- Commander Nexus
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- Hakbal of the Surging Soul
Command zone
Hakbal of the Surging Soul
Legendary Creature — Merfolk Scout
Hakbal of the Surging Soul wants a deck that gets a reward every time it plays a land. It leads the ready-made Explorers of the Deep deck (2023).
- Mana cost
- Blue, Green ()
- Power / toughness3 / 3
- RarityMythic
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.
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- Archetypes
Cards That Fit Hakbal of the Surging Soul
Picked for what they do in Hakbal of the Surging Soul's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit Hakbal of the Surging Soul's color identity.Mana ValueThe total amount of mana a card costs, all added up. A card costing two generic and one green has a mana value of three. Wizards renamed this from "converted mana cost" in 2021, so older cards and articles may still use the old name.
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Decks Led by Hakbal of the Surging Soul
Hakbal of the Surging Soul leads a ready-made deck.PreconShort for preconstructed deck: a ready-to-play deck sold in a box by Wizards of the Coast. A Commander precon comes with its commander and all 100 cards, so you can play it straight away and change cards later.Open the full glossary
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Explorers of the DeepOfficial precon
All 100 Cards
Commander · 1
Creatures · 37
- 1×Benthic Biomancer
- 1×Cold-Eyed Selkie
- 1×Coralhelm Commander
- 1×Deeproot Elite
- 1×Deeproot Historian
- 1×Emperor Mihail II
- 1×Evolution Sage
- 1×Herald of Secret Streams
- 1×Kiora's Follower
- 1×Kopala, Warden of Waves
- 1×Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca
- 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×Nicanzil, Current Conductor
- 1×Prime Speaker Zegana
- 1×Realmwalker
- 1×Sage of Fables
- 1×Seafloor Oracle
- 1×Singer of Swift Rivers
- 1×Stonybrook Banneret
- 1×Surgespanner
- 1×Svyelun of Sea and Sky
- 1×Tatyova, Benthic Druid
- 1×Thassa, God of the Sea
- 1×Thieving Skydiver
- 1×Tishana, Voice of Thunder
- 1×Topography Tracker
- 1×Tributary Instructor
- 1×Vorel of the Hull Clade
- 1×Xolatoyac, the Smiling Flood
- 1×Zegana, Utopian Speaker
Instants · 9
Sorceries · 6
Artifacts · 5
Enchantments · 6
Lands · 36
- 1×Alchemist's Refuge
- 1×Command Tower
- 7×Forest
- 1×Hinterland Harbor
- 13×Island
- 1×Karn's Bastion
- 1×Llanowar Reborn
- 1×Mosswort Bridge
- 1×Myriad Landscape
- 1×Path of Ancestry
- 1×Reliquary Tower
- 1×Rogue's Passage
- 1×Secluded Courtyard
- 1×Simic Growth Chamber
- 1×Temple of Mystery
- 1×Temple of the False God
- 1×Unclaimed Territory
- 1×Vineglimmer Snarl
Rulings for Hakbal of the Surging Soul
explain how Hakbal of the Surging Soul works in tricky situations. They come from Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic.RulingThe official answer to how a card works in a tricky situation. Most rulings are written by Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic, and a few are notes from Scryfall, the card database Magic players use. A ruling explains a card. It does not change what the card says.Open the full glossary
Each of your Merfolk creatures will explore during the resolution of Hakbal of the Surging Soul's first ability. Players won't be able to respond between the explores.
If a resolving spell or ability instructs a specific creature to explore but that creature has left the battlefield, the creature still explores. If you reveal a nonland card this way, you won't put a +1/+1 counter on anything, but you may put the revealed card into your graveyard. Effects that trigger "whenever a creature explores" trigger as appropriate.
If an ability instructs a creature to explore, its controller reveals the top card of their library. If it's a land card, they'll put it into their hand. Otherwise, they'll put a +1/+1 counter on that creature, then choose to either leave that card on top of their library or put it into their graveyard.
If no card is revealed, most likely because that player's library is empty, the exploring creature receives a +1/+1 counter.
If you control multiple Merfolk, you choose the order in which they explore. Make sure it's clear which Merfolk is exploring before you reveal any cards.
In some unusual cases, noncreature permanents may explore. For example, if the creature card returned by Defossilize is somehow not a creature once it's on the battlefield, it can still explore. You'll take all the same actions, and you may end up putting a +1/+1 counter on the permanent. (Note that some effects target a creature, and those effects would still require a legal target to have it explore.)
Once an ability that causes a creature to explore begins to resolve, no player may take any other actions until it's done. Notably, opponents can't try to remove the exploring creature after you reveal a nonland card but before it receives a counter.
Some spells or abilities might cause a creature to explore multiple times in a row. If you reveal a nonland card when a creature explores and leave it on top of your library, then the creature explores again immediately afterwards, you'll reveal the same card again.
8 rulings, all written by Wizards of the Coast. Read the originals on Gatherer ↗
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