by Richard Rowell, Write W.A.V.E. Media Staff
Alhammarret has a pretty awesome Archive, but despite how good his Legendary Artifact might be, the High Arbiter himself is a bit underwhelming when it comes to big Blue Legendary Creatures. Therefore, it very easily can be considered General Insanity to try and build a deck with he at the helm. There are several ways we could go with this, so for flavor purposes, let’s take a look at his effect:
As Alhammarret, High Arbiter enters the battlefield, each opponent reveals his or her hand. You choose the name of a nonland card revealed this way. Your opponents can't cast spells with the chosen name (as long as this creature is on the battlefield).
On a 5/5 flyer for 7 mana, that’s not a very exciting effect. You only get to choose one card that your opponent’s can’t cast. Sure, you get to know your opponent’s hands and what you may have to play around. But it’s sort of like a worse Meddling Mage, a blue/white creature that has had its day in Constructed. How can you build around a card like that?
What sort of cards can you play alongside the massive Sphinx? Let’s take a look at the Archive to see what sort of deck we’re looking for.
As Alhammarret, High Arbiter enters the battlefield, each opponent reveals his or her hand. You choose the name of a nonland card revealed this way. Your opponents can't cast spells with the chosen name (as long as this creature is on the battlefield).
On a 5/5 flyer for 7 mana, that’s not a very exciting effect. You only get to choose one card that your opponent’s can’t cast. Sure, you get to know your opponent’s hands and what you may have to play around. But it’s sort of like a worse Meddling Mage, a blue/white creature that has had its day in Constructed. How can you build around a card like that?
What sort of cards can you play alongside the massive Sphinx? Let’s take a look at the Archive to see what sort of deck we’re looking for.
If you would gain life, you gain twice that much life instead. If you would draw a card except the first one you draw in each of your draw steps, draw two cards instead.
On a 5 cost artifact, that’s plenty good. Heck, it’s seeing play in Constructed in Sphinx’s Tutelage decks. So let’s see, we get information about opponent’s hands, gain life, and draw lots of cards? Blue does two of those things quite well. The lifegain… not so much. Basically, get card advantage, stop your opponent’s from doing anything, and incidentally gain life somehow. Those all seem like things you’d want to do.
As the only mono-Blue Sphinx Commander, why not go for a mono-Blue Sphinx tribal list? Sharuum the Hegemon is pretty good in white, blue, and black. So can a mono-Blue list work?
Here’s what I’ve come up with:
On a 5 cost artifact, that’s plenty good. Heck, it’s seeing play in Constructed in Sphinx’s Tutelage decks. So let’s see, we get information about opponent’s hands, gain life, and draw lots of cards? Blue does two of those things quite well. The lifegain… not so much. Basically, get card advantage, stop your opponent’s from doing anything, and incidentally gain life somehow. Those all seem like things you’d want to do.
As the only mono-Blue Sphinx Commander, why not go for a mono-Blue Sphinx tribal list? Sharuum the Hegemon is pretty good in white, blue, and black. So can a mono-Blue list work?
Here’s what I’ve come up with:
Land (37)
- 1x Academy Ruins
- 1x Evolving Wilds
- 1x Faerie Conclave
- 1x Halimar Depths
- 26x Island
- 1x Mage-Ring Network
- 1x Myriad Landscape
- 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
- 1x Reliquary Tower
- 1x Seat of the Synod
- 1x Temple of the False God
- 1x Terramorphic Expanse
Creature (18)
- 1x Chancellor of the Spires
- 1x Clever Impersonator
- 1x Consecrated Sphinx
- 1x Conundrum Sphinx
- 1x Guardian of Tazeem
- 1x Master of Predicaments
- 1x Phyrexian Metamorph
- 1x Prognostic Sphinx
- 1x Solemn Simulacrum
- 1x Sphinx Ambassador
- 1x Sphinx of Jwar Isle
- 1x Sphinx of Lost Truths
- 1x Sphinx of the Final Word
- 1x Sphinx of Magosi
- 1x Sphinx of Uthuun
- 1x Thassa, God of the Sea
- 1x Windreader Sphinx
Sorcery (7)
There aren’t many Sorceries in this deck, but they all do a bit. Bribery steals one of your opponent’s things. Fabricate gets you an artifact from your deck (usually Alhammarret’s Archive or Venser’s Journal.) Gitaxian Probe is a can-trip that lets you see an opponent’s hand. Ponder and Preordain help set up draws. Mind Spring and Blue Suns’ Zenith (which is included among the instants) can draw you a bunch of cards, especially with the Archive on board. Rite of Replication is especially sweet for making many copies of one of your Sphinxes.
