Sphinx Sovereign
Sphinx Sovereign: Artifact Creature - Sphinx, Shards of Alara. MTG card printings, market prices, rulings, and format legality on Mana Grove.
- Mana cost
- {4}{W}{U}{U}{B}
- Mana value
- 8
- Type
- Artifact Creature - Sphinx
- Colour identity
- White, blue and black (WUB)
- Power / toughness
- 6/6
- Rarity
- Mythic
- Set
- Shards of Alara (ALA)
- Released
- 2008-10-03
- Collector number
- 196
- Artist
- Chippy
- Keywords
- Flying
Build around this card with Grover
About Sphinx Sovereign
Sphinx Sovereign is a Magic: The Gathering card, a mythic rare white, blue and black artifact creature from Shards of Alara (ALA), an expansion set released in October 2008. It is collector number 196 in that set, with art by Chippy. It costs {4}{W}{U}{U}{B} (four generic, one white, two blue and one black mana) to cast, for a mana value of 8. It is a 6/6 creature. Its colour identity is white, blue and black. It is legal in Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Commander, Duel Commander, Oathbreaker, PreDH and Penny Dreadful. Shards of Alara is its only printing so far. The latest aggregated market price for this printing is $1.97 (normal finish, as of 2026-10-23).
Card text
Flying
At the beginning of your end step, you gain 3 life if this creature is untapped. Otherwise, each opponent loses 3 life.
"What rises without legs, whispers without a voice, bites without teeth, and dies without having life?"
Market price
Latest aggregated market price for the normal finish of this printing: $1.97 (as of 2026-10-23).
The figure covers this printing only; other printings carry their own price on their own page.
Format legality
Legality of Sphinx Sovereign by format. Formats in which it is not legal are not listed.
| Modern | Legal |
|---|---|
| Legacy | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Duel Commander | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| PreDH | Legal |
| Penny Dreadful | Legal |
Official rulings
One official ruling applies to Sphinx Sovereign.
- The ability checks whether Sphinx Sovereign is tapped or untapped at the time the ability resolves. If Sphinx Sovereign is no longer on the battlefield by then, the ability checks whether Sphinx Sovereign was tapped or untapped at the time it left the battlefield.
Similar cards
Other artifact creature cards with a white, blue and black colour identity, ranked by how often they appear in Commander decks.