Monk Idealist
Creature — Human Monk Cleric
When this creature enters, return target enchantment card from your graveyard to your hand.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Commander 2015
- Price
- $0.20
- EDHREC rank
- #16718
Monk Idealist enters the battlefield and immediately retrieves any enchantment from your graveyard — for four mana, that's a body plus unconditional recursion stapled together. In Daxos the Returned builds, where enchantments cycle through the graveyard constantly and every cast triggers experience counters, it earns its slot on arrival.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Daxos the Returned
Daxos the Returned wants enchantments cast repeatedly to stack experience counters, and Monk Idealist turns a spent enchantment into another trigger — recovering a Sinister Possession or Ethereal Armor while also clocking in as a creature that can carry the next aura.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Monk Idealist is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, Pauper, and Oathbreaker, but the only format where it consistently earns a slot is Commander — specifically enchantress shells that treat the graveyard as a resource. In Pauper, the four-mana investment for a 2/2 that fetches one enchantment is too slow against the format's efficient threats. Legacy and Vintage simply have faster, denser ways to recur permanents. Commander is where the singleton environment and multiplayer game length make the enter-the-battlefield value of Monk Idealist worth a deck slot.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.20 bulk tier
At $0.20, Monk Idealist is deep bulk — a pickup that costs less than a sleeve. It won't hold or lose value in any meaningful sense; it's the kind of card you grab when building an enchantress Commander deck and never think about again.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.