we did recording it.

Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-82-back-in-the-day-multiplayer-cards-t339.htmlCheck out our archive at http://themanapool.libsyn.comEmail us at [email protected]Send me an article at [email protected]Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.comCardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.aspSubscribe to our RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool

This episode was a complete mess, but not for you to listen to. Allow me to explain. First, we are joined by our old friend AJ of "Kill AJ" fame. This leads to our pre-recording conversation becoming a completely random mess that I really wish we could have recorded. Then we have a bit of listener feedback, which we always appreciate. Hint hint!

Then there's some news. The Xbox 360 Live Arcade game, Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers, is coming out soon, and the list of Achievements has been released, so I spend a couple minutes going over that. Then Mike gets all giddy about the latest Rules Update that happened a couple weeks ago, and he goes over the various functional changes from this update. Believe it or not, this is actually interesting enough to pay attention to. To follow along yourself, go here:

http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/35b&page=2

Then there's this bit of news about Planechase, which sounds like a new Vanguard-ish type of thing. Whatever it may be, we're going over the press release with a fine-tooth comb. Actually it's a shoeshine brush, but whatever. To follow along yourself again, go here:

http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/187

Then I have a bit of Magic-playing news about my trip to Newport News, VA for Mother's Day. My cousin took me to a cyber cafe/card-playing location called Cyberwocky where I did lots of trading and was involved in a pickup Emperor game, something that is completely unheard of around here. It was great, so I talk about it.

Then we wanted to hit some of the high points of Alara Reborn, and this is where things started to fall apart. Brian suddenly realized that he had to go. Then Mike suddenly and involuntarily left us. While he was trying to get back, the rest of us soldiered on. He finally returned to us, sans some of his enthusiasm (not a word you'd usually associate with Mike, but he had a big Rules Update to go over this episode), and the episode ended shortly thereafter.

The real problems came when I tried to put this show together. Four and a half minutes of footage were covered in the horrible clicks that I only sort of managed to remove. I love you guys so much that I recorded a quick apology right before that part. Then the freaking edited-completely-except-for-music file decided it didn't want to save properly and I had to do it all over again. And then I had serious troubles getting the music for this episode to include both left and right stereo channels when I copied it over. But I eventually figured it out. As I write this, I should have been in the bed 45 minutes ago, but I wanted it all ready to upload tomorrow before we record the next show. That's how much I love you guys. Sleep is not as important as getting the episode out sometime before we record the next one, you know?

Music for this episode: Slave by Social Outcast u.b.

Check them out at http://www.myspace.com/socialoutcastub

Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-81-would-you-like-some-content-with-your-tech-t334.html

Check out our archive at http://themanapool.libsyn.com

Email us at [email protected]

Send me an article at [email protected]

Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com

Cardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.asp

Subscribe to our RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool

Hey there, all you Mike fans! This is me, filling in on the notes for Chewie this week as a special treat for everyone who missed me (hi, Mom!). Unfortunately, we're less one Dirk this time, as he had some stuff to take care of and didn't feel like he had anything in particular to contribute to the subject matter of the episode.Anyway, we kick things off with a special little featurette that might come back if people like it enough. As we get settled, it's Nature versus Technology as storms begin to rage in the background and threaten our precious electricity. From there, we get to the Cardshark Member Promotions (featuring everyone's favorite free uncommons), the final chapter of the Jace vs. Chandra evolution, and then we all get to hear about how Brian and Chewie did at the Alara Reborn Launch Party. Very informative, very entertaining. Welcome back to The Mana Pool!Music for this episode: Your Heroes are Dead by Social Outcast u.b.Check them out at http://www.myspace.com/socialoutcastubForum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-80-ready-for-launch-arb-t330.htmlCheck out our archive at http://themanapool.libsyn.comEmail us at [email protected] me an article at [email protected] located at http://www.cardshark.comCardshark Member Promotions: http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.aspSubscribe to our RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool