Roxanne, Starfall Savant
CommanderRoxanne, Starfall Savant is a Gruul value-engine commander that turns attacking into Meteorite damage plus a scaling artifact-token mana burst.
Public decks: 1Bracket: Varies
Card text
Legendary Creature — Cat Druid
Whenever Roxanne enters or attacks, create a tapped colorless artifact token named Meteorite with "When this token enters, it deals 2 damage to any target" and "
: Add one mana of any color."
Whenever you tap an artifact token for mana, add one mana of any type that artifact token produced.
Building around this commander?
Use MTG Master to build or analyze a Commander deck around this card, check consistency, and find weak spots before your next game.
Overview
- Cast Roxanne and immediately get paid: each ETB or attack makes a tapped Meteorite that shocks something and taps for any color.
- Lean into artifact tokens as both board control (2-damage pings) and ramp; the second ability effectively doubles the mana from those tokens.
- Games often revolve around safely getting Roxanne to stick, then snowballing with repeated attacks and extra combat steps or re-casts after removal.
- The deck can pivot between midrange combat pressure and a big-mana finisher plan once your Meteorites start producing multiple mana each.
- Because the commander generates both removal and resources, you can play a slightly higher top-end than typical Gruul decks and still function.
Common lines
- Ramp early, land Roxanne, then use the Meteorite trigger to pick off a utility creature or planeswalker while setting up next turn’s mana.
- Attack to accumulate Meteorites; once you have a few, tapping them for mana starts producing a noticeable jump in available mana each main phase.
- Use the Meteorite pings to clean up blockers so Roxanne can keep attacking and keep the engine running.
- Convert the mana advantage into a single explosive turn (big threat, big X-spell, or multiple plays) while holding up protection when possible.
Strengths
- Built-in incremental removal that also advances your mana development.
- Scales well into longer games as Meteorites accumulate and effectively “ramp twice” when tapped.
- Flexible win paths: combat plus big haymakers, or a big-mana spell finish.
- Color fixing baked into the token mana, which helps cast off-colorless top-end artifacts cleanly.
Weaknesses
- Commander-centric: if Roxanne is answered repeatedly, your Meteorite production can stall out.
- Meteorites enter tapped, so the engine is naturally a turn slower and can be awkward when you need immediate mana.
- Artifact-token hate (or sweeping artifact removal) can knock out a lot of your “lands in token form.”
- Gruul interaction is often more board-based; fast, stack-focused combo decks can be hard to police without specific tools.
Rule zero notes
- Disclose if your build leans into very large haymakers or mana-explosive turns enabled by doubling Meteorite mana.
- Mention if you’re running mass sweepers that can be particularly punishing to permanent-heavy boards (for example, Blasphemous Act or All Is Dust).
- If you include non-combat win lines using a sacrifice outlet like Altar of Dementia, call out that milling can end games abruptly.
- Flag any high-impact damage multipliers or “one big spell” finishes (for example, Fiery Emancipation or Crackle with Power) so the table sets expectations.
- Let the table know whether your plan is mostly fair combat/value, or closer to a ramp-into-inevitability style with huge colorless threats.
Matchups
Best into
- Creature-heavy midrange pods where repeated 2-damage triggers pick off key pieces and combat matters.
- Grindy tables that give you time to build a critical mass of Meteorites and leverage big-mana turns.
- Boards with lots of small utility creatures that die cleanly to repeated ping effects.
Struggles against
- Fast combo tables that try to win before Roxanne’s attack triggers matter.
- Pods heavy on artifact sweepers or artifact-token hosers.
- Decks that can keep Roxanne off the table with repeated spot removal and bounce.
FAQ
Do I have to build this as an artifact deck?
Not necessarily, but Roxanne’s ceiling comes from having multiple artifact tokens to tap for mana; even a mostly Gruul midrange shell can treat Meteorites as the artifact package.
What are the main ways the deck closes games?
Often by turning the Meteorite mana burst into a single overwhelming turn: dropping a huge threat like Apex Devastator, or casting a finisher like Crackle with Power.
How important is attacking with Roxanne?
Very—attacking is how you keep the Meteorites flowing, which is both your board control and your ramp; the deck generally wants to clear paths and turn Roxanne sideways.
What should I be aiming Meteorite damage at?
Early on, it usually wants to pick off mana dorks, utility creatures, or key commanders; later, it can finish weakened planeswalkers or help force profitable combats.
What kind of interaction should I expect from a Roxanne list?
A lot of it can be battlefield-centric: repeated 2-damage triggers plus sweepers like Blasphemous Act, with some protection such as Heroic Intervention to keep your board intact.