Earning the Monarch status can be as easy as playing a single card, but keeping it is another matter entirely
I failed to appreciate how good Odyssey block was in terms of the extra dimensions it brought to magic and the design directions following it
I'm sure they talked about making the creature have a mana cost of 2C to match the original Battlemages, but they felt that being a 2/2 with two off-color abilities captured enough of the feel of a Battlemage and the cheaper mana value made it play better
If Iron-Fist Pulverizer was the first spell you cast this turn, the next spell you cast this turn is your second spell
Versatile rocks like Mind Stone, Commanders Sphere, and Fellwar Stone are also great options that rarely cost more than a dollar
Impostor Syndrome There was a time when big splashy enchantments like this were exactly what Commander was all about, but the formats a lot more streamlined these days for something like Impostor Syndrome to really take off