THE MONARCH FORMAT
Essentially, monarch combines elements of EDH, Duels 2015 and Tribal Wars into a hybrid format where creature types and rarity matter. EDH is a great solution for all the junk rares you accumulate and nobody wants, but what about the commons? Anyone that opens lots of product will accumulate commons en masse with nothing really to do with most of them. Monarch attempts to help put those to use while simultaneously making a format that plays similar to the 4-of formats, but that shouldn't be as pricey as even modern.
Why Monarch? Well initially I wanted to extend out the medieval socioeconomic trend that was going, so pauper -> peasant -> noble, and I thought a king would be the next logical step, but "monarch" sounded a lot better. Then I decided to add themes that I enjoy a lot (such as tribal) along with some of the unpredictability that others enjoys from things like EDH, throw it against the wall and see what stuck.
DECK CONSTRUCTION
Deck construction is similar to EDH, but a little different. Follow the rules below when building a deck:
- Decks must be exactly 100 cards including the monarch (your monarch card + 99 others)
- Choose a legendary rare or mythic rare creature to be your monarch
- Creatures must match the monarch's color identity, as well as share at least one of the monarch's creature types (the only exception to this rule is Adaptive Automaton, as long as its controller names one of the monarch's creature types as it enters)
- If using any cards with the tribal supertype, they also must share a creature type with the monarch
- Mistform Ultimus and any card with the keyword changeling can be used regardless of what the monarch's creature type is
- Not counting basic lands, a deck may contain up to:
- 4 copies of any given common card
- 4 copies of any given uncommon card
- 3 copies of any given rare card
- 2 copies of any given mythic rare card
- Like in the pauper format, rarity is determined by the card's lowest printed rarity
- Decks may contain only 1 copy of a card with the legendary supertype, even if its not mythic rare
PLANESWALKER MONARCHS
There are five planeswalker cards that can be used as the commander in EDH decks. They are also legal to be used as the monarch, but since they aren't creatures, they do not have creature types. Listed below are the only five noncreature planeswalker cards that are legal as monarchs, as well as what creature types they are considered to be for the monarch format:
SIDEBOARDING
Sideboards are optional and may consist of up to 10 cards. Players should agree before the first game starts whether sideboarding between games will be allowed or not.
HOW TO PLAY
Players start with 30 life. There is no commander damage for the monarch. The monarch is considered a commander for all intents and purposes and can be returned to the command zone when leaving the battlefield if the controller chooses.
BANNED/RESTRICTED LISTS
Every healthy format needs a banlist to keep things from blowing up. We're starting with the EDH banlist plus a few more, and we'll go from there, unbanning or banning as the format grows. Sometimes restricting some cards could thwart power combos well enough rather than outright banning. Be sure to post below if you think something should be on the list, or should be moved from one list to the other.
BANNED
any card with the card type "Conspiracy" or that references Ante
Amulet of Quoz
Ancestral Recall
Balance
Biorhythm
Black Lotus
Braids, Cabal Minion
Bronze Tablet
Chaos Orb
Coalition Victory
Channel
Contract from Below
Darkpact
Demonic Attorney
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
Erayo, Soratami Ascendant
Falling Star
Fastbond
Gifts Ungiven
Griselbrand
Jeweled Bird
Karakas
Library of Alexandria
Limited Resources
Mox Emerald
Mox Jet
Mox Pearl
Mox Ruby
Mox Sapphire
Mystical Tutor
Necropotence
Painter's Servant
Panoptic Mirror
Rebirth
Recurring Nightmare
Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
Shahrazad
Sliver Hivelord
Sliver Legion
Sliver Overlord
Sundering Titan
Sway of the Stars
Tempest Efreet
Time Vault
Time Walk
Tinker
Tolarian Academy
Trade Secrets
Upheaval
Worldfire
Yawgmoth's Bargain
RESTRICTED
Badlands
Bayou
Brainstorm
Coat of Arms
Mana Crypt
Mana Vault
Plateau
Protean Hulk
Rhystic Study
Savannah
Scrubland
Sensei's Divining Top
Show and Tell
Sol Ring
Sylvan Primordial
Taiga
Timetwister
Tropical Island
Tundra
Underground Sea
Urza's Incubator
Volcanic Island
