[Deck Article] The Mighty Emperors

Hey Everybody..What's Up ?!
I hope you like playing monarchs because they're our subject for today.even if you don't, i'm sure you'll benefit alot from this article.
"Haha..Look at that kid over there,He's asking what're monarchs xD.."
Hey you shouldn't do that..We're here explaining and discussing respecting every mind, how do you know he didn't start dueling yesterday or maybe just now.anyway let's start defining monarchs :
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. 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.

" EJ, Monarchs have many several variants...which variant will we discuss ?!"
We'll talk about froggy monarchs then give a brief about other competitive monarch builds.

Tribute Frog Fodders
-------------------------------------
Ok let's start..Our star of the day is -as most of you know- treeborn frog...some of you know this card has been in the game since ages, so why is it so good now ?!
let's first have a look at that card :

Treeborn Frog
Attrib: Water
Type: Aqua/Effect
Level:1/Atk: 100/Def: 100
"If this card is in your Graveyard during your Standby Phase and you control no Spell or Trap Cards, you can Special Summon it. This effect cannot be activated if you control a face-up "Treeborn Frog"."

Treeborn frog has always been great fodder for monarchs with its magnificent ability to jump to the field whenever you have no back row.This drawback reduces the card's effectiveness in some builds, but it provides some defense in case of a cleared field.So sending this card to the graveyard fast, can gurantee for you not to worry about any tribute fodders for your monarchs through the whole duel.
This card combos pretty well with cards that requires tributing cards on your side of the field as a cost for other great effects such as "Spiritual water art-aoi" ,"enemy controller" especially cards that can activate at your standby phase giving treeborn frog the opportunity to revive again.this card is also viable to many decks as it's not affected by "Royal Oppression","Necro Valley'' and "Skill Drain" and it's also able to bring LaDD to its knees but keep in mind that only one copy of this card can be revived even if you have both copies in your graveyard.

"you still didn't answer your own question..plus what're possible ways to send treeborn frog to the graveyard fast !!"
the answer to both questions is the same.it's because of "Swap Frog" which was released in Stardust Overdrive set.let's have a look

Swap Frog
Attrib: Water
Type: Aqua/Effect
Level:2/Atk: 1000/Def: 500
"You can discard 1 WATER monster to Special Summon this card from your hand. When this card is Summoned, you can select and send 1 Level 2 or lower Aqua-Type WATER monster from your Deck or your side of the field to the Graveyard. Once per turn, you can return 1 monster you control to your hand to Normal Summon 1 "Frog" monster, except "Swap Frog" or "Frog the Jam", in addition to your Normal Summon or Set this turn."

As you can see, the 3 effects are pretty useful. this card can mill any lvl 2 water monster whenever summoned, specifically treeborn frog. Moreover he can special summon himself by discarding one water monster from your hand, so even if you drew into your treeborn frog..you can place it to where it really belongs using swap frog's effect giving you a fodder on the field and another one next standby phase if you didn't have any spell or trap cards.Last but not least, this card allows you to recycle your monarchs as it can return one of your monarchs to your hand so you can reuse its effect once more.Keep in mind that this card is able to return itself to your hand using its 3rd effect to setup for gorz and battle faders.

Substitoad

Attrib: Water
Type: Aqua/Effect
Level:1/Atk: 100/Def: 2000
"You can Tribute 1 monster to Special Summon 1 "Frog" monster from your deck, except "Frog the Jam". "Frog" monsters, except "Frog the Jam", cannot be destroyed by battle"

This card is self explanatory, It's perfect for searching any of the above cards which are pretty essential to start monarch tributing loop,Just normal summon it then tribute it to get treeborn frog/swap frog.Its defence is also perfect but you won't need it anyway as this card offers you a permanent shield for your frogs which will make your opponent waste some cards inorder to overcome such an irritating effect, by then you'd have had much advantage over your opponent.

So yeah these 3 cards are the back bone of any froggy monarch deck, now let's have alook at our monarchs.

