Monastery Siege is one of those cards players keep asking about. Here is, in plain words, what its official text says, the rulings published by Wizards of the Coast, and the combos players actually run.
Official card text
As this enchantment enters, choose Khans or Dragons. • Khans — At the beginning of your draw step, draw an additional card, then discard a card. • Dragons — Spells your opponents cast that target you or a permanent you control costmore to cast.
Complete guide
Monastery Siege is a versatile blue enchantment that asks you to pick a side in the ancient conflict between Khans and Dragons. Whether you need to dig deep into your library or build a taxing defense, this card offers a permanent solution tailored to the state of your game. Choose wisely, as your choice defines how the battlefield will shift under your influence.
Choosing Your Path
As Monastery Siege enters the battlefield, you choose either Khans or Dragons. This is not a triggered ability, so it cannot be responded to once the spell begins to resolve. If you choose Khans, you gain an extra card draw every turn at the cost of discarding one. If you choose Dragons, you force your opponents to pay an additional {2} for every spell they cast that targets you or your permanents.
Resolving the Abilities
For the Khans choice, the ability triggers during your draw step after you have already drawn your card for the turn. You will draw one additional card, and then you must choose one card from your hand to discard. For the Dragons choice, the cost increase applies to any spell an opponent casts that targets you or a permanent you control. Note that even if a spell targets both you and a creature you control, the cost only increases by {2} per spell, not per target.
Common Mistakes
A common point of confusion is how the Dragons ability interacts with multiple targets; it adds {2} to the total cost of the spell, not {2} for each target. Additionally, remember that the choice is made as it enters the battlefield. If a card enters as a copy of Monastery Siege, that player makes a fresh choice regardless of what the original controller chose. Lastly, the word 'Dragons' is an anchor word and does not interact with the Dragon creature type in any way.
When to Play Monastery Siege
Play Khans when you are looking for specific combo pieces or need to fuel your graveyard, as the 'looting' effect helps you see two new cards every turn. Play Dragons when you are facing heavy targeted removal or burn spells. By taxing your opponent's mana, you significantly slow down their ability to interact with your board, especially when paired with other taxing effects.
Interaction examples
PropagandaIf you have Monastery Siege on 'Dragons' and Propaganda on the battlefield, your opponent is heavily restricted. They must pay {2} for every creature that tries to attack you, and if they try to cast a spell like a removal spell to destroy Propaganda, that spell will cost an additional {2} due to Monastery Siege.
Rhystic StudyWith Monastery Siege on 'Khans', you are filtering your deck every turn. If you also have Rhystic Study, your opponent faces a dilemma: they must pay {1} for every spell they cast to prevent you from drawing, while you are already drawing two cards and discarding one every turn to perfectly sculpt your hand.
During your draw step, you draw your normal card. Monastery Siege (Khans) then triggers. You draw another card, giving you a larger hand size to evaluate your options. You then discard the least useful card, effectively having seen two new cards to find the answer you need for the current board state.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Monastery Siege
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
The “Khans” ability happens after you draw the card you normally draw during your draw step. That card and the additional card will be in your hand when you have to discard a card.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
The “Dragons” ability adds
per spell, not per target. It won’t cause a spell to cost more than more to cast, even if that spell targets you and a permanent you control or more than one permanent you control.No other card is named in this ruling.
- #3· Wizards of the Coast
Each Siege will have one of the two listed abilities, depending on your choice as it enters the battlefield.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #4· Wizards of the Coast
The words “Khans” and “Dragons” are anchor words, connecting your choice to the appropriate ability. Anchor words are a new rules concept. “[Anchor word] — [Ability]” means “As long as you chose [anchor word] as this permanent entered the battlefield, this permanent has [ability].” Notably, the anchor word “Dragons” has no connection to the creature type Dragon.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #5· Wizards of the Coast
Each of the last two abilities is linked to the first ability. They each refer only to the choice made as a result of the first ability. If a permanent enters the battlefield as a copy of one of the Sieges, its controller will make a new choice for that Siege. Which ability the copy has won’t depend on the choice made for the original permanent.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Legal formats
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Meta decks with Monastery Siege
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