It would be a lot of fun if I found a way to have Necroskitter, Necropede, Whispering Specter, Needle Specter, and Corrosive Mentor all in this deck, because that would be so much fun to chip away at my opponents AND a way to sac my low-toughness creatures.

More wither and -1/-1 counter cards that I might consider mixing in:

Crumbling Ashes

Blowfly Infestation

Black Sun's Zenith

Incremental Blight

Virulent Wound

Torture

Carnifex Demon

Okay, so I've decided on some changes. Improving the deck's current theme:

Bottle Gnomes -> Deathgreeter. Gives me more potential life gain than just 3 per turn.

Chimney Imp -> Fetid Imp. Chimney Imp is more expensive and it's ability is nice but not crucial.

Unearth -> Disturbed Burial. This way I can get any of my heavy hitters or commander out of graveyard if needed, and do it more than once with buyback.

Tragic Slip -> Scour from Existence. I need at least one way to remove artifacts and enchantments.

2 Swamps -> Cabal Coffers and Black Market. Because mana is wonderful.

I've also decided that I want to try working in a sub-theme to this deck. Wither/Infect:

Leaden Myr -> Plague Myr. Pretty much equivalent except with Infect.

Pharika's Chosen -> Corrosive Mentor. EVERYTHING HAS WITHER what's not to love??

Ritual of the Machine -> *Necroskitter. Potential to gain control of a lot of creatures.

Blade of the Bloodchief -> *Whispering Specter. Infect, discard, flying, extra creature. Blade of the Bloodchief wasn't really aligned with the playstyle I have, and doesn't seem to protect Shirei too much honestly.

I still want to work in Fume Spitter and *Contagion Engine to enhance this Wither subtheme. Not sure what to swap them for yet. ((Note: Cards marked with * are ones I don't own yet.))

Made a decent number of changes. I don't remember what i swapped for, but here's my additions:

Crypt of Agadeem works like a second Cabal Coffers in this deck. And Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth is just handy ya know?

Mindless Automaton gets me reusable card draw. Burnished Hart is possibly recursive (I have way more ways to get back a creature than an artifact, and if I put a -1/-1 counter on it, then it comes back with Shirei).

Viscera Seer and Spawning Pit are both free sac outlets that are just wonderful. Although I've noticed that scrying with the Seer is less helpful if I have Pilgrim's Eye out, for example, and end up shuffling library.

Dutiful Attendant is recursive graveyard retrieval, and so is Junk Diver for my artifacts. I expect both of those to be useful.

Unstable Obelisk gives me a tad more removal potential.

That's all nice and all, but here's some things I'm thinking about doing:Replace Nightmare with Butcher of Malakir (who got swapped out for Dictate of Erebos, btw). Replace Sol Ring with Leaden Myr? And/or maybe swap out Everflowing Chalice for Expedition Map to get out my Coffers or Crypt of Agadeem faster.... Replace Augur of Skulls with maybe Ravenous Rats or Thieving Sprite, since I can trigger it on opponents turn.Replace Fetid Imp with either Plague Stinger or Basilica Screecher. Need the flyers, but maybe get something a little more useful.

I'd love to include either Ring of Xathrid or Dark Privilege as additional protection for my commander. Living Death, Decree of Pain, Plague Wind, and Deadly Tempest have all caught my eye as good cards for multiplayer, so one of these would be nice too.

Also considering both Shred Memory and Dimir Machinations for their transmute ability.

Thinking of taking out a couple of Noxious Toad, Black Cat, Brain Maggot, and Ravenous Rats for other effects. Discard is nice, but making 1 opponent discard 1 card pisses people off and is a little slow. Perilous Myr and Ogre Slumlord are on the list too, because of a somewhat weak effect and high casting cost, respectively.

Under high consideration are Abyssal Gatekeeper are Basal Sliver, along with the rest of the Maybeboard. Hmmmm....

You have a lot of creatures. I'd recommend Phyrexian Reclamation as great way to get the bigger guys (or Shirei) out of your graveyard and back to your hand. Phyrexian Tribute is another option that's a bit more on budget than Gate to Phyrexia for dealing with artifacts.

A point on Noxious Toad: if you read the errata on Gatherer it says 'each opponent'. So this guy actually gives you a mass discard effect. It draws a lot of hate.

Yep, I'm aware that Noxious Toad hits each opponent. I'm having a hard time finding one to trade for, but that's why it's still in the list (trust me, i've cut a lot of other discard dudes).

I don't usually have a problem getting things back from my graveyard, so Phyrexian Reclamation probably won't be seeing play here. If I lose something to the grave, I'm more prepared to just carry on without it for a while rather than devote any more card slots to extra recursion options beyond what I have.

I've never seen Phyrexian Tribute before. I might be sold on that if I can find a spot to fit it in. I was thinking of Xenic Poltergeist as a way to make artifacts easier to deal with, but it's not a guarantee.

