Please Mark stop hitting on your water aerobics instructor by making overpowered aquatic cards. #magicthegathering #mtg #mtgcommander #mtgcommunity #cardgame
It's a pretty clear indicator that this card is OP when ALL 3 of the other precon commanders got added to Arena EXCEPT this one which got replaced with the good boy himself Xolatoyac. Keep in mind the dinosaur precon commander adds Butt Cascade to ALL your dinos and THAT was considered more fair than this
i had a game last night where i Copied my commander as a non-legendary. i was exploring 4 times per creature per turn. i dropped simic ascendency on the board and hit 20 counters instantly. then proceeded to Phase my creatures And simic ascendency out before it got disenchanted. and the guy who had the disenchant was the one player that went before Me. so on my upkeep i won the game for simple breathing.
"technically" they did add this one because of some excuse about it being "too hard to program" in the Arena engine or something, but yeah kinda weird.
Apparently it comes down to Hakbal's exploring thing being wonky as hell to program into Arena, because you have to stack the triggers manually for each Merfolk and that just gets awkward with Arena's playstyle.
Also while I'm here, I'm gonna once again ask for my baby boi Tayam, but let's also see what you can say about my girl (yes she's a female) Horobi, Death's Wail.
@@KingGimpo333 Horobi is just endless instant gratification for anyone who's ever had a bone to pick with green players. Also it's a lot of fun to run athreos against Horobi. I enjoy watching the irritation on the Horobi players face as they realise that my coin counter will always go on Horobi.
That comment about someone at WOTC hating Kumena HAS to be spot on, it's the only reasonable explanation. Hakbal is just so insanely good, he is now the ONLY competitor for best merfolk commander.
@@borneof3954 it really isn't, it has nothing to do with merfolk so it wouldn't tie the theme together, it provides substantially less card draw and ramp than hakbal, and black is a color with few to no other merfolk so you end up just playing blue merfolk with black splashed in.
Fun new Caverns lore fact: The Ixalan Merfolk leaders don't have names! The Great River shapers adopt titles, named after the 9 Great Rivers of their territory, and give up their names. WOTC literally wiped Kumena's name out the history books, they want that man gone so bad.
Yeah I saw this card and thought "what the hell this is insane" Because from enchantment, etb triggers and tokens your gonna have 15 merfolks with over 10/10 power in 1 turn.
This is one of those cards where I don't feel like reading it so profoundly I just chock it up to losing to a commander deck and concede to my next game.
You know, you could build the deck to win with Thassa's Oracle ina somewhat fair way. Explore till you're holding all your lands, everything else in the graveyard, and a bunch of devotion on the field from all the merfolk. Although I guess if you can vomit fish people out you probably win at that point anyway.
Nanogene conversion turns all your other merfolk into non-legendary Hakbals, each makes everyone of them explore. If you have 10 total creatures that's 100 triggers right there.
I knew this day was only a matter of time, given Mald’s loathing of Simic, and how overwhelmingly busted this card is. But, at the Professor is happy; there’s a great Merfolk commander now. P.S. I would like to second a commentary on The Master, Multiplied. Because that shit is fuck busted. (Why, yes, I plan to build such a deck. I’m very well aware I’m a villain; I play Slivers.)
Can I get your thoughts on Brigid, Hero of Kinsbaile? Criminally underrated for the total board domination you can achieve with just a Sword of Kaldra and a Nemesis Mask
@@RoxyGotMoxy. Yeah, there is a ton of cool tech for her. Gorgon's Head, Thornbite Staff, Kusari-Gama, Neko-Te, Rings of Brighthearth, Grappling Hook, Magnetic Web, Sting the Glinting Dagger
Could you do Davros, Dalek Creator or The Master, Multiplied? I would love to see how you would roast the dried raisin in a walmart motorchair or myriad token abuse with an identity crisis.
@patrickboland2231 controversial take, but i don't think simms' master could really get it- while his performance was great, i just don't see the appeal in him aesthetically
Thoughts on lathiel the bounties dawn? I'm thinking of building a group hug deck with him that's akin to handing out nukes to the table but I'm the 9nly one with a bunker
I like this design, it's like where's my simic wincon? Right there in the command zone and he can turn any and all of my fish men into wincons. So go ahead and play a land and draw a card, I'll send my roided fish at you.
