Hello everyone! I'm Levi from The Thought Vessel, and this is Commander Kryptonite, the series that looks at the strongest commanders in the format, how they work, their strengths and weaknesses, and ultimately how to beat them. Today we are looking at a commander that got overlooked in the excitement of the Brothers' War set. With multiple prints and so much attention on the other Urza cards, this one slipped under the radar. We are shining a light on Urza, Prince of Kroog and going over how you can survive the robot revolution. Let's begin!

The Commander

Urza, Prince of Kroog brings two powerful traits to the command zone. The first is an anthem effect. Every artifact creature Urza controls gets +2/+2. In a deck that can make a lot of constructs, thopters, or robot tokens, that can be a huge amount of extra power. The second ability is where things get interesting. For six mana, Urza can copy an artifact under their control, turning it into a 1/1 soldier creature. It is a pricey activation, but it has the potential to do some very powerful things, especially if infinite mana is on the table.

The Deck

The deck blends cloning effects with a go-wide strategy. Most artifacts fall into one of three categories. Some serve as combo pieces like Powerstone Shard. Others are strong on their own like Esper Sentinel. And some support the go-wide plan like Chief of the Foundry. The deck also includes ways to reduce Urza's activation cost, making it more realistic to use the ability multiple times in a turn. Here is an example of an Urza deck that you might run into at your local game store.

Urza, Prince of Kroog | Commander

• Commander (1)
• 1 Urza, Prince of Kroog

• Creatures (24)
• 1 Bronze Guardian
• 1 Chief of the Foundry
• 1 Emry, Lurker of the Loch
• 1 Esper Sentinel
• 1 Etherium Sculptor
• 1 Forensic Gadgeteer
• 1 Foundry Inspector
• 1 Illustrious Wanderglyph
• 1 Jhoira's Familiar
• 1 Kappa Cannoneer
• 1 Liberator, Urza's Battlethopter
• 1 Losheel, Clockwork Scholar
• 1 Master of Etherium
• 1 Meteor Golem
• 1 Myr Battlesphere
• 1 Ornithopter of Paradise
• 1 Padeem, Consul of Innovation
• 1 Phyrexian Metamorph
• 1 Sai, Master Thopterist
• 1 Shimmer Myr
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Steel Overseer
• 1 Thought Monitor
• 1 Urza, Lord High Artificer

• Planeswalkers (1)
• 1 Tezzeret the Seeker

• Instants (9)
• 1 Counterspell
• 1 Dispatch
• 1 Dovin's Veto
• 1 Enlightened Tutor
• 1 Generous Gift
• 1 Negate
• 1 Path to Exile
• 1 Swords to Plowshares
• 1 Whir of Invention

• Sorceries (5)
• 1 Fabricate
• 1 March of Progress
• 1 Organic Extinction
• 1 Thoughtcast
• 1 Voyage Home

• Enchantments (5)
• 1 Anointed Procession
• 1 Mechanized Production
• 1 Tempered Steel
• 1 Thopter Spy Network
• 1 Training Grounds

• Artifacts (20)
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Azorius Signet
• 1 Cloud Key
• 1 Forsaken Monument
• 1 Gilded Lotus
• 1 Heartstone
• 1 Lightning Greaves
• 1 Liquimetal Torque
• 1 Mind Stone
• 1 Mystic Forge
• 1 Powerstone Shard
• 1 Sculpting Steel
• 1 Simulacrum Synthesizer
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 Talisman of Progress
• 1 The Mightstone and Weakstone
• 1 Thought Vessel
• 1 Thran Dynamo
• 1 Unwinding Clock

• Lands (34)
• 8 Plains
• 9 Island
• 1 Adarkar Wastes
• 1 Archway of Innovation
• 1 Buried Ruin
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Glacial Fortress
• 1 Hallowed Fountain
• 1 Prairie Stream
• 1 Razortide Bridge
• 1 Sea of Clouds
• 1 Temple of Enlightenment
• 1 Urza's Mine
• 1 Urza's Tower
• 1 Academy Ruins
• 1 Inventors' Fair
• 1 Ancient Den
• 1 Darksteel Citadel
• 1 Seat of the Synod

Buy This Deck Export text

Strengths

One of this deck's biggest strengths is that Urza is never without something to do. Pumping mana into creating artifact copies ensures resources rarely go to waste. This is especially strong if cards like Sol Ring or Thran Dynamo get copied. Even though the copies start as 1/1s, Urza turns them into 3/3s, which can quickly snowball into a full army. The deck also looks unassuming since Urza was probably the third or fourth most popular version from the set, but in the right build this commander can tutor efficiently and produce infinite mana to win.

Weaknesses

The biggest drawback of this deck is its speed. Azorius is great at many things but it is not known for explosive plays. This can create awkward turns where Urza wants to copy something valuable like a Kappa Cannoneer, but the mana instead has to go toward removal just to keep up. Since all the copies are creatures, a board wipe is especially devastating. Losing everything at once can knock the deck back to the point where it may not recover in time.

Cards to Look Out For

1. Urza, Lord High Artificer - This card brings its own artifact creature and lets the player tap any artifact for mana, fueling even more Urza activations. With infinite mana, it also serves as a direct win condition since the entire deck can be cast. If this hits the battlefield, it must be answered.
2. Illustrious Wanderglyph - Left unchecked, this card takes over the game. It gives artifact creatures +2/+2, which stacks with Urza's buff. That means before any copies are made, each 1/1 is already a 5/5. On top of that, it creates a 1/1 artifact creature on each upkeep. Every clone of Wanderglyph creates more tokens, turning a snowball into an avalanche.
3. Training Grounds - Reducing Urza's activation cost by two is one of the scariest things this deck can do. With Liquimetal Torque, Training Grounds can even be turned into an artifact for Urza to copy. Only two copies are needed before the ability effectively becomes "copy any artifact for 1 mana."
4. Myr Battlesphere - With Urza giving artifact creatures +2/+2, creating five bodies at once is extremely powerful. It also combos with cards like Ashnod's Altar or Urza, Lord High Artificer. In fact, with Urza, Myr Battlesphere, and Training Grounds together, the deck can generate infinite mana and infinite Myr Battlespheres.
5. Esper Sentinel - This card is already notorious for taxing spells, and the effect gets stronger when Urza buffs its power. Unless players want to consistently pay an extra 3 mana or more, Urza will draw a flood of cards. Things get even worse if it starts getting cloned.

How to Beat Urza

The key to beating this deck is to get ahead early and keep Urza on the back foot. Azorius is slower and needs time to get going, so apply pressure while it is still setting up. This can be through removal, combat damage, or simply outpacing them in development. Force Urza to spend resources on surviving instead of advancing their own plan. If the commander gets removed a few times, the deck may fall too far behind to recover. From there, keep enough blockers up to encourage Urza's constructs to attack elsewhere, giving you the space you need to close out the game.

Commander Kryptonite

If you are still struggling with the Fresh Prince of Kroog, here are some cards worth considering for your ninety-nine.

1. Vandalblast - Few things are scarier for an artifact deck. If the spell resolves, nearly everything will be destroyed, possibly including lands. A well-timed Vandalblast often ends the game outright.
2. Pithing Needle - If you cannot remove artifacts directly, shut off Urza instead. While targeted removal is an option, switching off the cloning ability with Pithing Needle is much more disruptive. Without it, the deck is reduced to an awkward Azorius go-wide strategy.
3. Stony Silence - If you cannot destroy the artifacts or stop Urza, attacking their resources is the next best thing. Azorius relies heavily on mana rocks for ramp, and Stony Silence shuts them down. This makes it very difficult for Urza to activate more than once per turn.

And there you have it. That is how you beat the Fresh Prince of Kroog. As always, if you have a commander you would like to see on Commander Kryptonite, send us an email at thoughtvesselshow@gmail.com. Until next time, happy gaming.