Not the Monarch (Budget under £30) by godsword

Format: Commander

Commander: Garland, Royal Kidnapper

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 32

Deck overview

This Dimir control deck turns your opponents' resources against them through creature theft, reanimation, and combat redirection. Led by Garland, Royal Kidnapper, the deck introduces the monarch mechanic to trigger continuous creature theft, while buffing stolen creatures and preventing opponents from sacrificing them in response. In the early game, cheap mana artifacts accelerate deployment so you can cast Garland or setup pieces on Turn 4. Mid-game turns focus on disrupting opponents with goad effects like Bloodthirsty Blade and Coercive Impetus, forcing opposing armies to fight each other while you accumulate cards with engines like Rhystic Study and Satoru, the Infiltrator. In the late game, the deck casts massive theft and reanimation bombs like Sepulchral Primordial, The Cyber-Controller, and an overloaded Cyclonic Rift to assemble an overwhelming army and finish off weakened opponents through combat.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Aberrant Return
  • 1 Agent of Treachery
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Bloodthirsty Blade
  • 1 Bringer of the Last Gift
  • 1 Buzz Bots
  • 1 Chameleon, Master of Disguise
  • 1 Changing Loyalty
  • 1 Chasm Skulker
  • 1 Choked Estuary
  • 1 Coercive Impetus
  • 1 Come Back Wrong
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Consuming Aberration
  • 1 Counterspell
  • 1 Cunning Rhetoric
  • 1 Cyclonic Rift
  • 1 Darkwater Catacombs
  • 1 Desertion
  • 1 Didn't Say Please
  • 1 Dimir Aqueduct
  • 1 Dream Harvest
  • 1 Endless Obedience
  • 1 Evolving Wilds
  • 1 Extract from Darkness
  • 1 Feed the Swarm
  • 1 Fellwar Stone
  • 1 Fetid Pools
  • 1 Garland, Royal Kidnapper
  • 1 Grim Hireling
  • 1 Gyruda, Doom of Depths
  • 1 H.E.R.B.I.E. Scout Unit
  • 1 Hithlain Rope
  • 1 Hostage Taker
  • 13 Island
  • 1 Jet Medallion
  • 1 Keiga, the Tide Star
  • 1 Kitsune, Dragon's Daughter
  • 1 Mind Flayer
  • 1 Mind Stone
  • 1 Minion's Return
  • 1 Mirrormade
  • 1 Myriad Landscape
  • 1 Necrogen Communion
  • 1 Nephalia Smuggler
  • 1 Pain 101
  • 1 Parasitic Impetus
  • 1 Propaganda
  • 1 Renegade Silent
  • 1 Rhystic Study
  • 1 Sapphire Medallion
  • 1 Satoru, the Infiltrator
  • 1 Scrawling Crawler
  • 1 Sepulchral Primordial
  • 1 Shark Shredder, Killer Clone
  • 1 Shield Broker
  • 1 Siphon Insight
  • 1 Sly Instigator
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Solemn Simulacrum
  • 1 Spinal Embrace
  • 1 Subjugate the Hobbits
  • 1 Sunken Hollow
  • 14 Swamp
  • 1 Talisman of Dominance
  • 1 Taskmaster, Mercenary Mimic
  • 1 Terramorphic Expanse
  • 1 The Cyber-Controller
  • 1 The Master, Mesmerist
  • 1 Thief of Sanity
  • 1 Treacherous Urge
  • 1 Underworld Dreams
  • 1 Vislor Turlough
  • 1 Volatile Stormdrake
  • 1 Wayfarer's Bauble