Last updated on December 20, 2025
Aragorn, King of Gondor | Illustration by Yongjae Choi
Greetings, fellow planeswalkers. Are you feeling regal and noble today? We’re going to discuss how you can become the monarch in EDH, the best commanders to do it, and how to take advantage of it.
Being the monarch is a dangerous position in Magic, as some not-so-loyal subjects can stab you in the back. Defending your title is almost as important as claiming it!
What Are Monarch Commanders in MTG?
Kenrith, the Returned King | Illustration by Kieran Yanner
Monarch commanders are legendary creatures that can make you the monarch, or have ways to profit from the monarch mechanic. You can build your entire deck knowing that you’ll become the monarch during a sizable portion of the game, and you can build in ways to defend the title or ways to get it back.
Having this effect coming straight from the command zone offers a lot of small advantages – you can become the monarch whenever it’ll benefit you the most; if you lose the monarch and can’t get it back by attacking, you can cast a card that’ll make you the monarch again or recast your commander from the command zone.
You won’t find too many monarch commanders outside of Magic sets like Lord of the Rings and Conspiracy: Take the Crown, so some entries here are a bit of a reach.
#13. Denethor, Stone Seer
It’s a stretch to include Denethor, Stone Seer as a monarch commander, but hey, at least you have an interesting mana sink by sacrificing Denethor, becoming the monarch, and casting them again to scry 2.
I’d rather include Denethor in a deck that wants to be the monarch at all times, as a way to block early and recover the lost title later.
#12. Garland, Royal Kidnapper
Garland, Royal Kidnapper plays a strange game in giving the monarch to an opponent, but the kidnapping goes in full swing with the substantial boost. If you like controlling your opponent's creatures and using them against them like with Become the Pilot or Spirit Away, have fun being the bad guy because players come after you hard when you kidnap their creatures.
#11. Faramir, Steward of Gondor
Faramir, Steward of Gondor doesn’t make you the monarch right away, so you need to work a little to get it. But once you are the monarch, you’re getting two extra 1/1 creatures to hold that position, and more if you have any token-doubling synergies. And if you lose it, you can recover either by attacking or by casting a 4-drop legend.
Think of it like this: Every 4-mana legend you cast can bring two 1/1 bodies.
#10. The Ninth Doctor + Clara Oswald
Like Obeka, Splitter of Seconds, this combination of commanders lets you enjoy more upkeep steps, and that gets a lot better with the Court enchantments. The Ninth Doctor can grant you an extra upkeep step, and Clara Oswald doubles that trigger while adding another color to your deck, like green or black. And having a 2/4 haste coming from the command zone isn’t the worst way to recover the monarchy.
#9. Starscream, Power Hungry / Starscream, Seeker Leader
Here’s a commander that rewards you for being the monarch in a different way. Whenever you draw a card while wearing the crown, Starscream, Power Hungry will make someone lose 2 life, and you’ll gain life if you have cards like Exquisite Blood in play.
That can be a strong combo with cards like Greed or cards that let you draw X cards and pay X life. As the monarch, you can damage foes for 4 a turn. If you lose the monarch, you can attempt to get it back the next turn with Starscream, Seeker Leader.
Starscream is a mono-black commander, though, so you’ll lose out on many monarch payoff cards.
#8. O-Kagachi, Vengeful Kami
O-Kagachi, Vengeful Kami has a few good aspects for being a monarch commander. First, this 5-color commander gives you access to all the monarch cards.
It also lives up to its vengeful reputation: If someone takes the monarchy from you, they risk getting hit the next turn and you get to exile their best target… and it's hard to block a 6/6 flying trampler!
Leaving you as the monarch isn’t a good option for your foes, but attempting to take the monarchy from you is also bad.
#7. Éowyn, Shieldmaiden
Éowyn, Shieldmaiden can give you two 2/2 humans with trample and haste, and that’s an awesome way of recovering the monarch title should you lose it. Éowyn's a Jeskai commander that rewards you for going wide because you’ll draw a card if you have six humans. It’s a hard board to attack into once assembled, and that’s usually what monarch players want.
