The Ur-Sphinx by NinJoe

Format: Commander

Commander: The Ur-Sphinx

Bracket: 4

DeckCheck Threat Index: 66

Deck overview

This deck is a high-powered Esper control deck centered on Sphinx tribal synergies. It leverages The Ur-Sphinx in the command zone for passive cost reduction while using fast mana artifacts like Sol Ring, Mana Vault, and Chrome Mox to accelerate into commanding engines. On Turn 4, the deck deploys card advantage cornerstones such as Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign, Consecrated Sphinx, or The One Ring. By Turn 5, it transitions into an aggressive flying offensive using Magister Sphinx, Medomai the Ageless, or its commander to cast free spells from milled cards. Supported by an elite suite of free countermagic, flexible spot removal, and asymmetric tap effects, the deck controls the pace of the table and protects its high-cost flyers as they close out the game through combat over two response cycles.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Adarkar Wastes
  • 1 An Offer You Can't Refuse
  • 1 Ancient Tomb
  • 1 Anguished Unmaking
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Atemsis, All-Seeing
  • 1 Authority of the Consuls
  • 1 Azor, the Lawbringer
  • 1 Azorius Signet
  • 1 Blind Obedience
  • 1 Cavern of Souls
  • 1 Chrome Mox
  • 1 City of Brass
  • 1 Command Beacon
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Consecrated Sphinx
  • 1 Conspiracy Unraveler
  • 1 Cyclonic Rift
  • 1 Damn
  • 1 Dark Ritual
  • 1 Defiler of Dreams
  • 1 Demonic Tutor
  • 1 Deserted Beach
  • 1 Dimir Signet
  • 1 Dovin's Veto
  • 1 Dream Trawler
  • 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
  • 1 Enlightened Tutor
  • 1 Esper Sentinel
  • 1 Exotic Orchard
  • 1 Fabled Passage
  • 1 Fell the Profane // Fell Mire
  • 1 Fellwar Stone
  • 1 Fierce Guardianship
  • 1 Flooded Strand
  • 1 Floodfarm Verge
  • 1 Force of Negation
  • 1 Force of Will
  • 1 Gloomlake Verge
  • 1 Godless Shrine
  • 1 Hallowed Fountain
  • 1 Herald's Horn
  • 1 Imperial Seal
  • 1 Island
  • 1 Kindred Discovery
  • 1 Lotus Petal
  • 1 Magister Sphinx
  • 1 Mana Confluence
  • 1 Mana Drain
  • 1 Mana Vault
  • 1 Marsh Flats
  • 1 Medomai the Ageless
  • 1 Meticulous Archive
  • 1 Misty Rainforest
  • 1 Mox Diamond
  • 1 Mystic Remora
  • 1 Mystical Tutor
  • 1 Orzhov Signet
  • 1 Otawara, Soaring City
  • 1 Path to Exile
  • 1 Plains
  • 1 Polluted Delta
  • 1 Ponder
  • 1 Prismatic Vista
  • 1 Raffine's Tower
  • 1 Reanimate
  • 1 Rhystic Study
  • 1 Roaming Throne
  • 1 Scalding Tarn
  • 1 Scholar of the Lost Trove
  • 1 Sharuum the Hegemon
  • 1 Sink into Stupor // Soporific Springs
  • 1 Smothering Tithe
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Sphinx of False Conclusions
  • 1 Sphinx of the Final Word
  • 1 Sphinx of the Second Sun
  • 2 Sphinx's Approach
  • 1 Swamp
  • 1 Swan Song
  • 1 Swords to Plowshares
  • 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
  • 1 Talisman of Dominance
  • 1 Talisman of Progress
  • 1 The One Ring
  • 1 The Theorist, Jace Beleren
  • 1 The Ur-Sphinx
  • 1 Toxic Deluge
  • 1 Unclaimed Territory
  • 1 Undercity Sewers
  • 1 Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign
  • 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
  • 1 Urza's Incubator
  • 1 Vampiric Tutor
  • 1 Void Rend
  • 1 Watery Grave
  • 1 Weathered Wayfarer
  • 1 Windreader Sphinx
  • 1 Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign