The Commander
When Baxter Stockman enters, create a 1/1 colorless Robot artifact creature token.
At the beginning of combat on your turn, target artifact creature you control gets +3/+0 and gains first strike and vigilance until end of turn.
Guide
Gameplan
Build a wide board of artifact creatures, then use Baxter's combat trigger to turn one into a hard-hitting, vigilant first striker each turn while the rest swarm. You ramp on artifacts, generate token bodies, and grind value until you push lethal damage or assemble an artifact-based combo.
Strengths
- Free Robot token every time Baxter enters or re-enters
- Repeatable +3/+0, first strike, and vigilance makes any artifact creature a real threat
- UR gives strong artifact synergy, card draw, and protective interaction
- Vigilance lets you swing and still hold up blockers and counters
- Scales naturally with go-wide artifact and Robot/Thopter strategies
Weaknesses
- Five mana and fragile body (no evasion or protection of its own)
- Combat buff only targets one creature, so it can be chump-blocked
- Heavy reliance on the battlefield makes it weak to board wipes
- No built-in card advantage on the commander itself
- Artifact-heavy builds fold to artifact removal like Vandalblast and Bane of Progress
Key Cards
- Sai, Master Thopterist — Floods the board with artifact creature tokens for Baxter to buff and provides card draw.
- Urza, Lord High Artificer — Ramp, token generation, and a powerful artifact-mana engine that fuels the whole deck.
- Thopter Spy Network — Steady stream of flying artifact tokens plus card advantage that pairs with the combat trigger.
- Shadowspear — Grants trample so the buffed attacker connects through blockers and pushes commander damage.
- Cranial Plating — Turns a single artifact creature into a one-shot threat alongside Baxter's pump.
- Tezzeret the Seeker — Tutors key artifacts and can untap mana rocks to combo or ramp explosively.
Upgrade Path
Tighten the curve with efficient mana rocks (Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Mana Vault) and add fast token engines like Sai and Urza to keep the board stocked. Layer in evasion and trample enablers (Shadowspear, Skullclamp for refueling) so the buffed attacker reliably connects, and adopt a compact artifact combo such as Thopter Foundry/Sword of the Meek/Krark-Clan Ironworks for a deterministic finish. Round out with strong interaction—Cyclonic Rift, Counterspell, and Vandalblast—to protect your engine and answer rival artifact decks.
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
- ▸Go wide with artifact tokens and push through with the buffed first striker
- ▸Voltron a single artifact creature with equipment and trample for commander-style kills
- ▸Assemble an artifact combo such as Thopter Foundry plus Sword of the Meek with a sac outlet
- ▸Overwhelm with evasive Thopters generated by Sai and Thopter Spy Network
Archetypes
- Artifacts — Baxter rewards a dense artifact creature base with a free token and a recurring combat buff.
- Tokens — Robots, Thopters, and Servos give a wide board to enhance and swing with.
- Voltron — The repeatable +3/+0 first strike vigilance turns one equipped artifact creature into a lethal attacker.
- Spellslinger — UR supports an artifact-and-spells control shell that protects the board and grinds value.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (RU), by popularity.
