All hail the Sphinx Ambassador
Psst - this was posted 1 year ago
Last night we were playing Elder Dragon Highlander format Magic at my cousin’s house, in the basement, going full-core nerd.
I have an EDH deck that I whipped up that revolves around Bant (U, W, G) and has Rafiq of the Many as the general and despite not really being too comfortable with the format and having forgotten to play my general for the past few games we played, I managed to have one of the best MTG gaming experiences I’ve ever had in a couple of crazy turns.
One of my opponents had Sphinx Ambassador in play. SA is a blue 5/5 flyer for 5UU from M10. Not only is she nice and big to block creatures with, but her power is one of those easily overlooked abilities because it’s so long on the card, because nobody in mainstream play uses it, and because it’s $3 in the local shop’s binder. It’s big and expensive and the power basically does this:
If you deal combat damage your opponent, you look through their library and choose a creature card. That player guesses which card you picked. If they pick right, shuffle it back into their deck. If they guess wrong, you get to put that creature into play under your control.
It’s kind of a fluke power that I’d always dismissed as not powerful or only marginally useful.
Then last night happened.
As I said, one of my opponents played it and hit me with it, taking my deck’s Windborne Muse (I incorrectly guessed Empyrical Angel). When my turn came around, I cast Mind Control on the Sphinx to take control of it.
When my next turn came around, I played a Gaea’s Anthem (making it 6/6) and equipped it with a Behemoth Sledge so that I could make it a 8/8 flyer and do some extra damage. I attacked my cousin who had a blocker (that couldn’t make it) for 8. Because of the Sledge, it trampled and had lifelink.
Then something crazy happened - I realized that I had Rafiq in play. That meant that the Sphinx was exhalted (+1/+1 if it’s the only thing attacking) - and double strike. The Sphinx hit my cousin for 9 damage. Twice. Not only did I deal 18 damage but I also gained 18 life (thanks to the Behemoth Sledge).
After that dust had settled, the Sphinx’s power went off. Twice. First I searched his deck and he unsuccessfully guessed that I’d pulled Malfegor. I discarded 5 cards and all of my opponents sacrificed 5 creatures and Malfegor came into play under my control. Then, I grabbed some weird dragon that could get counters on him. There was nothing really fancy left in the deck.
At the end of one turn, I’d taken 2 creatures, removed 10 other creatures (5 from two different players), gained 18 life, and dealt 18 damage.
Tonight I went to the local shop and picked up my own Sphinx for $3. It will never be leaving my EDH deck.
What makes the card so good in EDH is that your opponent has to guess what you’re taking - but there’s really no way to guess. You can’t pick something you have four of in the deck because you can’t have 4 of them. You really have a one in 100 chance to guess correctly or they’re taking your cards. And if you’re like me, you forget everything in your deck except for one or two key creatures.
Try it out, especially with a Whispersilk Cloak. You won’t regret it.
