Upgrading a preconstructed-style deck built around a commander starts with the commander's real text. Hakbal of the Surging Soul is a my...
Upgrading a preconstructed-style deck built around a commander starts with the commander's real text. Hakbal of the Surging Soul is a mythic Legendary Creature — Merfolk Scout from The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander, mana cost {2}{G}{U}. Its rules text reads: "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." It is legal in Legacy, Commander.
First, understand the stock deck's plan
Precon-style lists around this commander are built to teach the theme — Merfolk — at a friendly power level: a bit of everything, a few pet cards, and mana bases that prize variety over consistency. That makes them perfect upgrade candidates, because the cuts are rarely about bad cards; they are about roles the deck has too many of.
The cuts, by role
Cut by role, never by vibes. The usual surplus: the third and fourth 'win-more' payoffs that only work when you are already ahead; expensive spells that duplicate what your commander already does; and lands that enter tapped without a payoff for it. Replace each cut with the same slot's better version — a payoff for a stronger payoff, a tapped land for a fixing land — so the deck's shape survives the upgrade.
The adds, by role
Add in this order: interaction first (precons are famously light on removal), then card draw tied to the theme, then protection for the commander, and only then extra payoffs. Every add in this guide is chosen from real cards whose text you can verify in the MTGBrew card database — and the whole upgraded list can be rebuilt in MTGBrew's AI deck builder, which will refuse to let the list exceed the upgrade budget you set.
A sensible upgrade budget mindset
Upgrade in passes, not in one order: ten focused swaps teach you more about the deck than forty. Play the deck between passes, note which role actually failed in real games, and let that — not a shopping list — choose the next ten cards.
Build it yourself
Every card in this article is a real card you can look up in the MTGBrew card database, with its current text and legality. When you are ready to turn the idea into a list, MTGBrew's AI deck builder builds around your commander, your colors, and — as a hard rule — never over the budget you set. Save the list to your collection on MTGBrew and tune it from there.
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