Hakbal of the Surging Soul leads a Merfolk tribal deck that uses the explore mechanic to simultaneously grow the board with +1/+1 counters and accelerate land development, with counter-doubling effects like Branching Evolution and Hardened Scales making each exploration trigger increasingly explosive. The deck leverages a critical mass of Merfolk lords and tribal synergies to push through combat, with Herald of Secret Streams making counter-laden creatures unblockable and Simic Ascendancy providing an alternate path to victory by converting counter accumulation into a game-winning threshold. Card advantage engines tied to Merfolk entering, attacking, and exploring — alongside proliferate effects that compound counter growth — keep the deck fueled while snowballing toward an overwhelming board state.

Hakbal of the Surging Soul decklist

• Agatha's Soul Cauldron
• Chronicle of Victory
• Yavimaya Coast
• Glacierwood Siege
• Mindbreak Trap
• Command Tower
• Path of Ancestry
• Simic Growth Chamber
• Alchemist's Refuge
• Hinterland Harbor
• Karn's Bastion
• Metallic Mimic
• Mosswort Bridge
• Vineglimmer Snarl
• Llanowar Reborn
• Reliquary Tower
• Rogue's Passage
• Secluded Courtyard
• Sol Ring
• Swiftfoot Boots
• Temple of the False God
• Unclaimed Territory
• Explore
• Steely Resolve
• Branching Evolution
• Bygone Marvels
• Deeproot Elite
• Deeproot Historian
• Hardened Scales
• Realmwalker
• Regrowth
• Ruinous Intrusion
• Beast Within
• Evolution Sage
• Inspiring Call
• Growth Spiral
• Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca
• Prime Speaker Zegana
• Tishana, Voice of Thunder
• Xolatoyac, the Smiling Flood
• Cold-Eyed Selkie
• Quandrix Command
• Simic Ascendancy
• Singer of Swift Rivers
• The Goose Mother
• Vorel of the Hull Clade
• Kiora's Follower
• Merfolk Mistbinder
• Merfolk Skydiver
• Nicanzil, Current Conductor
• Tatyova, Benthic Druid
• Negate
• Stonybrook Banneret
• Namor the Sub-Mariner
• Svyelun of Sea and Sky
• Thassa, God of the Sea
• Emperor Mihail II
• Herald of Secret Streams
• Kindred Discovery
• Kopala, Warden of Waves
• Master of the Pearl Trident
• Merfolk Sovereign
• Reflections of Littjara
• Ripples of Potential
• Seafloor Oracle
• S.H.I.E.L.D. Flying Car
• Surgespanner
• Thieving Skydiver
• Wave Goodbye
• Lyla, Holographic Assistant
• Merfolk Cave-Diver
• Merrow Reejerey
• Rapid Hybridization
• Sage of Fables
• Tezzeret's Gambit
• Roaming Throne
• Misty Rainforest
• Curiosity
• Propaganda