Arcane Foundry › Commanders › The Ur-Sphinx
The Ur-Sphinx
Legendary Creature — Sphinx Avatar · {6}{W}{U}{B} · Black/Blue/White commander
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.
Build a The Ur-Sphinx deck →
What The Ur-Sphinx actually does
Read off the card by the same engine the Forge and Analyzer use — this is the mechanical classification, not a summary.
- Triggered ability · attackWhenever 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.
- Static ability · cost_reductionAs long as The Ur-Sphinx is in the command zone or on the battlefield, other Sphinx spells you cast cost {1} less to cast.
- Keyword · flyingflying
What a The Ur-Sphinx deck needs
Plays as cost reducer. What the commander asks of the other 99 — read from the card and checked by hand.
- cheap, dense sphinx spells (it makes them cheaper)
- sphinx creatures (its text counts them)
- a wide board that attacks every turn (the trigger fires on the attack)
The The Ur-Sphinx deck plan
The roles the Forge fills for this commander, and how many cards of each.
- 4× Evasion that does NOT target or attach — for a commander your own auras and equipment cannot legally touch
- 26× A body of the exact type the commander's trigger requires — the wrong type is worthless here regardless of quality
- 10× Make creature tokens — a static anthem or a go-wide commander needs a board to be wide
- 6× Put your own cards into your graveyard as a resource
- 5× Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- 9× Find the exact card the plan needs
- 2× Answer a spell or ability before it resolves
- 1× Answer a whole board at once
- 7× Refill your hand
Best cards for The Ur-Sphinx
Ranked by an engine that reads what each card does — its real cost, its delay and how reliably it works — rather than counting how often other people play it.
Evasion that does NOT target or attach — for a commander your own auras and equipment cannot legally touch
- Secret Tunnel0 mana
- Akroma's Will4 mana
- Irenicus's Vile Duplication4 mana
- Rhonas's Monument3 mana
- Enter the Avatar State1 mana
- Glaring Spotlight1 mana
- Mothdust Changeling1 mana
- The Wind Crystal4 mana
A body of the exact type the commander's trigger requires — the wrong type is worthless here regardless of quality
- Raffine, Scheming Seer3 mana
- Consecrated Sphinx6 mana
- Curator of Mysteries4 mana
- Vexing Sphinx3 mana
- Denzilore Fatehold4 mana
- Sphinx of False Conclusions4 mana
- Sphinx of Foresight4 mana
- Sphinx of Forgotten Lore4 mana
Make creature tokens — a static anthem or a go-wide commander needs a board to be wide
- Chasm Skulker3 mana
- Dalkovan Encampment0 mana
- Elenda's Hierophant3 mana
- Kozilek's Unsealing3 mana
- Elenda, the Dusk Rose4 mana
- Endless Ranks of the Dead4 mana
- Hero of Bladehold4 mana
- Myrel, Shield of Argive4 mana
Put your own cards into your graveyard as a resource
- Takenuma, Abandoned Mire0 mana
- Stitcher's Supplier1 mana
- Altar of Dementia2 mana
- Brain Freeze2 mana
- Ripples of Undeath2 mana
- Codex Shredder1 mana
- Hedron Crab1 mana
- Thought Scour1 mana
Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- Path to Exile1 mana
- Swords to Plowshares1 mana
- Reality Shift2 mana
- Pongify1 mana
- Rapid Hybridization1 mana
- Resculpt2 mana
- Defile1 mana
- Tragic Slip1 mana
Find the exact card the plan needs
- Entomb1 mana
- Demonic Tutor2 mana
- Diabolic Intent2 mana
- Vampiric Tutor1 mana
- Imperial Seal1 mana
- Demonic Consultation1 mana
- Grim Tutor3 mana
- Tainted Pact2 mana
Answer a spell or ability before it resolves
- Mindbreak Trap4 mana
- Fierce Guardianship3 mana
- Force of Negation3 mana
- Force of Will5 mana
- Flare of Denial3 mana
- Pact of Negation0 mana
- An Offer You Can't Refuse1 mana
- Arcane Denial2 mana
Answer a whole board at once
- Damn2 mana
- Vanquish the Horde8 mana
- Toxic Deluge3 mana
- Damnation4 mana
- Supreme Verdict4 mana
- Wrath of God4 mana
- Day of Judgment4 mana
- Bontu's Last Reckoning3 mana
Refill your hand
- Esper Sentinel1 mana
- Mystic Remora1 mana
- Skullclamp1 mana
- Curiosity1 mana
- Wizard Class1 mana
- Black Market Connections3 mana
- Braids, Arisen Nightmare3 mana
- Herald's Horn3 mana