Ur-Sphinx by dakotaaesoph

Format: Commander

Commander: The Ur-Sphinx

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 37

Deck overview

This Esper deck leverages The Ur-Sphinx's eminence ability alongside a unique density of fifteen copies of Sphinx's Approach to establish overwhelming card velocity. Early turns focus on deploying mana rocks and cost reducers to cast Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign on Turn 5. Once Unesh resolves, every subsequent Sphinx triggers a powerful Fact or Fiction ability, filling the hand and graveyard at rapid speed. The deck converts this immense card flow into a primary win condition via Approach of the Second Sun on Turn 6, digging through the library to recast it on Turn 7 for the win. Alternatively, it cheats The Ur-Sphinx or high-impact Sphinxes into play using Geode Golem, Show and Tell, or Sphinx's Approach graveyard tutoring, burying opponents under stolen spells and evasive combat damage. While the deck possesses explosive draw power, its primary vulnerabilities are a lack of cheap reactive countermagic and exposure to fast combo strategies.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Absorb Identity
  • 1 Adarkar Wastes
  • 1 Agent of Treachery
  • 1 An Offer You Can't Refuse
  • 1 Approach of the Second Sun
  • 1 Arcane Adaptation
  • 1 Arcane Sanctum
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Black Market Connections
  • 1 Bloodline Pretender
  • 1 Braids, Conjurer Adept
  • 1 Campfire
  • 1 Cavern of Souls
  • 1 Caves of Koilos
  • 1 Cloud Key
  • 1 Command Beacon
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Counterspell
  • 1 Court of Grace
  • 1 Dark Ritual
  • 1 Deserted Beach
  • 1 Dovin's Veto
  • 1 Drowned Catacomb
  • 1 Elenda and Azor
  • 1 Exotic Orchard
  • 1 Felidar Retreat
  • 1 Flooded Strand
  • 1 Gathering Stone
  • 1 Geode Golem
  • 1 Glacial Fortress
  • 1 Glasspool Mimic // Glasspool Shore
  • 1 Godless Shrine
  • 1 Hallowed Fountain
  • 1 Herald's Horn
  • 1 Irma, Part-Time Mutant
  • 4 Island
  • 1 Isolated Chapel
  • 1 Kindred Judgment
  • 1 Leyline of Transformation
  • 1 Magister Sphinx
  • 1 Marsh Flats
  • 1 Maskwood Nexus
  • 1 Meticulous Archive
  • 1 Mirror Entity
  • 1 Mischievous Sneakling
  • 1 Morphic Pool
  • 1 Netherborn Altar
  • 1 Nita, Forum Conciliator
  • 1 Omniscience
  • 1 Orzhov Signet
  • 3 Plains
  • 1 Polluted Delta
  • 1 Prairie Stream
  • 1 Raffine's Tower
  • 1 Rhystic Study
  • 1 Roaming Throne
  • 1 Sea of Clouds
  • 1 Shadow of the Second Sun
  • 1 Shattered Sanctum
  • 1 Shipwreck Marsh
  • 1 Show and Tell
  • 1 Sphinx of False Conclusions
  • 1 Sphinx of the Final Word
  • 1 Sphinx of the Second Sun
  • 14 Sphinx's Approach
  • 1 Sunken Hollow
  • 3 Swamp
  • 1 Swords to Plowshares
  • 1 Talisman of Dominance
  • 1 Talisman of Hierarchy
  • 1 Talisman of Progress
  • 1 Tasha, the Witch Queen
  • 1 The Ur-Sphinx
  • 1 Thopter Spy Network
  • 1 Undercity Sewers
  • 1 Underground River
  • 1 Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign
  • 1 Vault of Champions
  • 1 Vindicate
  • 1 Watery Grave