Monarch Deck

A Monarch Deck utilizes the effects of the following monarch cards:
 * "Kuraz the Light Monarch"
 * "Mobius the Frost Monarch"
 * "Raiza the Storm Monarch"
 * "Caius the Shadow Monarch"
 * "Zaborg the Thunder Monarch"

This Deck is based on tribute summoning your Monarchs with ease to activating there effects to easily control the field. A great card used in this deck is Fiend's Sanctuary, which special summons a token that can be used for a tribute summon. Treeborn Frog can easily let you summon a monarch every turn (it can special summon itself from the graveyard during your standby phase whenever you don't control any spells or traps).

There are three monsters in this deck that can't be destroyed by battle Arcana Force 0 - The Fool, Marshmallon, and Spirit Reaper which make you vulnerable to piercing monsters.

Play Style
Monarch decks are highly aggressive and tend to be very powerful, simply because Monarchs destroy the opponent's assets just by appearing, and are high enough in ATK to be able to press their advantage and destroy nearly any lower-level monster the opponent may happen to use in response. Monarchs have no real weaknesses other than their insatiable need to generate tribute fodder for more Monarchs to be summoned and the fact that they cannot use their effects when Special Summoned (except for Kuraz).

Tribute Fodder
Generally good ways to generate tributes for Monarchs are as follows:


 * Tokens: Many tokens have restrictions on if or when they can be used as tributes, but some can be used quite easily.  Some of the better token generators for Monarchs include Fiend's Sanctuary, Dandylion, Stray Lambs and Goka, the Pyre of Malice.  Fiend's Sanctuary is probably the best of these in the short run because the token can be used immediately, but Goka, the Pyre of Malice generates a free token at the start of each turn and may wind up providing more fodder in the long run.
 * Special Summon From The Hand: Monsters that Special Summon themselves from the hand for Tribute fodder.  The better ones include Cyber Dragon (itself a powerful monster), Evil Hero Infernal Prodigy, Spell Striker, Vice Dragon and Gilasaurus.
 * Trap Monsters: These provide both Tribute Fodder as well as a line of defense if your opponent summons a strong monster.  Be wary of opponents who use destructive card effects, though, since they can be destroyed by effects that target either monsters or Traps.
 * D.D. Survivor and D.D. Scout Plane: When these cards are removed from play, they automatically return themselves to the field.  Use Dimensional Fissure or Macro Cosmos with these cards for endlessly reusable Tribute fodder.
 * Treeborn Frog: Endlessly revives itself as long as you control no Spells or Traps.  Difficult to use in conjunction with Trap Monsters but very handy if your opponent wipes out everything you control at once with cards like Judgment Dragon.
 * Level Stealer: Revives itself as long as a Monarch is on the field, by reducing the level of one Monarch on the field. Can be used in conjunction with Double Summon or even Ultimate Offering.
 * Destiny Hero - Malicious - Its effect lets you remove one in the Graveyard from play to Special Summon another from your Deck. It makes it a very useful card to have in your hand to use as discards for cards such as "Lightning Vortex"; after you use it, then remove it for its effect and Tribute it for a Monarch.
 * Spirit Reaper', Marshmallon, or Arcana Force 0 - The Fool - These cards cannot be destroyed in battle, making them good walls to use until you get the Monarch you need. There are other cards that have this ability, but these are the most easily splashable.
 * Soul Exchange or Brain Control: Lets you tribute an opponent's monster for the summoning of your Monarch, further increasing your field advantage. Tends to work best when used by Mobius the Frost Monarch.
 * Chain Summoning, Double Summon and Ultimate Offering: These cards allow multiple Normal Summons to occur in a single turn, very good for getting out Tribute Fodder and multiple Monarchs. If you lack sufficient tribute fodder, these cards can even allow you to tribute existing Monarchs one after another for new ones to devastate the opponent's field.

Counter-Strategies
Monarchs can be difficult to overcome due to the fact that they destroy cards simply by appearing, but there are still some good strategies against them. These include:


 * Divine Wrath, Forced Back, Solemn Judgment, Pulling the Rug, or Pollinosis: These cards can negate the summoning of a Monarch, destroying it or sending it back to the owner's hand.  Monarch users are at a great disadvantage when these are used, as they just used up one of their Tributes and may be left wide open upon losing it.
 * Mask of Restrict, Fog King, or Zombie World: Prevent monsters from being Tributed, making Monarch cards completely unusable. These cards can be a double-edged sword, so make sure you don't need to Tribute any of your own monsters to win. Zombie World, on the other hand, shouldn't hamper you, as you would likely use it in a Zombie Deck anyways.
 * By Order of the Emperor, Destiny Hero - Plasma and Skill Drain: Negates the effects of monsters on the Field. Your opponent will still be able to summon their Monarchs, but they won't be able to destroy cards upon their summoning.
 * Intercept: Lets you take control of a Monarch right when it gets summoned, a nasty surprise for most Monarch users.
 * Blast Held by a Tribute: Even more destructive than a "Mirror Force" since it also inflicts damage, but not as reliable as other methods of getting the better of Monarchs, since there is a chance that they will destroy this card before they attack.
 * Prime Material Dragon, Stardust Dragon and Destruction Jammer: Counteract effects that destroy cards.  Note that they won't be able to stop Raiza, Thestalos or Caius, since they don't destroy cards.
 * Turbo Warrior: His effect makes him immune to Monarch effects, & he has just enough attack power to stomp all of them.

