Explorers of the Deep upgraded by chaoscodester

Format: Commander

Commander: Hakbal of the Surging Soul

Bracket: 3

Deck overview

This Simic Merfolk deck is built to ride Hakbal of the Surging Soul into a wide, counter-heavy board. The commander's combat-explore trigger turns every Merfolk into a miniature card-advantage engine: lands go to hand, while other explores spread +1/+1 counters. Deeproot Waters, Deeproot Pilgrimage, and Emperor Mihail produce extra bodies, while Branching Evolution/Hardened Scales amplify counters and Topography Tracker doubles explore triggers. The primary finish is a single unblockable swing using Herald of Secret Streams and islandwalk lords like Master of the Pearl Trident; the secondary, incidental line is Simic Ascendancy. No hidden commander or back face; the deck is intentionally built around Hakbal's engine.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Aetherize
  • 1 Alchemist's Refuge
  • 1 An Offer You Can't Refuse
  • 1 Arcane Denial
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Beast Within
  • 1 Benthic Biomancer
  • 1 Branching Evolution
  • 1 Cold-Eyed Selkie
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Commit // Memory
  • 1 Counterspell
  • 1 Court of Garenbrig
  • 1 Curse of the Swine
  • 1 Deepfathom Echo
  • 1 Deeproot Elite
  • 1 Deeproot Pilgrimage
  • 1 Deeproot Waters
  • 1 Dreamroot Cascade
  • 1 Emperor Mihail II
  • 1 Evolution Sage
  • 1 Evolving Wilds
  • 1 Exotic Orchard
  • 1 Explore
  • 1 Flooded Grove
  • 7 Forest
  • 1 Growth Spiral
  • 1 Hakbal of the Surging Soul
  • 1 Hardened Scales
  • 1 Herald of Secret Streams
  • 1 Heroic Intervention
  • 1 Hinterland Harbor
  • 1 Inspiring Call
  • 13 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 Cave-Diver
  • 1 Merfolk Mistbinder
  • 1 Merfolk Skydiver
  • 1 Merfolk Sovereign
  • 1 Merrow Reejerey
  • 1 Metallic Mimic
  • 1 Mist Dancer
  • 1 Negate
  • 1 Nicanzil, Current Conductor
  • 1 Path of Ancestry
  • 1 Rampant Growth
  • 1 Rapid Hybridization
  • 1 Realmwalker
  • 1 Reflections of Littjara
  • 1 Ripples of Potential
  • 1 Ruinous Intrusion
  • 1 Seafloor Oracle
  • 1 Secluded Courtyard
  • 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 Tatyova, Benthic Druid
  • 1 Temple of Mystery
  • 1 Thassa, God of the Sea
  • 1 The Ooze
  • 1 Thieving Skydiver
  • 1 Tishana's Tidebinder
  • 1 Tishana, Voice of Thunder
  • 1 Topography Tracker
  • 1 Unclaimed Territory
  • 1 Vineglimmer Snarl
  • 1 Vodalian Hexcatcher
  • 1 Wave Goodbye
  • 1 Xolatoyac, the Smiling Flood
  • 1 Yavimaya Coast
  • 1 Zegana, Utopian Speaker