Arcane Foundry › Commanders › Hakbal of the Surging Soul
Hakbal of the Surging Soul
Legendary Creature — Merfolk Scout · {2}{G}{U} · Green/Blue 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.
Build a Hakbal of the Surging Soul deck →
What Hakbal of the Surging Soul actually does
Read off the card by the same engine the Forge and Analyzer use — this is the mechanical classification, not a summary.
- Triggered ability · beginning_of_combatAt the beginning of combat on your turn, each Merfolk creature you control explores.
- Triggered ability · attackWhenever Hakbal attacks, you may put a land card from your hand onto the battlefield. If you don't, draw a card.
What a Hakbal of the Surging Soul deck needs
Plays as merfolk typal. What the commander asks of the other 99 — read from the card and checked by hand.
- land ramp, extra land drops and landfall payoffs (its text counts or triggers on lands)
- merfolk creatures (its text counts them)
- haste, evasion and protection for the commander, and extra combats (its own attack is the engine)
The Hakbal of the Surging Soul deck plan
The roles the Forge fills for this commander, and how many cards of each.
- 16× Put a land onto the battlefield — for a landfall commander this triggers where a normal land drop does not
- 6× Put haste on the commander the turn it resolves — a tap ability is unusable otherwise
- 26× A body of the exact type the commander's trigger requires — the wrong type is worthless here regardless of quality
- 4× Make the commander connect — a body that never deals combat damage never triggers
- 5× Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- 9× Find the exact card the plan needs
- 2× Answer a spell or ability before it resolves
- 1× Answer a whole board at once
- 7× Refill your hand
Best cards for Hakbal of the Surging Soul
Ranked by an engine that reads what each card does — its real cost, its delay and how reliably it works — rather than counting how often other people play it.
Put a land onto the battlefield — for a landfall commander this triggers where a normal land drop does not
- Exploration1 mana
- Explore2 mana
- Dryad of the Ilysian Grove3 mana
- Exploration Broodship1 mana
- Azusa, Lost but Seeking3 mana
- Loot, Exuberant Explorer3 mana
- Wayward Swordtooth3 mana
- Druid Class2 mana
Put haste on the commander the turn it resolves — a tap ability is unusable otherwise
- Thousand-Year Elixir3 mana
- Lightning Greaves2 mana
- Swiftfoot Boots2 mana
- Akroma's Memorial7 mana
- Ulvenwald Oddity // Ulvenwald Behemoth4 mana
- Lavaspur Boots1 mana
- Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu2 mana
- Ellywick Tumblestrum4 mana
A body of the exact type the commander's trigger requires — the wrong type is worthless here regardless of quality
- Mist-Cloaked Herald1 mana
- Triton Shorestalker1 mana
- Thassa's Oracle2 mana
- Kiora's Follower2 mana
- Thieving Skydiver2 mana
- Thrasios, Triton Hero2 mana
- Benthic Biomancer1 mana
- Emry, Lurker of the Loch3 mana
Make the commander connect — a body that never deals combat damage never triggers
- Garruk's Uprising3 mana
- Archetype of Imagination6 mana
- Eldrazi Monument5 mana
- Akroma's Memorial7 mana
- Infiltrator's Magemark3 mana
- Bellowing Tanglewurm5 mana
- Mist Dancer5 mana
- Student of Elements // Tobita, Master of Winds2 mana
Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- Reality Shift2 mana
- Pongify1 mana
- Rapid Hybridization1 mana
- Resculpt2 mana
- Beast Within3 mana
- Nature's Claim1 mana
- Emerald Charm1 mana
- Naturalize2 mana
Find the exact card the plan needs
- Green Sun's Zenith1 mana
- Nature's Rhythm2 mana
- Neoform2 mana
- Celestial Reunion1 mana
- Worldly Tutor1 mana
- Reshape2 mana
- March of Burgeoning Life1 mana
- Mask of the Mimic1 mana
Answer a spell or ability before it resolves
- Mindbreak Trap4 mana
- Fierce Guardianship3 mana
- Force of Negation3 mana
- Force of Will5 mana
- Flare of Denial3 mana
- Pact of Negation0 mana
- An Offer You Can't Refuse1 mana
- Arcane Denial2 mana
Answer a whole board at once
- Desynchronization4 mana
- Wave Goodbye4 mana
- Whelming Wave4 mana
- Consuming Tide4 mana
- Oversimplify5 mana
- Selective Obliteration5 mana
- Needle Storm3 mana
- Evacuation5 mana
Refill your hand
- Mystic Remora1 mana
- Skullclamp1 mana
- Sylvan Library2 mana
- Curiosity1 mana
- Wizard Class1 mana
- Garruk's Uprising3 mana
- Herald's Horn3 mana
- Rhystic Study3 mana
Combos with Hakbal of the Surging Soul
Known combos from Commander Spellbook that Hakbal of the Surging Soul is a piece of, and how many decks list them.
- Hakbal of the Surging Soul + Agatha's Soul Cauldron + Crystalline Crawler + Hellkite Charger
- Hakbal of the Surging Soul + Agatha's Soul Cauldron + Crystalline Crawler + Aggravated Assault
Build this deck in the Arcane Forge →
Arcane Foundry is free to join and every tool is included: the Arcane Forge deck builder, the ARCANE Analyzer that scores a deck by simulating games rather than counting staples, a card scanner, a collection vault, and live webcam Commander tables.
Read the guide · Browse all commanders · Pricing