Monarch



The Monarchs are a series of the seven Monster Cards with "Monarch" in their card names, each of which possess a different Attribute reflective of the element they control, with the exception of Zaborg the Thunder Monarch and Kuraz the Light Monarch, which are the only two Monarchs with the same attribute, which is Light.

These cards may be a reference to the seven kings of Ancient Rome.

The Monarchs have their own Structure Deck in the OCG, Advent of the Emperor.

Each has a unique ability that activates upon their Tribute Summoning, dealing with the removal of cards. Another similarity that these cards share is that they all have 2400 ATK and 1000 DEF and are Level 6, with the exception of "Zaborg", who is Level 5.

These "Monarchs" except "Raiza", "Kuraz" and "Caius" are used by 4 members of Sarina's assassins The Light Brigade.

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:

 * 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, The Tricky, Spell Striker, Level Warrior for its flexible summoning condition, 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.
 * Gilasaurus:: Since you can consider his normal summon as a special summon with his effect, you can special summon him and tribute him for a monarch.

Counters 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,Mind Over Matter 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.
 * 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.

Monarch Control
Monarch Control is a deck that quickly special summons monsters to the field and tribute those monsters to summon a Monarch monster and activate their effects to gain more field advantage. Some good tributes are Spell Striker Samsara Kaiser, Marshmallon and many more. Each Monarch has unique effects to gain field advantage when tribute summon, this will be the key of winning with this deck. Gorz the Emissary of Darkness is a great addition to this deck because this can be tributed for Monarchs and when your field is empty, you can special summon this. Light and Darkness Dragon is also a great addition because it will protect the Monarchs from getting destroyed and when this card is destroyed, you can special summon a monster from your graveyard to be tributed for a Monarch.

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.

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.

See also:Perfect Circle

Psychic Monarch
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.

Monster Cards

 * Caius the Shadow Monarch
 * Zaborg the Thunder Monarch
 * Mobius the Frost Monarch
 * Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch
 * Raiza the Storm Monarch
 * Dark Armed Dragon
 * Dandylion
 * Treeborn Frog
 * Sangan
 * Mystic Tomato
 * Plaguespreader Zombie
 * Krebons
 * Psychic Commander

Spell Cards

 * Allure of Darkness
 * Emergency Teleport
 * Mind Control
 * Brain Control
 * Soul Exchange
 * Lightning Vortex
 * Mystical Space Typhoon
 * Heavy Storm
 * Book of Moon
 * Swords of Revealing Light

Trap Cards

 * Bottomless Trap Hole
 * Call of the Haunted
 * Dark Bribe
 * Dimensional Prison
 * Mirror Force
 * Solemn Judgement
 * Torrential Tribute
 * Trap Dustshoot

Psycho-Plant Monarch
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
 * Gellenduo
 * Treeborn Frog
 * Cyber Dragon
 * Twilight Rose Knight
 * Marauding Captain
 * Mystic Tomato
 * Sangan
 * Cursed Fig

Spell Cards

 * Brain Control
 * Mind Control
 * Heavy Storm
 * Mystical Space Typhoon
 * Lightning Vortex
 * Seed of Deception
 * Emergency Teleport
 * Allure of Darkness
 * Reinforcement of the Army

Trap Cards

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