#6. Obeka, Splitter of Seconds
By itself, Obeka, Splitter of Seconds can give you at least two extra upkeep steps, and that’s awesome with cards that give you beneficial upkeep triggers.
Among monarch-related cards, the best would be ones from the Courts cycle: With Court of Ambition in play and two extra upkeeps, you can make everyone discard two cards or lose 6 life two additional times, and that’s only one Court.
You’re already building your deck around attacking freely with your Grixis commander, so getting the monarch back should be fairly easy if you lose it.
#5. Éomer, King of Rohan
In an Éomer, King of Rohan deck, you want a lot of humans and ways to benefit from being the monarch. It’s interesting that you can make another player the monarch rather than taking the title for yourself, as you can incentivize players to attack each other and play politics.
Because of its fairly high mana value, Éomer, King of Rohan‘s place is great as a value creature in the 99 of human decks that want to play with the monarch ability. If Éomer is your Boros commander, you can blink it to take advantage of the enters trigger and grow Éomer when you have a bigger board.
#4. Kenrith, the Returned King
Kenrith, the Returned King is an awesome commander that can play all the monarch staples, all the Courts, and more. Plus, since it has all those activated abilities, you’ll never run out of gas. Kenrith can reanimate a creature to hold on to the monarchy, as well as give your creatures haste and trample to retake the crown.
#3. Jared Carthalion, True Heir
Jared Carthalion, True Heir makes one of your opponents the monarch the turn it comes in, so it’s already an incentive to stir up combat. Getting the monarch back makes this Naya commander much stronger, becoming an excellent attacker or blocker.
#2. Queen Marchesa
Not only will Queen Marchesa make you the monarch, but a deathtouch creature defends and contests it well, so players will think twice before attacking/blocking you.
If you’re not the monarch, you get an extra hasty deathtouch assassin to retake the role, plus Queen Marchesa of course. A Mardu commander gives you access to plenty of good instant-speed tricks and removal to keep your foes from attacking you.
#1. Aragorn, King of Gondor
Aragorn, King of Gondor, like Kenrith, is the Return of the King, or the monarch in this case. A Jeskai color identity isn’t ideal for a monarch commander but covers plenty of monarch staples. You get the crown when you play them, and a very relevant ability when you’re the monarch. Aragorn's also good at recovering the lost title and defending it.
Best Monarch Commander Payoffs
Being the monarch and holding that condition is a game-winning strategy in itself, but there are some things you can do to take further advantage of this designation:
These are some cards that’ll make you the monarch and give you further benefits as long as you are the monarch:
The Courts are enchantments that’ll give you some benefit every turn, and a much stronger benefit if you’re the monarch. These are some of the better ones:
You’re drawing a bunch of cards while you’re holding onto the monarchy, and there are plenty of effects that reward you for drawing more cards:
Y'shtola Rhul is a unique card that gives you a free flicker, but more importantly, an extra end step which happens to also be the step in which you draw a card for being the monarch.
Another aspect to look for is that, when you are the monarch, players will try to attack you at all costs. Cards like these can put your opponents at a disadvantage if they strive too hard to attack you:
Finally, if you want a backup plan in case you can’t reclaim the monarchy, you can always play Narset, Parter of Veils or Faerie Mastermind.
Commandering Conclusion
Faramir, Steward of Gondor | Illustration by Anna Podedworna
Although it can ruin some 1v1 games, the monarch is an interesting ability in Commander games. You become the monarch and draw two cards a turn, but you can be attacked by three other players, so there’s a great risk.
Being the monarch is huge as the game goes on and you have fewer adversaries, and it’s a great late-game mechanic to boost control decks.
Which are your favorite monarch commanders and decks? Let me know in the comments section below, or let’s discuss it over on the Draftsim Discord. Thank you for reading guys, and I’ll see you around.
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