The monarch is a designation a player holds, not a permanent on the battlefield. There is no monarch in a game until a card makes someone the monarch, and once there is one, two things are true for as long as that player holds it: "At the beginning of the monarch's end step, that player draws a card" and "Whenever a creature deals combat damage to the monarch, its controller becomes the monarch" (Comprehensive Rules 725.2). Only one player can be the monarch at a time, and as a player becomes the monarch the current monarch stops being it (725.3); the title outlives the card that created it. It moves in three ways: a creature deals combat damage to the monarch, another effect makes a different player the monarch, or the monarch leaves the game and the crown passes on (725.4). That makes the monarch the most political mechanic in Commander. It is an extra card every turn cycle for whichever player can defend it, and a standing invitation for everyone else to attack.
This guide is part of our MTG keywords and mechanics glossary, the index of every mechanic guide on Mana Grove.
Below: exactly how you become, keep and lose the monarch, what the crown does not do, every Commander-legal card that creates it, and the part no rules page covers, how to play around a crown at a four-player table, all read from our card database.
The rule, line by line
The monarch has its own section of the Comprehensive Rules, and it is short enough to quote in full.
Rule 725.1
The monarch is a designation a player can have. There is no monarch in a game until an effect instructs a player to become the monarch.
Rule 725.2
There are two inherent triggered abilities associated with being the monarch. These triggered abilities have no source and are controlled by the player who was the monarch at the time the abilities triggered. This is an exception to rule 113.8. The full texts of these abilities are "At the beginning of the monarch's end step, that player draws a card" and "Whenever a creature deals combat damage to the monarch, its controller becomes the monarch."
Rule 725.3
Only one player can be the monarch at a time. As a player becomes the monarch, the current monarch ceases to be the monarch.
Rule 725.4
If the monarch leaves the game, the active player becomes the monarch at the same time as that player leaves the game. If the active player is leaving the game or if there is no active player, the next player in turn order who can become the monarch becomes the monarch. If no player still in the game can become the monarch, the game continues with no monarch.
Rule 725.5
If the result of a continuous effect generated by a static ability is determined based on who is currently the monarch, but there is no monarch in the game as that effect begins to apply, that effect does nothing until a player becomes the monarch.
How the monarch actually works
Becoming the monarch
An effect has to say so. Most monarch cards do it as they enter: Court of Grace and its nine sibling Courts read "When this enchantment enters, you become the monarch", Palace Jailer reads "When this creature enters, you become the monarch", and Queen Marchesa reads "When Queen Marchesa enters, you become the monarch". A few make it an activated cost, such as Throne of the High City, which taps and sacrifices itself for {4} to crown you. The moment you become the monarch, the previous monarch stops being one (725.3). Nothing is destroyed, countered or exiled; the title simply moves.
The draw
"At the beginning of the monarch's end step, that player draws a card." Three details matter. It is the monarch's own end step, so you draw once per turn cycle, on your turn. The ability "has no source" (725.2), so nothing that shuts off a permanent's abilities touches it. And it is controlled by whoever was the monarch when it triggered, so if you are the monarch as your end step begins, you draw even if the title somehow moves before the trigger resolves. The timing has a practical edge: become the monarch during your main phase and you draw that very turn. Become the monarch after your end step has begun and the trigger has already passed, so you wait a full turn cycle for the first card.
Losing the monarch
"Whenever a creature deals combat damage to the monarch, its controller becomes the monarch." Every word is load-bearing. It has to be a creature, and it has to be combat damage: a burn spell to the face moves nothing. It has to be dealt to the monarch as a player, so combat damage to a planeswalker or a battle they control does not count. Damage that is prevented was never dealt, so a fog keeps the crown. And the damage only needs to be dealt, not to cost life: a creature with infect still deals combat damage, it just produces poison counters instead of life loss (120.3b), so it takes the crown all the same. Commander damage is combat damage to a player, so it takes the crown too.
The crown outlives the card
The monarch is a designation (725.1). Exile the Court that crowned you, sacrifice the Throne, lose Palace Jailer to a removal spell: you are still the monarch. This is the single most common misunderstanding at the table, and it cuts both ways. Killing the creature that made your opponent the monarch does nothing to the monarchy. Only combat damage to the monarch (725.2), or an effect that makes someone else the monarch (725.3), moves it.
When the monarch leaves the game
Rule 725.4 keeps the crown in the game when its holder is eliminated. The active player becomes the monarch, or the next player in turn order who can, and the game only continues without a monarch if nobody can hold it. In a four-player game, knocking out the monarch on your own turn hands you the crown for free.
"As long as you're the monarch"
Several cards have static abilities that check the crown, such as Dawnglade Regent, which gives your permanents hexproof while you hold it, and Archon of Coronation, under which damage does not cause you to lose life. Rule 725.5 covers the edge case: if there is no monarch at all when such an effect would apply, it does nothing until someone becomes the monarch.
What the monarch does not do
- It is not a permanent. It cannot be destroyed, exiled, countered, copied or bounced, and removing the card that created it changes nothing.
- It does not move on noncombat damage. Burn, fight, "deals damage to each opponent" triggers: none of them take the crown.
