Monarch by Fghjkl

Format: Commander

Commander: Garland, Royal Kidnapper

Bracket: 2

Deck overview

This is a **theft-and-pillage** control deck commanded by Garland, Royal Kidnapper. The core loop is simple: put the monarch on an opponent, then steal the best creature they control every time an opponent becomes the monarch (including the initial ETB trigger). Stolen creatures get +2/+2 and cannot be sacrificed, turning the table's own threats against them. The deck layers in a dense **goad subtheme**-Bloodthirsty Blade, the Impetus cycle, Kang Dynasty, Sly Instigator-to force opponents to swing at each other while you accumulate their board. Secondary win paths involve mass reanimation (Bringer of the Last Gift, Sepulchral Primordial) and control-magic effects (Mind Flayer, Hostage Taker, Shield Broker) to dominate creature parity. The deck has **no infinite combos** and no fast combo clock; it wins through incremental combat damage with stolen, +2/+2-boosted creatures over a long, grindy game.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Aberrant Return
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Bloodthirsty Blade
  • 1 Bringer of the Last Gift
  • 1 Buzz Bots
  • 1 Chameleon, Master of Disguise
  • 1 Changing Loyalty
  • 1 Charcoal Diamond
  • 1 Charnel Serenade
  • 1 Chasm Skulker
  • 1 Choked Estuary
  • 1 Coercive Impetus
  • 1 Come Back Wrong
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Consuming Aberration
  • 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 Fake Your Own Death
  • 1 Feed the Swarm
  • 1 Fellwar Stone
  • 1 Fetid Pools
  • 1 Forgotten Creation
  • 1 Fungal Fortitude
  • 1 Garland, Royal Kidnapper
  • 1 Ghoulish Impetus
  • 1 Gyruda, Doom of Depths
  • 1 H.E.R.B.I.E. Scout Unit
  • 1 H.E.R.B.I.E., Lovable Robot
  • 1 Hithlain Rope
  • 1 Hostage Taker
  • 13 Island
  • 1 Kang Dynasty
  • 1 Keiga, the Tide Star
  • 1 Kitsune, Dragon's Daughter
  • 1 Millikin
  • 1 Mind Flayer
  • 1 Mind Stone
  • 1 Minion's Return
  • 1 Myriad Landscape
  • 1 Necrogen Communion
  • 1 Nephalia Smuggler
  • 1 Oft-Nabbed Goat
  • 1 Pain 101
  • 1 Parasitic Impetus
  • 1 Path of Ancestry
  • 1 Renegade Silent
  • 1 S.H.I.E.L.D. Flying Car
  • 1 Sepulchral Primordial
  • 1 Shark Shredder, Killer Clone
  • 1 Shield Broker
  • 1 Siphon Insight
  • 1 Sly Instigator
  • 1 Soaring Thought-Thief
  • 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 Vislor Turlough
  • 1 Volatile Stormdrake
  • 1 Wayfarer's Bauble