Man, I don't think people give their players enough credit. This is no more confusing than other unique mechanics. And it doesn't create any more difficult situations than DFCs do. Or, people that check Gatherer on their phones for oracle text or updated creature types. Simple explanations, super easy to understand, and for newer players, leave a Monarch emblem on the table during the draft so players can read it if they're unfamiliar. Cube is pretty relaxed. Someone reading the card during the draft can simply ask about Monarch, and it'll be answered. Same way that any other questions or checking the backs of DFCs impact the draft. Which is to say, not at all.
More to the point, having to explain a card once isn't the same as being difficult to understand. Monarch may require explanation but it's not difficult to understand; it's like an enchantment that gets passed around the table. We've had similar effects before. Protection's the opposite; it uses mechanics that are already in the game, but it's so hard to understand that people need an acronym to help remember what it does.
Agreed. If Monarch was complicated in addition to requiring an explanation, it would be a harder pill to swallow. But literally all you have to do is show them the Monarch token and the rest is simple and intuitive.
As an aside, I think this Monarch mechanic is totally awesome. It creates a really interesting subgame when it's down, and I think it'll be a blast to see integrated into cube games.
The WCS for the Lich is that it gets bolted in response to its trigger, so you don't get your edict, that causes you to lose monarch on the next turn and not be able to get it back, and your opponent's card draw lets him keep control of the monarchy. That's pretty bad. Still a good card, but it will occasionally mess up your planning if you have a thin margin of error.
The WCS for the Lich is that it gets bolted in response to its trigger, so you don't get your edict, that causes you to lose monarch on the next turn and not be able to get it back, and your opponent's card draw lets him keep control of the monarchy. That's pretty bad. Still a good card, but it will occasionally mess up your planning if you have a thin margin of error.
I have mixed feelings on this guy. While I do think it'll be good if you can keep swapping the monarchy back and forth with your opponent, you will also be giving your opponent extra card draw to do so. Could be fun and may warrant testing to see how it actually plays out.
Make no mistake, the idea is to keep the Monarch. Which should be relatively easy to do since you get a body and kill a creature when it resolves. But if it does start changing hands, the Lich has some built-in ways to make those exchanges asymmetrical.
It reminds me of the old Jinxed cards that changed ownership based on game actions but were designed to be asymmetrical for the card's owner. Doesn't seem like that far of a deviation from Magic mechanics that have existed for years.
I would hope that if you're the only person playing monarch cards (and in cube, that probably means 1 to your opponent's 0), monarch benefits you more than your opponent. That's a really weird problem to have with the card.
This card sort of flew under the radar for me. I think it's a miss but it's really quite solid and wouldn't fault anyone for testing it. Getting extra monarch triggers is going to be savage but the card is far from dead when behind.
My problem isn't that this benefits the player playing it more.....obviously....but rather that the benefit this provides is game-warping for decks that can protect that advantage. If both players have the ability to take over the monarch role outside of having to deal combat damage then this effect is great, but this is unlikely to be the case in cubes that will run a couple monarch cards at most. Monarch (in cube) reads if you can't get through I bury you in card advantage. I may be underestimating how easy it is for opposing decks to get through and steal the monarch, but anyone playing this correctly isn't going to play it into a board state where they are likely to lose it and they will build their deck to protect it Gideon Jura, Forbid, etc.
That's weird I think red is the color that the monarch effect would be best in, the deck with enough offense that it doesn't care if you get cards as long as it does.
Small test sample, but it seems to be the best black true 5-drop yet. In practice you drop it when you're not behind, and if you can play defence for even one turn you're in really good shape to win the game.
I'm mostly concerned with the nature of edict effects, the crown being stolen, and its low toughness. Can you share how the card usually plays out?
You play the card, they lose their critter and you become monarch (and immediately draw). If they want to get into a fight over monarch, its a fight they lose because the edict effect re-triggers every time you become the monarch. This aspect makes a mechanic that is potentially symmetrical and makes it asymmetrical in your favor.
It's basically just a black 3-for-1 with other potential upside. The WCS of sweep board and attack you with a manland stealing Monarch has not showed up yet (with the Lich) but he gives you the tools to make the effect far more favorable, and well worth the risk.
It's also a zombie for the purposes of Gravecrawler.
Overall with the Monarch mechanic, I think you can estimate that you'll draw at least 2 cards for each one the opponent does on average ...maybe better. This is even more lopsided with the Lich because of the extra edict effects each time you retake monarch.
Played this card personally for the first time last night and I was incredibly impressed:
I was running an esper midrange deck/temp deck with Lick, Tasigur, and Meloku as my curve toppers along with a bunch of small value/aggressive creatures in white and black. I also had Bitterblossom and a good suite of removal/disruption.