- It does not move on damage to a planeswalker or a battle. The rule says "the monarch", meaning the player.
- It does not stack. One monarch, one card per turn cycle. Two Courts under your control still draw you one card.
- It does not give anyone else a card. Only the monarch draws, on the monarch's own end step.
- It does not exist until created. Cards that say "if there is no monarch", such as Crown of Gondor and Archivist of Gondor, only work in a game where nobody has claimed it yet.
- It is not a Standard or Modern mechanic. None of the 60 monarch cards in our card database is legal in either format. All of them are legal in Commander and Legacy.
Every card that creates the monarch
Our card database holds 60 Commander-legal cards that refer to the monarch: 52 make you the monarch, 5 hand the crown to a player you target or to an opponent, 1 gives it to whichever player it hits, and 2 only reward you for holding it. These are the ones Commander players run most, ordered by how often they appear in Commander decks, with the mana cost as printed.
| Card | Cost | Type | What it is doing in the deck |
|---|---|---|---|
| Court of Grace | {2}{W}{W} | Enchantment | A 1/1 flying Spirit each upkeep, or a 4/4 flying Angel while you are the monarch. The Angels defend the crown that makes them |
| Court of Garenbrig | {1}{G}{G} | Enchantment | Two +1/+1 counters each upkeep, doubled across your whole board while you hold the crown |
| Regal Behemoth | {4}{G}{G} | Creature | A 5/5 trampler that adds an extra mana of any colour every time you tap a land while you are the monarch |
| Court of Ambition | {2}{B}{B} | Enchantment | Each opponent loses 3 life or discards each upkeep, 6 life or two cards while you are the monarch |
| Queen Marchesa | {1}{R}{W}{B} | Legendary Creature | Deathtouch and haste, crowns you on entry, and makes a deathtouch haste Assassin every upkeep an opponent holds the crown. The archetypal monarch commander |
| Court of Cunning | {1}{U}{U} | Enchantment | Mills any number of players two cards each upkeep, ten while you are the monarch |
| Court of Vantress | {2}{U}{U} | Enchantment | Copies the best artifact or enchantment on the table each upkeep while you hold the crown |
| Forth Eorlingas! | {X}{R}{W} | Sorcery | X hasty trampling Knights, and the crown if any of your creatures connects this turn |
| Court of Ire | {3}{R}{R} | Enchantment | 2 damage to any target each upkeep, 7 while you are the monarch |
| Court of Locthwain | {2}{B}{B} | Enchantment | Steals the top card of an opponent's library each upkeep, and casts one of them free while you hold the crown |
| Skyline Despot | {5}{R}{R} | Creature | A 5/5 flier that makes another 5/5 flying Dragon every upkeep you are the monarch |
| Palace Jailer | {2}{W}{W} | Creature | Crowns you and exiles an opponent's creature "until an opponent becomes the monarch". Removal that lasts exactly as long as your defence does |
The complete list
Everything else in our card database that creates or cares about the monarch, grouped by what it does.
Enchantments that crown you as they enter: Court of Embereth, Court of Ardenvale, Court of Bounty, Grave Venerations, Marchesa's Decree, Fealty to the Realm, Fall from Favor and the Saga Oath of Eorl, which crowns you on its third chapter.
Creatures that crown you as they enter: Emberwilde Captain, Aragorn, King of Gondor, Champions of Minas Tirith, Dawnglade Regent, Archon of Coronation, Thorn of the Black Rose, Custodi Lich, Azure Fleet Admiral, Protector of the Crown, Knights of the Black Rose, Keeper of Keys, Crimson Fleet Commodore, Palace Sentinels, Entourage of Trest, Staunch Throneguard, Crown-Hunter Hireling, Okoye, Mighty and Adored, Canal Courier and Queen Mother Ramonda.
Creatures that crown you on a condition: Faramir, Steward of Gondor when a legendary creature with mana value 4 or more enters, Regal Sliver through every Sliver that enters, Nakia, Wakandan Operative when your commander enters, Archivist of Gondor when your commander deals combat damage and nobody holds the crown, and T'Chaka, Venerable King by exiling itself from your graveyard.
Artifacts, lands and spells: Throne of the High City, Crown of Gondor, Coin of Fate, Heart-Shaped Herb, King Solomon's Frogs, The Spear of Bashenga, Feast of Succession and Fight for the Throne.
Cards that hand the crown to someone else: Éomer, King of Rohan and Denethor, Stone Seer crown a target player, who can be you. Garland, Royal Kidnapper, Jared Carthalion, True Heir and M'Baku, Jabari Chieftain crown an opponent on purpose, then punish them for holding it. The double-faced Vehicle Starscream, Power Hungry crowns whichever player it deals combat damage to, if nobody is the monarch yet.
Cards that only reward the crown: Garrulous Sycophant drains each opponent at your end step while you are the monarch, and Throne Warden grows.
Want them sorted your way? Ask Scry for cards that make you the monarch in a particular colour, and it will search on what the card does rather than on the word monarch.
Strategy: the monarch is a decision, not a rule
Every page that explains the monarch stops at the rules. The interesting part starts after. The crown is a card a turn, which over a long Commander game is the strongest repeatable advantage on the table, and it comes with a target painted on you. Whether to take it, and when, is a real decision.
- Take it when you can keep it. Crown yourself on your own turn, after combat, with blockers untapped. You draw at that very end step (725.2), and the table needs a full turn cycle of attacks to take it away. Crowning yourself with an empty board on turn four hands three opponents a reason to attack you and a card for doing it.
- Deterrence beats walls. The crown moves on combat damage, so what protects it is whatever makes attacking you a losing trade. Deathtouch blockers are the classic: Queen Marchesa's Assassins and Thorn of the Black Rose trade up with anything. Vigilance lets your attackers stay home as blockers. Attack taxes such as Ghostly Prison and Propaganda make every swing at you cost mana. And because prevented damage was never dealt, one Fog, Darkness or Teferi's Protection held in hand keeps the crown through an alpha strike. Aetherize and Settle the Wreckage go further and punish the attempt.
- The table's answer is evasion, so count it. One evasive creature connecting once is enough. Before you take the crown, count the fliers, the menace creatures and the unblockable threats around the table, and whether you can block them. Keeper of Keys is the monarch deck's own version: at the beginning of your upkeep, if you are still the monarch, your creatures can't be blocked that turn. It defends the crown rather than reclaiming it: on a turn that begins with the crown already gone, the condition fails and it does nothing.
- Stealing it back is a two-for-one against Palace Jailer. The Jailer's exile lasts "until an opponent becomes the monarch". Take the crown from its controller and the exiled creature comes home. That single interaction is why experienced tables attack the Jailer's owner immediately.
- The crown costs life. Holding it means being attacked more than anyone else. Monarch decks want life gain, damage redirection such as Protector of the Crown, or Archon of Coronation's "damage doesn't cause you to lose life", which still lets the crown move but stops the attacks from killing you.
- If you cannot hold it, weaponise it. Custodi Lich forces a sacrifice every time you become the monarch, so trading the crown back and forth is card advantage for you. Knights of the Black Rose drains whoever takes it from you. Garland, Jared Carthalion and M'Baku give the crown to an opponent deliberately, paint the target on them, and profit while the table does the work.
The commanders that want all of this are the ones that crown you themselves: Queen Marchesa, Aragorn, King of Gondor, and any deck built around the Courts. Browse public decks to see how other players have built them, or start from the Commander hub.
Related keywords
- Menace: the cheapest evasion for stealing a crown, and the one to count before you take it.
- Vigilance: attack for the crown and still hold blockers back to keep it.
- Ward: protects the creature that crowned you, though the crown itself needs no protecting.
- Every MTG keyword and mechanic, explained: the full glossary.
Frequently asked questions
Can two players be the monarch at the same time?
No. "Only one player can be the monarch at a time. As a player becomes the monarch, the current monarch ceases to be the monarch" (725.3).
If the card that made me the monarch leaves the battlefield, am I still the monarch?
Yes. The monarch is a designation you hold (725.1), not an ability of the card. Removing Court of Grace, Palace Jailer or Throne of the High City changes nothing about who is the monarch.
Does combat damage to my planeswalker take the monarch away?
No. The trigger reads "Whenever a creature deals combat damage to the monarch" (725.2), and the monarch is a player. Damage to your planeswalkers or battles does not count.
Does commander damage take the crown?
Yes. Commander damage is combat damage dealt by a creature to a player, so it moves the monarch like any other combat damage.
Is the monarch the same as the initiative?
No, but they are built alike. The initiative is also a designation, it also moves when a creature deals combat damage to its holder, and it also has no source (726.1 and 726.2). The difference is the reward: the initiative's holder ventures into Undercity at the beginning of their upkeep instead of drawing a card, and taking the initiative ventures immediately.
Decide whether your deck wants the crown
Open your list in the deck builder and look at what defends you: deathtouch blockers, vigilance, attack taxes, fogs. If the answer is "a lot", a Court or two is close to free card advantage. If the answer is "nothing", the crown is a liability, and Grover can tell you which in plain language when you ask whether your deck can hold the monarch.
Create a free Mana Grove account to build with the full deck builder and format legality checks, see plans and pricing for more time with Grover, Scry and Tutor, browse the card database for the printed text of every card named above, and visit the Commander hub for more guides.
Sources
- Magic: The Gathering Comprehensive Rules, effective August 7, 2026: https://magic.wizards.com/en/rules. Read on September 20, 2026. Rule 725 (The Monarch) is quoted in full above; 726.1 and 726.2 (The Initiative), 113.8 (controller of a triggered ability) and 120.3b (damage from a source with infect) are cited.
- Mana Grove card database, MTGJSON build of September 14, 2026: the rules text, the mana cost, the type and the Commander, Standard, Modern and Legacy legality of every card named above, and the count of 60 Commander-legal cards that refer to the monarch. Commander play frequency is the deck-inclusion popularity rank carried in the same data.
This article is updated when the Comprehensive Rules change the monarch entry or when a set adds a monarch card. The date at the top is the last revision.