Ur-Sphinx by Gimpin86

Format: Commander

Commander: The Ur-Sphinx

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 46

Deck overview

This deck is an Esper Sphinx tribal control deck helmed by The Ur-Sphinx. The Eminence ability provides a passive one-mana cost reduction for all Sphinx spells directly from the command zone, allowing expensive threats to arrive ahead of curve. The early turns focus on setting up mana rocks and establishing card filtering. By Turn 4, key engine pieces like Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign or Consecrated Sphinx hit the board to generate overwhelming card advantage. The deck transitions into a lethal threat around Turn 6 by casting The Ur-Sphinx, which triggers mass mill and free spellcasting whenever Sphinxes attack. A top-tier Esper interaction suite featuring Cyclonic Rift, Mana Drain, Swords to Plowshares, and Supreme Verdict keeps opposing win attempts firmly in check while massive flying beaters close out the game.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Adarkar Wastes
  • 1 Anguished Unmaking
  • 1 Arcane Sanctum
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Archaeomancer
  • 1 Azor, the Lawbringer
  • 1 Azorius Signet
  • 1 Baleful Strix
  • 1 Burnished Hart
  • 1 Caves of Koilos
  • 1 Chromatic Lantern
  • 1 City of Brass
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Concealed Courtyard
  • 1 Consecrated Sphinx
  • 1 Conundrum Sphinx
  • 1 Council's Judgment
  • 1 Counterspell
  • 1 Cyclonic Rift
  • 1 Darkslick Shores
  • 1 Deadly Rollick
  • 1 Diabolic Tutor
  • 1 Dimir Signet
  • 1 Dream Eater
  • 1 Drowned Catacomb
  • 1 Esper Sentinel
  • 1 Exotic Orchard
  • 1 Fact or Fiction
  • 1 Fellwar Stone
  • 1 Fetid Heath
  • 1 Flooded Strand
  • 1 Glacial Fortress
  • 1 Go for the Throat
  • 1 Godless Shrine
  • 1 Hallowed Fountain
  • 1 Idyllic Tutor
  • 3 Island
  • 1 Isolated Chapel
  • 1 Lightning Greaves
  • 1 Mana Confluence
  • 1 Mana Drain
  • 1 Marsh Flats
  • 1 Mastermind's Acquisition
  • 1 Merchant Scroll
  • 1 Mesmeric Orb
  • 1 Mind Stone
  • 1 Mulldrifter
  • 1 Mystic Confluence
  • 1 Mystic Gate
  • 1 Night's Whisper
  • 1 Orzhov Signet
  • 1 Painful Truths
  • 1 Path of Ancestry
  • 1 Path to Exile
  • 1 Phyrexian Metamorph
  • 4 Plains
  • 1 Polluted Delta
  • 1 Pongify
  • 1 Raffine, Scheming Seer
  • 1 Rapid Hybridization
  • 1 Read the Bones
  • 1 Reflecting Pool
  • 1 Seachrome Coast
  • 1 Sharuum the Hegemon
  • 1 Smothering Tithe
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Solemn Simulacrum
  • 1 Sphinx Mindbreaker
  • 1 Sphinx Summoner
  • 1 Sphinx of Foresight
  • 1 Sphinx of Lost Truths
  • 1 Sphinx of Magosi
  • 1 Sphinx of Uthuun
  • 1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
  • 1 Sphinx's Tutelage
  • 1 Sun Titan
  • 1 Sunken Ruins
  • 1 Supreme Verdict
  • 3 Swamp
  • 1 Swan Song
  • 1 Swiftfoot Boots
  • 1 Swords to Plowshares
  • 1 The Ur-Sphinx
  • 1 Thran Dynamo
  • 1 Toxic Deluge
  • 1 Underground River
  • 1 Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign
  • 1 Utter End
  • 1 Vindicate
  • 1 Watery Grave
  • 1 Windreader Sphinx
  • 1 Worn Powerstone
  • 1 Wrath of God