With Round The Table coming out we’re getting four new Blitz decks, and in this little ditty we’ll be going over Melody, the new Blitz-legal Bard, and Ira with a bunch of cats.

Lose Yourself to the Music

With Bard’s arrival into Blitz, featuring Melody, and actual Bard cards as well, the game looks to be a touch friendlier. With Melody comes songs, cards that give everyone else at the table a benefit while the Bard gets nothing. Thankfully Melody is able to bring in some Coppers equal to the number of opponents, or potential friends, you have at the table. While more suited for Ultimate Pit Fight and formats with more than two players, there is the possibility for you to get away with some interesting tricks in Blitz. And along with the new group hug card type comes new equipment that gives everyone at the table some free stuff.

"Round the Table Melody"

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Hero (1) 1 Melody, Sing-along Weapons (1) 1 Jinglewood, Smash Hit Equipment (4) 1 Nom de Plume 1 Heat-throb 1 Fiddle-dee 1 Quickstep Main (40) 2 Coax a Commotion 2 Crowd Control red 2 Final Act 2 Life of the Party red 2 Sigil of Solace red 2 Interlude red 2 Encore 2 Crowd Control yellow 2 Interlude yellow 2 Crowd Control blue 2 Interlude blue 2 Crazy Brew 1 Energy Potion 1 Healing Potion 1 Potion of Strength 2 Song of Jack-be-Quick 2 Song of Sweet Nectar 2 Song of the Rosen Matador 2 Song of the Shining Knight 2 Song of the Wandering Mind 2 Song of Yesteryears 1 Timesnap Potion

With tokens going everywhere and Melody accruing more Copper than I can count, Final Act swoops in to save the day and finish off opponents (maybe two if you have a Quicken and Encore in hand).

Outside of helping everyone at the table and making some profit off of it, Melody comes with a suite of potions to keep the good times going (maybe from a certain coffer?) including Energy Potion, Timesnap Potion, Potion of Strength, Healing Potion, Crazy Brew, and Life of the Party.

All partied out with potions and songs, Melody can easily Coax a Commotion to keep the good times rolling with some Crowd Control to keep her safe. While hard to say for now, Melody looks like a fun deck to spread the love in UPF and a possible brew to see later in Blitz.

Tigers, Cats, and Swords. Oh My.

Ira makes a return in the form of a Blitz deck, this time bringing a bunch of Crouching Tigers with her. With Ira’s simple but effective text box, this deck seems poised to be fairly aggressive, with a death by a thousand cuts style. Even if it’s one damage from a tiger now, it could build a larger attack such as Salt the Wound powering itself up for every small poke.

"Round the Table Ira"

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Hero (1) 1 Ira, Crimson Haze Weapons (1) 1 Edge of Autumn Equipment (4) 1 Mask of Three Tails 1 Blood Scent 1 Tearing Shuko 1 Pouncing paws Main (40) 2 Bittering Thorns red 2 Blessing of Qi red 2 Flex Claws red 2 Flying Kick red 2 Growl red 2 Leg Tap red 2 Mauling Qi 2 Pouncing Qi red 2 Qi Unleashed red 2 Bittering Thorns yellow 2 Flex Claws yellow 2 Growl yellow 2 Leg Tap yellow 2 Predatory Streak yellow 2 Salt the Wound 2 Tiger Eye Reflex yellow 2 Blessing of Qi blue 2 Flying Kick blue 2 Predatory Streak blue 2 Tiger Eye Reflex blue

With new cards added to the Tigers, Ira can attack most of the table at once in UPF and get extra damage in against her foe in Blitz as well. With the advent of Bittering Thorns now having a red version, Ninja overall gets a dangerously powerful new card to add to its collection. With go again aplenty, and the ability to go very wide, Ira seems poised to take a swift and powerful swipe at everyone against her, linking cards together to trigger combos as well as finish the game with powerful pay-offs that reward a thousand smaller cuts that snuck through blocks.

Even though Ira might say simplicity is bliss, some of the cards released in this deck seem poised to be added to plenty of aggressive brews. Tiger Eye Reflex is the only block so far that can be played from arsenal and also leaves behind a Tiger to prepare for another barrage of cats on the next turn. Mask of Three Tails may seem like a weaker Mask of Momentum, but will have its own niche to fill for decks that may break up the times they hit in a turn. Each card added to this deck has a purpose and seeks to keep combat flowing smoothly for you alone.

Closing Acts and Final Thoughts

Round the Table is bringing in a swathe of new cards reprints. Whether you’re looking to play some Ultimate Pit Fight with friends or just add the cards to constructed decks, Round the Table seems to have something for each person and each playstyle. With Melody hugging everyone at the table to death and Ira simply stabbing them repeatedly, each deck seems unique and promising. Looking for Professor Teklovossen or Brevant, Civic Protector? Check out this article’s companion piece by Jo for a look at the other half of this box set. Until we next meet, enjoy some music and pet a cat if you so wish.

Mari Groh

Mari is a Flesh and Blood player who enjoys a good session of deckbuilding more than playing the actual game at times, though both sides of the game are her passion. A former Azalea main she has put her bow away in favor of concocting odd brews, having yet to find a true favorite deck again. Coming from a slew of different card games including Magic The Gathering the resident jank specialist is here to brew and jam games... so long as she isn't distracted by other games or creative writing.