The Mana Pool

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 Podcast RSS Feed: themanapool.libsyn.com/rss YouTube: youtube.com/TheManaPool The Deep End: youtube.com/@TheDeepEndTMP TMP Streams Archive: youtube.com/@TMPStreams Twitch: twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

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 Podcast RSS Feed: themanapool.libsyn.com/rss YouTube: youtube.com/TheManaPool The Deep End: youtube.com/@TheDeepEndTMP TMP Streams Archive: youtube.com/@TMPStreams Twitch: twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social 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 Podcast RSS Feed: themanapool.libsyn.com/rss YouTube: youtube.com/TheManaPool The Deep End: youtube.com/@TheDeepEndTMP TMP Streams Archive: youtube.com/@TMPStreams Twitch: twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

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 Podcast RSS Feed: themanapool.libsyn.com/rss YouTube: youtube.com/TheManaPool The Deep End: youtube.com/@TheDeepEndTMP TMP Streams Archive: youtube.com/@TMPStreams Twitch: twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

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 The Deep End: youtube.com/@TheDeepEndTMP TMP Streams Archive: youtube.com/@TMPStreams Twitch: twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

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 Podcast RSS Feed: themanapool.libsyn.com/rss YouTube: youtube.com/TheManaPool The Deep End: youtube.com/@TheDeepEndTMP TMP Streams Archive: youtube.com/@TMPStreams Twitch: twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool 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 YouTube: youtube.com/TheManaPool The Deep End: youtube.com/@TheDeepEndTMP TMP Streams Archive: youtube.com/@TMPStreams Twitch: twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

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 Podcast RSS Feed: themanapool.libsyn.com/rss YouTube: youtube.com/TheManaPool The Deep End: youtube.com/@TheDeepEndTMP TMP Streams Archive: youtube.com/@TMPStreams Twitch: twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

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 Podcast RSS Feed: themanapool.libsyn.com/rss YouTube: youtube.com/TheManaPool The Deep End: youtube.com/@TheDeepEndTMP TMP Streams Archive: youtube.com/@TMPStreams Twitch: twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

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 YouTube: youtube.com/TheManaPool The Deep End: youtube.com/@TheDeepEndTMP TMP Streams Archive: youtube.com/@TMPStreams Twitch: twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

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 Podcast RSS Feed: themanapool.libsyn.com/rss YouTube: youtube.com/TheManaPool The Deep End: youtube.com/@TheDeepEndTMP TMP Streams Archive: youtube.com/@TMPStreams Twitch: twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

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 YouTube: youtube.com/TheManaPool The Deep End: youtube.com/@TheDeepEndTMP TMP Streams Archive: youtube.com/@TMPStreams Twitch: twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

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 Podcast RSS Feed: themanapool.libsyn.com/rss YouTube: youtube.com/TheManaPool The Deep End: youtube.com/@TheDeepEndTMP TMP Streams Archive: youtube.com/@TMPStreams Twitch: twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

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 Podcast RSS Feed: themanapool.libsyn.com/rss YouTube: youtube.com/TheManaPool The Deep End: youtube.com/@TheDeepEndTMP TMP Streams Archive: youtube.com/@TMPStreams Twitch: twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool 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 TMP Streams Archive: youtube.com/@TMPStreams Twitch: twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

The dorks are discussing the different types of vehicular transporation you can find in video games. From the cutscene/background only vehicles to the ones that essentially are the player, we're covering as many as we can think of, with plenty of suggestions from the TMP Discord (see, that's why you should totally join!) to round us out. Be sure to let us know what your favorite vehicle is!   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 Twitch: twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

The dorks continue checking out the Avatar set! And it's just after Chewie's 45th birthday! What is going on here? Where is the Avatar? What happened to my cabbages? Gallery: https://magic.wizards.com/en/products/avatar-the-last-airbender/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 Twitch: twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

Yup, the dorks are looking at the Avatar: The Last Airbender set. And it's our 18 year anniversary! Holy crap! Mechanics: https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/feature/avatar-the-last-airbender-mechanics Gallery: https://magic.wizards.com/en/products/avatar-the-last-airbender/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 Twitch: twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

