If you like mysterious folk tales about the legendary sea people and you want to explore the wonders of the sea, then Merfolk Tribal is the right deck for you! Let’s see how we can command the power of water and shape the tide to consume our opponents!
I love tribal decks because they combine synergy and flavor and of course power. On top of that you can find many unique cards that support a tribe and can be great budget options as those cards work only on a specific tribal deck and are bad to unplayable to any other deck. That’s why I will try building and presenting a series of decks for all those who share the love for tribal decks.
Merfolk is a creature type for a race of aquatic humanoids. The first card to appear with the creature type was Merfolk of the Pearl Trident in Alpha. Merfolk is the characteristic race for the color blue, though they have also shown up in white on Lorwyn, black on Shadowmoor, and green on Ixalan. Additionally, merfolk appear in green on Ravnica, Theros and Dominaria, albeit in addendum to blue. (source: MtG Wiki)
There are many legendary Merfolk that can lead the tribe, but the most powerful and popular are the Simic (
) commanders Hakbal of the Surging Soul and Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca. Kumena was the optimal choice for years but with the coming of Hakbal he found a strong competitor. Both are great choices but they need to be build quite different. In short, Kumena is the optimal combo commander while Hakbal is the optimal aggro commander. Both care about going wide and have +1/+1 counters synergy, but Kumena has great tap/untap synergy while Hakbal supports explore strategy and on attack trigger let us either put a land from our hand onto the battlefield or draw a card.
Hakbal of the Surging Soul is my personal choice for Merfolk Tribal because he is more consistent, he is alone a great ramp/draw engine and scales greatly with going wide. Moreover, there are some unique powerful Merfolk cards with explore synergy (like Nicanzil, Current Conductor and Topography Tracker that work only with Hakbal while they need to be removed if we choose Kumena. On the other hand Kumena does not work alone, he needs more generic combo piece cards and much more setup but when a combo triggers he can end the game, so he is a high risk, high reward choice. Personaly, I like Explore too and I like building more unique builds, so that made my choice easier. (there are few commanders with explore synergy, while there are many – probably better- choices for tap/untap combo commanders).
The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander deck Explorers of the Deep, is a great starting point for building Merfolk Tribal since it features many great Merfolk cards. Despite that, there is plenty of space for upgrades. Although you can call this article a precon upgrade, you can start from zero and buy singles. The optimal building option depends on the price and availability of the cards.
Synergy Diagram
I always like to make a simple synergy diagram in order to deeply comprehend the potential and the strategy areas that are supported by the commander when I choose top-down building. But in some cases, I do a mix of top-down and bottom-up building.
In some tribes there are mechanics that are bound to a tribe. In our case some mechanics bound to some Merfolk are Explore, +1/+1 counters and tap/untap. In such cases we can build subthemes on our deck giving it more depth, without sacrificing its tribal focus.
Let’s analyze the main goals of the deck:
- Add the best Merfolk. Our priority is to add the ones with explore and +1/+1 counters synergy.
- Add Merfolk Tribal support. Cards that support Merfolk Tribal seem a great choice for our build. Cards that create Merfolk are also valuable.
- Add explore synergy cards. Since our build is build around Hakbal of the Surging Soul, and he makes all our Merfolk explore, explore payoffs are very strong in our build.
- Add +1/+1 counter synergy cards. Explore is a great way to get +1/+1 counters and our commander make all our Merfolk explore so we have a consistent way to get +1/+1 counters and +1/+1 counter payoffs are also a great choice for our build.
- Add cards that synergize with our strategies. To make the best out of our strategies, we can further amplify them by adding cards that support many of our strategies.
For the sake of flavor some of the choices are not optimal, but are (usually budget friendly) alternatives that fit greatly the Merfolk tribal theme.
The deck:
Merfolk Tribal
Comparative Analysis
Let’s see how the deck compares to the general ratios of my deckbuilding guide.
