Archetype Analysis: Melodious

Posted on by

Last updated: 07.05.2022

“Bloom Diva the Melodious Choir” shows the opponent that violence is not the answer; only to clubber them over the head afterwards with its effect.

Within the six Attributes that exist in Yugioh (Divine does not really count, does it?) there is a clear favorite in Dark. For the longest time, the best generic effects for Attributes could be found in the ranks of the dark purple symbol in the upper right corner of monster cards. If I would be asked what comes second, I would properly answer Light; but in reality it is not that simple. Light Attribute archetypes do tend to not mingle in other engines but rather stick to their group of peers, which is one of the major issues with the archetype at hand: “Melodious”. This group of music- and floral-themed monsters is certainly able to do some impressive stuff on its own, but tends to exclude other cards by putting up signs saying “Melodious only” in their archetype. But before I go into further detail right here, I invite you on a journey through a Fusion-focussed archetype that is easy to play but sadly rather restrictive in deckbuilding.

Disclaimer: None of the information given by me is set in stone. Having an open mind in deck building and including creative ideas is always helpful, if only to further understand the playstyle and strategy of the deck you are about to build. There are probably choices that I list which can be labled as debatable, but no platform I know of gives a broad overview over both the archetypes and all the card choices, so I aimed to do just that. I will try to keep this page (as well as the other ones, once they are made) up-to-date, so if any reader feels like I skipped some amazing tech choice or a crucial card, just drop me a note and I will add the missing information if necessary. Furthermore, I use a number of sources for ideas and information, so a list with links that I deem useful is attached to the end of the page and credit is given whenever I can point to a source to do so.

The “Melodious” archetype consists of Light Fairy monsters that have a small variety of effects ranging from attack manipulation, over Special Summoning themselves, to supporting Fusion Summons. The last part is important since “Melodious” rely on Fusion Summoning as their Extra Deck summoning method of those, albeit with one Link Monster being available that helps the archetype bringing its strategies together. One major part of playing “Melodious” is also assembling a sort of lock that makes it harder for the opponent to clear your board, but more on that in due time. For now, let us take a look at the orchestra the “Melodious” provide:

Archetype:

Name: “Score the Melodious Diva“
Level/Rank: 2
ATK/DEF: 200/200
Attribute/Type: Light Fairy

During damage calculation (in either player's turn), if a "Melodious" monster you control battles an opponent's monster: You can send this card from your hand to the Graveyard; change that opponent's monster's ATK and DEF to 0, until the end of this turn.

Let us start our journey into the world of music with “Score the Melodious Diva”. This Level 2 Light Fairy monster with 200/200 is the in-archetypal hand trap, since you can send the card from your hand to the graveyard in either player’s turn during the damage calculation if a “Melodious” monster you control battles an opposing monster to change the ATK and DEF of the opposing monster to 0 until the end of the turn. So, “Score the Melodious Diva” allows your monsters to basically take on anything as long as you only have to care about stats rather than other effects complicating things. Together with other cards in the archetype, “Score the Melodious Diva” is not only a good defensive option against opposing attackers, but also a key card to snatch a surprising victory by ramming an attack position monster on the opposing field. As such, this card can be run by preference, but I would suggest running at least one that you can fetch.

Recommended copies: 1-3

Name: “Sonata the Melodious Diva“
Level/Rank: 3
ATK/DEF: 1200/1000
Attribute/Type: Light Fairy

If you control a "Melodious" monster, you can Special Summon this card (from your hand). While this Special Summoned card is on the field, all Fairy-Type monsters you control gain 500 ATK and DEF.

In the Level 3 department, we only have one member in form of “Sonata the Melodious Diva”. With 1200/1000, “Sonata the Melodious Diva” is far from the most impressive stat-line for her level, but she comes with effects to make up for that. First off, if you control a “Melodious” monster, you can Special Summon “Sonata the Melodious Diva” from your hand. And secondly, while the Special Summoned “Sonata the Melodious Diva” is on the field, all Fairy-Type monsters you control gain an additional 500 ATK and DEF, including this card. This is a clear three-off for three reasons: The stat boost comes in handy more often than you would think, since “Melodious” is somewhat capable of spamming the board. The Special Summon effect helps getting two monsters on the field to use for the Link Monster “Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Composer“, which you do want to summon in most scenarios. And the lack of other good options in the deck kind of forces you to go all in with “Sonata the Melodious Diva”. All in all, a card that you should run three copies of.

Recommended copies: 3

Name: “Aria the Melodious Diva“
Level/Rank: 4
ATK/DEF: 1600/1200
Attribute/Type: Light Fairy

While this Special Summoned card is on the field, "Melodious" monsters you control cannot be targeted by card effects, or be destroyed by battle.

Moving up to Level 4, we have “Aria the Melodious Diva”, which comes with the following effect: While “Aria the Melodious Diva” is on the field after being Special Summoned, “Melodious” monsters you control cannot be targeted by card effects and cannot be destroyed by battle. Now, “Aria the Melodious Diva” does not have a Special Summon effect to trigger the board protection, but there are enough cards in the archetype that allows for an easy Special Summon of this monster to make her effect go live. Furthermore, “Aria the Melodious Diva” is even part of the so-called “Melodious” lock: Together with “Elegy the Melodious Diva“, the “Melodious” monsters on your side of the field are protected from targeting effects, battle destruction and card effect destruction, which can cause some serious problems to decks that solve issues on the opposing side of the field using one or multiple of those options. Granted, non-targeting, non-destruction removal does exist and will break the “lock”, but the combination of those two monsters will often give the “Melodious” player the breathing room they need in order to finish the game in their favor. I will list the various options to summon the lock with later on, but for now I would suggest to run one to three copies of “Aria the Melodious Diva”, with the exact ratio coming down to whether you would like to have her effect live more often even without the “lock” in place.

Recommended copies: 1-3

Name: “Canon the Melodious Diva“
Level/Rank: 4
ATK/DEF: 1400/2000
Attribute/Type: Light Fairy

If you control a "Melodious" monster, you can Special Summon this card (from your hand). You can only Special Summon "Canon the Melodious Diva" once per turn this way. Once per turn: You can target 1 "Melodious" monster you control; change its battle position.

We will be sticking the Level 4 for some while now, and continue with “Canon the Melodious Diva”. Effect-wise, “Canon the Melodious Diva” is Special Summonable from the hand if you control a “Melodious” monster, which is pretty much the same effect as that of “Sonata the Melodious Diva“; but unlike “Sonata the Melodious Diva” you can only Special Summon “Canon the Melodious Diva” once per turn this way. However, she also does have a unique part to her effect: Once per turn, you can target one “Melodious” monster you control and change its battle position. I mean, battle position changing is somewhat meh, even more so if you cannot even opt to target the opposing monsters. You can technically use this effect to switch some of your monsters into Defense Position after attacking in order to prevent taking loads of battle damage, which could happen if you attacked with “Bloom Diva the Melodious Choir“; but most of the time you will not use that part of “Canon’s” effect. However, the card is still very much a three-off in any “Melodious” deck: Just like with “Sonata the Melodious Diva“, you do want to get two monsters onto the field to Link Summon away for “Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Composer“, and by running three copies of “Canon the Melodious Diva” you are further increasing your chances of getting two monsters ready for said play. So, I would recommend playing three copies for those reasons.

Recommended copies: 3

Name: “Opera the Melodious Diva“
Level/Rank: 4
ATK/DEF: 2300/1000
Attribute/Type: Light Fairy

Cannot attack the turn it is Normal Summoned or flipped face-up. If this card is sent to the Graveyard as a Fusion Material for a Fusion Summon: You can activate this effect; for the rest of this turn, "Melodious" monsters you control cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects.