=Apprentice Monarch= An alternative to a Monarch Control Deck is an Apprentice Monarch Deck, which uses cards like "Apprentice Magician", "Crystal Seer" and "Old Vindictive Magician" to gain the upper hand in a duel. "Old Vindictive Magician" destroys your opponent's monsters and "Crystal Seer" gives you extra cards, giving you more strategies to play with. "Apprentice Magician" summons those monsters in the Damage Step when your opponent can't do much about it. These monsters are also very good tribute materials for Monarchs.

There are many options to support the Monarchs; it really just depends on what works for those playing Monarch decks. However, the "Treeborn Frog" method seems to work the best, since you waste less resources to summon the Monarchs.

=Macro Monarch= Another alternative that is becoming popular is the Macro Monarch Deck. It is the most efficient Monarch type deck, and most effective against the current meta. And now with the New Ban-list, Raiza the Storm Monarch is no longer restricted, giving this deck back some lost power.

Macro Monarch Decks are extremely effective against graveyard-based Decks, such as "Tele-DAD", since they completely eliminate the Graveyard and can take advantage of the situation to revive tribute material to keep summoning Monarchs. This deck is also good against a lightsworn deck, if cards are sent to the Graveyard by the effect of lightsworn monsters, they will be removed from play instead.

Monster Cards

 * Dark Armed Dragon
 * Caius the Shadow Monarch
 * Raiza the Storm Monarch
 * Spirit Reaper
 * Marshmallon
 * Cyber Valley
 * D.D. Survivor
 * Gravekeeper' Spy
 * D.D. Warrior Lady
 * Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind

Spell Cards

 * Heavy Storm
 * Mystical Space Typhoon
 * Brain Control
 * Dimensional Fissure
 * Soul Exchange
 * Swords of Revealing Light

Trap Cards

 * Macro Cosmos
 * Mirror Force
 * Torrential Tribute
 * Solemn Judgment
 * Bottomless Trap Hole
 * Dimensional Prison

=Machine Monarch= This Deck is a mix of Machine and Monarchs, often using Jinzo instead of the other Monarchs, together with Caius and Dark Armed Dragon. This deck also revolves arround Geartown and the spell/trap destruction power of Mobius. A great strategy is to tribute summon Kuraz and destroy Geartown, you bring a Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon and you also draw a card.
 * I'm not sure what to replace the above with, but you CANNOT use Geartown's effect if it being destroyed wasn't the last thing to happen. Since Kuraz destroys and then the player(s) draw cards. It misses the timing.

Monster Cards

 * Dark Armed Dragon
 * Jinzo
 * Caius the Shadow Monarch
 * Cyber Dragon
 * Cyber Phoenix
 * Cyber Valley
 * Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive
 * Black Salvo
 * Nitro Synchron
 * Mobius the Frost Monarch
 * Kuraz the Light Monarch (works well combined with soul exchange for greater card advantage as kuraz cant attack the turn he is summoned anyway)

=Psychic Monarchs= Since release of "The Duelist Genesis" booster, there has been a new Monarch deck called Psychic Monarchs. Cards like "Krebons" and "Psychic Commander" stall with their effects, then you can tribute them for a Monarch or use them for a Synchro Summon. "Emergency Teleport" helps search both monsters.

However, with the March 2009 banlist and "Emergency Teleport's" limiting, this deck has become less effective.

=PsychoPlant Monarchs= PsychoPlant Monarchs focuses on the cards like Seed of Deception and Emergency Teleport to generate Monarch tribute fodder. Cards like Dark Verger can help generate extra fodder for the next turn or even be used to Synchro Summon. This is based off of the Psychic Monarchs but sense Emergency Teleport is now limited Seed of Deception serves as your extra E-tele. Miracle Fertilizer can help you bring out more tribute fodder or just an all out beatstick if you prefer it. Graceful Revival can help revive more tribute fodder that was already used with Seed of Deception. This deck creates amazing advantage with quick and easy to summon Monarch beatsticks. Good thing about this Monarch deck can play plant defense cards like Wall of Thorns can even be your second or third Mirror Force. This deck does tend to use cards that have similar effects to add utilty to this Monarch deck.

Monster Cards

 * Caius the Shadow Monarch
 * Mobius the Frost Monarch
 * Raiza the Storm Monarch
 * Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch
 * Dark Armed Dragon
 * Nettles
 * Dark Verger
 * Krebons
 * Psychic Commander
 * Treeborn Frog
 * Cyber Dragon
 * Twilight Rose Knight (Optional Synchro Summon support)
 * Marauding Captain (extra Twilight Rose Knight)
 * Mystic Tomato
 * Sangan
 * Cursed Fig

Spell Cards

 * Brain Control
 * Mind Control (Optional Synchro support)
 * Heavy Storm
 * Mystical Space Typhoon
 * Lightning Vortex
 * Monster Reborn
 * Seed of Deception
 * Emergency Teleport
 * Allure of Darkness
 * Reinforcement of the Army

Trap Cards

 * Mirror Force
 * Wall of Thorns
 * Graceful Revival
 * Scrap-Iron Scarecrow
 * Reckless Greed
 * Threatening Roar

=Perfect Circle Monarch= This deck uses the Destiny Hero engine to get an advantage in their game, but with the banning of Destiny Hero - Disk Commander, it has become less effective. These are graveyard based decks that can easily bring out a level 8 Synchro Monster or draw cards.