Hakbal and the Merfolk Gang

Format: Commander

Commander: Hakbal of the Surging Soul

Bracket: 4

Deck overview

Hakbal of the Surging Soul is both engine and general of this Simic Merfolk aggro deck. It wins by turning a wide board of small Merfolk into an unblockable, counters-heavy army, with Hakbal's combat explore trigger adding a card or counter per Merfolk each turn. Anthem lords, islandwalk, and Herald of Secret Streams turn the board into a lethal swing. A second path uses Doubling Season, Lullmage Mentor, and Rite of Replication to create a Merfolk-token counterspell lock in long games. Hakbal is single-faced; no hidden commander replaces him. The plan is consistent, interaction-light but focused on protecting the board, with a median finish around turns eight to nine.

Decklist (99 cards)

  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Attuma, Atlantean Warlord
  • 1 Blighted Woodland
  • 1 Brackish Blunder
  • 1 Branching Evolution
  • 1 Cenote Scout
  • 1 Cold-Eyed Selkie
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Commander's Sphere
  • 1 Counterspell
  • 1 Cultivate
  • 1 Decisive Denial
  • 1 Deepfathom Echo
  • 1 Deeproot Pilgrimage
  • 1 Disdainful Stroke
  • 1 Doubling Season
  • 1 Eclipsed Realms
  • 1 Emerald Medallion
  • 1 Emperor Mihail II
  • 1 Essence Scatter
  • 1 Evolving Wilds
  • 15 Forest
  • 1 Forgotten Ancient
  • 1 Hakbal of the Surging Soul
  • 1 Harbinger of the Seas
  • 1 Hardened Scales
  • 1 Harmonized Trio // Brainstorm
  • 1 Herald of Secret Streams
  • 1 Heroic Intervention
  • 14 Island
  • 1 Jadelight Spelunker
  • 1 Kasmina's Transmutation
  • 1 Kiora, the Rising Tide
  • 1 Kodama of the West Tree
  • 1 Kodama's Reach
  • 1 Kopala, Warden of Waves
  • 1 Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca
  • 1 Lullmage Mentor
  • 1 Master of the Pearl Trident
  • 1 Matzalantli, the Great Door // The Core
  • 1 Merfolk Sovereign
  • 1 Merrow Reejerey
  • 1 Murkfiend Liege
  • 1 Nanogene Conversion
  • 1 Negate
  • 1 Nicanzil, Current Conductor
  • 1 Over the Edge
  • 1 Ozolith, the Shattered Spire
  • 1 Path of Ancestry
  • 1 Primal Command
  • 1 Rampant Growth
  • 1 Repulse
  • 1 Rite of Replication
  • 1 Roaming Throne
  • 1 Sapphire Medallion
  • 1 Seafloor Oracle
  • 1 Shamanic Revelation
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Spell Pierce
  • 1 Stonybrook Banneret
  • 1 Svyelun of Sea and Sky
  • 1 Swiftfoot Boots
  • 1 Tangle
  • 1 Temple of Mystery
  • 1 Terramorphic Expanse
  • 1 The Earth Crystal
  • 1 Thieving Skydiver
  • 1 Thought Vessel
  • 1 Thriving Isle
  • 1 Urza's Incubator
  • 1 Vodalian Hexcatcher
  • 1 Vorel of the Hull Clade