The Mana Pool

Join Brian, Mike, Dirk and Chewie as they discuss all things Magic: The Gathering. Since there are plenty of tournament and strategy podcasts out there, we've decided to focus on the fun of the game in all its many forms, from Prereleases to multiplayer free-for-alls to whatever else we can come up with. Give us a listen!

Even More Final Fantasy MTG Previews | The Mana Pool #726 05/28/2025

Even More Final Fantasy MTG Previews | The Mana Pool #726 The dorks are back, bouncing around the Card Image Gallery for the Final Fantasy Universes Beyond set! As usual for UB, we're primarily checking out how well these cards reflect their source material. That's it really, you know the drill. There's probably one more episode of this coming, so be sure to let us know or come hang out live to let us know cards you want us to be sure we cover! Card Image Gallery: Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – Podcast RSS Feed: YouTube: The Deep End: Twitch: Discord: BlueSky: Instagram: Threads: Email: Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – /episode/index/show/themanapool/id/36718165

More Final Fantasy MTG Previews | The Mana Pool #725 05/21/2025

More Final Fantasy MTG Previews | The Mana Pool #725 Now that the full previews have begun, the dorks dive back into card from the upcoming Universes Beyond Final Fantasy set! We're hitting the mechanics as usual, then poking around to check out the main characters of some of the games. As has become our thing with these UB sets, we're going to be taking a look at how the card mechanics reflect the source material they're based on. So strap in, grab your giant sword of choice, and let's take a look! Mechanics: Gallery: Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – Podcast RSS Feed: YouTube: The Deep End: Twitch: Discord: BlueSky: Instagram: Threads: Email: Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – /episode/index/show/themanapool/id/36630370

The Video Games of Star Wars | The Mana Pool #724 05/14/2025

The Video Games of Star Wars | The Mana Pool #724 Originally we were going to make this episode about everything Star Wars other than the movies, but it turns out we spent WAY too much time on the video games. There are SO MANY video games. And we only covered a fraction of them! We'll dive into 2D platformers, 1st and 3rd person action, racing, grand strategy, real time strategy, Virtual reality, flight simulator, and probably more that I'm forgetting! What's your favorite Star Wars video game? Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – Podcast RSS Feed: YouTube: The Deep End: Twitch: Discord: BlueSky: Instagram: Threads: Email: Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – /episode/index/show/themanapool/id/36552190

Supply Lines - Resource Management in MTG | The Mana Pool #723 05/07/2025

Supply Lines - Resource Management in MTG | The Mana Pool #723 Welcome to Supply Lines, a new running feature here on TMP where the dorks will be looking at resource management in games. What games? All games, because they all have a variety of resources that the player needs to manage to be able to play! To kick it all off, we're starting with the game that we and our audience probably have the most experience with - Magic: the Gathering. We'll sprinkle in some examples from other card games as they come up of course, but MTG is the primary focus of this initial episode. Be sure to let us know what you think! And please let us know what types of games you want to hear us cover in the future! Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – Podcast RSS Feed: YouTube: The Deep End: Twitch: Discord: BlueSky: Instagram: Threads: Email: Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – /episode/index/show/themanapool/id/36442910

All About Roguelikes | The Mana Pool #722 04/29/2025

All About Roguelikes | The Mana Pool #722 What exactly is a roguelike? Well it's a video game...genre? Sort of? Genres are all made up and stupid. In this episode, the dorks will dive into what makes a roguelike a roguelike, with lots of relevant conversations about various aspects of the whole thing. And be sure to let us know your favorite roguelikes and why! Stay tuned for the end when Mike & Chewie get all caught up in...D&D stuff? Wait what? Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – Podcast RSS Feed: YouTube: The Deep End: Twitch: Discord: BlueSky: Instagram: Threads: Email: Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – /episode/index/show/themanapool/id/36333050

Episode 721 - Dragonstorm Has...Dragons? 04/15/2025

Episode 721 - Dragonstorm Has...Dragons? Oh hey, the set about dragons has a bunch of dragons in it! Weird. Guess we should probably take a look at some of them huh? Card Image Gallery - Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – Podcast RSS Feed: YouTube: The Deep End: Twitch: Discord: BlueSky: Instagram: Threads: Email: Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – /episode/index/show/themanapool/id/36131805

