Emperor Mihail II
Legendary Creature — Merfolk Noble
You may look at the top card of your library any time.
You may cast Merfolk spells from the top of your library.
Whenever you cast a Merfolk spell, you may pay 
. If you do, create a 1/1 blue Merfolk creature token.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Dominaria United Commander
- Price
- $1.55
- EDHREC rank
- #4184
Emperor Mihail II puts a free Merfolk token into play every time you explore, turning each land-or-miss off Hakbal of the Surging Soul into a body that fuels the next trigger. The cost is five mana on a legendary that does nothing until your explore engine is already running — but in the right shell, the token flood is immediate and relentless.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Hakbal of the Surging Soul
Hakbal of the Surging Soul explores every turn with each Merfolk attack, and Emperor Mihail II converts every one of those explores into an additional Merfolk token — more attackers means more explores means more tokens, and the loop accelerates itself.
Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca
Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca wants the widest Merfolk board possible to tap for draw, pump, or tap-down effects, and Emperor Mihail II turns any explore sub-theme into a steady stream of token fodder that keeps Kumena's abilities live every turn.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Emperor Mihail II belongs — it's a five-mana engine piece built for the long-game redundancy that 100-card singleton demands, and the Merfolk tribal synergies it feeds are concentrated almost entirely in that format. Legacy and Vintage are technically legal but have no interest in a five-mana creature that depends on an explore engine to generate value; competitive non-rotating formats move far too fast for that payoff window. Oathbreaker could theoretically support a Merfolk-explore list, but the smaller deck size makes the setup fragile. Stick to Commander.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$1.55 cheap tier
At $1.55, Emperor Mihail II sits firmly in budget territory — you're paying almost nothing for a card that's a staple in over 90% of Hakbal of the Surging Soul decks. Demand is narrow enough that the price is unlikely to spike outside of a reprint announcement, so grab it whenever you're building into Merfolk and don't think twice about the cost.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.