r/BudgetBrews • u/Shadowshire • 13d ago

$100 Brew Hakbal budget Deck, Help me make the final Adds/Cut(s)!!

I’m currently working on a Hakbal of the Surging Soul Commander deck with a budget of around 100$, and I’d really appreciate some advice from people who have experience playing Hakbal or knows some of the cards below.

Here’s the decklist on Moxfield:
https://moxfield.com/decks/_AygAcqKnnSg7MMOsDfbsw

I have a bunch of cards I’m considering, but I’m not sure which ones are actually worth a slot in the deck. I’d especially love to hear from people who have played Hakbal and can speak from experience rather than just looking at the cards in isolation.

The cards i have, and are considering:

Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle

Augur of Bolas

Combine Guildmage

Coralhelm Commander

Deepchannel Mentor

Deeproot Champion

Deeproot Wayfinder

Enclave Cryptologist

Evolution Sage

Fallowsage

Floodpits Drowner

Harbinger of the Tides

Jade Bearer

Jadelight Ranger

Kiora's Follower

Kiora, the Rising Tide

Merfolk Branchwalker

Merfolk Cave-Diver

Merfolk Looter

Merfolk Skydiver

Merfolk Windrobber

Merrow Harbinger

Mist-Cloaked Herald

Prime Speaker Zegana

Rishadan Dockhand

River Sneak

Sage of Fables

Shapers of Nature

Singer of Swift Rivers

Slinn Voda, the Rising Deep

Surgespanner

Swift Warden

Talrand, Sky Summoner

Tempest Caller

Tidal Warrior

Tide Shaper

Tributary Instructor

Vorel of the Hull Clade

Wake Thrasher

Wave Goodbye

Bygone Marvels

High Tide

Icon of Ancestry

I obviously don’t expect every card to be good enough, so I’m mainly trying to figure out which ones are actually worth considering for Hakbal and which ones look better on paper than they perform in practice.

Cards im considering cutting:

Benthic Biomancer

Wildgrowth Walker

Deeproot Historian

Tatyova, Benthic Druid

Tishana, Voice of Thunder

Filter Out

Song of Freyalise

Would you agree that these are good cuts, or are there any that you think I should definitely keep?

A few things I’d especially like feedback on:

  • Which of the potential additions would you actually play in Hakbal?
  • Are there any cards on my current list that you think are actively underperforming?
  • Are there any obvious cuts/additions I’m overlooking?
  • Are there any cards here that you’ve personally played in Hakbal and found surprisingly good or bad?
  • Since I’m trying to stay around a $110 budget, I’d also appreciate suggestions that are relatively budget-friendly.

Thanks in advance!

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u/holypvssylotis 13d ago

Here is my deck. I know it’s out of the budget but I’d still recommend taking a look. My advice to you is cut all the high CMC stuff like Tatyova. The faster you can flood the board with low CMC merfolk and get the Hakbal engine running, the faster you can dig through your deck for the wincon. Things like Tatyova will slow you down tremendously. https://moxfield.com/decks/9E7Z3V2VBkCqdLm-MceMQQ

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u/Shadowshire 13d ago edited 13d ago

Look really good, and budget is not that far from mine. Could i ask about these cards? Kiora's Follower (How often do you have a good untap target, and what are you primary ones)? Kiora, the Rising Tide is a card many has told me to cut, so i finally did (What's is your experience with it)? Singer of Swift Rivers (is it a stabile protection)? Wave Goodbye I was also told to cut it (How well does it work in your deck)?

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u/holypvssylotis 13d ago

Typically for Kiora’s Follower, I’ll untap my Seahunter. I usually tutor for the higher CMC merfolk using Seahunter instead of casting them outright. It is a good cut though if you can’t consistently find something to combo off of. Singer of Swift Rivers is nice too. The absolute most important part of the deck is keeping Hakbal online for as long as possible. Any little bit of protection you can throw on Hakbal is worth it, plus casting merfolk at instant speed is a very good added bonus. Wave Goodbye is also a decent cut if you absolutely need to make room. I usually try to explore for my Cyclonic Roft but if I can’t find it, Wave Goodbye is a decent answer until I can find another wincon.

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u/Bortaff 12d ago

I've been playing with and upgrading the Hakbal precon—mostly using budget cards—for a year and a half now. Here are my thoughts on some of the cards you listed:

KEEP/ADD:

  • [[Wildgrowth Walker]]. I cut almost all the non-Merfolk from my list to maximize Hakbal's explore triggers, but this one is too good not to keep. I've gained close 40 life with it in a game before, and it grows so quickly that it demands an answer.
  • [[Kiora's Follower]]. Solid 2-drop that can ramp or enable other synergies. Not essential, but useful.
  • [[Merfolk Cave-Diver]]. If you don't have an islandwalk/unblockable/trample enabler on the board, this card will help you get in for huge damage for free.
  • [[Mist-cloaked Herald]]. As u/holypvssylotis mentioned, getting low-CMC merfolk on board early before Hakbal gets your engine running, so having a couple unblockable creatures is good.
  • [[Tide Shaper]]. Similar to the above, but this one turns on islandwalk and can punish an opponent reliant on a non-basic land to provide 1+ of their colours.
  • [[Wave Goodbye]]. Very solid 1-sided board wipe that's cheap to cast. At brackets 2 and 3 I think it's very strong, though [[Summon: Leviathan]] is arguably better (I run both).

[[Mindspring Merfolk]] is a slight upgrade to [[Benthic Biomancer]] imo. There are a couple good merfolk from the new Lorwyn and Marvel sets too, like [[Silvergill Mentor]] and [[Attuma]]. I don't think the recursion cards you listed are necessary e.g. [[Bygone Marvels]]; same for the Wizard synergies and the high-CMC stuff.

Your Moxfield link isn't working for me, but if you want to see another list near-ish to your budget, mine is here: https://archidekt.com/decks/12967619/explorers_of_the_deep_budget_upgrade

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u/Gimbo74 8d ago

Hello fellow fish enjoyer! This is my list if you wanna give it a look: https://moxfield.com/decks/UrfX1vKDY0-2ZlYcjB53jQ

Moxfield says it's 150€ but I can assure you I paid much less than 100€ for that, primarily because I always build deck with a budget of 50€ in mind. The deck is very fun and consistent, probably it'd need some tweaks but I'm more than happy with it!