Tribute Monsters :
-----------------------------------------

As said above in the introduction..we've got 7 monarchs..
"Okay then toss them all in..we need plenty of tribute monsters as treeborn frog allows us to tribute summon infinite times."
It's true we need plenty of tribute monsters but ofcourse we won't be throwing all monarchs in...first let's rate our 7 monarchs. they're arranged descendingly below according to my modest point of view.
1- Caius the Shadow Monarch : This card is by far the best monarch as it removes from play one card on the field which means that stardust dragon won't be able to respond to such a harsh summon. plus it's able to deal 1000 LP damage to your opponent if the removed card was a dark monster, a pretty famous move is that when your opponent has <1000 LP you tribute summon a monarch targetting yourself to burn the rest of his life points.
2- Raiza the Storm Monarch : this card is also great as it returns one card on the field to its owner's top deck...which also means that cards like stardust won't be able to respond also it generates dead draws to your opponent (Wastes a draw phase atleast) or it might restore one of your own controlled cards.it also combos well with cards like mind crush/drastic drop off..ect.
3- Thestalos the firestorm Monarch : This card is also good as it's considered to be an instant X-Saber Airbellum without needing to attack plus if that card discarded was a monster card it'd deal some damage. it also screws your opponent's long-term plans.
4- Mobius the frost Monarch : All monarchs are +1 when not chained to...well guess what, this card is +2. the only downside is that it's only able to target Spell or Trap cards while caius and raiza can do the job quite better.
5- Zaborg the Thunder Monarch : This card used to be great but not even good nowadays..because it can't dodge Stardust dragon and again Caius and Raiza can do the same but even much more.
6- Kuraz the Light Monarch : A bad monarch ..the best part about this card is that its effect is activated even when it's special summoned however this card makes up the cards it destroys from your opponent by letting them draw equal amount which gives your opponent other chances to destroy your monarch so it doesn't give you any advantage and it won't be able to attack for a turn.anyway this card got its own uses with cards like "Dark Coffin"..
7- Granmarg the Rock Monarch : The worst of all as it can only target facedowns while other monarchs got the choice to destroy either faceup or facedowns...no comment.

So i guess you know now which monarchs will we be using...now let's head off to Light and Darkness Dragon...which we'll refer to as "LaDD", who'd like to type Light and Darkness Dragon anyway ?!
It's true that LaDD can't be special summoned but still he's a BOSS monster.his effect negates the effect of spells/traps and effects of effect monsters -unfortunately it doesn't destroy them-, that means two negations or even three before your opponent can run over it as it loses 500 ATK or DEF for every negation. that's not everything as when this card is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, you can resurrect a monster from the graveyard by destroying all cards you control on the field.So when your opponent thinks he's done with your biggest threat *LaDD* he'll find himself infront of another beater *Gorz,Monarch* after already wasting some cards.

Also this card is so easy to get summoned in this deck, here are some example plays :
1- Treeborn revives at your SP, you activate enemy controller at the same SP..take control of one of your opponent's monsters, treeborn comes back, LaDD lands.
2- Treeborn frog + Swap frog's effect where he'll get special summoned by discarding one water monster.
3- Soul Exchange + Treeborn frog. or even better Soul Exchange + Enemy Controller to tribute your opponent's monster to get control of another one then tribute the controlled monster and treeborn frog which means you tributed the two monsters needed from your opponent's side of the field.

there're much more ways to summon LaDD that you should be able to figure 'em out yourself.

''Ok so now i know everything...may you post an example deck to ne...i meant to benefit''
no i'll pm decklist to members
"O_O seriousily ?!!!!"
nah...it's just that we're not done yet.

there're other cards that supports this deck pretty well :
Soul Exchange : this card is epic..it allows you to tribute cards from your opponent's field without permitting you to conduct your battle phase.not too bad at all, and since your monarchs are +1s so you would still do some damage this turn.
Enemy Controller : this card combos pretty well as said before with treeborn frog.just tribute it at same SP to get control of one of your opponent's face up monsters and a treeborn so having two/three copies of this means you're running 3/4 Brain controls..not only that but it also got some potential to stop your opponent's otks by changing the battle position of one of their monsters,this effect may also give you the win when you change the battle position of a monster tending to defend *because of its low attack* for one final attack for the game.
"this card can even be used in SP when drawn in DP as it's quick play spell" :O really ?! you're so useful ._.
Creature Swap : it's another good card that can do well here but less effective than enemy controller.still it's not bad at all..saves you when you don't get your monarchs early enough so you swap your treeborn frog,faders for one of your opponent's monsters and yes it's PERMANENT.
Battle Fader : this card is a MUST in any monarch build...as it's an OTK stopper..plus it provides you with a floater (tribute fodder) for a monarch next turn..a worse scenario would be, reviving treeborn frog from your graveyard in order to get your opponent's worst nightmare ; Light and Darkness Dragon
Gorz & Tragoedia : Both cards got same otk stoppin potential which provides this deck much consistency...these cards don't only provide you with floaters for your monarchs but they're winning conditions in themselves as with the variety of levels in your deck,tragoedia gives you a fifth brain control.while gorz gives you two floating *beatsticks* (+1) which will turn into +2, if you summon a monarch the following turn.
[color=green]Dimentional Alchemist : This card thins the deck by removing top card from play for the sake of increasin its attack by 500 which makes it a nice beater..it doesn't only do that but it also allows you to reuse Battle faders makin your opponent unable to deal any damage or just reuse Bottomlessed/D.Prisoned monarchs or just cards you've milled yourself with this card

