Melodious Guide
This guide will focus on the Melodious archetype on the TCG Legacy of Destruction format in lieu of their newest support, while pointing out any differences in the OCG format. Any differences, developments, and new strategies will have this guide modified accordingly as it can still develop. Its role is to showcase the Deck's main game plan and win condition, combo lines, techs and more as exhaustively as possible.
Overview
Melodious (幻奏 in Japanese, Genso, originally translated as Fantasia) is an archetype which made its debut in April 2014 with Duelist Alliance, coinciding with their anime appearance in Yu-Gi-Oh ARC-V under the wing of Yuzu Hiiragi/Zuzu Boyle, the show’s deuteragonist. It is purely a LIGHT Fairy-type archetype whose focus is on its Monsters receiving benefits when Special Summoned and enabling said Summons, and that led to its main claim to fame being the “Aria/Elegy lock”, a formation that made all Melodious Monsters immune to being targeted by effects or destroyed in any way while Special Summoned. Later on, it applied Fusion Summoning into its strategies, albeit that did not steal away the focus from Aria and Elegy. Generally, the Deck underperformed throughout its entire lifespan, not receiving any tiered or rogue status except for a brief stay as Tier 2 in Duel Links, with Bloom Diva and Yuzu’s release there. However, in December 2023, new support from Legacy of Destruction was revealed that bolstered the Deck’s consistency immensely, leading to a great rise in playability. Now it is a midrange Deck with great protection but limited, if strong disruption, whose hard removal is exclusive to the Battle Phase, leading to a defensive playstyle which can be tough to break through and can transition into offense easily for OTKs. The Deck largely prefers to be played pure as several of its starters or extenders incur xenolocks that last for the entire turn, mostly effects that prevent you from Special Summoning Monsters.
The Deck is recommended for players who want:
- An easy to pilot Deck, ideal for learning matchups and timing of your limited but potentially strong disruption, as well as zone placement.
- A defensive midrange Deck with fantastic consistency thanks to multiple 1 Card starters and great follow-up, as well as much space for handtraps.
- A pure Deck that does not rely on generic Extra Deck Monsters for its endboards. But can use them if need be.
- A cute and classy aesthetic derived from its classical music theme, similar to that of Solfachords.
The Deck in its current state, as of now, has been released for some time and has been getting steady results in TCG tournaments. While not at the top, it has garnered interest at last with its tops, and more adaptations and developments will occur in the future. Regardless of that, the Deck can see good success in your matches and is not hard to play. The guide will serve as aid on how to get the most out of Melodious, but…
Most of all, what’s important is to have fun!
Main Deck
This section will focus on reviewing each archetypal or semi-archetypal Card individually, highlighting its main purpose, strengths and weaknesses.
Score the Melodious Diva
Score serves as the Melodious’ archetypal Honest, albeit this one affects the opponent, so it does not work against Towers Monsters such as The Arrival Cyberse @Ignister. Because of that, with the new support, she does not currently see play as she does not offer any unique sort of removal to justify a Deck slot due to a lack of space.
Serenade the Melodious Diva
Serenade’s additional NS when SS’d is largely unnecessary as the Monsters benefit from being SS’d and have enough ways to do so. Her being treated as 2 tributes for any Fairy could allow her to be the sole material of powerful Fairies such as Vanity’s Ruler and Archlord Kristya. However, that requires the Monsters to be hard drawn, as well as to not have spent your NS beforehand.
Sonata the Melodious Diva
Sonata is a free, non OPT SS from the Hand, making her a general purpose body as Link or Fusion Material to allow you to extend your plays. She also provides a decent stat boost to your Field to go for OTKs more easily or to get over Towers Monsters, which usually have around 3000 ATK, slightly above your Fusions. She or Canon are used in order to go for Harmonist after the 1st Melodious Monster is Summoned, if the main combo route through Bacha has been disrupted or is unavailable.
Canon the Melodious Diva
Canon has a similar role as Sonata’s as a free body, albeit that effect is HOPT. Also her OPT effect of changing a Melodious Monster’s position only has a niche application of switching the Monsters SS’d by Harmonist to ATK. Furthermore, if Aria is SS’d, Canon cannot activate that effect at all as she needs to target. As such, the two are mostly interchangeable, but Sonata is slightly preferred. Any Rank 4 plays would conflict with Harmonist and 1st Movement’s “Melodious” xenolock.
Tamtam the Melodious Diva
Previously the most disconnected Monster of the archetype as her search was unfeasible and her lowering ATK effect does not work with Bloom Diva properly, the new support has given Tamtam a new niche as a Monster that allows for a higher ceiling on Melodious endboards by adding more Cards for follow-up or handtraps, with the tradeoff being less consistency and more vulnerability to Droll & Lock Bird. Her effects are not HOPT, and they will come up more than once in combos, providing more resources. Can also add Fusion Substitute.