34 Lands
12 Ramp: Hakbal of the Surging Soul , Nicanzil, Current Conductor , Thieving Skydiver , Sol Ring , Stonybrook Banneret , Simic Signet , Patchwork Banner, Thrasios, Triton Hero , Deeproot Wayfinder , Thada Adel, Acquisitor , Twists and Turns (late), Kiora’s Follower
10 Target Removal: Thada Adel, Acquisitor (kinda), Vodalian Hexcatcher , Masked Vandal, Lullmage Mentor , Harbinger of the Tides , Quandrix Command , Fuel for the Cause , Tishana’s Tidebinder (kinda), Empress Galina, Thieving Skydiver (kinda)
3 Board Wipes: Wave Goodbye , Aetherize , River’s Rebuke
2 Graveyard Recursion: Deeproot Historian , Quandrix Command (to library)
1 Graveyard Hate: Quandrix Command
4 Tutors: Forerunner of the Heralds , Merrow Harbinger , Seahunter , Twists and Turns (late)
10 Protection: Ripples of Potential , Singer of Swift Rivers , Svyelun of Sea and Sky , Kopala, Warden of Waves , Roaming Throne (self-protection), Inspiring Call, Vodalian Hexcatcher, Lullmage Mentor, Tishana’s Tidebinder, Quandrix Command
16,5 Card Draw: Lonely Sandbar (1/2), Tranquill Thicket (1/2), Hakbal of the Surging Soul , Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca , Svyelun of Sea and Sky , Emperor Mihail II (kinda), Seafloor Oracle , Cold-Eyed Selkie , Inspiring Call , Tatyova, Benthic Druid , Zegana, Utopian Speaker (1/2), Benthic Biomancer, Tributary Instructor, Tishana, Voice of Thunder, Kiora, the Rising Tide (1/2), Thrasios, Triton Hero, Aquitect’s Will (1/2), Bred for the Hunt, Prime Speaker Zegana
5 Finishers/ Surprise /Alternate win conditions: Herald of Secret Streams , Master of the Pearl Trident , Lord of Atlantis , Mist Dancer , Simic Ascendancy
As we see from the comparative analysis, the rates per category are very good. There is no score below the optimal low average and four categories are above the optimal max average. We see two great spikes, Card draw at 16.5 and Protection at 10 which are very imporntant for our Merfolk Tribal build since card draw is always very important and protection helps Hakbal of the Surging Soul stay alive (which is crucial for our build) but also supports our going wide strategy.
Deck Highlights, synergy and flavor options:
Ramp
Hakbal of the Surging Soul as we have already analized, is a great ramp and draw engine. His attack trigger synergizes with our explore strategy and he even synergizes with himself. We can get amazing value from our commander.
Nicanzil, Current Conductor is one of the best explore payoffs and combined with Hakbal of the Surging Soul and our Merfolk Tribal build it becomes one of the best cards for our deck. We can easily put multiple lands from our hand onto the battlefield and that alone is too powerful. He can also quickly become a big threat and has +1/+1 counter synergy. Superb card!
Stonybrook Banneret is a 
cost reducer for both Wizard and Merfolk Tribal decks and even its Islandwalk works greatly in our build as we have ways to make it unblockable.
Thrasios, Triton Hero is powerful even on non-tribal builds, but on our Merfolk Tribal he becomes even stronger as he has great synergy with Explore and top deck manipulation. By paying 
he let us Scry 1 and reveal the top card of our library. If it’s a land card, we put it onto the battlefield tapped. Otherwise, we draw a card. He is an amazing ramp and draw engine and one of the top cards of our deck.
Whenever Deeproot Wayfinder deals combat damage to a player or battle, we surveil 1, then we may return a land card from our graveyard to the battlefield tapped. It has amazing synergy with our Merfolk Tribal build as its ability and Surveil works greatly with Explore. If we make it unblockable (which is not hard for our build) it can become a ramp engine.
Kiora’s Follower works better in tap/untap strategy decks, but even if our Merfolk Tribal deck is not a dedicated tap/untap deck, we run some few but very stong tap/untap synergy cards like Merrow Commerce and Murkfiend Liege so we can still get great value. Even alone with Hakbal of the Surging Soul it can explore and ramp which make it better than an average green ramp spell.
Patchwork Banner is one of the best cards for Tribal builds as it combines ramp and tribal support. Being both a mana rock and a Tribal Anthem gives us amazing value for its mana cost. Of course it is a top pick for our Merfolk Tribal!
