The Ur-sphinx main (copy)

Format: Commander

Commander: The Ur-Sphinx

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 38

Deck overview

This Esper deck operates as a high-synergy tribal midrange engine commanded by The Ur-Sphinx. The commander provides a constant eminence cost reduction of {1} from the command zone, enabling heavy 5-to-7 mana Sphinxes to land ahead of curve. The early game focuses on deploying 2-mana artifacts to establish 5 mana on Turn 4, where key value engines like Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign, Tivit, Seller of Secrets, or Kindred Discovery generate continuous card advantage. The deck pivots into a decisive threat on Turn 6 by amassing a formidable aerial board and deploying game-ending enhancements like True Conviction, Magister Sphinx, or Raise the Palisade. It defends its proactive development with an efficient suite of 1-to-2 CMC counterspells and targeted exile removal, grinding out opponents through superior card quality, combat evasion, and reliable recovery.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Adarkar Wastes
  • 1 An Offer You Can't Refuse
  • 1 Arbiter of the Ideal
  • 1 Arcane Sanctum
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Atemsis, All-Seeing
  • 1 Azor, the Lawbringer
  • 1 Azorius Signet
  • 1 Bojuka Bog
  • 1 Caves of Koilos
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Conspiracy Unraveler
  • 1 Counterspell
  • 1 Crib Swap
  • 1 Curator of Destinies
  • 1 Dazzling Sphinx
  • 1 Defiler of Dreams
  • 1 Dimir Signet
  • 1 Dispel
  • 1 Dovin's Veto
  • 1 Dream Eater
  • 1 Drowned Catacomb
  • 1 Elenda and Azor
  • 1 Exotic Orchard
  • 1 Fabled Passage
  • 1 Fellwar Stone
  • 1 Fetid Heath
  • 1 Firdoch Core
  • 1 From the Rubble
  • 1 Gathering Stone
  • 1 Generous Gift
  • 1 Glacial Fortress
  • 1 Glyph Keeper
  • 1 Guardian of Tazeem
  • 1 Herald's Horn
  • 13 Island
  • 1 Isolated Chapel
  • 1 Isperia, Supreme Judge
  • 1 Kaya the Inexorable
  • 1 Kefnet's Monument
  • 1 Kindred Discovery
  • 1 Lofty Denial
  • 1 Magister Sphinx
  • 1 Master of Predicaments
  • 1 Medomai the Ageless
  • 1 Muddle the Mixture
  • 1 Mystic Gate
  • 1 Negate
  • 1 Orzhov Signet
  • 1 Path to Exile
  • 6 Plains
  • 1 Prairie Stream
  • 1 Prognostic Sphinx
  • 1 Raise the Palisade
  • 1 Reflections of Littjara
  • 1 Sculpting Steel
  • 1 Sharding Sphinx
  • 1 Sharuum the Hegemon
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Sphinx Summoner
  • 1 Sphinx of Clear Skies
  • 1 Sphinx of False Conclusions
  • 1 Sphinx of Forgotten Lore
  • 1 Sphinx of the Final Word
  • 1 Stoic Sphinx
  • 1 Stubborn Denial
  • 1 Sunken Ruins
  • 1 Swords to Plowshares
  • 1 Talisman of Dominance
  • 1 Talisman of Hierarchy
  • 1 Talisman of Progress
  • 1 The Ur-Sphinx
  • 1 Tivit, Seller of Secrets
  • 1 True Conviction
  • 1 Unclaimed Territory
  • 1 Underground River
  • 1 Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign
  • 1 Vexing Sphinx
  • 1 Warden of Evos Isle
  • 1 Windreader Sphinx
  • 1 Winged Words
  • 1 Wishclaw Talisman
  • 1 Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign