Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign

Legendary Creature — Sphinx

Flying Sphinx spells cost 2 less to cast. Whenever Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign or another Sphinx enters the battlefield under your control, reveall the top four cards of your library. An oponent seperates those cards into two piles. Put one pile into your hand and the other into your graveyard

Combos

• Rite of Replication + Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Arena	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Historic	Legal
Historic Brawl	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Modern Beyond Horizons	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Planar Constructed	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (48)

griffstick on Blue tribe/typal commander deck

1 year ago

Mono blue Morfolk seems like it would fit in with the rest. I like seshiro_of_the_orochi's suggestion with using Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign but I think that it's a grade above the rest. It would likely be the best deck with its flying big bodies and unlimited card draw.

seshiro_of_the_orochi on Blue tribe/typal commander deck

1 year ago

Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign is another possibility. Being blue gives great value and interaction pieces, and the commander itself gives some decent ramp. Sphinxes are a powerful tribe full of versatility and minigames.

ASalesman on Unesh, Ultimate Guide (Tribal)

1 year ago

Another relevant almost infinite combo

I posted about this before and removed it because I wasn't sure if it actually works, but it does! So I will repost.

This combo involves Cloudstone Curio, Phantasmal Image, and Dockside Extortionist. Wait.. dockside is a red card, what gives?! Well dockside popular in cEDH and with phantasmal image, you can make a copy of it. This can be a win condition for Unesh given the right initial conditions.

Initial Conditions:

• Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign is on the battlefield (or command zone)
• You have a sphinx to cast (including Unesh).
• Cloudstone Curio is on the field.
• Phantasmal Image is on the battlefield as a copy of Dockside Extortionist.
• Opponents have enough artifacts & enchantments on the field to net you positive mana (~6)

Steps

1. Cast a sphinx (or Unesh)
2. The ETB triggers Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign. Use the BFOF to get another sphinx. If you already have enough sphinxes in hand, prioritize Thassa's Oracle and counter magic to protect your wincon.
3. The ETB also triggers Cloudstone Curio. Return Phantasmal Image to your hand. (!!THIS DOES NOT CAUSE PH. IMAGE TO SACRIFICE TO ITSELF!!)
4. Cast Phantasmal Image as a copy of Dockside Extortionist (assuming it is still a valid target), to gain treasures greater than or equal to the amount spent on the Sphinx and Phantasmal Image.
5. Return to step 1, unless Thassa's Oracle win condition is online in which case go to step 6.
6. Cast Thassa's Oracle.

I think this combo sounds crazy to people who aren't used to playing Unesh, because there are a lot of things that can prevent you from finishing this combo. Is it likely you will keep finding sphnxes? Short answer, yes due to the 20% rule. In my experience this revision of the deck will get you to the bottom your deck almost every time. What if they remove Dockside from the field? If someone has to use a removal piece on the opponent's Dockside, you can counter it. And if you can't counter it, it feels really good that the removal piece isn't pointing at Unesh. What if they remove Unesh? Now you have another Sphinx to play and continue the combo if you have the mana.

ASalesman on Unesh, Ultimate Guide (Tribal)

1 year ago

1 card sub + found another relevant combo

Replaced Spark Double with Orvar, the All-Form. Spark double and Sakashima are great cards with awesome text, in this deck they effectively do the same thing. I don't think the deck needs redundancy here. Seeing both of these cards in your hand is undesirable because they are relatively expensive mana-wise. A faster card needs to go in one of these slots. I chose to take out Spark Double rather than Sakashima because the text on Sakashima is better. Incoming Orvar. Orvar benefits from Unesh's cost reduction making it only 2 mana to cast. He is a cheap sphinx which is good enough and the rest of the text is an outstanding bonus. The first ability on Orvar synergizes extremely well with Unsummon, Snap, Ghostly Flicker, and especially Chain of Vapor. The second ability isn't as important, but it is not an unhappy thing to see.

Found another almost infinite combo that includes Dockside Extortionist. But wait this is a mono-blue deck, what gives?? Dockside is huge in the format right now, and with Phantasmal Image you can make one if your opponent has one. In Unesh this can be a win condition. Here is the order of events:

Initial conditions:

• Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign is on the field.
• Cloudstone Curio is on the field.
• Phantasmal Image is on the field as a copy of Dockside Extortionist.
• There are ~6 artifacts and enchantments on your opponents' side of the field

Steps

1. Cast a sphinx. This triggers Cloudstone Curio returning Phantasmal Image to your hand. This also triggers Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign, you pull sphinxes, changelings, bounce spells, Thassa's Oracle, and counter magic if possible from the BFOF.
2. Play Phantasmal Image as a copy of Dockside Extortionist to regain mana equal to or greater than the combined cost of the sphinx and Phantasmal Image.
3. Continue to play sphinxes until you can win the game with Thassa's Oracle.
4. Repeat until Thassa's Oracle win is online.
5. Cast Thassa's Oracle

Reynan on

2 years ago

Dude... I love a lot. This was my first commander deck, but Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign is my favorite now.

Ashdust on Which tribes do you think …

3 years ago

Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign is a pretty decent sphinx commander TheoryCrafter

Nonary27 on Best Commanders in EDH [Tier List] Part 1

3 years ago

Speak of Lathliss, Dragon Queen, Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign is better right? Two card advantage is better than a 5/5 Red Dragon Token, don't have to be non-token to trigger, reduce 2 mana for Sphinx, lack that 2 mana +1/+0 for every dragon ability but is fine, and last but not least: Mono Blue > Mono Red

VensersJournalist on Eye In The Sky

3 years ago

Thanks for the insight! I’m thinking that going with a more Sphinx-centric build might be good. I do have a spare Jelenn Sphinx in my binder currently, and I was eyeing Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign. I see it as an improved Sphinx of Uthuun (which I had in an earlier version of this).

The double strike cards all look very promising. I’m trying to keep this on a pretty tight budget (under $100 total if possible), so the Fireshrieker and Duelist's Heritage may be useful.

I’m currently running Neurok Stealthsuit but I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to have some boots/grieves/cloak in there (the latter makes sure I can land combat damage).

Once again, I really appreciate the suggestions!