In Cleveland, home of The Ferrett, you learn from your sports teams - but unfortunately, not all of those things are positive. For example, anyone who knows anything about sports understands the numerous heartbreaks Cleveland fans have been through. The shot. The drive. The fumble. The Mesa. Around here, it's never right to root for those teams that are likely to win, like the Yankees, the Buccaneers, or even the Lakers.

Maybe this is where I get my strange ideas about decks. Playing the Yankees (U/G), Buccaneers (R/G), or the Lakers (Tog) of decks wouldn't be as satisfying as playing the Browns, Cavaliers, or Indians of decks - decks that come out of nowhere to win! (Or in our case, come out of nowhere to lose in the bottom of the 11^th, thus allowing us to talk for the next fifty years about what could have been.)

Ever since Onslaught came out, my playtest group had been toying around with the idea of U/W Slide. U/W Slide is probably the most poo-poohed deck in the history of the game, even going so far as making certain editors make an offer of fifty bucks to anyone who can take first place with it in any large tournament. (Untrue; the most poo-poohed deck is, sadly, Roy Spires' Invincible CounterTroll deck - The Ferrett) Believe me, in testing the deck against people, all they mention is the fifty-dollar offer. Our version didn't come into full bloom until someone from Croatia had the same idea and qualified for their Nationals with it with a first-place victory - as many of you are well aware. Since that point however, our testing has been in full bloom, and it's been very successful.

So here I am, with only days before Regionals to not only try and convince you to give Aqualube a try, but also to try to clear up some misconceptions about the deck.

Misconception 1: The deck is just a weaker version of R/W or R/W/G Slide. You don't have enough removal. You have the same weaknesses as R/W Slide.
Fact: The deck plays totally different than other Slides. The closest thing this deck can be compared to in the environment is Wake, as they tend to play a very similar game. R/W Slide is extremely aggressive; Aqualube is very passive, and waits for its moment to win the game.

When it comes to removal, the version that a lot of people are starting to run has six forms of removal (four Wrath of Gods, two Akroma's Vengeance). Combine this with the Slide, which many times can serve as permanent removal because two of the top three decks rely on tokens, and you'll see that the Aqualube player is running plenty of removal.

The deck has really strong matchups with a lot of decks that R/W Slide does not. Also, it improves its chances to win Game 2 and 3 - which is nearly 67% of the games you will be playing all day, as unlike R/W Slide, you actually have answers to Naturalize and Disenchant. Keep in mind that the top two decks in the environment both pack at least three Naturalizes in their sideboard, and these are the two decks you will absolutely need to beat.

Also, the Tog and Wake matchups are not nearly the autoloss that R/W Slide is. Tog will compose about 10-15% of the decks you will face at Regionals, making it the third most-popular deck.

Misconception 2: Your Angels are vulnerable, which is your main win condition because so many decks have the ability to kill them easily with Smother, Firebolt, and the like. It gets even worse in the Psychatog matchup!
Fact: If you are ever putting your Angels in a situation where you are going to lose them, you are playing the deck incorrectly. In testing, I have lost one Angel so far. One! The only reason I lost that Angel was because the exchange went like this:

Them: Smother the face-down creature.
Me: Slide it out.
Them: Smother the face-down creature again.
Me: Counterspell.
Them: Smother the face-down creature yet again.
Me: Resolves.

Keep in mind that I dropped another Angel the next turn - which, of course, my opponent had no answer to.

With Tog and MBC, all you have to do is Slide the Angel out during your end-of-turn phase, and she will be gone for their entire turn. They will never have a shot at her, since the only instant removal they run is either in their sideboard (Ghastly Demise) or it can't affect her (Smother).

U/G will tap out early with great frequency, and there is little or no reason to walk an Angel into a Circular Logic if you are watching for it. R/G will have answers in the form of removal; U/G will not. Either wait until you know you would have a counterspell advantage or wait until they have to tap out for something for her to hit the board.

Misconception 3: It cannot handle big creatures early.
Fact: As MBC has the advantage in many matchups because it causes so many decks to have dead cards the first game, this deck turns a lot of popular cards into dead draws.

Tokens go away and never come back. In U/G and R/G, this means that there are four weakened cards in their respective builds. Things with enchantments on them lose that enchantment - which weakens four more cards in R/G. Furthermore, Aqualube forces them to overextend in order to get damage through - and once they overextend, it's really easy to make them pay for that, as you are playing at least four Wraths, and usually more. Overextending is the main way that people have to beat this deck, and usually (unless your deck refuses to cooperate), you can make them pay for their overextension.

Now that I have attempted to clear up those misconceptions that people have about this deck, here's my decklist, and why I made some of the choices I have.

3 Exalted Angel
2 Teroh's Faithful
2 Scrivener
4 Counterspell
3 Memory Lapse
3 Complicate
4 Choking Tethers
4 Renewed Faith
2 Akroma's Vengeance
4 Astral Slide
4 Wrath of God
4 Lonely Sandbar
2 Flooded Strand
4 Secluded Steppe
7 Island
5 Plains
4 Adarkar Wastes

Sideboard I would probably take to Regionals:
3 Circle of Protection: Green
3 Disenchant
2 Teroh's Faithful
3 Circular Logic
3 Mobilization
2 Morningtide

The first thing you have noticed is the lack of Cunning Wishes. I believe that in this build, the Wishes are not efficient enough, and that there is more benefit to be gained by having an actual sideboard. Also, this opens up two spots in your build, which can be used for more essential spells. The"Toolbox" approach almost doesn't work in this case, because you basically have a"Toolbox" built into your deck, since you will burning through it so quickly.

• R/G: Circle of Protection: Green, Teroh's Faithful, Disenchant (They will be siding in Ensnaring Bridge against you)
• U/G: Circle of Protection: Green
• Sligh: Teroh's Faithful
• MBC: Mobilization
• Slide: Disenchant
• Tog: Disenchant, Circular Logic, Mobilization
• Reanimator: Circular Logic, Morningtide

There are a few cards in my build that you will question, and the answer comes from knowing how they are used.

The first is Complicate. Complicate is the first counterspell that can be used as either removal or a counterspell (but of course, only in this deck). The majority of the time, it serves as only as removal. It is rare that you will have the opportunity to use it as an effective Counterspell after the fourth round, but even then it just becomes another cycler.

The second is Scrivener. Scrivener can actually serve up a lock for your deck, much like Teroh's Faithful. Scrivener can be slid out using a Choking Tethers to tap an opponent's creature, while blocking one creature and resulting in the same thing the next turn.

So far in tournaments with this deck, I have been 8-1-1, with a 3-1-1 and a 5-0. This has been against a heavy field of U/G, which is likely to be one of the main matchups you will face with this deck. My loss was to B/U/G BraidsOpp, which I could've easily won (and did the next week) if I was more familiar with the deck, and my draw was to R/U Counterburn, because he dropped Ensnaring Bridge, and I wasn't expecting it Game 2. We finished 1-1.

I wish everyone good luck at Regionals - and if you do give this a try before Regionals, or even at Regionals, e-mail me at kashmyr@NOSPAM.alltel.net to let me know how you did!