Current Merfolk by BillyGoat17

Format: Commander

Commander: Hakbal of the Surging Soul

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 38

Deck overview

This deck is a Simic Merfolk tribal aggro engine commanded by Hakbal of the Surging Soul. The strategy establishes early board presence with low-cost Merfolk, then uses Hakbal to trigger team-wide explore triggers every combat step. This mechanic fuels two vital resources simultaneously: it filters nonland cards into +1/+1 counters to grow an imposing combat force, while drawing revealed lands to guarantee land drops and ramp ahead of curve. The deck transitions into a lethal threat by deploying evasion lords such as Herald of Secret Streams and Master of the Pearl Trident, making the enlarged Merfolk unblockable. While the deck boasts immense card velocity and rapid board growth, its reliance on creature permanents makes it vulnerable to mass removal. To mitigate this, high-leverage defensive spells like Ripples of Potential phase out modified permanents. Overall, the deck delivers an aggressive, highly synergistic tribal game plan that steadily overwhelms opponents through combat damage.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Aetherize
  • 1 Alchemist's Refuge
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Atlantean Cavalry
  • 1 Attuma, Atlantean Warlord
  • 1 Benthic Biomancer
  • 1 Blossoming Defense
  • 1 Branching Evolution
  • 1 Bred for the Hunt
  • 1 Bygone Marvels
  • 1 Call Damage Control
  • 1 Cold-Eyed Selkie
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Consult the Star Charts
  • 1 Deeproot Elite
  • 1 Deeproot Historian
  • 1 Deeproot Waters
  • 1 Emperor Mihail II
  • 1 Essence Capture
  • 1 Evolution Sage
  • 8 Forest
  • 1 Hakbal of the Surging Soul
  • 1 Hardened Scales
  • 1 Herald of Secret Streams
  • 1 Hinterland Harbor
  • 1 Inspiring Call
  • 13 Island
  • 1 Karn's Bastion
  • 1 Kindred Discovery
  • 1 Kiora's Follower
  • 1 Kodama's Reach
  • 1 Kopala, Warden of Waves
  • 1 Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca
  • 1 Library Larcenist
  • 1 Master of the Pearl Trident
  • 1 Merfolk Cave-Diver
  • 1 Merfolk Mistbinder
  • 1 Merfolk Skydiver
  • 1 Merfolk Sovereign
  • 1 Merrow Reejerey
  • 1 Metallic Mimic
  • 1 Mist Dancer
  • 1 Mist-Cloaked Herald
  • 1 Myriad Landscape
  • 1 Nicanzil, Current Conductor
  • 1 Ouroboroid
  • 1 Path of Ancestry
  • 1 Pym Technologies
  • 1 Rapid Hybridization
  • 1 Realmwalker
  • 1 Reflections of Littjara
  • 1 Reliquary Tower
  • 1 Ripples of Potential
  • 1 Rogue's Passage
  • 1 Seafloor Oracle
  • 1 Secluded Courtyard
  • 1 Serum Snare
  • 1 Silvergill Adept
  • 1 Simic Ascendancy
  • 1 Simic Growth Chamber
  • 1 Simic Signet
  • 1 Singer of Swift Rivers
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Stonybrook Banneret
  • 1 Svyelun of Sea and Sky
  • 1 Swiftfoot Boots
  • 1 Tempest Caller
  • 1 Temple of Mystery
  • 1 Thriving Isle
  • 1 Tide Shaper
  • 1 Topography Tracker
  • 1 Tributary Instructor
  • 1 Unclaimed Territory
  • 1 Undercover Skrull
  • 1 Vineglimmer Snarl
  • 1 Vivisurgeon's Insight
  • 1 Vorel of the Hull Clade
  • 1 Wave Goodbye
  • 1 Wildgrowth Walker
  • 1 Zegana, Utopian Speaker
  • 1 Zimone's Experiment