Target Removal
Thieving Skydiver and Thada Adel, Acquisitor are not the typical artifact removal spells, but instead they are Rogues that steal the artifacts of our opponents (which is even better!) They have different mechanics but the result is very strong on both cases. Thieving Skydiver has Kicker 
and let us gain control of target artifact with mana value X or less (and can even attach it for free to itself if it is an equipment), while Thada Adel, Acquisitor on player combat damage trigger let us search that player’s library for an artifact card and exile it and until end of turn, we may play that card. In addition, both come with a form of evasion (Islandwalk and Flying) which is very important (and most useful on Thada Adel, Acquisitor).
Vodalian Hexcatcher is a great Merfolk Tribal lord that comes with Flash, supports other Merfolk with +1/+1 and let us sacrifice a Merfolk to counter target noncreature spell unless its controller pays . Turning all our Merfolk into counterspells is extremely strong, it is a must-have card for our build.
Masked Vandal is a staple for green creature tribal decks, but in our deck it has even better synergy than usual since with Hakbal of the Surging Soul it Explores the same turn it ETB.
Lullmage Mentor has synergy with counterspells letting us create 1/1 blue Merfolk creature tokens each time we counter a spell or ability. It makes a combo with Vodalian Hexcatcher letting us go infinite with noncreature counterspells as we can sacrifice with Vodalian Hexcatcher the tokens it creates to counter more noncreature spells and create more tokens and that creates an infinite loop. Moreover, by tapping seven untapped Merfolk we control we counter target spell, which is not that hard on Merfolk Tribal. It has great synergy with Merrow Commerce and Murkfiend Liege that can make it a real nightmare for our opponents.
Harbinger of the Tides on ETB let us return target tapped creature an opponent controls to its owner’s hand. By paying 
more we can cast it at instant speed. It works great on our Merfolk Tribal as we need as many Merfolk possible and it takes the spot of a removal spell.
Fuel for the Cause is a counterspell with proliferate and it has synergy with +1/+1 counters.
Empress Galina is a powerful Legendary Merfolk that let us pay ,
and gain control of target legendary permanent. It has great synergy with Merrow Commerce and Murkfiend Liege that can make it a real nightmare for our opponents.
Tishana’s Tidebinder is a great addition to our Merfolk Tribal since it is a low mana cost Merfolk, that can ETB at instant speed and counter up to one target ativated or triggered ability, while at the same time it shuts down the source (artifact, creature and planeswalker type) of that ability as long as it remains on the battlefield. It is a powerful card that acts both as protection and a kind of target removal.
Board Wipes
Wave Goodbye is a great mass removal spell that has +1/+1 counters synergy and on our Merfolk Tribal it becomes a one-sided board wipe as Hakbal of the Surging Soul makes it very easy to get +1/+1 counters on our Merfolk. It greatly fits the flavor of the deck too!
River’s Rebuke and Aetherize are also both one-sided board wipes. Aetherize is an instant and cheaper spell that can return all attacking creatures to their owner’s hand, while River’s Rebuke is a sorcery and costs more but let us return all nonland permanent target player controls to their owner’s hand.
Graveyard Recursion
Deeproot Historian is an amazing Druid/Merfolk Tribal grave recursion machine as it gives all Druid and Merfolk cards Retrace. A great pick for our build and a great tribal card.
Graveyard Hate
Quandrix Command is a great flexible card that let us choose two among graveyard hate (to library), graveyard recursion (to library), target creature removal (to hand), counterspell for artifacts and enchantements and an instant buff with +1/+1 counters on target creature. Its power lies in its flexibility.
Tutors
Forerunner of the Heralds on ETB, let us tutor any Merfolk on top of our library while at the same time it get buffed with a +1/+1 counter on Merfolk ETB. A great tutor for Merfolk Tribal that can even quickly grow into a threat. Merrow Harbinger has a similar tutor ability (any Merfolk on top of our library) but it has Islandwalk which is a very strong evasion for our build since we can turn it into unblockable.
Seahunter is one of the few creatures of our build that is not a Merfolk but that happens for a good reason. By paying 
, it let us tutor any merfolk into play. Amazing tutor for Merfolk Tribal!
Twists and Turns // Mycoid Maze is a cheap enchantment that has great synergy with Explore as it turns our Explore triggers onto Scry 1, then Explore. We have already pointed that Scry and Explore work well together so it gives our Merfolk Tribal build more consistency. If you add the Explore on EtB and the fact that on late game (7+lands) it turns into a Land with a mini tutoring ability, you can easily undestand how great value we can get from spending just . Great pick for our build.
Protection
Ripples of Potential is a great instant mass protection spell for builds with counters as it has proliferate and then we may choose any number of permantnts we control that had a counter put on them phase out. A powerful protection spell that has synergy with our Merfolk Tribal build.
Singer of Swift Rivers has Flash and on ETB we put a shield counter on another target creature we control. What makes it great for Merfolk Tribal is its last ability wich let us cast Merfolk spells as though they had Flash. Cool utility card.
Kopala, Warden of Waves and Svyelun of Sea and Sky provide Merfolk Tribal with build-in protection. In fact their abilities are quite similar, Svyelun of Sea and Sky provide Ward, while Kopala, Warden of Waves makes spell and abilities against our Merfolk cost more to cast. Both gretly help our going wide strategy.
Inspiring Call is great both for card draw and protection since it has +1/+1 counters and going wide strategy synergy. A staple for +1/+1 counters decks that fits greatly in our Merfolk Tribal.
Our counterspells and counter abilities are great for protection too.
Card Draw
As we have already analized, our commander Hakbal of the Surging Soul is a great draw engine.
Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca was the optimal Merfolk Tribal commander for years, but even if he lost his place in our build, he still works great with Hakbal of the Surging Soul as a part of the 99. With our going wide strategy, he can also be a draw engine and a great way to buff our Merfolk. He also combo with Merrow Commerce and Murkfiend Liege and can be a powerful tool in our arsenal.
Svyelun of Sea and Sky on attack trigger let us draw a card. Its build-in protection (indestructible as long as we control at least two other Merfolk) is very easy to be active on our Merfolk Tribal build so we can attack each turn without second thoughts and draw many cards.
Emperor Mihail II works wonders in our Merfolk Tribal build, since top deck manipulation (he let us look at the top card of our library any time and we may cast Merfolk spells from the top of our library) has great synergy with our Explore strategy and on top of that he is a great Merfolk token creator and supports our going wide strategy (Whenever we cast a Merfolk spell, we may pay . If we do, we create a 1/1 blue Merfolk creature token). Although his abilities cannot be considered card draw, he gives us extreme card advantage.
Seafloor Oracle is a perfect card draw engine for Merfolk Tribal since it let us draw a card whenever a Merfolk we control deals combat damage to a player.
Cold-Eyed Selkie has great synergy with our Merfolk tribal build since it has build-in evasion (Islandwalk) and can easily be buffed by our +1/+1 counter and Explore strategies so it can potentially net us a high number of cards each turn.
Tatyova, Benthic Druid is alone a powerful card in decks that play many lands, but in our Merfolk Tribal it has also tribal synergy and great synergy with Explore (which fills our hand with lands). It also has great synergy with Nicanzil, Current Conductor and it can become a powerhouse.
Zegana, Utopian Speaker on ETB, if we control another creature with +1/+1 counter it let us draw a card. Although the card draw is minimal, it comes with a 4/4 body and Adapt and gives each creature we control with a +1/+1 counter Trample. The last ability has great synergy with our Merfolk Tribal deck since we have a strong +1/+1 counter strategy.
Benthic Biomancer has Adapt and “Whenever one or more +1/+1 counters are put on Benthic Biomancer, draw a card, then discard a card.” It has great synergy with our Merfolk Tribal build since we have many ways to get +1/+1 counters.
Tributary Instructor has Mentor which synergizes with our +1/+1 counters strategy and “Whenever a creature you control with a +1/+1 counter on it dies, draw a card.” It may draw many cards on any +1/+1 counter deck, but being a Merfolk Shaman makes it ideal for our Merfolk Tribal.
Tishana, Voice of Thunder costs a lot of mana but works well in our build, since in our Merfolk Tribal, Explore and card draw are filling our hand with cards so the no maximum hand size and her stats that are equal to our hand size have great synergy to our build. Her last ability can potentially net us many cards since our build is made for going wide.
We have already analized how powerful is Thrasios, Triton Hero for our Merfolk Tribal build since he is a ramp and draw engine.
Prime Speaker Zegana on ETB gets X +1/+1 counters, where X is the greater power among other creatures we control. In addition on ETB we draw cards equal to its power so she can potentially net us many cards.
Bred for the Hunt is a great enchantment for decks with +1/+1 counters, as on creature (with +1/+1 counters) combat damage trigger, we may draw a card.
Kiora, the Rising Tide has a nice looting effect that help us with card filtering. Moreover, she has a Threshold ability that triggers whenever she attacks and if we have seven or more cards in our Graveyard, we may create Scion of the Deep. With the Explore strategy of our Merfolk Tribal, we can quickly fill our Graveyard and easily summon the legendary Octopus to drag our enemies to the deeps.
Finishers/ Surprise /Alternate win conditions
Herald of Secret Streams make creatures with +1/+1 counters unblockable and is a great card for any blue +1/+1 counter deck. Being a Merfolk Warrior makes it ideal for our Merfolk Tribal build. Combined with our going wide strategy it can be a finisher.
Mist Dancer also provides a form of evasion (flying) to our Merfolk plus a +1/+0 buff and those combined can also be a finishing move if we have enough Merfolk. Moreover it has Encore
so it can be even more intimidating when it is cast from the graveyard for its Encore cost, as we can potentially get on our Merfolk +3/+0 and flying, plus three 6/3 flyers with haste tapped and attacking, in a four player group.
Lord of Atlantis and Master of the Pearl Trident give Merfolk Islandwalk and a +1/+1 buff so they are potentially finishers against decks that run Islands. Although they are great Merfolk lords they are incosistent as finishers because we may play against decks with no blue color. To make them consistent, we run Aquitect’s Will and Tide Shaper that can “shape” lands into Islands.
Simic Ascendancy is an enchantment that gives us an alternate win condition that has great synergy with our +1/+1 counters strategy: “At the beginning of your upkeep, if Simic Ascendancy has twenty or more growth counters on it, you win the game.” It is revelant to our +1/+1 counters strategy since: whenever one or more +1/+1 counters are put on a creature we control, we put that many growth counters on Simic Ascendancy. It can even work as a mana sink: by paying we put a +1/+1 counter on target creature we control. It is a nice alternative to finish the game.
Other synergy pieces
Great Merfolk
Merfolk Mistbinder is a cheap Merfolk lord that gives other Merfolk +1/+1 and helps a lot in our going wide strategy. Merfolk Sovereign is another great Merfolk lord that gives other Merfolk +1/+1 and by it let us make target Merfolk unblockable. Last but not least, Merrow Reejerey is a Merfolk lord with tap/untap synergy on Merfolk casting trigger. Great picks for Merfolk Tribal.
Topography Tracker on EtB creates a Map token, but its second ability is the most important as it doubles the Explore triggers which works wonders in our Merfolk Tribal deck with our Explore strategy and has great synergy with Hakbal of the Surging Soul.
Deepfathom Echo Explores at the beginning of combat of our turn and then it may copy another creature we control until end of turn. If we copy any of the best creatures of our Merfolk Tribal deck, it can become quite explosive.
Jadelight Spelunker is great for its flexibility as we can adapt its casting cost and the times it explores to our needs. By paying , on ETB it explore X times.
Deeproot Elite help us with our +1/+1 counters strategy, since on Merfolk ETB it let us put a +1/+1 counter on target Merfolk.
Roaming Throne on EtB becomes the creature type we want so in Merfolk Tribal it also becomes a Merfolk. It has Ward which helps protecting itself and it is a Tribal triggered ability doubler, so it has great synergy with many Merfolks like Nicanzil, Current Conductor and above all, with Hakbal of the Surging Soul since it doubles both the Explore he provides on our Merfolk and his ramp/draw on attack trigger. Amazing utility card!
Other
Reflections of Littjara let us double the creature spells we cast and that is huge in our Merfolk Tribal build.
Path of Discovery let our creatures Explore on ETB and that greatly fits our deck strategy and flavor. It becomes extra powerful with our Explore payoffs.
