Hey, everyone! I hope you all had a great time opening packs and drafting New Phyrexia this weekend. I didn’t get to play any Magic, but opened lots of packs and really enjoyed every one.

That said, let’s jump in and see what the world of Magic: The Gathering podcasts held for us this past week.

Format Staples

Format staples are my favorite shows and the shows I believe are the most important for someone interested in Magic: The Gathering and podcasts to be listening to week in and week out. You want these in your 75.

CommanderCast #26 – Season Finale

Running time 1 hour 51 minutes

• Andy, Carlos, Byron, and Jeremiah come together this week to wrap up the second season of CommanderCast.
• Free-for-All Roundtable: Proxies

• Proxies are the topic of this week’s Free-for-All Roundtable discussion.
• Should proxies be allowed in Commander? Should limits to what can be proxied be put in place? Discuss.
• This is a really good topic, and the opinions of the hosts are split a little bit, which I think is representative of the opinions of most playgroups.

• Community Segment: The Future of Commander

• Considering that the format is very likely to grow exponentially this summer with the release of the Commander preconstructed decks, the guys discuss the current and future health of the format.
• At the heart of this discussion is how Wizards of the Coast is and should be designing cards for multiplayer formats like Commander.

• Strategy Segment – Punishing Greed

• The guys talk about including cards in your deck and playing in such a style that intentionally punishes other players who are very greedy in their deck-building (i.e., no mana curve or a curve that starts at 5, five-color decks, etc.).

• Archetype Rundown: Aggro

• Some people tend to shy away from typical, straightforward aggro decks in Commander, primarily because it is a group-game format and dealing 80 or more damage is much more difficult than dealing 20.
• However, the guys talk about the archetype in this segment and offer some advice on both deck building and play style.

• Technology: Bad Cards We Love

• In an entertaining segment, each of the guys on the show picks his top three “bad cards” that he plays with for reasons of nostalgia, stubbornness, or other reasons.

• Technology: Entourage

  • This time, on the Entourage segment, the guys each pick three cards to play in a deck built with Chorus of the Conclave as the Commander.

CrazyTalk #9 – Less Medina, Less Frank, More Mark Sun

Running time 1 hour 20 minutes

• KYT and Alex are joined this week by Mark Sun, Bryce Menard, and David Lee.
• The show kicks off with The Five for Bryce:

• How did you get into Legacy?

• Having played the game for a long time, it was easy to transition into Legacy.

• What’s your favorite Magic card, and why?

• Remand

• What would you like to be known for, and why?

• Unsure.

• You’re going to get into a bar fight and you can pick one member of the Magic community to join you. Who do you pick?

• His friend Natelyn (sorry if that spelling is incorrect), who Bryce has seen lift a car that was stuck at one time.

• What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?

• This podcast.

• KYT asks the guys how they feel about the recent trend of grinders on the Star City Games series scooping to one another so that players who are very close to earning Level 8 status will get there. This is a really interesting discussion, and while everyone on the show said they are okay with it, I imagine many people feel very differently.
• Mark relates his experience playing Enchantress at the Star City Games Open in Charlotte.
• Bryce tells the guys about the decks he played at SCG Boston (Merfolk) and in a recent Legacy GPT (High Tide).
• The guys talk a bit about Mental Misstep and what effect it will have on Legacy at Grand Prix: Providence before moving on to cover the various decks of the metagame.

Limited Resources #82 – The Rares of New Phyrexia

Running time 1 hour 52 minutes

• In traditional Limited Resources fashion, Marshall and Ryan present the final portion of their new set review, discussing the rares and mythic rares of New Phyrexia. Check it out to learn how to tell the bombs from the busts.

The Magic Show #232 – The Banning of a World Champion

Running time 12 minutes

• Evan Erwin dedicates an entire show to discussing the banning of Guillaume Matignon and Guillaume Wafo-Tapa. He breaks down what happened in the leak and why, also analyzing the impact of the banning on professional Magic.
• Stay tuned after Evan’s piece for an interesting series of interviews at a Legacy Grand Prix Trial. Very interesting.

Magic TV #89 – New Phyrexia Prerelease Weekend

Running time 18 minutes

• Tristan Shaun Gregson and Luis Scott-Vargas discuss some of their favorite cards and strategies heading into the New Phyrexia prerelease.

Monday Night Magic #258 – Mirrans Lost, Just Like the Lakers

Running time 1 hour 22 minutes

• Tom is joined by Adena and Conley for a very special Mother’s Day episode of Monday Night Magic.
• This week being a prerelease week, there are not many news items.

• The May 2011 Rules Update has been released, and one interesting part of this is a change to old “mono artifacts” (like Winter Orb) that were previously turned off when tapped—they now work all the time whether tapped or untapped.
• The security intrusions at Sony Online are impacting the ability to play MTG Tactics.
• Rhox War Monk is the June FNM promo.
• Two alleged Magic 2012 cards have shown up on MTG Salvation.

• Wrapping up Magic news, Conley, Adena, and Tom recount their New Phyrexia prerelease experiences.

The Third Power #13.5 – That New Phyrexia Feeling

Running time 1 hour 48 minutes

• Usman and Anthony spend an episode examining New Phyrexia’s impact on Cube.
• The show begins with the guys weighing in on the Guillame Matignon and Guillaume Wafo-Tapa banning over the New Phyrexia leak.
• Crack-a-Pack #1

• Cloudgoat Ranger
• Bane of the Living
• Dimir Signet
• Battlefield Forge
• Spectral Procession
• Desolation Angel
• Spirit Monger
• Faith's Fetters
• Ancient Tomb
• Electrolyze
• Abyssal Persecutor
• Dark Ritual
• Mox Diamond
• Plated Geopede
• Simic Sky Swallower

• The guys both snap-pick Mox Diamond (though Abyssal Persecutor
• is a close second).
• Crack-a-Pack #2

• Firebolt
• Crystal Shard
• Incinerate
• Overgrown Tomb
• Pestermite
• Sinkhole
• Upheaval
• Whipflare
• Mortify
• Sword of Body and Mind
• Sorin Markov
• Wall of Blossoms
• Thrun the Last Troll
• Uktabi Orangutan
• Dismiss

• With some discussion, Upheaval gets the unanimous pick.
• From there, we move into discussion of New Phyrexia in Cube.

Untapped #9 – Missing Meh-Dina

Running time 1 hour 37 minutes

• Frank, Trick and JR are hosting without Jonathan this week.
• This being a somewhat uneventful week, the guys cover a nice variety of topics.
• The show kicks off with a great discussion about the fact that New Phyrexia marks the last chance to catch a regional prerelease and how the change will impact tournament organizers and stores.
• The guys try to guess how many of the increased number of Grand Prixes will be in the United States this year.
• Moving on, Frank asks Trick and JR for their thoughts on his recent article analyzing ten cards in New Phyrexia that he feels have not gotten enough attention.
• Listen in because Frank and JR shake on a prop bet regarding one of Frank’s picks (Phyrexian Ingester).
• We get a nice teaser about Medina’s much-touted Tactical Trade Team, which as far as I know is still something of a mystery.

Yo! MTG Taps #65 – A Beautiful Mindslaver

Running time 1 hour 5 minutes

• Bigheadjoe is joined this week by Adam Styborski.
• The guys recount their experiences at the New Phyrexia prerelease and lament the last of the regional events.
• Adam describes a pretty interesting form of group game drafting that sounds like a great way to get cards from the new set.
• The guys also single out a few of the New Phyrexia cards that they are most excited about for Cube and Commander.

The Sideboard

The Sideboard includes shows that may or may not record every week but are quality podcasts that you may be interested in. At a minimum, I will provide the show notes, but in the case of better-than-usual episodes will provide recap or commentary. You don’t run them in every deck, but they are often a great metagame call.

Forcespikes #22 – Praetor of the Dopeness!

