Shared Commander deck
The Ur-Sphinx - Sphinx Swarm Assault
The Ur-Sphinx · BUW · 100 cards · 36 lands
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Bracket 3 - UpgradedCommander 1Creatures 37Instants 10Sorceries 2Artifacts 12Enchantments 1Planeswalkers 1Lands 36
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Strategy
This deck is a tribal Sphinx control deck built around The Ur-Sphinx, which cheapens your Sphinx spells via Eminence and turns Sphinx attacks into a double-edged mill engine: each player mills cards equal to the number of attacking Sphinxes, and you may cast one milled card per player for free. The strategy is to flood the board with evasive flying Sphinxes, draw cards off their attack and enters triggers, and leverage mill-to-cast effects to generate overwhelming value. You play a slow, grindy control game protected by removal and counterspells while your flyers chip away and your card advantage snowballs.
Early: Prioritize ramp and fixing. Dark Ritual can accelerate an early play, while Arcane Signet, Talisman of Dominance, Talisman of Hierarchy, Talisman of Progress, Fellwar Stone, Commander's Sphere, Thought Vessel, and Chromatic Lantern fix your demanding W/U/B costs. Wayfarer's Bauble and Relic of Legends further smooth mana, and Relic of Legends is especially strong since you run many legendary Sphinxes. Sphinx of Foresight can be revealed from your opening hand for early scry. Hold up Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Counterspell, and Dovin's Veto to answer early threats while you develop.
Mid: Deploy cheaper Sphinxes made even cheaper by The Ur-Sphinx's Eminence, Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign, Warden of Evos Isle, and Watcher of the Spheres. Enters-the-battlefield value from Sphinx of Lost Truths, Sphinx of Uthuun, Sphinx of Enlightenment, Inspired Sphinx, and Unesh fuels your hand. Use Supreme Verdict, Toxic Deluge, Generous Gift, Void Rend, Anguished Unmaking, Despark, and Crib Swap to reset the board or pick off threats while your flyers survive above the ground. Windreader Sphinx and Isperia, Supreme Judge convert attacks and combat into cards. Begin attacking to trigger the commander's mill-and-cast ability for free spells.
Late: With multiple Sphinxes attacking, The Ur-Sphinx mills a large number of cards from each player and lets you cast one per player for free, generating explosive value. Pair this with Scholar of the Lost Trove and Chancellor of the Spires to recur or steal milled instants, sorceries, and artifacts. Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign, Master of Predicaments, Dazzling Sphinx, and Conundrum Sphinx all cast cards for free on attack or combat damage. Dream Trawler grows huge and gains life, while Sphinx of the Final Word makes your spells uncounterable and itself untouchable. Sphinx Mindbreaker and Sphinx of Forgotten Lore add reach and flashback recursion.
Win conditions: Win primarily through evasive flying Sphinx damage—Dream Trawler scaling with your card draws, plus a wide board of flyers buffed potentially by Patchwork Banner. Alternatively, grind opponents out with overwhelming card advantage and free spells from The Ur-Sphinx, Yennett, Master of Predicaments, and Dazzling Sphinx until they have no answers. Sphinx Mindbreaker and the commander's mill can also attack opponents' libraries as a secondary angle.
- Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign - Further reduces Sphinx costs by {2} and generates card advantage whenever Sphinxes enter
- Dream Trawler - Lifelinking flyer that grows with each card drawn and refills your hand on attack
- Scholar of the Lost Trove - Recasts milled or graveyard instants, sorceries, and artifacts for free, pairing with the commander's mill
- Sphinx of the Final Word - Protects your spells from counters and makes itself hexproof and uncounterable
- Windreader Sphinx - Draws cards whenever any flyer attacks, fueling your grindy plan
- Supreme Verdict - Uncounterable board wipe that resets the ground while your flyers survive above it
- Sphinx of Uthuun - Reliable enters-the-battlefield card advantage via pile selection
~$67.18
estimated to build this deck
Commander (1)
The Ur-Sphinx
Legendary Creature — Sphinx Avatar
Eminence — As long as The Ur-Sphinx is in the command zone or on the battlefield, other Sphinx spells you cast cost {1} less to cast.
Flying
Whenever one or more Sphinxes you control attack, each player mills that many cards. For each player, you may cast a card that player milled this way without paying its mana cost.
Group by
Creatures (37)
Ornithopter of Paradise
Artifact Creature — Thopter
$0.4
Flying
{T}: Add one mana of any color.
