History Main / BeginWithAFinisher

** Also in ''GX'', Doctor Collector versus DD. The Doctor uses a clever combo involving banishment-based cards to bring out five strong Spellcasters on his first turn, creating a field that will block all attacks, give him a sizeable amount of offense, and burn the opponent considerably with each turn, complete with a strong Trap for insurance. DD brings out Plasma--we don't see the resolution, but it's clear he won immediately after. We get another taste of this when Edo fights DD: Edo brings out his own ace monster, Dogma, which is immediately consumed by Plasma on the next turn, showing he'll be in for a rough match.

In anime, this is either one of the coolest things you'll ever see or an {{Epic Fail}}ure to kill the opponent. The latter case might be one of the [[PlayedForLaughs most hilarious parts]] of the show... unless it's PlayedForDrama. VideoGames can have this if the player saves their best attack for an incoming boss battle, and then uses it straight away; an enemy might also use this tactic, in which case it often overlaps with PressXToNotDie. In ProfessionalWrestling, this is referred to as a SquashMatch.

* ''Literature/TheCourtshipOfPrincessLeia'': Early in his efforts to restore the Jedi Order, Luke Skywalker faces off against Gethzerion, a powerful [[TheDarkSide Dark Side]] user who, unlike the Empire, has no interest in capturing or [[WeCanRuleTogether turning]] him. She immediately gives him a massive brain aneurysm and leaves him for dead.

* Wrestling/ShawnMichaels started his match at ''Survivor Series 2009'' with a Sweet Chin Music to Wrestling/TripleH, to send a message to their other opponent, Wrestling/JohnCena. To make things more interesting, Triple H was Michaels' tag partner at the time

* In many tabletop game communities, the slang for this strategy is 'nova' (usually used as a verb; "I'm gonna nova the dragon"). It compares the swift use of your most powerful abilities to a star going supernova and then burning itself out.

* In the MultiplayerOnlineBattleArena genre, the entire point of the "Initiator" character type is to do this as a DynamicEntry. Their job is to open a fight by jumping into the enemy team and firing off the biggest spell they have, aiming to incapacitate all (or at least most) of them for their teammates to clean up. Also common practice for most other character types, since if you don't use your best ability right away you might die before getting a chance to.

* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': When Redcloak decides to kill [[spoiler:Durkon Thundershield]] during parley, he [[https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1209.html starts the fight]] with a surprise Implosion, a [[SpellLevels top-level]] save-or-die spell that would deny the enemy a chance to retaliate, prevent [[DeathIsCheap resurrection]], and [[NeverFoundTheBody destroy the evidence]]. [[spoiler:Durkon resists the spell long enough to escape.]]

Compare and contrast the SingleStrokeBattle, in which the decisive blow needn't be an especially powerful attack; RocketTagGameplay, a gameplay trope where characters' offensive powers are so great that any attack is either this trope or a NoSell; and CurbStompBattle, where the opponent doesn't really need to use their best attack to kick someone out of the atmosphere.

** A moment later, when Vanko arrives, Rhodey decides to use his most powerful weapon immediately: the bunker buster missile "the Ex-Wife". [[spoiler:It completely fails, bouncing off without exploding.]]

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': [[BigBad All For One's]] standard tactic in a fight is to crush his opponents with one overwhelming attack before moving in to [[PowerParasite steal their Quirks while they're down]]. [[spoiler:All Might {{exploit|edTrope}}s this in their final rematch by having no Quirks to steal and by surviving his initial attack, after which he moves closer to counterattack with a suit of PowerArmor.]]

* In ''Film/DungeonsAndDragonsHonorAmongThieves'', [[spoiler:[[BigBad Sofina]]]] begins the FinalBattle by casting the 9th level spell [[MeteorSummoningAttack Meteor Swarm]]. [[spoiler:While the heroes are able to completely avoid the spell's effect, it shows how utterly furious she is at them for ruining her plan to turn Neverwinter's population into an army uf undead thralls.]]

* Wrestling/Sting was ''forced'' to do this to Wrestling/JeffHardy at [[Wrestling/ImpactWrestling TNA Victory Road 2011]] due to Hardy showing up intoxicated on muscle relaxers and in no shape to compete.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'': the optional DuelBoss Menenius sas Lanatus begins his fight by summoning four invincible[[AttackDrone magitek bits]] which will open fire after a short delay, catching the player in a deadly crossfire. This attack is a OneHitKill unless the player uses a [[AttackReflector Light Curtain]] to reflect the shots back at the bits and destroy them, at which point Menenius decides to take the fight seriously.