I haven't seen the Poltergeist before. Interesting card, but I imagine it would be tricky to make it work. Like you I prefer to avoid creatures with tap effects.

Kormus Bell works perfectly with Shirei. "Creatures" and "creatire cards" are not the same thing. Only the first is a permanent type, and shirei obviously affects permanents. Obviously, if you believe that shirei can recur animated artifacts, you must also believe that the same is true for lands. The reason it is a terrible suggestion is because it is risky and underwhelming.

202.2a If an ability of an object uses a phrase such as "this [something]" to identify an object, where [something] is a category or characteristic, it is referring to that particular object, even if it isn't the appropriate category or characteristic at the time.

Hmmm, I'll look into that some more. I don't believe that Shirei can recur animated artifacts; I assume you mean Xenic Poltergeist, which I thought of using as a way to potentially remove my opponents' artifacts somehow (easier to kill creatures than artifacts in mono-black and all that).

I agree that Creatures and Creature cards are not the same things. Kormus Bell makes your swamps creatures. Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker returns creature cards, according to the text. If your swamp goes to the graveyard, it triggers Shirei, and then stops being a creature when it hits the graveyard. Now it's just a land card. Would Shirei see that land card and count it as a creature card somehow?

I agree with it being terribly risky and not worth it either way. Other than the fact that you could now kill all of their lands, it isn't worth the risk I'd say.

Welp, that's incorrect, read the ruling. Shirei returns animated noncreature permanenets by making them creatures. The trigger refers to a specific object, despite the inappropriate text upon resolution.

Saw this in the comment stream, figured I'd chime in.

Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker's current text, according to Oracle, is:

Whenever a creature with power 1 or less is put into your graveyard from the battlefield, you may return that card to the battlefield at the beginning of the next end step if Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker is still on the battlefield.

This ability triggers when a creature with power 1 or less dies and is sent to your graveyard. Because the ability triggers based on the permanent that dies and not based on what the card looks like in the graveyard, noncreature cards that were animated as permanents will still trigger Shirei's ability. The ability does not check whether the card is a creature card in the graveyard.

...oh. Oh. I'm gonna be honest. I didn't know that the text was errata'd. I'm sure I did at some point and probably forgot. Thanks for clarifying.

So uh, yeah. Kormus Bell and Xenic Poltergeist would both work (assuming the artifact was a 1CMC). Still not sure it's worth the risk but that's really good to know.

Its a ton of fun, but sadly, no -- not worth it

Also pls ignore my earlier comment where I said Basal Sliver was under consideration. It's a 2/2 and not worth anything in this deck.

Hello! I just recently started putting together a Shirei deck, and you seem to have the most thought-out version that I've been able to find on tappedout thus far. As such, I'm curious what you think of some of these cards:

Big Game Hunter: Recur to kill big butts/commanders left and right.

Citanul Flute: In such a toolbox deck, this gets you what you want when you need it.

Corrosive Mentor: Makes your chump blockers that much more annoying.

Demon of Death's Gate: You're still paying 6 life, but a 9/9 flying trampler isn't really something to scoff at.

Whispersilk Cloak: Another protection option for Shirei.

Hex Parasite: Good for getting rid of annoying planeswalkers and slowing down everything else that uses counters. Also makes a good emergency chump blocker.

Lightning Coils: With all of your creatures dying, this could maybe turn into an alternate wincon.

Mesmeric Fiend: With stack shenanigans, you could potentially permanently exile a nonland card of your choice from an opponent's hand once per turn.

Spawning Pool: Turns into a Shirei-able creature until end of turn if needed.

Ob Nixilis, Unshackled: Kinda like Scavenger Drake, but with trample and punishes opponents for decksearching.

Endless Whispers: Because you control both Shirei and Whispers' abilities, you get to chose in what order they occur. As such, you can revive your creatures normally while still stealing your opponent's creatures.

No Rest for the Wicked: A safety net in case someone kills Shirei after you've sacrificed a few creatures.

Grave Betrayal: Kinda like the above, but works even without Shirei out.

Phyrexian Plaguelord: Sac outlet that pokes creatures and gets around indestructibility.

Shadows of the Past: Scrying 1 over and over and over and over...

Tragic Slip: Spot removal that gets around indestructibility.

Sorceress Queen: Tap to allow Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker to save almost any other creature.

Sorry that this is such a wall of text, but I'd really appreciate your input. +1ed, would +2 if I could.

Big Game Hunter -- an obvious include, obviously included here

Citanul Flute -- a bad, win more card

Corrosive Mentor -- yeah sure, could find a place in some decks, makes blocking more valuable. Synergy (undesired here) with Crypt Rats.

