Sphinx by CatsUncle

Format: Commander

Commander: The Ur-Sphinx

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 37

Deck overview

This Esper deck leverages The Ur-Sphinx to power a tribal flying beatdown strategy supported by a unique 20-copy engine of Sphinx's Approach. The commander provides an immediate eminence discount from the command zone, allowing mid-tier and high-tier Sphinxes to enter combat well ahead of schedule. Sphinx's Approach serves as both cheap card velocity and an eventual tutor engine once five copies reach the graveyard. Anchored by heavy hitters like Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign, Tivit, Seller of Secrets, and Consecrated Sphinx, the deck quickly takes over the sky with massive bodies and continuous card draw. Spot removal from Swords to Plowshares, Anguished Unmaking, and Void Rend clears key blockers and opposing threats, while Kindred Judgment delivers a one-sided board sweep. The deck wins by overwhelming opponents through sustained, evasive combat damage across consecutive turns.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Adarkar Wastes
  • 1 Anguished Unmaking
  • 1 Arcane Sanctum
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Azor, the Lawbringer
  • 1 Bojuka Bog
  • 1 Caves of Koilos
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Consecrated Sphinx
  • 1 Consider
  • 1 Dark Ritual
  • 1 Dazzling Sphinx
  • 1 Defiler of Dreams
  • 1 Denzilore Fatehold
  • 1 Deserted Beach
  • 1 Dream Trawler
  • 1 Drowned Catacomb
  • 1 Elenda and Azor
  • 1 Enigma Sphinx
  • 1 Enigma Thief
  • 1 Feed the Swarm
  • 1 Flawless Maneuver
  • 1 Glacial Fortress
  • 8 Island
  • 1 Isolated Chapel
  • 1 Isperia, Supreme Judge
  • 1 Kefnet's Monument
  • 1 Kindred Judgment
  • 1 Magister Sphinx
  • 1 Master of Predicaments
  • 1 Medomai the Ageless
  • 1 Path of Ancestry
  • 1 Path to Exile
  • 7 Plains
  • 1 Prairie Stream
  • 1 Preordain
  • 1 Raffine, Scheming Seer
  • 1 Reflecting Pool
  • 1 Reliquary Tower
  • 1 Roaming Throne
  • 1 Rogue's Passage
  • 1 Shipwreck Marsh
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Sphinx of False Conclusions
  • 1 Sphinx of Foresight
  • 1 Sphinx of Forgotten Lore
  • 1 Sphinx of the Final Word
  • 1 Sphinx of the Second Sun
  • 1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
  • 20 Sphinx's Approach
  • 1 Stroke of Midnight
  • 4 Swamp
  • 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 Uldaros Theorix
  • 1 Underground River
  • 1 Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign
  • 1 Urza's Incubator
  • 1 Void Rend
  • 1 Windreader Sphinx
  • 1 Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign