Is this card basically going to be used as Koko#2 in mono black decks?
Given a commander with 2 or 3 mana symbols and Gary, you're going to gain nearly or as much life as if you'd sacrificed Koko, and you can use him with Conjurer's Closet.
Is this card basically going to be used as Koko#2 in mono black decks?
Given a commander with 2 or 3 mana symbols and Gary, you're going to gain nearly or as much life as if you'd sacrificed Koko, and you can use him with Conjurer's Closet.
Good enough to play?
I'd say he's good enough to play if your devotion is high enough that he is consistently hitting for at least 5. If you can't get at least that much out of him then he probably isn't worth it. Like when is the last time you heard of someone running Urborg Syphon-Mage?
Unfortunately every try hard from Sacramento to Shanghai preaches from the top of their 27 lands + Mana Reflection that Tooth and Nail and Time Stretch are fine to play in the same turn but Armageddon is unfair.
in mono black, yes he's Koko #2. He offers 2 on his own, which is almost half of kokusho, only its an ETB not a death trigger, so its easier to abuse. Chances are you'll always have 2-3 devotion laying around in enchantments or dudes, so it'll always hit for 5+. Gets less hated than kokusho for sure though.
I'd say he's good enough to play if your devotion is high enough that he is consistently hitting for at least 5. If you can't get at least that much out of him then he probably isn't worth it. Like when is the last time you heard of someone running Urborg Syphon-Mage?
You have tobuild around devotion, might as well have erebos as the general if your calling gary " koko2.0" , having said that gary is good in edh, not great but good.
He's nuts in my Chainer build. He's usually my go-to wincon because he can be faster than Kokusho in a sac loop (play Merchant, sac it to a sac outlet, recur with chainer, repeat until opponents are dead). I've had games where I've hit for 12+ with him on one trigger. Also it's really nice to have a somewhat functional copy of Kokusho's effect should one of them get exiled or something like that.
I like it in reanimator decks as well as in pressure based decks. It gives a nice chunk of life to the owner to boot. I run it in my Toshiro and Obzedat decks to some good success. I could see it being totally crazy in Chainer or Balthor to for sure.
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
I use him in duo color with great results, can't even imagine how great he is in mono-black.
Heck, I won against a deck running the guy once with my mono blue by clone-ing/body double-ing it 4 times, it adds up fast. (I actually had 4 different clone-variant on the field/hand)
Gray merchant owned the table last time I played. He caught us unaware when he had devotion 9. Combine that with Nim Deathmantle and a sac outlet it doesn't take much to murder the table.
I like it in reanimator decks as well as in pressure based decks. It gives a nice chunk of life to the owner to boot. I run it in my Toshiro and Obzedat decks to some good success. I could see it being totally crazy in Chainer or Balthor to for sure.
Edit:
Ok not nessisarily build around devotion but if you have permenants and build reanimator itis amazing.
I'd say he's good enough to play if your devotion is high enough that he is consistently hitting for at least 5. If you can't get at least that much out of him then he probably isn't worth it. Like when is the last time you heard of someone running Urborg Syphon-Mage?
But Urbog syphon mage taps to do it, requires you to discard a card, requires you to pay three mana every time, and on his own will always only cause a total of six lost life per activation.
He's really not that comparable to our friend Gary who can be abused by reanimater and bounce strategies because his ability is the all powerful variety of ETB, does not wait a turn for the ability, does not create a disadvantage by asking us to discard a card, has the possibility to hit for more than six (you only need one more black mana symbol than he himself has), and barring the costs of other cards to take advantage of his etb ability, we have a one time investment of five mana.
But Urbog syphon mage taps to do it, requires you to discard a card, requires you to pay three mana every time, and on his own will always only cause a total of six lost life per activation.
He's really not that comparable to our friend Gary who can be abused by reanimater and bounce strategies because his ability is the all powerful variety of ETB, does not wait a turn for the ability, does not create a disadvantage by asking us to discard a card, has the possibility to hit for more than six (you only need one more black mana symbol than he himself has), and barring the costs of other cards to take advantage of his etb ability, we have a one time investment of five mana.
