While Mercenaries were not well executed, the idea has potential. Look at Cateran Summons and Cateran Overlord. That's supposed to be the plan, and let's also remember that this was the last set when black got Dark Ritual, and that it had Delraich, which really SHOULD have been a Mercenary. The idea was that while Rebels would slowly promote their "pawns" and build a force over the game, the Evil Empire would lead with their "queen" and back it up with a bunch of disposable mooks.
You know what would have made Mercenaries better? Well first, it might have helped if they weren't called Mercenaries, as that's not exactly a terror-striking name for the Evil Empire's forces; "Oppressors" might have been better (after all, one of the Caterans had that as a name). But more to the point, they should have been able to recruit WITHOUT TAPPING. So they could attack or block while still churning out as many new dorks as you could afford. Ideally combine this wi... (see all)
Posted By:
willpell
(6/5/2011 2:29:29 AM)
The idea of searching down the chain needed to be backed up with volume. Rebels search up a few powerful "hero" dudes, mercenaries fling dozens of weenies around, that sort of thing. Even just giving any searched Mercenary haste would have gone a long way; you could then proceed to chain all the way down if you had the mana.
Posted By:
LordRandomness
(12/31/2011 3:53:25 AM)
Aaron’s Random Card Comment of the Day #57, 1/13/11
I like mirrors in card design--you know, stuff like White Knight and Black Knight, Incremental Growth and Incremental Blight, Mind Spring and Mind Shatter.
Sometimes, however, the aesthetic desire for mirroring doesn’t translate into equal card power or equally compelling gameplay. Mercenaries versus Rebels in Mercadian Masques are a perfect example of mirroring gone wrong.
Rebels, which search up the mana chain, do everything right. If you resolve a lowly Ramosian Sergeant on turn 1, in the span of a few turns you can be attacking your opponent with anything from a Jhoval Queen to a Chameleon Colossus to a Deranged Hermit (thanks to Skyshroud Poacher), all without ever playing another... (see all)
Posted By:
Aaron_Forsythe
(1/13/2011 10:53:54 PM)
Sweet now I can search for all those Molting Harpys and Soldier of Fortunes Awesome!!!
Posted By:
__Silence__
(2/28/2011 6:53:47 PM)
All I see is a 2/1 for 2 that shuffles your library for 1. Ever want to just shuffle up?
Posted By:
Mudbutt_on
(12/21/2010 12:01:53 AM)
@ Aaron:
Mercenaries didn't lose against Rebels because of the mechanic, but because of the stupidity of R&D members to make black creatures weaker than white ones. As if white would have weaker destruction spells or the black reanimation spells were anything close to being overpowered.
And by the way, not rebels have won the Pro-Tour, but Parallax Wave. With this card, you can remove 3 creatures an opponent controls for 3 turns... granting enough time to win with 3 Steadfast Guards.
Rebels have the big problem that although you can play a Ramosian Sergeant, he is a mere 1/1 until you have 3 mana available. It's getting even worse with the Ramosian Lieutenant or Ramosian Captain. By the 5th turn, you'll have one copy of each of them. Quite underwhelming.
The Mercenaries look downwards, but also have low activation cost. Therefore the Cateran Persuader doesn't have to wait ... (see all)
Posted By:
Cheza
(8/1/2011 6:52:10 PM)
Wacky fun card.
Posted By:
thaviel
(3/1/2009 2:21:31 PM)
Dont Listen To Him LOL
Posted By:
MasterOfEtherium
(8/5/2009 12:14:35 AM)
Well said Aaron. I think mercenary should at least be able to search WITHOUT tapping, given that they cannot search for bigger threat.
Posted By:
Cyberium
(5/5/2011 12:10:08 AM)
That's quite convincing.
Posted By:
nibelheim_valesti
(6/19/2010 3:06:37 AM)