This combo is obvious, but yet rarely used in regular matches. The combo involves you consuming the Buffalo Steak Sandvich, and them using your Fists of Steel to attack your enemies taking advantage of the mini-crits. This combo is effective because people rarely expect a fist heavy with crits to come charging at them or drop down on them from above. Also, in most servers these days people tend to use ranged weapons even at point blank range out of habit instead of using melee weapons. This reduces the damage they do to you even at point blank, giving you a decent chance at killing him.

The Steak



The Buffalo Steak Sandvich is the driving force that makes this combo work. Without it you would just be another idiot heavy that is running around not really doing anything.

Statistics:

• Effects - User takes an additional 25% damage (All weapons), users movement speed increase by 35%, user deals mini-crits but is restricted to melee weapons.
  
• Effect duration - 15s
  
• Consumption time - 4.3s
  
• Recharge time - 30s

The Steel



The Fists of Steel is the weapon that makes the combo effective. While using another fist is still a viable option, the Fists of Steel greatly increase the effectiveness and survivability of the combo.

Statistics

• Effects - (Active) 40% reduction in damage revived from ranged sources (Snipers, Rockets, Bombs, Flames), 100% Increase in damage from melee sources (Bats, Knifes, any melee weapon), (Passive) 20% increase in weapon switch time.
  
• Attack damage - 65 (Base), 55-75 (Damage Randomiser)
  
• Mini-crit damage - 88 (Average), 75 - 101 (Damage Randomiser)
  
• Crit damage - 195 (Constant)
  
• Attack Interval - 0.8s

The overall



The use of these two items together creates a pretty intimidating combo that can deal massive damage to more squishy classes while being able to tank quite a bit of damage themsleves.

Statistics

• Effects - 15% reduction in damage from ranged sources (Snipers, Flames, etc...), 125% increase in damage from range sources, 35% increase in movement speed, user deals mini-crits but can only use melee weapons, 20% increase in weapon switch time.
  
• Damage - 88 (Average), 75 - 101 (Damage Randomiser)
  
• Attack Interval - 0.8s
  
• Duration - 15s

The Contingency



Due to the 20% increase in weapon switch time, the mini-gun becomes impractical to use due to the long time it takes to deploy it. A better option would be the Tomislav as the 10% reduce in spin up time helps to counter this. The reduced fire rate does not have a great effect on overall performance as this should only be used as a last resort or to deal that last 30 damage to your fleeing target. Other mini-guns are viable however the slight increased time take in swapping out and deploying the mini-gun may be fatal.

The Stratergy

This combo relies on the fact that you still have an overall reduced damage from range sources, the fact most people instinctively still use their range weapons at near range and the fact that a fist heavy running at you with glowing gloves is both intimidating and unexpected. The additional speed allows you to catch up to most class and gives you additional manoeuvring capability. By getting the drop on your enemy (figuratively or literally) you will be to put in one or two punches. Effectively killing them out or leaving them fleeing back to their spawn for health. Allowing you to move on to your next target or escaping to fight another day.

The Pros

The Ol' One-Two



Your mini-crits deal an average of 88 damage. This totals out to 176 damage in two punches. The damage dealt allows to kill most classes, expect soldiers and heavies, if they are not overhealed. In addition, most players you encounter on in a regular match would have already taken some battle damage allowing you to kill them in two punches anyway.

Kite Like a Mann



Eating the steak gives you additional movement speed, bringing your speed up to 104% making you more nimble than before. This gives you the option to dodge and kite instead of having to tank damage. This reduces the damage you take as now you don't suffer the full damage of projectiles (Most likely you will only take splash damage from rockets, grenades, etc... now since you move faster) and since you now take a 15% reduced damage from range sources. This helps you to stay in the fight longer as you need to seek out health less often.

Run, Forrest Run



With your increase move speed, you now have to option to pursue your target. Previously the only thing you could do when your enemy chose to flee was to spray him with your mini-gun and hope the reduced damage kills your opponent. Now you can chase him down and punch him in the back removing him from the action. Also, the movement speed allows you to get to the front lines faster and now gives you a better chance of escaping from a fight.

Be The Wall



The reduced damage gives you the option to take a bigger beating from range sources such as sentry guns and other heavies. Use this to help your team tank some damage or to approach sentries and other heavies to take them down.

The Cons

The Fist and Nothing but the Fist



While under the effects of the Buffalo Steak Sandvich you cannot switch to your mini-gun. This make you vulnerable to players who noticed you and chose to keep their distance. In the event they choose to try and gun you down from a safe distance, your only option is too flee or face eventual death from their gunfire if you try to pursue them.

Struck Out



The major downside to this combo is the increased damage dealt to you by melee weapons. The 125% increase in melee damage received causes you to take 150 damage from shovels, bottles etc... and 80 damage from the bat or knife each hit. This basically makes you extremely vulnerable you whoever changes to melee as you can be taken out be 2 (Shovel) to 4 (Bat) well placed hits or one lucky melee crit. This means you have to be cautious when moving along or entering enemy territory where you can be attacked from behind.

