Jon Irenicus, Shattered One

There are two obvious ways to build this, unblockable creatures or bad creatures. This deck as shown here goes with the latter mostly. There are a positively massive number of possibilities, so not everything will be covered. I'll mostly just bring up cards I'm using, have seen others use, or have just generally considered.

> What sort of bad creatures are we talking about?

You're going to want creatures that are detrimental when they enter combat, or passively make things awful for you.
Creature Locking: Grid Monitor, Steel Golem: Give them over to the creature heavy decks to grind them to a halt. Even if they're not creature heavy, but creature commander reliant it can be a good idea to toss one their way.

Win Locking: Abyssal Persecutor: Give it over to the person who seems most likely to win. Try to avoid handing it over to someone who can get it killed in combat or can bounce it.

Combat Locking: Irenicus wants things swinging, but somewhere else. Evil Eye of Orms-by-Gore and Evil Eye of Urborg stop almost everything else from swinging and the goad keeps them away. If your playgroup has anyone that tends to get explosive, these are right for your deck, otherwise no.

Minor Sacrifice: Drinker of Sorrow, Dralnu, Lich Lord, Phyrexian Negator, etc.: Give them to people who aren't going to have a lot of things to sacrifice to limit how much they can use. That guy playing with an Elf token deck, for example, isn't going to blink about losing 4-5 elves a turn when they're pumping out twice that easily.

Mass Sacrifice: Hellcarver Demon. This is what you give to the person pumping tokens like no tomorrow. It works on anyone really, though you may run the risk of giving a combo player all the pieces they need in one shot. A rare risk, but one none the less. A player limited to exactly one 8/8 flier, no mana, and 6 random cards a turn is not likely going to last.

Other Methods of Self-Destruction: Ebonblade Reaper, Gloom Surgeon: The Gloom Surgeon is possibly quite quick to deck someone, and equally difficult to get rid of so it can go to anyone but ideally not the player using a lot of Vigilance so those creatures can block it. The Ebonblade Reaper, on the other hand is quite squishy at a mere 3/3, but quickly tears into one's health. Aside from a Willowdusk, Essence Seer player I can't think of a bad place to send this one. Hasran Ogress, Embalmed Brawler, and Takenuma Bleeder are some lesser examples of things to look for in here.

Clones: What's worse than one bad gift? Two. Clone, Mirrorhall Mimic, Soul Foundry, etc. Just save the Non-Legendary ones for Irenicus himself.

> What sort of bad creatures shouldn't be in this deck?

Cumulative Upkeep: I know this sounds nice "Oh they can't sac it so they have to pay right?" No, no they do not. You give them a Gallowbraid and they just got a 7/7 trampler with no drawbacks. Sorry.

Conditional Forced Sacrifice: Bog Serpent, Bronze Bombshell, Phylactery Lich, etc. All of these have a forced condition to sacrifice. Unlike one off forced sacrifices like Cumulative Upkeep, these will trigger infinitely, locking the game up and forcing a draw. No winners here.

Combat Locking: Irenicus wants things swinging. Evil Eye of Orms-by-Gore and Evil Eye of Urborg stop most of that. If your group doesn't have someone with explosive board states, these are more a drawback to you than to the other players.

Timing Conflicts: Plague Reaver here stands out to me, but there may be others. You're not getting rid of this guy without getting rid of Irenicus too. Both effects go onto the stack at the same time, and to get him back out at 6+ mana just for this one bad creature is not worth your time or effort.

> Ok, but I want to go the unblockable route. What should I look for there?

The Win Con: My personal opinion on the mechanic aside, Blighted Agent is going to knock people out of the game fast at 3 poison counters a swing. Hand it off to someone running anthems to make it go faster, just make sure you have a way to get it back or removed first.

The Mystery Gift: Cephalid Facetaker can be whatever your opponent needs to knock someone out, so long as the power isn't their concern. Blighted Agent will likely be a common choice, but who knows maybe a Phage the Untouchable is out somewhere.

Heavy Hitters Gray Harbor Merfolk is one of the higher powered options you can go for, sitting at 2/5 or 4/5 depending on their commander's presence. And for its cost, it's hard to say no to including it. Ghastlord of Fugue will allow one of your opponents to go swinging for 6 and keep picking away at another's hand.

Shadow Creatures These are mostly unblockable, just funnel them all in to the same player to keep it so. There aren't many things that stand out, but Dauthi Warlord can be particularly dangerous if you focus on the theme.

Other than that, almost anything that can't be blocked is ok, but nothing particularly stands out. Just don't ever give any of these to the Ninja deck.

> What other sorts of creatures should I make use of here?

Sturdy Stuff: You want things that can take a beating and keep on going. Darksteel Myr, Weathered Sentinels, Putrid Goblin, etc. If they can't die or just won't stay dead, they're a good card for drawing cards even if it's not doing anything else. Sometimes the best bad gift is one that doesn't seem all that bad.

That, and stuff you want to keep to yourself.

> What do I keep to myself?

You're going to want creatures that take advantage of, or mitigate on your end, the chaos you're starting to stick with you.

Combat Fatalities: Morbid Opportunist and Blood Artist will add a little more value to your gifts breaking down in combat. You may also consider Harvester of Souls, Syr Konrad, the Grim, the Zulaport Cutthroat, and similar cards to further push this angle if you lack sturdy creatures for the deck. The Calculating Lich, while not strictly looking for fatalities, is looking for a lot of combat. If you lean heavily into fatalities, consider using the Soulblade Corrupter, it doesn't care whose creatures have the counters, so your gifts will all functionally get deathtouch tacked on to them too ensuring plenty of death triggers.

