Keeper of Keys
Creature — Human Rogue Mutant
When this creature enters, you become the monarch.
At the beginning of your upkeep, if you're the monarch, creatures you control can't be blocked this turn.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Treasure Chest
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #11647
Keeper of Keys hands you the monarch and threatens to untap your entire board every upkeep — that's a free Seedborn Muse stapled to a card-draw engine on a 4/4 body. The cost is five mana and surviving to your next turn, which is a real ask in a format full of instant-speed removal, but the payoff when it sticks is immediately game-warping. Obeka, Splitter of Seconds in particular breaks the symmetry wide open by ending your turn before opponents can steal the monarch back.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Obeka, Splitter of Seconds
Obeka, Splitter of Seconds lets you cash in the Keeper of Keys untap trigger and then immediately end your turn before any opponent can attack for the monarch, turning what's normally a fragile political game into a one-sided engine that reloads your mana every cycle.
Aragorn, King of Gondor
Aragorn, King of Gondor wants the monarch for both its own triggered ability and the card advantage that comes with it, and Keeper of Keys is one of the most reliable ways to claim and hold that status while also providing a combat-relevant body in an aggressive strategy.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Keeper of Keys actually lives — five mana is fine in a 40-life multiplayer game, and the monarch mechanic rewards you for surviving long enough to capitalize on political dynamics. The untap-your-permanents clause scales with how many mana rocks, tap-effect creatures, or activated abilities you're running, which means it gets better the more tuned the shell. In Legacy and Vintage it's technically legal but sees no meaningful play; the monarch is too slow and the body too fragile against the interactive density of those formats. Oathbreaker gives it a slightly more interesting home if your planeswalker and signature spell lean into untap value, but Commander remains the overwhelming primary format.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Pricing data for Keeper of Keys isn't currently available in this listing, so check Scryfall or your preferred retailer for a live number. Given its niche-but-real demand in Obeka and monarch-themed Commander builds, it tends to hold modest value without spiking dramatically.
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Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.