The dorks (except Mike) get together to discuss what we've been playing lately along with a bit of personal nonsense. You know how it is, we're dorks and we're just chatting! 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 Twitch: twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected]

Since it's Halloween time the dorks thought they'd get into the spirit of things by telling you all about some spooky stories. These come from folklore, our childhood, the bookstore, and the internet, and all of them spooked us, or unsettled us, or at the very least just stuck with us, and we want to share them with you. We also got several suggestions from the TMP Discord, which you should totally join too! 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 Twitch: twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

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 second Supply Lines episode, after starting with Magic: The Gathering (for obvious reasons) in episode 723. For this one we decided to go to one of the most hardcore examples of resource management in games, Dungeons & Dragons! Chewie has been playing Baldur's Gate 3 and the other dorks actually play D&D, so they've all got stuff to say. This episode focuses on all the resources you have to manage for character creation, which is surprisingly a lot to the point it can be absolutely overwhelming to new players. We'll discuss every aspect of it we can think of and cover why the limitations and restrictions are good actually. Along the way we'll get sidetracked several times, as is our wont. Let us know what's your favorite part of character creation, and yes, tell us all about your favorite character you've ever made. Just this once we'll allow it. Supply Lines MTG: https://youtu.be/pmxl27XMHS8 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 Twitch: twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

On this fictional episode of The Mana Pool, the dorks are taking a look at books that don't actually exist. Whether they're macguffins that drive the story, plot points that provide exposition or power to the protagonists (or antagonists), or a self-referential meta thing that makes your head hurt, fictional books have been important in fiction across all kinds of genres and mediums, and we're going to talk about a whole mess of them! What's your favorite fictional book, whether we did or didn't cover it in the episode? 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 Twitch: twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

The dorks dive back into the Spider-Man (and the Through the Omenpaths digital nonsense version) Magic set to pick out a mess of cards to talk about. As usual with Universes Beyond stuff, we're talking about what the cards do and what they represent from the source material. Radioactive spider blood! 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 Twitch: twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

The dorks swing over to both the Spider-Man set and the Arena non-Spidey version at the same time to discuss what the new set looks like. Spider-Man mechanics article - https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/feature/spider-man-mechanics 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 Twitch: twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

The dorks called an audible this week, so here's the Dorks Just Chatting that resulted. We're all over the place this week, talking about Weird Al, how AI art isn't art and how AI just sucks in general, Brian's long-forgotten first RPG waaaay back on the NES, how Chewie has been playing two classic game compilations, a few weird combat encounters in games new and old, the release of Silksong after all this time, and ACL repair. Hope you all enjoy 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 Podcast RSS Feed: themanapool.libsyn.com/rss YouTube: youtube.com/TheManaPool The Deep End: youtube.com/@TheDeepEndTMP TMP Streams Archive: youtube.com/@TMPStreams Twitch: twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected]

The dorks take on the existence of creatures that science doesn't support, known as cryptids. We're picking out some of them to talk about in a bit more depth, explaining what they are and why they probably don't exist. If there are any more weird stuff topics you want us to talk about be sure to let us know! 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 Twitch: twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

The dorks head back into the Edge of Eternities gallery, poking around at cards in the set that are neat and tripping into tangents along the way. After a while we pause our gallery perusal and start discussing some of the potential ramifications of EoE and its setting and mechanics. Will we be coming back to the Edge in the future? Will spaceships (or other things to Station) become as ubiquitous as vehicles? Does this mean more sci-fi Universes Beyond will be coming up? It's just a good old-fashioned dork discussion, so let us know what you think! Edge of Eternities Gallery - https://magic.wizards.com/en/products/edge-of-eternities/card-image-gallery 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 Twitch: twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

The dorks return to take their first (and possibly only) look at Edge of Eternities! Because of real life we haven't actually seen terribly much of the set, so a lot of this will be our first reactions to some of the more spicy cards that Twitch chat suggested. At the end, Mike & Chewie sorta forgot they hadn't ended the episode and moved to the Odds & Ends, so you get a good amount of Baldur's Gate 3/D&D talk. And we're not sorry! Edge of Eternities mechanics - https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/feature/edge-of-eternities-mechanics Edge of Eternities Gallery - https://magic.wizards.com/en/products/edge-of-eternities/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 Twitch: twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected]

