Forum:Deck Guide/Sphinx (Anubis)

Sphinx Guide
By BF2

The "Sphinx" monsters first debuted in the first English Yugioh movie, "Pyramid of Light". They were a set of monsters used by Anubis, an ancient evil from the past of Egypt. While at first they seem rather weak and costly, there is much potential within these monsters. Most of this potential is brought out in a "Skill Drain" decks. There are only four cards within the archetype, and no more will ever be released (in all probability), due to their being solely movie tie-in cards.

Ratings
Power: 10/10 The "Sphinx" monsters are powerful - they have massive ATK scores that are easily accessible.

Consistency: 5/10 Not only do they cost Life Points to summon, but destroying "Pyramid of Light" will destroy your two main "Sphinx" monsters.

Speed: 7/10 One 2500/3000 ATK monster per turn isn't slow, but by no means is it the fastest deck around.

Draw/Search Power: 0/10 Totally nonexistent.

Overall: 5.5 At the moment, "Sphinx" decks probably won't become meta decks, but they aren't the worst thing out there.

Monsters

 * Andro Sphinx: By far the best "Sphinx" monster. With "Pyramid of Light" out you can Special Summon him for 500 Life Points. He also deals effect damage.
 * Sphinx Teleia: Worse than "Andro Sphinx" due to her lower ATK, but still not bad.
 * Theinen the Great Sphinx: "Theinen" is a rather bad card, simply because of its summoning requirements. Since you need to have "Andro" and "Telia" destroyed at the same time to summon him, the best way to do so is to use Mystical Space Typhoon on Pyramid of Light. He can then gain a massive power boost, but only until the end of the turn.

Traps

 * Pyramid of Light: "Pyramid of Light" will destroy and Banish bother "Andro" and "Teleia" if removed from the field, but it also allows you to Special Summon them at the cost of 500 Life Points each.

Monsters

 * Beast King Barbaros: "Barbaros" is great for many reasons. In this case, he becomes a free 3000 ATK point monster when "Skill Drain" is out and is also a target for "Horn of the Phantom Beast".
 * Card Guard: "Card Guard" protects "Pyramid of Light".
 * Exxod, Master of The Guard: You can tribute a "Sphinx" for "Exxod". It's not usually worth using, simply because it's made for the other kind of "Sphinx" monster, but it can still be used.

Traps

 * Dark Bribe: "Dark Bribe" protects "Pyramid of Light" and "Skill Drain".
 * Horn of the Phantom Beast: "Horn" not only boosts Beast-Type and Beast Warrior-Type monster's ATK but allows you to draw a card when they destroy a monster by battle. In this deck it will simply boost their ATK to above that of even "Shooting Star Dragon".
 * Imperial Custom: Protects "Horn of the Phantom Beast", "Pyramid of Light", and "Skill Drain".
 * Skill Drain: Gets rid of the negative effects of "Barbaros" and "Teleia", letting them attack the turn your summoned them, as well as giving "Barbaros" 3000 ATK and negating the effects of your opponent's monsters.

Skill Drain Sphinxes
"Skill Drain" gives the deck some Anti-Meta capacity and allows you to get powerful monsters quite quickly.

Theinen Sphinxes
Theinen Sphinxes are probably the weakest variant of "Sphinx" decks because of their vulnerability to monster destruction. Once they summon "Theinen", they've lost four cards, so there's little chance of regaining that advantage once "Theinen" is removed from the field.

T.G. Drain Sphinxes
By adding "T.G." monsters, mainly "T.G. Rush Rhino" but with support from "T.G. Warwolf" and "T.G. Striker", Sphinx Skill Drain decks gain some consistency and Synchro Summoning ability.