Episodes
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The dorks take a look at the new Marvel Magic set, because why not.
Marvel Super Heroes Mechanics - https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/feature/marvel-super-heroes-mechanics
Card Image Gallery - https://magic.wizards.com/en/products/marvel/marvel-super-heroes/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! – patreon.com/themanapool
Podcast RSS Feed: themanapool.libsyn.com/rss
YouTube: youtube.com/TheManaPool
The Deep End: youtube.com/@TheDeepEndTMP
TMP Streams Archive: youtube.com/@TMPStreams
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Email: [email protected]Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE
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The dorks are doing something a little different this week. The Summer Game Fest happened recently, showing off all kinds of new and upcoming video games. Each of us have picked out a handful of the games shown at the SGF that we're excited about or that just look really cool. From the biggest reveals like Final Fantasy & Zelda to the midsized releases like Castlevania & Star Wars all the way to the indie darlings like Cuphead & Bad Magpie, we're looking at anything and everything that catches our eye.
Do check out the video version too, as I'll have the trailers for whatever we're talking about playing in the background while we talk! You can find it here - https://youtu.be/90BDEfIGurA
IGN reveal summary videos we used to do this episode
Summer Game Fest - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtOzJtNWRjo
Sony State of Play - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnf64o91V7E
Xbox Games Showcase - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSd36jivoD8
Nintendo Direct - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfrKeeYvvW8Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch.
Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – patreon.com/themanapool
Podcast RSS Feed: themanapool.libsyn.com/rss
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Email: [email protected]Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE
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Missing episodes?
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Oh my god this guy is SO big and scary! How am I ever gonna...oh. Is that all? Huh.
This week we're doing the opposite of last week, with enemies that look big and scary that turn out to be...nothing.
Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch.
Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – patreon.com/themanapool
Podcast RSS Feed: themanapool.libsyn.com/rss
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Email: [email protected]Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE
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Oh look, a cute little turtle lizard guy with a teeny little knife! Why's he just walking towards us? What does he think he's gonna OH DEAR LORD WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!
We're talking about enemies that look like they'd be pushovers, but will instead absolutely wreck you for one reason or another. We'll do the inverse of this on a future episode, so be sure to give us your ideas!
Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch.Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – patreon.com/themanapool
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Email: [email protected] -
The FINAL definition of vamp on the Merriam-Webster site says "Improvise, extemporize." That's the one we're using here. Not "a woman who uses her charm or wiles to seduce and exploit men," which is the FIRST definition. What the actual hell?
On this Dorks Just Chatting, Chewie talks all about his newly-purple beard and his mom's stay in the hospital. Dirk has no idea when things happened and tells us all about a massive school program that eventually just...stopped. We discuss extracurricular activities in school (or our lack thereof). We reminisce about weird problems we had with old guests (or people who didn't become guests) in our ridiculously long history. We wonder at the UK officially preserving Badger Badger Badger, which leads naturally into...Nintendo Power and its comics. Naturally. Eventually this gets us to new editions of books that change words and titles, and that's where Chewie learned about the original title of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. That's not even the end, I just got sick of typing!
Badgers - https://www.fark.com/goto/14073900/boingboing.net/2026/05/19/the-uk-has-formally-declared-badger-badger-badger-worthy-of-preservation.html
Nintendo Power comics - https://comicsalliance.com/nintendo-power-comics-retrospective/
Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch.Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – patreon.com/themanapool
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Threads: @TheManaPool
Email: [email protected] -
The dorks have returned! You know when there's a game or movie or whatever media that, when you look at it, you just know that this is gonna be right up your alley? But then you give it a shot and it just...isn't? What's that about? We're going to give lots of examples of this phenomenon for ourselves and try to figure out what happened with each other them. Let us know about things that seem like they'd be your jam but just weren't for some reason. But not American cheese, that's just silly.
This episode topic comes to us from Mycroft in the TMP Discord! Thanks! You should join the Pool too so you can weigh in on future episodes, the link is always down with all the others.
Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch.
Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – patreon.com/themanapool
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Threads: @TheManaPool
Email: [email protected]Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE
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This is what happens when there's no Dirk and when the Pooligans don't give us a direction. You can't just leave us to our own devices! We cannot be trusted!
Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch.
Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – patreon.com/themanapool
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Instagram: TheManaPool
Threads: @TheManaPool
Email: [email protected] -
The dorks return to Magic to take a look at Secrets of Strixhaven, the new set that amazingly isn't based on some other IP! Two of the dorks actually went to a prerelease for it, so they have Thoughts. You know the drill, mechanics then the card image gallery bouncing around looking at cool stuff.
Oh, because of the main new mechanic there are a lot of Scar and Illidan Stormrage references, so you should probably...
BE PREPARED!
SoS Mechanics - https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/feature/secrets-of-strixhaven-mechanics
SoS Gallery - https://magic.wizards.com/en/products/secrets-of-strixhaven/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! – patreon.com/themanapool
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Email: [email protected]Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE
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We've done it! We're made it to three quarters of four figures! To celebrate doing this for over 18 years (not quite half our lives) we're going to take a look at what it's been like being a nerd over the course of our lifetimes. How we're viewed by society and even the very defintion of "nerd" have changed a lot over the years, so we're digging into it from our own experiences.
To help us with this we've enlisted the aid of one of Chewie's favorite podcasters! It's Brian Edwards, host of The Character Issues Podcast and one of the many contributing hosts of Cane and Rinse! He's awesome and also an aging nerd, so it was really great of him to join us for this momentous occasion! Also, you should totally go check out Character Issues, it's a lot of fun. Go follow Brian on Bluesky at characterissues.bsky.social!
Thank you all so much for helping us get this far! Let us know about your nerd history and if anything we talked about hit especially close to home for you. Here's to reaching 1000!
Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch.Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – patreon.com/themanapool
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Threads: @TheManaPool
Email: [email protected]Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE
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And then it all came crashing down. After Overwatch, the Devil Himself took over and ran decades of goodwill into the ground in the pursuit of the mighty dollar. And also other...problems...came to light that accelerated the fall.
But is it all doom and gloom forever? Can Blizzard save itself under the control of...Microsoft? Wait, seriously?
Why Jeff Kaplan left Blizzard: https://kotaku.com/overwatch-jeff-kaplan-blizzard-pve-leaving-2000678084
Design Delve on Hearthstone's bad UI: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1oX9go1ITQ
Chewie's Steam Next Fest article - https://www.patreon.com/posts/chewie-played-22-152827365
Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch.
Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – patreon.com/themanapool
Podcast RSS Feed: themanapool.libsyn.com/rss
YouTube: youtube.com/TheManaPool
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Email: [email protected]Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE
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We pivoted away from our second Blizzard show to save Brian's mental health, but we'll do it very soon! Instead we're doing a DJC that starts with the titular question and just goes from there, as these shows tend to do. Also, I think Dirk talks more on this episode than he has on a single episode in YEARS. Hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did!
Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch.
Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – patreon.com/themanapool
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Email: [email protected] -
Remember when Blizzard was great? Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo were some of the most powerful IPs in gaming, and they all came from a singular company that could do no wrong. It was truly a glorious time to be alive. So let's bask in the warm glow of nostalgia for this episode, remembering only the good times back before the Devil Himself took sole control and destroyed two and a half decades of loyalty and goodwill.
Chewie's Steam Next Fest article - https://www.patreon.com/posts/chewie-played-22-152827365
Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch.
Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – patreon.com/themanapool
Podcast RSS Feed: themanapool.libsyn.com/rss
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Threads: @TheManaPool
Email: [email protected]Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE
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The dorks (most of them anyway) return to do exactly one (1) episode on the TMNT MTG set. There are improved versions of old mechanics, video game nostalgia, and lots of ampersands. What's your take on the turtle set, and have you ever had turtle soup?