In otherwords against stax (or anything with torpor orb ) gary is introuble
You have tobuild around devotion, might as well have erebos as the general if your calling gary " koko2.0" , having said that gary is good in edh, not great but good.
Do remember that he provides 2 devotion. Getting another 3 is trivial, and does not require you to build around him. A simple Geralf's Messenger is all it would take. Gray Merchant cares about your board position, and fortifies you without needing you to invest much into him. Two other permanents is enough even if you only get a Devotion of 4. Most mono-Black generals have BB in their casting costs, so it's not exactly like you have to jump through hoops.
And having Erebos as your general is not required. If he had BBB or BBBB in his mana cost it would be, but he doesn't.
Do remember that he provides 2 devotion. Getting another 3 is trivial, and does not require you to build around him. A simple Geralf's Messenger is all it would take. Gray Merchant cares about your board position, and fortifies you without needing you to invest much into him. Two other permanents is enough even if you only get a Devotion of 4. Most mono-Black generals have BB in their casting costs, so it's not exactly like you have to jump through hoops.
And having Erebos as your general is not required. If he had BBB or BBBB in his mana cost it would be, but he doesn't.
He single-handedly made me want to build chainer. In mono-b reanimator he is a must, in 2 color he should be in the build depending on your devotion (like others say).
He single-handedly made me want to build chainer. In mono-b reanimator he is a must, in 2 color he should be in the build depending on your devotion (like others say).
Yah i kinda want to build a chainer reanimator too
I just can't picture a scenario where a deck has consistently high-enough devotion, and even in those inconsistent cases where it does, having a 2/4 with a 4-5 point life drain on it as a deck's best available play for 5 mana is a sign of a deck that's just not going anywhere meaningful.
Consider that outside the experiments with Kokusho as a Commander, most other places he's shown up at he's served a defensive role similar to Wurmcoil, where the 5/5 body isn't insignificant. All other magical scenarios I've heard have involved something like Chainer, Dementia Master, with all of 20 or so mana, and against opponents who've done nothing to limit the deck's mana or graveyard. But essentially, anywhere a Mono-Black Control deck doesn't have problems is pretty suspect.
So if you ask me Yosei, the Morning Star is the better dragon than Koko in this format, while Koko is better than Gray Merchant 90% of the time, and worse than Wurmcoil Engine an equal 90% of the time. Just not good enough.
I just can't picture a scenario where a deck has consistently high-enough devotion, and even in those inconsistent cases where it does, having a 2/4 with a 4-5 point life drain on it as a deck's best available play for 5 mana is a sign of a deck that's just not going anywhere meaningful.
Consider that outside the experiments with Kokusho as a Commander, most other places he's shown up at he's served a defensive role similar to Wurmcoil, where the 5/5 body isn't insignificant. All other magical scenarios I've heard have involved something like Chainer, Dementia Master, with all of 20 or so mana, and against opponents who've done nothing to limit the deck's mana or graveyard. But essentially, anywhere a Mono-Black Control deck doesn't have problems is pretty suspect.
So if you ask me Yosei, the Morning Star is the better dragon than Koko in this format, while Koko is better than Gray Merchant 90% of the time, and worse than Wurmcoil Engine an equal 90% of the time. Just not good enough.
I just whipped up a chainer deck on tappedout...gary hit 14 and i kept sacking him to smokestacks
Gray Merchant is easily equal to Kokusho on average in terms of his EtB ability without building heavily around it. The real question is if you really need a second copy of Kokusho in a Black deck or not.
Gray Merchant fits into Reveillark stuff better, if you roll that way.
I just can't picture a scenario where a deck has consistently high-enough devotion, and even in those inconsistent cases where it does, having a 2/4 with a 4-5 point life drain on it as a deck's best available play for 5 mana is a sign of a deck that's just not going anywhere meaningful.
Consider that outside the experiments with Kokusho as a Commander, most other places he's shown up at he's served a defensive role similar to Wurmcoil, where the 5/5 body isn't insignificant. All other magical scenarios I've heard have involved something like Chainer, Dementia Master, with all of 20 or so mana, and against opponents who've done nothing to limit the deck's mana or graveyard. But essentially, anywhere a Mono-Black Control deck doesn't have problems is pretty suspect.
So if you ask me Yosei, the Morning Star is the better dragon than Koko in this format, while Koko is better than Gray Merchant 90% of the time, and worse than Wurmcoil Engine an equal 90% of the time. Just not good enough.
Merchant's effect scales rapidly with both board position and number of opponents, and while it isn't always a Kokusho-level swing it is remarkably easier to use. Kokusho is a 6 drop, Merchant is a 5 drop. The fact that Merchant's ability is ETB is also much easier to abuse. A single permanent with BB other than Merchant can turn him from a glorified Bloodhunter Bat into a near-Kokusho swing in life. Furthermore, this makes it viable in multicolor decks in ways that Kokusho won't always fit.
Reanimator isn't the only way to use him. While Merchant's effect works best in a permanent-heavy mono-Black deck it can function just fine in other decks with just a little board position. You look at it like a finisher, when it's purpose is to be a tempo swing in your favor with cards like Necropotence and other Suicide Black cards. People trying to use it as a finisher are going to get punished for over-extending.
The only time Merchant is bad is if he's the only source of Devotion on your board and he gets killed in response to his ability (at which point you've wasted mana and a card), but how is that any different from a Glorious Anthem or other buff effect?
Yeah, I get that Gray Merchant has hit before for a lot. It's not that I'm having problems reading the card. It's that getting to any devotion count whatsoever takes several turns of buildup, all invested in permanents that often have no threat or defensive value on their own. And all that investment for a life swing of 5'ish points? Even worse where he's hitting for 12+. In those cases, it's guaranteed that you've spent a dozen turns getting there, and then your finisher is that. You've lost to any competent deck by then as Mono-B.
In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king. But other intelligently built decks are finishing with things that are a whole lot more powerful and less-disruptible. If you're in Mono-B your finishers are going to be pretty thin, so you take what you can get, but I wouldn't go tutoring for it believing it was strong, even provided it did make the cut. Meanwhile, Koko requires one thing - some sort of Animate Dead. Wurmcoil requires just as little, and gets an extra swing with the bat. Opponents are going to Jokulhaups you, Disk away your enchants, and make you discard. Wurmcoil and Koko are good in those spots, while Gray Merchant is only for situations where a Mono-B deck has for some reason been left completely alone for a dozen or more turns.
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Pretty simple question, actually.
Is this card basically going to be used as Koko#2 in mono black decks?
Given a commander with 2 or 3 mana symbols and Gary, you're going to gain nearly or as much life as if you'd sacrificed Koko, and you can use him with Conjurer's Closet.
Good enough to play?
I'd say he's good enough to play if your devotion is high enough that he is consistently hitting for at least 5. If you can't get at least that much out of him then he probably isn't worth it. Like when is the last time you heard of someone running Urborg Syphon-Mage?
Chainer + Merchant is already 4 devotion and then you throw in stuff like Mikaeus (3 devotion) and things get nuttier and nuttier.
UBRSedris, the Necromancer KingUBR
You have tobuild around devotion, might as well have erebos as the general if your calling gary " koko2.0" , having said that gary is good in edh, not great but good.
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Heck, I won against a deck running the guy once with my mono blue by clone-ing/body double-ing it 4 times, it adds up fast. (I actually had 4 different clone-variant on the field/hand)
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Edit:
Ok not nessisarily build around devotion but if you have permenants and build reanimator itis amazing.
But Urbog syphon mage taps to do it, requires you to discard a card, requires you to pay three mana every time, and on his own will always only cause a total of six lost life per activation.
He's really not that comparable to our friend Gary who can be abused by reanimater and bounce strategies because his ability is the all powerful variety of ETB, does not wait a turn for the ability, does not create a disadvantage by asking us to discard a card, has the possibility to hit for more than six (you only need one more black mana symbol than he himself has), and barring the costs of other cards to take advantage of his etb ability, we have a one time investment of five mana.
