The Ur-Sphinx by Ransack

Format: Commander

Commander: The Ur-Sphinx

Bracket: 4

DeckCheck Threat Index: 55

Deck overview

This Esper deck leverages The Ur-Sphinx to command a high-powered Sphinx tribal battlecruiser strategy. Even from the command zone, the commander's eminence ability reduces the cost of all Sphinx spells by one generic mana, accelerating expensive flying threats ahead of curve. The deck focuses on assembling dominant card and mana engines around Turn 4, headlined by Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign, Tivit, Seller of Secrets, and Consecrated Sphinx. Once established on Turn 5, it deploys lethal pressure using Magister Sphinx to collapse life totals, Sphinx of the Second Sun to double untap and draw phases, and asymmetric sweepers like Raise the Palisade and Cyclonic Rift to clear the skies. A premium suite of free counterspells and convokable phase-out protection—notably Clever Concealment and Teferi's Protection—ensures the board remains resilient against mass removal. The deck consistently closes games around Turn 7 via overwhelming evasive combat damage.

Decklist (100 cards)

• 1 Academy Manufactor
• 1 Arcane Sanctum
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Azor, the Lawbringer
• 1 Brainstorm
• 1 Breach the Multiverse
• 1 Cavern of Souls
• 1 City of Brass
• 1 Clever Concealment
• 1 Command Beacon
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Consecrated Sphinx
• 1 Conspiracy Unraveler
• 1 Curator of Destinies
• 1 Cyclonic Rift
• 1 Defiler of Dreams
• 1 Dovin's Veto
• 1 Dream Trawler
• 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
• 1 Enlightened Tutor
• 1 Esper Sentinel
• 1 Faerie Mastermind
• 1 Farewell
• 1 Flooded Strand
• 1 Force of Negation
• 1 Force of Will
• 1 Ghostly Prison
• 1 Godless Shrine
• 1 Grand Abolisher
• 1 Hallowed Fountain
• 1 Herald's Horn
• 1 Idyllic Tutor
• 4 Island
• 1 Kindred Discovery
• 1 Land Tax
• 1 Lightning Greaves
• 1 Magister Sphinx
• 1 Mana Confluence
• 1 Mana Drain
• 1 Marsh Flats
• 1 Medomai the Ageless
• 1 Mnemonic Betrayal
• 1 Morphic Pool
• 1 Mystic Remora
• 1 Mystical Tutor
• 1 Otawara, Soaring City
• 4 Plains
• 1 Plaza of Heroes
• 1 Polluted Delta
• 1 Prismatic Vista
• 1 Propaganda
• 1 Raffine's Tower
• 1 Raffine, Scheming Seer
• 1 Raise the Palisade
• 1 Reconnaissance
• 1 Reflecting Pool
• 1 Rhystic Study
• 1 Roaming Throne
• 1 Scholar of the Lost Trove
• 1 Sea of Clouds
• 1 Sensei's Divining Top
• 1 Sharuum the Hegemon
• 1 Smothering Tithe
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Sphinx Summoner
• 1 Sphinx of Forgotten Lore
• 1 Sphinx of the Final Word
• 1 Sphinx of the Second Sun
• 1 Strionic Resonator
• 4 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 Teferi's Protection
• 1 Temporal Mastery
• 1 The Ur-Sphinx
• 1 Tivit, Seller of Secrets
• 1 Toxic Deluge
• 1 Uldaros Theorix
• 1 Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign
• 1 Urza's Incubator
• 1 Urza's Saga
• 1 Vampiric Tutor
• 1 Vault of Champions
• 1 Void Rend
• 1 Watery Grave
• 1 Windreader Sphinx
• 1 Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign