Hakbal of the Surging Soul

Format: Commander

Commander: Hakbal of the Surging Soul

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 36

Deck overview

This deck is a Simic tribal midrange deck centered on Hakbal of the Surging Soul to transform a wide board of Merfolk into a self-fueling card advantage and combat engine. Early turns focus on developing efficient Merfolk scouts and mana acceleration before casting Hakbal on Turn 4. Hakbal immediately triggers explore for every Merfolk at the start of combat, rapidly smoothing land drops, filling the hand, and placing +1/+1 counters across the battlefield. The deck transitions into a lethal combat threat by Turn 6, utilizing trample enablers like Zegana, Utopian Speaker, mass pumps like Return of the Wildspeaker and Overcome, or asymmetric bounce with Cyclonic Rift to push through lethal damage across one response cycle. While highly resilient in grinding resource advantage, the deck relies heavily on keeping Hakbal on the battlefield and remains vulnerable to board wipes and targeted removal when counterspell mana is not held up.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Arwen Undómiel
  • 1 Beast Within
  • 1 Blanchwood Armor
  • 1 Breeding Pool
  • 1 Bushwhack
  • 1 Castle Vantress
  • 1 Cenote Scout
  • 1 Combine Guildmage
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Counterspell
  • 1 Cryptic Caves
  • 1 Cyclonic Rift
  • 1 Deepfathom Echo
  • 1 Deepglow Skate
  • 1 Deeproot Waters
  • 1 Elven Farsight
  • 1 Emperor Mihail II
  • 1 Expedition Map
  • 13 Forest
  • 1 Frogify
  • 1 Glowcap Lantern
  • 1 Growth Spiral
  • 1 Hakbal of the Surging Soul
  • 1 Harbinger of the Tides
  • 1 Heraldic Banner
  • 1 Hullbreacher
  • 13 Island
  • 1 Jadelight Ranger
  • 1 Jadelight Spelunker
  • 1 Kiora, Master of the Depths
  • 1 Kiora, the Crashing Wave
  • 1 Merfolk Branchwalker
  • 1 Merfolk Mistbinder
  • 1 Merfolk Skydiver
  • 1 Merfolk Trickster
  • 1 Mistcaller
  • 1 Monster Manual // Zoological Study
  • 1 Mutant Town
  • 1 Mystic Remora
  • 1 Mystic Sanctuary
  • 1 Nature's Lore
  • 1 Negate
  • 1 Nicanzil, Current Conductor
  • 1 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
  • 1 Once and Future
  • 1 Opt
  • 1 Over the Edge
  • 1 Overcome
  • 1 Overflowing Basin
  • 1 Path of Discovery
  • 1 Prime Speaker Zegana
  • 1 Rapid Hybridization
  • 1 Regrowth
  • 1 Retreat to Kazandu
  • 1 Return of the Wildspeaker
  • 1 River Herald Guide
  • 1 River Herald Scout
  • 1 Rogue's Passage
  • 1 Scythecat Cub
  • 1 Sentinel of the Nameless City
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Soul-Guide Lantern
  • 1 Tempest Caller
  • 1 Temple of the False God
  • 1 Territorial Scythecat
  • 1 Thornwood Falls
  • 1 Twists and Turns // Mycoid Maze
  • 1 Unauthorized Exit
  • 1 Unstable Mutation
  • 1 Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath
  • 1 Vineglimmer Snarl
  • 1 Watertrap Weaver
  • 1 Wildgrowth Walker
  • 1 Yorvo, Lord of Garenbrig
  • 1 Zegana, Utopian Speaker