So when this commander was spoiled, I thought it would be pretty strong. However, after playing it, it's actually so much stronger than I even thought. With one of the token generators that the deck has, you can easily explore 4-7 times the turn you drop this guy. At one point, I explored like 9+ times on turn 6. You can just easily sift through your deck to find whatever merfolk or disruption you currently need, and forget about being mana-starved, you're gonna be discarding lands to hand size. It's one of those cards that seems strong in theory, but in action is just the nuts. Easily the strongest of the 4 pre-cons.
Bought the merfolk deck, originally was gonna use Nicanzil as I like waifu commanders but decided one game with Hakbal, immediately sold! And uh I'd like to see Chatterfang before Bloomburrow.
So fun story. Played this card against 3 mini prepped decks. This PRECON absolutely wiped the floor with everyone else. It got so bad I ended but being triple teamed and I still won. It got so bad I had to slow down from everyone quitting. This deck is fucking nuts
You need to roast Feldon of the Third Path! Somebody decided that red gets repeatable reanimation and it is my favorite mistake they ever made. And it's not even a color pie break because the entire card is about passion and emotions!
I've got the precon for this and wow does it get out of hand, especially late game with 15 merfolk out and Nicanzil shows her face and get 60 +1/+1 counters in one turn.
Nicanzil , Current Conductor ... it's the BFF of Hakdal. If you explore a land, you play it instantly. If not, Nicanzil gets a counter too. AND BOTH ARE ON THE SAME PRECON
I get it though, in terms of power levels, the merfolk precon is absolutely ridiculous compared to any precon released this year, let alone any year before this one
You couldn't find a single piece of targeted removal among three of you? Imprisoned in the Moon, Oubliette, and Song of the Dryads type effects utterly shut down commanders like this.
The resignation on the gettin'-it judgement was a superb punchline Once again asking to roast old Scion of the Ur-Dragon for us senior citizens(read: over 30s)
Ok hear me out: Simic Thoracle self mill. You can use explore to mill yourself, but you can always CHOOSE whether or not you put Thoracle into hand or grave. Chuck in some stuff that cares about hand size like Vision of the Unspeakable and then fill the rest with merfolk, particularly those with built in protection and permanentness. For lands include everything that cares about a chosen creature type and a few changeling lands for good measure. Snow covered lands for Faceless Haven, of course.
The professor demanded merfolk be good again, and wotc listened
yeah but no this good!
They probably watched how Prof plays his merfolk and decided he deserved a big ol' handicap🤣
Much love to the Prof, of course
I feel that the 1st ability would have been enough to make Hakbal overpowered, but having ramp on top of the ability? Not even legos stack that easily
@@WittyCorvian yeah! There is also another merfolk creature from the main set that ramps when you explore for land!
It's a pretty clear indicator that this card is OP when ALL 3 of the other precon commanders got added to Arena EXCEPT this one which got replaced with the good boy himself Xolatoyac. Keep in mind the dinosaur precon commander adds Butt Cascade to ALL your dinos and THAT was considered more fair than this
Yeah, the Butt Cascade is egregious, as is the shitting pirates out of your graveyard
i had a game last night where i Copied my commander as a non-legendary. i was exploring 4 times per creature per turn. i dropped simic ascendency on the board and hit 20 counters instantly. then proceeded to Phase my creatures And simic ascendency out before it got disenchanted. and the guy who had the disenchant was the one player that went before Me. so on my upkeep i won the game for simple breathing.
"technically" they did add this one because of some excuse about it being "too hard to program" in the Arena engine or something, but yeah kinda weird.
Apparently it comes down to Hakbal's exploring thing being wonky as hell to program into Arena, because you have to stack the triggers manually for each Merfolk and that just gets awkward with Arena's playstyle.
Might I interest yall in Echoing equation?
"This is the best thing to happen to fish people since Old Bay."
Damn it you got me with that one.
Chef kiss material right there
Also while I'm here, I'm gonna once again ask for my baby boi Tayam, but let's also see what you can say about my girl (yes she's a female) Horobi, Death's Wail.
@@KingGimpo333 Horobi is just endless instant gratification for anyone who's ever had a bone to pick with green players. Also it's a lot of fun to run athreos against Horobi. I enjoy watching the irritation on the Horobi players face as they realise that my coin counter will always go on Horobi.