Next up is “Opera the Melodious Diva”. This Level 4 monster actually comes with an impressive statline of 2300/1000, so she is screaming for some drawback in order to balance her ATK stat. Said restriction reads as follows: “Opera the Melodious Diva” cannot attack the turn she was Normal Summoned or flipped face-up; meaning you can circumvent the issue of not attacking by Special Summoning the card. The effect goes on saying that if “Opera the Melodious Diva” is sent to the graveyard as Fusion Material for a Fusion Summon, you can activate the effect which for the rest of the turn prevent “Melodious” monsters you control from being destroyed by battle or card effects. “Opera” really does not provide something that is already done by other cards in the deck: Starting out with 2300 ATK is impressive, but unnecessary when you consider that the Fusion Monsters the “Melodious” archetype works with can grow bigger and/or inflict more damage while “Sonata the Melodious Diva” can boost pretty much anything on your field to sizeable amounts in ATK aswell. The second effect is also not that interesting, since it only provides a temporary protection whereas “Aria the Melodious Diva” is already in the deck to provides this protection more permanently. As such, “Opera the Melodious Diva” is not really necessary in any “Melodious” build and therefore skipped entirely.

Recommended copies: 0

Name: “Refrain the Melodious Songstress“
Level/Rank: 4
ATK/DEF: 1600/800
Attribute/Type: Light Fairy

Pendulum Scale: 1

Pendulum Effect:

You can target 1 "Melodious" Fusion Monster you control; send 1 "Melodious" monster from your Deck to the GY, and if you do, the targeted monster gains ATK equal to the sent monster's Level x 200 until the end of this turn. You can only use this effect of "Refrain the Melodious Songstress" once per turn.


Monster Effect:

If this card is Normal or Special Summoned: You can add 1 "Melodious" monster from your Deck to your hand, except "Refrain the Melodious Songstress". If a "Melodious" Fusion Monster(s) is Special Summoned to your field while this card is face-up in your Extra Deck: You can place this card in your Pendulum Zone. You can only use each monster effect of "Refrain the Melodious Songstress" once per turn.

WIP.

Recommended copies:

Name: “Serenade the Melodious Diva“
Level/Rank: 4
ATK/DEF: 400/1900
Attribute/Type: Light Fairy

This card can be treated as 2 Tributes for the Tribute Summon of a Fairy-Type monster. After this card is Special Summoned to your side of the field, you can Normal Summon 1 "Melodious" monster during your Main Phase this turn, in addition to your Normal Summon/Set. (You can only gain this effect once per turn.)

The next addition to the choir is “Serenade the Melodious Diva”. This monster is more on the defensive side with a statline of 400/1900 and comes with the following two effects: First of all, “Serenade the Melodious Diva” can be used as two tributes for the Tribute Summon of a Fairy-Type monster; which is basically irrelevant since we will not try to Tribute Summon any Fairies whatsoever. Furthermore, after “Serenade the Melodious Diva” was Special Summoned to the field, during the Main Phase of the turn she was Special Summoned you can Normal Summon one “Melodious” monster in addition to your regular Normal Summon per turn, but you can only gain this effect once. I am not going to lie, “Serenade the Melodious Diva” is pretty bad. Additional Normal Summons are very good in certain archetypes, but “Melodious” hardly Normal Summons monsters anyway and even goes as far as opting to run engines that can use the Normal Summon slot so that you get a little bit extra out of the affair. The fact that she only gives this extra Normal Summon for the Main Phase when she was summoned on top of the fact that you can only Normal Summon “Melodious” monsters this way makes her rather weak overall, and therefore a card to skip in deckbuilding.

Recommended copies: 0

Name: “Solo the Melodious Songstress“
Level/Rank: 4
ATK/DEF: 1600/1000
Attribute/Type: Light Fairy

If your opponent controls a monster and you control no monsters, you can Special Summon this card (from your hand). When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard: You can Special Summon 1 "Melodious" monster from your Deck, except "Solo the Melodious Songstress".

And yet another member of the Level 4 brigade comes with “Solo the Melodious Songstress”. Apart from mediocre stats and the same Typing and Attribute as the rest of the archetype, she comes with two unique effects: Firstly, if your opponent controls a monster and you control no monsters, you can Special Summon “Solo the Melodious Songstress” from your hand; which means that she is basically the “Melodious” version of “Cyber Dragon”. Furthermore, when “Solo the Melodious Songstress” is destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, you can Special Summon one “Melodious” monster from your deck, except for another copy of “Solo the Melodious Songstress”. This card is also problematic, but in an entirely different way than other cards I would suggest running zero copies of. The main issue with “Solo the Melodious Songstress” is her reliance on the opponent: Both of her effects can only really work if the opponent complies in a certain way. The Special Summon effect does not work going first since your opponent will not have a monster to meet the requirements, which means that “Solo the Melodious Songstress” is dead in your hand in fifty percent of the games and therefore inferior to “Sonata the Melodious Diva” and “Canon the Melodious Diva” in terms of summonability. The second effect makes “Solo” a battle searcher for the “Melodious” archetype, but there are reasons to why such effect fell out of favor over the years; and “Solo the Melodious Songstress” does not change anything about the fact that you would still need the opponent to run her over, which is slowly and hardly controllable. At the end of the day, “Solo the Melodious Songstress” does not feel worth running, which is why I would play zero copies of her.

Recommended copies: 0

Name: “Soprano the Melodious Songstress“
Level/Rank: 4
ATK/DEF: 1400/1400
Attribute/Type: Light Fairy

When this card is Special Summoned: You can target 1 "Melodious" monster in your Graveyard, except "Soprano the Melodious Songstress"; add it to your hand. You can only use this effect of "Soprano the Melodious Songstress" once per turn. Once per turn: You can Fusion Summon 1 "Melodious" Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, using monsters you control as Fusion Materials, including this card.

One of the key cards of the archetype comes with “Soprano the Melodious Songstress”. This Level 4 “Melodious” monster comes, as is so often the case, with two effects, both of which are massively helpful to the deck. The first effect states that when “Soprano the Melodious Songstress” is Special Summoned, you can target one “Melodious” monster in your graveyard, except for another copy of “Soprano the Melodious Songstress”, and add that monster to your hand; but you can only use that effect of “Soprano the Melodious Songstress” once per turn. The second effect of “Soprano the Melodious Songstress” allows you, once per turn, to Fusion Summon one “Melodious” Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, using monsters you control including this card as Fusion material. This one is really important to the deck: Not only can you recover monsters from the graveyard pretty much at will due to simply changing your search target to “Soprano”, but this is also an easily summonable Fusion starter that makes the need for a Fusion Spell null and void. “Soprano the Melodious Songstress”, together with “Ostinato“, are often the only ways to access the Fusion Monsters in your Extra Deck; and by the looks of it that strategy works out rather well. As such, I would suggest running one to three copies of “Soprano the Melodious Songstress”: You do not need her in every scenario, but she is valuable enough for the strategy to find space in the deck.

Recommended copies: 1-3

Name: “Tamtam the Melodious Diva“
Level/Rank: 4
ATK/DEF: 1000/2000
Attribute/Type: Light Fairy

If this card is Special Summoned while you control a "Melodious" monster: You can add 1 "Polymerization" from your Deck or Graveyard to your hand. If this card is sent to the Graveyard as a Fusion Material for a Fusion Summon: You can target 1 "Melodious" monster you control; it loses 500 ATK, and if it does, inflict 500 damage to your opponent.

The last Level 4 “Melodious” monster is “Tamtam the Melodious Diva”. Just like many members of the archetype before her, “Tamtam” is another monster that profits from being Special Summoned since she allows the player to search the deck for a “Polymerization” and add it to the hand. Furthermore, if “Tamtam the Melodious Diva” is sent to the graveyard as a Fusion Material for a Fusion Summon, you can target one “Melodious” monster you control, it loses 500 ATK and if it does the opponent takes 500 burn damage. “Tamtam” is the fusion support of the “Melodious” deck since she can fetch the generic “Polymerization” to use Fusion Summoning more often. Whether you really need her is up to preference though since “Soprano the Melodious Songstress” does a brilliant job of starting Fusion Summons without the need of searching some Spell cards first. The second effect might seem odd, but allows “Bloom Diva the Melodious Choir” to inflict even more damage on top of the 500 damage the player took from “Tamtam the Melodious Diva’s” effect already. In all honesty, “Tamtam” is not terrible but I would say the card is definitely niche, which is why I would either go with zero or play one to Special Summon out for the “Polymerization” search.

Recommended copies: 0-1

Name: “Couplet the Melodious Songstress“
Level/Rank: 5
ATK/DEF: 1200/2000
Attribute/Type: Light Fairy

Pendulum Scale: 9

Pendulum Effect:

You cannot Pendulum Summon monsters, except LIGHT monsters. This effect cannot be negated. If you do not control any face-up monsters, other than "Melodious" monsters: You can add 1 "Melodious" Spell/Trap from your Deck to your hand. You can only use this effect of "Couplet the Melodious Songstress" once per turn.


Monster Effect:

If this card is added to your hand, except by drawing it for your normal draw: You can reveal this card; Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower "Melodious" monster from your hand or GY. If a "Melodious" Fusion Monster(s) is Special Summoned to your field while this card is face-up in your Extra Deck: You can place this card in your Pendulum Zone. You can only use each monster effect of "Couplet the Melodious Songstress" once per turn.

WIP.

Recommended copies:

Name: “Elegy the Melodious Diva“
Level/Rank: 5
ATK/DEF: 2000/1200
Attribute/Type: Light Fairy

Special Summoned "Melodious" monsters you control cannot be destroyed by card effects. If this card was Special Summoned, all Fairy-Type monsters you control gain 300 ATK.

We ascend into the realms of monsters that cannot be Normal Summoned without tribute anymore; but in the knowledge that we probably won’t ever have to rely on something being tributed first. The next member of the “Melodious” archetype to take a look at is “Elegy the Melodious Diva”, a Level 5 Light Fairy monster with 2000/1200 as her stats. Effect-wise, she does the following: Special Summoned “Melodious” monster you control cannot be destroyed by card effects. Also, if “Elegy the Melodious Diva” was Special Summoned, all Fairy-Type monsters you control gain 300 ATK. Both effects of “Elegy the Melodious Diva” are certainly passable when Special Summoned out, but the most important information about this monster is that it is part two of the aforementioned “Melodious” lock. In order to protect your board from field nukes like “Dark Hole“, “Raigeki“, “Lightning Storm“, or whatever else the opponent might come up with that does not target but still destroys your monsters, you need to have “Elegy” in place. This is exactly the reason why one copy of her is in order: You need her in the deck to search her out for the lock, but you really do not want to see her in your hand in any scenario since that only complicates matters.

Recommended copies: 1

Name: “Shopina the Melodious Maestra“
Level/Rank: 7
ATK/DEF: 2300/1700
Attribute/Type: Light Fairy

Once per turn: You can target 1 LIGHT Fairy-Type monster in your Graveyard; add it to your hand. You cannot activate non-LIGHT monster effects during the turn you activate this effect.

We skip Level 6 for reasons unknown to me and go straight to Level 7 where we are greeted by “Shopina the Melodious Maestra”. “Shopina” is pretty straightforward effect-wise: Once per turn, you can target one Light Fairy-Type monster in your graveyard and add it to your hand, but you cannot activate non-Light monster effects during the turn your activate this effect. “Shopina the Melodious Maestra” is what I would refer to as combo filler, but she works well enough in the strategy to make her playable. You normally use her to retrieve “Score the Melodious Diva” or “Sonata the Melodious Diva” after using those as Link or Fusion material, but if she stays around you can technically retrieve any monster you like once per turn, which is helpful in the grind game if you have your lock in place and also gives you access to further Fusion Summons by retrieving “Soprano the Melodious Songstress” from your graveyard. Overall not the most impressive card in the “Melodious” archetype, but since she is easily summoned via “Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Composer” I would suggest playing one copy.

Recommended copies: 0-1

Name: “Mozarta the Melodious Maestra“
Level/Rank: 8
ATK/DEF: 2600/2000
Attribute/Type: Light Fairy

Once per turn: You can Special Summon 1 LIGHT Fairy-Type monster from your hand. You cannot Special Summon other monsters the turn you activate this effect, except for LIGHT monsters.

The biggest Main Deck monster “Melodious” has to offer is “Mozarta the Melodious Maestra”. This Level 8 Light Fairy monster with 2600/2000 can simply, once per turn, Special Summon a Light Fairy-Type monster from your hand, but you cannot Special Summon any other monsters the turn you activated this effect, except for Light monsters. “Mozarta the Melodious Maestra” really has two reasons to be in a “Melodious” deck: First of, she is a sizeable beater with 2600 ATK that will only further grow with the help of the boosting effects of “Sonata the Melodious Diva” and “Elegy the Melodious Diva“. And secondly, she provides an easy Special Summon for the archetype, not only by simply summoning whatever monster is available but especially by Special Summoning any part of the “Melodious” lock that you might have drawn into and now cannot summon via “Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Composer“. Let’s assume you have drawn your single copy of “Elegy the Melodious Diva“, which is now not available in the deck anymore. In that case, you can simply summon “Aria the Melodious Diva” as part one of the lock and “Mozarta the Melodious Maestra” to Special Summon “Elegy the Melodious Diva” from your hand in order to still assemble the optimal board. “Mozarta the Melodious Diva” is therefore a solid card to support the strategy, but due to not being easily summonable herself when drawn I would keep her at one copy.

Recommended copies: 1

Name: “Crystal Rose“
Level/Rank: 2
ATK/DEF: 500/500
Attribute/Type: Light Rock

Once per turn: You can send 1 "Gem-Knight" or "Melodious" monster from your hand or Deck to the Graveyard, and if you do, this card's name becomes the sent monster's name, until the End Phase. If this card is in your Graveyard: You can banish 1 Fusion Monster from your Graveyard; Special Summon this card in Defense Position. You can only use this effect of "Crystal Rose" once per turn.

And now for something completely unrelated: Roses. I haven’t seen “Arc-V” (yet), but I can only assume that the “Gem-Knight” player had some connection to Zuzu Boyle since we have “Crystal Rose” as a homage to both decks. The effect of this Light Rock monster is as follows: Once per turn, you can send one “Gem-Knight” or “Melodious” monster from your hand or deck to the graveyard, then this card’s name becomes the sent monster’s name until the End Phase. Furthermore, if “Crystal Rose” is in your graveyard, you can banish one Fusion Monster from your graveyard to Special Summon this card in Defense Position; but you can only use this effect of “Crystal Rose” once per turn. The job that this crystalline flower is supposed to be doing is rather clear: Some of your Fusion Monster require “Melodious Maestra” monsters specifically, rather than just “Melodious” monsters. “Crystal Rose” can therefore send either “Shopina the Melodious Maestra” or “Mozarta the Melodious Maestra” from your deck to the graveyard (which would be graveyard setup if the deck could make use of it), and then assume the identity of the sent monster which therefore qualifies “Crystal Rose” to be used for that Fusion requirement. Now, here is the problem: In most “Melodious” decks, you do not run enough copies of the higher level monsters to ditch them to the graveyard for the effect of “Crystal Rose” and upping their numbers is harming the consistency of the deck more than it helps having this Fusion substitute around. Also, while it is possible that you have a Fusion Monster in the graveyard that you cannot work with otherwise to banish for the Special Summon of “Crystal Rose”, you do not need that monster on the field at all since you cannot Link Summon “Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Composer” with it due to “Crystal Rose” being a Rock-Type monster when a Fairy-Type monster is required. All in all, there is no reason for me to run any copies of this card in “Melodious” deck, so I would suggest running zero.

