Izzet Affinity is a combo-adjacent deck that uses Goblin Welder and Goblin Engineer to assemble Painter's Servant plus Grindstone, which can mill your entire library and leave you with no reanimation targets — this is a race where dying to the Painter-Grindstone combo while your reanimation targets are in the graveyard instead of play is the primary loss condition. Your primary goal is to land Griselbrand or Atraxa before they assemble their combo, and Thoughtseize plus Unmask from the mainboard already do excellent work stripping Grindstone or Painter's Servant. Stronghold Gambit provides the fastest possible route to putting Griselbrand into play since their creatures are all low mana value Engineers and Welders, making the reveal trivial to win. Hexing Squelcher is exceptional here because it is a creature that prevents activated abilities, shutting off Goblin Welder's swap ability and Urza's Saga's third chapter from finding combo pieces, dramatically slowing their assembly. Snuff Out handles Goblin Engineer before it can tutor an Ensnaring Bridge or Grindstone, and kills Painter's Servant to break the combo permanently. Trim Archon of Cruelty, Raph and Mikey, Cabal Therapy, and Animate Dead to make room, as these are your least impactful pieces in a race-oriented matchup.