a flexible combo deck that plays aggro-ish, attempting to stick a creature (or multiple) that can eventually swing at the opponent for big chunks of damage by exploiting the free equip effect from Sigarda's Aid with Colossus Hammer, which can happen as early as turn 2. It's a sweet combo to do so early because it pretty much ends the game right there, and it feels great to high roll games if the mid to late-game is equally sweet.
At its core, the combo is simple, but there are lots of things your opponents will try and do to interrupt it. Ideally, you need to have enough mana or Sigarda's Aid to equip your relevant damage-dealing equipment (Colossus Hammer, Ghostfire Blade, Shadowspear for trample) and kill your opponent. Like I said before, sometimes you'll just pull this off, but other times your opponent will have Fatal Push, Thoughtseize, Wild Slash, etc, and you'll be slowed down. This is where the deck's flexibility comes into play: Dead equipments like col. hammer after their equipped creatures die can be turned back into creatures with Ensoul Artifact to not only act as threatening 5/5s, but also as potential targets for future equips. As an added bonus, if your opponent destroys an ensouled equipment, you can play an aid and use Emry, Lurker of the Loch to return it to the battlefield and have a free equip! In some games, you'll find yourself going even with your opponent, and in those cases you have a finisher, Experimental Frenzy. A lot of the cards in this deck are 1 or 2 mana, and there aren't many lands to get stuck on, which makes it truly a perfect fit. If it sticks, you can be able to pull off combos of 2-5 cards the following turn, sometimes even winning the game right then.
On the defensive side, game one looks to win somewhat relying on the fact that the opponent doesn't know what our deck is, but this game plan will only work against non-aggro (excluding midrange), otherwise game one is mostly just about trying to see as much of your opponent's deck as you can to better tech for game two. Against control, the deck is very resilient with cards like Emry, Lurker of the Loch and Restoration Specialist in conjunction with a vast assortment of artifacts and enchantments, so the spookiest stuff you'll face is either graveyard hate such as Tormod's Crypt, Kunoros, Hound of Athreos or Leyline of the Void. Against those, I like to tech Fragmentize and Glass Casket if their relevant threats are obviously within Casket's parameters. If not, Banishing Light works fine. If the opponent is especially removal-heavy, I'll throw in the third Restoration Specialist.
On the other side, if the opponent is playing hyper-aggro, Banishing Light and Glass Casket may seem fine, but are deceivingly slow. Instead, I opt for Blazing Volley and Oppressive Rays to shut the opponent down before attempting the combo.
Finally, some more important info:
-the main combo enabler is Sigarda's Aid, but it's not the only way to win. Keep hands with Ensoul Artifact, easy Bomat Courier refreshes, Ghostfire Blade and other aggressive stuff!
-The "hidden" strength of Sigarda's Aid is to flash in equipments and auras as combat tricks. This means that you can bluff attacks with open mana, have your opponent block your 1/1s, then flash in your equipment and Ensoul Artifact too to kill their creatures and take board control!
-If your opponent is running creature removal, try to wait until they are tapped out or unable to play their removal before comboing them. You can play Sigarda's Aid whenever, but hold a brute and double hammer until you're sure it will end the game, rather than trying to act as the aggressor if they've already won the board.
I'm looking to take this deck to an upcoming GP and so I've been playtesting with this a lot! It'll change with the pioneer meta, but feel free to make suggestions! ty for reading :)