Recommended copies: 0

Name: “Brilliant Rose“
Level/Rank: 2
ATK/DEF: 500/500
Attribute/Type: Light Rock

(This card is always treated as a "Gem-Knight" card.)
You can discard 1 "Gem-Knight" or "Melodious" card; Special Summon this card from your hand. You can only use this effect of "Brilliant Rose" once per turn. Once per turn: You can send 1 "Gem-Knight" or "Melodious" monster from your Extra Deck to the GY; until the End Phase, this card's name/Type/Attribute become the same as the original name/Type/Attribute of the monster sent to the GY to activate this effect.

The idea of crystalline roses seems to have stuck with Konami, which released “Brilliant Rose” as another fusion helper/substitute to use by “Gem-Knights” … and also “Melodious”, apparently. “Brilliant Rose” is a Level 2 Light Rock monster with 500/500 as its stats and is always treated as a “Gem-Knight” card; but not as a “Melodious” card for some weird reason that I cannot quite grasp. Effect-wise, you can discard one “Gem-Knight” or “Melodious” card to Special Summon “Brilliant Rose” from your hand; but you can only use this effect of “Brilliant Rose” once per turn. Furthermore, you can send one “Gem-Knight” or “Melodious” monster from your Extra Deck to the graveyard, then “Brilliant Rose’s” name, Type, and Attribute become the original name, Type, and Attribute of the monster you have sent to the graveyard for this effect until the End Phase. Unlike “Crystal Rose“, “Brilliant Rose” acknowledges that it might be used for more than just Fusion Summoning. The fact that you can discard a “Melodious” card to summon it allows you to spam a bit more and use resources that you could not summon that turn anyway to enable it. Now, I know that you can send any “Melodious” card, but realistically it could also just specify monsters since there is only one “Melodious” card in the backrow that has “Melodious” in its name, and chances are that you are not going to put “Melodious Illusion” into the deck to discard it for “Brilliant Rose”. The part that actually makes “Brilliant Rose” an option to consider when deckbuilding is the second effect: You have plenty of space in your Extra Deck to put in multiples of your “Melodious” Extra Deck monsters, and the fact that “Brilliant Rose” becomes a Fairy-Type “Melodious” monster for doing so makes it useful for the Link Summon of “Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Composer” as well as helpful Fusion material when necessary. Is this a staple for “Melodious” decks? Not in my humble opinion since you do already have a couple of Special Summonable “Melodious” monsters to go into the Link option as well as “Ostinato” and “1st Movement Solo” to further support that notion. But “Brilliant Rose” is definitely still playable as a preference card if you want to use it.

Recommended copies: 0-3

Name: “Bloom Diva the Melodious Choir“
Level/Rank: 6
ATK/DEF: 1000/2000
Attribute/Type: Light Fairy

1 "Melodious Maestra" monster + 1 "Melodious" monster

Cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects, also you take no battle damage from attacks involving this card. If this card battles a Special Summoned monster, after damage calculation: You can inflict damage to your opponent equal to the difference between the original ATK of that opponent's monster and this card, and if you do, destroy that opponent's monster.

After I mentioned Fusion Summoning so often over the course of the article so far, it is about time we actually get to see some purple cardboard. To start off, we have “Bloom Diva the Melodious Choir”, a Level 6 Light Fairy Fusion Monster with 1000/2000 as its stats. “Bloom Diva” has no specific restriction in its effect text when it comes to being Fusion Summoned, but needs specifically one “Melodious Maestra” monster and one “Melodious” monster as Fusion material. For that, you get a monster that cannot be destroyed by battle or card effect, and you also take no battle damage from attacks involving “Bloom Diva the Melodious Choir”. Furthermore, if “Bloom Diva the Melodious Choir” battles a Special Summoned monster, after damage calculation, you can inflict damage to the opponent equal to the difference between “Bloom Diva the Melodious Choir’s” ATK stat and that of the opposing monster, also destroy that opposing monster. With an effect block like that, “Bloom Diva the Melodious Choir” is a situational but definitely helpful card to work with. Her protection effects should keep her safe from a lot of harm that could come her way with only 1000 ATK, and she is no slouch when attacking either since the burn damage can get rather high depending on what monster you decided to attack with “Bloom Diva”. There are some effects that are even supposed to help this very effect, like “Tamtam the Melodious Diva” lowering the ATK of one of your monsters to inflict 500 burn damage or the Quick Spell card “Pianissimo” which brings protection that is already available in “Bloom Diva’s” (which, in fairness, is still applied to other monsters in the archetype) but lowers her attack to 100 for another 900 points of burn damage. Like the rest of the in-archetypal Fusion Monsters, she can also be summoned via “Ostinato“, but due to her protection cannot be blown up by the effect during the End Phase, which is helpful if you want to keep her on the board. Long story short, “Bloom Diva the Melodious Choir” is a fine option to go into for both stalling and as a non-targeting removal option that also inflicts burn damage to the opponent. Since the Extra Deck space in “Melodious” is rather lax, I would consider playing any copy count between one to three.

Recommended copies: 1-3

Name: “Schuberta the Melodious Maestra“
Level/Rank: 6
ATK/DEF: 2400/2000
Attribute/Type: Light Fairy

2 "Melodious" monsters

During either player's turn: You can target up to 3 cards in any Graveyard(s); banish them, and if you do, this card gains 200 ATK for each. This effect can only be used once while this card is face-up on the field.

The most accessable “Melodious” Fusion Monster is “Schuberta the Melodious Maestra”. This Level 6 Light Fairy Fusion Monster with 2400/2000 as its stats can be Fusion Summoned by using any two “Melodious” monsters as Fusion material. The effect is also easy to understand: During either player’s turn, you can target up to three cards in any graveyard(s), banish those targeted card, and if you do “Schuberta the Melodious Maestra” gains 200 ATK for each of those card; but this effect can only be used once while this card is face-up on the field. “Schuberta” is the go-to option if you just need to have Fusion material in the graveyard to retrieve via the effects of the “Melodious” monsters, as well as the biggest beater stat-wise after the effect was used at full capacity. And just because the card is simple to understand does not mean that its bad: The “D.D. Crow“-esque graveyard banishing can be used to severely screw up the combos of certain decks that require graveyard setup, and her name allows you to use her as Fusion material for the other two Fusion Monsters the “Melodious” have access to since she is not only a “Melodious” monster but rather a “Melodious Maestra” monster. Again, there is plenty of Extra Deck space available in “Melodious”, so play her at any number from one to three copies.

Recommended copies: 1-3

Name: “Bacha the Melodious Maestra“
Level/Rank: 7
ATK/DEF: 2500/1800
Attribute/Type: Light Fairy

2 "Melodious" monsters


Your "Melodious" Fusion Monsters' activated effects cannot be negated while you control this Fusion Summoned card. You can only use each of the following effects of "Bacha the Melodious Maestra" once per turn. If this card is Special Summoned: You can Special Summon 1 "Melodious" monster from your Deck. If this card is sent to the GY: You can target 1 "Melodious" monster in your GY, except "Bacha the Melodious Maestra"; Special Summon it in Defense Position.

WIP.

Recommended copies:

Name: “Bloom Prima the Melodious Choir“
Level/Rank: 7
ATK/DEF: 1900/2000
Attribute/Type: Light Fairy

1 "Melodious Maestra" monster + 1 or more "Melodious" monsters

This card gains 300 ATK for each Fusion Material used for its Fusion Summon. This card can make a second attack during each Battle Phase. If this Fusion Summoned card is sent to the Graveyard: You can target 1 "Melodious" monster in your Graveyard; add it to your hand.

The last Fusion Monster in “Melodious” is also the one that potentially kicks the hardest: “Bloom Prima the Melodious Choir”. This Fusion Monster needs one “Melodious Maestra” monster and at least one “Melodious” monster as its Fusion material. “Bloom Prima” starts with 1900 ATK but gains another 300 ATK for each Fusion material used for its Fusion Summon, which means that she will be at least 2500 ATK big when entering the field with the lowest number of Fusion materials being used. Furthermore, “Bloom Prima the Melodious Choir” can make a second attack during each Battle Phase. And lastly, if a Fusion Summoned “Bloom Prima the Melodious Choir” is sent to the graveyard, you can target one “Melodious” monster in your graveyard and add it to your hand. “Bloom Prima” is the card you want to summon when you can go for the kill for obvious reasons: At least 2500 ATK with two attacks means a lot of damage if they get through, and with both “Sonata the Melodious Diva” and “Elegy the Melodious Diva” boosting the ATK of Fairy-Type monsters further, you can even edge on finishing the game with a direct attacking “Bloom Prima” alone. On the flipside, she is just a beatstick with a retrieving floating effect when she hits the graveyard, which might turn out to be quite terrible depending on what deck or strategy you have to face. Still, just like the other two “Melodious” Fusion Monster “Bloom Prima the Melodious Choir” has a place in the Extra Deck and should be run at one to three copies.

Recommended copies: 1-3

Name: “Flowering Etoile the Melodious Grand Choir“
Level/Rank: 8
ATK/DEF: 2800/1500
Attribute/Type: Light Fairy

1 "Melodious Maestra" monster + 2 "Melodious" monsters


(Quick Effect): You can banish any number of "Melodious" monsters you control (until the End Phase), then you can return up to that many face-up cards your opponent controls to the hand. You can only use this effect of "Flowering Etoile the Melodious Grand Choir" once per turn. If this face-up Fusion Summoned card in its owner's control leaves the field because of an opponent's card: You can Special Summon 1 "Melodious" monster from your Deck or Extra Deck, except "Flowering Etoile the Melodious Grand Choir".

WIP.

Recommended copies:

Name: “Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Composer“
Level/Rank: Link-2
ATK/DEF: 1000
Attribute/Type: Light Fairy

2 Fairy monsters

If this card is Link Summoned: You can discard 1 card; Special Summon 2 "Melodious" monsters with different Levels from your Deck to your zones this card points to, in Defense Position. You cannot Special Summon monsters the turn you activate this effect, except "Melodious" monsters. You can only use this effect of "Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Composer" once per turn. If a "Melodious" monster this card points to attacks, your opponent cannot activate cards or effects until the end of the Damage Step.

After all those Fusion Monsters, there is the need for the color blue in “Melodious”, don’t you think? Well, Konami thought so, which is why I can present “Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Composer” to you here. This Link-2 Light Fairy monster with 1000 ATK can be Link Summoned by providing two Fairy monsters as Link material. For that, you get a monster that if Link Summoned allows you to discard one card from your hand to Special Summon two “Melodious” monsters with different levels straight from your deck in Defense Position into the zones it is pointing to. However, you cannot Special Summon monsters the turn you activate this effect, except for “Melodious” monsters and you can only use this effect of “Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Composer” once per turn. Lastly, if a “Melodious” mosnter this card points to attacks, the opponent cannot activate cards or effects until the end of the Damage Step. This is one of your major enablers for multiple reasons: “Bloom Harmonist” can Special Summon both parts of the “Melodious” lock on its own since the monsters needed are Level 4 and Level 5 respectively. In addition to that, you can summon the materials for any “Melodious” Fusion Monster with “Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Composer” since you can combine “Soprano the Melodious Songstress” with any of the non-Level 4 monsters and go straight into a Fusion Summon via the effect of “Soprano“. You can also summon the two biggest Main Deck monsters in form of “Shopina the Melodious Maestra” and “Mozarta the Melodious Maestra“, which work both as big beaters during the next turn when you can turn them into Attack Position as well as the recovery crew due to “Shopina” returning a “Melodious” monster from your graveyard to your hand, which you can then Special Summon from your hand via the effect of “Mozarta“. Now, the card does not only bring sunshine to the archetype since locking you into “Melodious” while also requiring the Extra Monster Zone to point to two Main Monster Zones severely restricts deckbuilding; but the card is still one of the best monsters the “Melodious” archetype has to offer, which is why I would suggest running two to three copies of it.

Recommended copies: 2-3

Name: “1st Movement Solo“
Type: Normal Spell

If you control no monsters: Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower "Melodious" monster from your hand or Deck. You can only activate 1 "1st Movement Solo" per turn. You cannot Special Summon monsters during the turn you activate this card, except "Melodious" monsters.

The first Spell card in the arsenal of “Melodious” is “1st Movement Solo”. This Normal Spell can be activated if you control no monsters, in which case you Special Summon one Level 4 or lower “Melodious” monster from your hand or deck; but you can only activate one “1st Movement Solo” per turn and you cannot Special Summon monster during that turn, except for “Melodious” monsters. This is basically a more restrictive version of “Unexpected Dai” but for “Melodious” monsters. Now, locking yourself into “Melodious” sounds pretty bad but since “Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Composer” does basically the same after summoning the monsters you are not missing out on much anyway. What “1st Movement Solo” provides though are up to three card slots that Special Summon a monster, meaning you only need to Normal Summon a “Melodious” monster or Special Summon “Canon the Melodious Diva” or “Sonata the Melodious Diva” to have the two monsters required to summon the Link Monster. As such, “1st Movement Solo” is a huge boost to the consistency of the strategy and therefore a card I would recommend playing three copies of.

Recommended copies: 3

Name: “Fortissimo“
Type: Continuous Spell

Once per turn: You can target 1 "Melodious" monster you control; it gains 800 ATK until your next Standby Phase (even if this card leaves the field). You can send this card to the Graveyard; Fusion Summon 1 "Melodious" Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, using monsters you control as Fusion Materials.

Next up is “Fortissimo”, a Continuous Spell. It allows you to, once per turn, target one “Melodious” monster you control and give it another 800 ATK until your next Standby Phase, even if “Fortissimo” leaves the field in the meantime. Furthermore, you can send “Fortissimo” to the graveyard to Fusion Summon one “Melodious” Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck using monsters your control as Fusion materials. “Fortissimo” does not really set me alight: It is completely unsearchable as a Fusion Spell, other than the generic “Polymerization” which I could make more consistent if I wanted and even needed to card, and the 800 ATK boost for one monster is a rather weak argument for the playability of the card when there are plenty of monsters in the deck already providing passive bonuses to ATK on their own. As such, “Fortissimo” is a zero-copy choice in my book.

Recommended copies: 0

Name: “Melodious Concerto“
Type: Normal Spell

Fusion Summon 1 Fairy Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, using monsters from your hand, field, and/or Pendulum Zone as material. If a "Melodious" Fusion Monster(s) is sent to your GY while this card is in your GY, even during the Damage Step: You can place this card on the bottom of the Deck, then draw 1 card. You can only use each effect of "Melodious Concerto" once per turn.

WIP.

Recommended copies:

Name: “Ostinato“
Type: Normal Spell

If you control no monsters: Fusion Summon 1 "Melodious" Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, using 2 monsters from your hand and/or Deck as Fusion Material. During the End Phase of this turn, destroy the monster Fusion Summoned by this effect, and if you do, if all the Fusion Materials that were used for its Fusion Summon are in your GY, you can Special Summon all of them.

One of the most important cards in “Melodious” is “Ostinato”, a Normal Spell with the following effect: If you control no monsters, Fusion Summon one “Melodious” Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, using two monsters from either your hand and/or deck as Fusion material. During the End Phase of that turn, destroy the monster that was Fusion Summon via “Ostinato”, and if you do Special Summon all the Fusion materials that were used for the Fusion Summon if they are still in the graveyard. This card enables loads of plays: If you want to search out “Score the Melodious Diva“, you can use it as Fusion material from the deck to Fusion Summon a monster like “Bloom Prima the Melodious Choir“, Normal or Special Summon another “Melodious” monster, Link Summon “Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Composer“, and then via the effect of the Link Monster Special Summon “Shopina the Melodious Maestra” or “Soprano the Melodious Songstress“, which will allow you add it from the graveyard to your hand. This strategy does work with pretty much any “Melodious” monster you would like to get in your hand. The Fusion Monsters also interact with “Ostinato” to a certain degree: “Schuberta the Melodious Maestra” can still use her graveyard banishing effect if necessary, “Bloom Prima the Melodious Choir” will still fetch a “Melodious” monster from your graveyard, and “Bloom Diva the Melodious Choir” cannot be destroyed via the effect of “Ostinato”, meaning that the Spell card simply works like a normal Fusion Spell in that scenario. But most important of all, you can use “Ostinato” as a one-card “Melodious” lock setup: Fusion Summon “Schuberta the Melodious Maestra” using “Aria the Melodious Diva” and “Elegy the Melodious Diva” as Fusion material, do the rest of your turn as normal, then during the End Phase destroy “Schuberta” via the effect of “Ostinato” and Special Summon both parts of the lock in Defense Position to your side of the field. All of those facts make “Ostinato” a card of paramount importance to the “Melodious” archetype, which is why you should run three copies in any deck working with the archetype.

Recommended copies: 3

Name: “Kahyoreigetsu“
Type: Equip Spell

Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower Fairy, Spellcaster, Winged Beast, or Beast-Warrior monster from your hand, and if you do, equip it with this card, then you can return all Dragon monsters on the field to the hand. During the End Phase, if this card is in the GY because it was sent there from the Spell & Trap Zone this turn while face-up: You can add 1 "Polymerization" Spell, "Fusion" Spell, or "Fusion Parasite" from your Deck to your hand. You can only use each effect of "Kahyoreigetsu" once per turn.

If you thought that random roses made out of crystal were strange additions to the “Melodious” archetype, wait until you hear what a completely random Equip card with four arms on it can do. “Kahyoreigetsu” is, as mentioned before, an Equip Spell that allows you to Special Summon one Level 4 or lower Fairy, Spellcaster, Winged Beast, or Beast-Warrior monster from your hand, equip the summoned monster with “Kahyoreigetsu”, and then you can return all Dragon monsters on the field on the hand(s). Furthermorer, during the End Phase, if “Kahyoreigetsu” is in your graveyard because it was sent there from the backrow while face-up during that turn, you can add one “Polymerization” Spell, one “Fusion” Spell, or one “Fusion Parasite” from your deck to your hand. You can only use each effect of “Kahyoreigetsu” once per turn. Oh boy, do I love me some anime-based cardboard. The picture shows the four dimension bracelets worn by their holders, which is why the card support such random monster types: Fairies for “Melodious”, Spellcaster for “Wind Witch”, Winged Beast for “Lyrilusc”, and Beast-Warrior for “Lunalight”. But back to the playability of the card at hand: Since the card text mentions “Polymerization” Spell, you can not only choose the usual “Polymerization“, but also cards like “Ultra Polymerization” or “Super Polymerization“. The same is obviously true for the “Fusion” moniker, which can cover anything from “Flash Fusion“, “Fusion Destiny“, “Red-Eyes Fusion“, or whatever else you can find with “Fusion” in the name that is also a Spell card. In “Melodious”, using “Kahyoreigetsu” comes down to Special Summoning a “Melodious” monster from your hand, which can be neat but is not particularly necessary as we have seen with “Brilliant Rose“. You then can bounce every Dragon on the board, which is cool if it applies since that can potentially clear the opposing board but is hardly ever going to be consistent. And then, during the End Phase, after you probably used the equipped monster as Fusion or Link material due to making destruction of your monsters rather difficult via the “Melodious” lock, you can search for a Fusion Spell that you would have to add to the deck for the sole reason of making it searchable via “Kahyoreigetsu” since you normally would not run any due to “Ostinato” and “Soprano the Melodious Songstress” doing their job rather well. Feel free to tinker with this card as much as you like, but I personally feel like this is a zero-copy card for “Melodious”.

Recommended copies: 0

Name: “Melodious Illusion“
Type: Normal Trap

Target 1 "Melodious" monster you control; this turn, that face-up monster you control is unaffected by your opponent's Spell/Trap effects, and it can make a second attack during each Battle Phase.

The only Trap card in “Melodious” is “Melodious Illusion”. This Normal Trap card targets one “Melodious” monster you control, which for the rest of the turn is unaffected by opposing Spell/Trap effects and can make a second attack during each Battle Phase. So, protection with added aggression, which does not help “Bloom Prima the Melodious Choir” that much due to already having two attacks per turn. The good thing about “Melodious Illusion” is that you could potentially use it if you wanted: “Trap Trick” can search it, which improves consistency, you can ditch it for “Brilliant Rose” if you play that card, and the protection effect might come in handy in some scenarios. Hell, even the double attacking effect can prove helpful when used on “Bloom Diva the Melodious Choir” since that result in more automatically destroyed monsters and would apply the burn effect two times. Unfortunately, all of this is very niche: The “Melodious” lock already provides ample protection, you rarely need extra attacks on one monster since you probably have enough to kick with if everything works anyway, and the fact that the card is a Trap makes it inherently slow; even more so if you consider that you need to wait a full rotation to make use of the double attacking part. As such, I would suggest running zero copies of “Melodious Illusion”.

Recommended copies: 0

Recommended Engines:

“Artifact”:
An “Artifact” engine is certainly possible to include into “Melodious” since they are also all Light Fairy monsters and therefore do not clash as badly as other archetypes would do. “Artifact Sanctum” allows you to summon your “Artifact” monsters during the opposing turn, which is exactly what you need since “Artifact Scythe” can turn off Special Summons from the Extra Deck, while “Artifact Moralltach” can provide a removal effect on reaction. Also consider playing “Trap Trick” to get “Artifact Sanctum” more often. You could also include “Artifact Dagda” in your Extra Deck: There is plenty of space in the Extra Deck so it does not hurt having it, it can provide an “Artifact” summon easily, and after it has done its thing, you can still use it and any other Fairy-Type monster to Link Summon “Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Composer” and continue as usual.