With Brian still on a boat, the remaining dorks return to just talk about whatever comes to mind! We touch on the recent celebrity deaths before heading into video games we've been playing lately. We spend a fair amount of time on Baldur's Gate 3 since two of us have been playing it (and it's really freakin' good). We complain about Windows 11 hardware requirements too, because that's capitalist nonsense. From there we wander for a while, hitting Stranger Things, being inundated with Star Wars & Star Trek shows, really bad scenes in otherwise not horrible films, and Brussels sprouts. We end the episode by circling back to Baldur's Gate, discussing getting old, and some random DoorDash nonsense. 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 Twitch: twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected]

The dorks are looking back at their years of playing video games and choosing some of their favorite weapons to share! Sometimes it's for the wow factor, sometimes it taught a valuable lesson, sometimes it's just iconic, and sometimes it's so silly that it is permanently memorable. What are some of your favorite weapons in games, and why? 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 Twitch: twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected]

The dorks couldn't settle on a topic for this week, so we turned to our Discord community of Pooligans for some ideas! We're answering three excellent questions on this episode, ranging from relatively simple to "gaining a deeper understanding of how the dorks' minds work" so we hope you enjoy! Thanks to chfuji and Violet Moon for the questions! If you have any questions or topics you'd like the dorks to tackle in the future, be sure to let us know! I've finally started a list of all the ideas and topics and suggestions and we'll be pulling from it whenever we can. 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 Twitch: twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected]

Most of the dorks are back! This week we're talking about world events that happen every four years...for some reason? Then Chewie talks about taking two teenagers, one of whom had not ridden a roller coaster, to Carowinds to ride roller coasters! After all of that of course we have to talk about the Final Fantasy Prerelease because ALL OF US WENT! Dirk & Mike talk about their decks, while Chewie takes over talking about how Brian & Sam did. Great fun was had by all. From there, Chewie goes into why he's less interested in Magic these days, but how thinking critically about it for all those years has stirred a deep interest in how elements of game design come together in all the games he plays. Then we devolve into the usual nonsense, like GYATT and D&D and Skyrim and how there weren't any good Jasons back in the day. Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – www.patreon.com/themanapool Podcast RSS Feed: https://themanapool.libsyn.com/rss YouTube: www.youtube.com/TheManaPool The Deep End: https://www.youtube.com/@TheDeepEndTMP Twitch: www.twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected]

The dorks return to finish up with the Final Fantasy Universes Beyond set! Along with the usual tangents and distractions, of course. It is still us after all. Card Image Gallery: https://magic.wizards.com/en/products/final-fantasy/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! – www.patreon.com/themanapool Podcast RSS Feed: https://themanapool.libsyn.com/rss YouTube: www.youtube.com/TheManaPool The Deep End: https://www.youtube.com/@TheDeepEndTMP Twitch: www.twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

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: https://magic.wizards.com/en/products/final-fantasy/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! – www.patreon.com/themanapool Podcast RSS Feed: https://themanapool.libsyn.com/rss YouTube: www.youtube.com/TheManaPool The Deep End: https://www.youtube.com/@TheDeepEndTMP Twitch: www.twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

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: https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/feature/final-fantasy-mechanics Gallery: https://magic.wizards.com/en/products/final-fantasy/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! – www.patreon.com/themanapool Podcast RSS Feed: https://themanapool.libsyn.com/rss YouTube: www.youtube.com/TheManaPool The Deep End: https://www.youtube.com/@TheDeepEndTMP Twitch: www.twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

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! – www.patreon.com/themanapool Podcast RSS Feed: https://themanapool.libsyn.com/rss YouTube: www.youtube.com/TheManaPool The Deep End: https://www.youtube.com/@TheDeepEndTMP Twitch: www.twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

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! – www.patreon.com/themanapool Podcast RSS Feed: https://themanapool.libsyn.com/rss YouTube: www.youtube.com/TheManaPool The Deep End: https://www.youtube.com/@TheDeepEndTMP Twitch: www.twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

