In its current state, the Standard format is pretty hostile to innovative strategies. Izzet Cauldron decks are everywhere. The deck is fast, powerful, and resilient, which makes it tough for brews to compete.
That makes it all the more impressive that a cool new archetype with a combo finish boasted multiple undefeated runs in Magic Online Standard Leagues out of nowhere! The deck is receiving a lot of hype and presents a very powerful gameplan. If you’re not prepared, you risk getting completely run over.
Combo Kill
The main objective here is to assemble a nifty two-card combo centered around Devastating Onslaught. Devastating Onslaught is a card that scales as the game goes on. The more mana you can invest into it, the more hasty attackers you can create to try to assemble lethal.
However, with the right support piece, you can actually set up a fast kill investing just five mana into Devastating Onslaught. This can be done by pairing the interesting sorcery with Railway Brawler.
Railway Brawler has three important abilities that make it the perfect card to pair with Devastating Onslaught. First, thanks to the card’s triggered ability, your token copies of Railway Brawler enter with a bunch of +1/+1 counters on them. Second, those copies have Trample, allowing you to attack for huge chunks of damage even in the face of chump blockers.
Finally, Railway Brawler has Plot. This means that you can exile it for four mana and cast it on the following turn for free. As such, you don’t expose Railway Brawler to sorcery speed removal at all before executing your combo. Simply cast Railway Brawler without investing any mana, cast Devastating Onslaught for X=2 targeting the Rhino, and get a huge attack in!
If you’re fearful of removal, Smuggler’s Surprise can be of use. It obviously lets you dig for Railway Brawler and cheat creatures into play, but the final ability alone can come in clutch as a protection spell. Remember, if you go to cast Devastating Onslaught and your target gets removed, the spell fizzles and you get completely blown out. You’ll need to be play carefully against decks like Dimir midrange.
While Railway Brawler is your strongest target, there are still strong turns you can have by making copies of Pugnacious Hammerskull. This Dinosaur isn’t super strong on its own, but as an efficient, beefy body, it does threaten a lot of damage in short order alongside Devastating Onslaught.
Ramp Package
Most of the remaining slots in the deck are dedicated to either making your combo more consistent or accelerating the process. With multiple sources of early mana production, you can win the game as soon as turn four.
Unsurprisingly, Llanowar Elves is one of your accelerants. Llanowar Elves is the perfect turn one play, setting you up to cast Pugnacious Hammerskull or Plot Railway Brawler a turn ahead of schedule.
From there, Molt Tender and Insidious Fungus add redundancy in this role. Molt Tender is less reliable of a mana dork, but with Surveil lands, Fabled Passage, and Esper Origins in the mix, you have plenty of ways to fuel it.
The Mill ability also synergizes with Icetill Explorer. Icetill Explorer is a bit of weird inclusion as it doesn’t directly help your combo. However, the Insect ramps hard, which is useful in games where you don’t draw Railway Brawler and need to invest more mana into Devastating Onslaught.
Versatility
Overall, the combo kill provides a powerful aspect to a really sweet archetype. As a five-toughness creature, most of the red decks that utilize damage-based removal spells will have a hard time killing Railway Brawler with Devastating Onslaught on the stack. The problem comes in the face of Shoot the Sheriff or Into the Flood Maw which can disrupt the combo in an efficient manner.
This can make it much harder to execute your combo unhindered in games two and three when your opponent is prepared and knows what’s coming. Luckily, this archetype has a neat sideboard plan that lines up much better in the face of removal.
By splashing black, you get to sideboard in a bunch of kill spells of your own. Disruptive Stormbrood in particular is an awesome sideboard card, doubling as a removal spell for small threats and a beefy Dragon that can blow up problematic artifacts and enchantments. In conjunction with Insidious Fungus, you have a lot of ways to keep Agatha’s Soul Cauldron in check.
From there, Vaultborn Tyrant acts as an incredible finisher versus Dimir midrange. All of your ramp cards make casting this seven-drop very realistic and cheating it into play with Smuggler’s Surprise is a fine option, too.
These cards give you the option to pivot away from your dedicated combo in favor of a midrange build prepared to grind the opponent into dust. This flexibility gives this otherwise flimsy combo deck a real shot at competing against a variety of decks. In a brutal environment where Izzet Cauldron has completely warped the metagame, it’s nice to see some unique strategies put up a fight.
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