Here is a really good combo to try with Lava Gollum. It takes a few turns, but it does massive damage.

Conditions:
Lava Gollum, Change of Heart (or Creature Swap, or Snatch Steal), Raigeki (or Dark Hole, or Lightning Vortex), Magic Cylinder (or Nutrient Z, or Negate Attack, or Draining Shield), & Monster Reborn (Call of the Haunted, or Premature Burial can be used as substitutes) in hand.
Your opponent must have exactly 2 monsters on the field (& hopefully no traps set).

Method:
At your Main phase 1, Summon Lava Gollum on your opponents side.
Then use Change of Heart on Lava Gollum, & attack your opponent Directly (3000).
Main phase 2, set Draining Shield,
Lava Gollum returns to your opponents side at the end of your turn.

Your opponent Receives 1000 damage at the standby phase.
Most likely, he/she will summon another monster.
You have no monsters, which should tempt your opponent to attack.
He/she would probably attack with the other monster first to test out your set trap.
Save your trap for Lava Gollum. He/she loses 3000 (or you gain 3000 if you used Draining Shield).
At this point, your opponent will want to get rid of Lava Gollum. If not, the next turn will be the last. On his/her next standby phase your opponent Receives 1000 damage (8000 Total).

If your opponent somehow managed to survive, that’s where Raigeki & Monster Reborn come into play. Destroy your opponent’s monsters, then uses Monster Reborn on Lava Gollum. The way is clear for a direct attack.

Of course, as with any set plan, there are holes.
Your opponent can play unexpected cards, like Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End, or Nightmare Wheel, and throw your game off.

Go ahead HalfDemonInuyas, I know you'll want to pick this one apart.

Yeah...first of all the combo being impossible unless you play Traditional...

And the chance for the EXACT scenario being slim to none...given the way "typical" decktypes are built, Lava Golem will end up gone by the opponent's coming turn...it also half-depends on the opponent for the entire combo to work because you're ASSUMING the opponent is automatically going to summon and attack for you to use Draining Shield on it...not to mention not get rid of it the first chance they get...

Also...this isn't really a "combo" at all...just a series of different events...not 1 big move involving 2+ cards (Gilford the Legend + Armed Samurai - Ben Kei + several Equips = combo for a big multiple attacker)

A good combo for Lava Golm in the Tradional format would be

Lava Golem. Wait intil standby Phrase
Then Play Ring of Destruction and then Chain Barrel Behind the Door.

This Format, there are no good combos with Lava Golem that are worth using.

Sure, there are plenty of ways to use Lava Golem.

Inferno Tempest is still legal, and with Remove from Play being a big deal now a days, a simple Scapegoat rammed into one helps your cause.

Misfortune is also another good way to abuse Lava Golem, typically in burn-stall.

Or use Lava Golem and Brain Control, instead of Change of Heart.

There's plenty of use still in this format.

Even in traditional, Ring of Destruction + Barrel Behind the Door is not that good...simply because Barrel Behind the Door is used and ONLY relies on Ring of Destruction to work...otherwise...it's not very useful at any other time and it will be wasted space on the field or dead weight in your hand...not to mention the opponent can still have a chance to chain something of their own, thus not allowing Barrel Behind the Door to activate in the first place unless that chained card itself does effect damage immediately and definitely.

I like Lava Golem + Comp Evac Device. Clear out two f/d monsters for a +1.

Or use a Riryoku and give 1500 ATK to that Don or something and kill it for some damage and another card(s) lost for the opponent (depending on which effect is used)

One problem. Snatch steal wouldn't work, nor would Creature swap. The card reads (the part about paying life points) That the controller of Lava Golem must pay 1000 life points reguardless of any circumstances.

Of course Your using old Traditional which doesn't count for anything.

It is easier to abuse with Gravity bind, misfortune, nightmare wheel, mask of brutality.(Controller pays another 1000 lifepoints each turn) and I presonally love stealth bird. Or the unhappy maiden. It goes on and on!

The controller does not "pay" Life Points, they take damage (of course, during the current controller's own Standby Phase).

Of course, Change of Heart or Brain Control puts Lava Golem back on the opponent's field before their next Standby Phase anyways.

HalfDemonInuyas: I knew you couldn't resist. Of course it’s traditional. My main opponent is too chicken to play me advanced. As far as being playable, I pulled it off and won the duel. He did attack with Lava Gollum then tributed it for Freed the Matchless General. On my turn I used Dark Hole & Monster Reborn to win the game.

Dawnroyfire: The card mentioned in brackets are for substitutes, and that would change how the turns would play out. With Creature Swap & Snatch Steal, you would wait until your second turn to grab Lava Gollum and attack.

the4x8: Brain control is a good idea. I’ve tried to use Inferno Tempest many times, but I could never get it to work. The whole point of this play is to do massive damage to your opponents life points, not yours. My favourite Inferno Tempest combo is to play D.D. Dynamite right after.

Just remember the title of this post; Fun with Lava Gollum.

Haha I rmemeber my old lava golem deck with Needle burrower + limiter (back when u could use 3).

Cept now we got Aitsu and Koitsu and such and no need for even Limiter to do heavy damage unless you want massive overkill, lol

Lava Golem+Misfortune=2500 damage
Have a Solar Flare lock going on at the same time and thats 3500 damage in 2 turns.

It'll only do 1500 damage...2500 with 2 Solar Flare Dragon...

1000/1500 Damage with Solar Flare lock
1500 with Misfortune
1000 for Lava Golem