Opera the Melodious Diva
Opera sports a particularly high ATK stat with negligible tradeoff. Her GY effect when used as Fusion Material is largely redundant as Aria and Elegy already provide the same protection on the Field. In addition to this, Melodious lacks an in-archetype way to Fusion Summon during the opponent’s turn, let alone sending her to the GY for the effect to actually be used on the opponent’s turn, when it’s most relevant.
Soprano the Melodious Songstress
Soprano is a well-rounded extender, providing retrieval from GY when SS’d (HOPT) as well as Fusion Summoning of a Melodious with materials on Field (non-OPT). Usually SS’d from the Deck, but if in Hand, she is a decent NS for a Fusion such as Bacha or an early Etoile, and can be SS’d later for her effect and further Fusion Summoning. Be mindful of activating any effect that can SS her: it has to be first in a chain, otherwise Soprano misses the timing and will not add back a Melodious. With this in mind, it should never occur.
Solo the Melodious Songstress
Solo’s “Cyber Dragon” style SS condition clashes with 1st Movement Solo and Ostinato while being harder to fulfill and providing less payoff. Her SS from Deck when destroyed by battle is also unnecessary as other Melodious staples have a similar effect, and hard to pull off as Aria, a staple in endboards, prevents her destruction by battle.
Refrain the Melodious Songstress
Refrain is Melodious’ most important starter. She is the only Melodious whose on Summon effect is applied also on NS, and it can search any other Melodious Monster, ideally Couplet. As such, she is played as a Monster first and as a Scale later in the turn, when she is placed there by her own effect upon a Melodious Fusion being SS’d. Her Pendulum effect of sending a Melodious to GY can conflict with Aria’s on field effect, but she is usually summoned later in a combo line so it hardly comes up.
Couplet the Melodious Songstress
Couplet functions as a great extender, as she can SS a lower level Melodious from Hand or GY when added to the Hand, usually done by Refrain but also Shopina or Soprano. She is mainly used for her Pendulum effect of searching a Melodious S/T, but currently there are only 2. With Refrain, Couplet allows you to Pendulum Summon the entirety of the archetype, as well as most LIGHT Monsters, which her effect locks you to. Also serves as a starter.
Aria the Melodious Diva
Aria is essential to the Melodious’ identity and what led to their claim to fame and infamy. Part of the “Melodious Lock” established since the archetype’s inception, her targeting and battle protection when she is SS’d work against many effects of Decks, even ones that are currently meta such as Rescue-Ace or Runick, as well as generic staples such as S-P Little Knight, and handtraps that target. However, her effect also prevents your own Cards from targeting the Melodious, even if most of the archetypal ones are unused.
Elegy the Melodious Diva
Elegy is the second part of the “Melodious Lock”, preventing SS’d Melodious Monsters from being destroyed by effects, while generally providing a small ATK boost to Fairies. Her protection is more matchup dependent (great against Fire King currently) as Monster destroying staples such as Lightning Storm and Raigeki have fallen out of favor. Brickier to use as she’s a level 5, thus cannot be used as an NS in a pinch, unlike Aria. Side her if unsure.
Shopina the Melodious Maestra
Shopina boasts a similar effect to Soprano’s, only non-HOPT, and in combos in which she is Summoned early, it comes up frequently. She is, as such, ideal for retrieving Monsters sent to the GY by Ostinato or Refrain to essentially make it a search, with the possibility of Pendulum Summoning them later. The LIGHT effect xenolock hinders you more in the OCG due to the presence of Maxx “C”, but is otherwise largely inconsequential in a pure build. Obviously bricky and used as a Target for Bacha or Harmonist. Can also add back Orange Light.
Mozarta the Melodious Maestra
Mozarta is the original Melodious Boss Monster, as well as Yuzu’s signature ace in the anime. Unfortunately, the new support makes her role obsolete as many ways of Special Summoning were introduced, including Pendulum Summoning, which completely overlaps with her SS from Hand effect, while weakening its largely inconsequential xenolock. Her brickiness and redundant role have lamentably made this Maestra see no more use.
1st Movement Solo
1st Movement serves solely as a starter, being an Unexpected Dai which xenolocks and is a HOPT. As pure is the preferred build for Melodious, it’s not much of a drawback. The usual target for this Spell is Refrain, but if you have enough extenders in Hand then Aria is a preferable option as she nullifies targeting interruption such as Effect Veiler or Infinite Impermanence, which otherwise can disrupt many plays.
