Merchant of the Vale // Haggle MTG Card

Merchant of the Vale // Haggle - Throne of Eldraine (ELD)

Throne of Eldraine (ELD)
2019-10-04 - Number 293

Throne of Eldraine (ELD)
2019-10-04 - Number 131

Merchant of the Vale // Haggle - Magic Online Promos (PRM)

Magic Online Promos (PRM)
2002-06-24 - Number 78778

Card sets	Released in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Common
Type	Instant — Adventure

Key Takeaways

Flexibility in looting or playing as a creature grants Merchant of the Vale a slot in diverse deck builds.
Instant-speed Haggle enhances mana efficiency and strategic depth in red-centric decks.
While effective, the card requires careful resource management to maximize its potential benefits.

Text of card

You may discard a card. If you do, draw a card. (Then exile this card. You may cast the creature later from exile.)

"Buying old, worn out junk. Selling marvels of real value."

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Merchant of the Vale offers a flexible looting ability, letting players cycle through their decks to find needed cards while also enabling strategies that profit from discarding.

Resource Acceleration: While the card itself doesn’t directly provide mana acceleration, it assists in digging through your deck to uncover crucial land drops or ramp spells, ensuring a smoother progression of your game plan.

Instant Speed: Its Adventure mechanic, Haggle, can be cast at instant speed, allowing players to efficiently utilize their mana at end of their opponent’s turn or in response to an action while maintaining the element of surprise.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: The Merchant of the Vale’s adventure ability, Haggle, necessitates discarding a card which can deplete your hand faster than you might want, especially if you’re in a position where you need to conserve card advantage.

Specific Mana Cost: To access the rummage effect or to cast the creature itself, you’ll require red mana. This can be restrictive for non-red or multicolored decks that struggle with color fixing, potentially crowding out this card’s utility in such builds.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: To cast Merchant of the Vale onto the battlefield, you’ll end up paying three mana, which is a fair investment for a creature with only marginal board impact. The creature’s ability also costs two mana to activate, making it a significant drain on your mana resources over time for a return that other cards could exceed with lesser investment.

Reasons to Include Merchant of the Vale in Your Collection

Versatility: Merchant of the Vale offers adaptive gameplay, allowing players to cycle through their deck with the “Haggle” ability or later cast the creature itself for a persistent board presence, making it a flexible addition to several deck archetypes.

Combo Potential: This card seamlessly integrates with strategies that capitalize on discarding or casting multiple spells in a turn. Whether fueling graveyard synergies or enabling spell triggers, its adaptability in combos makes it a valuable asset.

Meta-Relevance: As the metagame shifts, having cards that can adapt to various scenarios is crucial. Merchant of the Vale’s low-cost rummage effect remains pertinent, offering card selection to help keep pace with the ever-evolving landscape of competitive play.

How to beat

Merchant of the Vale presents itself as an intriguing creature with an adaptable ability in Magic: The Gathering. This character is not an immediate threat, but its consistent utility can become a nuisance if left unchecked. To counter the Merchant’s impact, it is essential to disrupt the card advantage it provides. Tactics that remove creatures or snipe key cards from your opponent’s hand can significantly lessen the Merchant’s effectiveness.

Employ tactics such as targeted removal spells—think Fatal Push or Path to Exile—to eliminate the Merchant before the rummage ability gains traction. Alternatively, proactive hand disruption—Inquisition of Kozilek or Thoughtseize can preemptively remove this card before it has a chance to influence the board. With these strategies, the advantage Merchant of the Vale could grant your opponent dissipates, giving you the upper hand.

The Merchant of the Vale offers versatility but overcoming it requires strategic planning. By prioritizing its removal from the board or preventing it from ever entering play, you ensure that your opponent’s plans to generate card value are effectively hampered, maintaining equilibrium in the game.

BurnMana Recommendations

Understanding the Merchant of the Vale’s dynamics can change the tide of any MTG game. This card’s ability to manipulate your hand and maintain board presence underlines the strategic depth that MTG offers. Its integration into your deck demands careful thought about how best to harness its potential. Our insights point to its utility in specific deck types, alongside a mindful approach to the mana investment required. If Merchant of the Vale strikes your interest, delve deeper into strategies that can optimize its use. Enhance your collection and your gameplay by exploring more tips and tricks with us right here, where every draw leads you closer to victory.

