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, 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 and Sphinx of Forgotten Lore 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 to Talisman of Dominance, to get your cards out quickly. Notably, because Ur-Sphinx’s discount includes Changelings, cards like Changeling Wayfinder and Firdoch Core
Firdoch CoreChangeling (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 and Herald’s Horn, and you can start pumping out your Sphinxes surprisingly fast. You can also use some Flying support, like Momo, Friendly Flier
Momo, Friendly FlierFlying
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, Dream Trawler
Dream TrawlerFlying, 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, you won’t need to worry about card draw. Then, when you’re ready for the finishing punch, Sphinxes like Medomai, the Ageless can push a ton of damage, while Magister Sphinx 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 ThroneWard {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 and Chronicle of Victory
Chronicle of VictoryAs 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 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-DragonEminence — 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 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 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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