Welcome back!

Today we're continuing our Monk analysis with the remaining eight best Monks. To be clear, "best" is pretty subjective here. When I refer to "best" in these lists, I'm talking about cards that have an iconic place in Magic's history, cards that are currently seeing a good amount of play, or cards that were notable at some point in the past. It's hard to just talk about the "best" Monks that are currently being played, because Magic is not only extremely subjective, but everyone plays the game in different ways.

With all the clarifications out of the way, let's begin!

Monastery Swiftspear

With 11 different printings, including two Secret Lair releases, Monastery Swiftspear has completely cemented itself as an aggressive Red staple. Usually you want your Red one-drops to have two power and haste, and in the decks that are including the Swiftspear, it typically has both. Sure, there are turns where you'll be forced to only attack for one damage - often the first turn - but after that, it's unlikely she'll be attacking for one again.

Narset, Enlightened Exile

Narset is one of the newer Monks and if these lists included planeswalkers, I'd definitely be including Narset, Parter of Veils. But since we're doing creatures, we'll include the Narset that oddly has a $15 price tag. In 2024 Narset was seen in what looks like one Standard deck and one Modern deck. That was it. So we have to assume most of her popularity is coming from Commander, even though I don't see a ton of Commander lists running her either. Regardless, her ability is pretty strong, allowing you to cast copies of noncreature cards from any graveyard, so long as they cost less than her power. Considering she's giving all your creatures prowess, including herself, buffing her shouldn't be too hard to manage.

Rhox War Monk

I love a good Rhino, but there's one thing we have to address. How come some rhinos, like Rhox War Monk are humanoid, and other rhinos, like Siege Rhino are just animals? This feels like a real Goofy vs. Pluto situation. Nevertheless, if you can muster the three colors required for the War Monk, it's a great value for the price. Back in Shards of Alara, a 3/4 for three mana with lifelink was as good as you could ever ask for. Nowadays the bar is a little higher, and War Monk hasn't really seen competitive play in years, but the pancake spinner is still a hardworking classic.

Serra Ascendant

I feel confident claiming that Serra Ascendant is one of the best one-drops of all time. It still hovers at around $30 and was the centerpiece of multiple decks thanks to cards like Martyr of Sands and Ranger of Eos. The fact that it's automatically a one-mana 6/6 flier with lifelink in Commander is also not to be overlooked. Not a ton to say about the Ascendant other than it's an insane value in the decks - or formats - that can take advantage of it.

Seshiro the Anointed

I wasn't initially going to include Seshiro, but he's a double Snake lord, so how could I not?! Just like the OG Snake, Ophidian, Seshiro also lets your Snakes draw cards when they deal combat damage to a player, including himself!

As far as competitive play goes, Seshiro was mostly seen back in 2006 during Nationals, where there were a handful of Snakes decks. There were also a couple of Modern Snake decks that were seen last year, that included cards like Ice-Fang Coatl, Coiling Oracle, and Mist-Syndicate Naga. The lesson here is that if you believe it, anything is possible, like playing Snake kindred in Modern.

Soulfire Grand Master

Soulfire Grand Master is most well known for its ability to go infinite with cards like Time Walk. That's a hard lock for six mana, in case you were curious. Not a huge player today, it was great at rebuying cards in Standard like Fiery Impulse, Crackling Doom, and Jeskai Charm. While the four mana activation cost is a little steep, if you're playing the long game, the Grand Master was a fantastic mana sink, giving you infinite copies of all of your spells.

Springheart Nantuko

While Springheart Nantuko is a great card on its own, allowing you to make a ton of 1/1 creatures, it truly shined as a component of the offensive Nadu, Winged Wisdom deck that led to Nadu's ultimate demise (well, banning anyway). Every 1/1 creature it created allowed Nadu to get two new draw triggers, which you would hope to get another land off of in order to repeat the process. Thankfully, even with Nadu gone, the Nantuko still sees a good amount of play all on its own as a sweet little value engine.

Third Path Iconoclast

You would expect the Iconoclast to cost more, quite honestly. Two mana for a 2/1 is a fine rate, and I definitely wouldn't expect such a powerful ability attached. It's the same reason Young Pyromancer was such a banger, but with the Iconoclast you're getting a 1/1 with any noncreature spell, not just instants or sorceries. That's the best explanation for why it sees play in nearly every format, from Cube, to Commander, ro numerous other competitive Constructed formats. RIP Young Peezy.

Anyway, thanks for reading and I'll catch ya next time!

Frank Lepore