Half Bred Birds

Format: Commander

Commander: The Ur-Sphinx

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 48

Deck overview

This Esper deck is a dedicated tribal-control strategy led by The Ur-Sphinx, leveraging the commander's Eminence ability alongside artifact cost reducers like Urza's Incubator and Herald's Horn to deploy high-cost, evasive Sphinxes ahead of curve. The deck's primary engine centers on Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign, which chains discounted Sphinxes while generating continuous Fact-or-Fiction triggers to flood the hand and graveyard. Win conditions are achieved through dominant airborne combat reinforced by Roaming Throne and Reflections of Littjara, an asymmetric lockdown via Azor, the Lawbringer and Teleportation Circle, or an explosive table mill utilizing Bruvac the Grandiloquent and a kicked Maddening Cacophony. A dense suite of low-cost countermagic (Dovin's Veto, Counterspell, An Offer You Can't Refuse) protects key setup turns, while reanimation spells like Reanimate and Sharuum the Hegemon provide resilient recovery against sweepers. The deck balances explosive value generation, aerial lethality, and disruptive taxing control.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Abjure
  • 1 Amoeboid Changeling
  • 1 An Offer You Can't Refuse
  • 1 Annul
  • 1 Arbiter of the Ideal
  • 1 Arcane Denial
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Archive Arbiter
  • 1 Atemsis, All-Seeing
  • 1 Azor, the Lawbringer
  • 1 Belltower Sphinx
  • 1 Breach the Multiverse
  • 1 Bruvac the Grandiloquent
  • 1 Cavern of Souls
  • 1 Chancellor of the Spires
  • 1 Cloud Key
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Consecrated Sphinx
  • 1 Council's Judgment
  • 1 Counterspell
  • 1 Countersquall
  • 1 Court of Cunning
  • 1 Curator of Destinies
  • 1 Dawn Charm
  • 1 Denzilore Fatehold
  • 1 Deserted Beach
  • 1 Dovin's Veto
  • 1 Dream Eater
  • 1 Drowned Catacomb
  • 1 Exotic Orchard
  • 1 Extract from Darkness
  • 1 Flooded Strand
  • 1 Founding the Third Path
  • 1 Glacial Fortress
  • 1 Gleaming Splendor
  • 1 Godless Shrine
  • 1 Hallowed Fountain
  • 1 Helm of Awakening
  • 1 Helm of the Host
  • 1 Herald's Horn
  • 4 Island
  • 1 Isolated Chapel
  • 1 Jet Medallion
  • 1 Kindred Judgment
  • 1 King Narfi's Betrayal
  • 1 Maddening Cacophony
  • 1 Marsh Flats
  • 1 Maze of Ith
  • 1 Medomai the Ageless
  • 1 Mind's Dilation
  • 1 Mindcrank
  • 1 Mnemonic Betrayal
  • 1 Morphic Pool
  • 1 Pearl Medallion
  • 1 Phyrexian Metamorph
  • 4 Plains
  • 1 Polluted Delta
  • 1 Prismatic Vista
  • 1 Reanimate
  • 1 Reflecting Pool
  • 1 Reflections of Littjara
  • 1 Rhystic Study
  • 1 Roaming Throne
  • 1 Rogue's Passage
  • 1 Sapphire Medallion
  • 1 Sea of Clouds
  • 1 Sharuum the Hegemon
  • 1 Shattered Sanctum
  • 1 Shipwreck Marsh
  • 1 Smothering Tithe
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Sphinx Mindbreaker
  • 1 Sphinx Summoner
  • 1 Sphinx of Clear Skies
  • 1 Sphinx of Uthuun
  • 1 Sphinx of the Revelation
  • 1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
  • 4 Swamp
  • 1 Teleportation Circle
  • 1 The Key to the Vault
  • 1 The Ur-Sphinx
  • 1 The Water Crystal
  • 1 Tivit, Seller of Secrets
  • 1 Turbulent Moor
  • 1 Twisted Riddlekeeper
  • 1 Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign
  • 1 Urza's Incubator
  • 1 Vault of Champions
  • 1 Warden of Evos Isle
  • 1 Watery Grave
  • 1 Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign