When moving Merchant to a battlefield, can you play reaction spells in response to its trigger to empty your hand before the trigger resolves, thus avoiding discarding a card but still drawing one?

Question

Accepted Answer

Ruling: Yes, you can play reaction spells in response to Merchant's move trigger to empty your hand before it resolves, allowing you to discard 0 cards and draw 1 card.

Sequence:
- Move Merchant to battlefield
- Merchant's move trigger goes on the stack
- In response, you can play as many reaction spells as you want (potentially emptying your hand)
- Resolve all reaction spells
- Resolve Merchant's move ability (if hand is empty, discard 0 and draw 1)

Nuances:
- Action spells cannot be played onto a chain in response to cards/effects
- You cannot "forget" the trigger and resolve it later after playing spells - this would be considered a missed trigger and would not be allowed in tournament play