The Ultimate Guide to Kingdoms EDH

Last updated on February 27, 2024

Queen Marchesa | art by Kieran Yanner

One of the things that has kept me so hooked up on Magic for over a decade is its wide range of possibilities and homebrewing. There’s an absurd number of options for you to pick from, but even beyond that, it’s a very malleable game. It takes only to look at EDH itself, a format created by judges and players, to see just how far homebrews can go.

About ten years ago, I was unaware that the Archenemy format existed, so my friends and I came up with a format called Juggernaut that was an “all-against-one” format. I know a lot of people who’ve made up their own formats, twisting and bending Magic’s rules to find new and fun ways to play.

So today, let’s talk about a fan-made format variant that looks to bring back the casual gameplay of EDH: EDH Kingdoms.

What Is Kingdoms EDH?

Kenrith, the Returned King | Illustration by Kieran Yanner

Kingdoms EDH is a variant for the EDH format meant to add an extra level of roleplay and politics to the game. The variant is ideally played between six people, although it can also be played with five. All the players are assigned specific secret roles, each of which has a specific goal and win condition. These roles directly condition how each player goes about defeating the others, making everyone’s game strategy somewhat unique.

The roles are assigned by shuffling and distributing a set of basic lands plus an extra mountain. These six cards should be given face down to each player, and (with a few exceptions) are secret information until the end of the game. Players aren’t allowed to reveal their role until the game is completely over, even if they get eliminated.

The roles and their ultimate goal are as follows:

• Plains: The Monarch (previously called the king but monarch also considers the possibility of a queen). The monarch is the only role that’s actually revealed before the game starts. The entire table should know who the monarch is since essentially all their strategies revolve around them. The monarch’s goal is to eliminate all other players and be the last one standing. The only exception is if the monarch and the knight are the last two players standing, in which case the knight may reveal themself and they both win. The monarch always plays first and starts the game with a life total of 50.
• Forest: The Knight. The knight’s goal is to protect the monarch at all costs. The win condition for this role is if both they and the monarch remain as the only two players still standing. When that happens, the knight reveals their Forest card and the game is over.
• Mountain: The Bandits. Two of the players at the table receive a Mountain card. Their goal is to eliminate the monarch. As soon as the person wearing the crown is gone, the bandits reveal their Mountains and immediately win.
• Swamp: The Assassin. The simplest in its goals, the win condition for the assassin is to eliminate all the other players at the table. Of course, the assassin doesn’t need to get every kill shot, just so long as everyone else is dead.
• Island: The Usurper. The goal of the usurper is to deal the final killing blow to the monarch. Once this is done, both players switch roles. The player who was the usurper becomes the new monarch and gets their life back to 50, while the monarch becomes the new usurper and is left at a single life point. Players accommodate their win conditions accordingly (the bandits now want to kill the new monarch while the knight must protect them) and the game continues normally. If you only have five players, the role of the usurper can be left out.

Who Is Kingdoms EDH For?

This format variant is ideal for people who enjoy the more social and roleplay-style aspects of EDH. It almost completely shuts off competitive decks since you no longer want any quick win strategies or things that’ll take the entire table out (unless you’re the monarch) but rather decks that can respond to a variety of situations and threats. After all, you won’t know what role you get until after you’ve picked the deck you’ll be piloting.

This is essentially a variant for people who enjoy a more casual style of gameplay but with a very involved level of politics and roleplay. Think of it as a one of those board games that take a relatively long time but get some dumb laughs out of you and your friends.

Kingdoms EDH Legal Sets

Since this a completely fan-regulated variant for the official EDH format, any and all sets that are legal in EDH remain legal for Kingdoms. Every single set that isn’t silver-bordered (and maybe like half of the Unfinity cards? I consider the entire set as silver bordered, sorry) is legal. Of course, your group can always rule 0 to ban or allow sets as long as everyone agrees to it.

Kingdoms EDH Rules

Most of the overall Magic rules for this variant are the same as for regular EDH matches. Players start the game with 40 life and have a 99-card singleton deck helmed by a legendary creature in the command zone.

The only big changes for this variant are the monarch always going first and having 50 life and the specific win conditions for each role. The win conditions are as follows:

• The Monarch: must be the last player standing along with the knight. The knight actually making it to the end is optional.
• The Knight: the knight and the monarch must be the last two players at the table, in which case the knight reveals themself and the game is over.
• The Bandits: as soon as the monarch dies, the bandits instantly win the game.
• The Assassin: every other player must be eliminated, whether by their own hand or by other players.
• The Usurper: If they deal the killing blow to the monarch, they become the new monarch and adjust their win condition accordingly.