Mechanics: https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/feature/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-mechanics
Gallery: https://magic.wizards.com/en/products/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles/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! – patreon.com/themanapool
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Email: [email protected]Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE
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The dorks are joined this episode by our old buddy and former Monday Night Magic host Squee! Or Bill, if you prefer. And we're talking about rogues across all media. The archetype of The Rogue is far wider than just the D&D definition of sneaking around in the shadows to pick locks and stab people in the back, and we'll be going into detail about all the different aspects of roguishness with plenty of examples of each.
So be sure to let us know your favorite roguish character across all the different media out there!
Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch.
Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – patreon.com/themanapool
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Email: [email protected]Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE
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The dorks dive into the idea of crossovers, when intellectual properties show up in other intellectual properties. We're placing examples on a two-axis spectrum and discussing the good, the bad, the stupid, the greedy, and the ugly. Let us know about any types we missed and tell us about your favorite (or least favorite) media crossover you've encountered!
Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch.
Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – patreon.com/themanapool
Podcast RSS Feed: themanapool.libsyn.com/rss
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Email: [email protected]Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE
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The dorks return for our second week on Lorwyn Eclipsed, which is officially more than Wizards of the Coast spent previewing the entire set. Sigh. So join us as we bounce around the gallery as usual! Just uh...ignore the bit about feet.
Gallery: https://magic.wizards.com/en/products/lorwyn-eclipsed/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! – patreon.com/themanapool
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Email: [email protected]Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE
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It all comes full circle eventually. We first went to Lorwyn waaaay back in 2007, when The Mana Pool started, and we haven't been back since. Until now! The dorks are taking a look at the mechanics and then diving into the full set, focusing on the returning characters! We'll bounce around the rest of the set next episode!
Mechanics: https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/feature/lorwyn-eclipsed-mechanics
Gallery: https://magic.wizards.com/en/products/lorwyn-eclipsed/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! – patreon.com/themanapool
Podcast RSS Feed: themanapool.libsyn.com/rss
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Email: [email protected]Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE
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Hey it's the first episode of 2026! And the dorks are back in force, with a big look at the different types of aliens and how they're depicted in media. We're talking aliens that are friendly, absolutely not friendly, just sort of passing through, and not even sentient, and how they've been shown in movies, shows, games, comics, and whatever else comes up. And at the end we'll dip into some real science to discuss the possibility of the existence of aliens out there somewhere and the likelihood that they're actually hanging out on and around Earth.
Let us know about your favorite aliens and whether or not you think they're out there!
Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch.
Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – patreon.com/themanapool
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Email: [email protected]Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE
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For the last episode of 2025, the dorks (except Dirk) spend an entire episode inadvertently discussing a lot of nostalgic stuff. It kicks off with GI Joe movies and Ghostbusters lore (with some Dave Coulier thrown in, for some reason?).
Then we move into video games for the majority of the show, pitching ideas for applying a randomizer to old games, point & click adventure game Moon Logic, smashing franchises and generations of games together, inserting roguelikes, and other tangential nonsense as usual. Be sure to let us know what old video game franchise you'd wish they'd put into a collection.
Thanks to everyone for being with us this year!
Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch.Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – patreon.com/themanapool
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Email: [email protected] -
Welcome to Supply Lines, a running feature here on TMP where the dorks will be looking at resource management in games. What games? All games, because Chewie is convinced that they're all just different styles of resource management dressed up in genre pants.
This is the third Supply Lines episode, and the second about the most popular tabletop RPG of all time, Dungeons & Dragons. On the first one in episode 736 we covered all the resources involved in character creation (well, most of them). Now it's time to get into combat! We're talking about all the different things that you have available and have to juggle to make combat happen!
Let us know about something crazy you did in combat by managing your resources in a weird or unexpected way!
Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch.
Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – patreon.com/themanapool
Podcast RSS Feed: themanapool.libsyn.com/rss
YouTube: youtube.com/TheManaPool
The Deep End: youtube.com/@TheDeepEndTMP
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Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s
BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social
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Threads: @TheManaPool
Email: [email protected]Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE
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