Episode 720 - Return to Tarkir 04/01/2025

Episode 720 - Return to Tarkir The dorks are back! First Chewie recaps Cheevos For Charity 2025, which was a glorious time that raised over $1500 for Trans Lifeline! After that we give Tarkir: DragonStorm the usual treatment. You know, looking at the mechanics and then bouncing around the gallery calling out whatever we like. Don't worry, we'll be back again to check out all the big scary dragons and stuff. Tarkir Dragonstorm Mechanics - Card Image Gallery - Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – Podcast RSS Feed: YouTube: The Deep End: Twitch: Discord: BlueSky: Instagram: Threads: Email: Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – /episode/index/show/themanapool/id/35931765

Episode 719 - Status Effects in Games 03/17/2025

Episode 719 - Status Effects in Games If you've ever been slept, poisoned, charmed, stunned, slowed, or...made an atheist (?) then this episode is for you! The dorks are talking about (as the title says) status effects in games. Of course we spend a lot of time on RPGs, but status effects are common in all kinds of games. We brought up several different action games and card games just to hammer this point home. Let us know what you think! Corrupted Blood Incident: Design Doc - What's the Point of Status Effects: Design Doc - Weird Status Effects: Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – Podcast RSS Feed: YouTube: The Deep End: Twitch: Discord: BlueSky: Instagram: Threads: Email: Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – /episode/index/show/themanapool/id/35718360

Building Toys & Old Cartoons - Dorks Just Chatting 03/13/2025

Building Toys & Old Cartoons - Dorks Just Chatting The dorks couldn't come up with something to talk about this episode, so we asked the Pooligans in our Discord community for some ideas! Mycroft wanted to know if we had anything to say about building toys, from Lego to Gunpla, so we talked about that for a while. Then Pana was curious which cartoons we thought might be good to bring back for another run, sort of like DuckTales or She-Ra or any number of other excellent examples. And we spent WAY too long just talking about old cartoons. Don't blame us when you have to go look up old cartoon theme songs. Even though it's totally our fault. Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – Podcast RSS Feed: YouTube: The Deep End: Twitch: Discord: BlueSky: Instagram: Threads: Email: /episode/index/show/themanapool/id/35656075

Episode 718 - The First? Final? Fantasy (Episode) 03/05/2025

Episode 718 - The First? Final? Fantasy (Episode) The dorks take their first look at the long-awaited Final Fantasy Universes Beyond MTG set! We're all FF dorks to one degree or another, so we're doing like we did with the Lord of the Rings set - taking a look at how the mechanics of the card matches up to the thing it is depicting. Between the four of us we have all the games covered (for the most part) so this should be fun. Find out which commander we think is terribly done, who we think is just boring, who is horribly overrated, and which ones are absolute home runs! And be sure to let us know what you think too! Final Fantasy Gallery - Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – Podcast RSS Feed: YouTube: The Deep End: Twitch: Discord: BlueSky: Instagram: Threads: Email: Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – /episode/index/show/themanapool/id/35523915

BONUS: Definitely Not MNM 02/26/2025

BONUS: Definitely Not MNM No, you're not hallucinating and you haven't fallen into a time portal (unless you're coming from the future, in which case SAVE US!). It's Chewie, Cluze, and Squee, together again! No we're not resurrecting anything, we just wanted to get back together and try desperately to ignore the direction the world is going by talking about whatever nerdy nonsense we've been fooling with lately. We bounced around from a Japanese honorifics lesson because of Yakuza 0 to rambling about the MCU to falling into food shows to discussing all the shows we have and have not finished to the horrors of trying to find a good barber to not taking down holiday decorations...and that's not even everything! Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – Podcast RSS Feed: YouTube: The Deep End: Twitch: Discord: BlueSky: Instagram: Threads: Email: Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – /episode/index/show/themanapool/id/35413035

