Ur-Sphinx by IcemanMTG

Format: Commander

Commander: The Ur-Sphinx

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 38

Deck overview

This deck is an Esper Sphinx tribal midrange deck that leverages The Ur-Sphinx's eminence ability to cast high-impact flying creatures ahead of curve. Early turns focus on mana acceleration with cheap mana rocks and cost reducers like Heartless Summoning to deploy large Sphinxes by Turn 4. The deck's primary engine revolves around Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign, which turns every subsequent Sphinx into a Fact or Fiction trigger while slashing casting costs further. Mid-game turns establish overwhelming air superiority with heavy hitters like Magister Sphinx, Tivit, Seller of Secrets, and Sphinx of the Steel Wind, supported by blink effects like Ephemerate and recursion spells like Dread Return to re-trigger potent enters-the-battlefield abilities. A secondary mill subtheme from Psychic Corrosion and Sphinx Mindbreaker fuels graveyards for reanimation. The deck closes games around Turn 8 through decisive aerial combat damage and life-total manipulation, out-valuing opponents with massive card advantage.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Arbiter of the Ideal
  • 1 Arcane Sanctum
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Azor, the Lawbringer
  • 1 Azorius Chancery
  • 1 Azorius Signet
  • 1 Black Sun's Twilight
  • 1 Caves of Koilos
  • 1 Charcoal Diamond
  • 1 Choked Estuary
  • 1 Coiling Rebirth
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Contaminated Landscape
  • 1 Crippling Fear
  • 1 Curator of Destinies
  • 1 Dark Ritual
  • 1 Debtors' Knell
  • 1 Despark
  • 1 Diabolic Tutor
  • 1 Dimir Aqueduct
  • 1 Dimir Signet
  • 1 Dread Return
  • 1 Dream Eater
  • 1 Drown in the Loch
  • 1 Drowned Catacomb
  • 1 Eligeth, Crossroads Augur
  • 1 Empyrean Eagle
  • 1 Enigma Sphinx
  • 1 Enigma Thief
  • 1 Ephemerate
  • 1 Ethersworn Sphinx
  • 1 Exotic Orchard
  • 1 Extract from Darkness
  • 1 Fabled Passage
  • 1 Fellwar Stone
  • 1 Fetid Heath
  • 1 Firdoch Core
  • 1 Flawless Maneuver
  • 1 Forum of Amity
  • 1 Frantic Search
  • 1 Glacial Fortress
  • 1 Grasping Tentacles
  • 1 Guardian of Tazeem
  • 1 Heartless Summoning
  • 3 Island
  • 1 Isolated Chapel
  • 1 Kindred Boon
  • 1 Lae'zel's Acrobatics
  • 1 Magister Sphinx
  • 1 Master of Predicaments
  • 1 Medomai the Ageless
  • 1 Mischievous Sneakling
  • 1 Momentary Blink
  • 1 Mystic Gate
  • 1 Mystic Redaction
  • 1 Path to Exile
  • 3 Plains
  • 1 Port Town
  • 1 Prairie Stream
  • 1 Preordain
  • 1 Psychic Corrosion
  • 1 Ravenous Trap
  • 1 Reenact the Crime
  • 1 Reflecting Pool
  • 1 Reflections of Littjara
  • 1 Reliquary Tower
  • 1 Restless Anchorage
  • 1 Scholar of the Lost Trove
  • 1 Sharuum the Hegemon
  • 1 Shineshadow Snarl
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Sphinx Mindbreaker
  • 1 Sphinx of Forgotten Lore
  • 1 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
  • 1 Sphinx of Magosi
  • 1 Sphinx of the Final Word
  • 1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
  • 1 Sphinx's Tutelage
  • 1 Sunken Ruins
  • 2 Swamp
  • 1 Swiftfoot Boots
  • 1 Swords to Plowshares
  • 1 Talisman of Dominance
  • 1 Talisman of Progress
  • 1 The Ur-Sphinx
  • 1 Thought Vessel
  • 1 Tivit, Seller of Secrets
  • 1 Turbulent Shore
  • 1 Turbulent Wetlands
  • 1 Underground River
  • 1 Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign
  • 1 Vexing Sphinx
  • 1 Warden of Evos Isle
  • 1 Windreader Sphinx
  • 1 Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign