“It had been several weeks since he’d smoked, so he was sure to get stoned, which was great in the face of his mind’s reeling on Krauss, and considering he simply couldn’t seem to get drunk tonight.”

[I wrote this article months ago for a magazine that failed to make it off the ground.]

THE CITY’S FIVE BEST PLACES TO WATCH FOREIGN FILM
When you’ve tired of Hollywood’s headache-inducing 3D blockbusters and films of budgets trumped only by their exorbitant price of entry, seek solace in the beauty of foreign and independent film. Here are the five best places to do so:

Paris Theatre
This stately 586 seat single screen art house theater has maintained a policy of showing just one film per week since opening in 1948, when Marlene Dietrich cut the ribbon with the French ambassador. A microscopic lobby opens to a cavernous, plushly-appointed interior with balcony intact. A substantial portion of the film schedule is fittingly French, enjoyed by the loyal graying clientele minus any onscreen advertising. The Paris has enjoyed a recent surge in patronage thanks to Sex and the City’s Carrie Bradshaw, who lovingly lilted, “Any time you can go to Paris.”
4 West 58th Street, 212-688-3800, www.theparistheatre.com

Anthology Film Archives
Looking more like a decrepit gymnasium from the outside, this unassuming East Village courthouse-turned-theater is a relic of all but forgotten cinephilia, and one of the largest archives of experimental and avante-garde film in the world, boasting a collection of over 11,000 titles, from which over nine hundred titles are selected and shown annually. Aside from their ongoing Essential Cinema series, a must for film aficionados, and festivals like The New York Underground Film Festival, Anthology has been known to host live musical performances, including Sonic Youth performing to the films of Stan Brakhage.
32 Second Avenue, 212-505-5181, www.anthologyfilmarchives.org

Film Forum
The oversized thick-rimmed glasses-wearing youthful dilettantes smoking cigarettes in front of the box office, which opens directly onto the south side of Houston Street, speak of the seriousness of this theater; renowned for tiny screens, cool staff, first-come seating and reliably superb selections of foreign and indie/artsy films, Film Forum is the real deal, with 4,500 members and a quarter of a million annual admissions.
143 East Houston Street, 209 West Houston St.,212-727-8110, www.filmforum.org

IFC Center
Opened in 2005 after a four year renovation in the former Waverly Theatre by Rainbow Media as an extension of its popular cable channel, IFC Center is a passionate and accommodating state-of-the-art five screen facility. Loved by its patrons for quirks like the Short Attention Span Cinema, often bizarre short films preceding the previews on all screenings, and Friday and Saturday midnight screenings of films such as Lars von Trier’s Antichrist, IFC also boasts an exhibition of vintage movie posters, and exclusively serves David Lynch’s organic coffee roast.
323 Sixth Avenue at West Third Street, 212-924-7771, www.ifccenter.com

Sunshine Cinema
This Lower East Side former Yiddish vaudeville house, dating back to 1898, was shuttered and left to serve as a hardware warehouse for over fifty years. Now, under the operation of the preeminent Landmark Cinemas circuit, Sunshine displays often rare independent and foreign films on five large screens in a clean, subtle space. Widely regarded as serving the city’s best theater popcorn (waiting to be spruced up by thirteen different flavor shakers), this theater also houses a Japanese rock garden and a glass annex offering views of Lower Manhattan possibly as inspiring as the esoteric indie films on rotation underneath.
143 East Houston Street, 212-330-8182, www.landmarktheatres.com/market/newyork/sunshinecinema.htm

As much as I’ve “hated” on M12 (Magic 2012, the new core set for Magic: The Gathering) for being a decidedly underpowered set in comparison to its recent predecessors, there is quite a bit to get excited about. After several weeks playing with the new set (at least on paper- come on WOTC, let’s cut out the strategic MTGO delays. We buy the paper cards anyway!), certain cards have proven themselves powerful in Type II, even in the current pre-rotation environment, and those are the ones I’d like to focus on in this article.
For convenience here’s the full M12 Spoiler: http://mtgsalvation.com/magic-2012-m12-spoiler.html
Please refer to it for card information so I don’t have to make twenty hyperlinks below :)

