Sphinx of the Steel Wind
Artifact Creature — Sphinx
Flying, first strike, vigilance, lifelink, protection from red and from green
- CMC
- 8
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BUW
- Rarity
- mythic
- Set
- Premium Deck Series: Graveborn
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #15071
Sphinx of the Steel Wind lands as a 6/5 with flying, first strike, vigilance, lifelink, and protection from red and green — one of the most keyword-stuffed finishers ever printed. Eight mana is the real cost, and that number is the entire conversation around whether it belongs in your list.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Sharuum the Hegemon
Sharuum the Hegemon recurs Sphinx of the Steel Wind directly from the graveyard, turning any blink or sacrifice loop into repeated access to a near-unkillable threat that gains life and survives most removal colors — the two cards form a self-contained value engine that rewards any deck already running artifact reanimation.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Sphinx of the Steel Wind earns its keep — artifact reanimation, Tinker effects, and cheating it into play at five mana instead of eight all exist in the format, and a resolved copy against most tables trades for nothing short of exile or black removal. In Legacy and Vintage, eight mana is virtually uncastable fair, so it appears only as a Tinker target alongside Blightsteel Colossus, where its lifelink and protection from red provide a different axis of attack against burn and red-based hate. Modern sees almost no play; the format's speed and the absence of artifact tutors that bend the rules make it a novelty. Overall, Sphinx of the Steel Wind is a Commander-primary card with narrow constructed application as a one-of reanimation target.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Pricing data isn't available at the moment, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for current listings. Sphinx of the Steel Wind has been reprinted a handful of times across premium products, which has historically kept copies accessible without being bulk — expect it to sit somewhere in the range where casual appeal and reprint frequency balance each other out.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Sharuum the Hegemon
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.