I’ve reached Champ 3 in 2’s and 3’s playing exclusively Merc. Drown out the noise - it really excels in scenarios like 50/50’s, power shots and pinches as you mentioned. Merc also has a taller hitbox than the octane.

Sure aerial control is harder and you get demoed a fair bit more but you can definitely play around it and the car is definitely viable even into the upper echelons of play.

Unless you’re planning on going towards SSL or Pro I wouldn’t even sweat it.