Hakbal of the Surging Soul Merfolk Tribal by UrzaRuinerOfFun

Format: Commander

Commander: Hakbal of the Surging Soul

Bracket: 4

DeckCheck Threat Index: 43

Deck overview

Hakbal of the Surging Soul turns a normal Merfolk board into repeated explore triggers and extra land deployment. The deck develops with cheap Merfolk, tribal cost reduction from Stonybrook Banneret and Urza's Incubator, and token engines such as Deeproot Waters and Deeproot Pilgrimage. Each attack improves the board, finds lands, and supports a later burst of mana. The usual winning route is to build seven or more creatures, then cast Craterhoof Behemoth or a large Finale of Devastation. Herald of Secret Streams offers an alternate combat route by making countered Merfolk unblockable. The deck has unusually strong acceleration and interaction for a tribal strategy, including free counterspells and protective effects. Its main weakness is timing: Hakbal of the Surging Soul must survive until it can attack, and the deck usually needs several turns before its board is lethal. It is therefore a powerful general-purpose Commander deck, but not a consistently compact cEDH construction.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Adrix and Nev, Twincasters
  • 1 Aether Vial
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Attuma, Atlantean Warlord
  • 1 Botanical Sanctum
  • 1 Breeding Pool
  • 1 Cavern of Souls
  • 1 Chrome Mox
  • 1 Coat of Arms
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Conduit of Worlds
  • 1 Craterhoof Behemoth
  • 1 Cursecatcher
  • 1 Cyclonic Rift
  • 1 Deeproot Elite
  • 1 Deeproot Pilgrimage
  • 1 Deeproot Waters
  • 1 Doubling Season
  • 1 Dramatic Reversal
  • 1 Dreamroot Cascade
  • 1 Emperor Mihail II
  • 1 Fabled Passage
  • 1 Fierce Guardianship
  • 1 Finale of Devastation
  • 1 Flooded Strand
  • 1 Floodpits Drowner
  • 1 Force of Negation
  • 1 Force of Vigor
  • 1 Force of Will
  • 1 Forerunner of the Heralds
  • 2 Forest
  • 1 Gaea's Cradle
  • 1 Green Sun's Zenith
  • 1 Hakbal of the Surging Soul
  • 1 Harbinger of the Tides
  • 1 Herald of Secret Streams
  • 1 Heroic Intervention
  • 1 Hinterland Harbor
  • 10 Island
  • 1 Isochron Scepter
  • 1 Kopala, Warden of Waves
  • 1 Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca
  • 1 Lord of Atlantis
  • 1 Lotus Petal
  • 1 Mana Vault
  • 1 March of Swirling Mist
  • 1 Master of the Pearl Trident
  • 1 Merfolk Mistbinder
  • 1 Merfolk Trickster
  • 1 Merrow Reejerey
  • 1 Mistcaller
  • 1 Misty Rainforest
  • 1 Mox Amber
  • 1 Mox Diamond
  • 1 Mox Opal
  • 1 Muddle the Mixture
  • 1 Mystical Tutor
  • 1 Namor the Sub-Mariner
  • 1 Natural Order
  • 1 Nicanzil, Current Conductor
  • 1 Pact of Negation
  • 1 Polluted Delta
  • 1 Prismatic Vista
  • 1 Reliquary Tower
  • 1 Rhystic Study
  • 1 Roaming Throne
  • 1 Scalding Tarn
  • 1 Secluded Courtyard
  • 1 Sentinel of the Nameless City
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Stonybrook Banneret
  • 1 Subtlety
  • 1 Survival of the Fittest
  • 1 Svyelun of Sea and Sky
  • 1 Thieving Skydiver
  • 1 Tishana's Tidebinder
  • 1 Tropical Island
  • 1 True-Name Nemesis
  • 1 Unclaimed Territory
  • 1 Urza's Incubator
  • 1 Urza's Saga
  • 1 Veil of Summer
  • 1 Verdant Catacombs
  • 1 Vineglimmer Snarl
  • 1 Vodalian Hexcatcher
  • 1 Walking Ballista
  • 1 Windswept Heath
  • 1 Wooded Foothills
  • 1 Worldly Tutor
  • 1 Yavimaya Coast