Kingdoms EDH Ban List

As a basic starting point, we can consider the ban list for Kingdoms to be the exact same as the ban list for regular EDH. The Commander ban list is:

• All 25 cards with the “conspiracy” card type.
• All nine cards that reference playing for “ante”.
• Any and all cards that Wizards of the Coast has banned from all formats for being racially or culturally offensive.
• Ancestral Recall
• Balance
• Biorhythm
• Black Lotus
• Braids, Cabal Minion
• Chaos Orb
• Coalition Victory
• Channel
• Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
• Erayo, Soratami Ascendant
• Falling Star
• Fastbond
• Flash
• Gifts Ungiven
• Golos, Tireless Pilgrim
• Griselbrand
• Hullbreacher
• Iona, Shield of Emeria
• Karakas
• Leovold, Emissary of Trest
• Library of Alexandria
• Limited Resources
• Lutri, the Spellchaser
• Mox Emerald
• Mox Jet
• Mox Pearl
• Mox Ruby
• Mox Sapphire
• Panoptic Mirror
• Paradox Engine
• Primeval Titan
• Prophet of Kruphix
• Recurring Nightmare
• Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
• Shahrazad
• Sundering Titan
• Sway of the Stars
• Sylvan Primordial
• Time Vault
• Time Walk
• Tinker
• Tolarian Academy
• Trade Secrets
• Upheaval
• Yawgmoth's Bargain

As always, your playgroup can rule 0 to unban any of the cards in this list.

Where to Play Kingdoms EDH?

As far as I’m aware, you can only play Kingdoms EDH with your friends or at your LGS. After all, this is a very casual and informal format.

Kingdoms EDH Decks

Unless you aim at making Kingdoms a regular playstyle among your group, I doubt you’ll invest the time and money necessary for building a deck specifically for this variant. However, there are a few tips that can work well when choosing decks.

Combo decks and decks that instantly eliminate all opponents, while technically viable, aren’t ideal. Not all roles benefit from that kind of strategy, and you won’t know what role you get until after you’ve picked your deck.

I’d personally argue in favor of combat-oriented and politics-oriented decks since they go really well with the theme of the variant, although decks with spellslinger strategies also work considerably well.

Group hug and group slug can both prove to be either really fun or really messy in this format, so play at your own risk.

Ultimately I’d argue in favor of balanced and versatile decks that can adapt to different needs, considering you’ll end up having different roles throughout different games.

Getting Started With Kingdoms EDH

There aren’t really any staples for this format since it’s a heavily casual and fan-made variant. Obviously, most EDH staples still work here. You can never go wrong with Sol Ring, after all.

That said, there are obviously some cards that’ll work better in such a political format. Things like Ghostly Prison and Propaganda can be great if you want to keep yourself alive until late in the game (which most roles want to do).

Cards that can build you a strong battlefield are also always great. Whether you’re the knight and need to take out everyone else as swiftly as possible, or you’re the bandit looking to overwhelm and take down the monarch in one swing, a strong field is always ideal.

If I had to choose certain decks for the format, I’d probably go with my Queen Marchesa deck. I’d aim for a reasonable balance between being able to build a strong attack force and having some unbreakable defenses. Most typal decks I think also work well in this case, since they similarly enable a strong board state for relatively minimal investment.

Kingdoms EDH Products

Kingdoms EDH is a completely fan made variant, and as such there aren’t any official products that cater to it. It ultimately plays very similarly to regular Commander. I’d argue that a match where everyone plays a precon deck can make the variant feel more fair and enhance the silliness of it.

Kingdoms EDH Communities

I haven’t found any active communities that specifically revolve around this format. You can jump onto Reddit or Discord and try to find players who enjoy it (we have our own Draftsim Discord server, for example). In terms of actually getting to play, you can always try your luck at your LGS and see if people join. Or you can find ways to force your friends into playing, which is what I’m gonna do myself.

Wrap Up

Propaganda | Illustration by Clint Cearley

If you love EDH because of its casual and political aspects, this format is for you. But if you like extremely linear and combo-heavy decks, I’d recommend you go looking elsewhere. I personally like variants like this one because they emphasize the roleplaying and silly aspects of EDH. Think of it like playing Carcassone or Catan but with Magic cards. Just sit down, fool around with your friends, and have a good laugh.

But enough about what I think. What do you think of this format? Have you ever played it? Did you enjoy it? What kind of deck would you bring if you were to play it? Are there any other formats or variants we should talk about? Leave a comment letting us know! And while you’re here, make sure to pay our Discord server a visit. There you’ll find an amazing community of MTG fans to share your hobby with!

That’s all from me for now. Have a good one, and I’ll see you next time!