Broken New Sphinx Tutor Has Amazing Synergy With Forgotten Old Rare

Last updated on September 17, 2026

Sphinx's Approach | Illustration by Nathaniel Himawan

There's a brand new card that you can have unlimited copies of in your deck, and this might just be the best one yet. Sphinx's Approach is the real deal, and thanks to a sphinx that was a bulk rare up until this point, there's a powerful combo that will let you draw most of your deck if you build it right.

The Combo

The advantage of a card like Sphinx's Approach is that the combo essentially assembles itself. Not only do you have a ton of copies of this card in your deck, but each copy can draw you more. With a little help from cards that let you mill such as Thought Scour, Mental Note, or Otherworldly Gaze, you can very quickly get enough copies of Sphinx's Approach into your graveyard without having to cast them all.

Alternatively, if you're playing Commander, you can simply have something like Baral, Chief of Compliance or Geist of Saint Thalia as your commander to get some guaranteed cost reduction. At a certain point, you'll also just have to discard down to hand size at the end of your turn if you're casting enough of these, making it fairly easy to get four in the graveyard.

Once you've done that, just cast a Sphinx's Approach, exiling four other copies from your graveyard, you get to search your library for a sphinx and put it directly into play. But what sphinx should you choose? The best bet in a deck like this is definitely Sphinx of the Chimes, as its quirky ability will allow you to discard two copies of Sphinx's Approach to draw four cards, likely drawing you more and allowing you to do it again. At that point, you'll have four copies in your graveyard, meaning the next copy you cast will let you search up another sphinx. Rinse and repeat as long as you have the mana to get a ton of cards and a ton of sphinxes.

Improving Consistency

The problem with this combo is that you don't want to draw your sphinxes, especially Sphinx of the Chimes, as if you do draw it, you won't be able to search it out of your library and put it into play with Sphinx's Approach. There are a few solutions to this problem. Effects like Brainstorm, Dream Cache, See Beyond, or even Lat-Nam's Legacy are all good ways to put any sphinxes back into your library after you've drawn them.

Assuming that we'll be milling and drawing so many cards that we have to discard down to hand size, shuffling cards into our library from the graveyard is also a viable strategy. Stream of Thought is premium here, as it can put copies of Sphinx's Approach into your graveyard while simultaneously shuffling back any sphinxes that may have been accidentally milled. Effects like Perpetual Timepiece and Wand of Vertebrae are also premium here, as they tick both boxes of milling and selectively shuffling your sphinxes back in.

Winning the Game

When you have a mono blue deck that churns through its deck at blinding speed, there are a few classic ways to win the game from there. Thassa's Oracle, Laboratory Maniac, Jace, Wielder of Mysteries—these are all good choices, as you can pretty much guarantee your deck will be running on empty if you can ever get a Sphinx of the Chimes into play.

Alternatively, Ormos, Archive Keeper fills a similar role while also being a sphinx that you can go get for free, quickly getting absolutely massive if you ever try to draw any amount of cards, although you really don't have to rely on a singular win condition if all your deck does is put sphinxes into play, as just doing that will likely give you enough big creatures to win.

Wrap Up

Windreader Sphinx | Illustration by Min Yum

Sphinx's Approach is a fun card, as these kinds of cards always are. They change the way you can build a deck in Commander, and in this case, it essentially allows you to have a secret commander in Sphinx of the Chimes. I imagine people will pick up on this interaction fairly quickly, and the price of Sphinx's Approach will soar as these types of cards are always in high demand, so plan accordingly. Ultimately, I want to know what you think about this kind of deck. Will you be building it, does it seem fun to you? Why or why not?