Merchant of Boredom

[Rinriet]

Quick report:

I am trying to fit Merchant in several decks.
I tried in old ones like Snakes or Rage Rush but he is bad there. I still have to test Totems with MErchant + new Pandem.
I am trying new decks and found two little combos that can be improved. I don't know if they can became meta but I see a possibility if they get improved.

1: RC Aggro / Aggro Control
Most of the list is all over the place, but the main idea is to combine aggro with Sculptor + Vermin + Merchant for a lot of easy removal and free zombies. Merchant itself can bring back a Vermin. With only one death can bring an Sculptor.


2:RW Energy Aggro Combo
Main combo here is, besides energy mechanics, Fia+Forcewielder, which can hit a lot of free face dmg in some situations. Merchant is ok because of synergies with Charged Aurite, Reactor and Forcewielder; main targets to get back usually are Forcemages to get board presence or Fias to combo face. If oppo isn't playing artifacts, Gnomes are nice to bait plays with reactors + get another shield or resurrection.




I know a lot of improvement can be made in both decks, I hope someone hits something good.

[ivko]

These look like fun combos Rinriet, but maybe they are not too competitive? I like the RC aggro much more than the energy synergy.

The consensus seems to be that a 4 mana Merchant isn't very good. It was put at 4 because it gives you "mana" back by playing creatures from the graveyard. I will think about a version that might work even better, while not allowing combos that are too silly...

BTW I don't think making Merchant level 3 works at all. It makes it as if Tainted wasn't there for Evil decks, and it only looks as if it was added to prevent you from playing Merchant in decks that include a Good aspect.

[Rinriet]

These look like fun combos Rinriet, but maybe they are not too competitive? I like the RC aggro much more than the energy synergy.

Exactly. But maybe some part of the combos are taken into other deck by another player, and we can see Merchant working well.
I want to test a lot of new decks before saying that Merchant is good or bad.

[Carjan]

One detail I felt I should note: I've noticed before that there is literally no single Goblin in the game that has more than 2 HP, not even the Goblin boss, Ram'Gakh. Merchant of Souls also had 2 HP. I concluded that this must have been a conscious design choice: Goblins will always be squishy. Is that correct, Ivko?

[Maraut]

My search for a viable merchant deck is still ongoing, so I'm afraid I have nothing to contribute. I made a deck featuring all three new evil creatures, but I find myself DO-ing merchant whenever I draw him. My idea was to give him energy by selling off Deathcurse Shamans into slavery, and then raise them again for free draw and removal, but I guess if you want to raise weenies, Instill Life is just a more intuitive solution.

Personally, I would favor boosting his ability (for example no extra energy cost, ongoing energy for every dead ally) and reduce his HP to 3. But that is just my gut feeling, and as has been said before, you could raise some really annoying stuff.

[YSChaos]

So far what has worked "best":

Nothing special, just easy to get one or 2 creatures back with Merchant II. Slave Gladiator & Mercenary are targets.
His decent body with 3 speeds makes him a good beat-stick.
But still, I would probably not run Merchant in this deck, tainted hurts a lot.

Tried also a WR energy but didnt feel it was going anywhere.

[SashaIr]

These look like fun combos Rinriet, but maybe they are not too competitive? I like the RC aggro much more than the energy synergy.

The consensus seems to be that a 4 mana Merchant isn't very good. It was put at 4 because it gives you "mana" back by playing creatures from the graveyard. I will think about a version that might work even better, while not allowing combos that are too silly...

BTW I don't think making Merchant level 3 works at all. It makes it as if Tainted wasn't there for Evil decks, and it only looks as if it was added to prevent you from playing Merchant in decks that include a Good aspect.

I don't know, maybe 3 mana, 2 lv might be too good.

Personally, I would favor boosting his ability (for example no extra energy cost, ongoing energy for every dead ally) and reduce his HP to 3. But that is just my gut feeling, and as has been said before, you could raise some really annoying stuff.

I totally agree, but be should be aware of nasty combos. How about the one that Ivko suggested?

Merchant of Souls 4, 1R
Creature - Goblin
Tainted
~ enters the field, it gains [1] for each hero that lost life this turn.
[1]: You may play a non-Spirit creature with mana cost 2 or less from your graveyard. Use this power only during your turn.
3/3 >>> [0]

[Rinriet]

New list, is quite good and with some space for improvement to get a place in the meta.

Rage Artifacts (Junk Merchant):

Merchant has two reasons for being playable here: you can self sacrifice Drones, allowing to higher energy values on him; and even if you are forced to play him at 2 energy, you can bring back Golems or Drones as needed.





Edit: I also tested Totems. Merchant is bad there because you can't bring back things with 2 energy (no 1 mana cost shamans). Maybe adding Vermins instead of fumes can make him playable but I doubt it would be better than normal totems.

[ivko]

One detail I felt I should note: I've noticed before that there is literally no single Goblin in the game that has more than 2 HP, not even the Goblin boss, Ram'Gakh. Merchant of Souls also had 2 HP. I concluded that this must have been a conscious design choice: Goblins will always be squishy. Is that correct, Ivko?

Yes, correct.

But we are okay with an occasional "larger" goblin, especially if the art warrants it. In this case, it has quite a heavy mount so I'm perfectly fine with higher stats.

@Everyone, the problem I see among all of you testing is that it is quite hard to get extra energy for Merchant. Is this correct?

I assumed that playing a more aggro-ish deck can get you extra energy for Merchant just by losing 1-2 creatures in an attack.

I will definitely try to come up with a tweaked version or reconsider the one I already posted. We don't have a lot of time left for testing, because I want to make the changes on Tuesday before Masters. So we will probably go with "gut feeling" here, but I will post what I have in mind, so we can see whether it has any apparent problems at least in theory!

[YSChaos]

@Everyone, the problem I see among all of you testing is that it is quite hard to get extra energy for Merchant. Is this correct?

I assumed that playing a more aggro-ish deck can get you extra energy for Merchant just by losing 1-2 creatures in an attack.

That's how Merchant works in the RD deck I posted, usually gaining 1-2 energy, making it an ok card. You can also go up a 3rd level to avoid the tainted damage.
Ivko, why the level restriction on the card?