Ur-Sphinx by Shibbanator

Format: Commander

Commander: The Ur-Sphinx

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 45

Deck overview

This deck executes an Esper tribal aggro-control strategy centered around The Ur-Sphinx. By exploiting the changeling mechanic, every low-cost shapeshifter counts as a Sphinx, benefiting immediately from the commander's eminence cost reduction from Turn 1. The deck rapidly develops its mana and board state using efficient mana rocks, cost reducers like Urza's Incubator, and cheap changelings. By Turn 4, it transitions into overwhelming card draw engines such as Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign and Kindred Discovery. On Turn 5, it presents critical combat pressure through mass evasion via Herald of Hoofbeats or power scaling with Mirror Entity. A robust suite of efficient counterspells, exile removal, and sweepers like Cyclonic Rift protects the game plan while disrupting opponents. Opponents are systematically eliminated by Turn 7 over two attack cycles.

Decklist (98 cards)

  • 1 Adarkar Wastes
  • 1 Amoeboid Changeling
  • 1 Anguished Unmaking
  • 1 Animate Dead
  • 1 Arcane Denial
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Arid Mesa
  • 1 Avian Changeling
  • 1 Bident of Thassa
  • 1 Black Market Connections
  • 1 Bloodstained Mire
  • 1 Brainstorm
  • 1 Cabal Ritual
  • 1 Cavern of Souls
  • 1 Changeling Outcast
  • 1 City of Brass
  • 1 Clever Concealment
  • 1 Clever Impersonator
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Consecrated Sphinx
  • 1 Counterspell
  • 1 Cyclonic Rift
  • 1 Dark Ritual
  • 1 Deep Gnome Terramancer
  • 1 Dimir Signet
  • 1 Distant Melody
  • 1 Dovin's Veto
  • 1 Dream Trawler
  • 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
  • 1 Esper Sentinel
  • 1 Exotic Orchard
  • 1 Fellwar Stone
  • 1 Flooded Strand
  • 1 Gleaming Splendor
  • 1 Godless Shrine
  • 1 Grand Abolisher
  • 1 Graveshifter
  • 1 Hallowed Fountain
  • 1 Herald of Hoofbeats
  • 1 Herald's Horn
  • 1 Irregular Cohort
  • 3 Island
  • 1 Kindred Discovery
  • 1 Knight of the White Orchid
  • 1 Lightning Greaves
  • 1 Magister Sphinx
  • 1 Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator
  • 1 Mana Confluence
  • 1 Marsh Flats
  • 1 Maskwood Nexus
  • 1 Meticulous Archive
  • 1 Mirror Entity
  • 1 Mistwalker
  • 1 Misty Rainforest
  • 1 Morphic Pool
  • 1 Mothdust Changeling
  • 1 Negate
  • 1 Otawara, Soaring City
  • 1 Path to Exile
  • 1 Patriarch's Bidding
  • 1 Plains
  • 1 Polluted Delta
  • 1 Ponder
  • 1 Raffine's Tower
  • 1 Reanimate
  • 1 Reconnaissance
  • 1 Reflecting Pool
  • 1 Roaming Throne
  • 1 Scalding Tarn
  • 1 Sea of Clouds
  • 1 Skeletal Changeling
  • 1 Smothering Tithe
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Sphinx of Clear Skies
  • 1 Sphinx of Foresight
  • 1 Sphinx of Forgotten Lore
  • 1 Swamp
  • 1 Swan Song
  • 1 Swords to Plowshares
  • 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
  • 1 Talisman of Dominance
  • 1 Talisman of Hierarchy
  • 1 Talisman of Progress
  • 1 The Queen of Dale
  • 1 The Ur-Sphinx
  • 1 Thran Dynamo
  • 1 Toxic Deluge
  • 1 Undercity Sewers
  • 1 Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign
  • 1 Universal Automaton
  • 1 Urza's Incubator
  • 1 Vault of Champions
  • 1 Verdant Catacombs
  • 1 Warden of Evos Isle
  • 1 Watery Grave
  • 1 Windswept Heath