The Commander
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a shield counter on target creature an opponent controls.
Whenever you put one or more counters on a creature you don't control, tap that creature and goad it. It gains trample until your next turn. (Until your next turn, that creature attacks each combat if able and attacks a player other than you if able.)
Guide
Gameplan
Kros turns your political generosity into weaponry: you gift shield counters (and other counters) to opponents' creatures, then goad them so they're forced to attack someone other than you. Build around proliferate, +1/+1 counter donation, and goad effects to force opponents to fight each other while you sit safe and rebuild your board. Win by pile-driving the table with their own creatures or by deploying your own counter-based payoffs and going wide.
Strengths
- Forces constant attacks away from you, making you the hardest player to kill politically
- Shield counters protect the goaded creatures so opponents keep attacking with healthy threats
- Synergizes with any counter-doubling or proliferate effect to goad multiple creatures per turn
- Strong in multiplayer pods where redirected combat snowballs into chaos for opponents
- Color identity (GUW) gives access to the best protection, ramp, and counter support
Weaknesses
- Goad fizzles in 1v1 or when only one opponent remains
- Doesn't directly close games—needs its own win conditions
- Heavily reliant on opponents having creatures to target
- Removal of Kros stalls the engine since the upkeep trigger is the core loop
- Giving opponents shield counters can backfire if they have evasive or commander-damage threats
Key Cards
- Doubling Season — Doubles counters placed on opponents' creatures, letting you goad and protect multiple times per trigger.
- Branching Evolution — Multiplies +1/+1 counters you place, amplifying goad triggers from counter donation.
- Hardened Scales — Adds extra counters to fuel additional goad triggers cheaply.
- Disciple of the Vault style counter payoffs—Inspiring Call — Protects your own counter creatures and draws cards off your wide board.
- Bident of Thassa — Forces opponents' attacking creatures to draw you cards every combat as goad sends them in.
- Cathars' Crusade — Turns your token and creature deployment into counter explosions that can spill into Kros triggers.
- Curiosity Crafter or Welcoming Vampire effects — Reward the wide, counter-laden boards Kros decks naturally build.
- Akroma's Will — Closes games with protection and evasion when your own board gets aggressive.
Upgrade Path
Add counter doublers (Doubling Season, Branching Evolution, Hardened Scales) and proliferate sources to maximize goad triggers per turn, then layer in repeatable counter donation like Forgotten Ancient and Fractal Harness. Tighten the manabase with GUW duals/fetches and add efficient protection (Heroic Intervention, Teferi's Protection) so the engine survives. For higher power, include a clean win condition such as a counter-based combo or a wide overrun effect rather than relying solely on goad attrition.
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
- ▸Let goaded creatures kill your opponents off one another, then mop up the survivor
- ▸Go wide with token/counter armies and swing with anthem effects like Cathars' Crusade
- ▸Combat damage payoffs (Bident of Thassa draw, Akroma's Will alpha strike)
- ▸Counter-synergy infinite or near-infinite engines with proliferate doublers
Archetypes
- Goad/Pillowfort Control — Kros redirects all combat away from you, letting you turtle while opponents bleed each other.
- +1/+1 Counters — Donating and proliferating counters both grows your team and triggers extra goads.
- Group Slug/Politics — You weaponize the table's creatures and broker deals while staying the safest seat.
- Tokens/Go-Wide — GUW token strategies pair with counter anthems to win once opponents are exhausted.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (GUW), by popularity.
