The Mana Pool

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Episode 197 - Innistrad Previews with Stybs Sep 20, 2011

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Chewie here. I got home from a long trip to find that my computer wasn't working...20 minutes before recording was supposed to start. After trying to coax it back to life, I gave up and had to drive to Mike's place, forgetting to bring the microphone with me. I also had to get food or I was going to die. That's how this episode started. That also explains why I didn't know what episode we were on at the beginning, give me a break.But enough discussion! This episode is all Innistrad previews, all the time! We touch on every new card that had been shown since our last recording, this time with another special guest! Adam Styborski joins us once again to interject random hilarity throughout the episode. You can find him in a variety of places, wearing a variety of hats, in places like:Weekly columnist for DailyMTG: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Archive.aspx?author=Adam%20Styborski The Pauper Cube: http://thepaupercube.wordpress.com/ Writer for Gathering Magic: http://www.gatheringmagic.com/author/adamstyborski/ Casual Editor for Quiet Speculation: http://www.quietspeculation.com Twitter: @the_stybs

Donate to Dustin’s Extra Life page! Help out some sick kids! – http://extra-life.org/participant/vognastyIntro and Outro Music - Diamond by Swift - http://www.swift-band.comBreak Music - Tubular Bells (Theme from The Exorcist)Be sure to check out all the great stuff on the website! - http://themanapool.comForum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-197-innistrad-previews-with-stybs-t712.htmlCheck out our archive at http://themanapool.comJoin our Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/TheManaPoolEmail us at dorks@themanapool.comFollow 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

Episode 196 - Innistrad Previews with Some Limey Sep 15, 2011

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Welcome to another episode of The Mana Pool! This time around we're joined again by Chris Lansdell, that limey podcast whore that you know from many other podcasts, most notably Horde of Notions and The Great Debate. If you haven't listened to those, what's wrong with you?We kick off the festivities with a discussion about the newly-revealed (at the time) Planeswalker Points system. This is the new rating system that's going to replace the old DCI rating. Thank goodness. You can read all about it here:http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/159bWe then take a few minutes to check out what happened at Pro Tour Philadelphia, which was the first official Modern tournament. It made me happy to see a relatively healthy format after the first attempt, even though I have no interest in playing myself. We discussed the decks that made the Top 8, which you can see here:http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/ptphi11/top8decklistsAnd then of course we have to talk about all the wondrous and crazy Innistrad previews that have shown up since our last recording session. And there are some pretty good ones, as always. You can find them all here:http://www.wizards.com/magic/tcg/article.aspx?x=mtg/tcg/innistrad/cig#Donate 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 - Theme from HalloweenBe sure to check out all the great stuff on the website! - http://themanapool.comForum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-196-innistrad-previews-with-some-limey-t711.htmlCheck out our archive at http://themanapool.comJoin our Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/TheManaPoolEmail us at dorks@themanapool.comFollow 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

Episode 195 - Innistrad Previews 1 Sep 02, 2011

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News news news! We've got the announcements about the Duel Decks: Ajani vs. Nicol Bolas deck lists and the Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 expansion, so of course we had to cover all that. There was a lot of concern from our listeners regarding the various and sundry natural disasters that hit our area, so we had to talk about that a bit, including a mightily depressing hurricane story from Brian.http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/783Oh, and there's Squeak. Holy crap I'm in love.http://girlsofgeek.com/squeak/But really, you're all here for the Innistrad previews, so that's what we're going to give you. We look at every freakin' card we could find and discuss them. We weigh in on the double-faced cards, the flavor, being Morbid, and the return of Flashback. You can check it all out here:http://www.wizards.com/magic/tcg/article.aspx?x=mtg/tcg/innistrad/cig#Then we try desperately to get through some of our emails, which is why this episode went so long. There were some good ones though, so stick around!Donate to Dustin's Extra Life page! Help out some sick kids! - http://extra-life.org/participant/vognastyAlso, keep an eye out on the website for a few polls that have nothing to do with the show. We're going to have you guys give us answers to a few questions just because. There will be a new one every two days or so, so keep going back!Intro (and new Outro!) Music - Diamond by Swift - http://www.swift-band.comBreak Music - Captain Planet ThemeREAL Break Music - Twilight Zone Tower of Terror ThemeBe sure to check out all the great stuff on the website! - http://themanapool.comForum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-195-innistrad-previews-1-t710.htmlCheck out our archive at http://themanapool.comJoin our Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/TheManaPoolEmail us at dorks@themanapool.comFollow 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

Episode 194 - Cleverly Titled Live Episode (Live) Aug 30, 2011

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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 dorks@themanapool.comFollow 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

Episode 193 - SCG Open Stories Aug 24, 2011

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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 dorks@themanapool.comFollow 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

Episode 192 - Completely Out of the Deck Box Aug 16, 2011

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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 dorks@themanapool.comFollow 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

Episode 191 - Bigheadjoe and the Mechanics Aug 09, 2011

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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 dorks@themanapool.comFollow 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

Episode 190 - Quick Hits (Well For Us Anyway) Aug 04, 2011

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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 dorks@themanapool.comFollow 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

Episode 189 - Magic Jeopardy (and the Movie) Jul 25, 2011

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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 dorks@themanapool.comFollow 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

Episode 188 - Horde of Serious Notions of Fun Jul 18, 2011

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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 dorks@themanapool.comFollow 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

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