Ocean Gate by Gispachio

Format: Commander

Commander: Hakbal of the Surging Soul

Bracket: 2

Deck overview

Hakbal of the Surging Soul leads a Simic Merfolk deck that turns explore triggers into a growing board of +1/+1 counters, card advantage, and land drops. The primary plan is to flood the battlefield with Merfolk, use Hakbal's combat explore to draw lands and pump the team, then break through with unblockable effects or a critical mass of evasive attackers. Secondary paths include Simic Ascendancy's alternate win condition, mill via Ruin Crab and Glacierwood Siege, and a tempo plan using flash creatures and interaction. The commander is the engine, but the deck retains a functional midrange plan without him.

Decklist (100 cards)

• 1 Aetherize
• 1 Alchemist's Refuge
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Beast Within
• 1 Benthic Biomancer
• 1 Branching Evolution
• 1 Breeding Pool
• 1 Cavern of Souls
• 1 Cold-Eyed Selkie
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Coralhelm Commander
• 1 Dawn-Blessed Pennant
• 1 Deepfathom Echo
• 1 Deeproot Elite
• 1 Deeproot Historian
• 1 Deeproot Waters
• 1 Emperor Mihail II
• 1 Evolution Sage
• 8 Forest
• 1 Glacierwood Siege
• 1 Growth Spiral
• 1 Hakbal of the Surging Soul
• 1 Hardened Scales
• 1 Herald of Secret Streams
• 1 Herald's Horn
• 1 Hinterland Harbor
• 1 Inspiring Call
• 12 Island
• 1 Kindred Discovery
• 1 Kiora's Follower
• 1 Kodama's Reach
• 1 Kopala, Warden of Waves
• 1 Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca
• 1 Loading Zone
• 1 Master of the Pearl Trident
• 1 Merfolk Cave-Diver
• 1 Merfolk Mistbinder
• 1 Merfolk Skydiver
• 1 Merfolk Sovereign
• 1 Merfolk Windrobber
• 1 Merrow Reejerey
• 1 Metallic Mimic
• 1 Mist Dancer
• 1 Myriad Landscape
• 1 Nicanzil, Current Conductor
• 1 Novijen, Heart of Progress
• 1 Plaza of Heroes
• 1 Prime Speaker Zegana
• 1 Quandrix Command
• 1 Rapid Hybridization
• 1 Realmwalker
• 1 Reliquary Tower
• 1 Ripples of Potential
• 1 Ruin Crab
• 1 Ruinous Intrusion
• 1 Sea Gate Restoration // Sea Gate, Reborn
• 1 Seafloor Oracle
• 1 Secluded Courtyard
• 1 Simic Ascendancy
• 1 Simic Growth Chamber
• 1 Singer of Swift Rivers
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Spelunking
• 1 Stonybrook Banneret
• 1 Svyelun of Sea and Sky
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 Talisman of Curiosity
• 1 Tatyova, Benthic Druid
• 1 Temple of the False God
• 1 Terrasymbiosis
• 1 Thassa, God of the Sea
• 1 Tishana, Voice of Thunder
• 1 Topography Tracker
• 1 Tributary Instructor
• 1 Twists and Turns // Mycoid Maze
• 1 Unclaimed Territory
• 1 Unnatural Growth
• 1 Vineglimmer Snarl
• 1 Vorel of the Hull Clade
• 1 Wave Goodbye
• 1 Yavimaya Coast
• 1 Zegana, Utopian Speaker