Best Merfolk Commanders and Cards for EDH

Merfolk are one of the oldest creature types in Magic, and they've quietly become one of the strongest kindred strategies in Commander. They draw cards, they tap for value, they make each other unblockable, and they go wide fast enough to close games before your opponents realize what happened.

This guide covers both halves of a Merfolk EDH deck: the best Merfolk commanders to build around, then the best Merfolk cards to fill out the 99, from must-run lords to the sneaky role players that push the archetype over the top.

If you already know your commander, start a Merfolk deck in GrimDeck and track which of these cards you own as you build.

Best Merfolk Commanders

Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca

Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca$0.41

Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca is the classic merfolk commander and still one of the best. Tap one merfolk to make him unblockable. Tap three to draw a card. Tap five to put a +1/+1 counter on each merfolk you control. Every mode is relevant at every stage of the game, and the fact that he turns your board into a card draw engine makes him incredibly hard to outgrind.

Kumena wants you to go wide with cheap merfolk, then convert that board presence into cards and counters. He's Simic , which gives you access to the best ramp and interaction in the format.

Hakbal of the Surging Soul

Hakbal of the Surging Soul

Hakbal of the Surging Soul from Lost Caverns of Ixalan is the newer option, and he's aggressive. Whenever your merfolk attack, you explore with Hakbal, then put a +1/+1 counter on each merfolk that attacked. He also lets merfolk with +1/+1 counters get through by making them unblockable to creatures without counters.

Hakbal pushes you toward a more combat-focused build. The explore triggers dig through your deck while growing your board, and the pseudo-evasion means you rarely get bricked by blockers.

Svyelun of Sea and Sky

Svyelun of Sea and Sky$0.41

Svyelun of Sea and Sky is the mono-blue option. She draws you a card at the beginning of each end step if you attacked with two or more merfolk, and she gives your other merfolk ward 1. She also has indestructible as long as you control two other merfolk. That's a lot of text on a three-mana commander.

Mono-blue means less ramp, but you get access to every counterspell ever printed plus the best card draw in the format. Svyelun rewards you for doing what merfolk already want to do: play cheap creatures and turn them sideways.

Must-Run Merfolk Lords

Master of the Pearl Trident

Master of the Pearl Trident$0.45

Master of the Pearl Trident gives all your merfolk +1/+1 and islandwalk. Two mana for a lord that can make your entire board unblockable against blue players. In a four-player game, odds are good that at least one opponent has Islands.

Lord of Atlantis

Lord of Atlantis$9.25

Lord of Atlantis does the same thing as Master of the Pearl Trident, but it buffs ALL merfolk, including your opponents'. That downside rarely matters in practice because you're the one with 15 merfolk on the board. Run both.

Merfolk Sovereign

Merfolk Sovereign$0.36

Merfolk Sovereign is the three-mana lord. +1/+1 to other merfolk, and you can tap it to make a merfolk unblockable for the turn. Less efficient than the two-mana lords but still worth running. Targeted unblockable is relevant when you need to push through a specific attacker.

Merrow Reejerey

Merrow Reejerey$0.27

Merrow Reejerey is one of the most underrated merfolk in the format. It's a lord that also untaps or taps a permanent whenever you cast a merfolk spell. That means every merfolk you cast becomes a pseudo-removal spell (tap down a blocker), a ramp piece (untap a land), or an enabler for Kumena's tap abilities. The ceiling on Reejerey is absurdly high.

Card Draw and Value Engines

Deeproot Pilgrimage

Deeproot Pilgrimage$1.58

Deeproot Pilgrimage creates a 1/1 hexproof merfolk token whenever a merfolk you control becomes tapped. With Kumena, this is obscene. Every time you tap merfolk for Kumena's abilities, you get more merfolk, which lets you tap more, which gives you more tokens. It spirals out of control fast.

Kindred Discovery

Kindred Discovery$5.72

Kindred Discovery naming merfolk draws you a card whenever a merfolk enters the battlefield or attacks. In a deck that goes wide, this is an absurd amount of card draw. Just be careful you don't deck yourself. That's not a joke. It has happened.

Seahunter

Seahunter$3.60

Seahunter taps to search your library for a merfolk and put it directly onto the battlefield. No mana cost. No casting. Just grab whatever you need and drop it into play. It's a repeatable tutor on a stick, and it dodges counterspells because you're not casting the creature.

Protection and Interaction

Kopala, Warden of Waves

Kopala, Warden of Waves$0.35

Kopala, Warden of Waves is a tax piece that makes your opponents pay more to target your merfolk with spells or abilities. That turns every spot removal spell into a significantly worse deal. Kopala won't stop board wipes, but she makes it very expensive for opponents to pick off your key creatures one by one.

Tide Shaper

Tide Shaper$0.31

Tide Shaper is a one-mana merfolk that turns a land into an Island when it enters. This enables islandwalk for your lords against opponents who otherwise wouldn't have Islands. It also disrupts utility lands by overwriting them. Cheap, flexible, and surprisingly relevant.

Deeproot Waters

Deeproot Waters$0.23

Deeproot Waters creates a 1/1 hexproof merfolk token every time you cast a merfolk spell. It doesn't look flashy, but it doubles your board presence over the course of a game. The hexproof on the tokens is a nice bonus that makes spot removal even more awkward for your opponents.

Finishers and Combo Pieces

Wanderwine Prophets

Wanderwine Prophets$16.00

Wanderwine Prophets is the combo piece. Champion a merfolk when it enters, and whenever it deals combat damage to a player, sacrifice a merfolk to take an extra turn. With any way to make it unblockable (and you have plenty of those in merfolk), this is infinite turns. It's fragile and costs six mana, but the payoff is winning the game on the spot.

Stonybrook Schoolmaster

Stonybrook Schoolmaster$0.34

Stonybrook Schoolmaster creates a 1/1 merfolk token whenever it becomes tapped. Combine this with Kumena and you've got another token engine that feeds directly into your tap synergies. Not a finisher by itself, but it generates the board state that makes your finishers work.

Lullmage Mentor

Lullmage Mentor$6.10

Lullmage Mentor creates a 1/1 merfolk token whenever a spell or ability you control counters a spell. More importantly, you can tap seven merfolk to counter any spell. That's a repeatable counterspell attached to a creature, and in a deck that regularly has 10+ merfolk on board, it's a soft lock on the game.

Wrapping Up

Merfolk reward you for going wide, staying aggressive, and using your creatures as more than just attackers. The tap synergies with Kumena, the explore aggression with Hakbal, or the mono-blue consistency with Svyelun all give you different angles on the same core strategy: flood the board with fish, then turn that board into an engine.

The kindred type has gotten real support over the last few years, and it only gets better as more sets add playable merfolk. If you haven't tried the archetype, start with a commander that matches your play style and build from there. The fish will do the rest.