* In ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions]]'', Ludwig von Koopa [[InvokedTrope explicitly states]] that he's going all-out right from the start. Unlike most enemies, he gets the first (and only!) turn of the fight, not letting Mario and Luigi attack at all. Ludwig starts by launching a giant, slow-moving OneHitKill fireball into the air and then bombards the Bros. with smaller fireballs while the giant fireball arcs toward them. To survive, Mario and Luigi must use their hammers to fend off the barrage of smaller fireballs and then [[AttackReflector swat the giant fireball back at Ludwig]], [[HoistByHisOwnPetard defeating him instantly]].

* In ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions]]'', Ludwig von Koopa explicitly states that he's going all-out right from the start. Unlike most enemies, he gets the first (and only!) turn of the fight, not letting Mario and Luigi attack at all. Ludwig starts by launching a giant, slow-moving OneHitKill fireball into the air and then bombards the Bros. with smaller fireballs while the giant fireball arcs toward them. To survive, Mario and Luigi must use their hammers to fend off the barrage of smaller fireballs and then [[AttackReflector swat the giant fireball back at Ludwig]], [[HoistByHisOwnPetard defeating him instantly]].

* In ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'', the Flash Fencer skill Capable Hands fully charges the user's [[LimitBreak Talent Art]] gauge at the start of the battle once you've mastered the class[[labelnote:*]](before that, it only fills the gauge partially, but this is still useful)[[/labelnote]]. This is particularly [[GameBreaker game-breaking]] on [[TheHero Noah]] because of his unique Talent Arts, especially [[spoiler: [[EleventhHourSuperPower Unlimited Sword]], which lets him use [[SwordOfPlotAdvancement Lucky Seven]] as basically a mini-Monado, complete with new Arts and passive effects that adapt to Noah's class role, which can include [[NighInvulnerable Invincibility]] and applying [[OneHitKill Doom]] with his normal attacks.]] While normally [[spoiler:Unlimited Sword]] is balanced by its [[NecessaryDrawback long charge up time,]] Capable Hands lets you use it immediately at the start of a fight and tear through most enemies (even those [[BossInMookClothing way above your level]] if they don't have ContractualBossImmunity) in seconds. And conveniently, Noah just happens to be Flash Fencer's class inheritor, so the skill was practiaclly designed with him in mind.

In Anime, this is either one of the coolest things you'll ever see or an {{Epic Fail}}ure to kill the opponent. The latter case might be one of the [[PlayedForLaughs most hilarious parts]] of the show... unless it's PlayedForDrama. VideoGames can have this if the player saves their best attack for an incoming boss battle, and then uses it straight away; an enemy might also use this tactic, in which case it often overlaps with PressXToNotDie. In ProfessionalWrestling, this is referred to as a SquashMatch.

Compare and contrast the SingleStrokeBattle, in which the decisive blow needn't be an especially powerful attack; RocketTagGameplay, a gameplay trope where characters' offensive powers are so great that any fight is either this trope or a NoSell; and CurbStompBattle, where the opponent doesn't really need to use their best attack all the time to kick someone out of the atmosphere.

See also AlphaStrike and DeathOrGloryAttack, which needn't be the first attack; and HPTo1, which doesn't quite finish off the opponent on its own. Related to TheWorfEffect and TheWorfBarrage. NoSell is what happens when any attack completely fails to work on the other guy.

* The recharge system in TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons Fifth Edition encourages this by giving certain powerful attacks (such as a dragon's breath weapon) a single use, with a chance (usually one in six or two in six) to recharge each turn. Using it immediately makes it more likely for the attack to recharge before the fight ends. Additionally, challenge ratings are calculated with the assumption that a creature will always use the most damaging attack it has, meaning a lich is expected to open with finger of death or disintegrate, not magic missile or ray of frost.

* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': When Redcloak decides to kill [[spoiler:Durkon Thundershield]] during parley, he [[https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1209.html opens]] with a surprise Implosion, a [[SpellLevels top-level]] save-or-die spell that would deny a powerful enemy a chance to retaliate, prevent [[DeathIsCheap resurrection]], and [[NeverFoundTheBody destroy the evidence]]. [[spoiler:Durkon resists the spell long enough to escape.]]

* ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'': When the Guardians confront BigBad Ronan on his flagship, they immediately hit him with a missile from a {{BFG}} said to be capable of destroying moons. [[spoiler:He emerges from the SmokeShield completely [[NoSell unscathed]], forcing them to use more creative measures.]]

* ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'': By holding enough un-equipped Djinn, a character can unleash a powerful Summon attack, at the cost of those Djinn becoming unusable for several turns. An effective strategy for bosses throughout the series, up to and including [[OptionalBoss Optional Bosses]], is to un-equip all the party's Djinn before the battle and fire off every Summon available to take the boss down on the first turn. (However, since equipped Djinn provide stat boosts and abilities, any boss that isn't overwhelmed by the Summon barrage can easily take down the weakened party - and the final bosses of each game have multiple stages specifically to block this strategy.)