How to Lose a Creature in 5 Turns by jjjhy

Format: Commander

Commander: Jon Irenicus, Shattered One

Bracket: 4

DeckCheck Threat Index: 30

Deck overview

This Jon Irenicus, Shattered One deck is a dedicated 'Bad Gifts' control and forced-combat strategy. Its game plan is to cast undercosted creatures with severe negative drawbacks—such as Steel Golem, Grid Monitor, Desecration Elemental, and Phyrexian Negator—and donate them to opponents during your end step. Jon gives these creatures two +1/+1 counters, makes them permanently goaded, and prevents them from being sacrificed. This forces opponents to attack each other while suffering devastating self-inflicted penalties. Each combat attack by a creature you own draws you a card, keeping your hand full of countermagic, protection spells, and stax artifacts like Winter Orb and Mana Web. The deck excels at crippling creature-based strategies one by one. However, it relies heavily on Jon staying in play to avoid suffering its own negative creature effects, and navigating the final 1v1 endgame requires careful timing and defensive pillowfort pieces.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Abyssal Persecutor
  • 1 Aether Vial
  • 1 An Offer You Can't Refuse
  • 1 Animate Dead
  • 1 Aqueous Form
  • 1 Archive Trap
  • 1 Asmodeus the Archfiend
  • 1 Assault Suit
  • 1 Bloodthirsty Blade
  • 1 Blustersquall
  • 1 Braids, Arisen Nightmare
  • 1 Bubble Matrix
  • 1 Charcoal Diamond
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Contaminated Aquifer
  • 1 Control Magic
  • 1 Counterspell
  • 1 Crawlspace
  • 1 Crystal Grotto
  • 1 Dakmor Salvage
  • 1 Dark Ritual
  • 1 Defense Grid
  • 1 Demonic Taskmaster
  • 1 Desecration Elemental
  • 1 Dingus Egg
  • 1 Dispel
  • 1 Drinker of Sorrow
  • 1 Ebon Drake
  • 1 Ebonblade Reaper
  • 1 Equilibrium
  • 1 Essence Scatter
  • 1 Evil Eye of Orms-by-Gore
  • 1 Exchange of Words
  • 1 Feign Death
  • 1 Flesh Reaver
  • 1 Graf Reaver
  • 1 Grafted Identity
  • 1 Grid Monitor
  • 15 Island
  • 1 Jon Irenicus, Shattered One
  • 1 Juxtapose
  • 1 Liege of the Pit
  • 1 Mana Web
  • 1 Mindslaver
  • 1 Morkrut Necropod
  • 1 Mortuary Mire
  • 1 Path of Ancestry
  • 1 Phyrexian Negator
  • 1 Phyrexian Obliterator
  • 1 Plague Reaver
  • 1 Planar Incision
  • 1 Propaganda
  • 1 Reins of Power
  • 1 Rogue's Passage
  • 1 Rotting Regisaur
  • 1 Rust Elemental
  • 1 Sinister Possession
  • 1 Sky Diamond
  • 1 Sleight of Mind
  • 1 Slip Out the Back
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Steel Golem
  • 1 Strionic Resonator
  • 13 Swamp
  • 1 Taniwha
  • 1 Thought Eater
  • 1 Underworld Dreams
  • 1 Undying Malice
  • 1 Welcome to the Fold
  • 1 Winter Orb
  • 1 Wizard's Staff
  • 1 Wretched Anurid
  • 1 Wrong Turn
  • 1 Xanathar, Guild Kingpin