SimicLegendary Creature — Merfolk ScoutHakbal of the Surging Soul
Mana value4Rank#3,600
The Commander
At the beginning of combat on your turn, each Merfolk creature you control explores. (Reveal the top card of your library. Put that card into your hand if it's a land. Otherwise, put a +1/+1 counter on the exploring creature, then put the card back or put it into your graveyard.)
Whenever Hakbal attacks, you may put a land card from your hand onto the battlefield. If you don't, draw a card.
Guide
Gameplan
Flood the board with Merfolk, then use Hakbal's combat-step explore trigger to grow your team and dig for lands and gas every turn. You snowball card advantage and counters while ramping aggressively, eventually swinging wide with a buffed, evasive Merfolk army backed by tribal lords and a finisher.
Strengths
- Massive repeatable card advantage and selection via explore every combat
- Built-in ramp from both explore (lands to hand) and the attack trigger (lands to battlefield)
- Cheap commander (4 MV) that snowballs the whole board, not just itself
- Deep, supported Merfolk tribal pool with lords and evasion
Key Cards
- Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca — Adds card draw, tap-to-untap shenanigans, and a buff finisher that synergizes perfectly with a wide Merfolk board.
- Master of the Pearl Trident — Gives all Merfolk islandwalk and +1/+1, turning your wide explored team into unblockable damage.
- Deeproot Elite — Snowballs counters onto your Merfolk whenever a counter-bearing one connects, amplifying explore growth.
- Herald's Horn — Cost reduction and steady card flow keeps the Merfolk engine churning every turn.
- Branching Evolution — Doubles the +1/+1 counters from explore, supercharging your whole board.
- Cryptic Trios / Vodalian Hexcatcher — Cheap lords/anthems that turn explored Merfolk into a lethal wide attack.
Upgrade Path
Tighten the curve with cheap, efficient Merfolk and stack multiple lords plus evasion enablers (islandwalk) so your explored board is hard to block. Add counter doublers (Branching Evolution, Doubling Season) and proliferate effects to maximize explore value, and include protection like Heroic Intervention and a Lightning Greaves/Swiftfoot Boots to keep Hakbal online. Top-end finishers such as Craterhoof Behemoth or Triumph of the Hordes convert your wide board into reliable lethal damage.
Core Cards
- Ruinous Intrusion
- Surgespanner
- Llanowar Reborn
- Cold-Eyed Selkie
- Coralhelm Commander
- Simic Ascendancy
- Explore
- Prime Speaker Zegana
- Vorel of the Hull Clade
- Seafloor Oracle
- Commit // Memory
- Ripples of Potential
Seeded from a single deck — rates appear once more public decks exist.
Win Conditions
- ▸Wide Merfolk swarm pumped by lords like Master of the Pearl Trident and Lord of Atlantis with islandwalk evasion
- ▸Kumena tap-out draw into an overwhelming alpha strike
- ▸Snowballed +1/+1 counters making individually huge, evasive attackers
- ▸Finisher payoffs like Overwhelming Stampede or Triumph of the Hordes
Archetypes
- Tribal Aggro (Merfolk) — Hakbal grows and ramps the entire Merfolk team every combat, enabling a fast wide assault.
- +1/+1 Counters — Every non-land explore plants counters, pairing naturally with counter doublers and proliferate.
- Midrange Value/Ramp — Explore generates relentless card advantage and land drops to outgrind the table.
Combos
- Hakbal of the Surging Soul + Agatha's Soul Cauldron + Crystalline Crawler + Hellkite Charger
→ Infinite +1/+1 counters on certain creatures, Infinite colored mana, Infinite combat phases
- Hakbal of the Surging Soul + Agatha's Soul Cauldron + Crystalline Crawler + Aggravated Assault
→ Infinite +1/+1 counters on certain creatures, Infinite colored mana, Infinite combat phases
Combos via Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (GU), by popularity.
