After months of waiting, Reality Fracture’s Commander precon, Multiverse Incursion, has been revealed, and it’s a weird one. It offers a bizarre Polymorph strategy that uses your Commander to turn tokens into bombs, many of which are splashy, new cards. Instead of printing a ton of strong, generic bombs, Wizards of the Coast used this opportunity to print incredible cards that are strong Commanders in their own right.
Among all the new cards, The Ur-Sphinx is certainly getting the most attention from the player base, causing massive price spikes just after its reveal. Not only does this card give Sphinx Typal its first true home, but it mimics one of the most powerful Typal Commanders that MTG has ever seen.
MTG The Ur-Sphinx
Besides
Consecrated Sphinx
Consecrated Sphinx
Flying
Whenever an opponent draws a card, you may draw two cards.
, we have not added any Game Changers to this sample decklist. If you want to add some yourself, you can use our deckbuilder.
Mimicking The Ur-Dragon’s Eminence ability, The Ur-Sphinx’s cost reduction is a massive deal for Sphinx Typal, as the creature type, in general, has no cards with small mana values. This makes some otherwise mediocre Sphinxes like the new
Sphinx of False Conclusions
Sphinx of False Conclusions
Flash
Flying
Whenever this creature attacks, draw a card, then discard a card.
When this creature dies, if it isn't a token, create a token that's a copy of it.
and
Sphinx of Forgotten Lore
Sphinx of Forgotten Lore
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.)
far better than usual, letting you get on board early.
Even with this in mind, you’ll still need a lot of ramp, from
Azorius Signet
Azorius Signet
{1}, {T}: Add {W}{U}.
to
Talisman of Dominance
Talisman of Dominance
{T}: Add {C}.
{T}: Add {U} or {B}. This artifact deals 1 damage to you.
, to get your cards out quickly. Notably, because Ur-Sphinx’s discount includes Changelings, cards like
Changeling Wayfinder
Changeling Wayfinder
Changeling (This card is every creature type.)
When this creature enters, you may search your library for a basic land card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle.
and
Firdoch Core
Firdoch Core
Changeling (This card is every creature type.)
{T}: Add one mana of any color.
{4}: This artifact becomes a 4/4 artifact creature until end of turn.
are among some of your best ramping options. Add Typal cost reducers like
Urza’s Incubator
Urza’s Incubator
As this artifact enters, choose a creature type.
Creature spells of the chosen type cost {2} less to cast.
and
Herald’s Horn
Herald’s Horn
As this artifact enters, choose a creature type.
Creature spells you cast of the chosen type cost {1} less to cast.
At the beginning of your upkeep, look at the top card of your library. If it's a creature card of the chosen type, you may reveal it and put it into your hand.
, and you can start pumping out your Sphinxes surprisingly fast. You can also use some Flying support, like
Momo, Friendly Flier
Momo, Friendly Flier
Flying
The first non-Lemur creature spell with flying you cast during each of your turns costs {1} less to cast.
Whenever another creature you control with flying enters, Momo gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
, to reduce the cost of your Sphinxes further.
Once you have a decent amount of mana, you can start dropping your massive Sphinxes well ahead of schedule. With creatures like
Quantum Riddler
Quantum Riddler
Flying
When this creature enters, draw a card.
As long as you have one or fewer cards in hand, if you would draw one or more cards, you draw that many cards plus one instead.
Warp {1}{U}
,
Dream Trawler
Dream Trawler
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.
, and
Defiler of Dreams
Defiler of Dreams
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.
, you won’t need to worry about card draw. Then, when you’re ready for the finishing punch, Sphinxes like
Medomai, the Ageless
Medomai, the Ageless
Flying
Whenever Medomai deals combat damage to a player, take an extra turn after this one.
Medomai can't attack during extra turns.
can push a ton of damage, while
Magister Sphinx
Magister Sphinx
Flying
When this creature enters, target player's life total becomes 10.
can set an opponent’s life to 10 out of nowhere.
Of course, you’ll have access to all the usual Typal fixings like
Roaming Throne
Roaming Throne
Ward {2}
As this creature enters, choose a creature type.
This creature is the chosen type in addition to its other types.
If a triggered ability of another creature you control of the chosen type triggers, it triggers an additional time.
to make your Sphinxes more explosive, or
Kindred Discovery
Kindred Discovery
As this enchantment enters, choose a creature type.
Whenever a creature you control of the chosen type enters or attacks, draw a card.
and
Chronicle of Victory
Chronicle of Victory
As Chronicle of Victory enters, choose a creature type.
Creatures you control of the chosen type get +2/+2 and have first strike and trample.
Whenever you cast a spell of the chosen type, draw a card.
to help keep your hand stocked. While there isn’t much Typal support for Sphinxes in particular,
Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign
Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign
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.
is a notable shout, drawing tons of cards and making your creatures cheap.
Add some interaction for your opponent’s shenanigans, and The Ur-Sphinx becomes an obscenely powerful Typal Commander that can win games without even entering the battlefield. That said, if you want to cast The Ur-Sphinx, there are some ways to make it more effective, too.
Amplifying The Ur-Sphinx
From playing with or against
The Ur-Dragon
The Ur-Dragon
Eminence — As long as The Ur-Dragon is in the command zone or on the battlefield, other Dragon spells you cast cost {1} less to cast.
Flying
Whenever one or more Dragons you control attack, draw that many cards, then you may put a permanent card from your hand onto the battlefield.
, I’ve found that you rarely get to cast your Commander with an established board. Generally, this only happens if you suffer a board wipe and need to use The Ur-Sphinx to rebuild. Unfortunately, this Sphinx’s ability doesn’t do much without a board to support it, but you can run a few cards to give it more of a punch.
The Water Crystal
The Water Crystal
Blue spells you cast cost {1} less to cast.
If an opponent would mill one or more cards, they mill that many cards plus four instead.
{4}{U}{U}, {T}: Each opponent mills cards equal to the number of cards in your hand.
is a top choice here, letting The Ur-Sphinx’s ability mill your opponents for an additional four cards. This not only gives you more spells to cast, but The Water Crystal also reduces the cost of many cards in your deck. For something more specific,
Bruvac, the Grandiloquent
Bruvac, the Grandiloquent
If an opponent would mill one or more cards, they mill twice that many cards instead. (To mill a card, a player puts the top card of their library into their graveyard.)
doubles the number of cards The Ur-Sphinx mills, giving you plenty of spell choices.
All of this allows The Ur-Sphinx to do some heavy lifting on its own, making it one of the most powerful Typal Commanders we’ve ever seen… in isolation, at least. The card will likely be held back by the weaker creature type it supports, especially in the long run thanks to a lack of Sphinx Typal support. Still, the Ur-Sphinx certainly gives Sphinx Typal a powerful home, and MTG players may seem excited to try it out.
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