Palace Jailer
Creature — Human Soldier
When this creature enters, you become the monarch.
When this creature enters, exile target creature an opponent controls until an opponent becomes the monarch.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- special
- Set
- Time Spiral Remastered
- Price
- $0.37
- EDHREC rank
- #3995
Palace Jailer enters, exiles a threat, and hands you the Monarch — three lines of value stapled to a four-mana body. The catch is that losing the crown gives the exiled card back, so it rewards decks that can hold Monarch consistently rather than just pick it up once.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Jared Carthalion, True Heir
Jared Carthalion, True Heir is built around holding the Monarch, so Palace Jailer is doing exactly what the deck wants — removing a blocker while establishing the crown that Jared needs to stack +1/+1 counters.
Aragorn, King of Gondor
Aragorn, King of Gondor grants Monarch on attack, making Palace Jailer a removal spell that doubles as a redundant Monarch enabler — if your opponent steals the crown before Aragorn swings, the Jailer can reset it.
Éowyn, Shieldmaiden
Éowyn, Shieldmaiden rewards aggressive combat, and Palace Jailer clears a key blocker while pulling the Monarch into a deck already threatening to win through sustained pressure.
Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd
Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd can blink Palace Jailer to re-exile a new target — and because the original exile is tied to the Jailer's first instance, the previously exiled card never returns.
Terra, Herald of Hope
Terra, Herald of Hope triggers off drawing cards, so the Monarch's end-step draw directly fuels Terra's engine, making Palace Jailer a removal spell that also accelerates the deck's core loop.
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 |
In Commander, Palace Jailer is a staple in any white deck that can contest combat — the Monarch generates card advantage every turn you hold it, which is a resource white historically struggles to generate on its own. Legacy is the only competitive 1v1 format where it's legal, and it sees occasional Death and Taxes play as a removal spell that also converts into card draw, though the Monarch mechanic is far more punishing in a heads-up game where losing it means your opponent draws every turn. Vintage lets it in, but the format's speed makes a four-mana creature with a conditional downside a hard sell outside of dedicated white creature shells. Oathbreaker is legal and mirrors the Commander dynamic — if your Oathbreaker can protect the crown, Palace Jailer is excellent.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.37 bulk tier
At $0.37, Palace Jailer is bulk pricing for a card that shows up in nearly a third of white Commander decks that can support it. The supply is deep enough that the price is unlikely to spike without a reprint trigger, making it an easy pickup with no financial hesitation.
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Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.