The monarch & the initiative
Core concepts
Two Commander-born designations that draw you value — and get stolen in combat.
How it works
Both are designations a player holds, not cards or permanents. A game starts with neither; once a card makes someone the monarch (or gives them the initiative), exactly one player holds it from then on.
The monarch draws a card at the beginning of their end step. The player with the initiative ventures into Undercity when they take it and again at the beginning of their upkeep. Either one is stolen the same way: when a creature deals COMBAT damage to its holder, that creature's controller takes it — which is why both reward evasive creatures and paint a target on whoever holds them.
Common confusions
“The card that made me monarch left — am I still the monarch?”
Yes. The designation doesn't depend on any card staying on the battlefield. It only moves through combat damage or another effect.
“Can I steal it with a burn spell?”
No. Only combat damage from a creature moves it. Noncombat damage doesn't.
“I'm already the monarch and became it again.”
Nothing happens, and "whenever you become the monarch" doesn't trigger, because you didn't become it. The initiative is different: taking it again while you have it DOES venture into Undercity again.
“The monarch lost it during their own end step.”
If the end-step draw trigger is already on the stack, the original monarch still draws the card.
“The monarch left the game.”
The player whose turn it is becomes the monarch immediately (or, if that's the player leaving, the next player in turn order). The initiative passes the same way.
Cards that make you the monarch
Ranked by how often Commander decks actually play them.
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