Outta Gas

The duration of the Buffalo Steak Sandvich only last 15 seconds. That means you only have a small window where you have mini-crits and increase movement speed. Once this runs out you lose your speed and your additional damage. This makes it significantly harder to chase and kill targets or to escape. However now you have a 40% reduction in range damage allowing you some benefits from running out of the buff.

The Targets

The Engineer



Engineers have at most 150 health making them good targets for your double punch combo. In addition to this they are often hauling buildings or advancing with their mini-sentry. Since you are able to tank mini-sentry and shotgun damage it is relatively easy to take down an engine provided they do not change to their wrench. Sentry nest on the other hand are harder to take down but not entirely impossible since you can take level 3 sentry damage from a short amount of time.

The Sniper



With 125 health and often standing still because they are scooped in, this makes them easy targets. As it takes them a good while to react to them being attacked while they're scoped, they are unlikely to escape in the 1.6s it takes for you to pull of your two hits. In addition to this, one of their primary defence weapons, the SMG is made ineffective due to your range damage reduction. However Snipers armed with Jarate and Bushwackas are deadly as melee crits deal 390 damage, killing you at once unless your are overhealed. So the saying, be quick or be dead, is of great importance here.

The Medic



With 150 health, the medic is also a relatively squishy target. Yet he is not the easiest target sometimes due to the underestimated power of the syringe gun inspite of your damage reduction. However he should still be your priority target. Your double punch combo can still easily kill a medic. However it should still be done immediately since pursuing a medic for a prolong period will allow them to regenerate health overtime allowing them to survive an additional punch.

The Soldier



With 200 health, the soldier is a pretty hardy target. However, being a front line class he tends to have take prior damage giving you the possibility of killing him in two punches anyway. Since he is slower than you he is also easy to outmanoeuvre with your boosted speed. The blast damage from his own rockets can also damage himself allowing you to move in for the follow up kill punch after that, even if he was at full health.

The Hazards

The Demoknight



Due to your vulnerability to melee, demoknigths are basically completely lethal to you. Their charges gives them crits that can kill you instantly, also taking a shield bash can also be fatal if you are not a full health. Demoknights that equipped boots have an additional 25 health allowing them to survive your two punch combo. In summary, disengaged Demoknights as the only way you will kill them is if they are horrible or if you yourself score a lucky crit.

The Scout



Despite being a squishy class with only 125 health, the scouts speed and manoeuvrability makes him a danger. By constantly jumping around it makes it difficult for you to land a hit while he damages you. This may result you in embarrassingly being killed off without being able to land a hit. Also the speed and double jumping also them to easily ambush you taking you out from behind. Besides this the scouts bat is more commonly used that other melee weapons such as the bottle or shovels, this results in a higher possibility that you will be attacked by a bat scout.

The Spy



Despite the obvious fact that backstabs are lethal, a good amount of spies tend to try and butterknife you after a failed backstab. Although this is a poor choice when engaging most other classes, it can be lethal for you. It is much easier for you to tank and escape from revolver damage than it is to survive knife attacks that deal over double the damage to you.

Everything Else In-between

The Pyro



The Pyro is one of those classes where it can be easy or hard to kill. If you are fighting against a W+M1 Pyro, it is an easy kill for you as the flames do a reduced damage and they do your work for you by charging right into your punch. However, an experienced Pryo can easily kill you by kitting backwards while you try to charge him or by airblasting you away when you enter melee range. When choosing to engage a Pyro without the element of surprise, it is important to gauge the skill level for the Pyro before opting to attack.

The Heavy



The enemy heavy should only be engaged if you have caught him by surprise. Relatively skilled heavies can easily mow down you despite the damage reduction. However, heavies with less experienced can be easily out manoeuvred by circling around him while punching him as he is unable to lead his mini-gun fire fast enough to follow you. However, like any other stationary and helpless target, an eating heavy is extremely easy to take down.

The Demoman



While not wielding a shield the Demoman is less of a threat. His Grenades do less damage to you making it easier to advance to him and use your double punch combo. However, a simultaneous detonation of 4 to 5 sticky bombs can still kill you in one shot. The Demoman is still a large threat due to his sticky traps but there is a reduced risk to charging him head on. Overall, an experienced Demoman is a still a formidable as multiple direct grenades, a loose cannon strike or sticky bomb spam can kill you or push you back significantly, prolonging the time spent in his killzone.

In the end, the combo should only be used to surprise enemies. While it is possible for a skilled player to employ this effectively in an actual battle, still score kills and assist his team. People should avoid using this loadout on large maps due to the relatively short duration of the Steak Sandvich. After two to three times of being killed by your punch, your opponents will eventually learn to keep their distance, keep on their toes and switch to melee whenever you come around. This can be used as a way to break stalemates by suprising multiple opponents and killing them or as a very good distraction due to the glowing fist and the possible grudge other player may have against you for giving them a relatively humiliating death.

Now that you know all about the combo, you can try it out yourself. Use it as a novelty, use it to get some laughs or use it to shake things up when you're feeling board. If you are sceptical about the use of this combo, you can look into my friend Skywarpy's backpack. He recently acquired strange Fists of Steel for this combo, so far over the course of a week despite limited play time on heavy he has racked up close to 500 kills.

The Punchening has begun,
Calorie Man