[ QUOTE ]
the recharge times on the mercs cc are far too long to consider them a control primary. that title rests solely in the hands of necro.
but if you can handle all of the cc you need as an mm in your secondary and patron pool...
[/ QUOTE ]
I don't consider them a control primary, so recharge even though I to consider them too long is irrelevant. I mentioned their controls to point out that they are not the same as Thugs.
Go FF.
Then there will be two of us. I'm lonely. 
"He may be arrogant, but he happens to be correct" - Ellis
"The server is full of crazies" - New_Dark_Age
Rainbow Arcana / Diamond D: Legion of Freedom - Virtue
lof.guildportal.com
I played merc/traps once, early on, til the mid 30's, when CoV first came out and before my interest in villainy eased off. It went fine. (I've had other mercs too, but never since that high.)
I'm confident that mercs would do fine with /TA, /traps, /storm, /dark, /poison, and /FF. Other people have had better experience with /pain than I have had, and based on that, I can't rule it out either.
It's a solid if not flashy primary. Pick a secondary with a playstyle you'll be happy with and of some interest to you. That sounds more like /storm than others, but really, the field is wide open.
the recharge times on the mercs cc are far too long to consider them a control primary. that title rests solely in the hands of necro.
but if you can handle all of the cc you need as an mm in your secondary and patron pool...