The Golden Throne

Bracket

• B1 Exhibition — allowed: No restriction at this bracket
• B2 Core — allowed: No restriction at this bracket
• B3 Upgraded — allowed: No restriction at this bracket
• B4 Optimized — allowed: No restriction beyond the banned list
• B5 cEDH — allowed: No restriction beyond the banned list

Why

• No Game Changer, mass land denial, extra turn, tutor or two-card combo

How Lotus Vault estimates a bracket

Bracket: Lotus Vault analysis, with Commander Spellbook flags

Combos

18 known combos.

• Auntie Blyte, Bad Influence + The Golden Throne + Volcano Hellion
  Produces: Infinite damage to one opponent
  View on Commander Spellbook
• Nine Lives + Fractured Identity + The Golden Throne + Austere Command
  Produces: Each opponent loses the game
  View on Commander Spellbook
• Derevi, Empyrial Tactician + The Golden Throne + Genesis Chamber + Ashnod's Altar
  Produces: Infinite colorless mana, Infinite creature tokens, Infinite death triggers
  View on Commander Spellbook

Combos: Commander Spellbook

Rulings

• 2022-10-07 · Wizards of the Coast
  If a spell or ability both destroys The Golden Throne and deals enough damage to you to reduce your life total to zero or less, you will still lose the game. This is because the state-based action that causes a player to lose the game due to having zero or less life won't be performed until after the spell or ability finishes resolving. At that point, The Golden Throne is no longer on the battlefield to apply its replacement effect.
• 2022-10-07 · Wizards of the Coast
  In a Two-Headed Giant game, The Golden Throne's ability set's the team's life total to 1, but only you gain or lose life.
• 2022-10-07 · Wizards of the Coast
  If an effect says that you can't lose the game, The Golden Throne's first ability doesn't apply.
• 2022-10-07 · Wizards of the Coast
  If an effect states that an opponent wins the game, The Golden Throne's effect doesn't apply.
• 2022-10-07 · Wizards of the Coast
  For your life total to become 1, you will gain or lose the appropriate amount of life. For example, if your life total is -4 when The Golden Throne's ability applies, it will cause you to gain 5 life. Alternatively, if your life total is 20 when it applies (perhaps because you tried to draw a card from an empty library), you will lose 19 life. Other cards that interact with life gain or life loss will interact with this effect accordingly. Notably, this means that if you can't gain life or the life gain event is modified by another replacement effect, you might still have 0 or less life and still lose the game.
• 2022-10-07 · Wizards of the Coast
  The Golden Throne's effect applies any time you would lose the game while it is on the battlefield, even if you're not losing due to your life total being 0 or less. If you would have lost the game because you tried to draw from an empty library, your life total becomes 1 and you won't lose again until you try to draw again and still can't do so. If you would have lost the game due to having ten or more poison counters, your life total becomes 1, but you will lose the game immediately afterward because you still have ten or more poison counters.
• 2022-10-07 · Wizards of the Coast
  The Golden Throne's effect does nothing if you concede the game. A player who concedes leaves the game.

Rulings: Scryfall · Wizards of the Coast