I was looking at the cards that make you the Monarch and it occurred to me that this may be a really interesting mechanic for the Pauper format. I know all the cards are not spoiled yet, but the ones that are appear to be great value for pauper creatures. I am specifically looking at the Jund color creatures for my Scarland Thrinax agro deck. Having 3 creatures that make me the monarch with relevant P/T or abilities seems like a great thing. Drawing cards and filling the board is exactly what my deck wants to do, and as an agro deck, I can reliably get a creature through to capture the Monarchy back from opponents. Also the green and black creatures have great abilities for holding the Monarch for a cycle or two. I am very tempted to test all 3 creatures in Jund colors to see what the Monarch cards does to the games, and if I can reliably count on getting it on my turn.
Even if they are only cantrip creatures, those are always welcome in Pauper, and it helps the agro decks get in some much needed draw while getting the control decks off the sidelines or get overwhelmed by the other Monarchs. The Monarch card being in play should shake up the Pauper meta that can become stagnant if a stalemate is created.
Do you think the common Monarch cards have a place in Pauper?
Will you be using any of these, and if so, in what decks?
Ye, this kind of card draw is basically unprecedented at common, ESPECIALLY in red or green.
Keeping the monarchy can be difficult in multiplayer, but since you can't take combat damage before your end step they will at worst cantrip. Unless you are losing badly already I think you can probably get the monarchy back on your turn if you lost it. Giving opponents cards sucks, but red pauper is desperate enough for a temple bell sort of effect
Now we have a common Monarch card for every color. With the black and green creatures having good abilities to hold the Monarchy, I am favoring them the most. The other three are more vanilla, but the blue one can be a good attacker with the option to become unblockable. The red one is the only one with a drawback, which is a bummer, but at least he attacks the person you already want to get the monarch back from anyway. The white is just a vanilla with a cantrip, but in boros or decks lacking draw, its a solid option. I know my buddy's Boros deck will probably play it for the much needed draw.
So far I am still liking the idea of play the 3 Jund creatures in Scarland Thrinax. It will be difficult to take the monarch from me in the token deck. I will just have to watch out for fliers. Having 3 more creatures that draw me cards will be a boon for that deck and really keep things flowing.
I'm really interested to see what this mechanic does for the Pauper format. It looks fun on paper, but the liability of giving opponents access to repeatable draw is very real. My initial thoughts is that this is a good option for aggressive decks that can reliably get some damage through. Control decks may not have the resources to re-gain the monarchy after the inevitable loss. The catch with these cards is that one needs to accept that the monarchy will change hands and other players will draw cards. But the benefit is that damage gets spread around to whoever has it, and there is potential for multiple extra draws over the course of the game.
I managed to get two multiplayer games in over the weekend, and we added all the monarch cards we could, and the Monarch came into play very early for both games, and it totally changed the way the game played out. My first impression was that it wasn't going to be good, but I played Grixis control and pretty much had a full hand the entire time, having control of the Monarch more than average in a 3 player pod. It makes evasive creatures even better; my meta is split between evasive creatures and giant beaters. I think the black one is the best since it's 4 mana and is very much a rattlesnake blocker (and sometimes rattlesnake attacker), the blue one seems good on paper with a 5 toughness and potential evasion but at 6 mana, once the Monarch was already in play, I tried saving it only for a turn where I could steal the monarch away from someone else, but I never had a problem attacking to get the Monarch back, and I also didn't want to tap out 6 mana, I wanted to keep mana open for instant-speed interaction. The red one is atrocious, and the white and green ones are very solid blockers. I think it's a great addition to the Pauper EDH metagame, it really helps prevent board stalls and encourages players to attack more often and to not just pick on the defenseless player, and it helps provide gas to a lot of different decks, and it's a card advantage engine that stays for the remainder of the game. I think it'll get better if everyone in my playgroup all decides to cram them into all their decks as well, increasing the odds that somebody in the 3-4 player pod has drawn one and casts it between turn 4-6, especially since the number of 3 color decks that can use 3 of the monarch creatures is fewer than the 2 color and mono color decks.
Interesting report Comicalflop! What are your thoughts on using such cards in a normal EDH game, playing as a pauper or peasant deck? I think there will be bigger fish to fry so that an "underpowered" deck grabbing the monarchy will generally not be considered much of a threat. Making it a "free" power-up, basically.
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A series of seven articles using Magic to explore the very stuff of the Universe! "At least for those who can play cards, their present incarnation is not quite wasted." [Click here for the articles!]
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Even if they are only cantrip creatures, those are always welcome in Pauper, and it helps the agro decks get in some much needed draw while getting the control decks off the sidelines or get overwhelmed by the other Monarchs. The Monarch card being in play should shake up the Pauper meta that can become stagnant if a stalemate is created.
Do you think the common Monarch cards have a place in Pauper?
Will you be using any of these, and if so, in what decks?
Keeping the monarchy can be difficult in multiplayer, but since you can't take combat damage before your end step they will at worst cantrip. Unless you are losing badly already I think you can probably get the monarchy back on your turn if you lost it. Giving opponents cards sucks, but red pauper is desperate enough for a temple bell sort of effect
Will definitely be running thorn of the black rose in my mono-black control and entourage of trest in my garruk's packleader
So far I am still liking the idea of play the 3 Jund creatures in Scarland Thrinax. It will be difficult to take the monarch from me in the token deck. I will just have to watch out for fliers. Having 3 more creatures that draw me cards will be a boon for that deck and really keep things flowing.
I'm really interested to see what this mechanic does for the Pauper format. It looks fun on paper, but the liability of giving opponents access to repeatable draw is very real. My initial thoughts is that this is a good option for aggressive decks that can reliably get some damage through. Control decks may not have the resources to re-gain the monarchy after the inevitable loss. The catch with these cards is that one needs to accept that the monarchy will change hands and other players will draw cards. But the benefit is that damage gets spread around to whoever has it, and there is potential for multiple extra draws over the course of the game.
EDH Decks:
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
Tajic, Blade of the Legion
Oloro, Ageless Ascetic
Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
Purphoros, God of the Forge
Ezuri, Renegade Leader 1v1
Prossh, Skyraider of Kher 1v1
Hythonia the Cruel
Trying to build:
Jenara, Asura of War
Designing a Custom Set:
Clash of the Cultures: 5 Wedges, 5 Cultures
Providing Artwork for:
Archester: Frontier of Steam
A series of seven articles using Magic to explore the very stuff of the Universe!
"At least for those who can play cards, their present incarnation is not quite wasted."
[Click here for the articles!]