Ur-Sphinx by BrewDad

Format: Commander

Commander: The Ur-Sphinx

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 41

Deck overview

This Esper Commander deck leverages The Ur-Sphinx to pilot a high-synergy Sphinx kindred strategy centered on cost reduction, explosive card advantage, and massive flying beatdown. The commander's Eminence ability reduces all Sphinx spells by {1} starting on Turn 1, enabling fast deployment of imposing creatures. By combining early mana rocks and cost reducers with premier kindred engines like Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign and Kindred Discovery, the deck chains multi-spell turns and generates substantial card velocity. Threats such as Magister Sphinx, Tivit, Seller of Secrets, and Azor, the Lawbringer impose life pressure and tempo swings while demanding answers. Backed by efficient spot removal, versatile countermagic, and asymmetric kindred sweepers like Kindred Dominance, the deck dismantles opposing battlefields while sustaining its airborne offensive. Although reliant on combat damage over multiple turns, its high redundancy, resilience to disruption, and steady card flow allow it to dominate the late game.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Adarkar Wastes
  • 1 An Offer You Can't Refuse
  • 1 Anguished Unmaking
  • 1 Arbiter of the Ideal
  • 1 Arcane Denial
  • 1 Arcane Sanctum
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Archive Arbiter
  • 1 Atemsis, All-Seeing
  • 1 Azor, the Lawbringer
  • 1 Bojuka Bog
  • 1 Caves of Koilos
  • 1 Chancellor of the Spires
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Conspiracy Unraveler
  • 1 Counterspell
  • 1 Dazzling Sphinx
  • 1 Defiler of Dreams
  • 1 Deserted Beach
  • 1 Despark
  • 1 Dream Eater
  • 1 Dream Trawler
  • 1 Drowned Catacomb
  • 1 Enigma Thief
  • 1 Ethersworn Sphinx
  • 1 Exotic Orchard
  • 1 Fabled Passage
  • 1 Fellwar Stone
  • 1 Frantic Search
  • 1 Glacial Fortress
  • 1 Heartless Summoning
  • 1 Herald's Horn
  • 13 Island
  • 1 Isolated Chapel
  • 1 Isperia the Inscrutable
  • 1 Isperia, Supreme Judge
  • 1 Kindred Discovery
  • 1 Kindred Dominance
  • 1 Kindred Judgment
  • 1 Kozilek's Unsealing
  • 1 Magister Sphinx
  • 1 Master of Predicaments
  • 1 Medomai the Ageless
  • 1 Path of Ancestry
  • 1 Path to Exile
  • 6 Plains
  • 1 Ponder
  • 1 Propaganda
  • 1 Raffine, Scheming Seer
  • 1 Reanimate
  • 1 Reflecting Pool
  • 1 Reflections of Littjara
  • 1 Reliquary Tower
  • 1 Rogue's Passage
  • 1 Sapphire Medallion
  • 1 Scholar of the Lost Trove
  • 1 Secluded Courtyard
  • 1 Shipwreck Marsh
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Sphinx of False Conclusions
  • 1 Sphinx of the Final Word
  • 1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
  • 1 Supreme Verdict
  • 2 Swamp
  • 1 Swords to Plowshares
  • 1 Talisman of Dominance
  • 1 Talisman of Hierarchy
  • 1 Talisman of Progress
  • 1 The Ur-Sphinx
  • 1 Thought Vessel
  • 1 Tivit, Seller of Secrets
  • 1 Toxic Deluge
  • 1 Uldaros Theorix
  • 1 Unclaimed Territory
  • 1 Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign
  • 1 Urza's Incubator
  • 1 Vault of the Archangel
  • 1 Void Rend
  • 1 Warden of Evos Isle
  • 1 Watcher of the Spheres
  • 1 Windreader Sphinx
  • 1 Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign