Starscream, Power Hungry // Starscream, Seeker Leader

Gameplan

Starscream is a mono-black monarch deck that weaponizes the crown for repeatable life loss and card advantage. The robot side drains an opponent for 2 every time you draw while you hold the monarch, and the vehicle side flies in to steal the crown and convert back. You loop monarchy, draw extra cards, and grind the table out through incremental drain and pressure.

Key Cards

• Skullclamp — Turns the monarch's draw triggers into a torrent of Starscream drain while refilling your hand.
• Bolas's Citadel — Casting off the top of your library churns draw-adjacent advantage and pairs brutally with monarch payoffs.
• Crawling Barrens — A colorless mana sink and recurring attacker that helps you defend or reclaim the monarchy.
• Esper Sentinel — Wait—color identity black only; instead Phyrexian Arena steadily feeds extra draws to fire Starscream's drain each turn.
• Phyrexian Arena — Guarantees an extra draw each upkeep, triggering 2 life loss while you hold the crown.
• Reconnaissance — Lets Starscream attack to grab the monarchy then pull back before damage, keeping the crown safe.

Upgrade Path

Prioritize cheap card draw that triggers the drain (Phyrexian Arena, Necropotence, Skullclamp) and ways to lock in the monarchy with deathtouch blockers or Reconnaissance-style evasion. Add fast black tutors (Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor) and recursion (Feldon-less reanimation like Reanimate, Tortured Existence) to rebuild after removal. To push toward cEDH, lean into a compact combo line such as Exquisite Blood + Vito or fast mana like Dark Ritual and Jeweled Lotus to deploy Starscream early.