That comment about someone at WOTC hating Kumena HAS to be spot on, it's the only reasonable explanation. Hakbal is just so insanely good, he is now the ONLY competitor for best merfolk commander.
Pretty sure they just love money more than they hate kumena.
Reasonable exploration* 😏
Or I could just put him IN my kumena deck....
Vohar is also top tier merfolk commander.
@@borneof3954 it really isn't, it has nothing to do with merfolk so it wouldn't tie the theme together, it provides substantially less card draw and ramp than hakbal, and black is a color with few to no other merfolk so you end up just playing blue merfolk with black splashed in.
Fun new Caverns lore fact: The Ixalan Merfolk leaders don't have names! The Great River shapers adopt titles, named after the 9 Great Rivers of their territory, and give up their names.
WOTC literally wiped Kumena's name out the history books, they want that man gone so bad.
What's the problem with Kumena?
you say that like they retconned his name being kumena
Yes kumena is the name of the most violent river it's not new lore it is a title they take up when appointed
Kumena is one of those rivers, this has been the lore before LCI too, I mean I get the joke but damn man cut them some slack
Can we get a roast of Feather? Not even Boros needs to be cheating that much
After this, I think Boros *might* need that much cheating. But also, Feather is, indeed, grade A bullshit. Bring on the roast!
I absolutely LOVE Feather. Gods Willing? Don't mind if I do!
Hey boros has literally done nothing wrong
I've asked a few times already. On every other player's turn during their post combat main phase before they move to end step.
@kanga2468 Loran's Escape is almost strictly better than God Willing. I run both of them of course.
I love that I can tell how real this is just by watching MTG creators play the precons on youtube. That "each fucking merfolk" part is critical 😂
“More fucked up than half the things on wattpad” yep. Classic Maldhound
The line about Johnny Sins fucking sent me to orbit
Yeah I saw this card and thought "what the hell this is insane" Because from enchantment, etb triggers and tokens your gonna have 15 merfolks with over 10/10 power in 1 turn.
I just realized that explore is just a significantly better Surveil.
Damn, every joke was fire in this video Mald
This is one of those cards where I don't feel like reading it so profoundly I just chock it up to losing to a commander deck and concede to my next game.
Literally just finished a game of commander with my buddy playing Hakbal. We blinked and his board was fucking huge on like turn 5 or 6
You know, you could build the deck to win with Thassa's Oracle ina somewhat fair way. Explore till you're holding all your lands, everything else in the graveyard, and a bunch of devotion on the field from all the merfolk. Although I guess if you can vomit fish people out you probably win at that point anyway.
Nanogene conversion turns all your other merfolk into non-legendary Hakbals, each makes everyone of them explore. If you have 10 total creatures that's 100 triggers right there.
Man Maldhound was in top form with this one, my sides hurt.
I knew this day was only a matter of time, given Mald’s loathing of Simic, and how overwhelmingly busted this card is. But, at the Professor is happy; there’s a great Merfolk commander now.
P.S. I would like to second a commentary on The Master, Multiplied. Because that shit is fuck busted. (Why, yes, I plan to build such a deck. I’m very well aware I’m a villain; I play Slivers.)
You play slivers... you monster... you deserve to play against three other Slivers players.
@@piercearora7681 I have only met one other person as terrible as I am, and their deck was trash. I stand alone most of the time.
This and the Tishana's Tidebinders have me reeling. Video was on point and hilarious as always ❤
Please roast Meren of Clan Nel Toth next!
I love that you make these! I just bought the precon and upgraded him. Also you are right about Kumina, I actually cut him from the 99 😂
That thang thangin-
Has me cryin. Excellent vids. Subbed hard.
My brother played Hakbal at our table last week. Fuckin hell it was insane
Shape of water meets Fifty shades of grey.
Why are you so good at magic comedy?!? Do you do stand up as well? You're too flawless 🔥
TBF Kumena +2 merfolk and Dramatic Scepter draws your whole deck. Bros ceiling is still the moon.
So many good jokes in this one. That Jonny Sins line 💀
He really be out there in them 'whilds'
Would love to see you Roast Jon Irenicus, Shattered One. Giving all your creatures an assault suit and having them fight is hilarious to me.
Hakbal was my first commander. Such a fun deck, and you can get scary.
