Garrulous Sycophant
Click the card to switch sides
Magic: The Gathering
Mana cost
- Card type
- Creature — Human Advisor
- Rarity
- Common
- Indicative price
- 0.23 € · ★ 0.26 € · 0.28 $ · ★ 0.68 $
- Mana value
- 3
- Power
- 1
- Toughness
- 4
- Colour
- Black
Card text
At the beginning of your end step, if you're the monarch, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life.
Format legality
- CommanderLegal
- DuelLegal
- LegacyLegal
- OathbreakerLegal
- PauperLegal
- PaupercommanderLegal
- VintageLegal
Legalities follow the imported catalogue; check format rules before a tournament.
Data imported on 2026-10-06 (UTC).
Indicative Scryfall prices, updated daily. ★: foil; ★ E: etched foil. EUR and USD represent different markets.
Printing information
- Illustrator
- Lake Hurwitz
- Card language
- English
- Release date
- 2016-08-26
Flavour text
"Marchesa's poison is delivered by more than daggers." —Adriana, Captain of the Guard
Rulings
Abilities that trigger whenever you "become the monarch" trigger only if you aren't already the monarch. For example, if you are already the monarch as Custodi Lich enters the battlefield, its last ability won't trigger.
Being the monarch carries two inherent triggered abilities. "At the beginning of the monarch's end step, that player draws a card" and "Whenever a creature deals combat damage to the monarch, its controller becomes the monarch."
If the triggered ability that causes the monarch to draw a card goes on the stack, and a different player becomes the monarch before that ability resolves, the first player will still draw the card.
The game starts with no monarch. Once an effect makes one player the monarch, the game will have exactly one monarch from that point forward.
The last ability of Garrulous Sycophant checks to see if you're the monarch as your end step begins. If you're not, the ability won't trigger at all. You won't be able to do anything that would make you the monarch during your end step in time to have that ability trigger. The ability will also check to see if you're the monarch as it tries to resolve. If you're not the monarch at that time, the ability will have no effect.