Hello everyone! I'm Levi from The Thought Vessel, and this is Commander Kryptonite, the series that looks at some of the strongest commanders in the entire format, how they work, their strengths, weaknesses, and ultimately, how to beat them.

This week we are departing the Avatar world for a while and looking at a partner pair from the PlayStation Secret Lair that has picked up steam since its release. We're going to try and ruin Father's Day for the partner pair of Kratos, Stoic Father and Atreus, Impulsive Son. But what makes this duo so popular to play and so frustrating to play against? Let's dive in and take a look.

The Commanders

Kratos, Stoic Father and Atreus, Impulsive Son operate around a mechanic that is quite strong now and, as it continues to be put on cards, is only going to get more powerful. That mechanic is Experience Counters.

Experience counters, unlike other positive counters, do not go on permanents, but rather on the player. This means that if a commander is removed, the next time Kratos or Atreus is cast they can pick up right where they left off, like hitting a save point.

Both commanders have abilities that scale based on how many experience counters you have, but Kratos is the only one of the pair that can actually produce them. Kratos gains an experience counter every time one or more Gods attack or a God dies. It should be noted that both Kratos and Atreus have the God creature type, so they will trigger Kratos.

The big thing to note here is that Kratos can only get one experience counter per turn from attacking, regardless of how many Gods are attacking. If there is a board full of Gods and a board wipe destroys them all, that is a different story, as each of those deaths will trigger.

I have seen some lists overload their decks with Gods to combat this, but since we can only get one counter per combat and we already have two Gods in the command zone, this can be a bit overkill.

As far as the payoffs go, Kratos puts +1/+1 counters on a creature equal to the number of experience counters you have, and Atreus draws cards equal to that number while also dealing two damage to each opponent. Having both a +1/+1 counter engine and a draw engine in the command zone is an incredible amount of value.

The Deck

This deck tends to lean toward a God typal shell with a splashed +1/+1 counter subtheme. There are extra experience counter enablers like Otharri, Suns' Glory, but the deck is really looking to start the train with Kratos and lean on the individual power of Gods. Extra combat spells like World at War allow Kratos to attack again for additional triggers, while finishers like Akroma's Will convert all those +1/+1 counters into unblockable, lethal damage. Here is an example of a Kratos and Atreus deck you might encounter at your local game store.

Kratos & Atreus | Commander

• Commanders (2)
• 1 Atreus, Impulsive Son
• 1 Kratos, Stoic Father

• Creatures (26)
• 1 Alrund, God of the Cosmos // Hakka, Whispering Raven
• 1 Djeru and Hazoret
• 1 Ephara, God of the Polis
• 1 God-Eternal Oketra
• 1 Heliod, God of the Sun
• 1 Heliod, Sun-Crowned
• 1 Ilharg, the Raze-Boar
• 1 Iroas, God of Victory
• 1 Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas
• 1 Keranos, God of Storms
• 1 Kratos, God of War
• 1 Lae'zel, Vlaakith's Champion
• 1 Metastatic Evangel
• 1 Norn's Choirmaster
• 1 Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might // Temple of Power
• 1 Otharri, Suns' Glory
• 1 Patrolling Peacemaker
• 1 Purphoros, Bronze-Blooded
• 1 Purphoros, God of the Forge
• 1 Reidane, God of the Worthy // Valkmira, Protector's Shield
• 1 Roaming Throne
• 1 Surtr, Fiery Jotun
• 1 Thassa, God of the Sea
• 1 The Locust God
• 1 Thrummingbird
• 1 Venat, Heart of Hydaelyn // Hydaelyn, the Mothercrystal

• Instants (11)
• 1 Akroma's Will
• 1 An Offer You Can't Refuse
• 1 Boros Charm
• 1 Chaos Warp
• 1 Counterspell
• 1 Dovin's Veto
• 1 Experimental Augury
• 1 Path to Exile
• 1 Ripples of Potential
• 1 Swords to Plowshares
• 1 Unbreakable Formation

• Sorceries (5)
• 1 Blasphemous Act
• 1 Contentious Plan
• 1 Tezzeret's Gambit
• 1 World at War
• 1 Wrath of God

• Enchantments (6)
• 1 All Will Be One
• 1 Frostcliff Siege
• 1 Inexorable Tide
• 1 Smothering Tithe
• 1 Teferi's Ageless Insight
• 1 Training Grounds

• Artifacts (13)
• 1 Altar of the Pantheon
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Fellwar Stone
• 1 Lightning Greaves
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 Sword of Truth and Justice
• 1 Talisman of Conviction
• 1 Talisman of Creativity
• 1 Talisman of Progress
• 1 The Reaver Cleaver
• 1 Thought Vessel
• 1 Urza's Incubator

• Lands (37)
• 5 Island
• 6 Mountain
• 6 Plains
• 1 Battlefield Forge
• 1 Clifftop Retreat
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Flooded Strand
• 1 Glacial Fortress
• 1 Hallowed Fountain
• 1 Karn's Bastion
• 1 Mystic Monastery
• 1 Path of Ancestry
• 1 Raugrin Triome
• 1 Reliquary Tower
• 1 Sacred Foundry
• 1 Sea of Clouds
• 1 Shivan Reef
• 1 Spectator Seating
• 1 Steam Vents
• 1 Sulfur Falls
• 1 Training Center
• 1 Tyrite Sanctum

Buy This Deck Export text

Strengths

The strength of this deck is in the experience counters. The longer a game goes, the more favorable it becomes for this pair, since those counters do not go away. Recasting Atreus on turn eight or nine to draw a brand new hand in the late game is backbreaking for opponents.

There is also a lot of support available for the +1/+1 counter archetype, so the deck is not short on help. With typal synergy, Kratos and Atreus can also take advantage of cards like Urza's Incubator, making all of their Gods cost two less to cast. Combined with the ability to dig through the deck, this can get nasty very quickly.

Weaknesses

The main issue with how the average Kratos deck is set up is that not all creature types are created equally. Gods tend to be the stars of their respective sets and often do not play nicely with each other.

While Ilharg, the Raze-Boar, Reidane, God of the Worthy // Valkmira, Protector's Shield, and Keranos, God of Storms are all good cards individually, they do not work particularly well together and instead rely on generic value. This puts a fairly hard ceiling on the deck, as other decks at the table are going to have more internal synergy that makes them stronger overall.

As a result, this deck often must focus on getting as many powerful individual effects into play as possible to offset that lack of cohesion.

Cards to Look Out For

Here are several cards that you should absolutely be on the lookout for if you're planning to play with a Kratos & Atreus deck! These cards kick things into overdrive and absolutely demand answers from the table or else the father-son duo will snowball out of control.

#1. Metastatic Evangel

If I were building this deck from scratch, I would pull the focus away from Gods and lean hard into proliferate engines. Simply by playing a creature, Kratos can generate as many experience counters as an entire combat step would. Cards like this let those counters skyrocket, fueling both extra +1/+1 counters and massive card draw.

#2. The Locust God

For as individualistic as Gods can be, this is an excellent card to pair with Atreus. Every time Atreus draws a card, The Locust God creates a 1/1 Insect with flying. These tokens quickly become a huge presence, either as evasive attackers or a wall of blockers, and Kratos can load them up with +1/+1 counters to turn those bugs into dragon sized threats.

#3. Roaming Throne

At a glance, this is a fantastic card for Kratos since it doubles both the trigger to gain experience counters and the placement of +1/+1 counters. It also works for any God, and many of the Gods in this deck have powerful triggered abilities.

Purphoros, God of the Forge would deal four damage for every creature that enters, and The Locust God would create two 1/1 flying Insects for each card drawn. Doubling effects like these will end games very quickly.

How to Kill a God

This deck may not have the same level of synergy as other typal strategies, but the God cards are well known and tend to draw a lot of attention when cast. That attention can become the deck's downfall.

Early on, we want to keep Kratos off the battlefield as much as possible to slow the accumulation of experience counters. Eventually this will become unavoidable, and once Kratos starts to stick, our focus should shift to Atreus. Limiting the amount of card draw this deck has access to is key, since it needs to flood the board to compensate for its lack of synergy.

The cards in the deck are strong, but they are not Eldrazi level threats where a single permanent can sometimes win the game on its own. Alongside removal, we also want to keep flyers off the battlefield. Atreus does have reach, but his ability requires tapping, and it is unlikely the Atreus player will want to put their commander in harm's way.

Keeping the few flyers this deck runs off the table gives the rest of the pod opportunities to chip in damage, whittle down the Kratos player's life total, and hopefully remove them from the game.

Commander Kryptonite

If we still need divine intervention, consider adding some of the following cards to put Kratos in his place.

#1. Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider

A Commander Kryptonite all-star, Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider halves the number of counters opponents can put on their permanents and themselves, rounded down. This means every time the Kratos player would put one experience counter on themselves, they end up with none.

#2. Spike Cannibal

Spike Cannibal is a neat little card that steals all +1/+1 counters from all creatures when it enters the battlefield. That often results in an absolutely massive creature for just three mana, which is quite a bargain. It also comes with the added bonus of completely shutting down the opponent's plan.

#3. Bribery

This is a nice reminder that playing the absolute best creatures in the format can sometimes backfire. For five mana, Bribery lets us search an opponent's deck for any creature and put it directly onto the battlefield under our control. Whether that is The Locust God, God Eternal Oketra, or Otharri, Suns' Glory, we can usually find exactly what our deck wants.

And that is how to defeat a God. If you have a commander that is causing terror at your local game store and need a way to bring it down, let us know at thoughtvesselshow@gmail.com. Until next time, happy gaming.