Ramp: Every deck needs it, and there are some creature based options even in Dimir. Dreamscape Artist lets you pull out two lands a turn at the cost of one already there and a useless card in hand, while Vesper Ghoul nets you any color you might possibly need at the low cost of 1 life.

Recursion: Any creature that can keep coming back, or bring others back, will be a significant boon. Viconia, Drow Apostate is a randomized Oversold Cemetery, which also isn't a bad call for the deck, while Sheoldred, Whispering One eats away at your opponents' creatures and brings your own back.

> So many players, so little time. How to speed up the gifts?

Clones: Helm of the Host, Spark Double, Irenicus's Vile Duplication. Anything to keep the Legendary off. More Irenicus means more gifts.

Copies: Lithoform Engine and Strionic Resonator allow you to duplicate Irenicus's trigger, handing over additional creatures each turn if able.

In The Big Metal Unit: I'm sorry, the Assault Suit. No precious metal pants were involved here. While it won't force an attack, it will keep whatever it is from being swung at you or sacrificed.

The Old Fashioned Way: Donate effects. Djinn of Infinite Deceits, Domineering Will, Modify Memory, The Trickster-God's Heist, Puca's Mischief, Sudden Substitution, Wrong Turn, Cultural Exchange. The options are numerous, and while they don't offer the protection that Irenicus and the Assault Suit do, there are still ways to keep people pointing your creatures elsewhere. They also may allow you to disrupt creature based combos by sending them off to another player.

> How do I take advantage of the gifted creatures?

Some of this was covered in what you keep to yourself but for a more thorough coverage let's look at non creatures.

Drawing Cards: Irenicus has this covered for the most part, but there are still ways to improve this. Archmage Ascension will quickly build up counters before turning your draws into tutors. Teferi's Ageless Insight doubles up on your ability to draw. Curiosity and auras like it will net you cards even if you lose Irenicus for a bit. Curse of Verbosity will net all but one of your opponents some cards, but it will get you a lot more.

Recursion: Aside from your creature based options, things like Phyrexian Reclamation or the Cauldron of Souls can keep you stocked up on bad gifts to give out.

> What about those ungoaded creatures?

Taxes: Koskun Falls and Propaganda keep opponents from swinging out at you without having to pay into it. Similar effects like Riddlekeeper or Revenge of Ravens help to deter them as well. Flooded Woodlands will keep Green players away from you, at least until they've got their mana dorks to fall back on.

Goad Them: Sly Instigator, Bloodthirsty Blade, Parasitic Impetus and Psychic Impetus will let you goad things you've gifted through other means, or would just rather have pointed away from you.

Goad. Them. All.: Mocking Doppelganger + Spy Kit. That is all.

Vows: The next best thing to removal is just making it so they can't swing at you period. Vow of Flight, Vow of Malice, and Vow of Torment will keep the most dangerous attackers at the table away from you.

> And what do I do to keep myself safe from non-combat threats?

The same thing every Dimir deck does.

Say No: Counterspell, An Offer You Can't Refuse, Arcane Denial, Wash Away, Swan Song, Countersquall, the list is nearly endless.

Murder Them: Kill spells work just fine for shutting down creatures that pose a threat even out of combat. Murder, Feed the Swarm, Infernal Grasp. The list of kill spells is likely just as long as counterspells. Of course, why not grab Drown in the Loch so you can do either as needed.

Board Wipe: Sometimes things are just too out of hand. Bontu's Last Reckoning, Liliana, Death's Majesty, Blood Money, Damnation, In Garruk's Wake, Toxic Deluge, and many more will reset things. That Cauldron of Souls from earlier keeps this very one sided. You could also go the blue route of Cyclonic Rift and the like.

Enchantments?: A little tricky, Feed the Swarm aside, but Extract the Truth, Pharika's Libation, and Debt to the Kami can help get rid of them. On the more expensive side there's always Introduction to Annihilation and Scour from Existence.

Limit Them To Combat: Cursed Totem locks out activated abilities on creatures, helping to force them into combat.

> Are there any synergistic cards to keep an eye out for.

Yes, actually there are a few.
Blighted Agent + any of the Vows: Do you want a 5/5+ unblockable infect creature that can not be pointed at you even after the game goes 1v1, which it will make happen very quickly? Yes, yes you do.

Soul Foundry + Spark Double: An extra Spark Double every turn that has yet to be determined is quite helpful. Need a new Irenicus? Morbid Opportunist? Calculating Lich? You got it.

> What about anti-synergistic cards?

There are a few that can be good, you'll just need to build around them, or accept the risks.

Cursed Totem: This is going to shut down what little creature based ramp you have, as well as lock out some creature based combat manipulation like Sly Instigator or Shipwreck Singer.

Heartless Summoning: The -2 to all creature mana costs is tempting, but the -1/-1 on their stats can ruin things. Blighted Agent, Darksteel Myr, Blood Artist, Ebonblade Reaper, Gloom Surgeon, Putrid Goblin, among countless others all rendered useless if they weren't already out and given away.

> So, how do I win?

There are a few ways to go about this.

Just Win: First of all there's the Triskaidekaphile. By setting your opponents up with just enough creatures to draw yourself to 13, you'll win fairly easily. You can add in cards that let you Flash it if you want. Leyline of Anticipation, Tidal Barracuda, Emergence Zone, and Winding Canyons can set this up.

Take It All Back: Homeward Path takes back everything you gave away that remains in play, leaving the various conditions Irenicus put on them in place. It may require a bit of waiting or quick regifting to keep Abyssal Persecutor away from you but the rest of the drawbacks aren't likely going to be heavy enough to keep you from winning.

Blighted Agent: I hate Infect so very much. I really do. But there's no questioning how good this card is in this deck, even if you're not doing an unblockable theme. Just take him back before he gets turned on you.