Is Monarchy a viable/fun mechanic in EDH?

[Leonixious]

I personally have played with/against Monarchy in Pods, and 1v1, and I love the politics atmosphere it creates when its active on the field. I believe in a casual setting it can be very much a game changer due to it changes how people think and play during their turns. Some may covet the Monarchy cause their deck may need more draw, or others may only attack people with the monarchy to keep the draw value away from opponents, and others may not even care if Monarchy is active.

Let me know what you, the Hivemind, have done with Monarchy. And please be respectful, if you think Monarchy is "Trash" then by all means post it (but please elaborate, if able).

This thread is for both Competitive and Casual players of EDH.

[WWolfe]

I think Monarch is a great mechanic and build it into my decks as long as it's not including something just to include it.

I've noticed with newer players there's times the Monarch is introduced and they'll focus so much on it that they don't pay attention to something else. Maybe I need to send them here to read the threat assessment thread. 

[Red_Wyrm]

There is this one person I play with that has no clue what it is. I'll have the double mana dino out that makes me the monarch, and every. Single. Time. He asks how it works what it is etc, and he never goes out of his way to get it from me, so I don't mind. Then if he does get it, he think he gets double mana. Remember the dude that commits to the board with nevs disk out? This is him. Trust me. He isnt committing to the board strategically.

However, my other opponents might take notice, they might not. I usually get like 4 turns before anyone cares about it, but by then I've built up a dinosaur boardstate. My brother was playing the dino deck once, and I had to take the monarchy from him. You cant let dinosaurs have card draw and double mana, so I swung at him for like 1 or something unlockable. Next thing I know I see 15 trample damage coming at me. So its caused me problems before. And then he has double mana again, so all I got out of it was a card.

[Marshstepper78]

I think it's a neat mechanic to have available when deck building, but in my group, the monarch isn't something that is highly sought after once obtained by an opponent. Regularly, the monarch remains the monarch a few turns before handing his crown to his usurper. It's definitely a fun and viable mechanic, but nothing game-changing (in my experience).

[Leonixious]

I personally love the Monarch mechanic when used as a target. For example, my most casual deck uses Protector of the Crown to keep the target on my head and the Monarchy. Games I play with this deck usually end up being a makeshift Archenemy, where everyone tries to kill me.

https://deckstats.net/decks/121107/1177254-life-is-worth-living/en