Creatures
Kiln Fiend is the focus of this deck, giving you the ability to kill your opponent as soon as turn three comes around. Provided you can hit the opponent, it tacks an extra 3 damage onto every spell you cast. If you have Assault Strobe, you get twice as much damage in return.
Can't play Kiln Fiend?
Boom! Nivix Cyclops, although it comes down a turn four-er, it has the advantage of being naturally immune to Lightning Bolt, Lightning Helix, and Anger of the Gods, making it much harder to deal with.
Wee Dragonauts
is the backup-backup, requiring a bit more get-go to deal lethal damage due to the fact that it only gains 2 extra power per spell. It does, however, have flying, reducing your dependence on
Distortion Strike
and Artful Dodge if your opponent has creatures.
Spells
Pow! Assault Strobe makes winning on turn three pretty acomplishable. After casting the Strobe, you only need two more spells, or just one copy of
Brute Force
or Titan's Strength, to make it up to 20 damage.
Brute Force
and Titan's Strength give Kiln Fiend an extra 6 power for 1 mana.
Brute Force
can even be used to effectively counter a Lightning Bolt. Although the extra 1 toughness from Titan's Strength isn't enough to put the Fiend out of Bolt range, it does work on Electrolyze, and the scry 1 can be relevant if you have a Gitaxian Probe to follow it up with.
Mutagenic Growth can also be used to counteract a Lightning Bolt. It gives Kiln Fiend an extra 5 power, but it doesn't cost any mana to do so, making it among the most efficient spells in the deck.
Gitaxian Probe also can be cast without paying mana, and it provides excellent tool for this deck. Not only does it give Kiln Fiend +3/+0 for free, it draws a card to replace itself, helping make sure you have enough spells to pump Kiln Fiend for lethal damage. Ever more useful is the ability to look at your opponent's hand, and determining what instant-speed removal spells he/she may have available, you also get to know whether it's safe to go all-in on Kiln Fiend.
Alternatively, Dispel will make sure it's safe regardless of what kind of removal your opponent has. While the pump spells often take care of Lightning Bolt, Dispel will deal with cards like Path to Exile, protecting Kiln Fiend from anything that could kill it after you've invested all your spells.
The only problem left to address is creatures. Kiln Fiend doesn't have trample, so any creature your opponent has can stop you from going in for 20 damage. Fortunately,
Distortion Strike
and Artful Dodge take care of that problem quite nicely. Both can be cast on successive turns if you somehow manage to deal less than lethal damage on the first try.
Distortion Strike
has the additional advantage of giving Kiln Fiend 1 more power, while Artful Dodge can be cast for its flashback cost immediately if you need another spell with which to pump up the Fiend.
