(Melody, Sing-along | Art by Andy Aslamov)

As the ambient music of a nearby concert washed over the crowd and flooded into the Alchemist’s Coffer, The Proprietress was adding another brew to her shelves, listening to a fiddle as she hummed away, doing her work. A small, easy smile would greet any and all who entered as The Proprietress returned to the counter, eager to peddle her wares.

Hum a New Tune

It’s time for a new brew, so today we’re looking at Melody, Sing-along, the new Bard hero from Round the Table. Whether it’s singing a song for a crowd to hand out buffs, or stockpiling the residual Copper from putting on a good show, Bard has a very unique approach to things.

This list takes more of a glass cannon approach, stockpiling Coppers and waiting until the perfect moment. Using a variety of cards that block and pitch well, combined with useful effects, Melody should weather the storm just in time for the Final Act.

To find the end of the game, blocking is paramount, as is the occasional token for the opponent to accrue Copper with Jinglewood, Smash Hit. With cards to keep you alive and dig deeper, just load the cannon and obliterate those across from you. Even when it fails to hit its mark, the deck has a few additional cards to try and clinch the win if the cannon shatters.

The main plan is to draw as many cards off of Copper and Gold as possible to stack up cards in the pitch zone and then swing with Final Act before giving it go again, then getting it back with Encore and attacking again. Whether or not you enjoy long defenses or a flashy finish, this list might strike your fancy.

Melotk

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Hero (1) 1 Melody, Sing-along Weapons (1) 1 Jinglewood, Smash Hit Equipment (4) 1 Crown of Dominion 1 Fyendal’s Spring Tunic 1 Vambrace of Determination 1 Snapdragon Scalers Main (38) 2 Command and Conquer 2 Fate Foreseen red 2 Final Act 2 Fyendal’s Fighting Spirit red 2 Oasis Respite red 1 Imperial Ledger red 2 Sink Below red 2 Cash In 2 Encore 2 That All You Got 2 Fyendal’s Fighting Spirit blue 2 Last Ditch Effort 1 Sift blue 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 2 This Round’s on Me Sideboard (7) 2 Down and Dirty 1 Fyendal’s Fighting Spirit yellow 1 Crown of Providence 1 Nullrune Hood 1 Nullrune Gloves 1 Nullrune Boots

Face the Music

With a basic overview and list in hand, a closer look at the cards is in order.

First we have defensive options such as Sink Below and Oasis. These cards keep you healthy and alive while you prepare the climax for your main trick. In order to dig for the finisher we have tools like Cash In, Sift and Whisper of the Oracle to look deeper and selectively add cards to your hand for the final act.

With those categories out of the way, next are the Songs. With each song played you get a Copper, though the person across the table gets a token that can range from an inconvenience to a genuine problem for you. With Songs critical to the plan, it’s important to asses and figure out which Songs to sing and which ones to pitch or block with.

Fyendal's Fighting Spirit, That All You Got? and This Round’s on Me are all additional cards to help insulate yourself from smaller attacks and preserve your life total. Crown of Dominion and Imperial Ledger generate Gold for Cash In and additional draws to break when going for your Final Act.

Keeping a balance of offense and defense is crucial to keeping yourself alive and applying some disruption to your opponent with Command and Conquer. Though it’s unlikely to work, you do have Last Ditch Effort to try and fight from a losing situation.

Lost in Thought

Even though there is a slow build-up to a large bang, this pile can be a plenty fun time with preparation and finding out winning routes for a one-shot deck. Though it’s not for everyone, the mad scientist and combo type of people might enjoy it, preparing an over the top finish while holding out with a defensive suite as long as possible. This list could also possibly find a home with control-oriented players as well, leveraging a defensive style with a patient player to find the best stack or opening to go on the offensive.

Even though it may be tricky to pilot, Melody poses a genuine possibility to perform well and threaten large numbers one after another. This list is a bit of a glass cannon however, so if the main plan fails, it’s unlikely that you’ll recover.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you will at least give the deck some consideration. Until we meet next, I hope you are well.

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.