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! – www.patreon.com/themanapool Podcast RSS Feed: https://themanapool.libsyn.com/rss YouTube: www.youtube.com/TheManaPool The Deep End: https://www.youtube.com/@TheDeepEndTMP Twitch: www.twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

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 - https://magic.wizards.com/en/products/tarkir-dragonstorm/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! – www.patreon.com/themanapool Podcast RSS Feed: https://themanapool.libsyn.com/rss YouTube: www.youtube.com/TheManaPool The Deep End: https://www.youtube.com/@TheDeepEndTMP Twitch: www.twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

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 - https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/feature/tarkir-dragonstorm-mechanics Card Image Gallery - https://magic.wizards.com/en/products/tarkir-dragonstorm/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! – www.patreon.com/themanapool Podcast RSS Feed: https://themanapool.libsyn.com/rss YouTube: www.youtube.com/TheManaPool The Deep End: https://www.youtube.com/@TheDeepEndTMP Twitch: www.twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

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: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrupted_Blood_incident Design Doc - What's the Point of Status Effects: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThDVGP4UB30 Design Doc - Weird Status Effects: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEPeGx6IVUQ Come join us in the future! The show is live on Thursdays around 8pm(ish) Eastern time on Twitch Become a Lifeguard on Patreon! – www.patreon.com/themanapool Podcast RSS Feed: https://themanapool.libsyn.com/rss YouTube: www.youtube.com/TheManaPool The Deep End: https://www.youtube.com/@TheDeepEndTMP Twitch: www.twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

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! – www.patreon.com/themanapool Podcast RSS Feed: https://themanapool.libsyn.com/rss YouTube: www.youtube.com/TheManaPool The Deep End: https://www.youtube.com/@TheDeepEndTMP Twitch: www.twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected]

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 - https://magic.wizards.com/en/products/final-fantasy/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! – www.patreon.com/themanapool Podcast RSS Feed: https://themanapool.libsyn.com/rss YouTube: www.youtube.com/TheManaPool The Deep End: https://www.youtube.com/@TheDeepEndTMP Twitch: www.twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

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! – www.patreon.com/themanapool Podcast RSS Feed: https://themanapool.libsyn.com/rss YouTube: www.youtube.com/TheManaPool The Deep End: https://www.youtube.com/@TheDeepEndTMP Twitch: www.twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

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! – www.patreon.com/themanapool Podcast RSS Feed: https://themanapool.libsyn.com/rss YouTube: www.youtube.com/TheManaPool The Deep End: https://www.youtube.com/@TheDeepEndTMP Twitch: www.twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

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 - https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/feature/aetherdrift-mechanics Aetherdrift Gallery - https://magic.wizards.com/en/products/aetherdrift/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! – www.patreon.com/themanapool Podcast RSS Feed: https://themanapool.libsyn.com/rss YouTube: www.youtube.com/TheManaPool The Deep End: https://www.youtube.com/@TheDeepEndTMP Twitch: www.twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Instagram: TheManaPool Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

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! – www.patreon.com/themanapool Podcast RSS Feed: https://themanapool.libsyn.com/rss YouTube: www.youtube.com/TheManaPool The Deep End: https://www.youtube.com/@TheDeepEndTMP Twitch: www.twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

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! – www.patreon.com/themanapool Podcast RSS Feed: https://themanapool.libsyn.com/rss YouTube: www.youtube.com/TheManaPool The Deep End: https://www.youtube.com/@TheDeepEndTMP Twitch: www.twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

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! – www.patreon.com/themanapool Podcast RSS Feed: https://themanapool.libsyn.com/rss YouTube: www.youtube.com/TheManaPool The Deep End: https://www.youtube.com/@TheDeepEndTMP Twitch: www.twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE

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! – www.patreon.com/themanapool Podcast RSS Feed: https://themanapool.libsyn.com/rss YouTube: www.youtube.com/TheManaPool The Deep End: https://www.youtube.com/@TheDeepEndTMP Twitch: www.twitch.tv/themanapool Discord: discord.gg/7da7T6s Twitter: @TheManaPool BlueSky: themanapool.bsky.social Threads: @TheManaPool Email: [email protected] Intro & Outro Music: Diamond by Swift – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vAs5HIBkUPbuoN5b5GWTE