Overview:

This Jon Irenicus deck focuses on donating detrimental creatures to opponents while generating card advantage through forced attacks. The strategy leverages high-power creatures with punishing drawbacks (e.g., Rotting Regisaur, Abyssal Persecutor) and goad mechanics to pressure opponents. Win conditions include incremental life loss via Psychosis Crawler and forced combat damage, with a backup Laboratory Maniac for deck-out scenarios.

Primer:

Core Strategy:

1. Setup Phase: Ramp into Jon Irenicus (T3-4) using Sol Ring/Arcane Signet. Protect him with Swiftfoot Boots or Vanishing.
2. Donation Engine: Deploy creatures with severe drawbacks (Desecration Elemental, Phyrexian Soulgorger) and gift them via Jon's end-step trigger. Use Parasitic Impetus/Bloodthirsty Blade as supplemental goad tools.
3. Card Advantage: Draw 2+ cards per turn cycle via Jon's attack trigger, amplified by Teferi's Ageless Insight. Psychosis Crawler converts draws into life loss.
4. Control Elements: Limit incoming attacks with Propaganda/Crawlspace, disrupt opponents with Wrong Turn/Domineering Will, and recur threats via Phyrexian Reclamation.

Mulligan Priorities:

• 3 lands (prioritize UB sources)
• Jon Irenicus protection (boots/hexproof) or early ramp
• At least 1 detrimental creature (e.g., Flesh Reaver) Avoid hands without creatures or interaction.

Key Tips:

• Time donations carefully - avoid giving opponents blockers before combat.
• Use Feign Death/Victimize to recover key creatures.
• Save counterspells for board wipes or Jon removal.
• Irenicus's Vile Duplication copies Jon for doubled donation triggers.

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Commander dependency: 3+ removals on Jon Irenicus cripples the strategy
• No reliable infinite combos or fast win conditions

Moderate

• Weak to sacrifice outlets (bypasses "can't be sacrificed" clause)
• Limited tutor density (only Diabolic Tutor/Ringsight)

Minor

• Mitigated combat defense via Aetherize/Dissipation Field
• Some life-loss mitigation through forced opponent damage

Most Important Cards:

• Psychosis Crawler
• Teferi's Ageless Insight
• Abyssal Persecutor
• Swiftfoot Boots
• Rotting Regisaur
• Phyrexian Reclamation
• Propaganda
• Parasitic Impetus
• Laboratory Maniac
• Victimize

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 4/10
Focused on T5-7 setup; earliest effective wins via Crawler/combat ~T9-11.

Resilience: 3/10
Heavily commander-reliant with limited protection; folds to repeated removal.

Consistency: 5/10
Moderate draw power but only 2 tutors; redundant detrimental creatures.

Interaction: 5/10
10 targeted removal/counters (Infernal Grasp, Reality Shift) but lacks free spells.

Rating Justification:

The deck operates as a Focused Casual build with a clear T9-11 win timeline through combat/goad synergies but suffers critical commander dependency and slow payoff assembly.
Power level: 4.0 - 4.5