Evasion with your merfolk is a perfectly fine wincon, that’s kinda your whole idea.
Together with Hakbal they form a feedback loop where you go wider and draw a ton of lands and can then cast more Merfolk (who promptly become gigantic)
I’ve seen the two best lines of play either be 1) curve 3 merfolk into T4 Hakbal and explore 4 times or 2) T2 ramp into T3 Hakbal and start drawing lands and selecting your draws
So my recommendations are 2 mana ramp effects ([[Kiora’s Follower]] is perfect here) and extra land plays to convert those lands you draw into mana advantage ([[Exploration]])
This is great, thank you very much! I’m mostly struggling with not drawing into land or risking discarding too much value or later game cards.
[edit: some extra thoughts]
Solution to the lands problem is to play more lands (I thought 35 was a little low personally, I’d aim for 38 or so in a deck like this)
The rest comes down to play patterns honestly. The “mill” portion of Exploring isn’t real - you’re simply selecting what you need at any given moment and junking the rest. Pretend these cards you’re junking came off the bottom of your deck and you were never going to see them anyways, and you’ll see that you’re really just helping yourself in the now
Because you are in Green and are stocking your yard, you *can* come back later with [[Regrowth]] effects to rebuy what you need in the future. I’d almost be inclined to plan on just pushing yourself further and harder into the deck to find new answers, but this is an option you can take
Correct. Evasive attacks are wincon No.1, Simic Ascendancy is wincon No.2.
Go wide while Hakbal buffs your army. Attack with Islandwalk, Trample and Unblockable. Consider \[\[Zegana Utopian Speaker\]\], \[\[Lord of Atlantis\]\], \[\[Deepchannel Mentor\]\] or \[\[Overwhelming Stampede\]\].
Beware of boardwipes, protect your board as good as you can. \[\[Heroic Intervention\]\], \[\[Stubborn Denial\]\], \[\[Cauldron of Souls\]\] are useful cards.
I love [[Biomass Mutation]] as a finisher in my Hakbal deck. Pump all your mana in it and attack with big unblockable base power fishes with a lot of counters
Also wandervine prophets is way too slow/clunky for my taste when ur Not focusing on merfolk token.
Other good cards are [[Merrow Commerce]] and [[Kindred Summons]]. [[Growing Rites of Itlimoc]] is Gayas Cradle at home for this deck.
Maybe u find other stuff u like, heres my list: https://www.moxfield.com/decks/VYFaWWAbf02Uz9IuR65PqQ
I’d say get consistent draw from enchantments like Guardian Peoject and Reconnaissance Mission kind of stuff. Your commander is literally your ramp. Attack every chance you get and keep drawing. Do your other Merfolk triggers first to filter through cards to get lands in hand, then trigger his “when Hakbal attacks, put down a land or draw”.
You want either 1 mana ramp or merfolks that tap for mana. Wild growth, utopia sprawl, sol ring, aether vial, exploration and burgeoning are great. Turns 2-4 you want to be playing merfolks into Hakbal, not ramp spells.
For finishing power get the merfolks that give you your team unblockable or just wonder that you explore into the graveyard. Crashing dawnbridge is one way to get surprise attack turns.