Dream Eater
Creature — Nightmare Sphinx
$0.34
Flash
Flying
When this creature enters, surveil 4. When you do, you may return target nonland permanent an opponent controls to its owner's hand. (To surveil 4, look at the top four cards of your library, then put any number of them into your graveyard and the rest on top of your library in any order.)
Windreader Sphinx
Creature — Sphinx
$0.17
Flying
Whenever a creature with flying attacks, you may draw a card.
Isperia, Supreme Judge
Legendary Creature — Sphinx
$0.4
Flying
Whenever a creature attacks you or a planeswalker you control, you may draw a card.
Sphinx of Lost Truths
Creature — Sphinx
$0.37
Kicker {1}{U} (You may pay an additional {1}{U} as you cast this spell.)
Flying
When this creature enters, draw three cards. Then if it wasn't kicked, discard three cards.
Sphinx of Uthuun
Creature — Sphinx
$0.13
Flying
When this creature enters, reveal the top five cards of your library. An opponent separates those cards into two piles. Put one pile into your hand and the other into your graveyard.
Sphinx of Enlightenment
Creature — Sphinx
$0.17
Flying
When this creature enters, target opponent draws a card and you draw three cards.
Dream Trawler
Creature — Sphinx
$0.34
Flying, lifelink
Whenever you draw a card, this creature gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
Whenever this creature attacks, draw a card.
Discard a card: This creature gains hexproof until end of turn. Tap it.
Defiler of Dreams
Creature — Phyrexian Sphinx
$0.45
Flying
As an additional cost to cast blue permanent spells, you may pay 2 life. Those spells cost {U} less to cast if you paid life this way. This effect reduces only the amount of blue mana you pay.
Whenever you cast a blue permanent spell, draw a card.
Inspired Sphinx
Creature — Sphinx
$0.25
Flying
When this creature enters, draw cards equal to the number of opponents you have.
{3}{U}: Create a 1/1 colorless Thopter artifact creature token with flying.
Curator of Mysteries
Creature — Sphinx
$0.35
Flying
Whenever you cycle or discard another card, scry 1.
Cycling {U} ({U}, Discard this card: Draw a card.)
Eligeth, Crossroads Augur
Legendary Creature — Sphinx
$0.25
Flying
If you would scry a number of cards, draw that many cards instead.
Partner (You can have two commanders if both have partner.)
Sphinx of Foresight
Creature — Sphinx
$0.41
You may reveal this card from your opening hand. If you do, scry 3 at the beginning of your first upkeep.
Flying
At the beginning of your upkeep, scry 1.
Stoic Sphinx
Creature — Sphinx
$0.17
Flash
Flying
This creature has hexproof as long as you haven't cast a spell this turn.
Sphinx Mindbreaker
Creature — Sphinx
$3.17
Flying
When this creature enters, each opponent mills ten cards.
Sphinx of Forgotten Lore
Creature — Sphinx
$0.44
Flash (You may cast this spell any time you could cast an instant.)
Flying
Whenever this creature attacks, target instant or sorcery card in your graveyard gains flashback until end of turn. The flashback cost is equal to that card's mana cost. (You may cast that card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then exile it.)
Dazzling Sphinx
Creature — Sphinx
$0.44
Flying
Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, that player exiles cards from the top of their library until they exile an instant or sorcery card. You may cast that card without paying its mana cost. Then that player puts the exiled cards that weren't cast this way on the bottom of their library in a random order.
Prognostic Sphinx
Creature — Sphinx
$0.25
Flying
Discard a card: This creature gains hexproof until end of turn. Tap it.
Whenever this creature attacks, scry 3.
Master of Predicaments
Creature — Sphinx
$0.46
Flying
Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, choose a card in your hand. That player guesses whether the card's mana value is greater than 4. If the player guessed wrong, you may cast the card without paying its mana cost.
Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign
Legendary Creature — Sphinx
$0.49
Flying, vigilance, menace
Whenever Yennett attacks, reveal the top card of your library. You may cast it without paying its mana cost if its mana value is odd. If you don't cast it, draw a card.
Conundrum Sphinx
Creature — Sphinx
$0.23
Flying
Whenever this creature attacks, each player chooses a card name. Then each player reveals the top card of their library. If the card a player revealed has the name they chose, that player puts it into their hand. If it doesn't, that player puts it on the bottom of their library.
Sphinx of Clear Skies
Creature — Sphinx
$0.33
Flying, ward {2}
Domain — Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, reveal the top X cards of your library, where X is the number of basic land types among lands you control. An opponent separates those cards into two piles. Put one pile into your hand and the other into your graveyard. (Piles can be empty.)
