Cold Heart, Deep Waters 🧜 by RandomBanterMan

Format: Commander

Commander: Hakbal of the Surging Soul

Bracket: 3

Deck overview

Hakbal of the Surging Soul is the engine and build-around: each combat he makes every Merfolk explore, turning the team into a land-filter and a source of +1/+1 counters, while his attack trigger either lands an extra land or draws a card. The primary plan is a Merfolk go-wide counter strategy, using lords and Herald of Secret Streams to make the whole team unblockable. Simic Ascendancy is a secondary alternate win that feeds on the same counters. Emperor Mihail II, Talrand, and Deeproot Waters provide extra bodies and card flow. There is no hidden commander; Hakbal is the only lead, though Emperor Mihail acts as a strong backup value engine.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Alchemist's Refuge
  • 1 Aquitect's Defenses
  • 1 Arcane Denial
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Attuma, Atlantean Warlord
  • 1 Barkchannel Pathway // Tidechannel Pathway
  • 1 Beast Within
  • 1 Benthic Biomancer
  • 1 Cenote Scout
  • 1 Cold-Eyed Selkie
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Counterspell
  • 1 Cursecatcher
  • 1 Deepfathom Echo
  • 1 Deeproot Elite
  • 1 Deeproot Pilgrimage
  • 1 Deeproot Waters
  • 1 Dreamroot Cascade
  • 1 Emperor Mihail II
  • 1 Flooded Grove
  • 1 Floodpits Drowner
  • 1 Forerunner of the Heralds
  • 8 Forest
  • 1 Gift of the Viper
  • 1 Gravelgill Scoundrel
  • 1 Growth Curve
  • 1 Hakbal of the Surging Soul
  • 1 Hardened Scales
  • 1 Herald of Secret Streams
  • 1 Hinterland Harbor
  • 1 Hydro-Channeler
  • 18 Island
  • 1 Kopala, Warden of Waves
  • 1 Lord of Atlantis
  • 1 Master of the Pearl Trident
  • 1 Merfolk Cave-Diver
  • 1 Merfolk Mistbinder
  • 1 Merfolk Skydiver
  • 1 Merfolk Sovereign
  • 1 Merfolk Trickster
  • 1 Merrow Commerce
  • 1 Merrow Reejerey
  • 1 Mist Dancer
  • 1 Nature's Lore
  • 1 Negate
  • 1 Nicanzil, Current Conductor
  • 1 Path of Ancestry
  • 1 Rapid Hybridization
  • 1 Realmwalker
  • 1 Ripples of Potential
  • 1 Rogue's Passage
  • 1 Sage of Fables
  • 1 Seafloor Oracle
  • 1 Silvergill Adept
  • 1 Silvergill Douser
  • 1 Silvergill Mentor
  • 1 Simic Ascendancy
  • 1 Simic Guildgate
  • 1 Simic Signet
  • 1 Singer of Swift Rivers
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Stonybrook Banneret
  • 1 Svyelun of Sea and Sky
  • 1 Swiftfoot Boots
  • 1 Talrand, Sky Summoner
  • 1 Thieving Skydiver
  • 1 Tishana, Voice of Thunder
  • 1 Topography Tracker
  • 1 Tormod's Crypt
  • 1 Twists and Turns // Mycoid Maze
  • 1 Unforgiving Aim
  • 1 Vodalian Hexcatcher
  • 1 Watertrap Weaver
  • 1 Wave Goodbye
  • 1 Yavimaya Coast
  • 1 Zegana, Utopian Speaker