(Hakbal of the Surging Soul | Art by Tyler Walpole | Titan of Littjara | Art by Aldo Dominguez | Roaming Throne | Art By Anastasia Balakchina)

Hey friends. Beth, Queen of Cardboard here with the Upgrade Guide for the Lost Caverns of Ixalan preconstructed deck, Explorers of the Deep. Out of the box, this deck is incredibly synergistic and powerful, and is among my favorite decks released in 2023.

As with my other Precon Guides, I'm upgrading this deck in a way that is in line with what the commander is trying to do: make a wide Merfolk board state and Explore for value in +1/+1 counters and lands. With decks that are already synergistic, it can be extremely difficult to make additions, and even more difficult to cut cards from the deck.

But upgrade we must, so for this deck I made 17 changes. Let's get into it!

Splish, Splash, Bash

The commander for this deck, Hakbal of the Surging Soul, helps your board state get thicker and your deck get thinner, by giving every Merfolk on the board the ability to Explore at the beginning of combat. You don't need to attack with Hakbal, but when you do you'll be able to put a land from your hand onto the battlefield. If you don't want to or can't, you'll draw a card instead. This being a "may" ability is kind of cracked because in Simic, you're going to have plenty of access to ramp - and Merfolk are not that expensive. You'll probably know what's on the top of your library, thanks to Explore, so you can make the decision in the moment if you need card draw or land drops more.

One of the cards that I thought necessary to support this, and any typal deck, is Roaming Throne. This doubles the triggers of your chosen creature type (Merfolk), allowing you to Explore not once, but twice each combat, in addition to any other triggered abilities they have. There are 19 Merfolk with triggered abilities in the deck, so having them trigger twice is double the fun. In addition to the Throne I included typal all-stars Herald's Horn and Vanquisher's Banner.

Deeproot Waters was already in the deck, but I wanted to get as much value as possible, so I also included Deeproot Pilgrimage; having both allows you to create a 1/1 hexproof Merfolk both when you cast Merfolk spells and when you tap your Merfolk. Don't worry about tapping your entire board state as needed, Merrow Commerce untaps each Merfolk at the end of your turn. Also joining the Merfolk team are Deepfathom Echo, Forerunner of the Heralds, Jadelight Ranger, and Thada Adel, Acquisitor. Finally, rounding out the creatures is Titan of Littjara, an Illusion that becomes a Merfolk upon entering the battlefield.

This deck is all about filling your hand with answers, so to further enable that purpose I added Rhystic Study for card draw, and Counterspell, Swan Song, and Raise the Palisade for answers. Additionally, I felt that Growing Rites of Itlimoc, Court of Garenbrig, and Burgeoning had a purpose in this deck. If these cards are too expensive or powerful for your playgroup, I totally get it. Some other options could be Elven Chorus, Hadana's Climb, and Path of Discovery.

Check out the adds I made to this deck below:

Drowned in the Deep

Cuts are extremely hard, especially in a deck that's already incredibly synergistic with 36 lands. For me, the hardest cut was Simic Ascendancy, as I love alternate win conditions. However, I felt that by the time you had 20 growth counters, you'd already be in a good position to win the game.

Ripples of Potential is a card that I don't see potential in for this deck. Proliferate was part of the package in the original deck that I wasn't a fan of. You can Proliferate once or you can Explore multiple times; the deck didn't have room for both. And with this deck, you're building a board state so fast, you'll be fine overcoming a board wipe or two. So this attempt at a blue Teferi's Protection just wasn't my jam.

I also removed 14 creatures from the deck because they didn't feel impactful enough compared to what I wanted to add. Thassa, God of the Sea is good, but she's not a Merfolk, and there are other ways that my creatures can swing in for damage. One choice I would possibly reconsider when it comes to Proliferating is Evolution Sage. I removed it because it's not a Merfolk and I wasn't sure I would get as many land drops as I would double triggers with Roaming Throne. But if you're dropping enough land, you could be Proliferating four or five times a turn, and that's valuable.

For all the cards I removed check the list below:

Making Waves

Making a cut of 14 creatures in a typal deck may seem excessive until you take a look at the deck in its final form: 30 creatures, 10 instants, 6 sorceries, 11 enchantments, and 7 artifacts. Cut out the less impactful Merfolk and the deck runs a lot smoother, enabling you to drop those lands you've Explored onto the battlefield sooner with Burgeoning, doubling your triggered abilities withRoaming Throne, and reacting to your opponents with Counterspell, Swan Song, and Raise the Palisade.

For the entire decklist, check it out below:

In Conclusion

This deck puts Hakbal solidly as the new Merfolk commander, and whether you make these upgrades or leave the deck exactly as it is, he is a force to be reckoned with. If you're looking to stay at the casual level with this deck or pump it up to something more competitive with a Thassa's Oracle combo, this is a good place to start.

Let me know in the comments what you think of the deck and what additions you'll be making to this Merfolk precon.

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