Pairs so nicely in W/U with Heliod! Or, I guess anything that gives him vigilance.
Seriously, I love every single thing about this card. It's so flavorful and fun and strong and still not unbalanced or overpowered. Just this old, uppity sphinx who sits on his pedestal and says, "Yea, I'll share my knowledge with you. But you can't have it. Also, other sh*t is worth less than me, so go ahead and toss it in the graveyard to keep me alive. To show my appreciation, I'll... *yawn* Oh, goodness, what time is it?"
I don't even mind the downside of him tapping. The fact that they evened him out makes him even better in my eyes, like they cared so much that they didn't want to make him overpowered. His flaws make him perfect.
Posted By:
Kaizeischi
(9/18/2013 1:19:35 AM)
Hexproof and tapping at the same time reminds me of Homarids, Deep Spawn and Homarid Warrior specifically.
Posted By:
Continue
(9/19/2013 11:34:16 AM)
AKA: Diabeetus Sphinx
Posted By:
lorendorky
(9/18/2013 4:50:15 PM)
Gandalf Sphinx is awesome.
Posted By:
ChozoGhost
(9/17/2013 4:11:14 PM)
Beard
5/5
Posted By:
am802g
(9/17/2013 4:36:08 PM)
Consider discard for hexproof as "all your cards are now free counterspells as long as they protect this dude" and he's pretty awesome. Tapping out turn 5 for blue kind of sucks, since you typically need mana to protect whatever important dude you dropped, but now protecting him is FREE! Very different from Aetherling, but in some ways very similar.
Posted By:
Domak
(9/18/2013 3:24:38 PM)
Epic hair, epic beard. Beautiful in the wind, I'll wager.
Posted By:
Cyberium
(9/17/2013 6:36:24 PM)
On paper this looks worse than hexproof.
In practice however, your opponent has less of a choice as to what will be removed. If the Sphinx was hexproof, your opponent would simply wait for you to play a target. As it's written on the card, the Sphinx lets you choose more effectively what will die to your opponent's removal. Say they play Chain to the Rocks, and you're tapped out because you just played this guy on turn 5, you could discard a Dissolve or some other counterspell in response. It's still a 1-1, except your opponent's spell just got countered without you paying for it, kind of like a faux Force of Will.
Add in the scry 3 on a 3/5 body that dodges Anger of the Gods, Lightning Strike, Mizzium Mortars, and essentially any other relevant red removal, and you've got yourself a constructed playable card.
5/5
Posted By:
StyxTBeuford
(9/19/2013 2:30:22 AM)
A sphinx that discards cards instead of draws them, what?!?
In actuality the discard will only be used in response to a removal spell, so it won't result in card disadvantage and the repeatable scry 3 will increase the value of your draws so much that it will virtually be card advantage.
Posted By:
Purplerooster
(9/17/2013 4:53:04 PM)
The twisted lovechild of Dumbledore and his unkillable phoenix.
Posted By:
SpaceMagic
(9/17/2013 7:15:27 PM)