There aren’t many Sorceries in this deck, but they all do a bit. Bribery steals one of your opponent’s things. Fabricate gets you an artifact from your deck (usually Alhammarret’s Archive or Venser’s Journal.) Gitaxian Probe is a can-trip that lets you see an opponent’s hand. Ponder and Preordain help set up draws. Mind Spring and Blue Suns’ Zenith (which is included among the instants) can draw you a bunch of cards, especially with the Archive on board. Rite of Replication is especially sweet for making many copies of one of your Sphinxes.
Planeswalker (4)Tezzeret is another way to seek out important artifacts. Both versions of Jace help you get valuable cards while the Architect can ultimate you into several bombs. Tamiyo gives you a lot of cards and can make all of your cards reusable.
Artifact (14)
The Archive has to be in here, not merely for the flavor, but to draw you lots of extra cards. Card advantage is huge in this deck as your creatures typically won’t hit the board for awhile, so when they do, you want to have a lot of options. There’s very little lifegain in the deck, but Venser’s Journal is going to gain you a ton, allowing you to often simply outlast opponents. Pristine Talisman is a mana rock, but can also gain you a life here and there just because.
Caged Sun doubles your mana and pumps up your Sphinxes a bit. Coat of Arms is an iconic tribal card that makes your already formidable Sphinxes even more so. Cryptic Gateway helps you tap down two creatures you control to cast another Sphinx for free, essentially. Mindslaver can win you the game with Academy Ruins to get it back. Oblivion Stone can blow up all of the things in case you get behind.
Urza’s Incubator isn’t a card you see all too often, but it’s a really useful tribal card. Reprinted in Commander 2015, it makes your Sphinxes (or whatever creature type you choose when you cast this artifact) cost 2 colorless mana less. to cast them This effect actually helps all players, but besides Consecrated Sphinx, you probably won’t see many other Sphinxes burn you with this card.
- 1x Alhammarret's Archive
- 1x Caged Sun
- 1x Coat of Arms
- 1x Cryptic Gateway
- 1x Expedition Map
- 1x Lightning Greaves
- 1x Mindslaver
- 1x Oblivion Stone
- 1x Pristine Talisman
- 1x Sol Ring
- 1x Swiftfoot Boots
- 1x Unstable Obelisk
- 1x Urza's Incubator
- 1x Venser's Journal
The Archive has to be in here, not merely for the flavor, but to draw you lots of extra cards. Card advantage is huge in this deck as your creatures typically won’t hit the board for awhile, so when they do, you want to have a lot of options. There’s very little lifegain in the deck, but Venser’s Journal is going to gain you a ton, allowing you to often simply outlast opponents. Pristine Talisman is a mana rock, but can also gain you a life here and there just because.
Caged Sun doubles your mana and pumps up your Sphinxes a bit. Coat of Arms is an iconic tribal card that makes your already formidable Sphinxes even more so. Cryptic Gateway helps you tap down two creatures you control to cast another Sphinx for free, essentially. Mindslaver can win you the game with Academy Ruins to get it back. Oblivion Stone can blow up all of the things in case you get behind.
Urza’s Incubator isn’t a card you see all too often, but it’s a really useful tribal card. Reprinted in Commander 2015, it makes your Sphinxes (or whatever creature type you choose when you cast this artifact) cost 2 colorless mana less. to cast them This effect actually helps all players, but besides Consecrated Sphinx, you probably won’t see many other Sphinxes burn you with this card.
Instant (12)
The usual control suite, but with Calculated Dismissal and Clash of Wills from Magic Origins added. You need just a bit more control with the slower speed of this kind of deck.
