Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign

Commander / EDH* Mono-Blue

Uumbreon

Creature (27)

• 1x Arbiter of the Ideal
• 1x Argent Sphinx
• 1x Chancellor of the Spires
• 1x Clever Impersonator
• 1x Cloudreader Sphinx
• 1x Consecrated Sphinx
• 1x Conundrum Sphinx
• 1x Curator of Mysteries
• 1x Deadeye Navigator
• 1x Dream Eater
• 1x Glyph Keeper
• 1x Guardian of Tazeem
• 1x Jwar Isle Avenger
• 1x Master of Predicaments
• 1x Phantasmal Image
• 1x Phyrexian Metamorph
• 1x Prognostic Sphinx
• 1x Sakashima the Impostor
• 1x Sandstone Oracle
• 1x Shapesharer
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Sphinx Ambassador
• 1x Sphinx of Lost Truths
• 1x Sphinx of Uthuun
• 1x Vexing Sphinx
• 1x Vizier of Many Faces
• 1x Windreader Sphinx

Sorcery (2)

• 1x Curse of the Swine
• 1x Fabricate

Instant (18)

• 1x Arcane Denial
• 1x Chain of Vapor
• 1x Commandeer
• 1x Commit / Memory
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Disallow
• 1x Foil
• 1x Forbid
• 1x Force of Will
• 1x Mana Drain
• 1x Misdirection
• 1x Mystic Confluence
• 1x Pact of Negation
• 1x Rapid Hybridization
• 1x Reality Shift
• 1x Stubborn Denial
• 1x Swan Song

Land (35)

• 1x Academy Ruins
• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x Cephalid Coliseum
• 1x Command Beacon
• 26x Island
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Tolaria West

Commander (1)

Artifact (16)

• 1x Aetherflux Reservoir
• 1x Chrome Mox
• 1x Expedition Map
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Herald's Horn
• 1x Kefnet's Monument
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mana Vault
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Omen Machine
• 1x Sapphire Medallion
• 1x Sky Diamond
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Thought Vessel
• 1x Urza's Incubator

Enchantment (1)

• 1x Imprisoned in the Moon

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Why am I playing Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign?

Blue leans toward being a combo colour in EDH, so I looked for a blue Commander that wasn't purely built around going infinite that still sated my desire to draw a ton of cards. Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign is that Commander. This deck is built to push Unesh as far as it can go without just devolving into playing the usual assortment of infinites that blue combo decks tend to play.

Creatures

You play the sphinxes that have the best standalone abilities and/or are easiest to cast with reduction effects, this includes Shapesharer as it is just a 1 CMC sphinx with a relevant ability. Some sphinxes have added synergy such as Glyph Keeper having embalm for when you mill it with Unesh's ability, and Sandstone Oracle for being an artifact which is fetchable with Fabricate and reusable with Academy Ruins.

After that you play the clones with the most utility, being the ones that can copy not only your own things, but your opponents, as well as the clones that can copy your mana rocks etc such as Clever Impersonator and Phyrexian Metamorph. Sakashima the Impostor is incredible here being able to copy Unesh and generate an insane amount of card advantage while making your sphinxes less to cast.

The outliers are Deadeye Navigator and Solemn Simulacrum. Solem is here to get you ahead on mana while being all colourless, which lets you have very quick starts with cards like Mana Crypt and Sol Ring. Deadeye does everything you want with Unesh on the board, that is, protecting Unesh and generating card advantage.

Spells

You play a lot of countermagic to protect Unesh, prioritising "free" countermagic as you want to continue to tap out for your sphinxes. Due to Unesh's ability, you draw so many cards that spells like Commandeer, Foil, Force of Will, Misdirection and Forbid are just the best spells to have in your hand at most points in the game as they allow you to convert excess cards in hand into another resource.

You play some removal for the things you need to let through your countermagic, such as Curse of the Swine, Imprisoned in the Moon, and of course, Cyclonic Rift.