"and there's "evil hero inferno prodigy" which is special summoned whenever you have no monster giving you a fodder for your monarch.. :D"
seriousily ?! meh..go with what he says and you'll just lose.
"why da heck?!"
we're talking about cards that gives you free fodders that serve consistency plus treeborn frog would hurt prodigy's summoning conditions and that's why i don't advise running cyber dragon unless you're facing a machine deck such as : gadgets/spaceships..ect

Other variants
--------------------------------
you think this build doesn't suit you but you still wanna play monarchs ?!..ok then, let's check other variants :
Twilight Monarch
Such a build relies heavily on "Dimensional Alchemist" which allows you to reuse/abuse Battle faders,plaguespreader zombie,cyber valley or even other cards allowing you to play chaos sorcerer..this deck does quite well as froggy monarchs.i've seen it coming 3rd in a regional with a result 8-1 (the only loss was against GBs)

Kings of Light
Yes !! this deck made it to top 8 in SJC Edison, New Jersey...it's actually pretty consistent making the most of lightsworns where lyla is abused to make sure your opponent won't have a single spell/trap while ryko which is searchable by mega hamster does the same with monsters and backrow..All these serve one purpose,they are there to mill dandylion/treeborn frog plus bumpin the graveyard with lots of light/dark monsters allowing you to play Chaos sorcerer..and some great engines which thin the deck fast allowing you to get your monarchs in the right time such as Solar Recharge and PoA.

Quoted from wikipedia..
Macro Monarch
This deck relies on reusing the effects of D.D. Survivor and D.D. Scout Plane with the help of Macro Cosmos and/or Dimensional Fissure, which will allow the said monsters to keep coming back each End Phase, allowing you to Tribute Summon a Monarch each turn. Other cards that are commonly used in this deck are Cyber Valley, some of the other D.D. Monsters, like D.D. Warrior Lady, Soul Absorption, which can give its controller massive life point gain each turn, and Gravekeeper's Servant, which can make a lock for all of your opponent's Monsters, preventing them from attacking for as long as they cannot send a card from their deck to their Graveyard. You can use Enemy Controller to tribute a D.D. Survivor or D.D. Scout Plane and take control of one of your opponents monsters. Then tribute it for a Monarch, and the D.D. Scout Plane or D.D. Survivor will return in the End Phase.

Gadget Monarch
This deck relies on using Gadgets to continuously add new Gadgets to the hand to serve as tribute fodder, along with obvious tribute fodder monsters such as Treeborn Frog. One of the key cards of the deck is Ultimate Offering. Ultimate Offering allows the constant summon of Gadgets to add more Gadgets to the hand, while then tributing them for Monarchs. Due to the removal effect of most Monarchs, this deck has a high OTK rate.

Example Decklist :
----------------------------------
Monsters ( 23 ) :
2x Light and Darkness Dragon
3x Caius the Shadow Monarch
3x Raiza the Storm Monarch
2x Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch
2x Battle Fader
1x Gorz
1x Tragoedia
2x Substitoad
2x Swap Frog
2x Dimensional Alchemist
2x Treeborn Frog
1x Sangan

Spells ( 11 ) :
3x Soul Exchange
3x Enemy Controller
1x Heavy Storm
1x MST
1x Brain Control
1x Foolish Burial
1x My body as a shield

Traps ( 6 ) :
1x Mirror Force
1x Torrential Tribute
2x BTH
2x Spiritual Water Art - Aoi

"Ok EJ..i'll go try this deck NOW !!!..this seems pwning"
*10 minutes later* "wtf man...i've lost 1-2 in my first duel, this deck is total shit"
you won duel 1 ?!
"yes"
then it's side deck which beated you..such a deck can be sided against easily with cards such as :
Chain disappearance : which will pwn your treebornfrog/swap frog/substitoad.
Pulling the rug : an old known side which does the job well against monarchs.
mask of restrict : it won't even allow you to tribute summon your monarchs/ladd.

"then what shall i do man ?!"
as you can see..all these sides are traps.so maining jinzo and dust tornadoes shall do the job.
":O i see..danke EJ, this was fun"
that's it...i'm done...i hope you guys liked this article and benefited from it.
see ya laterz

Last edited by EJ on Tue May 18, 2010 10:33 am; edited 1 time in total

Nice article EJ, monarchs are pretty annoying if u keep tributing 1 for another ... xP. KIU

Nice article but i still prefer the macro monarch variant

Very helpful article,thanks,now for the deck i think that you should try the new tech card in this deck:Dark dust spirit,IMO that's an awesome monster .

thanks for comments guys.
@ Mufc : this is just the pure standard build, ofcourse decks that're tourney level varies...and btw i prefer hino-kage-tsuchi...pwning one,can mean the game.

I love your articles EJ^^ the evil hero you're speaking too make it amusing to read^^

errr... abt the article, you could mention the pwning this Djrucin guy did!

abt the deck: there's pretty different builds... and mine is totally different (with no traps... and 10-15 different cards :O) would prefer if you said more about it... Unpatient to see your next article :D