Notes & Combos

Going second is getting harder and harder each season. You can rarely win duels without impactful non-engine. So, I decided it’s time to add more of it. I feel like Maxx "C" and Mulcharmies are the best non-engine for Monarchs for a few reasons:

● The Monarch engine alone can easily break boards with enough pushes. You don’t necessarily need turn 0 disruptions or additional removal. The true issue is that endboards are so oppressive that sometimes even 6 perfectly placed cards are still not enough to break them. Maxx "C" and Mulcharmies directly solve this issue by drawing you enough cards to work with.

● Drawing cards means consistency. Monarchs tend to brick a lot, so the Mulcharmies can potentially help you get the extra consistency you need.

● They are the most effective non-engine Monarchs could ask for. Top-tier strategies have multiple pushes and counters against regular handtraps and board breakers. Praying that your minus did something meaningful is simply not efficient for Monarchs, where every combo requires at least 2–3 engine. Forcing your opponent to give you as few draws as possible is your only true way to prevent them from going all out, while still securing a good amount of engine to play the game properly.

Of course, there are also downsides to the Mulcharmies:

● Causing bricking going first. Opening multiple Mulcharmies usually means you either have zero plays or, best-case scenario, even one handtrap can completely wreck you. Monarch combos are so demanding that you can’t afford to open more than one non-engine per opening hand. Running non-engine in Monarchs is a necessary risk you take in order to have better chances of winning going second, even if that means you might lose an equal number of games going first because of it.

● Ash Blossom is legal. Ash is one of the most-played staples, with more than 90% deck inclusion. One Mulcharmy is usually not enough; you have to see multiple copies just in case Ash is present. That’s why you have to play the full package of Mulcharmies, to maximize your chances of resolving them.

48 cards Main Deck. 39 cards the mandatory ratios, 1 flex spot for extra consistency, and 8 cards of non-engine. There’s no point in ruining the ratios just to add more bricks. Keeping the deck close to 40 cards is a consistency practice, after all. In this case, it’s meaningless since you actually don’t always want to see that non-engine in your opening hand. Going beyond 40 cards seems like the correct call.