ShardFenix's picture
By: ShardFenix, Thomas Rayne
Apr 27 2010 12:09am
5
Login to post comments
4069 views


Casual Fun:

To Tell a Riddle

Sharuum The Hegemon


-What goes on four legs in the morning, on two legs at noon, and on three legs in the evening?

The Sphinx, a creature of mythology with a lion's body, the wings of an eagle, and the head of a woman.  It kills people who can't solve it's riddle and destroys itself if someone does.  Now this certainly sounds like a rather awe-inspiring creature.  In Magic:The Gathering...not so much.  Lets look throughout history at the variety of sphinges that have been printed. 

Cerulean SphinxBelltower SphinxSerra SPhinx

Petra SphinxIsperia the Inscrutable

Well so far we are not off to a good start.  Sure there is a Serra Angel variant, a sphinx that dodges removal, a mill sphinx, and some other various oddball abilities.  Though it is obvious the Wizards is pushing the Sphinx as blue's iconic creature.  Prepping it to do battle with Dragons, Demon, Angels, and whatever green ever gets as its iconic tribe.  Starting in the Alara block with the Esper shard and continuing into Zendikar block, Wizards has started printing some seriously good and competitive Sphinges.

Sphinx of the Steel WindSphinx of Lost TruthsSphinx of Jwar Isle

Vexing SphinxEnigma Sphinx

Now here we go.  An Akroma, Angel of Wrath variant, a shrouded beatstick, a cascader, and more.  Some good playable sphinges that conveniently spread across the three most controlling colors in magic(color=b)(color=w)(color=u).  Now everyone who reads this site with any regularity will know that I host a weekly Tribal Classic PRE.  A couple weeks back Winter.Wolf took a Sphinx deck to an impressive 2-1 finish.  This is his list here.

As I mentioned before I liked this deck.  In fact after writing about it and musing on it for a few days I realized I really, really, like this deck.  The synergy with a couple of the sphinges and mass-reanimation strategies is a great idea.  So I took the base idea of Vexing Sphinx and Patriarch's Bidding and tweaked it to my own personal playstyle and my own decklist. I kept the main components but changed some of the sphinges around in order to have a few additional options when searching with Sphinx Summoner.

This is the deck as of April 24th, 2010.  It's not finished yet.  I still want to add in a Sphinx of the Steel Wind before I start calling it finished as well as tweaking the mana base to include some dual lands of some sort or another.  However it is already a very effective deck.   One of the best things is the Scourglass.  It doesn't kill your main beaters and it is recurrable with Sharuum.  Another plus is how nicely on a budget the deck is.

Sharuum the Hegemon- $3.00x1=$3.00                                                                                                                                                                 Sphinx of Jwar Isle- $.25x1=$.25                                                                                                                                                                            Magister Sphinx- $.10x3=$.30                                                                                                                                                                               Sphinx Summoner- $.35x3=$1.05                                                                                                                                                                          Sphinx of Lost Truths- $.60x4=$2.40                                                                                                                                                                      Vexing Sphinx- $.25x4=$1.00                                                                                                                                                                                Sphinx Sovereign- $.90x1=$.90                                                                                                                                                                              Enigma Sphinx- $.10x3=$.30                                                                                                                                                                                 Everflowing Chalice-  $.50x4=$2.00                                                                                                                                                                        Condemn- $.20x4=$.80                                                                                                                                                                                         Scourglass- $.10x3=$.30                                                                                                                                                                                      Patriarch's Bidding- $1.00x4=$4.00                                                                                                                                                                        Arcane Sanctum- $.25x4=$1.00

Total=$17.30

Yes, it is even under $20.00.  So I would venture to say its affordable to most players.  Overall this is yet again another budget deck which I would highly suggest to anyone wanting a fun slightly controlling build for Tribal Classic.  Here are a few review of how it plays.

Game 1 vs KrazyKidpsx playing Soldiers

My opponent starts off very fast with 2 Raise the Alarm, a (Boros Recruit), and a Veteran Armorer.  By my turn 4 I have...nothing.  Since I was on the draw I had discarded a Magister Sphinx on turn 2 after playing a Dimir Aqueduct.  I burn a Patriarch's Bidding for the sphinx and deal 10 to my opponent and get a blocker down for a few turns.  My opponent throws down a Benalish Commander and (Cenn's Tactician) which finally gave me a good target for my Condemn and Smother.  Yes I said Smother.  This deck was slightly altered to remove Smother for Scourglass after this game.  I still take the damage from his tokens putting me at 5.  I draw a seventh land and Magister Sphinx myself back to ten.  I get a hit in taking him to 12 and pass.  My opponent plays Darien, King of Kjeldor and passes back.  Due to Darien's ability I dont want to attack unless I have fatal on the board so I cast Vexing Sphinx and pass.  My opponent has no play so on my next turn I attack for 14 in the air and win the game. Darien, King of Kjeldor

Game 2 vs Axus_420 playing Rogues

Oona's Blackguard If I had to guess I'm going to say based off my opponents screen name he was probably high for this match.  Hey thats what I think when there are drug references in a name.  But he was playing mono-black rogues and started off with a Cloak and Dagger, Oona's Blackguard and Stinkdrinker Bandit and Frogtosser Banneret by turn 4.  On my turn 5 I cast Sphinx Summoner fetching Sharuum the Hegemon and pass the turn.  Alright so his turn he attacks...with only the blackguard.  So I gladly trade my summoner for his discard enabler.  My turn comes back around and I cast a Scourglass and end the turn.  In light of my 'Glass, my opponent casts 3 more creatures and passes.  I take this golden opportunity at a 5-for-1 and sac the Scourglass during my upkeep.  I cast Sharuum the Hegemon and return the Scourglass to play.  My opponent then casts two more creatures...so during my turn I scourglass again cast a second one and attack.  He draws and concedes.  See I say high because I'm not sure why anyone would overextend into a very visible, like its on the battlefield, wrath effect.

Overall the deck is slightly scary in the first few turns when everyone is out-pouring their small armies, but after about turn 4 or 5 you can really start taking over and applying serious pressure while picking off the weenies.  All in all this is quite the fun deck and I highly recommend it to anyone trying to build on a budget.

8 Comments

Scourglass is a good change. by Paul Leicht at Tue, 04/27/2010 - 01:53
Paul Leicht's picture
5

Scourglass is a good change. The deck list you provide is very close to the current sphinges deck I am running. -1 Sphinx of Lost Truths, -2 summoners. Also on my deck list from the tourney runs Living Death not End. :D Also I still prefer Plow over Condemn because I am old fashioned, though Condemn might be better vs decks that put only a few guys out that I care about. Ideally Id put in a 2nd death (actually need 2 now since I sold mine off.)

Well even I'll concede that by ShardFenix at Tue, 04/27/2010 - 11:06
ShardFenix's picture

Well even I'll concede that Plow is better since it doesnt rely on attacking so can get rid of some troublesome creatures that just like to sit there, and I just realized my thoughts on card frame arent too important since i am running Bidding which uses the old frame. Well i have made some slight changes since writing this

-4 Condemn
+ 4 Swords to Plowshares
Obviously not having the 'Target Attacking' clause makes StP inarguably better.
-1 Sphinx Sovereign
+1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
He is just flat better. Same mana cost but easier to cast with WUB instead of WUUB. Plus he is the freaking Akroma Sphinx
-4 Everflowing Chalice
+2 Dimir Signet
+2 Azorius Signet
The everflowing chalice was good don't get me wrong but because of the color needs in the deck the signet just work better. Especially when trying to hit UU turn 3 and then either WW or BB two turns later.

Fun stuff. I had a pre-Alara by Leviathan at Tue, 04/27/2010 - 14:14
Leviathan's picture

Fun stuff. I had a pre-Alara sphinx tribal deck that used all those guys you list at the top except Petra Sphinx. It was goofy but fun.

hmmm you know if petra sphinx by ShardFenix at Tue, 04/27/2010 - 16:51
ShardFenix's picture

hmmm you know if petra sphinx wasnt triple white, she would be pretty fun with sphinx of jwar isle...draw a card every turn...

Sphinges by Lythand at Wed, 04/28/2010 - 16:27
Lythand's picture
5

I gave you five stars (red mana symbols?) for knowing the correct plural of Sphinx. Nice article and I been wanting to build a Sphinges deck.

Roflmao...Im the one who by Paul Leicht at Thu, 04/29/2010 - 11:47
Paul Leicht's picture

Roflmao...Im the one who researched that. :p (cf my initial article on the subject.)

This is for you Paul. by First_Strike at Thu, 04/29/2010 - 12:47
First_Strike's picture

After reading your article Paul, I thought about remaking this deck. One thing that I liked, although it may not be budget friendly, was Sapphire Medallion.

I haven’t played tribal in a long time, but these guys might be interesting enough to get me there.

Medallion would be nice to by Paul Leicht at Thu, 04/29/2010 - 13:45
Paul Leicht's picture

Medallion would be nice to have instead of the Chalices but as you said...a bit more expensive. The one thing about the Chalices though is, if you get enough of a mana lead going with them you can do some fun things in a single turn. Medallions are a little more balanced that way.