Explorers of the Deep by ClassyDabber

Format: Commander

Commander: Hakbal of the Surging Soul

Bracket: 2

Deck overview

Hakbal of the Surging Soul is the engine and head of a Simic Merfolk tribal deck. The primary plan is to drop Hakbal on curve, flood the board with cheap Merfolk, and convert every combat's explore triggers into extra lands, +1/+1 counters, and card draw. Secondary paths are Simic Ascendancy, which races to 20 growth counters off the same +1/+1 counters, and Wanderwine Prophets, which can chain extra turns after an unblocked hit. Backup engines such as Kumena, Emperor Mihail II, and Growing Rites of Itlimoc keep the deck moving if Hakbal is removed. There is no hidden commander: the list is built squarely around Hakbal's explore trigger.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Aether Vial
  • 1 Aetherize
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Archdruid's Charm
  • 1 Beast Within
  • 1 Benthic Biomancer
  • 1 Branching Evolution
  • 1 Cold-Eyed Selkie
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Commit // Memory
  • 1 Curse of the Swine
  • 1 Deeproot Elite
  • 1 Deeproot Historian
  • 1 Deeproot Waters
  • 1 Emperor Mihail II
  • 1 Evendo, Waking Haven
  • 1 Evolution Sage
  • 1 Explore
  • 5 Forest
  • 1 Growing Rites of Itlimoc // Itlimoc, Cradle of the Sun
  • 1 Growth Spiral
  • 1 Hakbal of the Surging Soul
  • 1 Hardened Scales
  • 1 Hedge Maze
  • 1 Herald of Secret Streams
  • 1 Heroic Intervention
  • 1 Hinterland Harbor
  • 1 Inspiring Call
  • 11 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 Lord of Atlantis
  • 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 Mosswort Bridge
  • 1 Myriad Landscape
  • 1 Namor the Sub-Mariner
  • 1 Nicanzil, Current Conductor
  • 1 Path of Ancestry
  • 1 Prime Speaker Zegana
  • 1 Rain-Slicked Copse
  • 1 Rapid Hybridization
  • 1 Ravenform
  • 1 Realmwalker
  • 1 Reflections of Littjara
  • 1 Reliquary Tower
  • 1 Ripples of Potential
  • 1 Rogue's Passage
  • 1 Ruinous Intrusion
  • 1 Sage of Fables
  • 1 Sea Scryer
  • 1 Seafloor Oracle
  • 1 Secluded Courtyard
  • 1 Simic Ascendancy
  • 1 Simic Growth Chamber
  • 1 Singer of Swift Rivers
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Stonybrook Banneret
  • 1 Svyelun of Sea and Sky
  • 1 Swiftfoot Boots
  • 1 Tatyova, Benthic Druid
  • 1 Temple of Mystery
  • 1 Temple of the False God
  • 1 Thassa, God of the Sea
  • 1 Thieving Skydiver
  • 1 Three Tree City
  • 1 Topography Tracker
  • 1 Tributary Instructor
  • 1 Unclaimed Territory
  • 1 Vineglimmer Snarl
  • 1 Vorel of the Hull Clade
  • 1 Wanderwine Prophets
  • 1 Wave Goodbye
  • 1 Xolatoyac, the Smiling Flood
  • 1 Yavimaya Coast
  • 1 Zegana, Utopian Speaker