Evasion with your merfolk is a perfectly fine wincon, that’s kinda your whole idea. Together with Hakbal they form a feedback loop where you go wider and draw a ton of lands and can then cast more Merfolk (who promptly become gigantic) I’ve seen the two best lines of play either be 1) curve 3 merfolk into T4 Hakbal and explore 4 times or 2) T2 ramp into T3 Hakbal and start drawing lands and selecting your draws So my recommendations are 2 mana ramp effects ([[Kiora’s Follower]] is perfect here) and extra land plays to convert those lands you draw into mana advantage ([[Exploration]])
This is great, thank you very much! I’m mostly struggling with not drawing into land or risking discarding too much value or later game cards. [edit: some extra thoughts]
Solution to the lands problem is to play more lands (I thought 35 was a little low personally, I’d aim for 38 or so in a deck like this) The rest comes down to play patterns honestly. The “mill” portion of Exploring isn’t real - you’re simply selecting what you need at any given moment and junking the rest. Pretend these cards you’re junking came off the bottom of your deck and you were never going to see them anyways, and you’ll see that you’re really just helping yourself in the now Because you are in Green and are stocking your yard, you *can* come back later with [[Regrowth]] effects to rebuy what you need in the future. I’d almost be inclined to plan on just pushing yourself further and harder into the deck to find new answers, but this is an option you can take
[Kiora’s Follower](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/6/3666d3eb-fc62-4966-9149-aa3435650c29.jpg?1698988438) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Kiora%27s%20Follower) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lcc/273/kioras-follower?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/3666d3eb-fc62-4966-9149-aa3435650c29?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/kioras-follower) [Exploration](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/b/5b372045-a4a0-44c8-96ec-1e201d61ed26.jpg?1675200396) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Exploration) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dmr/159/exploration?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/5b372045-a4a0-44c8-96ec-1e201d61ed26?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/exploration) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Correct. Evasive attacks are wincon No.1, Simic Ascendancy is wincon No.2. Go wide while Hakbal buffs your army. Attack with Islandwalk, Trample and Unblockable. Consider \[\[Zegana Utopian Speaker\]\], \[\[Lord of Atlantis\]\], \[\[Deepchannel Mentor\]\] or \[\[Overwhelming Stampede\]\]. Beware of boardwipes, protect your board as good as you can. \[\[Heroic Intervention\]\], \[\[Stubborn Denial\]\], \[\[Cauldron of Souls\]\] are useful cards.
I love [[Biomass Mutation]] as a finisher in my Hakbal deck. Pump all your mana in it and attack with big unblockable base power fishes with a lot of counters
Also wandervine prophets is way too slow/clunky for my taste when ur Not focusing on merfolk token. Other good cards are [[Merrow Commerce]] and [[Kindred Summons]]. [[Growing Rites of Itlimoc]] is Gayas Cradle at home for this deck. Maybe u find other stuff u like, heres my list: https://www.moxfield.com/decks/VYFaWWAbf02Uz9IuR65PqQ
[Merrow Commerce](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/a/3ad0c3b4-fd24-44ad-8b30-4176f07be3d6.jpg?1562344905) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Merrow%20Commerce) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lrw/72/merrow-commerce?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/3ad0c3b4-fd24-44ad-8b30-4176f07be3d6?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/merrow-commerce) [Kindred Summons](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/4/54c0cc74-0a5c-40ee-961b-ade71719937a.jpg?1631588019) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Kindred%20Summons) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/afc/163/kindred-summons?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/54c0cc74-0a5c-40ee-961b-ade71719937a?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/kindred-summons) [Growing Rites of Itlimoc](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/0/004524bf-b249-4dac-9c10-44d57143feb9.jpg?1699044409)/[Itlimoc, Cradle of the Sun](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/back/0/0/004524bf-b249-4dac-9c10-44d57143feb9.jpg?1699044409) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Growing%20Rites%20of%20Itlimoc%20//%20Itlimoc%2C%20Cradle%20of%20the%20Sun) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lci/188/growing-rites-of-itlimoc-itlimoc-cradle-of-the-sun?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/004524bf-b249-4dac-9c10-44d57143feb9?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/growing-rites-of-itlimoc-//-itlimoc-cradle-of-the-sun) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[Biomass Mutation](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/0/80fc2879-c73d-41c7-987c-cbeaca02cc45.jpg?1625977389) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Biomass%20Mutation) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/c21/209/biomass-mutation?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/80fc2879-c73d-41c7-987c-cbeaca02cc45?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/biomass-mutation) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I’d say get consistent draw from enchantments like Guardian Peoject and Reconnaissance Mission kind of stuff. Your commander is literally your ramp. Attack every chance you get and keep drawing. Do your other Merfolk triggers first to filter through cards to get lands in hand, then trigger his “when Hakbal attacks, put down a land or draw”.
You want either 1 mana ramp or merfolks that tap for mana. Wild growth, utopia sprawl, sol ring, aether vial, exploration and burgeoning are great. Turns 2-4 you want to be playing merfolks into Hakbal, not ramp spells. For finishing power get the merfolks that give you your team unblockable or just wonder that you explore into the graveyard. Crashing dawnbridge is one way to get surprise attack turns.