Man on Fire

Burn is one of those strategies that will never truly die out. My friend Raf is always experimenting with new tactics of inflicting direct damage. Even others simply enjoy the satisfaction of the Solar Flare Dragon lock. Without the presence of Heavy Storm in the meta it's easier than ever to protect your burn locks with back-row support. The concept is far from Tier 1, but it certainly has potential especially among the mid to lower tiers (no offense Raf).

The major problem is the massive variety of anti-burn cards out there. A simple card like Prime Material Dragon completely destroys anything a burn player hopes to accomplish. Even Synchro Monsters like Thought Ruler Archfiend, Black-Winged Dragon, and Magical Android can thwart burn strategies when played correctly.

One frequently employed combo is using UFO Turtle to search for Solar Flare Dragon. However, the card always seemed a bit out of place in my eyes as burn strategies usually involved locking down the Battle Phase with Gravity Bind out. Not to mention that there's no support for FIRE Attribute Machines aside from Cyber Phoenix. That's when I stumbled across this new card from the OCG Premium Pack 13:

Heavy Bombing Bird Bomb Phoenix (Pyro-Type/FIRE/Level 8/ATK 2800/DEF 2300)

1 Machine-Type monster + 1 Pyro-Type monster 

Once per turn, during your Main Phase, you can inflict 300 damage to your opponent for each card on the field. This card cannot declare an attack during the turn this effect is activated.

Fusion Monsters are getting better and better these days, and Bomb Phoenix here is no exception. In the past I've seen burn decks fail because they've been unable to draw their key cards. Now Future Fusion is an option and can be used to dump Volcanic Shells in the Graveyard while further thinning the deck. Even Cyber Phoenix can be used for draw power and provide another Fusion Material Monster for Bomb Phoenix although you'll need to watch out for opposing Cyber Dragons.

Remember players, the game ends with you.

UPDATE: As one of my readers pointed out, there's another Pyro + Machine Fusion I've neglected to mention:

Explosive Beast Vulcannon (Machine-Type/EARTH/Level 6/ATK 2300/DEF 1600)
1 Machine-Type monster + 1 Pyro-Type monster

When this card is Fusion Summoned, you can select 1 monster your opponent controls. Destroy this card and the selected card and send them to the Graveyard to inflict damage to your opponent equal to the ATK of that selected monster.

Both Bomb Phoenix and Vulcannon were used by Bommer (Greiger) in the 5D's manga. While Vulcannon does contribute to the overall burn strategy, it requires you to -3 yourself (-2 when you include the +1 one for eliminating one of your opponent's cards) in the process, which takes away a lot of its appeal.