The Sphinx by Celestron

Format: Commander

Commander: Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign

Bracket: 2

DeckCheck Threat Index: 31

Deck overview

This deck is an Esper odd-mana-value control strategy built around Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign. The primary game plan ramps into Yennett on turn 4, sets up the top of the library, and attacks on turn 5 to cheat massive odd-cost spells into play for free. The payoff suite features crushing asymmetric bombs such as Void Winnower, Breach the Multiverse, and Toxrill, the Corrosive, which simultaneously suppress opposing boards and assemble lethal combat damage. To ensure Yennett hits relevant odd cards consistently, the list incorporates topdeck manipulation like Sensei's Divining Top, Brainstorm, Aminatou, the Fateshifter, and Doom Whisperer. While the deck excels at creating overwhelming board disparity and restricting opposing resources, it relies on combat damage over multiple turn cycles to close out games and lacks dedicated low-cost countermagic to shield Yennett during setup. Competent piloting focuses on smooth mana curve development, protecting topdeck knowledge, and leveraging Yennett's attack triggers to out-value the table.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Aboleth Spawn
  • 1 Adarkar Wastes
  • 1 Aeon Engine
  • 1 Aerial Extortionist
  • 1 Aminatou, the Fateshifter
  • 1 Approach of the Second Sun
  • 1 Arcane Sanctum
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Brainstorm
  • 1 Breach the Multiverse
  • 1 Breena, the Demagogue
  • 1 Caves of Koilos
  • 1 Chaos Wand
  • 1 Claim Jumper
  • 1 Coalition Relic
  • 1 Command Beacon
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Commander's Sphere
  • 1 Contaminated Landscape
  • 1 Dazzling Sphinx
  • 1 Doom Whisperer
  • 1 Drowned Catacomb
  • 1 Enigma Sphinx
  • 1 Esper Sentinel
  • 1 Ethersworn Sphinx
  • 1 Evolving Wilds
  • 1 Exchange of Words
  • 1 Exotic Orchard
  • 1 Extinction Event
  • 1 Fabled Passage
  • 1 Fatespinner
  • 1 Fractured Identity
  • 1 Glacial Fortress
  • 1 Imprisoned in the Moon
  • 1 Inniaz, the Gale Force
  • 4 Island
  • 1 Isolated Chapel
  • 1 Jeskai Infiltrator
  • 1 Leadership Vacuum
  • 1 Loran of the Third Path
  • 1 Marvo, Deep Operative
  • 1 Master of Predicaments
  • 1 Mirage Mirror
  • 1 Misleading Signpost
  • 1 Myriad Landscape
  • 1 Mystic Gate
  • 1 Nadir Kraken
  • 1 Oubliette
  • 1 Path of Ancestry
  • 4 Plains
  • 1 Planeswalker's Mischief
  • 1 Ponder
  • 1 Prairie Stream
  • 1 Profane Transfusion
  • 1 Promise of Loyalty
  • 1 Psychic Battle
  • 1 Rapid Hybridization
  • 1 Reconnaissance
  • 1 Reliquary Tower
  • 1 Sensei's Divining Top
  • 1 Shadrix Silverquill
  • 1 Shared Fate
  • 1 Silent Clearing
  • 1 Skyclave Apparition
  • 1 Skyclave Relic
  • 1 Smuggler's Share
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Soothsaying
  • 1 Space Beleren
  • 1 Sunken Hollow
  • 4 Swamp
  • 1 Swift Reconfiguration
  • 1 Swords to Plowshares
  • 1 Talisman of Progress
  • 1 Temple of Deceit
  • 1 Temple of Enlightenment
  • 1 Temple of Silence
  • 1 Terramorphic Expanse
  • 1 Thief of Sanity
  • 1 Time Stop
  • 1 Toxrill, the Corrosive
  • 1 Underground River
  • 1 Vega, the Watcher
  • 1 Venser's Journal
  • 1 Vesuvan Drifter
  • 1 Virtue of Persistence // Locthwain Scorn
  • 1 Void Winnower
  • 1 Wayfarer's Bauble
  • 1 Weathered Wayfarer
  • 1 Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth
  • 1 Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign