Kratos and Atreus from the God of War games | Image courtesy of Sony

The Flavor of a Father and Son

You all know I couldn't write a deck tech about Kratos, Stoic FatherKratos, Stoic Father and Atreus, Impulsive SonAtreus, Impulsive Son without a little spice in there. The flavor of these cards are so incredible. Full discretion: I've not played God of War 4 or God of War: Ragnarok, but I have a partner with ADHD whose hype-fixations have been my constant companion all the years we've gotten together.

Trust me, he loved the two new God of War games. I'll highlight and add on to some of his thoughts at the reveal of these cards.

The Father - Kratos, Stoic Father

First we have to talk about Kratos, Stoic FatherKratos, Stoic Father, a 4/4 God Warrior for . I love this color combination because it's often associated with Warriors.

Cards like Aurelia, the WarleaderAurelia, the Warleader and Gisela, Blade of GoldnightGisela, Blade of Goldnight share this color combination. The colors are that of fierceness, protection, loyalty, and power. Naturally these are the colors synonymous with Voltron strategies, which are all-in powerful, modified creature strategies.

This is perfect for Kratos. Seeing his Kratos, God of WarKratos, God of War card go from mono-red all-Aggro to Boros is so flavorful. It demonstrates his transition from a Warrior built on rage and revenge to an aged father motivated by the noble burden of fatherhood. That rage, that burning red, isn't completely gone, though. He still rages; he desires for his old life and struggles against this.

It's brilliant.

His type is Legendary Creature — God Warrior. Both subtypes are real in-universe types, which is a nice touch.

His ability reads: "Whenever you attack with one or more Gods and whenever a God dies, you get an experience counter. At the beginning of your end step, put a number of +1/+1 counters on target creature equal to the number of experience counters you have."

This is incredible because throughout the God of War games Kratos's trials and fights against the gods have always made him stronger and a more efficient fighter. It tracks with this card that with each God he kills, he gains experience.

Before we talk about the counters portion of his ability, we have to talk about, "Partner—Father & son (You can have two commanders if both have this ability.)" Currently Atreus, Impulsive SonAtreus, Impulsive Son is his only legal partner. It makes so much sense that, like in the games, they fight together.

It's incredible when thinking about the themes of parenthood in these games that the mechanic be called "father & son." And for the ability to say, "At the beginning of your end step, put a number of +1/+1 counters on target creature equal to the number of experience counters you have," is perfect.

Kratos is giving his experiences to his son to make him stronger.

The Son - Atreus, Impulsive Son

We can't ignore the flavor in Atreus, Impulsive SonAtreus, Impulsive Son. He's a 2/4 with reach, compared to his father, who's a 4/4. It shows that his bow and arrow gives him the ability to hit things higher up, but gives him the defensive power comparable to his father. That and when he fights he always has his father by his side.

He costs . I was sort of stumped by this color combination at first; I couldn't understand why they would pick Izzet for Atreus. Yes, he's impulsive and overly eager, desperately trying to prove himself - prove himself worthy. He's messy, unrefined, and reckless, lacking Kratos's wisdom. But that screams mono-red, not Izzet.

The top Izzet commanders are Vivi OrnitierVivi Ornitier, Ghyrson Starn, KelermorphGhyrson Starn, Kelermorph, and Niv-Mizzet, ParunNiv-Mizzet, Parun. These aren't impulsive and messy archetypes. They're sleek and controlled explosions.

There was something about Atreus I didn't understand. Then it clicked when my partner started talking. He was saying how everything Atreus knows was taught to him by Kratos, his wise father. Atreus is a student. The blue in him is of absorbing and changing his knowledge into ironing out his messy impulsiveness. It demonstrates his growth between God of War 4 and Ragnarok. It's brilliant!

His type is Legendary Creature — God Archer. Like his father, he is a God. His ability reads: ", : Draw a card for each experience counter you have, then discard a card. Atreus deals 2 damage to each opponent."

The flavor here is incredible when you think about it in conjunction with Kratos, Stoic FatherKratos, Stoic Father. A God dies and Kratos gains experience and puts counters on Atreus, who uses their collective experience to draw cards - which, in Magic, means gaining knowledge - but discards one because he's still not learning everything perfectly. He's still impulsive and eager.

And the damage he deals is in line with Izzet cards like Vivi, but represents his potential to do more damage than Kratos. I'm such a fan of this design.

Key Cards for Kratos and Atreus

Gods

There are a ton of great Gods you can play in these colors, most notably Ojer Axonil, Deepest MightOjer Axonil, Deepest Might. You can put counters on Ojer with Kratos's ability and that makes Atreus's ping ability stronger with each activation.

Djeru and HazoretDjeru and Hazoret is a good pull here too because it can get more Gods on the battlefield for cheap with its ability. With each combat you can cast another God from the top for free.

The Locust GodThe Locust God is another good pick because every draw from Atreus's ability creates a 1/1 flying Insect token with haste.

Iroas, God of VictoryIroas, God of Victory is another good addition here because it gives creatures menace and can make combat a little easier with preventing damage to your attackers. Each combat gains more experience and puts more counters on a creature.

Another interesting interaction would be Toralf, God of FuryToralf, God of Fury and Blasphemous ActBlasphemous Act. All your Gods will die and give Kratos experience counters. Then Toralf will deal excess damage to players for the difference between each creature. It could be a big damage blowout. And Toralf himself is a God.

Experience Counters

Roaming ThroneRoaming Throne is another awesome pick here because it can enter as a God, making the deaths from the Gods give two experience counters.

Norn's ChoirmasterNorn's Choirmaster can proliferate the experience counters when either Kratos or Atreus attacks, on top of Kratos's trigger. Kilo, Apogee MindKilo, Apogee Mind is capable of increasing the experience counters a well with its proliferate, even though he's not a God.

Running Mizzix of the IzmagnusMizzix of the Izmagnus can be another way to gather more experience counters as well. Experience counters from anywhere are fair game. Ripples of PotentialRipples of Potential is another way to increase experience counters.

Reducing the Cost

Atreus's tap ability costs three mana, which is really tough early game. If we could reduce it somehow, that would make it more accessible. Training GroundsTraining Grounds and Zirda, the DawnwakerZirda, the Dawnwaker can help reduce this cost so you can guarantee a God or a God destruction alongside a trigger.

Ramping with a ton of artifacts like Thran DynamoThran Dynamo and Sol RingSol Ring might also help mitigate this. Birgi, God of StorytellingBirgi, God of Storytelling will produce more red mana with game actions to contribute to the activation, and she's a God as well.

Game Enders

You shouldn't be trying to kill your Gods constantly. You want to kill a few, attack a lot, and then proliferate the rest. So targeted removal is good, like a Generous GiftGenerous Gift or Stroke of MidnightStroke of Midnight.

A lot of Gods are indestructible, but when you attack with them you trigger Kratos. You want to slap them with big counters and keep them indestructible.

You want to attack and attack and attack. World at WarWorld at War and Aggravated AssaultAggravated Assault are a good way to push for damage. If they board wipe you, you just get more experience counters.

If you can protect your board with Dawn's TruceDawn's Truce, Boros CharmBoros Charm, and Akroma's WillAkroma's Will you can keep pushing for damage.

Kratos and Atreus Commander Deck List

Conclusion

I want to leave you with a little more flavor and lore. In God of War, Kratos's father is Zeus. He is, as lore often depicts him, tyrannical and distant. He's abusive to Kratos in a lot of ways throughout the game. Kratos never had a good relationship with his father, and in losing his first family to his own hands, he perpetuated this toxic father cycle.

He tries to be redeemed by his relationship with Atreus and his wife Faye. All this lore is reflected so deeply in these card designs.

Baldur, the main villain of God of War 4, was given the gift of feeling nothing from his mother, Freya, but it resulted in tragedy. Feeling nothing on his skin and nothing in his heart has made his life agony.

She gave this curse as a blessing to him to keep him safe. All he wants to do is kill her for the agony of his existence. This cycle of parent and child is mirrored in how Atreus and Kratos interact. It's a beautiful set of themes. Hence the name of the partner combo "father & fon."

On the playability side, I'm not sure there are enough relevant Gods in this color combination to make this strong. A lot of the Gods aren't creatures without devotion, which might mean you can't attack with them or put counters on them. Even then, it's when you attack with "one or more," so it will trigger once a turn unless you can push for more combats.

It's tough to ensure that you get experience counters, and the cost for Atreus's ability is a bit stifling. I'm not sure this deck is very competitive, but it is certainly flavorful. Maybe once again, I'm cooked.

Did I miss anything about the lore? I learned about this through osmosis. What do you all think? Let me know; I'm @strixhavendropout on Bluesky.

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