White: Oblivion Ring
The ring is a slower yet decidedly more powerful Journey to Nowhere. It should see play if not maindeck in sideboards of most Type II white decks, especially control versions. I can see decks splashing white for this incredibly flexible removal spell. Too bad it’s an uncommon and hence unplayable in Pauper :(
Runners Up: Guardian’s Pledge, Honor of the Pure (white weenie is going to get even sicker), Grand Abolisher, Gideon Jura, Day of Judgment

Blue: Ponder
Only slightly inferior to the possibly-broken Preordain, blue will continue to enjoy a solid one mana card advantage spell.
Runners Up: Lord of the Unreal (I wanna play Illusions so badly), Jace, Memory Adept, Frost Titan, Master Thief (awesome sideboard card)

Black: Grave Titan
No surprise, he’s simply the best black creature and probably card in the new core set. Mono Black Control will sorely miss Duress, Mind Sludge and Corrupt, all of which will rotate out in October and will receive inferior counterparts in Distress, Monomania and Consume Spirit; Vampires and Zombies should prove playable in niche Type II (Bloodlord of Vasgoth and Vengeful Pharaoh are admittedly powerful late-game creatures), but I’ve always enjoyed MBC, and Grave Titan will remain its favorite finisher. Too bad Massacre Wurm is rotating out :(
Runners Up: Deathmark, Mind Rot, Smallpox, Sorin’s Vengeance (10 life, bitch; cool 1-of finisher)

Red: Goblin Grenade
The grenade is a classic example of why Goblins will always be viable. I expect/hope to see the deck maintain a solid Tier II status (it can trounce Valakut, Birthing Pod and other serious, more expensive decks), even after losing Goblin Guide when Zendikar block rotates. 20 life goes fast with four of these and twenty goblins in your deck.
Runners Up: Chandra’s Phoenix, Chandra, the Firebrand, Incinerate, Grim Lavamancer, Fling

Green: Acidic Slime
Of course Overrun is amazing but I don’t see monogreen stompy as a contender anytime soon. Acidic Slime, however, is already seeing Type II play in Birthing Pod and other variant decks. Five mana for a 2/2 creature seems a lot, but this guy is pure control; He’ll almost always 2-for-1, and your opponent has to begrudgingly deal with him. Awesome card.
Runners Up: Overrun, Garruk, Primal Hunter, Primeval Titan, Skinshifter

Artifact: Solemn Simulacrum
What else? He’s pure utility, and most creature-based decks are already running 2-4 copies. Get ‘em now, I expect this guy to level out near $20 (currently $8-$10).
Runners Up: Quicksilver Amulet, Elixir of Immortality (nice in Mill), Worldslayer (if only for the name).

I’ve come to peace with M12 due to the creativity that went into the set and also because a bit of simplification/power control could probably do the game some good. I’m also pumped that a bunch of the best cards in the set are uncommons.You couldn’t go wrong picking up play sets of each of the aforementioned cards (if you don’t own them already- lots of reprints in this set). As far as buying a box? I’m passing- I’d rather drop for a box of New Phyrexia, personally ;)

-Logan McHenry

Needless to say many of us Type II Magic the Gathering players were pleasantly surprised when both Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Stoneforge Mystic were banned in Type II by WOTC in late June. Aaron Forsythe wrote an elegant article admitting the company’s oversight when printing these cards and explaining the difficulty in ironing out the plethora of card interactions during R&D that can lead to dominant decks like Caw Blade.
As of July 1st the Standard Constructed format has received a breath of fresh air, and classic archetypes like Vampires, White Weenie and even Mill are seeing play in addition to the surviving Tier I decks like Eldrazi Green, Valakut Ramp and Splinter Twin. My local game store, Twenty Sided Store in Williamsburg, had reverted to Pauper and Peasant Type II formats instead of full-fledged Type II for weeks, but as of the bannings we’re enjoying Standard Type II tournaments on Saturday afternoons.
Last week’s tournament boasted an incredible turnout and included, in addition to the aforementioned deck archetypes, Infect Aggro, Infect Control, Eldrazi Green, Red Deck Wins, and several Mono Black Control decks.
I entered with a build of the lattermost and posted 3-2, a fair record, and ended up losing in somewhat of a mirror match (an excellent B/R Vampires build played by Keith Blackwell). My personal successes of the day were dismantling both Valakut Ramp and Eldrazi Green played by two talented players. As I just recently got back into the game, it was my first time playing against both decks, but heavy discard, well-timed targeted removal and buff creatures like Phyrexian Obliterator helped me take the matches.
Since last Saturday the decklist has changed a bit, much thanks to Keith’s generous and enthusiastic input, especially his suggestion of adding Lashwrithe. Needless to say the card’s been a beast in playtesting, and I’m excited to take this current build into the next Type II tournament:

3 Gatekeeper of Malakir
3 Child of Night
2 Vampire Nighthawk
2 Phyrexian Obliterator
2 Skinrender
1 Massacre Wurm

4 Lashwrithe
4 Duress
3 Sign in Blood
3 Go For the Throat
3 Mind Sludge
3 Corrupt
2 DIabolic Tutor
1 Black Sun’s Zenith

24 Swamp

First off let me say that this deck is a work in progress, specifically in card numbers (I simply don’t have as many copies as I’d like of everything). The diabolic tutors help but also slow down the deck on the whole, not that it’s a fast deck to start with. The mana curve also isn’t ideal, but when you’re playing Turn 1 Duress and Turn 5 Mind Sludge with maindeck targeted and mass removal, you’re usually not “on a clock.” A few intended modifications are to, first of all, go to four copies of Phyrexian Obliterator, although unfortunately he’s a $15 card, and four Gatekeepers. One tutor and one main deck Corrupt will make room for the Obliterators, while a Go for the Throat could come out for the Gatekeeper. The maindeck Massacre Wurm is questionable, but he’s been so much fun in my house’s playtesting metagame (I’ve got a mean Peasant White Weenie build), and he’s a fine turn six drop. Better options depending on your local metagame might include Wurmcoil Engine or Grave Titan as finishers.
I would like to play four Sign in Blood, in which case I’ll maybe take out one more maindeck Go for the Throat (there’s enough built in removal in the Gatekeepers, Skinrenders, etc.). The high number of basic lands plays well into Lashwrithe, Mind Sludge and Corrupt. Needless to say the deck is doing huge things on turns four through six. Dismember may be better than Go for the Throat, but they’re currently in the sideboard, which also includes more Zeniths, Doom Blades, graveyard hate and a bit more removal. Obviously the sideboard depends on your local metagame.
I’ve been pleased with the way the deck plays, although it’s not perfect. Keith suggested Spellskites, which I think would be a fine addition and would fit the mana curve well. The Child of Nights could probably go out for them, although as much lifelink as possible works in tandem with the Lashwrithes. I will test the ‘kites as soon as I get my hands on some.

I’ve always enjoyed playing MBC, and the deck was a force when I first started playing Magic competitively during Saga and Masques block. Jakub Slemr’s 1999 World’s deck was an inspiration to my brother, Sean McHenry, and me during that time, and he placed second with a Masques-inclusive modernized MBC build in the first Type II tournament he ever attended. That deck was rocking Thrashing Wumpuss (Wumpi?), Phyrexian Negators, Stupors, Powder Kegs, and of course Duress and Dark Rituals (oh how I long for the days when Dark Ritual was Type II legal, or more accurately when a format without Dark Ritual was unthinkable).
That deck was roguey in that current environment, and was laughed at by the snobbier of our competitors until we ravaged them with heavy discard and nasty creatures.

Which brings me to my main point: MBC, as far as my limited knowledge extends, has never been a format-defining deck since the days of Pestilence, and has never even really been a Tier I deck. What MBC has always been able to do, however, is pound out wins against pretty much any deck in any format, even if it won’t take you to the final round of a PTQ or take World’s. Heavy discard on the back of utilitarian creatures and effective removal will always make for a dynamic, powerful deck, and I feel this will be one of the strongest formats for the next three months until M11 rotates out and the abomination that is M12 (which has proven entirely underwhelming for black IMHO) becomes the sole core set. Hopefully Innistrad will revive black as a powerful Type II color, and maybe even mono black, but everything’s pointing toward graveyard recursion instead of straight control. Let’s hope for some exciting discard and beefy creatures to replace what we’re losing on September 30th, and maybe the deck can keep transmogrifying.

So let us raise our goblets brimming over with blood and make a cheers to Type II MBC.

“The sweet smell of breakfast bacons and sausages was overpowered by the aroma of fermented soybeans in the recycled air.”