Help! Confused and looking for advice.

[Purple_jester]

Here's the issue. I want to make a cheap fun deck that's just a little less efficient than normal. So, I've decided to try mercenaries. They're virtually ignored in my neighborhood, so I'll have something nobody around here uses. And I mean NOBODY. Everywhere I look, if it's a Masques-based deck, it's either Blastoderms or Rebels.

So, it's mercenaries for me. And that's just my problem.

There are too many Mercenaries out there. Everywhere I look, in throwaway boxes in just about every comic store, I see mercenaries. Every non-rare mercenary is readily available, and that stuns me. What mercenary singles do I buy? I find the search-downward ability a little awkward, so I'm asking for help here.

With Rebels, you just get 8 of the cheapest searchers and work your way upward. You can't do that with mercs. So what do I do? What's the ideal proportion of searchers to grunts? Has anyone out there played with mercenaries? Give a lady some advice, please? I have access to every non-rare mercenary. The only rare merc I already have is the Rathi Assassin. Take note that I'm not a Masques/Nemesis fan by any stretch, so you might have to explain why you're advising one card rather than another.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Django]

Over at Mtg:news we had a discussion on whether the Cateran Enforcer is worth having in a merc deck or not. I was a yes-sayer.
I love this card for two reasons:

1. It's got fear. Fear that.
2. It can recruit my number 2 favourite merc: Highway Robbers.

I guess pitching in two of the Enforcers wouldn't hurt much. And make sure you include Robbers. They work nicely with an Enforcer or a Haunted Crossorads in play.

Other mercs worth checking out: Rathi Fiend and Alley Grifters. I also kinda like the Primeval Shambler, although it's got a high casting cost. He gets big. Very big.

P.S If all you wanted was advice on the common mercs.. well, then I guess you can ignore this post.

 

[FoundationOfRancor]

There are two basic strategys in MBC w/ mercenary. Merc rush, and Merc burn. I perfer the former, It is really fast and can overwhelm just about any deck given the right hand.

Merc Rush

Land:
22 swamps

Creatures
4 rampart crawler
4 molting harpy
4 catearen pursueder
1 agent of shauku
4 rathi intimidator
2 rathi assassin
4 delraich

Spells
4 dark ritual
4 dark triumph
4 snuff out
3 haunted crossroads

I'm trying to post this deck from memory, so I may be missing a few cards. I playtested a lot with this deck before the ptq and was almost about to play it. The main strategy is to play lots of fast critters, then either finish them off with a dark triumph or a delraich. Either way works well, and the haunted crossroads can easily replenish any guys who get killed.

Merc Burn

land:
20 swamp
4 peat bog

Creatures:
4 catearen enforcer
4 rathi fiend
4 highway robber
4 rathi intimidator
4 thrashing wumpus

Spells:
4 Rhystic tutor/catearen summons
4 haunted crossroads
4 dark ritual
4 massacre

Once again, this deck is from memory. Although it is slower than Mercenary rush, Merc burn can be a lot more powerful. The strategy here is to Play an enforcer and then bring in all the robbers and fiends, thus "burning them to death.
It's man problem is decks like rebel that play a lot of quick creatures. That is why there are 4 wumpus and massacre maindeck. They can also be used to kill your robbers/fiends to be brought back for extra burn if needed.

I hope this helps you.

 

[FoundationOfRancor]

Rathi Intimidator is the best mercenary ever. Make sure you have four. Also, mishappen feind isnt that good, but it flys and its casting cost is 2, so alot of stuff can search for it.

I like the Burn thing more, tis good


I will say more but im tired...later

[Edited by FoundationOfRancor on August 22nd, 2000 at 12:59 PM]

 

[TaLoN]

if you want to build a mercenary deck that won't get ripped apart by rebels or waters or any other deck in MBC, then Merc rush is the best one to build. here's my version of Merc rush
Speed Mercs
4 Dark Ritual
4 Dark Triumph
2 Cateran Summons
2 Molting Harpy
3 Vendetta
4 Divining Witch
4 Snuff Out
2 Silent Assassin
2 Agent of Shauku
3 Cateran Persuader
4 Rathi Intimidator
4 Cateran Brute
2 Rath's Edge
20 Swamp
Basically the object is to get out a searcher and search and search and search, etc. The downward searching really inhibits mercs chances of getting bigger creatures cuz the higher the searching cost means more mana. anyway a turn 1 swamp dark rit out either the rathi intimidator or cateran brute means you can search out 5 or 6 creatures before rebels or waters can really take control. the divining witches are in there because they can fetch some dark triumphs and also the can be Sacraficed for the ACC of the dark triumph. All in all i have won many times with this type of Mercs. good luck

 

[DÛke]

She said advice, not decklists...

Anyway, as for the advice, MY advice, here:

Cateran Persuader - 2/1 for BB isn't bad at all. Plus, give it the ability to search for Molting Harpys, it becomes a bit better. Don't use this though, since it would die quickly.

Rathi Intimidator - Another 2/1, this one is for 1BB. The Fear ability gives it real power, basically unblockablity. Use this over/or with Cateran Brute.

Rathi Assassin - This is a must in a Merc deck, especially a casual Merc deck. Search, with the assassin ability, all in a 2/2 for 2BB, that's not that bad. This is a must, so add 1 or 2.

Cateran Kidnappers - You might want to use this one for the 4 power, but other than that, the Rathi Assassin just beats this.

Cateran Enforcer - Probably the best, and most used Mercenary. It's 4/3, it's Feared, and it can search for the second most played Mercenary, Highway Robber.

Rathi Fiend - I would use one of these for the 'life loss' ability, but that's it. Don't add more than 1 if you want to add any at all.

Cateran Slaver - 5/5 for 6 mana isn't bad, but there are much better things to do.

Cateran Overlord - Ignore him. (No offense Cateran Overlord - you know, the guy that posts here).

If you want Mercs, build a Cateran Enforcer/Highway Robber engine deck, backed up by discard and Haunted Crossroads. Also, add in 1 Rathi Fiend to deal the finishing blow, and 1 or 2 Rathi Assassin for some protection. Cateran Summons is strongly advised here; it could get you any Merc in your deck to complete the engine.

You could use mana acceleration to get the Enfrocer out into play earily, but that's up to you.

That's all I can offer, so far .