The Monarchs are one of the oldest archetypes in Duel Monsters. The original deck was built around a bunch of level six monsters that all had identical ATK and DEF stats, 2400 and 1000. Each one had a specific ability that activated once they were tribute summoned, and with the right tribute fodder they were a meta level annoyance that lasted for quite some time.

Konami gave them a boost with the release of a structure deck for them, which granted two new monarchs, some themed tribute fodder for them, and collected all the spell and trap support that had been introduced for years. Monarchs are great at locking the opponent from their extra deck and beating them down with their larger monsters, while also running a ton of floodgate traps to lock the opponent from using spell, trap, and monster effects to clear the field.

10/10 THE MONARCHS ERUPT

The Monarchs Erupt is something of a catch-22 because it's got one of the best effects in the game...while having one of the steepest costs ever. It negates the effects of all face up monsters on the field that weren't Tribute Summoned.

It destroys itself if the player has no Tribute Summoned monsters during their own End Phase, but generally players don't have trap removal these days so they have to get rid of the monster on their own turn. Of course, the problem is players can't have an Extra Deck at all to use this, which locks them out of using Pot of Extravagance, which banishes six random extra deck cards to draw 2 cards.

9/10 RETURN OF THE MONARCHS

Return of the Monarchs is a continuous spell which will almost certainly eventually bite players in the rear again. If a monster is Tribute Summoned, the player can activate one of two effects: either they can add from their deck to their hand a monster with 2400 ATK and 1000 DEF with a different name than the tributed monster, or they can add a monster with 2800 and 1000 ATK.

Those stats pretty much refer to Monarchs, and currently the only deck that can use this card is Monarchs...but Monarchs isn't actually on the card text, so eventually we'll see this again in a deck that has those identical stats, mysteriously.

8/10 THE MONARCHS STORMFORTH

A neat little quick play spell, Monarchs Storm Forth is one of the most frustrating cards to see on the opponent's turn. If the player would tribute a monster for a Tribute Summon, they can tribute one monster their opponent controls even if they do not control it.

Storm Forth locks the player out of their extra deck, but who cares they're never going to use it anyway. There's few things more annoying than getting out a powerful boss monster only to watch it get tributed away, as Storm Forth can get rid of any monster that can be affected by spells.

7/10 DOMAIN OF THE TRUE MONARCHS

Nothing like having a great field spell. Domain is another card which relies on the player having zero cards in their extra deck, but it's a decent trade off. If the player has zero cards in their extra and is the only person who controls a Tribute Summoned monster, the opponent cannot special summon from the Extra deck.

Even better, if a Tribute Summoned monster they control attacks it gains 800 ATK for that battle. Lastly, once per turn they can reduce the level of a monster with 2800 ATK and 1000 DEF by 2 until the end of the turn, making Mega Monarchs cost a single summon.

6/10 TENACITY OF THE MONARCHS

Tenacity allows the player to reveal a monster with 2400 ATK and 1000 DEF or 2800 ATK/1000 DEF to add a Monarch spell or trap to the hand. This essentially grants the player access to any of the Monarch support cards for any situation. Looking for the field spell, go for Domain. Looking to search monsters, go for return.

Monarchs Erupt offers protection. This is one of the more dangerous cards in the deck, because it makes the player twice as likely to get the spell they want for a turn.

5/10 EREBUS THE UNDERWORLD MONARCH

One of the big bosses added to the deck. To begin with, though it's a level 8, the player only needs 1 tribute summoned monster to tribute and summon this to the field. Then, once it's Tribute Summoned, the player can send 2 Monarch spell/trap cards from their hand or deck to the graveyard, and shuffle one card from the opponent's hand, field or graveyard back to the deck.

This effect gets around nearly every protection effect it is—it doesn't target or destroy, so the card would need to be unaffected by card effects to stay. Also, during either player's turn if this card is in the graveyard, the player can discard a Monarch spell or trap to target a monster in the graveyard with 2400 or more ATK and 1000 DEF and add it back to hand.

4/10 EHTHER THE HEAVENLY MONARCH

Monarchs reached a level of dominance few archetypes ever experience, and as a result they were punished for it, which is why Ehther went to 1 before gradually climbing off the list. Like Erebus, it can be Tribute Summoned with one tribute if it's a tribute summoned monster.

When it's summoned, the player can send 2 Monarch Spells and Traps with different names from the hand and/or deck to the grave, then special summon a monster with 2400 ATK and 1000 DEF from the deck...then place it in the hand during the end phase. The real trick is this card can be tribute summoned from the hand during the opponent's main phase by banishing a Monarch spell or trap from the grave. This move instantly makes Domain live and locks the opponent out of their extra deck.

3/10 EIDOS THE UNDERWORLD SQUIRE

When this card is summoned, the owner can Tribute Summon during the same turn, in addition to their usual Normal Summon. This card works perfectly with Edea and any Monarch, as Edea's effect activates whether she's Special or Normal Summoned, while Eidos grants an additional summon for the monarch, triggering Edea's effect to add a banished Monarch spell to hand.

This card can even be banished to special summon a monster with 800 ATK and 1000 DEF from the graveyard. This means Eidos can create another field of cards the following turn if theirs is broken.

2/10 EDEA THE HEAVENLY SQUIRE

If this card is summoned, it special summons a monster with 800 ATK and 1000 DEF from the deck in defense position. It locks the player from special summoning from the extra deck for the turn, but in Monarchs this isn't a weakness.

Also, if this card is sent to the graveyard, the player can take a banished Monarch spell or trap and add it to the hand. Edea makes new Monarchs work—without drawing it the deck can't do anything, and if it's effect is negated that's pretty much it.

1/10 PANTHEISM OF THE MONARCHS

Pantheism was the crucial card of the deck for a long time. By sending a Monarch spell or trap to the graveyard, Pantheism allowed the player to draw two cards.

The player could then banish Pantheism from their graveyard to reveal 3 Monarch spells and traps from the deck, the opponent chooses one, and then the player shuffles the rest back into the deck. This means Pantheism could turn two cards into 3 on a single turn, which is why the TCG placed the card at one.

NEXT: Yu-Gi-Oh: Best Zoodiac Cards