Exploring Islands by Magic_Chef

Format: Commander

Commander: Hakbal of the Surging Soul

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 45

Deck overview

This deck is a high-synergy Simic Merfolk tribal engine commanded by Hakbal of the Surging Soul. The strategy revolves around deploying cheap Merfolk creatures during the early turns, casting Hakbal on Turn 4, and utilizing his combat trigger to explore across the entire team. This explore engine simultaneously fixes land drops, thins the library, fills the hand, and distributes +1/+1 counters across the board. The deck transitions rapidly into an aggressive combat threat on Turn 5 by granting unblockable attacks or islandwalk through Herald of Secret Streams, Lord of Atlantis, Master of the Pearl Trident, and Tidal Warrior. A robust suite of low-cost countermagic and protection spells, including Counterspell, Vodalian Hexcatcher, Inspiring Call, and Ripples of Potential, shields the creature base from opposing sweepers. The deck overwhelms the table through relentless card advantage, scaling board size, and unblockable combat damage by Turn 7.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Agna Qel'a
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Attuma, Atlantean Warlord
  • 1 Brainstorm
  • 1 Brainsurge
  • 1 Branching Evolution
  • 1 Breeding Pool
  • 1 Call Damage Control
  • 1 Chart a Course
  • 1 Cold-Eyed Selkie
  • 1 Collective Resistance
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Counterspell
  • 1 Crop Rotation
  • 1 Deepfathom Echo
  • 1 Deeproot Elite
  • 1 Deeproot Historian
  • 1 Deeproot Pilgrimage
  • 1 Deeproot Waters
  • 1 Dive Down
  • 1 Dreamroot Cascade
  • 1 Druid Class
  • 1 Eclipsed Realms
  • 1 Emperor Mihail II
  • 1 Evolution Sage
  • 1 Evolving Wilds
  • 1 Exploration
  • 1 Fabled Passage
  • 1 Flooded Grove
  • 7 Forest
  • 1 Growth Spiral
  • 1 Hakbal of the Surging Soul
  • 1 Hardened Scales
  • 1 Herald of Secret Streams
  • 1 Hinterland Harbor
  • 1 Inspiring Call
  • 10 Island
  • 1 Karn's Bastion
  • 1 Kindred Discovery
  • 1 Kiora's Follower
  • 1 Kopala, Warden of Waves
  • 1 Long River's Pull
  • 1 Lord of Atlantis
  • 1 Mana Leak
  • 1 Master of the Pearl Trident
  • 1 Merfolk Sovereign
  • 1 Merrow Commerce
  • 1 Merrow Harbinger
  • 1 Merrow Reejerey
  • 1 Metallic Mimic
  • 1 Myriad Landscape
  • 1 Nature's Claim
  • 1 Nature's Lore
  • 1 Negate
  • 1 Nicanzil, Current Conductor
  • 1 Overflowing Basin
  • 1 Path of Ancestry
  • 1 Path of Discovery
  • 1 Rapid Hybridization
  • 1 Rejuvenating Springs
  • 1 Reliquary Tower
  • 1 Return to Nature
  • 1 Ripples of Potential
  • 1 Seafloor Oracle
  • 1 Secluded Courtyard
  • 1 Silvergill Mentor
  • 1 Simic Growth Chamber
  • 1 Sink into Stupor // Soporific Springs
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Spell Rupture
  • 1 Stonybrook Banneret
  • 1 Svyelun of Sea and Sky
  • 1 Swiftfoot Boots
  • 1 Tatyova, Benthic Druid
  • 1 Terramorphic Expanse
  • 1 Thada Adel, Acquisitor
  • 1 Three Tree City
  • 1 Three Visits
  • 1 Tidal Warrior
  • 1 Tideshaper Mystic
  • 1 Tishana's Tidebinder
  • 1 Topography Tracker
  • 1 Tyvar's Stand
  • 1 Vodalian Hexcatcher
  • 1 Zegana, Utopian Speaker