One of the more interesting mechanics inMagic: The Gatheringis the monarch. Typically reserved for supplemental sets, those like Commander products, Conspiracy, and Universes Beyond, it is a powerful ability that encourages combat interactions during multiplayer games.
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As the monarch, you get to draw an extra card at the start of your end step. If a creature would deal combat damage to you, you lose the monarch status, and that creature’s controller becomes the new monarch. There is no monarch when a game starts, so if you’re looking to become one you’ll want to check out these cards instead.
10Archivist Of Gondor
The main appeal of being the monarch is the extra card you get to draw at the end of your turn. Getting access to new spells or to push through land pockets later in the game can be key to helping you win.
The Archivist of Gondor lets you double up on this effect, drawing two cards at the start of the monarch’s end step.
Notably, Archivist of Gondor lets the Monarch draw an extra card, not just if you’re the monarch. So if an opponent can take the monarchy from you, it will be letting them draw an extra card instead.
9Emberwilde Captain
There is a common factor for most good monarch cards, and that is that these cards make you the monarch when they resolve. It isn’t the only qualifier for a good monarch card, but it certainly helps.
Emberwilde Captain does just that, either making you the monarch if there isn’t one or taking the monarchy from another player.
Emberwilde Captain deters incoming attacks by dealing damage to an attacking opponent equal to the number of cards in their hand, so long as you’re still the monarch.
8Marchesa’s Decree
Even though most cards that make you the monarch are creatures, Marchesa’s Decree is an enchantment that crowns you when it comes into play and acts as a powerful deterrent from incoming attacks.
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If you are attacked by a creature, no matter if that creature is coming at you or one of your planeswalkers, that creature’s controller loses one life for each creature. If your opponent thinks that they can swarm around your creatures to steal the monarchy from you, they better be prepared to lose a bunch of life while doing it.
7Dawnglade Regent
One of the more expensive cards with monarch mana value-wise is Dawnglade Regent. This monstrous Elk is an 8/8 creature that makes you the monarch when it comes into play.
While it doesn’t have any other keywords that are great on large creatures like trample or menace, it does provide all permanents you control hexproof so long as you’re the monarch. Making you immune to removal for a time is a great way to keep your commander and other permanents safe, and to let you try and pull off any combo you want without your opponents interrupting.
6Faramir, Steward Of Gondor
Despite not crowning you the monarch when it comes into play, Faramir, Steward of Gondor instead makes you the monarch when a legendary creature with a mana value of four or more enters the battlefield under your control.
Faramir then makes your monarch status even sweeter, creating two 1/1 Human Soldier tokens if you’re still the monarch at the start of your end step, on top of drawing an extra card. Since Faramir makes you the monarch when you play other creatures, he is a reliable way to keep the monarch under your control.
5Archon Of Coronation
A somewhat complicated card, Archon of Coronation is a great monarch card to keep you safe, but it doesn’t make you impervious to damage. For as long as you’re the monarch, damage done to you doesn’t cause you to lose life.
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The tricky part about this card is that anything that would happen while taking damage still occurs, your life total just doesn’t change. So players can still take the monarch status from you even if their attacks don’t deal damage.
Also important to keep in mind, is that you still get poison counters if a creature with infect or toxic deals damage to you.
4Court Of Ambition
An enchantment that crowns you the monarch provides some interesting play lines for you and your deck. Enchantments like the Court of Ambition are notoriously difficult to destroy, with very little enchantment removal typically being run, and most of that is regulated to white and green.
With Court of Ambition, you punish your opponents by forcing them to lose three life unless they discard a card at the start of your upkeep. If you’re the monarch though, the life loss gets doubled to six unless they discard two cards instead.
3Champions Of Minas Tirith
Celebrating your crowning when it comes into play, Champions of Minas Tirith makes you the monarch once it resolves. It keeps the celebrations going too by making it exceptionally hard for your opponents to attack you in a meaningful way.
Champions of Minas Tirith’s ability triggers at the start of combat on each opponent’s turn so long as you’re the monarch, forcing them to pay X mana, with X being the number of cards in their hand. If they don’t pay, they can’t attack you.
2Forth Eorlingas!
Only the second sorcery to grant the monarch in Magic, Forth Eorlingas! creatures X 2/2 Human Knight tokens with both trample and haste, with X being however much mana you want to pay into the mana cost.
While it doesn’t make you the monarch automatically, when a creature you control deals combat damage to one or more players on the turn you cast it, you become the monarch. Since you’re making so many tokens, and they all have trample, odds are pretty good that you’ll be able to connect and take the monarchy.
1Court Of Bounty
Since you’re the ruler of your domain, you should expect to get some free things every once and a while. With the Court of Bounty, you not only get to be the monarch when it comes into play, but you can get lands and creatures for free.
At the start of your upkeep, you get to take land from your hand and put it directly onto the battlefield. As the monarch, however, you may take creatures or lands from your hand and put them into play.
Since it won’t trigger until your next upkeep, on turn five if you’ve been unlucky with your ramp, you may power out any number of immense creatures like Archon Of Coronation or a Dawnglade Regent.