I like how the first part is already insanely busted, but it also has "oh btw when it attacks, draw a card lol" just because
Boss: Why are you late?
Me: Mald releases his videos at midnight.
Boss: What?
Me: What?
Can I get your thoughts on Brigid, Hero of Kinsbaile? Criminally underrated for the total board domination you can achieve with just a Sword of Kaldra and a Nemesis Mask
Or a BASILISK COLLAR
@@RoxyGotMoxy. Yeah, there is a ton of cool tech for her. Gorgon's Head, Thornbite Staff, Kusari-Gama, Neko-Te, Rings of Brighthearth, Grappling Hook, Magnetic Web, Sting the Glinting Dagger
You mean bad ghirson starn?
Could you do Davros, Dalek Creator or The Master, Multiplied? I would love to see how you would roast the dried raisin in a walmart motorchair or myriad token abuse with an identity crisis.
Wait which master is on the art? Or is it all of them (even the swamp thing one)
Simms Master after he's pulled off his"Oops, All Masters" plan.
@patrickboland2231 controversial take, but i don't think simms' master could really get it- while his performance was great, i just don't see the appeal in him aesthetically
@@eieneidnf I figure the only one The Master, Multiplied can get it from is Missy. The real hard question: can the Crispy Master get it?
If you don't think Merfolk can make enough, my deck will be capable of making...infinite Merfolk.
Just wait till you get the guy that says ‘whenever you explore, do so twice more’ 😂😂😂😂
Just built Hakbal. He is crazyyyyyy. So quick to power out so much stuff. Journey to the Oracle is insane
Once more into the breech to beseech the Lord of Roasts to take a crack at my favorite commander Eight-and-a-Half-Tails.
Thoughts on lathiel the bounties dawn? I'm thinking of building a group hug deck with him that's akin to handing out nukes to the table but I'm the 9nly one with a bunker
I like this design, it's like where's my simic wincon? Right there in the command zone and he can turn any and all of my fish men into wincons. So go ahead and play a land and draw a card, I'll send my roided fish at you.
It's like someone looked at this and thought "Wait, we need to make elves as broken as blue decks."
Got completely flashbanged by that Johnny sins mention happening out of nowhere lmao
Anyway you should review horde of notions it'd be funny
Joke's on you, this doesn't replace the Commander of my Chulane Merfolk deck! 😂
I love how this pops up for me the day after I by the precon
2:12 woah woah woah calm down there Maldhound (Funny though)
man's spittin Fire today!
So when this commander was spoiled, I thought it would be pretty strong. However, after playing it, it's actually so much stronger than I even thought. With one of the token generators that the deck has, you can easily explore 4-7 times the turn you drop this guy. At one point, I explored like 9+ times on turn 6. You can just easily sift through your deck to find whatever merfolk or disruption you currently need, and forget about being mana-starved, you're gonna be discarding lands to hand size. It's one of those cards that seems strong in theory, but in action is just the nuts. Easily the strongest of the 4 pre-cons.
the merfolk to johnny sins cumpilation pipeline is out of control
Ty for telling me I'm building a wet elf deck now
Bought the merfolk deck, originally was gonna use Nicanzil as I like waifu commanders but decided one game with Hakbal, immediately sold!
And uh I'd like to see Chatterfang before Bloomburrow.
Prof has to be watching this
Me who JUST started goldfishing my hakbal deck last night waking up to this
What better way to detox from covering simic commanders than with a mardu gigachad?
Please roast my boy kelsien.
So fun story. Played this card against 3 mini prepped decks. This PRECON absolutely wiped the floor with everyone else. It got so bad I ended but being triple teamed and I still won. It got so bad I had to slow down from everyone quitting. This deck is fucking nuts
Saw your stream earlier, made me redownload arena. First game I made a green pay his taxes with mono black.
The next attempt: please roast Klauth, Unrivaled Ancient
Ahahahahahaha Mald almost broke character when he said the Johnny Sins line ahahahahaha! God damn he's funny but so accurate.
Of course, he can get it. All he does is all the exploring; you're about to be in for the ride of your life.
Let's roast the under-loved and under-appreciated Shattergang Brothers. It's Jund sacrifice for everyone!
Goddamn wet elves. Making us dry elves look bad
"We know what he was up to"
Dying still thinking he found a new sea route to Asia?
