(The deck name "Oneshot" refers to the idea of killing your opponent in one shot, not that you're only going to get one shot at your "combo.")
The magical christmasland goal here is that we want to attack for at least 20 on turn two. Or as fast and as explosively as we can. The maindeck intends to stick a creature as soon as possible, and then attack for lethal the turn after. It doesn't always work that way, but that's the goal. The sideboard package is for if you want to try and cast the creature and attack for lethal all in one turn. To get there, you instead aim to land a Vessel of Volatility on one turn, and then plan to crack it for big mana whenever you're ready to go off. 8 1-mana red spells give haste and draw a card (Crimson Wisps and Expedite) so that you can cast a creature and attack with it that turn.
Do you see the line? When I looked at this hand, I stared, unsure before realizing the semi-obvious line really does work:
Turn 1: Exile the SSG, play and tap the land, cast Kiln Fiend.
Turn 2: Play the second land, tap both and cast Brute Force and Assault Strobe, then you can attack with a 10/5 double striker... on turn 2.
Attacking for 20 on turn 2 with 4 commons and 2 basics. That's when I knew I had something I liked going on here.
If it helps, this deck has ended up as a sort of streamlined, turbofied take on the Pauper deck Izzet Blitz.
How to play ONESHOT
First, you have to mulligan hands that do not have a creature: Kiln Fiend (A+) or Nivix Cyclops (B+). Earlier builds had Inkmoth Nexus as well, but that made the deck worse and we never used them. The Simian Spirit Guides are mana 99.9% of the time and do not count as a "creature."
Even a hand with no lands is likely worth keeping as long as it has a creature. I'll throw some land-less 7 card hands back, but I think I've kept every 6-card land-less hand that had either Kiln Fiend or Nivix Cyclops. With SSGs and Rituals, we can catch up mana much easier but without a creature this deck does nothing. Even the sideboard hasty cantrips require a creature target.
If it has a creature AND a land, then you almost always keep.
The majority of the time you will not want to commit more than one creature to the board at a time. If you have all lands and creatures, you're most likely better off with only one Kiln Fiend on the board and a second or third in hand, than if you were to have more copies on the board. Unless you're certain they're not running removal or wrath effects, I wouldn't cast a second creature unless it's necessary to get lethal next turn.
Magical Christmasland is getting that Kiln Fiend out turn one. Your spells often draw others or make more mana, so if you get to untap with a Kiln Fiend or Nivix Cyclops and they don't have an answer, you're probably winning. Chaining 3 spells including a double-strike effect (+9/+0 to a 1-power creature with double-strike = 20 damage) is surprisingly easy. Manamorphose into a Artful Dodge and an Assault Strobe, or maybe Pyretic Ritual into a Temur Battle Rage and Apostle's Blessing. If you have a pump effect (Titan's Strength, Brute Force) then you only need that one pump spell and a double strike spell (Assault Strobe, Temur Battle Rage) in order to get to 20. (2 spells add +3/+0 and the pump adds the other +3 to get to 10 power and double strike).
Interestingly, there are several reasonably acceptable substitutes for some of these cards.
Artful Dodge is very similar to Slip Through Space. Both give unblockable for 1 blue mana. Slip Through Space draws you a card, Artful Dodge has flashback for 1 blue mana, or is the same as saying it "draws you another copy of Artful Dodge." The main reason Artful Dodge is significantly better is the flashback. Often times we have to keep land-light or land-less hands. Artful Dodge should always be the first thing you discard to hand size as it is very nearly always just as good in the graveyard as in your hand. Having a card that you can discard at no real loss is very useful.
Distortion Strike I'd rank below Artful Dodge and Slip Through Space but is almost as good.
Built to Smash is another +3 power red pump spell that I was running when I had 4 Inkmoth Nexus. Note that it can only target the creature when attacking, and often times we will need to use our floating red mana in the main phase, so that was a significant downside
I don't think there are any substitutes or similar options for more creatures (like Kiln Fiend and Nivix Cyclops). Boros Charm is another option that gives double-strike but I wouldn't even consider it unless you really needed more double-strike spells and were already in both red AND white.