Game 1: Cast Lich on turn 4 (mana rock) with 3 fairy tokens on the field. They lost their only creature to the edict effect and I won the game with beats in three turns as they were never able to stabilize due to me always having a counter/kill spell. Drawing three cards off of monarch really sealed the game.
Game 2: Cast Lich late game (turn 6-7) to take out a creature. One monarch draw. Next turn my opponent cast treachery on the Lich, beat me with a shadow guy so I had to sack my only other creature to the edict. I was able to kill Treachery with disenchant to get my Lich back but wasn't able to build enough of a board presence to get monarch back. I lost that game in short order.
Game 3: My opponent cast Bribery (strapped to an Arcane Savant) and stole Lich out of my deck. I was able to kill Lich and get it back with a reanimate spell after my opponent drew a couple cards. The game was drawn out but ultimately he was able to get Lich back on his side with Treachery (again ugh) and beat me to death with the 4 power Zombie.
When I was able to resolve Lich the game got WAY easier to win. When my opponent managed to steal/cheat my Lich into play on his side it instantly became an uphill battle. All told I was immensely impressed by this creature, even when it was used against me. There definitely seemed to be a strong advantage to the player that gets monarch first. I think this card will be in my cube for a very long time.
I think monarch is a really interesting mechanic because it changes the way you approach your decisions, similar to planeswalkers. You have to consider swinging in, but leaving yourself exposed.
Lich is an awesome card with enough value to create a big swing. Not always a game winner, but usually worth including.
I'm really happy to hear such great results. I was interested in this card but immediately biased against it. After opening my mind a little, it does seem like a fantastic addition.
I got wrecked by this guy as an aggro-curve topper in Mardu, twice. Losing a creature, facing a four power threat and then having the opponent draw a card is a tough thing to overcome. The 2 toughness was not a factor in either game. Good recommendation!
thats my cube
More to the point, having to explain a card once isn't the same as being difficult to understand. Monarch may require explanation but it's not difficult to understand; it's like an enchantment that gets passed around the table. We've had similar effects before. Protection's the opposite; it uses mechanics that are already in the game, but it's so hard to understand that people need an acronym to help remember what it does.
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As an aside, I think this Monarch mechanic is totally awesome. It creates a really interesting subgame when it's down, and I think it'll be a blast to see integrated into cube games.
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That's weird I think red is the color that the monarch effect would be best in, the deck with enough offense that it doesn't care if you get cards as long as it does.
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You play the card, they lose their critter and you become monarch (and immediately draw). If they want to get into a fight over monarch, its a fight they lose because the edict effect re-triggers every time you become the monarch. This aspect makes a mechanic that is potentially symmetrical and makes it asymmetrical in your favor.
It's basically just a black 3-for-1 with other potential upside. The WCS of sweep board and attack you with a manland stealing Monarch has not showed up yet (with the Lich) but he gives you the tools to make the effect far more favorable, and well worth the risk.
It's also a zombie for the purposes of Gravecrawler.
Overall with the Monarch mechanic, I think you can estimate that you'll draw at least 2 cards for each one the opponent does on average ...maybe better. This is even more lopsided with the Lich because of the extra edict effects each time you retake monarch.
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I was running an esper midrange deck/temp deck with Lick, Tasigur, and Meloku as my curve toppers along with a bunch of small value/aggressive creatures in white and black. I also had Bitterblossom and a good suite of removal/disruption.
Game 1: Cast Lich on turn 4 (mana rock) with 3 fairy tokens on the field. They lost their only creature to the edict effect and I won the game with beats in three turns as they were never able to stabilize due to me always having a counter/kill spell. Drawing three cards off of monarch really sealed the game.
Game 2: Cast Lich late game (turn 6-7) to take out a creature. One monarch draw. Next turn my opponent cast treachery on the Lich, beat me with a shadow guy so I had to sack my only other creature to the edict. I was able to kill Treachery with disenchant to get my Lich back but wasn't able to build enough of a board presence to get monarch back. I lost that game in short order.
Game 3: My opponent cast Bribery (strapped to an Arcane Savant) and stole Lich out of my deck. I was able to kill Lich and get it back with a reanimate spell after my opponent drew a couple cards. The game was drawn out but ultimately he was able to get Lich back on his side with Treachery (again ugh) and beat me to death with the 4 power Zombie.
When I was able to resolve Lich the game got WAY easier to win. When my opponent managed to steal/cheat my Lich into play on his side it instantly became an uphill battle. All told I was immensely impressed by this creature, even when it was used against me. There definitely seemed to be a strong advantage to the player that gets monarch first. I think this card will be in my cube for a very long time.
Lich is an awesome card with enough value to create a big swing. Not always a game winner, but usually worth including.
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