Origin of Sphinx of the Guildpact: Ravnica Pact Lore

Origin of Sphinx of the Guildpact: Ravnica Pact Lore

In TCG ·

Sphinx of the Guildpact artwork by Milivoj Ćeran expressing a multi-colored, ancient guardian

Image courtesy of Scryfall.com

Origin of Sphinx of the Guildpact: Ravnica Pact Lore

When you drop a seven-mana behemoth that spans the entire color wheel, you’re not just playing a card—you’re stepping into a legend. Sphinx of the Guildpact is an artifact creature whose very name reads like a doorway to a grand story: a guardian perched at the hinge between law and magic. Its lore-friendly flavor bursts into your game plan with a simple yet radical idea: a Sphinx that is all colors. That means B, G, R, U, and W aren’t just mana symbols on a card, they’re the five voices of a pact that binds Ravnica’s guilds. Flying carries it above threats, while two layers of protections—hexproof from monocolored and hexproof in general—turn it into a stubborn omen that’s hard to dislodge by single-color assaults. 🧙‍♂️🔥

In-universe, the Guildpact is the ancient treaty that keeps ten guilds from tearing a city as sprawling as Ravnica apart. The Sphinx, a creature type steeped in thousand-year riddles and calculated judgments, stands as a living reminder of that fragile contract. The creature’s very nature—“is all colors”—is a narrative flourish that mirrors the pact itself: a law that cannot be owned by one guild, but must be understood and respected by all. The Sphinx’s presence on the battlefield is less about raw power than about the rhetorical power of balance: a five-color sentinel who demands careful, multicolored support rather than a single-color blitz. The result is a card that feels like a covenant you’re not supposed break, even if you try. ⚖️🎨

Design-wise, the name carries a weighty echo. Sphinxes in MTG are often the arbiters of knowledge, riddles, and strategy, while “Guildpact” anchors that authority to a living, evolving city-state where every color has a seat at the table. The artwork — a majestic, multi-hued sphinx perched amid sigils and scrollwork — reinforces the theme: knowledge isn’t monochrome here; it’s a chorus. Milivoj Ćeran’s illustration invites you to imagine a city that runs on layered laws, traded favors, and the shimmering magic that ties them together. The card’s status as a reprint in Double Masters only deepens that sense of layer upon layer, a cross-pade fusion that Masters sets love to evoke. Its rarity as uncommon doesn’t diminish its mythic gravitas; it makes this guardian feel like a well-kept secret of the five-color metagame. The tiny price tag on Scryfall’s database—around a few pennies in USD—belies the narrative heft it carries when you actually sit down to assemble your five-color strategy. 💎⚔️

From a gameplay perspective, Sphinx of the Guildpact is a creature that asks you to plan beyond a single color or a single turn. The mana cost is steep, but the payoff is durable: a 5/5 flyer with resilience against both targeted and single-color removal. In commander games and other multi-color formats, its five-color identity becomes a beacon for tutors, fetchers, and mana-fixing that celebrate the very idea of a pact that unites rather than divides. You’re not just casting a big sphinx; you’re inviting the other five guilds to the table and showing them that balance can be more powerful than purification by one color. This is the kind of card that makes you grin at the memory of guild wars and then grin again at the clumsy inevitability of a well-timed counterspell being priced out by five different colors of mana. 🧭🎲

To players who love decks built around color synergy, Sphinx of the Guildpact is a case study in design elegance. It functions as a late-game threat that demands respect, not because it preys on a single weakness, but because it embodies the strength of unity. If you’re piloting five-color strategies, this sphinx rewards you for embracing every hue—ramping into the big play, protecting it with broad hexproof, and leveraging its evasive threat to push through game-ending combat. In casual groups or tuned EDH tables, you’ll find it a reliable, narratively satisfying centerpiece that echoes the lore you’re leaning into: a pact not broken but renewed each time it flies over the battlefield. 🔥🎨

And if you’re curating your desk for a weekend of gaming or a late-night coding sprint while drafting or playing online, consider the companion gear that keeps your setup in frame. Our Neon Gaming Mouse Pad—Neon Gaming Mouse Pad Rectangular 1/16-Inch Thick Stainproof—fits the vibe: vivid contrasts, sleek lines, and a surface that keeps your mouse gliding as smoothly as Sphinx glides over the skies of Ravnica. It’s a small, stylish nod to the five-color chaos you’re orchestrating at the table. You can explore it here: Neon Gaming Mouse Pad Rectangular 1/16-Inch Thick Stainproof. 🧙‍♂️🎨

For the curious, Sphinx of the Guildpact sits in the lineage of multicolored guardians that MTG players adore. It’s a reminder that lore and rules aren’t opposing forces; they’re two sides of the same tapestry. When the Guildpact’s five colors converge in one glittering guardian, the narrative comes alive on the table—a celestial balancing act that invites you to outthink your opponent as you outplay them. So raise your banner of all colors, marshal your mana, and let the Sphinx remind us that paved roads, guilded contracts, and flying guardians all converge in the moment you announce your decision to trust the pact. 🧩🧙‍♂️

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Sphinx of the Guildpact

Sphinx of the Guildpact

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Artifact Creature — Sphinx

Sphinx of the Guildpact is all colors.

Flying

Hexproof from monocolored (This creature can't be the target of monocolored spells or abilities your opponents control.)

ID: f31cab5f-c05e-4688-b300-33ab0dd98598

Oracle ID: 5b410473-1df9-4d16-9b4d-c3ca8e4635b7

Multiverse IDs: 489963

TCGPlayer ID: 219597

Cardmarket ID: 486844

Colors: B, G, R, U, W

Color Identity: B, G, R, U, W

Keywords: Flying, Hexproof from, Hexproof

Rarity: Uncommon

Released: 2020-08-07

Artist: Milivoj Ćeran

Frame: 2015

Border: black

EDHRec Rank: 21430

Penny Rank: 4270

Set: Double Masters (2xm)

Collector #: 290

Legalities

  • Standard — not_legal
  • Future — not_legal
  • Historic — legal
  • Timeless — legal
  • Gladiator — legal
  • Pioneer — legal
  • Modern — legal
  • Legacy — legal
  • Pauper — not_legal
  • Vintage — legal
  • Penny — not_legal
  • Commander — legal
  • Oathbreaker — legal
  • Standardbrawl — not_legal
  • Brawl — legal
  • Alchemy — not_legal
  • Paupercommander — not_legal
  • Duel — legal
  • Oldschool — not_legal
  • Premodern — not_legal
  • Predh — not_legal

Prices

  • USD: 0.07
  • USD_FOIL: 0.13
  • EUR: 0.07
  • EUR_FOIL: 0.16
  • TIX: 0.03
Last updated: 2025-11-15