“The Agent”:
Since “Melodious” does not really make use of its one Normal Summon per turn, you might aswell get creative about how it can be used by other cards. One option to go with is a small “The Agent” engine: “The Agent of Creation – Venus” is well-known to loads of people for its Link material summoning ability, and in “Melodious” the job is no different. If you draw into “The Agent of Creation – Venus“, you can spend up to 1500 life points to spawn up to three copies of “Mystical Shine Ball” straight from your deck; the only problem being that you need to draw into “Venus” without drawing into the “Mystical Shine Ball” which are not that useful in your hand. That does not mean that they are completely pointless though: If you have a “Mystical Shine Ball” in your hand, you can still opt to Normal Summon it because “Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Composer” only asks for Fairy-Type monsters as Link material. Also, you can use “Transmodify” on a “Mystical Shine Ball” to Special Summon a copy of “Sonata the Melodious Diva” straight from your deck. Lastly, you can technically play a few copies of “Master Hyperion“, which can use “The Agent of Creation – Venus” to be Special Summoned by banishing the card after it was used as Link material and proves a helpful destruction effect. If you want to go down the “Master Hyperion“-route, you can also add “Protector of the Agents – Moon” to your Extra Deck, which not only provides the setup to summon “Master Hyperion” when Link Summoned, but also can turn Fairy-Type monsters into removal.

“Trickstar”:
A small “Trickstar” engine can serve as both a consistency booster as well as providing a few helpful effects. “Trickstar Light Stage” can search out “Trickstar Candina“, and vice versa. Giving your Normal Summon to “Trickstar Candina” means that you can also search for a copy of “Trickstar Reincarnation” if “Trickstar Light Stage” is already on the field or not available anymore, giving you the usual hand banishing effect as well as another way to resummon “Trickstar Candina” as Link material. “Terraforming” is optional in this scenario, but since “Trickstar Light Stage” not only provides the search and a little bit more burn damage but also the ability to lock a card in the backrow for a turn, putting more ways to search for it are not necessarily a bad idea.

Further useful cards:

Main Deck monsters:

“Aurora Paragon“:
A Light Fairy monster that stops any Special Summons. You will normally summon this monster after the “Melodious” lock is set up, so you should not be harmed as much as the opponent by the effect of “Aurora Paragon”. The opponent can easily get around the Special Summon block by simply Normal Summoning a monster first, but the card still has value against matchups where the opponent cannot simply Normal Summon like “Eldlich” just to name one example. Also summonable via “Condemned Witch“.

“Barrier Statue of the Heavens“:
Similar to “Aurora Paragon” this card blocks Special Summoning, but instead of blowing up when a monster is Normal Summoned the “Barrier Statue” simply leaves a window for Light Attribute monsters. The idea is pretty much the same as with “Aurora Paragon” though: Either “Transmodify” into “Barrier Statue of the Heavens” or tribute “Condemned Witch” during the opposing turn to leave the Special Summon-less in the best case scenario. If you still have the Normal Summon during your turn open, “Barrier Statue of the Heavens” is also a good candidate for that summon method.

“Condemned Witch“:
A Fairy monster that will happily fill your Normal Summon while bringing some nasty option with it. On Normal Summon, you can search a “Forbidden” Quick Spell from your deck, which could be “Forbidden Lance” to make “Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Composer” unaffected by the opposing disruption, “Forbidden Chalice” as budget-friendly single target effect negation, or “Forbidden Droplet” as the more costly but also more powerful effect negation option that could silence multiple targets. During your opponent’s Main Phase, you can then tribute “Condemned Witch” to summon either “Aurora Paragon” or “Barrier Statue of the Heavens” to keep them from Special Summoning.

“Diviner of the Herald“:
“Diviner of the Herald” can serve as a one-card way into “Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Composer“. The idea is as follows: Normal Summon “Diviner of the Herald”, which will trigger the first effect and allow you to send “Trias Hierarchia” from your deck to the graveyard. Afterwards, you can tribute “Diviner of the Herald” for the graveyard effect of “Trias Hierarchia” to Special Summon it to the field, which in turn will trigger the second effect of “Diviner of the Herald” and allow you to Special Summon a Level 2 or lower Fairy-Type monster from either your hand or deck, which could be “Score the Melodious Diva” or whatever else targets you put into the deck.

“Herald of Orange Light“:
“Herald of the Orange Light” was very useful when “Eva” was unbanned since you could search for it while also fetching a copy of “Score the Melodious Diva“. The card is still solid though and can find space in the deck if monster effect negation is required.

“Honest“:
“Honest” is a pretty good choice to run in “Melodious” alongside “Score the Melodious Diva“. Attack manipulation is something that “Melodious” do anyway and surprising the opponent with sudden ATK raises that might also be accompanied by setting that opposing monster’s ATK to zero will certainly cause lots of damage and might even end the game there and then.

Spell cards:

“Called by the Grave“:
The anti-hand trap option that can keep “Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Composer” save from cards like “Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring“. Since you can only run one copy of “Called by the Grave”, I would not rely on it too much but the card is still solid in various situations.

“Downbeat“:
The reverse of “Transmodify“, fetching you a monster of the same Type and Attribute as the one you tributed for the effect but with one less level. While I would say that “Transmodify” is the better options, you can certainly still work with “Downbeat” if you want to: “Elegy the Melodious Diva” can be transformed into any Level 4 Light Fairy, “Mozarta the Melodious Maestra” can be made into “Shopina the Melodious Maestra” after using the Special Summon, and any Level 4 “Melodious” can be used to summon “Sonata the Melodious Diva” for a stat boost.

“Sky Striker Mecha – Eagle Booster“:
Similar to “Gullveig of the Nordic Ascendant” you absolutely want and need to resolve the effect of “Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Composer” in a “Melodious” deck. Cue “Sky Strike Mecha – Eagle Booster“, which can make your Link Monster unaffected by card effects for the turn and therefore allows you to get every other necessity in place.

“Transmodify“:
Not a card you that often but certainly a valid tool in “Melodious” if you draw into it. “Transmodify” can allow you to do lots of summon shenanigans in the deck, and since “Melodious” often have effects that trigger when being Special Summoned you can get further mileage out of using the card. “Sonata the Melodious Diva” can be transmodified into almost any Level 4 monster in the deck, meaning you can get a card back from the graveyard by choosing “Soprano the Melodious Songstress“, get board protection by choosing “Aria the Melodious Diva“, or lock the opponent out of Special Summoning by summoning “Barrier Statue of the Heavens“. If you play the “The Agent” engine, you can turn “Mystical Shine Balls” into “Sonata the Melodious Diva” for the stat boost, you can transform “Shopina the Melodious Maestra” into “Mozarta the Melodious Maestra” after using the retrieval effect, and any Level 4 monster can Special Summon “Elegy the Melodious Diva” if that part is still missing from the lock. There are more applications for the card in “Melodious”, but it is clear that it rewards creative thinking and give accessability to the deck that it normally would not have.

Trap cards:

“Mistake“:
A cheeky little option that I found in the “Melodious” Discord server. “Mistake” disallows players from searching their deck for cards to add to the hand, of which “Melodious” plays zero since they either summon the searched monsters directly or use the graveyard to retrieve resources. The opponent, however, might not be so lucky and potentially requires searching to get their strategy going which is where “Mistake” would hurt them immensely. Not a card that I would see in every build, but it does certainly work in some matchups.

“Torrential Tribute“:
Since your board can be protected from destruction effects, you can make “Torrential Tribute” a one-sided reactionary field clear. Not necessary in every “Melodious” deck, but a fun little option nonetheless.

Extra Deck monsters:

“Herald of Mirage Lights“:
The chances of summoning this monster in “Melodious” are pretty much non-existent, but should you be able to summon “Herald of Mirage Lights” you can negate Spell/Trap cards at the cost of discards Fairy monsters from your hand.

“Hip Hoshiningen“:
More stat boost for Light monsters. Not really terribly necessary, but still a valid option for Light-based decks.