Hardened Scales is a staple for +1/+1 counters decks for a good reason, as it let us quickly grow our +1/+1 counters for a minimal investment.
Murkfiend Liege buffs our creatures while at the same time is has great tap/untap synergy as it let us untap all green and/or blue creatures we control during each other player’s untap step. Merrow Commerce is also quite strong as it let us untap all Merfolk we control at the end of our turn for a small mana investment and at the same time it is a Merfolk Tribal Enchantment so it can be fetched by Merfolk tutors. They are very powerful cards that greatly amplify the power of our creatures with tap abilities like Empress Galina, Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca, Lullmage Mentor and Seahunter giving us crazy value.
Deeproot Pilgrimage and Deeproot Waters are enchantments that let us easily create 1/1 blue Merfolk tokens with hexproof so they greatly fit on our going wide Merfolk Tribal strategy.
+1/+1 counters synergy : 21 cards
Benthic Biomancer, Deeproot Elite, Forerunner of the Heralds, Herald of Secret Streams, Tributary Instructor, Zegana, Utopian Speaker, Prime Speaker Zegana, Ripples of Potential, Inspiring Call, Quandrix Command, Fuel for the Cause, Wave Goodbye, Hardened Scales, Simic Ascendancy, Bred for the Hunt, Forge of Heroes, Littjara Mirrorlake, Llanowar Reborn, Novijen, Heart of Progress, Oran-Rief, the Vastwood, Nicanzil, Current Conductor
As we can see we have a strong presence of +1/+1 counters strategy cards. In addition, all cards with Explore synergy potentially help us get more +1/+1 counters.
Explore synergy : 7 cards
Although we don’t run many cards with Explore, Hakbal of the Surging Soul makes up for it, since our commander makes all our Merfolk Explore each turn, so the Explore strategy is quite strong in his presence.
Islandwalk : 6 cards
Turning Islandwalk into unblockable : 3 cards
Tide Shaper, Harbinger of the Seas and Aquitect’s Will can “shape” lands into Islands so if they can turn Islandwalk into unblockable. Aquitect’s Will let us draw a card if we control a Merfolk (which is canon in our Merfolk Tribal) and counts as Merfolk so it can be fetched by Merfolk tutors. Harbinger of the Seas has the power of a Blood Moon but tailored for Merfolk (Islands instead of Mountains). With Lord of Atlantis and/or Master of the Pearl Trident they make all our Merfolk unblockable. Great utility cards!
Tap/Untap Synergy : 11 cards
Although the optimal Merfolk Tribal commander for tap/untap strategy is Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca, untap strategy also works well in our Merfolk Tribal build too, either as support to our aggro strategy (untap is enabling our creatures to block even after attacking) or as an amplifier of our creatures with powerful tap abilities (among them is Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca as part of the 99).
Let’s see some more statistics about our deck. Some important info to care about is the mana curve and the card type distribution, as it can help us understand better our deck and may indicate where there is space for improving it.
Mana Curve
The mana curve seems close to the average curve with the exception of small spikes on 2-4 drop positions and less high drops on 5-9 drop positions. This is a result of many low to mid mana cost Merfolks as our build is creature-heavy.
Card Type Distribution
The Merfolk Tribal Card Type Distribution shows the dominant tribal creature-heavy theme with 47 creatures. All other categories have a smaller presence with Enchantments at 9, Instants at 5, Sorceries at 3, and Artifacts at 2. No Planeswalkers or Battles are present for the time.
Of course statistics and comparative analysis are great tools but they don’t always tell the whole truth, since many factors like synergy and combo pieces are hard to be measured numerically. For example in this deck, with all our strategies build around Hakbal of the Surging Soul, the Explore strategy is much more consistent than the statistics numbers shown. Moreover, it collides with +1/+1 counters strategy and amplifies all our strategies making our Merfolk Tribal rank high in synergy.
Update v4 (Foundations)
Now you can buy the whole deck list with a click of a button!
If you liked the deck, don’t forget to revisit the article after every major new release as I will try to keep my decks updated and examine any potential upgrades. If you want to keep being updated, you can follow mtgbudgetcommander.com on social media (facebook, twitter, instagram, pinterest, linkedin, reddit, tumblr, medium).
If you like my tribal series, you can check my other tribal decks.
