If I use Cleave on my Traveling Merchant in my base, then move it to a contested battlefield, but my opponent uses Flash on their unit in response to the on-move trigger, does the Traveling Merchant's Assault trigger? What type of showdown occurs?

Ruling: The Flash resolves before combat starts, so the battlefield becomes uncontested. A non-combat showdown begins instead of a combat showdown. The Traveling Merchant's Assault will not trigger because no combat is initiated.

Sequence:

• Traveling Merchant moves to battlefield, triggering its on-move ability
• Opponent responds with Flash, removing their unit
• Combat stages then unstages because the battlefield is no longer contested
• Non-combat showdown begins instead

Nuances:

• This situation may not be precisely covered by the current rules as written due to an issue with unstaging certain combats
• In tournament play, players should ask the Head Judge about this interaction before matches if it might come up