I want to hear the roast of my favorite commander Arcades, The Strategist. That would be some of the best shit I have ever heard
This is awesome, I bought the precon and fucking love it 😂
Say, lets make a deal TriggeredDog. You talk about Yawgmoth, I get you a cheese pizza
Smashable
"If it's fish flaps is it gay?"
-Mald (probably)
I yearn, I cry, I PLEA, for Diaochan, Artful Beauty
You need to roast Feldon of the Third Path! Somebody decided that red gets repeatable reanimation and it is my favorite mistake they ever made. And it's not even a color pie break because the entire card is about passion and emotions!
Better version: whenever a merfolk you control attacks, explore. At the begining of your end step put a land on the battlefield
I need that Kresh the Blood Braids roast.
I'm a little surprised nicanzil didn't get a mention if he wants to talk about instant gratification
And I thought Path of Discovery was the only way to mass explore
My buddy got this precon and out of the box it is horrifyingly simic. It snowballs fast.
I wanna see him tier list every single Omnath.
I've got the precon for this and wow does it get out of hand, especially late game with 15 merfolk out and Nicanzil shows her face and get 60 +1/+1 counters in one turn.
Phabine, Boss’s Confidant 😢
Can we get a roast for the new Vito?
bro got bars fr 💀
I heard that as Jonny Sims and was so, so deeply confused
"A sexy dude with fins."
Now I wonder how a custom alt that turns Hakbal into Sidon would feel.
Played this for the first time yesterday. It was pretty fun. Got the dub too!
Mald, do Feather so she can blank your roast with protection spells.
"More f'd up than half of Wattpad" is _very_ strong language and in this case, I agree with it wholeheartedly.
This video has earned you a sub good sir. Seen you on MtG Nerd Girls videos before, but I'm definitely subbing to you now.
Merfolks: The Wet Elves
Nicanzil , Current Conductor ... it's the BFF of Hakdal.
If you explore a land, you play it instantly.
If not, Nicanzil gets a counter too.
AND BOTH ARE ON THE SAME PRECON
love your content bro.
It's Chris Mooney. Chris is the one that utterly despises Kumena.
The Hakbal PRECONSTRUCTED DECK was introduced into our pod. Two twenty minute games later Hakbal is no longer allowed in our pod
kinda weird banning a commander from a pod
Not when it's this busted.@@kismet8010
I get it though, in terms of power levels, the merfolk precon is absolutely ridiculous compared to any precon released this year, let alone any year before this one
@justcarlos00 Same goes for the Dino precon. It's also ridiculously strong
You couldn't find a single piece of targeted removal among three of you? Imprisoned in the Moon, Oubliette, and Song of the Dryads type effects utterly shut down commanders like this.
It reminds me that focking Blue Black legendary zombie that has no sense existing
The resignation on the gettin'-it judgement was a superb punchline
Once again asking to roast old Scion of the Ur-Dragon for us senior citizens(read: over 30s)
Lets go! Once again. Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer that morph is just creatures as if they were blue.
Requesting a roast of Osgir, the reconstructor.
Ok hear me out: Simic Thoracle self mill. You can use explore to mill yourself, but you can always CHOOSE whether or not you put Thoracle into hand or grave. Chuck in some stuff that cares about hand size like Vision of the Unspeakable and then fill the rest with merfolk, particularly those with built in protection and permanentness.
For lands include everything that cares about a chosen creature type and a few changeling lands for good measure. Snow covered lands for Faceless Haven, of course.
Please go down the BOROS path and do my fave Firesong and Sunspeaker!
Roast Miirym!!!
Nothing worse than a guarded haunted fertility clinic run by Dragon.
Lost count of the days. Still waiting for my Big Boros Girl Kalemne. Will I ever see the day? Only time will tell
Please do an Ur-Dragon roast. Really wanna see what you can come up with for an ancient, blind cosmic dragon XD.
Yesh this is just further proof i need to buy this Merfolk deck lol. Also, please PLEASE cover one of my boys, Prossh, Marath or muh girl Feather!
as once you said "merfolk are just wet elves, they come pre-lubricated and they reproduce even faster" or something like that
We need Gisa glorious ressurector, nothing like telling your table “my creatures are my creatures, your creatures are also my creatures”
Still needing that Shirei roast, my man !