Sphinxes (1931) - in progress by smhufa

Format: Commander

Commander: The Ur-Sphinx

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 40

Deck overview

This deck executes an Esper Sphinx tribal strategy commanded by The Ur-Sphinx. The game plan leverages eminence cost reduction alongside artifact ramp and enchantments like Heartless Summoning to cast large, impactful flying creatures ahead of curve. The early turns focus on establishing mana fixing and deploying defensive measures such as Propaganda or Ghostly Prison. By Turn 4, the deck transitions into assembling core card advantage engines, led by Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign and Consecrated Sphinx. The mid-game presents must-answer aerial threats that exert heavy combat pressure while generating card and spell velocity. Cards like Magister Sphinx dramatically lower the damage required to eliminate players, while Medomai the Ageless creates extra turns to compress the clock. Supported by efficient spot removal, versatile countermagic, and resilient threats with ward and hexproof, the deck controls the skies and closes out the table through decisive combat damage across multiple opponents.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Adarkar Wastes
  • 1 An Offer You Can't Refuse
  • 1 Anguished Unmaking
  • 1 Arcane Sanctum
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Atemsis, All-Seeing
  • 1 Azorius Signet
  • 1 Boggart Trawler // Boggart Bog
  • 1 Bojuka Bog
  • 1 Cavern of Souls
  • 1 Chromatic Lantern
  • 1 City of Brass
  • 1 Cloud Key
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Consecrated Sphinx
  • 1 Counterspell
  • 1 Damn
  • 1 Dark Ritual
  • 1 Dazzling Sphinx
  • 1 Defiler of Dreams
  • 1 Deserted Beach
  • 1 Dimir Signet
  • 1 Dovin's Veto
  • 1 Drowned Catacomb
  • 1 Elenda and Azor
  • 1 Enigma Thief
  • 1 Ethersworn Sphinx
  • 1 Exotic Orchard
  • 1 Fellwar Stone
  • 1 Flawless Maneuver
  • 1 Flooded Strand
  • 1 Fractured Sanity
  • 1 Ghostly Prison
  • 1 Glacial Fortress
  • 1 Godless Shrine
  • 1 Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
  • 1 Hallowed Fountain
  • 1 Heartless Summoning
  • 6 Island
  • 1 Isperia, Supreme Judge
  • 1 Kefnet's Monument
  • 1 Lazav, Dimir Mastermind
  • 1 Magister Sphinx
  • 1 Malakir Rebirth // Malakir Mire
  • 1 Mana Confluence
  • 1 Marsh Flats
  • 1 Master of Predicaments
  • 1 Medomai the Ageless
  • 1 Mindcrank
  • 1 Morphic Pool
  • 1 Mystic Gate
  • 1 Path of Ancestry
  • 1 Path to Exile
  • 1 Plains
  • 1 Polluted Delta
  • 1 Prognostic Sphinx
  • 1 Propaganda
  • 1 Raffine's Tower
  • 1 Raffine, Scheming Seer
  • 1 Reflecting Pool
  • 1 Rhystic Study
  • 1 Riverchurn Monument
  • 1 Sapphire Medallion
  • 1 Scholar of the Lost Trove
  • 1 Sea of Clouds
  • 1 Shipwreck Marsh
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Soul-Guide Lantern
  • 1 Space-Time Anomaly
  • 1 Sphinx Summoner
  • 1 Sphinx of Foresight
  • 1 Sphinx of Uthuun
  • 1 Sphinx of the Chimes
  • 1 Sphinx of the Final Word
  • 1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
  • 1 Sunken Ruins
  • 1 Swamp
  • 1 Swords to Plowshares
  • 1 Talisman of Dominance
  • 1 Talisman of Hierarchy
  • 1 Talisman of Progress
  • 1 Temple of the False God
  • 1 The Master of Lake-town
  • 1 The Ur-Sphinx
  • 1 The Water Crystal
  • 1 Thought Vessel
  • 1 Three Tree City
  • 1 Tivit, Seller of Secrets
  • 1 Tormod's Crypt
  • 1 Underground River
  • 1 Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign
  • 1 Void Rend
  • 1 Watery Grave
  • 1 Windreader Sphinx
  • 1 Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign