The game plan
The Ur-Sphinx Commander Strategy
- Develop lands and mana artifacts, then cast discounted Sphinxes that draw cards or improve your hand. If you’re choosing between Unesh in mono-blue and adding white and black, compare the mono-blue Commander engines and their Sphinx options.
- Attack with the creatures you can afford to lose. Once The Ur-Sphinx is on the battlefield, those attacks can turn everyone’s milled cards into extra spells.
- Keep mana for an answer rather than casting a large flyer every turn. Your commander costs nine mana before commander tax.
The full list
The Ur-Sphinx 100-Card Decklist
Commander (1)
Creatures (27)
- 1 Universal Automaton
- 1 Changeling Outcast
- 1 Mothdust Changeling
- 1 Amoeboid Changeling
- 1 Mirror Entity
- 1 Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign
- 1 Raffine, Scheming Seer
- 1 Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign
- 1 Tivit, Seller of Secrets
- 1 Sphinx of Foresight
- 1 Sphinx of Forgotten Lore
- 1 Sphinx of False Conclusions
- 1 Denzilore Fatehold
- 1 Uldaros Theorix
- 1 Dazzling Sphinx
- 1 Dream Trawler
- 1 Defiler of Dreams
- 1 Sphinx of Lost Truths
- 1 Sphinx of Uthuun
- 1 Master of Predicaments
- 1 Windreader Sphinx
- 1 Sphinx of the Second Sun
- 1 Isperia, Supreme Judge
- 1 Sphinx of the Final Word
- 1 Magister Sphinx
- 1 Enigma Sphinx
- 1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
Ramp artifacts (12)
Instants (12)
Sorceries (7)
Enchantments (5)
Plain-text decklist for copying
1 The Ur-Sphinx 1 Universal Automaton 1 Changeling Outcast 1 Mothdust Changeling 1 Amoeboid Changeling 1 Mirror Entity 1 Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign 1 Raffine, Scheming Seer 1 Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign 1 Tivit, Seller of Secrets 1 Sphinx of Foresight 1 Sphinx of Forgotten Lore 1 Sphinx of False Conclusions 1 Denzilore Fatehold 1 Uldaros Theorix 1 Dazzling Sphinx 1 Dream Trawler 1 Defiler of Dreams 1 Sphinx of Lost Truths 1 Sphinx of Uthuun 1 Master of Predicaments 1 Windreader Sphinx 1 Sphinx of the Second Sun 1 Isperia, Supreme Judge 1 Sphinx of the Final Word 1 Magister Sphinx 1 Enigma Sphinx 1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind 1 Sol Ring 1 Arcane Signet 1 Fellwar Stone 1 Azorius Signet 1 Dimir Signet 1 Orzhov Signet 1 Talisman of Progress 1 Talisman of Dominance 1 Talisman of Hierarchy 1 Mind Stone 1 Thought Vessel 1 Wayfarer's Bauble 1 Swords to Plowshares 1 Path to Exile 1 Anguished Unmaking 1 Generous Gift 1 Reality Shift 1 Counterspell 1 Arcane Denial 1 Negate 1 Dovin's Veto 1 Fact or Fiction 1 Sphinx's Revelation 1 Your Temple Is Under Attack 1 Supreme Verdict 1 Damn 1 Vindicate 1 Treasure Cruise 1 Night's Whisper 1 Victimize 1 Living Death 1 Reflections of Littjara 1 Kindred Discovery 1 Reconnaissance Mission 1 Phyrexian Arena 1 Coastal Piracy 1 Command Tower 1 Exotic Orchard 1 Arcane Sanctum 1 Path of Ancestry 1 Raffine's Tower 1 Adarkar Wastes 1 Underground River 1 Caves of Koilos 1 Prairie Stream 1 Sunken Hollow 1 Glacial Fortress 1 Drowned Catacomb 1 Evolving Wilds 1 Terramorphic Expanse 12 Island 6 Plains 4 Swamp
- The commander plus 99 cards totals 100. Basic lands repeat; each other card appears once.
- This is a fresh build, not a ten-card upgrade to Multiverse Reforged. The official precon is built around four-color Jace, and red cards can’t go in an Esper Ur-Sphinx deck.
Start sooner
Early Ramp and Opening Hands
- Keep a hand that can make its land drops and do something before turn four. Three lands, a two-mana rock and a discounted Sphinx is a useful starting pattern, not a guaranteed keep in every game.
- A turn-two Talisman can help cast a four-mana Sphinx on turn three after Eminence removes one generic mana. Raffine still needs white, blue and black.
- The 12 Islands, six Plains and four Swamps give blue the most basic lands. Dual lands and mana artifacts supply the other colors; conditional lands, Evolving Wilds and Terramorphic Expanse need to be considered when deciding whether a hand can cast its spells.
- Eleven of the ramp artifacts can make mana repeatedly. Wayfarer’s Bauble is the twelfth ramp piece: pay two mana, tap and sacrifice it to find a basic land tapped. The mana base includes tapped lands to keep the list accessible. Replace Arcane Sanctum or Raffine’s Tower with a suitable untapped dual if your opening turns are too slow. No current whole-deck price is claimed.
- Sol Ring accelerates generic costs, but it can’t pay Raffine’s colored symbols. Don’t keep a hand whose only acceleration leaves you unable to cast your spells.
Choose the engines
Sphinxes and Changelings to Build Around
- Start with cheap bodies and Unesh’s card advantage before adding more eight-mana finishers.
- Raffine rewards attacking early; Tivit helps pay for the next turn. Their jobs differ even though both count as Sphinxes.
Card choice 1
Universal Automaton
- Eminence turns its one generic mana into zero. It gives you an early Sphinx without asking you to spend colored mana.
- It still has summoning sickness. A free creature isn’t an immediate attacker unless another effect gives it haste.
Card choice 2
Changeling Outcast
- One black mana buys an attacker that can’t be blocked. With your commander in play, it can contribute to the mill trigger without needing flying.
- It can’t block either. Keep it for a reliable attack rather than counting it as early defense.
Card choice 3
Mothdust Changeling
- This one-blue-mana changeling can tap an untapped creature you control to gain flying for the turn. Use another creature if you want Mothdust itself to attack.
- If you tap another potential attacker to do that, you’ve traded one attacker for evasion. Decide before declaring attackers.
Card choice 4
Amoeboid Changeling
- Eminence removes its one generic mana, leaving a single blue mana to cast it.
- Its tap ability can turn another creature into a Sphinx before attackers are declared. Summoning sickness prevents using that tap ability on the turn it enters unless it has haste.
Card choice 5
Mirror Entity
- Leave three mana open for X=3 after you’ve built a board. It turns small changelings into 3/3 creatures for the turn, and it can make other creatures Sphinxes before combat.
- Activating it with X=0 normally makes your creatures 0/0. Don’t treat that as a free way to grant creature types.
Card choice 6
Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign
- Unesh adds a two-generic discount to Eminence’s one-generic discount. A Sphinx costing five generic and two blue can cost two generic and two blue with both effects.
- Every Sphinx that enters, including Unesh itself, gives you a four-card pile choice. One pile goes to your hand; the other supplies cards for later graveyard effects.
Card choice 7
Raffine, Scheming Seer
- Raffine gives one attacking creature connive X, where X is your number of attacking creatures. Draw and discard that many cards, then add a counter for each nonland discarded.
- A small changeling can help increase X even when a large Sphinx receives the counters. Connive is neither scry nor surveil, so it won’t trigger Denzilore.
Card choice 8
Sphinx of False Conclusions
- Flash lets you hold up interaction and cast this at the last opponent’s end step if you don’t need an answer. Its attack draws then discards one card.
- Its death trigger replaces a nontoken copy with a token copy. Exile removal won’t trigger it, and the replacement token won’t replace itself when it dies.
Card choice 9
Sphinx of Forgotten Lore
- Attack to give an instant or sorcery in your graveyard flashback until end of turn. You still pay that spell’s mana cost to cast it.
- Reuse Swords to Plowshares for efficient removal or Fact or Fiction for cards. The attack trigger doesn’t make a sorcery an instant.
Card choice 10
Uldaros Theorix
- When a cast Uldaros enters, exile up to one nonland card of each card type from your graveyard and copy those cards. You can cast copies with a combined mana value of six or less for free; the original cards stay exiled. Casting him for free through The Ur-Sphinx still counts as casting.
- Victimize returning him from the graveyard won’t satisfy his if-you-cast-him condition. A token copied by Reflections of Littjara wasn’t cast either.
Card choice 11
Tivit, Seller of Secrets
- In a four-player game, Tivit’s entry vote includes your additional vote, giving five votes split between Clues and Treasures. Your two votes can ensure at least two Treasures.
- The list leaves out Time Sieve. Tivit provides cards and mana here rather than an extra-turn combo.
Card choice 12
Kindred Discovery
- Choose Sphinx. Drawing when those creatures enter or attack helps the deck recover after committing mana to an expensive threat.
- Reflections of Littjara can double a cast creature spell, but legendary copies still obey the legend rule. Copying Unesh gives its triggers, not two lasting legendary Uneshes.
Play the trigger
Eminence and The Ur-Sphinx Attack Trigger
- Eminence reduces only the generic part of other Sphinx spells. It can’t remove a white, blue or black symbol, and it doesn’t discount The Ur-Sphinx itself.
- Changelings are Sphinxes in your library, hand, graveyard and on the battlefield. A creature enchanted to become a Sphinx only on the battlefield doesn’t automatically become a Sphinx spell in your hand.
- With The Ur-Sphinx on the battlefield, declaring three Sphinx attackers makes each player mill three cards. In a four-player game, you may cast at most one of the newly milled cards from each player, for up to four spells, not twelve.
- A creature put onto the battlefield already attacking wasn’t declared as an attacker. It won’t increase the count for this trigger.
- Cast those cards while the trigger resolves. You can cast a creature or sorcery then, but you can’t save the permission for later. Lands can’t be cast.
- X is zero in an unpaid mana cost, and mandatory additional costs still need paying. Each chosen spell waits on the stack until the trigger has finished resolving.
- The mill cards remain in the graveyard unless another instruction moves them. Living Death can therefore help opponents too; check all graveyards before using it.
Make a real swap
Ur-Sphinx Cuts and Upgrades
| Add | Cut | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Consecrated Sphinx | Sphinx of Uthuun | Trade a seven-mana one-time pile choice for a six-mana repeatable draw engine. Consecrated Sphinx is a Game Changer; discuss that increase in strength. |
| Urza's Incubator | Thought Vessel | Trade a two-mana rock for a three-mana Sphinx discount. This helps repeated creature casts but doesn’t fix colors. |
| Medomai the Ageless | Sphinx of the Steel Wind | Trade an eight-mana combat threat for a six-mana extra-turn threat. Medomai needs combat damage and can’t attack during extra turns; ask whether your group wants that play pattern. |
- Make one swap at a time while keeping the deck at 100 cards. These are alternatives to the printed list, not extra cards to add without cuts. If you’d rather start from a boxed deck, the Foundations Commander deck comparison explains the preconstructed alternatives.
- Magister Sphinx setting a player to 10 life can be harsher than the rest of this creature deck suggests. If that doesn’t suit your group, replace it with another legal Sphinx rather than surprising the table.
- Sphinx’s Approach is a different construction project: its payoff needs the spell plus four copies already in your graveyard. Its deckbuilding exception allows any number of copies, but this list doesn’t include it.
Scope and sources
Ur-Sphinx Deck Sources
- Card text, current legality and exact released printings checked October 16, 2026 using Scryfall Oracle records.
- Wizards’ Reality Fracture Release Notes explain the free-cast timing and additional-cost rules.
- The official Multiverse Reforged list establishes where The Ur-Sphinx is supplied; the custom Esper list above is our own deckbuilding proposal.
- EDHREC’s Ur-Sphinx page showed 5,253 decks when checked October 16. Those are submitted deckbuilding data, not games won.
- Wizards’ Commander page explains color identity and deckbuilding. The list has no flagged Game Changers in the October 16 Oracle snapshot, but that alone doesn’t assign it a bracket.
- Compare the Reality Fracture commander shortlist if you’re deciding whether to build Sphinxes at all. This list has not been playtested, and no turn-speed or win-rate result is claimed.
For a one-color creature-type build, the Reign of Dragons upgrade guide starts with five inexpensive changes and explains the optional damage engines.