Episode 717 - What Dorks Love 02/20/2025

Episode 717 - What Dorks Love To celebrate the fake retail holiday Valentine's Day (which was the day after we recorded this), the dorks wanted to shift gears away from the negativity of episode 715. So for this episode we're each talking about some things that we love! Not our partners or families or any of that stuff, we mean nerdy nonsense! Movies, games, shows, whatever we want! So tell us, what are some nerdy things YOU love? Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – Podcast RSS Feed: YouTube: The Deep End: Twitch: Discord: BlueSky: Instagram: Threads: Email: Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – /episode/index/show/themanapool/id/35353820

Episode 716 - Dorks on Aetherdrift 02/11/2025

Episode 716 - Dorks on Aetherdrift The dorks take a look at the mechanics and gallery of Aetherdrift. You know the drill, we do this sort of thing all the time. Sorry we missed the blue shell by the way. Aetherdrift Mechanics - Aetherdrift Gallery - Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – Podcast RSS Feed: YouTube: The Deep End: Twitch: Discord: BlueSky: Instagram: Threads: Email: Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – /episode/index/show/themanapool/id/35212785

Episode 715 - Don't Hate the Game, Hate the Player 02/05/2025

Episode 715 - Don't Hate the Game, Hate the Player Gamers, amirite? Whether it's opponents across the table, friends next to you, or randos online, eventually they're all going to do something while you're playing that just grinds your gears. The dorks are going to get into all the things that gamers do that annoy them. Not just to vent, but also to help us all recognize that some of our quirks or tics or whatever that we don't pay attention to might just be bothering the hell out of everyone else involved. Remember Rule 2! Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – Podcast RSS Feed: YouTube: The Deep End: Twitch: Discord: BlueSky: Threads: Email: Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – /episode/index/show/themanapool/id/35135230

Episode 714 - The Villains of Final Fantasy pt 1 01/22/2025

Episode 714 - The Villains of Final Fantasy pt 1 The dorks take a look at the main antagonists & final bosses of the first six Final Fantasy games! These range from just nothing to one of the best villains in gaming, period! We'll be going through each game in order to see how the big bad evolved (or didn't) over time. And don't worry, we'll come back to this again in the future to cover more that we didn't get to! Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – Podcast RSS Feed: YouTube: The Deep End: Twitch: Discord: BlueSky: Threads: Email: Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – /episode/index/show/themanapool/id/34927435

Episode 713 - A Look Back/Forward 01/07/2025

Episode 713 - A Look Back/Forward The dorks kick off 2025 by looking back at the stuff that happened to us over the last year. Life events, games we played, shows we recorded, that sort of thing. Apologies for anyone going into excruciating details. We're also taking a look forward at things we're hoping to do or experience in the next year. You know, it's your typical year transition introspection thing. Be sure to let us know what you're looking forward to in 2025! Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – Podcast RSS Feed: YouTube: The Deep End: Twitch: Discord: BlueSky: Threads: Email: Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – /episode/index/show/themanapool/id/34744735

Episode 712 - Dorks Talking Castlevania pt 2: Metroidvania 12/23/2024

Episode 712 - Dorks Talking Castlevania pt 2: Metroidvania The dorks round out 2024 by finishing up our Castlevania discussion! We're hitting all the remaining games, which includes the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS Metroidvanias, the PS2 3D games, the Lords of Shadow reboot, and whatever else we missed in the last show. We'll also hit up some of the places Castlevania has popped up in crossovers with other games! Thanks so much to all of you for sticking with us this year! We hope your holiday season is filled with goodness and that next year is even better! Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – Podcast RSS Feed: YouTube: The Deep End: Twitch: Discord: Twitter: BlueSky: Threads: Email: Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – /episode/index/show/themanapool/id/34576970

Episode 711 - Dorks Talking Castlevania pt 1: Classicvania 12/18/2024

Episode 711 - Dorks Talking Castlevania pt 1: Classicvania The dorks are doing something a little different this episode. We're taking a look at the Castlevania franchise as a whole! Castlevania is a franchise that all of us have experience with, and it's just so good! There are SO many games, a Netflix anime series, absolutely stunning music, and lots of crossovers into other games! Of course that's a lot to talk about, so this episode is mainly about the Classicvania games. Look for part 2 soon! Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – Podcast RSS Feed: YouTube: The Deep End: Twitch: Discord: Twitter: BlueSky: Threads: Email: Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – /episode/index/show/themanapool/id/34481605

Hardcore WHAT Now? - Dorks Just Chatting 12/10/2024

Hardcore WHAT Now? - Dorks Just Chatting The dorks return! This time we're Just Chatting about all kinds of stuff! First up is our Thanksgiving holidays and food experiences. Then Brian has a question about parenting, which we tangent off of several times. We talk about what scared or bothered us when we were kids, when sex and/or violence are okay to show them, and lots of other stuff. Then Brian disappears, so Chewie talks about all the games he's been playing lately (Tunic, Vampire Survivors, Hitman, Forced Showdown). Then Mike talks about what he's been up to lately and we discuss maintaining our sanity in these trying times. How are you maintaining your sanity these days? Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – Podcast RSS Feed: YouTube: The Deep End: Twitch: Discord: Twitter: BlueSky: Threads: Email: Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – /episode/index/show/themanapool/id/34351495

Episode 710 - Foundational Learning 11/21/2024

Episode 710 - Foundational Learning The dorks have returned! We're taking a look at the MTG Foundations change to combat, discussing all the new stuff coming up next year, digging into the idea that Universes Beyond sets are gonna be Standard Legal, and more! There was going to be a second topic this episode but we ran out of time. Look forward to that in the future! Foundations mechanics: Next year's sets: Making UB sets Standard legal: Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – Podcast RSS Feed: YouTube: The Deep End: Twitch: Discord: Twitter: BlueSky: Threads: Email: Support TMP on Humble Bundle! – Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – /episode/index/show/themanapool/id/34038521

Episode 709 - A Mashup of Mashups 11/01/2024

Episode 709 - A Mashup of Mashups We're mashing stuff up! First up we're looking at the mashup of Marvel & MTG. The first batch of the Marvel cards were revealed at New York Comic Con so of course, we're gonna check them out. Then it's a mashup of our own creation, the good old Magic Mad Lib. To finish up we're going into one of the most famous mashups in video games! What happens when you smash Disney into Final Fantasy? You get Kingdom Hearts! Chewie & Dirk recently finished the first game, Brian has played it relatively recently, and Mike played it way back in the day. We go into the ups and downs of the first game because why not? Marvel cards: Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – Podcast RSS Feed: YouTube: The Deep End: Twitch: Discord: Twitter: BlueSky: Threads: Email: Support TMP on Humble Bundle! – Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – /episode/index/show/themanapool/id/33707142

Episode 708 - Horror Tropes in Duskmourn 10/16/2024

Episode 708 - Horror Tropes in Duskmourn The dorks are pointing out the horror movie tropes and references in the new set, and a dorky discussion ensues as usual. Duskmourn Gallery: Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – Podcast RSS Feed: YouTube: The Deep End: Twitch: Discord: Twitter: BlueSky: Threads: Email: Support TMP on Humble Bundle! – Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – /episode/index/show/themanapool/id/33469647

Episode 707 - Manaphobia: The Fear of Dorks 10/03/2024

Episode 707 - Manaphobia: The Fear of Dorks Fear is a powerful and ever-present aspect of our lives. The dorks look at the Fears from Duskmourn, and use them as a jumping-off point to discuss our own fears. What are you afraid of? Duskmourn Gallery: Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – Podcast RSS Feed: YouTube: The Deep End: Twitch: Discord: Twitter: BlueSky: Threads: Email: Support TMP on Humble Bundle! – Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – /episode/index/show/themanapool/id/33301897

Episode 706 - Boilerbilges! 09/26/2024

Episode 706 - Boilerbilges! The dorks dive into the horror tropes of Duskmourn! You know the drill by now - mechanics first then we dive into the card image gallery. And Chewie finds a new word that makes him happy. Heh, boilerbilges. Mechanics: Gallery: Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – Podcast RSS Feed: YouTube: The Deep End: Twitch: Discord: Twitter: BlueSky: Threads: Email: Support TMP on Humble Bundle! – Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – /episode/index/show/themanapool/id/33206047