Demon of Death's Gate -- also nothing to celebrate, and useless without the alternative cost -- and we have Westvale Abbey  ^Flip now

Whispersilk Cloak -- sure, for a voltron version, this works well

Hex Parasite -- included in my deck, it's a great card, especially when you can find your Glacial Chasm or when you have over-extended with Smokestack

Lightning Coils -- a fun card, that get's blown up

Mesmeric Fiend -- a great card that I run

Spawning Pool -- sucks, run Blinkmoth Nexus and Inkmoth Nexus, but not this

Ob Nixilis, Unshackled -- it's just a big body, and doesn't even prevent opponents from tutoring

Endless Whispers -- doesn't work, hoses Shirei

No Rest for the Wicked -- I guess, but why not run Phyrexian Reclamation instead

Grave Betrayal -- mediocre

Phyrexian Plaguelord -- a fun card for shirei, but there are cheaper and more useful creature killers. Mostly just too expensive to get out. If you have snowballed to the point of recurring 4 - 5 creatures, then you have won.

Shadows of the Past -- sure yeah, but better/more conventional options... Grim Haruspex family of cards, Viscera Seer is downright better most of the time.

Tragic Slip -- mhm, and Malicious Affliction too

Sorceress Queen -- yeah, moderately useful ability, but the moment you dive into "fun shenanigans" is the moment you lose the game

I agree mostly with illumfolly. I'll expand a little bit.

Citanul Flute is nice, but it's kind of an expensive tutor. I like Jar of Eyeballs more. Corrosive Mentor used to be in here when I tried a -1/-1 counter subtheme with Necroskitter and friends. It just wasn't enough for me. And I never realized that nonbo with Crypt Rats. I'd rather have Swiftfoot Boots over Whispersilk Cloak, but I took it out for Shred Memory so that I could tutor for the type of protection that I need at that moment. Mesmeric Fiend is nice; I have a similar effect in Brain Maggot, and I should probably get one for the 1v1 version of this deck which leans more heavily on discard. Phyrexian Plaguelord is like a more expensive, big-bodied Plagued Rusalka; Yes, the later has a mana cost to activate it, but I find it worth it. And I've thought about Shadows of the Past, but I don't have room for it over my pure card draw options and Viscera Seer.

I like your suggestions. Most of them could totally have a place in a Shirei deck, but my build doesn't have room for those particulars.

Mesmeric Fiend is strictly better than Brain Maggot -- but yeah run them both if you can / want. You can respond to the ETB trigger of Fiend by sacrificing it and thus permanently exile a card.

Thank you both for the advice! I'll definitely keep this all in mind as I make my own deck.

Also, I agree that it wouldn't be that good in this deck, but I'm pretty sure that Endless Whispers would actually work - when one of your creatures dies, it gets noticed by both this and Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker. Then, at the end of turn, you decide which order their effects go on (seeing as you control both). You choose Shirei's ability to trigger first, then after that Whispers fails to find the creature in your graveyard and thus its ability fizzles. Chances are your opponent won't have any sort of end of turn revival effect, so nothing gets in the way of them giving you their creatures. But yeah, there are still too many things that could go wrong with it to make it worthwhile. Alas.

Anyway, again, thank you both for all of your info!

Well the problem there is... what about when Shirei dies? She's very prone to dying herself. You wouldn't be able to send her to the graveyard (for fear of her being stolen) so now you've lost that means of recurring her, and have to send her to command zone. This is on top of the no fun bad things when your creatures die, but now your opponent has stolen them.

Shirei is too fragile of a glass cannon for Endless Whispers.

Yeah actually, I think you are coincidentally right about whispers. Since its the creatures in grave that gain the ability (and not actually the enchantment), you can in fact pull them out before their ability would trigger. Otherwise, I think it would depend on whose turn it is? APNAP YOLO 420.

Yeah, going to put this in the "neat but impractical" category, since I would almost always run Leyline of the Void before it.

I'm in the process of building a Shirei deck myself and have a few suggestions and questions:

Have you considered replacing Shred Memory with Beseech the Queen? The trade off would boil down to instant speed vs. getting any CMC card.

How do you feel about Scourge of Nel Toth? After adding a few ways to force yourself to discard (replacing those creatures that "target opponent" with "target player"), he seems pretty abusable from the GY for a big body.

Do you find both Eldrazi mana token generators necessary? Pawn of Ulamog and Sifter of Skulls

For artifact recursion, Myr Retriever is my first choice over Junk Diver due to the lower CMC since I don't value the flying on a 1/1 body.

Bottle Gnomes has some crazy potential in multiplayer games.

Awesome deck, you definitely gave me some new ideas.

Just to expand on my Shred Memory vs Beseech the Queen comparison because I'm wrong in a lot of ways...

You can only transmute at sorcery speed so forget the instant speed part.

And it's wrong of me to say Beseech the Queen can get any CMC card since it's limited by your land count, but I feel that it's hardly a limitation. At time you cast it you will have at least 2 lands which makes it on par with Shred Memory. But if you have 3+ lands it allows you to fetch Darksteel Plate.