Chain of Vapor is here to get rid of random permanents when you need it, but is mostly for ending the game with Aetherflux Reservoir. After making a ton of mana with mana rocks etc you can use Chain to target your own mana rocks, returning them to your hand and replaying them all to generate a huge amount of mana and storm.

Commit / Memory provides you with another way to interact with troublesome permanents on the table, while also having the added utility of being playable from the graveyard after being milled with Unesh. It lets you not worry about decking out when that is a very real concern in some games, as well as just providing a reset button when opponents have gotten too far ahead or you've run out of steam yourself, while also shuffling all of your countermagic and sphinxes back in.

Fabricate gives you a wealth of options by finding mana rocks, reduction effects such as Urza's Incubator, Sandstone Oracle if you're light on sphinxes, Omen Machine to lock the game up, or Aetherflux Reservoir if you're looking to end it.

Artifacts

Unesh being 6 CMC makes playing all of the powerful mana rocks such as Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Sol Ring etc a must. Chrome Mox is fantastic here as you have the ability to recoup cards with Unesh's ability, so being able to convert the excess cards into mana is great. Thought Vessel is here for a similar reason, letting you retain your huge hand through your opponents turns.

After actual mana rocks you play the best reduction effects in Urza's Incubator, Herald's Horn, Sapphire Medallion and Kefnet's Monument. These stack with Unesh to make all of your sphinxes or to cast, which makes chaining sphinxes trivial.

Expedition Map finds you ramp in the form of Ancient Tomb or Myriad Landscape or gives further utility by finding Tolaria West, Academy Ruins or Cavern of Souls.

Omen Machine locks the game down by not letting opponents draw spells while Unesh's ability lets you continue to "draw" cards.

Aetherflux Reservoir, as mentioned above, is used to end the game, usually in conjunction with a lot of sphinxes with cost reducers, and/or Chain of Vapor.

Lands

This deck puts a lot of cards into the graveyard. Academy Ruins can be used to get back a sphinx in Sandstone Oracle, Aetherflux Reservoir to win the game, Expedition Map to find your utility lands, or just to rebuy things your opponents find answers for.

Ancient Tomb and Myriad Landscape help you get ahead on mana, while Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx gives you a huge amount of mana in the mid-game.

Cavern of Souls is there to be found against opposing countermagic.

Cephalid Coliseum lets you filter excess cards in hand and turn them into something meaningful as you usually get stuck with a decent amount of lands etc due to the sheer number of cards you draw with Unesh.

Command Beacon gets back your Unesh after it starts costing a little too much to recast. The deck is significantly more powerful with Unesh on the board and having a way to get it back later in the game rather than paying 12 for it is welcome.

Tolaria West finds you any of the utility lands, Mana Crypt to get further ahead on mana, or Pact of Negation for protection.

Notable omissions

Mox Diamond would be in the deck due to the same reasoning as Chrome Mox, but I do not have access to one.

Laboratory Maniac and Dream Halls are omitted as they push the deck in a direction of just trying to mill yourself out and win with Laboratory Maniac every game. If this is something you're interested in, then add them, as Dream Halls specifically adds an incredible amount of power to the deck.

Card filtering spells like Brainstorm, Ponder, Preordain and the like are not included as the deck simply doesn't need them. You focus on getting ahead on mana in the early game and trying to land Unesh with some amount of protection, after which these filtering spells are unnecessary. They could be useful in finding the early ramp or protection to facilitate an earlier Unesh, but I have found them to not be needed.

Date added	7 years
Last updated	3 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	12 - 0 Mythic Rares 36 - 0 Rares 16 - 0 Uncommons 5 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.65
Tokens	Bird 2/2 U, Boar 2/2 G, Frog Lizard 3/3 G, Glyph Keeper 5/3 W, Manifest 2/2 C, Vizier of Many Faces 0/0 W
Folders	EDH