Running time 1 hour 4 minutes

• Show notes:

• This episode our heros are joined by The MAXX and we catch up on what we’ve been upto, recent tournies, NPH impacts on standard and some other dope stuff. Enjoy, and as always, your feedback is welcome.
• As always, a big thanks to Game Universe and mtgcast.com for hosting us, without them we wouldn’t be here so check them out and give them some love.

Freed From the Reel #117 – Beta Than Life

Running time 128 minutes

• Show notes:

• Join Keya and AJ as they look ahead to the return of Mirage and Tempest block drafts, and go over the latest news for the online game.

The Hardcast #12

Running time 51 minutes

• Show notes:

• Antoine Ruel has an interview with Richard Garfield
• Blazing a new trail with old favorite Red, Josh looks at the options for red decks
• Ocho talks about best common removal in NPX
• FNM Deck of the week – RUG

Horde of Notions #5 – The Deck Doctor is In

Running time 1 hour 40 minutes

• Show notes:

• The famous Conley Woods endows us with his . . . wisdom, and discusses his theories on rogue deck building for competitive play. We cover opportunity cost and building around meta hate, then Conley tweaks our decks. We also talk about Conley’s battle with diabetes, and suggest methods of weight loss, both healthy and hazardous. As always, our random moment of geekery includes numerous references to various fantasy authors, internet sites, and videos.

The Mana Pool #177 – Lots of Actual Content

Running time 2 hours 54 minutes

• Show notes:

• That’s right, we’ve got a stupid amount of content for you on this episode of The Mana Pool! First off, Brian’s unable to join us until later, so we have a special guest host – Tosus! You might remember him from the excellent custom cards posted on our Facebook page during our last big contest, or perhaps you remember that he’s the guy who made the intro you hear on this episode. Either way, here he is joining us for an episode while he’s in the USA.
• Right, content! First off, I have to recount meeting Ben and Tosus in person last weekend, and how neither of them could stand up to my mighty Progenitus EDH deck. So what if they stomped me every other game?
• Then Mike tells us all about his experience at the SCG Open in Charlotte NC. Since Brian wasn’t with us to ramble on forever, Mike took care of it for him. There was a rules update too, and Mike explains a couple of the interesting things that came out of that. Then we have to give a bit of opinion about the New Phyrexia leak and the Guillaumes that caused it. Oh look, there’s Brian!
• There’s a short break followed by a big announcement for next episode, be sure to listen carefully! Then Brian tells us all about his SCG Open weekend. And finally, we’re able to get to the New Phyrexia cards. We take a look at all the cards with Phyrexian Mana in their costs, so check it out to see what we think. Then . . . we ran out of time, so we picked out a couple other quick ones and called it a night. See? Very little nonsense this episode!

Mana Screwed #45 – 8 Questions That We Answer

Running time 1 hour 14 minutes

• Show notes:

• How to best conduct a Fantasy Draft for the Magic Pro Tour and/or Grand Prixs? Can it be programmed into the website, easily?
• Why isn’t the Reserved List a selectable option in Gatherer? It seems like a list that should be available for selection and convenience . . .
• The next MTGCastLive event is set for the PTQ in Denver in early June. How to improve the quality from the previous attempt?
• Wizards posted information about the 2011 Community Cup, a new annual event which brings members of the MTGO community to Wizards’ offices to face off with staff in a multi-day challenge. When will someone from podcasting universe be apart of this?
• Favorite Podcast that you aren’t on and why?
• Medina with the tactical trade team document for nationals and strategies is that a good idea?
• Is it okay to ask someone on a interview about their love life. Paulo said he was surprised I didn’t
• Looks like the expansion of GP will cause some pros not play at a lot of them due to real life jobs. Good or bad?

MTGCast Interviews the Men of Magic #42 – Jason “Chewie” Slate

Running time 1 hour 9 minutes

• Show notes:

• In this episode of the MTGCast Interviews the Men of Magic, Presenting series, the Host(s) interviews: Jason “Chewie” Slate
• Welcome to this weeks Men of Magic with the man who created The Mana Pool. Find out about what makes the show work, the bikini made of magic cards, why Bill Cosby helps his own comedy act and more.

Pauper to the People #7 – A Plethora of Pauper Pointers

Running time 1 hour 8 minutes

• Show notes:

• Two surprise guests interrupt our duo as they discuss playing Pauper online, as well as some tools for card evaluation. Tuna speaks his mind about the reprinting (and reprinting) of Naturalize. Whip out your thesaurus, it’s time for Pauper to the People.

Scrubland #39 – News Flash! Casby Killed by Cyborgs!

Running time 1 hour 6 minutes

• Show notes:

• Well, we’ve finally gotten a chance to get our hands on the new cards. Join DSale, Bourroughs, and guest host and Level 1 judge Topher Hickman as we talk about some of the hits, misses, and general impact of New Phyrexia. Later, we get into our thoughts on Future Standard, the Judge program, and multi-layered tacos.

Top 8 Magic #305 – Talking PyroTwin Combo with Flores

Running time 1 hour 24 minutes

• Show notes:

• Mike Flores and I sat down for a nice windy cup of coffee to discuss his burgeoning love affair with the new PryoTwin decks that will be emerging from the post-New Phyrexia Standard format. Mike has always been a proponent of Pyromancer’s Ascension in Standard, going all the way back to last year’s Nationals season, and with the addition of free spells and the extra Splinter Twin combo thanks to the printing of the flashy new Deceiver Exarch he has declared it to be the deck to beat in the coming weeks. Why does he feel so strongly about it? I guess you will have to give a listen to find out.

Top 8 Magic – Freaking Without Flores About New Phyrexia Part 1 (and Part 2)– (Running time 48 minutes

• Show notes:

• Limited Information author and Star City Games Content Manager Steve Sadin and I pick up where we left off — more or less — with Michael J Flores in talking about the individual cards from New Phyrexia. We look at different decks the cards might go in ranging from 40 card draft decks to 99 card Commander vessels. It is an exciting and deep set with cards that shake up just about every format. Hope you enjoy it!

In Development

Shows in development are newer podcasts. I will keep you guys up to date on new shows as they arrive on the scene, at a minimum providing show notes and possibly providing recap and analysis (I’m more likely to start writing about new shows once they’ve made it through five episodes and have begun to hit their stride). Consider these shows the cards you play with for the first time at the prerelease: You are excited to try them out but no one is sure how much play they will see.

Red Cast Wins #1 – Four to the Dome

Running time 1 hour 24 minutes

• Show notes:

• A quick intro for our group as well as some thoughts on different formats. We have some fun and crack a few jokes and highlight a good deed the community was super helpful in accomplishing.

RTFC Podcast #1 – New Phyrexia and You

Running time 1 hour 5 minutes

• Show notes:

• Phil, Kirk and Tony review the leaked cards of New Phyrexia and their potential impact on all formats. New combos, Type 1 shake-ups and Phyrexian Mana effects on Limited. Also, Kirk makes bad puns, and Tony’s brain backfires on simple . . .

Mana D TV #1 – New Phyrexia Prerelease

Running time 1 hour 10 minutes

• Show notes:

• In his video podcast debut, KYT interviews some of the more prominent personalities from the Montreal Magic: the Gathering scene. He also invents his own term: land-piling, which is somehow his way of describing mana-weaving.
• Leave a comment; let us know which personality you would like to see more of in a future episode.
• This video features:

• Jay Elarar & Dan Kramer
• Pascal Maynard
• Luan B. Wong
• Jake Meszaros
• François Richard
• Eugene Ho [KYT's note - I definitely recommend this segment.]
• Mahmoud Khabatou

Mana Sculpting #4 – Pre-release Recounted

Running time 50 minutes

• Show notes:

• Wally and Trevor are back recounting the pre release they attended last weekend and giving tips to those people playing sealed this weekend or Standard in the next couple weeks.
• On this episode Wally and Trevor recount the highly successful pre-release at Lake Geneva Games and cover the cards that were all stars and also those that underperformed. We finish by answering a few listener emails and talking a bit about standard and some of the new combo decks you need to watch out for as you head to FNM in the next few weeks.