Ur Sphinx by Shurima

Format: Commander

Commander: The Ur-Sphinx

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 45

Deck overview

This Esper deck leverages The Ur-Sphinx's Eminence ability to reduce the casting cost of all Sphinx spells right from the command zone. Supported by a dense suite of 2-CMC mana rocks and artifact cost reducers such as Urza's Incubator and Herald's Horn, the deck accelerates past the typical high mana costs of the Sphinx tribe. By turn 4, it deploys compounding value engines like Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign and Kindred Discovery to draw through the library with every creature cast. Critical onset occurs on turn 5 when heavy hitters like Magister Sphinx, Tivit, Seller of Secrets, and Sphinx of the Second Sun take over the board, frequently protected by asymmetric board wipes like Raise the Palisade and cheap countermagic. The deck finishes games around turn 7 through dominant flying combat damage and extra-turn tempo swings.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Adarkar Wastes
  • 1 An Offer You Can't Refuse
  • 1 Anguished Unmaking
  • 1 Arcane Denial
  • 1 Arcane Sanctum
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Azor, the Lawbringer
  • 1 Azorius Signet
  • 1 Black Market Connections
  • 1 Brainstorm
  • 1 Cavern of Souls
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Counterspell
  • 1 Curator of Destinies
  • 1 Curator of Mysteries
  • 1 Cyclonic Rift
  • 1 Dazzling Sphinx
  • 1 Defiler of Dreams
  • 1 Deserted Beach
  • 1 Dimir Signet
  • 1 Dovin's Veto
  • 1 Dream Trawler
  • 1 Drowned Catacomb
  • 1 Elenda and Azor
  • 1 Enigma Sphinx
  • 1 Enigma Thief
  • 1 Exotic Orchard
  • 1 Fellwar Stone
  • 1 Flooded Strand
  • 1 Glacial Fortress
  • 1 Godless Shrine
  • 1 Hallowed Fountain
  • 1 Herald's Horn
  • 7 Island
  • 1 Isolated Chapel
  • 1 Kindred Discovery
  • 1 Kindred Dominance
  • 1 Magister Sphinx
  • 1 Mana Drain
  • 1 Marsh Flats
  • 1 Medomai the Ageless
  • 1 Morphic Pool
  • 1 Path of Ancestry
  • 1 Path to Exile
  • 1 Patriarch's Bidding
  • 4 Plains
  • 1 Polluted Delta
  • 1 Propaganda
  • 1 Raffine's Tower
  • 1 Raffine, Scheming Seer
  • 1 Reanimate
  • 1 Reflecting Pool
  • 1 Reflections of Littjara
  • 1 Reliquary Tower
  • 1 Rhystic Study
  • 1 Roaming Throne
  • 1 Sapphire Medallion
  • 1 Scholar of the Lost Trove
  • 1 Sea of Clouds
  • 1 Shipwreck Marsh
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Sphinx Summoner
  • 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 Stubborn Denial
  • 3 Swamp
  • 1 Swan Song
  • 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 Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign
  • 1 Urza's Incubator
  • 1 Vault of Champions
  • 1 Void Rend
  • 1 Warden of Evos Isle
  • 1 Watcher of the Spheres
  • 1 Watery Grave
  • 1 Windreader Sphinx
  • 1 Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign