MTG Salvation

Palace Jailer 2WW
Palace Jailer
Creature - Human Soldier (U)
When - enters the battlefield, you become the monarch.
When - enters the battlefield, exile target creature an opponent controls until an opponent becomes the monarch.
2/2

I think this might be playable as a replacement for Demon Slayer. The only thing that bothers me is the 4CMC.

Thoughts?

A very match up dependant card. Probably best as an aggro curve topper helping you squeeze out the last few points of life from your opponent. I don't think it makes mature cubes until they are very large, but I would draft it in Peasant cubes and wouldn't scoff at it in a newly built cube either.

I like this more than the rare monarch creature in white, but it still looks pretty borderline to me.

The cool part of this card is that it does not matter if the creature dies. I think this card is going to be underrated because people naturally want to compare it to Banisher Priest. In a deck where you can maintain monarch status this card gives you a 2/2, exile creature, and one-sided howling mine for 2WW. I could see this being a pretty sick curve-topper in an aggro deck.

Granted I have not tried this yet, but it seems way more difficult to grab monarch against this than it is to kill a 2/2. This card removes one of their creatures which is a natural synergy with maintaining monarch, and you are also probably playing this in a deck where you are flooding the board with bodies turns 1-3. Also it doesn't need to be sized to kill a big creature because its ability exiles the opponent's largest creature if you need it to.

The power level of this card is much higher than Citadel Siege - it cantrips at minimum (but is probably a Phyrexian Arena in the right deck/matchup), exiles a creature, and gives you a body vs a 4-mana Icy Manipulator on one creature each turn.

Okay, this is the white 4 drop monarch dude to consider. It's obviously really strong if you get there, and it helps you keep monarch very well by exiling and blocking at 4 cmc, so I wouldn't be shocked if it tests well for us.

This card is the sleeper of the set. I had it in a deck last night and it was really good. Drew multiple cards, very abusable.

I would be interested in this card if it were a 2/3. As a 2/2, it dies and trades to easily. A near miss, in my mind.

Plus, there is this whole "white 4-drop" problem.

Fortunately for me, the 4-drops are significantly less stacked once you get down to peasant. Very excited to test this there.

With the plethora of excellent white 4 drop PWs and the new Gisela I don't think I have room to even test this card.

I'd find room to test at 500+. It's surprisingly good.

For the people that have been testing this, how has Palace Jailer been for you? Monarch has proven to be pretty powerful, and since this exiles a creature when it comes down, it can make it hard for the opponent to take it from you right away...

Too early to tell, but this is only solid in aggro. It is not as good in midrange as I have hoped because in many board states taking the crown and creature back is rather easy. When that creature has an ETB effect it can be quite a comeback. In an aggro deck, removing a blocker, adding a body and drawing a card is hard to beat. Even if they hit you with a manland or something later, you do not care as much - the tempo gain is easily worth the mana for you.
Vehicles could make this card significantly weaker.

I was thinking that it can reset itself with blink effects and stuff if you lose monarch (and therefore the exiled creature) at some point. And being able to tutor for this kind of effect now (thanks to Recruiter of the Guard) this might be a thing. I may give it a spin in an upcoming update.

I had this in a WB aggro deck yesterday. With Recruiter of the Guard and Flickerwisp (though the latter one was never drawn in the same game). My findings of that evening are mostly negative. Palace Jailer is good when you are ahead, but is super risky or even downright terrible when you are not. Half the time where I was happy to play him, the Monarch part didn't matter at all, since I won the game in that very turn. A Goblin Shortcutter would have pretty much had the same effect in those games. In the situations where I wasn't at least equal on board and/or my opponent still had a high life total, the Monarch ability was a liability. Not only did my opponent get their creature back more easily than it would have been the case if Jailer where a Banisher Priest, they also got to draw at least as many cards with Monarch as I did.

And while Regal Behemoth and Custodi Lich turn back on once you reclaim the Monarch, Palace Jailer's bonus is gone for good the moment you lose Monarch.

At this point, I will probably cut this guy for Cataclysmic Gearhulk, because he was pretty disappointing.

Thanks for the detailed feedback. Kinda what I expected.

I'm going to test this guy in cube, I think. I've been playing it a ton in legacy and it's quite strong. My buddy with a pauper cube actually cut it for being too strong.

The card is swingy and white four drops are competitive, so I can see it not making the cut in small cubes. I still like it however - it creates dynamic game states and can relatively easily put you over the top, like most monarch cards. Plus it is white card draw.

Quote from Sparki »

I'm going to test this guy in cube, I think. I've been playing it a ton in legacy and it's quite strong. My buddy with a pauper cube actually cut it for being too strong.

Well it is an uncommon so that makes sense

Also what deck in legacy plays it? Death and Taxes?

Quote from Salmo »

Also what deck in legacy plays it? Death and Taxes?

Yep.
White 4s are so competitive in cube though... :/

Just to check something, if he dies or I flicker him does the game forget about the "until an opponent becomes the monarch" clause? I scanned the thread and couldn't see an answer, sorry if its s silly question but I always forget how the game handles memory issues like this.

He seem a lot more solid that I first though if bouncing him exiles the creature forever.

I play it in Death and Taxes and as a 4-of in Soldier Stompy. It's quite good.