Chancellor of the Spires
Creature — Phyrexian Sphinx
$0.59
You may reveal this card from your opening hand. If you do, at the beginning of the first upkeep, each opponent mills seven cards.
Flying
When this creature enters, you may cast target instant or sorcery card from an opponent's graveyard without paying its mana cost.
Scholar of the Lost Trove
Creature — Sphinx
$0.33
Flying
When this creature enters, you may cast target instant, sorcery, or artifact card from your graveyard without paying its mana cost. If an instant or sorcery spell cast this way would be put into your graveyard, exile it instead.
Sphinx Summoner
Artifact Creature — Sphinx
$0.25
Flying
When this creature enters, you may search your library for an artifact creature card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle.
Sphinx of the Final Word
Creature — Sphinx
$0.34
This spell can't be countered.
Flying
Hexproof (This creature can't be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control.)
Instant and sorcery spells you control can't be countered.
Watcher of the Spheres
Creature — Bird Wizard
$0.56
Flying
Creature spells with flying you cast cost {1} less to cast.
Whenever another creature you control with flying enters, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
Warden of Evos Isle
Creature — Bird Wizard
$0.17
Flying
Creature spells with flying you cast cost {1} less to cast.
Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign
Legendary Creature — Sphinx
$8.44
Flying
Sphinx spells you cast cost {2} less to cast.
Whenever Unesh or another Sphinx you control enters, reveal the top four cards of your library. An opponent separates those cards into two piles. Put one pile into your hand and the other into your graveyard.
Curator of Destinies
Creature — Sphinx
$0.24
This spell can't be countered.
Flying
When this creature enters, look at the top five cards of your library and separate them into a face-down pile and a face-up pile. An opponent chooses one of those piles. Put that pile into your hand and the other into your graveyard.
Unsettled Mariner
Creature — Shapeshifter
$3.87
Changeling (This card is every creature type.)
Whenever you or a permanent you control becomes the target of a spell or ability an opponent controls, counter that spell or ability unless its controller pays {1}.
Changeling Outcast
Creature — Shapeshifter
$1.35
Changeling (This card is every creature type.)
This creature can't block and can't be blocked.
Universal Automaton
Artifact Creature — Shapeshifter
$0.69
Changeling (This card is every creature type.)
Omni-Changeling
Creature — Shapeshifter
$0.33
Changeling (This card is every creature type.)
Convoke (Your creatures can help cast this spell. Each creature you tap while casting this spell pays for {1} or one mana of that creature's color.)
You may have this creature enter as a copy of any creature on the battlefield, except it has changeling.
Isperia the Inscrutable
Legendary Creature — Sphinx
$0.31
Flying
Whenever Isperia deals combat damage to a player, choose a card name. That player reveals their hand. If a card with the chosen name is revealed this way, search your library for a creature card with flying, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle.
Magister Sphinx
Artifact Creature — Sphinx
$0.68
Flying
When this creature enters, target player's life total becomes 10.
Laboratory Maniac
Creature — Human Wizard
$0.48
If you would draw a card while your library has no cards in it, you win the game instead.
Instants (10)
Swords to Plowshares
Instant
$1.01
Exile target creature. Its controller gains life equal to its power.
Path to Exile
Instant
$0.71
Exile target creature. Its controller may search their library for a basic land card, put that card onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.
Dovin's Veto
Instant
$2.03
This spell can't be countered.
Counter target noncreature spell.
Void Rend
Instant
$0.27
This spell can't be countered.
Destroy target nonland permanent.
Generous Gift
Instant
$0.87
Destroy target permanent. Its controller creates a 3/3 green Elephant creature token.
Crib Swap
Kindred Instant — Shapeshifter
$0.17
Changeling (This card is every creature type.)
Exile target creature. Its controller creates a 1/1 colorless Shapeshifter creature token with changeling.
Sorceries (2)
Supreme Verdict
Sorcery
$2.29
This spell can't be countered.
Destroy all creatures.
Toxic Deluge
Sorcery
$5.12
As an additional cost to cast this spell, pay X life.
All creatures get -X/-X until end of turn.
Artifacts (12)
Wayfarer's Bauble
Artifact
$0.26
{2}, {T}, Sacrifice this artifact: Search your library for a basic land card, put that card onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.
Arcane Signet
Artifact
$0.35
{T}: Add one mana of any color in your commander's color identity.
Commander's Sphere
Artifact
$0.19
{T}: Add one mana of any color in your commander's color identity.
Sacrifice this artifact: Draw a card.
Relic of Legends
Artifact
$0.75
{T}: Add one mana of any color.
Tap an untapped legendary creature you control: Add one mana of any color.
Chromatic Lantern
Artifact
$0.56
Lands you control have "{T}: Add one mana of any color."
{T}: Add one mana of any color.
Fellwar Stone
Artifact
$0.57
{T}: Add one mana of any color that a land an opponent controls could produce.
Talisman of Dominance
Artifact
$0.58
{T}: Add {C}.
{T}: Add {U} or {B}. This artifact deals 1 damage to you.
Talisman of Hierarchy
Artifact
$0.43
{T}: Add {C}.
{T}: Add {W} or {B}. This artifact deals 1 damage to you.
Talisman of Progress
Artifact
$0.36
{T}: Add {C}.
{T}: Add {W} or {U}. This artifact deals 1 damage to you.
Patchwork Banner
Artifact
$2.14
As this artifact enters, choose a creature type.
Creatures you control of the chosen type get +1/+1.
{T}: Add one mana of any color.
Decanter of Endless Water
Artifact
$3.26
You have no maximum hand size.
{T}: Add one mana of any color.
Enchantments (1)
Kozilek's Unsealing
Enchantment
$0.3
Devoid (This card has no color.)
Whenever you cast a creature spell with mana value 4, 5, or 6, create two 0/1 colorless Eldrazi Spawn creature tokens with "Sacrifice this token: Add {C}."
Whenever you cast a creature spell with mana value 7 or greater, draw three cards.
Planeswalkers (1)
Jace, Wielder of Mysteries
Legendary Planeswalker — Jace
$6.22
If you would draw a card while your library has no cards in it, you win the game instead.
+1: Target player mills two cards. Draw a card.
−8: Draw seven cards. Then if your library has no cards in it, you win the game.
Lands (36)
Command Tower
Land
$0.25
{T}: Add one mana of any color in your commander's color identity.
Exotic Orchard
Land
$0.27
{T}: Add one mana of any color that a land an opponent controls could produce.
Jwar Isle Refuge
Land
$0.16
This land enters tapped.
When this land enters, you gain 1 life.
{T}: Add {U} or {B}.
Sejiri Refuge
Land
$0.12
This land enters tapped.
When this land enters, you gain 1 life.
{T}: Add {W} or {U}.
Scoured Barrens
Land
$0.12
This land enters tapped.
When this land enters, you gain 1 life.
{T}: Add {W} or {B}.
Dimir Aqueduct
Land
$0.25
This land enters tapped.
When this land enters, return a land you control to its owner's hand.
{T}: Add {U}{B}.
Azorius Chancery
Land
$0.16
This land enters tapped.
When this land enters, return a land you control to its owner's hand.
{T}: Add {W}{U}.
Orzhov Basilica
Land
$0.23
This land enters tapped.
When this land enters, return a land you control to its owner's hand.
{T}: Add {W}{B}.
Temple of Enlightenment
Land
$0.14
This land enters tapped.
When this land enters, scry 1. (Look at the top card of your library. You may put that card on the bottom.)
{T}: Add {W} or {U}.
Temple of Silence
Land
$0.18
This land enters tapped.
When this land enters, scry 1. (Look at the top card of your library. You may put that card on the bottom.)
{T}: Add {W} or {B}.
Temple of Deceit
Land
$0.2
This land enters tapped.
When this land enters, scry 1. (Look at the top card of your library. You may put that card on the bottom.)
{T}: Add {U} or {B}.
Choked Estuary
Land
$0.27
As this land enters, you may reveal an Island or Swamp card from your hand. If you don't, this land enters tapped.
{T}: Add {U} or {B}.
Fetid Pools
Land — Island Swamp
$0.3
({T}: Add {U} or {B}.)
This land enters tapped.
Cycling {2} ({2}, Discard this card: Draw a card.)
Irrigated Farmland
Land — Plains Island
$0.16
({T}: Add {W} or {U}.)
This land enters tapped.
Cycling {2} ({2}, Discard this card: Draw a card.)
Isolated Chapel
Land
$0.38
This land enters tapped unless you control a Plains or a Swamp.
{T}: Add {W} or {B}.
Drowned Catacomb
Land
$0.66
This land enters tapped unless you control an Island or a Swamp.
{T}: Add {U} or {B}.
Glacial Fortress
Land
$0.32
This land enters tapped unless you control a Plains or an Island.
{T}: Add {W} or {U}.
Basic lands: 6 Swamp 6 Island 6 Plains
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