With the Fall of Argenport set coming soon, I figured now is a good time to evaluate the five Merchants that have recently been spoiled here, in the context of Gauntlet: https://www.direwolfdigital.com/news/lets-make-a-deal/

Gauntlet is ultimately about making the most gold per hour. As such, the most effective archetypes are Aggro and Aggressively slanted Midrange decks (control decks are simply too slow and their consistency compared to Midrange decks is not high enough to warrant playing them).

With the release of new cards, as well as the completion of the Crests, the best Gauntlet decks will most likely change. For this article I will look at some of the best performing current decks and evaluate how they may be able to use the Merchants.

Aggro Decks:

Rakano Aggro – Rakano has the option of Ixtun Merchant and Winchest Merchant. There are quite a few good cards from each, but there is a problem: Rakano already has Valkyrie Enforcer, Unseen Commando, Whirling Duo, and potentially Shogun’s Scepter vying for the three drop slot.

Stats wise, I much prefer a 3/3 Overwhelm to a 2/2 Flier. Against aggressive AI decks, playing a 2/2 on turn three is not where we want to be, and Winchest Merchant simply doesn’t apply enough pressure in my opinion to be included in an aggressive deck. What I would likely test is something like this: 4 Unseen Commando, 4 Whirling Duo, 3 Valkyrie Enforcer and 2-3 Ixtun Merchant.

For the Market I would consider these five cards: Cloud of Ash, Deepforged Plate, Obliterate, Righteous Fury, and Rakano Banner. Depending on whether you decided to curve out higher than most lists do with a card like Crimson Firemaw or Jekk, Hunted Fugitive I could see including Jekk, the Bounty Hunter and maybe Icaria, the Liberator in the Market.

Hooru Fliers – Hooru has the option of Winchest Merchant and Jennev Merchant, but again has the problem of extremely good three drops: Valkyrie Enforcer, Unseen Commando, Hooru Pacifier, and sometimes Ice Sprite.

I could see running something like this: 4 Valkyrie Enforcer, 4 Unseen Commando, 4 Hooru Pacifier, 2 Jennev Merchant. I would set up a Market as follows: Crystallize, Thunderstrike Dragon, Permafrost, Bring Down, and Hooru Banner.

Overall for the aggressive decks, I think testing 2-3 copies of Merchants has merit, however both Rakano and Hooru have such high quality aggressive three drops that the Merchants may not be necessary. Winchest Merchant is probably not playable in an aggressive gauntlet deck, as a 2/2 flying for three just doesn’t measure up.

Midrange Decks:

Elysian Midrange – Elysian has the option of Auralian Merchant and Jennev Merchant. Both have merit, and I think Jennev has slightly better targets, however I believe Auralian is the better option simply because it ramps to a five drop on turn four, and we have so many good five drops (Cirso, the Great Glutton, Twinbrood Sauropod, Worldbearer Behemoth). I would look to set up a Market something like this: Twinbrood Sauropod, Worldbearer Behemoth, Accelerated Evolution, Predatory Carnosaur, and Elysian Banner. I’m almost certainly running 4 copies of Auralian Merchant, though there may be a reasonable case for a 2-2 split with Jennev. Jennev Merchant doesn’t ramp out five drops, but having options like Thunderstrike Dragon, Permafrost, Crystallize, and Hailstorm could be worthwhile and I will test both. Four total copies will fit perfectly alongside False Prince and Dawnwalker in the three drop slot.

Feln Midrange – Feln has the option of Jennev Merchant and Kerendon Merchant. Stats wise I prefer Kerendon as any Deadly unit causes the AI to play more passively than it should. Having access to cards like Crystallize and Thunderstrike Dragon is nice, but with the deck I’m running I feel I will get more value out of Kerendon, setting up a removal package and anchoring the ground. I would be happy with four Kerendon Merchant, and would look to have something like Devastating Setback, In Cold Blood, Black-Sky Harbinger, Dark Return, and Feln Banner.

Closing Thoughts:

I believe that gauntlet decks are going to be much more consistent with the Merchants, and that Midrange decks will be able to leverage their value best. I feel it’s important to note that Winchest Merchant may be playable in Combrei Obelisk/Midrange, which is a deck I will be revisiting because Crest of Progress will help tremendously with consistency. Extras copies of Stand Together and Amilli will be great for example. Argenport Midrange is another possibility for Winchest, but it will need some help from the new set. I have not been able to match the win rates of Elysian and Feln since the Argenport Instigator nerf, though the deck is still quite good.

This was my analysis based on the current card pool and depending on what we get in the new set, many decks could change (for example, Rakano Midrange could be great and Stonescar aggro could be better supported and re-emerge as a top deck). I hope this article will give you some idea of where to start as far as building with these sweet new cards.

Be sure to check out the Reddit thread, and let me know your thoughts.

Thanks for reading,

MagicTurtle