How do people feel about this card? I feel that the sphinx has been a mainstay of Cubes for a very long time now, being essentially an Akroma that can be Tinkered. However, I feel that it is no longer enough; too often I find that they would have an answer for it either through a sweeper or an o-ring effect, and that I would rather have a resilient threat, like Inkwell Leviathan, or something that can end the game with one-swing such as Blightsteel Colossus. True, the Sphinx is a lot more castable, but that is also limited by its 3 colors. I am considering cutting her for something else, in either the gold section or colorless section. Thoughts?
I currently run the two bigger targets and Sphinx is in the on-deck binder, but I do rotate my bigger creature threats in and out of the cube from time to time. There will likely be a day when one of those two bigger cards is on the sidelines and Sphinx is back in the lineup.
I'm looking to cut it. The sphinx is in an awkward position for me where even if the deck that wants it has enough mana to cast it, it's in the wrong colors (UR are the dominant artifact colors in my cube.) Not being able to hardcast it in any deck is a liability
I think it's just as likely to be cheated in via reanimation or Tinker effects as it is to be hard cast among my group. I'm a big fan of multicolor cards, so I welcome the solid Esper option.
I'm not a big fan of the card because of how opressivly powerful against a few decks , while being very mediocore against a bunch of others.
The average of those situations makes it powerful enough to maindeckable, but it makes for uninteresting games of magic.
Try to avoid low interactive cards whenever possible, since powered cubes have more than enough "sigh nice tripple mox balance -> recall" situations for my palette.
I cube it and like it. It's a great Tinker target (I do run the other Big Two), can be reanimated, and even gets hardcast from time to time. Esper Control gets drafted and played, and Sphinx is a big part of that.
I expect to keep Sphinx for a long while (although we want to have an esper card for sure, and I doubt they'll print many more soon). It is fine in Esper,4C, or 5C control as a great thing to mana rock into vs burn or ramp. It does the most work as a reanimator target for us though. I actually view the fact that it crushes some decks and is pretty fragile vs others as a plus, since it means the best reanimator decks have to spend some thought on a diversified Entomb/Gifts suite and then work out which they should go for based on how the game is playing out.
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I primarily play limited, so most of my spoiler season comments view cards through that lens.
I'm not a big fan of the card because of how opressivly powerful against a few decks , while being very mediocore against a bunch of others.
The average of those situations makes it powerful enough to maindeckable, but it makes for uninteresting games of magic.
Try to avoid low interactive cards whenever possible, since powered cubes have more than enough "sigh nice tripple mox balance -> recall" situations for my palette.
Yea. I'm in the process of getting rid of cards that say protection because I want interaction as well.
I noticed this was last discussed in 2016 - We have gotten 3+ good tinker targets with Citadel, The Great Henge, Ancient Stone Idol, Triplicate Titan.
Its lack of inherent protection has been problematic - I think I would be happier if he had protection from Black or White.
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I'm actively maintaining a comprehensive article to help explain to new cube players how some complex vintage level cards work in a cube environment. Vintage Cube Cards Explained
With black and white getting more and more exile removal I don't think Sphinx is far behind Idol or Triplicate Titan. Sphinx makes it almost impossible to lose a race, which has saved me countless times and is very relevant for a deck with a fatty cheating strategy.
I go around this question of playing all the cards you mentioned
With black and white getting more and more exile removal I don't think Sphinx is far behind Idol or Triplicate Titan. Sphinx makes it almost impossible to lose a race, which has saved me countless times and is very relevant for a deck with a fatty cheating strategy.
I go around this question of playing all the cards you mentioned
Yah I see what you're saying. There are still a few cards - Daretti, Sneak Attack, Through the Breach, Flash, and Channel that all have more positive interactions than Sphinx.
I kept him in my cube to keep my Tinker/ Daretti/ Welder fatty count sufficient, but I feel this is no longer necessary.
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I'm actively maintaining a comprehensive article to help explain to new cube players how some complex vintage level cards work in a cube environment. Vintage Cube Cards Explained
I noticed this was last discussed in 2016 - We have gotten 3+ good tinker targets with Citadel, The Great Henge, Ancient Stone Idol, Triplicate Titan.
Its lack of inherent protection has been problematic - I think I would be happier if he had protection from Black or White.
While protection from white would be really nice, its protection suite is still really useful for me since it dodges every mono red / green Shatter / Naturalize effect, not to mention it dodges a lot of multicolor cards like:
I see what everyone (and by that I mean Resarox and steven_man). Sphinx of Steel Wind does suffer from lack of protection, but other two options I posted don't fair that much better.