Episode 705 - The Heirs of Trivester RPG Finale 09/18/2024

Episode 705 - The Heirs of Trivester RPG Finale After all this time, the dorks are finally closing the door on the Heirs of Trivester. Did you want a big boss fight? Because we've got a big boss fight! We started this journey back in 2016, though the seeds were actually planted in 2009. To celebrate, I've gathered up all the episodes from before the show was posted on YouTube, made them into videos, and created a playlist of the whole RPG saga! Heirs of Trivester RPG playlist - Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – Podcast RSS Feed: YouTube: The Deep End: Twitch: Discord: Twitter: BlueSky: Threads: Email: Support TMP on Humble Bundle! – Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – /episode/index/show/themanapool/id/33111702

Episode 704 - Role-Playing Games We Love 08/29/2024

Episode 704 - Role-Playing Games We Love The dorks take a look at one of their favorite game genres - Role-Playing Games! We're bouncing around between games that we've loved over the years, both video and tabletop, and talking about why we feel how we do about them. Plus Chewie has to rant about how video game genres are complete nonsense (because they totally are - guess who writes these show notes?) Tell us about your favorite RPGs! Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – Podcast RSS Feed: YouTube: The Deep End: Twitch: Discord: Twitter: BlueSky: Threads: Email: Support TMP on Humble Bundle! – Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – /episode/index/show/themanapool/id/32782672

Episode 703 - Woodland Critter Infestation! 08/06/2024

Episode 703 - Woodland Critter Infestation! This place is overrun with adorable and/or terrifying woodland critters! Yup, we're poking around in Bloomburrow again. Try not to step on the frogs. Or get caught up in a two-card game-winning combo. Gallery: Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – Podcast RSS Feed: YouTube: The Deep End: Twitch: Discord: Twitter: BlueSky: Threads: Email: Support TMP on Humble Bundle! – Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – /episode/index/show/themanapool/id/32445842

Episode 702 - Looking Into Furry Ravnica 08/01/2024

Episode 702 - Looking Into Furry Ravnica The dorks return for real this time! Since we got the full update of where the hell we've been for the last couple months out of the way, this episode is all about Furry Ravnica. I mean, Bloomburrow. Mechanics: Gallery: Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – Podcast RSS Feed: YouTube: The Deep End: Twitch: Discord: Twitter: BlueSky: Threads: Email: Support TMP on Humble Bundle! – Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – /episode/index/show/themanapool/id/32368632

Where Have We Been? 07/29/2024

Where Have We Been? The dorks explain where they've been for the last, uh....TWO MONTHS? Wait, what? Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – Podcast RSS Feed: YouTube: The Deep End: Twitch: Discord: Twitter: BlueSky: Threads: Email: Support TMP on Humble Bundle! – Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – /episode/index/show/themanapool/id/32326082

Adaptations, Tournaments, & Video Games - Dorks Just Chatting 07/06/2024

Adaptations, Tournaments, & Video Games - Dorks Just Chatting This was recorded on June 6, but due to a whole lot of life happening, I never got to post it. Sorry about that. But here it is now, so enjoy! The dorks are back! We're chatting about how the Fallout show is an excellent adaptation and why. There's some talk about Chewie's June streaming plans, which got disrupted by various emergencies and life in general. But it was a good plan that will return! We discuss the Final Fantasy 4 Pixel Remaster, have some nostalgia about Magic tournaments back in the day, and show off a listener-created Episode 700 card. Then we go back to Final Fantasy to reminisce on some memories of the series, touch on the Dragon Quest series, and get sidetracked by...Jedward? Wait, what? Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – Podcast RSS Feed: YouTube: The Deep End: Twitch: Discord: Twitter: BlueSky: Threads: Email: Support TMP on Humble Bundle! – Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – /episode/index/show/themanapool/id/32017737

The Mana Pool

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