When Traveling Merchant moves to a battlefield, does its move trigger go on the initial chain along with defend and attack triggers, or does it need to resolve before an initial chain begins?

Ruling: The move trigger must resolve completely before the initial combat chain begins. Traveling Merchant's move trigger goes on a chain first, and only after that chain closes will combat open and the initial chain be populated.

Sequence:

• Merchant moves to the battlefield
• Move trigger goes on the chain and contested is applied
• Combat is staged during cleanup
• The move trigger finalizes, but combat fails to open because the turn state is not neutral open (it's neutral closed)
• Once the move trigger's chain closes and turn returns to neutral open state, combat opens in the following cleanup
• Then the initial chain is populated with defend and attack triggers

Nuances:

• If units of two opposing players are no longer present at a battlefield that has a combat staged before it has opened (e.g., a unit flashes away in response to the move trigger), the combat will cease being staged during cleanup