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I'm actively maintaining a comprehensive article to help explain to new cube players how some complex vintage level cards work in a cube environment. Vintage Cube Cards Explained
I like having both Sphinx and Inkwell Leviathan in the Cube because in general they’re good against the matchups that the other one isn’t. And they are the strongest artifact cheating target in certain matchups regardless of the generic options. Fatties like these make drafting, deckbuilding, and sideboarding more interesting than if you only play the “generically good” options.
I still enjoy this card very much. It is a great reanimator and tinker target, and works well in "Artifacts Matter" Decks. It's lifegain has been nifty, even with a one time connect
I've found that Sphinx of the Steel Wind has appreciated a good amount over time because it's such a great trump card to so many of the best cards / strategies while its weaknesses have relatively stayed the same for the most part.
- Sphinx absolutely dunks on all the best planeswalkers: it's immune to Oko / Grist / Dack / Daretti, gets around The Wandering Emperor with vigilance, and is one of the last things Minsc & Boo wants to go up against. Most planeswalkers really can't do anything to Sphinx at all sans things like JTMS / Gideon of the Trials / Liliana of the Veil / Elspeth, Sun's Champion.
- Plays the monarch / initiative game extremely well since its combination of flying, lifelink, and vigilance makes it the best creature alongside Atraxa that can play offense and defense at the same time without going wide. Lifelink is key when stabilizing against initiative, especially if you've lost a lot of life to forge + trap.
- Since cheaty face has gotten a lot better, Sphinx can beat / race most cheaty face hits (many which are green). Assuming Atraxa can't dig for an answer, Sphinx stonewalls Atraxa while being able to attack right through it.
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The average of those situations makes it powerful enough to maindeckable, but it makes for uninteresting games of magic.
Try to avoid low interactive cards whenever possible, since powered cubes have more than enough "sigh nice tripple mox balance -> recall" situations for my palette.
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Yea. I'm in the process of getting rid of cards that say protection because I want interaction as well.
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Its lack of inherent protection has been problematic - I think I would be happier if he had protection from Black or White.
Vintage Cube Cards Explained
Here are some other articles I've written about fine tuning your cube:
1. Minimum Archetype Support
2. Improving Green Archetypes
3. Improving White Archetypes
4. Matchup Analysis
5. Cube Combos (Work in Progress)
Draft my Cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/d8i
I go around this question of playing all the cards you mentioned
Yah I see what you're saying. There are still a few cards - Daretti, Sneak Attack, Through the Breach, Flash, and Channel that all have more positive interactions than Sphinx.
I kept him in my cube to keep my Tinker/ Daretti/ Welder fatty count sufficient, but I feel this is no longer necessary.
Vintage Cube Cards Explained
Here are some other articles I've written about fine tuning your cube:
1. Minimum Archetype Support
2. Improving Green Archetypes
3. Improving White Archetypes
4. Matchup Analysis
5. Cube Combos (Work in Progress)
Draft my Cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/d8i
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StaffWhile protection from white would be really nice, its protection suite is still really useful for me since it dodges every mono red / green Shatter / Naturalize effect, not to mention it dodges a lot of multicolor cards like:
- Assassin's Trophy
- Maelstrom Pulse
- Kolaghan's Command
- Prismari Command
- Dreadbore
- Oko, Thief of Crowns
- Grist, the Hunger Tide
- Dack Fayden
- Daretti, Ingenious Iconoclast
- Qasali Pridemage
- Knight of Autumn
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Vintage Cube Cards Explained
Here are some other articles I've written about fine tuning your cube:
1. Minimum Archetype Support
2. Improving Green Archetypes
3. Improving White Archetypes
4. Matchup Analysis
5. Cube Combos (Work in Progress)
Draft my Cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/d8i
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Staff- Sphinx absolutely dunks on all the best planeswalkers: it's immune to Oko / Grist / Dack / Daretti, gets around The Wandering Emperor with vigilance, and is one of the last things Minsc & Boo wants to go up against. Most planeswalkers really can't do anything to Sphinx at all sans things like JTMS / Gideon of the Trials / Liliana of the Veil / Elspeth, Sun's Champion.
- Plays the monarch / initiative game extremely well since its combination of flying, lifelink, and vigilance makes it the best creature alongside Atraxa that can play offense and defense at the same time without going wide. Lifelink is key when stabilizing against initiative, especially if you've lost a lot of life to forge + trap.
- Since cheaty face has gotten a lot better, Sphinx can beat / race most cheaty face hits (many which are green). Assuming Atraxa can't dig for an answer, Sphinx stonewalls Atraxa while being able to attack right through it.
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