to mill or not to mill by user9981490

Format: Commander

Commander: The Ur-Sphinx

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 40

Deck overview

This deck is an Esper Sphinx typal deck built around The Ur-Sphinx. The deck maximizes tribal synergy through mana cost reduction, card advantage engines, and aerial combat. The Ur-Sphinx provides a passive eminence cost reduction from the command zone, allowing expensive Sphinxes to hit the battlefield turns ahead of schedule. The deck transitions into the midgame by resolving explosive card-advantage engines like Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign and Consecrated Sphinx. These engines rapidly fill the hand and graveyard, fueling reanimation spells like Reanimate and Bloodline Bidding. Once established, the deck applies lethal pressure through Magister Sphinx and large flying threats, while using mill and theft mechanics to cast opponents' best spells for free. Robust recursion packages allow the deck to bounce back quickly from sweepers.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Arcane Sanctum
  • 1 Archway of Innovation
  • 1 Azor, the Lawbringer
  • 1 Azorius Signet
  • 1 Bitterthorn, Nissa's Animus
  • 1 Bloodline Bidding
  • 1 Breach the Multiverse
  • 1 Cabal Coffers
  • 1 Chancellor of the Spires
  • 1 Chromatic Lantern
  • 1 Command Beacon
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Consecrated Sphinx
  • 1 Council's Judgment
  • 1 Counterpoint
  • 1 Court of Cunning
  • 1 Curator of Destinies
  • 1 Damn
  • 1 Dark Ritual
  • 1 Dazzling Sphinx
  • 1 Defiler of Dreams
  • 1 Dream Eater
  • 1 Drowned Catacomb
  • 1 Elenda and Azor
  • 1 Enigma Sphinx
  • 1 Esper Sentinel
  • 1 Evolving Wilds
  • 1 Extract from Darkness
  • 1 Gathering Stone
  • 1 Hallowed Fountain
  • 1 Herald's Horn
  • 9 Island
  • 1 Kindred Discovery
  • 1 Land Tax
  • 1 Medomai the Ageless
  • 1 Mesmeric Orb
  • 1 Mindcrank
  • 1 Otawara, Soaring City
  • 1 Palantír of Orthanc
  • 1 Patchwork Banner
  • 1 Path of Ancestry
  • 6 Plains
  • 1 Propaganda
  • 1 Psychic Corrosion
  • 1 Reanimate
  • 1 Reconnaissance
  • 1 Reliquary Tower
  • 1 Riddles in the Dark
  • 1 Roaming Throne
  • 1 Sapphire Medallion
  • 1 Scheming Symmetry
  • 1 Scholar of the Lost Trove
  • 1 Seat of the Synod
  • 1 Sharuum the Hegemon
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Sphinx Mindbreaker
  • 1 Sphinx Summoner
  • 1 Sphinx of Clear Skies
  • 1 Sphinx of Forgotten Lore
  • 1 Sphinx of Uthuun
  • 1 Sphinx of the Final Word
  • 1 Sphinx of the Second Sun
  • 1 Sphinx's Revelation
  • 6 Swamp
  • 1 Swords to Plowshares
  • 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
  • 1 Talisman of Dominance
  • 1 Temple of Enlightenment
  • 1 The Soul Stone
  • 1 The Ur-Sphinx
  • 1 Thought Vessel
  • 1 Three Tree City
  • 1 Tivit, Seller of Secrets
  • 1 Treasure Vault
  • 1 Uldaros Theorix
  • 1 Undercity Sewers
  • 1 Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign
  • 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
  • 1 Urza's Incubator
  • 1 Warden of Evos Isle
  • 1 Watery Grave
  • 1 Wayfarer's Bauble