Does Traveling Merchant require you to discard a card to draw a card, and how does this compare to Super Mega Death Rocket's discard requirement?

Ruling: Traveling Merchant triggers as a mandatory effect - you discard if you can, then draw even if you didn't discard. Super Mega Death Rocket requires you to discard TO retrieve it; if you don't discard, you don't get it back.

Sequence:

• When Traveling Merchant triggers, discard a card if you have one in hand
• If your hand is empty, skip the discard
• Then draw a card regardless of whether you discarded

Nuances:

• The key difference is "to" vs "then" - "to" creates a requirement, "then" creates a sequence where later steps happen even if earlier steps couldn't
• Traveling Merchant is a triggered ability (not activated) that resolves as much as possible
• Super Mega Death Rocket always triggers when its condition is met, but you choose whether to pay the discard cost to get the effect