Playstyle/Combos:

The “Melodious” archetype is easy to understand but rather weird in its current playstyle, which at the risk of being ridiculed for my choice of words, is something I can only describe as “stall beatdown”. Going first the “Melodious” archetype will normally try everything in its power to get both “Aria the Melodious Diva” and “Elegy the Melodious Diva” Special Summoned to the field to put the “Melodious” lock into place. Options to summon both monster that the lock requires are either “Ostinato” Fusion Summoning “Schuberta the Melodious Maestra” since the material tag in for the Fusion Monster during the End Phase, or the Link Monster “Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Composer“, which can summon both monsters when being Link Summoned for the cost of discarding a card. Said lock, as described before, really just consists of a wall of protected monsters that has to be broken by monster effect negation or non-targeting, non-destruction removal. If the opponent has such options at their disposal, the chances of winning are greatly diminished; however, if the opponent has no readily available answer, the “Melodious” can start their board building.

This also marks the point when the stalling becomes a beatdown strategy: “Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Composer” summons monster in Defense Position, so they cannot attack rightaway. After one turn, you are free to switch them to Attack Position, potentially giving you two big beaters alongside whatever else you have on the field already. The Special Summonable “Sonata the Melodious Diva” provides a 500 ATK and DEF boost for your entire monster line-up, while one part of the “Melodious” lock, namely “Elegy the Melodious Diva“, provides another 300 ATK for everyone. The protection that the aforementioned lock provides does also work when going in the offensive, making your entire board immune to targeting and destroying effects that could hold the advance. Fusion Summon one of your Extra Deck monsters, which are all solid choices in battle for their own reasons and kick with everything you have to reduce the opposing life points to zero. That is basically what playing “Melodious” boils down to.

There are different approaches to building your board though. The archetype might be linear in its combo play, but there is certainly some space to adapt if necessary. One combo I found in the “Melodious” Discord channel used both “Ostinato” and “Transmodify” to get the big Main Deck monsters onto the board, which could be a solid playstarter in certain situations. The start of a combo using those cards could look as follows:

This line above is not a finished combo yet, but you do have some options to work with since “Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Composer” is still open to provide the “Melodious” lock. This only shows what “Transmodify” can potentially do to change the look of your field. But for a more complete idea of where “Melodious” plays could be headed, I wrote down another combo below; which, depending on the board state, could lead to an OTK. Our starting hand consists of one copy of “Ostinato” and one random “Melodious” monster, for which I used “Canon the Melodious Diva“, and any other card in the hand:

This is not necessarily an OTK, but assuming that the opponent has only one monster (regardless of its ATK stat due to “Score the Melodious Diva” setting it to 0 ATK) you have “Bloom Prima the Melodious Choir” which can attack twice, was summoned with two Fusion materials so she gets an addition 600 ATK that way, plus 500 ATK bonus from “Sonata the Melodious Diva” for a total of 6000 damage ((1900+600+500)x2). “Sonata the Melodious Diva” does also boost herself, so she comes with 1700 ATK, and your Link Monster “Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Composer” is also able to attack and will also receive the stat buff from “Sonata the Melodious Diva“, which brings her to another 1500 ATK to add to the equasion, totaling at 9200 damage if only one monster is in the way. Also, keep in mind that the opponent is unable to react to the two attacks of “Bloom Prima the Melodious Choir” and the attack of “Sonata the Melodious Diva” due to them being in zones “Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Composer” points to, which stops the opponent from activating cards and effects during those attacks.

With the same hand I have listed above, we can technically even go into two Fusion Monsters if we are so inclined. By slightly changing the steps above, and a starting hand that contains “Ostinato“, a copy of either “Sonata the Melodious Diva” or “Canon the Melodious Diva“, and one other card, we can go down this route:

Granted, summoning two “Bloom Prima the Melodious Choir” might either not be the solution to the problem at hand or extreme overkill due to inflicting way over 10000 damage. But the Fusions are pretty much interchangeable, so you could change the “Bloom Primas” for the other two options. Also, earlier in the combo you could decide not to choose “Sonata the Melodious Diva” but instead fetch “Score the Melodious Diva” the lower the opposing ATK to 0. As you can see, in the limited options that “Melodious” have due to their xenophobia, there are some malleable combo line possible. And using the engines I have listed further up in the article, you can even go for completely different routes altogether.

Weaknesses/Counters:

Before we talk about any counters, there are two bottlenecks in the “Melodious” strategy that you might be able to throw your disruption at: The activation of “Ostinato” and the effect of “Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Composer“. “Ostinato” makes a lot of the “Melodious” plays possible and might be the one thing that gets the “Melodious” player set up for their lock, which is why negating the card might screw some the plan. Keep in mind though that the “Melodious” player can recover from a negated “Ostinato” with the help of “1st Movement Solo“, “Canon the Melodious Diva“, and “Sonata the Melodious Diva” still giving them enough monsters to go into their Link Monster and setting up plays that way. This brings us to disrupting the Link Monster itself, which is far more dangerous for the “Melodious” player: “Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring“, “Effect Veiler” or really anything else that can do something against the effect of “Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Composer” is potentially turn ending, because it leaves the “Melodious” player with a monster and therefore disallows both “1st Movement Solo” and “Ostinato” from being activated, all while the monster in question does not really provide anything anymore for the rest of the turn.

Apart from that “Melodious” is prone to Special Summon negation or blocking since they summon pretty much exclusively using that method. That makes cards like “Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo“, “Archlord Kristya“, the non-Light “Barrier Statues” or “Vanity’s Fiend” deadly against the strategy. Also, cards like “Summon Limit” or “Quiet Life” can be bad for the deck, albeit not being as effective as flatout banning Special Summoning in the first place. The high number of summoned monsters might also be enough to trigger “Nibiru, the Primal Being“, which is bad news for the deck. “Melodious” also uses monster effects which can turn “Skill Drain” or similar cards into a viable option against the strategy. Lastly, the often mentioned “Melodious” lock does not hold up against non-targeting, non-destruction effects which can make certain bounce or banish effect very effective against “Melodious” while they are trying to stall for options.

Sample Decklist (May 2022):

And finally, here is my take at building a “Melodious” deck. The “Melodious” part is pretty much the usual stuff that you will see in lots of decks if you search the internet for the archetype. For the part of the deck that is more open for interpretation, I decided to include a small “Forbidden” engine with three copies of “Condemned Witch” to fill the Normal Summon slot and searchable Spell to work with. Other than that, I decided to make the deck rather first turn-heavy by including various Traps to stop the opponent from doing things I might not enjoy, and two copies of “Transmodify” for creative usage in the archetype.

Monster (21):

1x “Mozarta the Melodious Maestra“
1x “Shopina the Melodious Maestra“
1x “Elegy the Melodious Diva“
1x “Aria the Melodious Diva“
3x “Canon the Melodious Diva“
3x “Soprano the Melodious Songstress“
2x “Honest“
1x “Barrier Statue of the Heavens“
3x “Condemned Witch“
3x “Sonata the Melodious Diva“
2x “Score the Melodious Diva“

Spell/Trap (19):

2x “Transmodify“
3x “Ostinato“
3x “1st Movement Solo“
1x “Called by the Grave“
1x “Forbidden Droplet“
1x “Forbidden Lance“
3x “Torrential Tribute“
2x “Solemn Strike“
1x “Solemn Judgment“
2x “Solemn Warning“

Extra Deck (15):

2x “Bloom Prima the Melodious Choir“
3x “Schuberta the Melodious Maestra“
2x “Bloom Diva the Melodious Choir“
1x “Borrelsword Dragon“
1x “Knightmare Phoenix“
1x “Knightmare Cerberus“
2x “Hip Hoshiningen“
2x “Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Composer“
1x “Herald of Mirage Lights“

Leave a comment