Editing Silk Merchant

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{{Infobox Card
 |name = Silk Merchant
 |cost = 4
 |set = Renaissance
 |type1 = Action
 |illustrator = Elisa Cella
 |text = '''+2&nbsp;Cards'''<br>'''+1&nbsp;Buy'''
 |text2 = When you gain or trash this, '''+1&nbsp;Coffers''' and '''+1&nbsp;Villager'''.
}}

'''Silk Merchant''' is an [[Action]] card from [[Renaissance]]. It provides [[terminal draw]] and [[+Buy]], as well [[Coffers]] and [[Villagers]] when it is gained or trashed.

== FAQ ==
=== Official FAQ ===
* When you play this, you get +2 Cards and +1 Buy; when you trash it or gain it, you get +1 Coffers and +1 Villager. 
* If Silk Merchant is trashed, the player trashing it takes the +1 Coffers and +1 Villager, regardless of whose turn it is.

== Strategy ==
While it may look quite unassuming, Silk Merchant is one of the best 4 cost openers in the game because of how easy it makes it to get to 5 coins on turns 3 and 4. Also, because it draws 2 cards, opening Silk Merchant and a non card draw card, like Silver, allows you to perfectly use your whole deck on turns 3 and 4 (unless Silk Merchant is bottom decked). While in some kingdoms you will prefer to open with a thinner like {{Card|Remake}} on a 3/4 start, you can open Silk Merchant Remake on the 4/3 because of the added flexibility of the coffer and villager, and with a strong 5 cost card in the kingdom like {{Card|Sentry}}, opening Silk Merchant Silver is likely better than getting a slower trasher like {{Card|Forager}}, which is by no means a weak card, but with Silk Merchant enabling you to hit 5 so often, it is probably better to not open Forager.

According to calculations by WanderingWinder, a player opening Silk Merchant/Silver has an over 50% chance to open with two 5 cost cards, and getting at least one 5 cost card is guaranteed on turns 3 and 4 because of the coffer. It also gives a player a decent chance to hit 7 for an early {{Card|Inheritance}} if that is in the kingdom. An even better opening is Silk Merchant/{{Card|Improve}} if the kingdom has desirable 5s, as the villager from Silk Merchant helps in the case of collision, and otherwise, the Improve can turn into another Silk Merchant or other 4 cost card, like one of the villages, to allow you to play your 5s, if terminal, more often.

=== Synergies ===
* Powerful 5 cost kingdom cards

=== Antisynergies ===
* Opening 5/2
* A board where all major kingdom cards are less than 5, such as a {{Card|Native Village}}/{{Card|Bridge}} board

== Versions ==
===English versions===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! Print !! Digital !! Text !! Release !! Date
|-
| {{CardVersionImage|Silk Merchant|Silk Merchant}} || {{CardVersionImage|Silk MerchantDigital|Silk Merchant from Shuffle iT}} || '''+2&nbsp;Cards'''. '''+1&nbsp;Buy'''.<br>When you gain or trash this, '''+1&nbsp;Coffers''' and '''+1&nbsp;Villager'''. || Renaissance || November 2018 
|}

===Other language versions===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! Language !! Name !! Print !! Digital !! Text
|-
!Chinese
| 布商 (pron. ''bùshāng'', lit. ''cloth dealer'') || || ||
|-
!French
| Marchande de soie (Note: explicitly feminine) || || ||
|-
!German
| Seidenhändlerin (Note: explicitly feminine) ||{{CardLangVersionImage|German}}|| ||'''+2 Karten'''. '''+1 Kauf'''. 
Wenn du diese Karte nimmst oder entsorgst: '''+1 Taler''' und '''+1 Dorfbewohner'''.
|-
!Japanese
| 絹商人 (pron. ''kinushōnin'') || || || '''+2 カードを引く'''。 '''+1 購入'''。 これを獲得または廃棄するとき、'''+1 村人トークン'''、'''+1 コイントークン'''。 
|-
!Russian
| Торговец Шёлком (pron. ''torgovyets shyolkom'') || || ||
|}

== Trivia ==
[[Image:Silk MerchantArt.jpg|thumb|right|354px|Official card art.]]
=== Preview ===
{{Quote|Text=Silk Merchant spills out [[Coin token|tokens]] both coming and going. You may even get use out of it in the middle.
|Name=[[Donald X. Vaccarino]]
 |Source=[http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=19018.0 Renaissance Previews #3: Villain, Ducat, Silk Merchant]
}}
=== Secret History ===
{{Quote
|Text=Briefly this was like a {{Card|Pawn}} when gained/trashed, only with tokens in place of +{{Cost|1}} and +1 Action. I always like the idea of a when-gain that can draw cards, but it never survives, for the same reason: in the default situation, you don't want the cards. And then the triggered +1 Buy was problematic. So, no choice, it just gives you the other two.
|Name=[[Donald X. Vaccarino]]
|Source=[http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=19203.0 The Secret History of Dominion: Renaissance]
}}
=== Connection between top and bottom abilities ===
{{Quote
|Text= No connection, beyond, it wanted to be terminal.
|Name=[[Donald X. Vaccarino]]
|Source=[http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=20358.msg839154#msg839154 Logic behind "special things"]
}}
=== Donald X. on Silk Merchant being strong ===
{{Quote
|Text= My [[Renaissance]] playtesters knew that Silk Merchant was strong. And by mine I mean the ones at my table, and by those I mean the good ones. Which is to say I checked, and {{Card|Sir Martin}} and Kevin both did speak up and accuse it of being too strong. The last time it came up, I said, "I think it will just be that overpowered card we like." I have missed various powerful cards over the years, and it was no great feat to notice Silk Merchant, but we did notice it.
|Name=[[Donald X. Vaccarino]]
|Source=[https://discord.com/channels/212660788786102272/373960155169161227/546582756960894986 Dominion Discord, 2019]
}}
{{Quote
|Text= For sure the powerful cards want to be things like Silk Merchant. They don't want to be e.g. {{Card|Mountebank}} [or] {{Card|Ghost Ship}}.
|Name=[[Donald X. Vaccarino]]
|Source=[https://discord.com/channels/212660788786102272/373960155169161227/546594536391180290 Dominion Discord, 2019]
}}
{{Navbox Renaissance}}
{{Navbox Cards}}