Hakbal by user2852748

Format: Commander

Commander: Hakbal of the Surging Soul

Bracket: 4

DeckCheck Threat Index: 40

Deck overview

This deck is a focused Simic Merfolk kindred strategy led by Hakbal of the Surging Soul. It leverages low-cost Merfolk to establish an early board presence before deploying Hakbal on Turn 3 or 4. At the beginning of combat, Hakbal forces every Merfolk to explore, providing a continuous stream of land drops to hand and +1/+1 counters to creatures. Hakbal attacks to cheat lands into play or draw extra cards, rapidly accelerating mana velocity and hand size. The deck converts this mass of buffed creatures into a lethal clock using unblockable enablers like Herald of Secret Streams, Deepchannel Mentor, or Islandwalk granted by Lord of Atlantis alongside Harbinger of the Seas. Interaction is primarily stack-based countermagic, ward taxes, and asymmetric bounce spells like Wave Goodbye and River's Rebuke. Robust instant-speed protection from Inspiring Call, Mutational Advantage, and Vodalian Hexcatcher shields the board from sweepers as it closes the game over two to three combat steps.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Aetherize
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Burgeoning
  • 1 Cancel
  • 1 Chronicle of Victory
  • 1 Counterspell
  • 1 Cultivate
  • 1 Deepchannel Mentor
  • 1 Deeproot Elite
  • 1 Deeproot Pilgrimage
  • 1 Deeproot Waters
  • 1 Distant Melody
  • 1 Dramatic Reversal
  • 1 Emperor Mihail II
  • 1 Empress Galina
  • 1 Evolving Wilds
  • 1 Fabled Passage
  • 1 Forerunner of the Heralds
  • 10 Forest
  • 1 Hakbal of the Surging Soul
  • 1 Harbinger of the Seas
  • 1 Harvest Season
  • 1 Herald of Secret Streams
  • 1 Herald's Horn
  • 1 Hinterland Harbor
  • 1 Inspiring Call
  • 12 Island
  • 1 Kindred Discovery
  • 1 Kodama's Reach
  • 1 Kopala, Warden of Waves
  • 1 Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca
  • 1 Lord of Atlantis
  • 1 Lullmage Mentor
  • 1 Master of the Pearl Trident
  • 1 Merfolk Mistbinder
  • 1 Merfolk Skydiver
  • 1 Merfolk Sovereign
  • 1 Merrow Commerce
  • 1 Merrow Reejerey
  • 1 Mist Dancer
  • 1 Mutational Advantage
  • 1 Myriad Landscape
  • 1 Mystifying Maze
  • 1 Nature's Lore
  • 1 Negate
  • 1 Nicanzil, Current Conductor
  • 1 Ozolith, the Shattered Spire
  • 1 Plaza of Heroes
  • 1 Prime Speaker Zegana
  • 1 Rampant Growth
  • 1 Reliquary Tower
  • 1 Rhystic Study
  • 1 River's Rebuke
  • 1 Roaming Throne
  • 1 Seafloor Oracle
  • 1 Seahunter
  • 1 Seedborn Muse
  • 1 Simic Guildgate
  • 1 Singer of Swift Rivers
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Stonybrook Banneret
  • 1 Surgespanner
  • 1 Svyelun of Sea and Sky
  • 1 Tatyova, Benthic Druid
  • 1 Temple of Mystery
  • 1 Terramorphic Expanse
  • 1 The Earth Crystal
  • 1 The Water Crystal
  • 1 Thornwood Falls
  • 1 Thrasios, Triton Hero
  • 1 Tishana's Tidebinder
  • 1 Tishana, Voice of Thunder
  • 1 Topography Tracker
  • 1 Unclaimed Territory
  • 1 Vodalian Hexcatcher
  • 1 Wanderwine Prophets
  • 1 Wash Out
  • 1 Wave Goodbye
  • 1 Witch's Clinic
  • 1 Zegana, Utopian Speaker