FEEL FREE TO ADD ME ON ARENA: ApolloPaladin#83413
This is a deck that I've had on Arena for quite a while now and realized I hadn't yet posted it. I do not take full credit for the combo, however.
For one, it's kind of obvious so I'd confidently imagine someone else has been here before me (mine is only a year or so old on Arena) -- I just have no idea whom to cite as no one single Deck Build can take full credit for all the swaps I've made and things I've tried as new sets have released.
Consider this a humble reminder that I've been working to streamline an already-known Combo here though.
Primary Combo:
Use Resolute Strike to free-equip Colossus Hammer to either Fireblade Charger or Goblin Gaveleer to attack for high damage VERY quickly. Then use Thud or Fling to end the game. The entire deck is set up to help facilitate this combo as much as possible.
Ideal Play Hand:
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Turn 1: Play Sacred Foundry (untapped) and Cast Colossus Hammer
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Turn 2: Play 2nd Land (untapped) and Cast Fireblade Charger, then Cast Resolute Strike, equipping the hammer and giving him an additional +2/+2 for the Turn. Attack with a 13/13 Haste creature. (Provided the opponent has no Deathtouch blockers. If they do, simply don't attack, just equip the hammer in preparation for Turn 3.)
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Turn 3: Cast Thud or Fling on equipped Fireblade Charger (Who is 11/11 at this point), dealing a total of 22 more damage to the opponent (counting the double-trigger to Thud/Fling the Fireblade).
This method works equally as well with Goblin Gaveleer, except you need to Cast him on Turn 1, so that he can attack Turn 2 w/o Haste. Just play the Colossus Hammer and Resolute Strike on Turn 2 instead if this happens. The Gaveleer won't double-trigger off of a Thud/Fling like the Fireblade will, but with his Innate Trample, he's guaranteed to deal quite a bit of damage on Turn 2 when he attacks even if blocked. Typically, this carry-over damage plus the Thud on Turn 3 is still enough to win.
The Fervent Champion isn't quite as desirable off the draw as the other two here, but his First Strike helps contend with 1-mana Deathtouch creatures, and it also expands the number of 1-mana creatures to get at least some form of the Combo working as quickly as possible. He's got excellent synergy with the Deck despite him not being the most desirable creature in it to start out with.
Other Card Choices:
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Dual Lands: I went with Sacred Foundry and Furycalm Snarl here (since the Foundry works for Furycalm's reveal requirement). I didn't want too many non-basic lands in the deck because I'm really leaning on things coming into play untapped to pull off this combo before an opponent can react.
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Extra Turn: This deck ramps up so hard and can finish off even an untouched opponent so quickly that I realized after testing that almost half of my losses were dealt only requiring 1 more Turn to win myself. I've been bouncing back and forth between Glorious End and Chance for Glory to help work around this, but the fact that Glorious End functions almost identically as a Counterspell too has me leaning that way a bit more. Still, Chance for Glory could have its place too (such as negating a Bontu's Last Reckoning cast Turn 3). I'd love to hear if anyone has any insight as to which is the stronger of the two. Either way, this method has been brutally effective.
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Equip Cost Reduction: Not wanting to have to lean on Resolute Strike as the only method of "cheating" the Colossus Hammers onto creatures, I've got Fighter Class (plus 2 extras on my Sideboard) which can grant a reduction of 2, plus the Fervent Champions which can reduce the Hammer's equip cost to only 3 Colorless (or less, with multiple Fighter Class in play) -- well within reason of actually being viable. Neither of these options really play into the "Power Combo" that the deck is set up for, but they help expand the "playablility" of the Deck so that it doesn't require the exact same cards off the draw to function effectively every time.
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Counterspell: Of course, its reliability is mostly for early game, but Mana Tithe has proven itself useful more than once in games with less-than-ideal starting hands for saving my "yet-to-be-equipped creature" from targeted destroy spells such as Cast Down or Murder equivalents, or from mono-red direct damage. Combined with Glorious End's ability to "counter" stuff, this deck can usually make do even in less than ideal circumstances. The only other option here would be something along the lines of Gods Willing, but so far I've enjoyed the straight counter effect since it can be used to negate, say, a Deathtouch creature being cast rather than just offering creature protection.
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Double Strike: The awesome benefit from Kor Blademaster isn't really required here for a win condition, but he helps. Primarily I included these because granting First Strike damage to attackers is a workaround for low-mana Deathtouch blockers (one of this deck's only real consistent weaknesses). For a 2-mana drop to toss onto the board, this is a decent effect. I don't think he's managed to attack himself many games (making him a poor target to Equip), but simply playing him can seriously alter the board state in the event I'm deadlocked somehow -- both as an early-game play or late-game (should it go that long). He's nifty.
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Additional Equipment: Including Shadowspear here was a no-brainer, as it is just powerful as all hell especially in the early game. This free-equips automatically to Fervent Champion, making him a very early game 2/2 Trample, Lifelink, First Strike, Haste creature. Yeah. These aren't really in here for the primary combo, but having the option to gain life when being forced (by mulligans, say) to play out games with a less-than-ideal hand. I've also had the activated ability on Shadowspear become relevant in more than a few games where an opponent attempted to make a blocker Indestructible for a turn. Despite all of this, these are probably at least some of what I'd opt to 'swap out' for any Sideboard alterations during a Best-of-3 match.