- 1x Blue Sun's Zenith
- 1x Brainstorm
- 1x Calculated Dismissal
- 1x Clash of Wills
- 1x Counterspell
- 1x Cyclonic Rift
- 1x Dissipate
- 1x Fact or Fiction
- 1x Hinder
- 1x Mystical Tutor
- 1x Rewind
- 1x Spell Crumple
The usual control suite, but with Calculated Dismissal and Clash of Wills from Magic Origins added. You need just a bit more control with the slower speed of this kind of deck.
Enchantment (7)
The key card here is Call to the Kindred, an often forgotten enchantment from Dark Ascension. It’s an Aura that you attach to one of your Sphinxes and at the beginning of each upkeep, you get to dig 5 deep into your deck looking for another Sphinx. If you find one, you put it straight onto the battlefield. The other cards go to the bottom of your deck. Typically you’ll see this played in Zombie tribal, Slivers, and occasionally Horde of Notions and Scion of the Ur-Dragon decks. But it’s mega good in Sphinxes.
- 1x Call to the Kindred
- 1x Gravitational Shift
- 1x Leyline of Anticipation
- 1x Omniscience
- 1x Rhystic Study
- 1x Soothsaying
- 1x Telepathy
The key card here is Call to the Kindred, an often forgotten enchantment from Dark Ascension. It’s an Aura that you attach to one of your Sphinxes and at the beginning of each upkeep, you get to dig 5 deep into your deck looking for another Sphinx. If you find one, you put it straight onto the battlefield. The other cards go to the bottom of your deck. Typically you’ll see this played in Zombie tribal, Slivers, and occasionally Horde of Notions and Scion of the Ur-Dragon decks. But it’s mega good in Sphinxes.
Budget Considerations
This is not exactly a “budget” deck, and the mana curve is a bit steep. But the deck has solid synergies, a strong core, and the ability to simply have insane card advantage and potentially some serious lifegain. It also has the Academy Ruins/Mindslaver recursion combo to win forever.
However, there are some cuts you could make. Bribery is a $15+ card that steals you a creature but isn’t 100% necessary for the strategy. Oblivion Stone is a $30+ card, and you could replace it with another card of your liking, perhaps something like Evacuation to have everyone pick up their cards. Omniscience can make your life a lot easier by making all your spells cast for free, but it is $20 so you can leave it out if you wish.
Coat of Arms is only about $7 but if you play against a lot of tribal decks in your local meta, it’s probably best to leave it out and perhaps choose Obelisk of Urd instead. Overall, you can probably trim the cost of this deck to under $200, but only if you had to buy every card.
Alhammarret makes this deck possible by being the only legendary mono-Blue Sphinx, but obviously using Sharuum the Hegemon or either incarnation of Isperia gives you a lot more options. As this stands, this mono-Blue deck could prove to be pretty powerful.
What other Commanders would you like to see built around that would be considered… Generally Insane?
This is not exactly a “budget” deck, and the mana curve is a bit steep. But the deck has solid synergies, a strong core, and the ability to simply have insane card advantage and potentially some serious lifegain. It also has the Academy Ruins/Mindslaver recursion combo to win forever.
However, there are some cuts you could make. Bribery is a $15+ card that steals you a creature but isn’t 100% necessary for the strategy. Oblivion Stone is a $30+ card, and you could replace it with another card of your liking, perhaps something like Evacuation to have everyone pick up their cards. Omniscience can make your life a lot easier by making all your spells cast for free, but it is $20 so you can leave it out if you wish.
Coat of Arms is only about $7 but if you play against a lot of tribal decks in your local meta, it’s probably best to leave it out and perhaps choose Obelisk of Urd instead. Overall, you can probably trim the cost of this deck to under $200, but only if you had to buy every card.
Alhammarret makes this deck possible by being the only legendary mono-Blue Sphinx, but obviously using Sharuum the Hegemon or either incarnation of Isperia gives you a lot more options. As this stands, this mono-Blue deck could prove to be pretty powerful.
What other Commanders would you like to see built around that would be considered… Generally Insane?
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