TonyTritony by Geko_M

Format: Commander

Commander: Hakbal of the Surging Soul

Bracket: 3

Deck overview

This is a Simic Merfolk tribal deck helmed by Hakbal of the Surging Soul, built around the explore mechanic as its primary engine. Every Merfolk explores at the start of combat, growing the board with +1/+1 counters while Hakbal's attack trigger ramps lands or draws cards. The deck layers three overlapping value systems: explore-and-counter growth (Hardened Scales, Branching Evolution, Ozolith, the Shattered Spire), token generation (Deeproot Waters, Deeproot Pilgrimage, Emperor Mihail II), and a dense lord package that turns the swarm lethal. The primary win condition is combat - making the board unblockable through Herald of Secret Streams, Deepchannel Mentor, islandwalk lords, and Merfolk Sovereign - then crashing in for massive damage. Secondary engines like Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca, Realmwalker, and Kindred Discovery provide redundancy if Hakbal is answered.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Beast Within
  • 1 Branching Evolution
  • 1 Breeding Pool
  • 1 Cavern of Souls
  • 1 Cold-Eyed Selkie
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Counterspell
  • 1 Cultivate
  • 1 Decisive Denial
  • 1 Deepchannel Mentor
  • 1 Deeproot Elite
  • 1 Deeproot Historian
  • 1 Deeproot Pilgrimage
  • 1 Deeproot Waters
  • 1 Eclipsed Realms
  • 1 Emperor Mihail II
  • 1 Fathom Mage
  • 1 Flooded Strand
  • 1 Forerunner of the Heralds
  • 7 Forest
  • 1 Growth Spiral
  • 1 Hakbal of the Surging Soul
  • 1 Hardened Scales
  • 1 Harmonized Crescendo
  • 1 Herald of Secret Streams
  • 1 Heroic Intervention
  • 1 Hinterland Harbor
  • 1 Inspiring Call
  • 11 Island
  • 1 Karn's Bastion
  • 1 Kindred Discovery
  • 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 Mistbinder
  • 1 Merfolk Sovereign
  • 1 Merrow Commerce
  • 1 Merrow Harbinger
  • 1 Merrow Reejerey
  • 1 Metallic Mimic
  • 1 Mist Dancer
  • 1 Misty Rainforest
  • 1 Mutational Advantage
  • 1 Nicanzil, Current Conductor
  • 1 Ozolith, the Shattered Spire
  • 1 Patchwork Banner
  • 1 Path of Ancestry
  • 1 Raise the Palisade
  • 1 Rampant Growth
  • 1 Rapid Hybridization
  • 1 Realmwalker
  • 1 Reef Shaman
  • 1 Reflections of Littjara
  • 1 Rejuvenating Springs
  • 1 Reliquary Tower
  • 1 Ripples of Potential
  • 1 Sage of Fables
  • 1 Scalding Tarn
  • 1 Seafloor Oracle
  • 1 Secluded Courtyard
  • 1 Singer of Swift Rivers
  • 1 Sodden Verdure
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Stonybrook Banneret
  • 1 Surgespanner
  • 1 Svyelun of Sea and Sky
  • 1 Talisman of Curiosity
  • 1 Tatyova, Benthic Druid
  • 1 Tempest Caller
  • 1 Thieving Skydiver
  • 1 Tideshaper Mystic
  • 1 Tishana's Tidebinder
  • 1 Topography Tracker
  • 1 Tributary Instructor
  • 1 Unclaimed Territory
  • 1 Vodalian Hexcatcher
  • 1 Wave Goodbye
  • 1 Willowrush Verge
  • 1 Windswept Heath
  • 1 Yavimaya Coast
  • 1 Zegana, Utopian Speaker