NOTE: The spells and sideboard are rareless, almost all commons. I currently have several not-cheap rare lands here, but you can substitute basics and not lose much. I would not run any lands that come into play tapped though. In this deck, that is too big a drawback
Turn Two: Land or Simian Spirit Guide (1/R) + tap land from T1 (1/R) = 2 mana:
RR: Assault Strobe + (Titan's Strength or Brute Force) = attack for 20
1R: Manamorphose into RR or UR: Assault Strobe + (any other spell) = attack for 20
1R: Pyretic Ritual into RRR: (Temur Battle Rage or Assault Strobe) + (any other 1 mana red spell) = attack for 20
Additional SSGs or Rituals provide additional red mana and allow more spells. Manamorphose itself costs two and gives two, so you can chain all 4 of those as well. Each one costs two mana, and gives two mana, costs a card, and draws a card.
Suggestions on how you might want to modify this list
The current decklist as I write this is pretty streamlined to be as fast and consistent as possible, without much protection. Essentially, if we can kill on turn 2, then I don't think there's anything a deck like Tron can do. Decks like Affinity or Dredge have little if any interaction either, and a turn 2 or 3 '26 to the face' should outrace them.
Still, there's a number of tweaks you can make to best fit your meta.
First, if you hate and fear the idea of a glass cannon losing everything to a bolt or fatal push, then this may not be the deck for you. That said, we can certainly add some more protection spells in. Swan Song is a possibility, but gives them a creature, so Dispel may be better. Targeted removal is usually instant speed which Dispel counters, but board wipes and wraths are usually sorceries. Swan Song can stop those, but Dispel does nothing to them. Apostle's Blessing is my current protection spell of choice and I have 4 copies in the main. Mizzium Skin is another one-mana instant hexproof option as well.
Spell Pierce is the one-mana counter I have in my sideboard right now. If I can afford them, I may try out Pact of Negation as a sideboard option.
You may prefer to aim for a slower overall deck that makes the creature, gives it haste and kills that turn. In those cases, I recommend Vessel of Volatility. I've not tried it, but Grinning Ignus may be useful too. You'll possibly also want to up the ritual count, and can play both Desperate Ritual and Pyretic Ritual to double the number of my current decklist.
Hopefully, Artful Dodge, the trample on Temur Battle Rage, and the protection on Apostle's Blessing should be enough to break through any blockers. But if you need more, then Slip Through Space should be added first, or Distortion Strike works in a pinch.
For the lands, I'd say 4x Shivan Reef, 8x Mountain, 5x Island for the mid budget. And either 10 Mountains, 7 Islands if all basics. Or maybe 11 Mountains, 6 Islands. But you really do not want any lands that come into play tapped when you want to simply go off ASAP.
MTGO
I built this deck in MTGO, though I am lacking some lands. My lands on MTGO are just two Steam Vents, 4 fetches, and 11 basics. I recorded a couple of solitaire games so you can see how to play and maximize the deck.
The deck was already pretty laser-focused in its purpose. I've since refined it ever so slightly.
I removed the entire "go wide" plan from the sideboard. I never really wanted it.
It's now configured to always aim to hit a creature on one turn and attack the next. The sideboard now lets you morph into a slightly slower version, but one built to instead cast a creature and attack and kill all in one turn.
For this, there are eight spells for 1 red mana that give haste and draw a card (Expedite and Crimson Wisps). There's also a playset of Vessel of Volatility. Instead of hitting a creature one turn and then attacking the next, in the post-sideboard slower version we aim to land a vessel one turn, and then be able to crack it the next for big mana ramping (allowing us to stick a Kiln Fiend, then give it haste, double strike, etc.
I moved 4 Apostle's Blessing into the maindeck to replace the Crimson Wisps. We don't need the haste maindeck, and protection seems to be the key.
Apostle's Blessing can double as a poorer version of Artful Dodge in that it can get your attacker past blockers as well.
I like Spell Pierce better than Dispel. For a 1-mana counter, I'm not sure what other options you might even consider here. Stubborn Denial seems like it'd be worse more often than better, but may be an option.
Pact of Negation is a good "free" option, but I don't think we'll ever be able to pay for its trigger, so if you cast it and don't win that turn, then I think it's suicide. May try out Pact instead of Spell Pierce for the 3 slots in the sideboard.
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