In otherwords against stax (or anything with torpor orb ) gary is introuble
Do remember that he provides 2 devotion. Getting another 3 is trivial, and does not require you to build around him. A simple Geralf's Messenger is all it would take. Gray Merchant cares about your board position, and fortifies you without needing you to invest much into him. Two other permanents is enough even if you only get a Devotion of 4. Most mono-Black generals have BB in their casting costs, so it's not exactly like you have to jump through hoops.
And having Erebos as your general is not required. If he had BBB or BBBB in his mana cost it would be, but he doesn't.
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Oh no! I lost a bunch of life to necropotence, dark prophecy, phyrexian arena, or underworld connections? Here comes Gary. My general and an enchantment and this guy = 7 devotion to black. Gain 21, Drain everyone for 7? Insane.
Hince my edit post...
Yah i kinda want to build a chainer reanimator too
Any ideas for him? Also how many colors can you be playing and still have an amazing gary hit does anyone think?
I just can't picture a scenario where a deck has consistently high-enough devotion, and even in those inconsistent cases where it does, having a 2/4 with a 4-5 point life drain on it as a deck's best available play for 5 mana is a sign of a deck that's just not going anywhere meaningful.
Consider that outside the experiments with Kokusho as a Commander, most other places he's shown up at he's served a defensive role similar to Wurmcoil, where the 5/5 body isn't insignificant. All other magical scenarios I've heard have involved something like Chainer, Dementia Master, with all of 20 or so mana, and against opponents who've done nothing to limit the deck's mana or graveyard. But essentially, anywhere a Mono-Black Control deck doesn't have problems is pretty suspect.
So if you ask me Yosei, the Morning Star is the better dragon than Koko in this format, while Koko is better than Gray Merchant 90% of the time, and worse than Wurmcoil Engine an equal 90% of the time. Just not good enough.
I just whipped up a chainer deck on tappedout...gary hit 14 and i kept sacking him to smokestacks
Gray Merchant fits into Reveillark stuff better, if you roll that way.
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Jor Kadeen RW | Melek UR | Mimeoplasm GUB | Rasputin WU
Savra BG | Sisay GW | Teneb BGW | Thada Adel U | Wort BR
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Merchant's effect scales rapidly with both board position and number of opponents, and while it isn't always a Kokusho-level swing it is remarkably easier to use. Kokusho is a 6 drop, Merchant is a 5 drop. The fact that Merchant's ability is ETB is also much easier to abuse. A single permanent with BB other than Merchant can turn him from a glorified Bloodhunter Bat into a near-Kokusho swing in life. Furthermore, this makes it viable in multicolor decks in ways that Kokusho won't always fit.
Reanimator isn't the only way to use him. While Merchant's effect works best in a permanent-heavy mono-Black deck it can function just fine in other decks with just a little board position. You look at it like a finisher, when it's purpose is to be a tempo swing in your favor with cards like Necropotence and other Suicide Black cards. People trying to use it as a finisher are going to get punished for over-extending.
The only time Merchant is bad is if he's the only source of Devotion on your board and he gets killed in response to his ability (at which point you've wasted mana and a card), but how is that any different from a Glorious Anthem or other buff effect?
Driving Stick with Isochron Scepter.
Trinkets and Treasure: An Artificer's Toolbox.
Proc Drops: Playing with One Drops.
Deck Primer: Toshiro Umezawa
In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king. But other intelligently built decks are finishing with things that are a whole lot more powerful and less-disruptible. If you're in Mono-B your finishers are going to be pretty thin, so you take what you can get, but I wouldn't go tutoring for it believing it was strong, even provided it did make the cut. Meanwhile, Koko requires one thing - some sort of Animate Dead. Wurmcoil requires just as little, and gets an extra swing with the bat. Opponents are going to Jokulhaups you, Disk away your enchants, and make you discard. Wurmcoil and Koko are good in those spots, while Gray Merchant is only for situations where a Mono-B deck has for some reason been left completely alone for a dozen or more turns.