Legendary Creature — Sphinx Demon

Raffine, Scheming Seer

Mana value3EDHREC#4,813

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The Commander

Flying, ward {1}

Whenever you attack, target attacking creature connives X, where X is the number of attacking creatures. (Draw X cards, then discard X cards. Put a +1/+1 counter on that creature for each nonland card discarded this way.)

Guide

Gameplan

Raffine turns a single attacker into a card-advantage engine and a beatstick: every combat you connive on one creature equal to your attack count, filtering your hand while stacking +1/+1 counters. You curve out cheap evasive threats, attack early to dig toward your payoffs, and snowball one creature (often Raffine himself) into a lethal evasive monster while filling your graveyard for reanimation.

Strengths

Massive built-in card filtering/advantage that fuels graveyard and discard synergies
Cheap commander (MV3) that protects itself with flying and ward
Esper colors give access to the best removal, counterspells, and tutors
Connive both grows threats and enables reanimation/discard payoffs simultaneously

Weaknesses

Connive only triggers when you attack, so you must commit creatures to combat into open mana
Removal on Raffine resets the engine and forces recommitting
Vulnerable to board wipes since the strategy is creature-based
Three-color mana base with double/triple pips can be demanding

Key Cards

Tymna the Weaver — Adds another cheap evasive attacker whose own draw stacks with connive for explosive card flow.
Anguished Unmaking — Premium instant-speed removal for any nonland permanent, keeping your engine safe.
Esper Sentinel — Cheap evasive body that draws extra cards and is a perfect early connive target.
Sun Titan — A strong reanimation/value payoff that loves the cards connive dumps into the graveyard.
Skullclamp — Turns connive-shrunken or expendable creatures into card engines, doubling your draw.
Anointed Procession — Token doublers and go-wide pieces increase attacker count, scaling connive X dramatically.

Upgrade Path

Add fast mana (Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Mana Crypt) and tutors (Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor) to find your engine pieces faster. Lean into a reanimation package (Reanimate, Animate Dead, big payoffs) so connive's discards become a feature, and tighten the mana base with fetches, shocks, and Triomes. To push higher, include protective pieces like Lightning Greaves and Teferi's Protection plus efficient interaction to defend your snowball.

Core Cards

The most-played cards for this commander, built from aggregated deck data (the Mythic Graph). Build public decks to seed it.

Win Conditions

▸Voltron a single connive-fueled evasive attacker into lethal commander damage
▸Reanimate a massive threat (Archon of Cruelty, Sheoldred) discarded via connive
▸Go wide with tokens to maximize connive X and swarm for the win
▸Out-card-advantage the table and close with overwhelming evasive creatures

Archetypes

Voltron — Connive piles +1/+1 counters onto one flyer (often Raffine), making a fast evasive killer.
Reanimator — The discard half of connive bins fatties for cheap reanimation spells.
Aggro/Tempo — Cheap evasive creatures attack early to trigger connive and snowball card advantage.
Aristocrats — Discarded and sacrificed creatures feed value engines while connive refills your hand.