Vexing Sphinx
Creature — Sphinx
Flying
Cumulative upkeep—Discard a card. (At the beginning of your upkeep, put an age counter on this permanent, then sacrifice it unless you pay its upkeep cost for each age counter on it.)
When this creature dies, draw a card for each age counter on it.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Dominaria Remastered
- Price
- $0.09
- EDHREC rank
- #21218
Vexing Sphinx puts a 3/4 flyer into play for three mana — legitimate stats — but the upkeep cost of discarding a card or sacrificing it means you're racing against your own hand size. It earns a slot only in decks that actively want cards in the graveyard or can reload fast enough to outrun the attrition.
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 |
In Commander, Vexing Sphinx is a niche role-player: discard-synergy decks helmed by commanders like Anje Falkenrath or Glint-Horn Buccaneer can turn the mandatory discard into fuel rather than a tax. In Legacy and Vintage, a three-mana 3/4 flyer with a drawback simply doesn't compete in formats where efficiency is measured in fractions of a mana. Modern is similarly unkind — the card pool offers cleaner threats at the same cost with no downside. Vexing Sphinx is legal in Oathbreaker, where the compressed 60-card format and faster games make the upkeep clock even more punishing unless your signature spell generates graveyard value.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.09 bulk tier
At $0.09, Vexing Sphinx is deep bulk — buy a playset for less than a dollar and don't think twice. The price reflects genuine lack of demand rather than an overlooked gem, so don't expect it to move.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.