Fortissimo
Fortissimo’s ATK boost, while sizable, is mostly outdone by Refrain’s Pendulum Effect with no other upside and the same hindrance of having to target a Melodious Monster. Fortissimo’s Fusion Summon effect, likewise, is similar to Soprano’s in function, but more costly due to this unsearchable Spell being required, let alone being sent to the GY for this.
Melodious Concerto
Concerto is Couplet’s ideal search target, and functions as an archetypal Poly that can also use the Pendulum Zones as Material. It is recommended to use at least 1 of these as other methods of Fusion besides Ostinato will almost entirely require Monsters on Field. Its GY effect, which is draw power and recycling for Couplet to search it next turn, is also useful as a chain block, most applicable with Bacha’s GY effect as she’s usually sent to the GY as Fusion or Link Material.
Ostinato
Ostinato is Melodious’ strongest starter on its own, being a Branded Fusion which works only if you control no Monsters, but does not xenolock or have HOPT limitations, so you can use a second one if your field is emptied or the first one is negated. With this alone, Melodious endboards become significantly stronger and can easily bring out Flowering Etoile before Nibiru can be activated while allowing follow-up due to an easier access of Material and enabling Couplet’s SS effect much more effectively. The Fusion is destroyed at the EP, allowing you to SS its materials if they’re all in the GY. While it was Ostinato’s main application back in the day to SS Aria and Elegy easily, this hardly comes up now as not only does the Fusion need to stay on the Field, the materials cannot be moved from the GY.
Melodious Illusion
Illusion is Couplet’s only other search target and the only Trap Card that Melodious has in-game. While potentially it could be used as an answer to Dark Ruler No More and Forbidden Droplet (without Traps discarded), lamentably it cannot be activated at all if Aria (The one shown in this art), a staple in Melodious endboards, is also present. Furthermore, the double attacking effect does not give Bloom Prima extra attacks.
Extra Deck
Schuberta the Melodious Maestra
Schuberta is a triple D.D. Crow on legs that can be activated during the Damage Step. If used correctly, that effect can hinder your opponent greatly or protect yourself from “Called By” and the like by banishing its targets so they won’t be negated. The limitation of it only being usable once while face-up on the field can be circumvented by having her be temporarily banished by Etoile after using her effect, so it can be applied again next turn. Multiple Schubertas can also use their effect once each.
Bacha the Melodious Maestra
No matter the combo, Summoning Bacha is going to be priority number 1. The on-Summon effect of SS’ing any Melodious from Deck, then SS’ing any Melodious from GY when sent there, makes her a fantastic extender. The latter effect can also be used to SS an Etoile that was sent to the GY, furthering the Deck’s resilience. It needs noting that Bacha makes sure the Fusions’ activated effects can not be negated, BUT NOT the activations themselves. Any lingering effect negation will stop her effect as well, including the Deck SS.
Bloom Diva the Melodious Choir
Yuzu’s newer Ace Monster in the anime and Duel Links, Bloom Diva served as a supplement or an alternative to the Aria/Elegy lock as a pseudo-towers, as the only source of effect removal and constant burn damage against SS’d Monsters. With the new support, she is merely used as a last resort, usually off of Etoile’s floating effect. Taking no battle damage and pushing through Towers Monsters with sky-high ATK stats are small niches she keeps (The damage is off original ATKs).
Bloom Prima the Melodious Choir
A Cyber Twin Dragon that requires a Maestra as Material was not favored at all compared to Bloom Diva at release. Her GY effect was useful as a chain block for Harmonist before the support, but that niche has mostly passed its course. However, she is more useful as an OTK enabler thanks to Refrain’s Pendulum Effect and easier swarming. Using more than 2 materials for her Summon is ill-advised, except if it can secure you an OTK while under Harmonist to prevent BP related effects.
Flowering Etoile the Melodious Magnificat
The Melodious’ new end boss, Etoile’s the main source of disruption for the Deck. Her on field effect has many applications, mostly sorted in two uses: non-targeting bouncing the opponent’s Cards and dodging effects and restrictions by banishing Melodious Monsters until the EP. Monsters banished by her effect are treated as SS’d as they were, and Schuberta’s effect can be reused. Her floating effect can be applied even when Kaiju’d, and can SS anyone besides Etoile, increasing the Deck’s resilience considerably.
Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Composer
Harmonist can be treated as Melodious’ Plan B in combos, after Bacha or in her absence: SS’ing 2 from Deck is exceptionally powerful, but not only does that incur in a Melodious xenolock, but it is also vulnerable to all kinds of disruption: even if she so much as moves from her position, she will be denied as she has to SS to the zones she points to, which are also important for her second effect, that of not allowing the opponent to activate any effects the when Melodious in said zones attack. This also allows Etoile to use her effect uninterrupted.