Deck Anaylsis: Merchant Pot Turbo

Merchant Pot Turbo is a deck based upon the synergy between 3 cards, Magical Merchant, Chaos Sorcerer, and Pot of Avarice. The theory is that Magical Merchant mills a lot of cards into the Grave (you are going to play playing probably 20-30 monsters, and only using staple Spell and Traps.) Chaos Sorcerer can easily be summoned, and Pot of Avarice can easily be used. That way, you can get easy +1's. This deck was literally HUGE in Japan in around 2005 or so. Unfortunately, the banning of Chaos Sorcerer and the restriction of Pot of Avarice gave this deck a CRUSHING set-back. Fortunately, all the things that made it HUGE are now back, so it might be a solid contender this format.

A friend of mine showed me some cool builds, which he is considering taking to Regs.

Strengths of the Merchant Pot Turbo deck.

Merchant Pot Turbo is incredibly fast. It runs a grand total of 5 draw 2 cards, (3 Pot of Avarice, 2 Allure of Darkness.) It also runs a lot of powerful deck thinners. (Magical Merchant and Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter.) The whole deck decks itself out at a rate almost parallel to Lightsworns. In fact, for people who enjoy the Lightsworn mechanic, but cannot afford the deck, I strongly recomend Merchant Pot Turbo, or MPT.

In addition, Merchant Pot Turbo has access to many powerful boss monsters. Some builds even go so far as to incorporate Cyber Eltanin and Cyber Valley + Cyber Dragon to play 3 more bosses. The deck also has access to 3 Tragoedia, allowing it to drop Monarchs with ease. Tragoedia is basically a Spell card, but is treated as a monster. Cards like Tragoedia, Gorz, and later on Battle Fader will be extremely viable in MPT.

It's basically Monarchs on crack. My friend's version plays 6 Monarchs (3x Caius and 3x Raiza/Thestalos) This build is probably even faster than the famed Perfect Circle, and especially since the deck is basically dead now, MPT is the fastest Monarch variant.

MPT is extremely difficult to side against. After viewing the lists, it should be pretty obvious why.

Weaknesses of the Merchant Pot Turbo deck.

The whole deck is highly reactive.  It can't do much most of the time, and prefers to have the opponent commit resources (so all your destruction cards can wreck them.) Also, having a boss dropped on you is devastating, and without smart play, you WILL lose. MPT doesn't pilot itself at all, and you need to make lots of smart decisions to play it properly.

Why play MPT over LS? This is another big issue. MPT's main plusses are Monarchs and Pot of Avarice. (Not counting the occasional Cyber Eltanin.) Otherwise, LS has all of MPT's benefits. (Except MPT can play out of Light-Imprisoning/similar with far more ease.) G1, LS will be superior 10/10. Pot and Monarchs pale in comparison to JD.

An ideal Merchant Pot Turbo build.

3|Sdde|Caius the Shadow Monarch
3|Fotb|Raiza the Storm Monarch
3|Lodt|Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter
3|Mfc|Magical Merchant
3|Jump|Tragoedia
2|Ioc|Chaos Sorcerer
1|Tp2|Morphing Jar
1|Jump|Dandylion
1|Soi|Treeborn Frog
1|Mrd|Sangan
1|Dp03|Card Trooper
1|Csoc|Plaguespreader Zombie
1|Ptdn|Dark Armed Dragon
1|Dlg1|Gorz the Emissary of Darkness

3|Een|Pot of Avarice
2|Ptdn|Allure of Darkness
1|Sdy|Card Destruction
1|Tlm|Brain Control
1|Sdj|Scapegoat
1|Mrd|Heavy Storm
1|Sdp|Mystical Space Typhoon

2|Cp04|Bottomless Trap Hole
1|Mrd|Solemn Judgment
1|Mrd|Mirror Force
1|Lon|Torrential Tribute

I am probably a bit biased. This is my friend's deck. However, a lot of players agree that this is one of the best ways to play Merchant this format. Other people prefer the Cyber Eltanin version, as shown on the Player's Legacy boards. That version is also very strong, and I will probably make an article on it later.

The main difference in this deck is Raiza. Raiza is incredible, and provides very solid field control. Although some people might prefer running Thestalos, I would seriously suggest Raiza. After this deck is stopped by something like Mirror Force, you are going to have a hard time making a come-back. Thsi deck needs a lot of field presence, and Raiza + Caius is definitely the best way to go for it.

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Why is this deck good (over other MPT builds?)

The answer is Tragoedia. Tragoedia is incredible, and it allows you to play so many Monarchs. Trag also helps early game when you struggle to establish field presence and have a lot of cards in the grave. He's basically a Spell card that stops OTK's that CAN be milled by Magical Merchant. It also synergizes with Pot of Avarice. My friend is playing 3 Battle Fader when it comes out. If another card like that is printed, he will play it too. (Ogre of Scarlet Sorrow doesn't work since he needs 2 attacks. This will rarely occur.)

An Analysis of the Monsters.

The magic starts here:
3x Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter
3x Magical Merchant
1x Card Trooper

A  very solid milling base. It basically lets you open with a miller every game. This is key to success.

"Magic:"
A lot of cards in here act like they were Spells. These cards are critical since they get milled by Merchant but don't make your deck not have spell power. Those cards are Monarchs, Tragoedia, and Battle Fader (which will go in over Card Destruction, Scapegoat, and probably Solemn Judgment when it comes out.) These cards are very key. More abound in the side deck (which features D.D. Crow.)

The problem with Necro:
Necro is highly suggested in this deck. A problem is that if you draw it you basically lose. There's already too many dead draw-esque cards like Pot of Avarice and extra Merchants. I don't think that running more is the way to go.

Spells and Traps

These are to be minimalized, and ran in as few as possible, so Merchant can mill more.