The Ur-Sphinx by forstyrre

Format: Commander

Commander: The Ur-Sphinx

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 44

Deck overview

This deck is an Esper kindred midrange build centered on The Ur-Sphinx. It uses the commander's Eminence ability alongside artifact cost reducers like Urza's Incubator and Herald's Horn to overcome the naturally high mana costs of the Sphinx creature type. The early game focuses on establishing mana rocks and cost reducers. In the mid-game, powerful engine creatures such as Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign, Defiler of Dreams, and Tivit, Seller of Secrets generate substantial card advantage and Treasure mana. Defensive enchantments like Ghostly Prison and Propaganda stabilize life totals against aggressive opponents while flying threats accumulate. The deck closes games through combat damage by flying over ground defenses, accelerated by life-halving effects like Magister Sphinx and mass reanimation from Rise of the Dark Realms. A strong suite of low-cost counterspells and versatile removal protects the board and disrupts opposing win conditions.

Decklist (100 cards)

• 1 An Offer You Can't Refuse
• 1 Anguished Unmaking
• 1 Arcane Denial
• 1 Arcane Sanctum
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Atemsis, All-Seeing
• 1 Azor, the Lawbringer
• 1 Azorius Signet
• 1 Black Market Connections
• 1 Bojuka Bog
• 1 Cavern of Souls
• 1 Chancellor of the Spires
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Counterspell
• 1 Dark Ritual
• 1 Dazzling Sphinx
• 1 Defiler of Dreams
• 1 Denzilore Fatehold
• 1 Deserted Beach
• 1 Dimir Signet
• 1 Dovin's Veto
• 1 Dream Trawler
• 1 Drowned Catacomb
• 1 Ethersworn Sphinx
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Fellwar Stone
• 1 Firdoch Core
• 1 Flooded Strand
• 1 Ghostly Prison
• 1 Glacial Fortress
• 1 Godless Shrine
• 1 Hallowed Fountain
• 1 Herald's Horn
• 3 Island
• 1 Isolated Chapel
• 1 Kindred Discovery
• 1 Kindred Dominance
• 1 Lightning Greaves
• 1 Magister Sphinx
• 1 Mana Drain
• 1 Marsh Flats
• 1 Master of Predicaments
• 1 Medomai the Ageless
• 1 Morphic Pool
• 1 Orzhov Signet
• 1 Otawara, Soaring City
• 1 Path of Ancestry
• 1 Path to Exile
• 3 Plains
• 1 Polluted Delta
• 1 Prognostic Sphinx
• 1 Propaganda
• 1 Quantum Riddler
• 1 Raffine's Tower
• 1 Raffine, Scheming Seer
• 1 Reanimate
• 1 Reflections of Littjara
• 1 Reliquary Tower
• 1 Rise of the Dark Realms
• 1 Sapphire Medallion
• 1 Sea of Clouds
• 1 Sharuum the Hegemon
• 1 Shipwreck Marsh
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Sphinx Ambassador
• 1 Sphinx of Enlightenment
• 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
• 1 Supreme Verdict
• 3 Swamp
• 1 Swan Song
• 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
• 1 Talisman of Dominance
• 1 Talisman of Hierarchy
• 1 Talisman of Progress
• 1 Temple of the False God
• 1 The Ur-Sphinx
• 1 The Water Crystal
• 1 Thought Vessel
• 1 Three Tree City
• 1 Tivit, Seller of Secrets
• 1 Uldaros Theorix
• 1 Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign
• 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1 Urza's Incubator
• 1 Vault of Champions
• 1 Void Rend
• 1 Watery Grave
• 1 Windreader Sphinx
• 1 Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign