Well here is my take on Aqualube
8
7 plains
4 lonely sandbar
4
secluded steppe
3 exalted
angel
3 quicksliver dragon
2 scrivener
4 astral slide
4 akroma's blessing
4 choking
tethers
3
complicate
4
counterspell
3 mage's
guile
4 renewed
faith
2 stifle
2 akroma's vengeance
3 wrath
of god
and now for the sideboard
2 teroh's faithful
2 circle
of protection: red
2 mobilization
2
disenchant
3 envelop
2
vengeful dreams
2 deep analysis
My version of Aqualube
is before 8th edition came out
This version is control till I can draw an
exalted angel or a dragon and start beating them down (the cycling cards will
either remove threats or blockers against my attackers and if the target is
really big I stifle the return ability)
It is just a little too slow and I some times do
not get what I need to ensure victory against fast decks like white weenie or
goblin sligh/bidding
Is there any suggestions
you can give me to combat faster decks?
Hello,
First and
foremost, I must remove the Counterspells in exchange
with Mana leak, and replace the sidboarded Disenchant
with Wipe Cleans (since they cycle). This is simply because 8th edition
will be rolling out in just a few weeks now, and I don’t want this article
dated too badly.
The build
is relatively strong, but unlike R/W slide, you don’t have as much destruction
(a.k.a. Startstorm and rift) and unlike White
Control, you don’t have as many beat down creatures. These are two inefficiencies that cause you
to fall to weenie decks.
This is
why you should probably run a full out 4 Vengeance and 4 Wrath of Gods. The
point of control is to control. With 8 board cleaners, you can be relatively
certain A: You’ll get to them, and B: you’ll get to more than one of them. The
best part of slide decks is that they laugh at mass destruction. Sliding out
big fatties then Wrathing is really this deck’s win
condition.
One quick
mention as well… There are far too many cards In your
deck. I think I counted 64, and you are only running 23 land. In my decks, I MAX out at 60 cards, and run
at LEAST 24 land. I run 60 because ever since I “forced” myself into the box of
60 cards, I’ve noticed seeing important cards more often, which equated to more
wins. Early in my Magic playing years, I just couldn’t get rid of cards so I
was running 64-68 card decks. I now understand having restraint, and selecting cards
that are important, shows me the win more often.
Since you
are relying on the slide to bring your 3cc face downers for “free” the mana isn’t
needed quite as much, but with counterspells (general
term), hard casted Scrivener and the high costing
board sweepers you’ll need the mana.
Another
reason the U/W build of slide is weaker is that its cycling cards are a bit
sad. Tapping a creature (or up to 4) is a small utility, and mage’s guile doesn’t
do much in this deck since your dragons (at half your creature strength) have
that covered for themselves. But all in all, it’s a tough call since those are
the best blue cycling cards available… This is why I’m gonna go
out on a limb and reduce the amount of blue in the deck. With counterspells
turning into mana leaks, it may not be so bad…. Here’s what I put together:
5
12 plains
4 lonely sandbar
4
secluded steppe
3 Exalted
angel
3 Quicksliver dragon
2 Scrivener
2 Complicate
4 Mana Leak
2 Stifle
4 Astral slide
2 Wipe
Clean
2 Decree
of Justice
3 Renewed
faith
4 Akroma's vengeance
4 Wrath
of god
SB
2 Teroh's faithful
2 Wipe
Clean
2 circle
of protection: red
2 Decree
of Justice
3 Silver
Knights
2
vengeful dreams
2 deep analysis
It’s
important to know what you are going against. The MB Wipes are there for mirror
since you can’t be having them sliding out their creatures when you wrath along
with the thought that practically every deck has some sort of enchantment.
Heck, I’ve even seen MB Sulfuric Vortex in Goblin decks. The Decree’s are there
to help out against hordes of weenies. I
contemplated Rain of Blades, but chose not to include it in the deck. If you
playtest the deck, and find an unusual amount of 1/1’s coming your way, I would
add it in. It’s good Justice insurance when there is
no red to be found. But against wake, they fall short since they 1/1s are now
2/2s so make sure to wipe their wakes away. I also removed the Mobilization in
the Board for more Justices since to be honest, the
card isn’t all that hot. The “not tapping to attack” isn’t much of a threat
since they are only 1/1s. 3 mana to make ONE at a time in a
deck not designed for high mana production is far too steep. Also, its an enchantment so its not a surprise and will go away
once vengeance hits the game. Justice gets the job done at instant speed, and
for only 1c for each 1/1 dude…not to mention the cantripJ
But, there
is a catch here. My recommendation is influenced by the metagame in my
environment. I could see mobilization doing well against black decks utilizing
sacrificing cards such as Braids, Cabal Minion, or my most hated card Call to
the Grave….*shudders*. A 1/1 creature
every turn can really do some magic but you’ll have to feel out YOUR
environment before keeping them in.
One other
addition to the sideboard is to get rid of envelop. Though good, you already have enough counters
in the deck. What deck would you side them in against? If anything, I would almost
go as far as to remove 2 mana leaks and throw them into MB since you are not
going to ever counter creature cards…but that’s tough to say. What I do recommend,
though, is Silver Knights since you mentioned you are having trouble against
Goblins. Nothing puts a damper on a goblin deck quite like a few un-removable PfR first strikers. The CoP red
is pretty strong, but you’ll want an aggressive alternative as well. They can
also be sided in against other weenie decks for their fast appearance and first
strike ability.
Hope this
helps. I do feel bad though, since many of the additions to the deck are high
$$, but I feel they are high priced for a reason. If some of the cards like Decree of Justice
are just too far out of reach, keep a mobilization or two, or throw in Rain of
Blades to counteract theirs. It’s a push and pull with
high priced cards, but with a little ingenuity, anything’s possible.
Thanks
for reading
TYLer G.