Cards like Merchant of the Vale // Haggle

Merchant of the Vale is an intriguing card in MTG that offers versatility in gameplay through its dual-faced nature. It shares similarities with cards like Thraben Inspector, which also presents additional value beyond its initial play. While Thraben Inspector allows a clue token to be generated upon entering the battlefield, Merchant of the Vale offers flexibility with its “Haggle” ability, letting you rummage as an instant. Additionally, Merchant of the Vale can become a repeatable source of card selection with “Merchant” late in the game, enhancing its utility compared to Thraben Inspector’s one-time effect.

Another card worth mentioning is Tormenting Voice. Like the “Haggle” ability, it requires the player to discard a card in order to draw two cards. However, Tormenting Voice is a sorcery without the option to later transform into a creature that can repeatedly filter cards from the hand. This makes Merchant of the Vale a more adaptable option for players looking to optimize their card flow throughout the game.

To sum up, Merchant of the Vale stands out in MTG for its unique combination of early game card filtering and late-game card advantage capabilities. This aspect earns it a significant role in decks that value strategic hand management and longevity.

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Merchant of the Vale // Haggle MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and Throne of Eldraine, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Merchant of the Vale // Haggle and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Merchant of the Vale // Haggle Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2019-10-04 and 2019-10-04. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#	Released	Name	Code	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	~~2002-06-24~~	Magic Online Promos	PRM	78778	2015	Adventure	Black	John Severin Brassell
2	2019-10-04	Throne of Eldraine	ELD	293	2015	Adventure	Black	John Severin Brassell
3	2019-10-04	Throne of Eldraine	ELD	131	2015	Adventure	Black	David Gaillet

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Merchant of the Vale // Haggle has restrictions

Format	Legality
Historicbrawl	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Commander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Explorer	Legal
Penny	Legal
Timeless	Legal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Merchant of the Vale // Haggle card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date	Text
2019-10-04	An adventurer card is a creature card in every zone except the stack, as well as while on the stack if not cast as an Adventure. Ignore its alternative characteristics in those cases. For example, while it's in your graveyard, Giant Killer is a white creature card whose mana value is 1. It can't be the target of the triggered ability of Mystic Sanctuary.
2019-10-04	Casting a card as an Adventure isn't casting it for an alternative cost. Effects that allow you to cast a spell for an alternative cost or without paying its mana cost may allow you to apply those to the Adventure.
2019-10-04	If a spell is cast as an Adventure, its controller exiles it instead of putting it into its owner's graveyard as it resolves. For as long as it remains exiled, that player may cast it as a creature spell. If an Adventure spell leaves the stack in any way other than resolving (most likely by being countered or by failing to resolve because its targets have all become illegal), that card won't be exiled and the spell's controller won't be able to cast it as a creature later.
2019-10-04	If an adventurer card ends up in exile for any other reason than by exiling itself while resolving, it won't give you permission to cast it as a creature spell.
2019-10-04	If an effect copies an Adventure spell, that copy is exiled as it resolves. It ceases to exist as a state-based action; it's not possible to cast the copy as a creature.
2019-10-04	If an effect instructs you to choose a card name, you may choose the alternative Adventure name. Consider only the alternative characteristics to determine whether that is an appropriate name to choose.
2019-10-04	If an object becomes a copy of an object that has an Adventure, the copy also has an Adventure. If it changes zones, it will either cease to exist (if it's a token) or cease to be a copy (if it's a nontoken permanent), and so you won't be able to cast it as an Adventure.
2019-10-04	If you cast an adventurer card as an Adventure, use only its alternative characteristics to determine whether it's legal to cast that spell. For example, if Giant Killer is exiled with the last ability of Vivien, Champion of the Wilds, you can't cast it as Chop Down.
2019-10-04	When casting a spell as an Adventure, use the alternative characteristics and ignore all of the card's normal characteristics. The spell's color, mana cost, mana value, and so on are determined by only those alternative characteristics. If the spell leaves the stack, it immediately resumes using its normal characteristics.
2019-10-04	You choose which card, if any, to discard while Haggle is resolving. In contrast, you must discard a card to activate the ability of Merchant of the Vale.
2019-10-04	You must still follow any timing restrictions and permissions for the creature spell you cast from exile. Normally, you'll be able to cast it only during your main phase while the stack is empty.