Welcome to Deck Dictionary - a series of articles where I'll be guiding you through the various applications of an archetype or theme, both as a standalone deck as well as potential splashes into other archetypes.
Today I'll be covering the "Melodious" theme of monsters, one that's seen its first glimpses at competitive play through the archetype's newest wave of support in this year's Legacy of Destruction booster set. Shoutout to for suggesting this theme for this article. If you'd like to see an archetype or engine explored in this article series - Comment below!
What is the "Melodious" Archetype?
Melodious is an Archetype of light-fairy monsters that first appeared in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc V anime, utilised by Zuzu Boyle, a companion or deutoragonist to Yuya throughout. The theme is largely inspired by musical terminology, with many of the monsters and spells being named after these terms.
In the TCG, Melodious' first appearance in paper is in the Duelist Alliance booster set, almost ten years ago.
Due to the nature of this being an archetype that appeared in the anime, I will endeavour to focus soley on those melodious cards that actually see and have seen competitive play, as there are many less popular lower power level cards that you are unlikely to include in a modern melodious strategy or engine.
The most commonly played of the Melodious cards generically are those that were released in Legacy of Destruction, in April of 2024. These largely focused on joining the archetype more with the pendulum mechanic introduced in the Arc V anime, by introducing the first two pendulum monsters of the archetype.
Refrain the Melodious Songstress is the first of the newest wave of Melodious support cards we'll discuss here, and the first of two pendulum monsters released for the archetype. Refrain the Melodious Songstress is a level 4 LIGHT Fairy-type pendulum monster, with a pendulum scale of 1. Refrain the Melodious Songstress's pendulum effect allows you to send one melodious monster from the deck to the grave to boost the attack of a melodious fusion monster until the end of the turn.
This has some utility in pure variants, but for the engine you're typically playing this card for its monster effect. When normal or special summoned, Refrain the Melodious Songstress can add one melodious monster from your deck to your hand.
Additionally, when Refrain the Melodious Songstress is in the extra deck when a melodious fusion monster(s) is fusion summoned, it can place itself in your pendulum scale. It's worth noting for later that this can be used when this monster is used as one of the fusion materials to summon that fusion monster.
Typically a deck playing Refrain will play three copies as part of the Melodious engine.
Couplet the Melodious Songstress is our other new pendulum monster, and is typically the monster you'll be looking for when utilising Refrain the Melodious Songstress's on summon effect. Couplet the Melodious Songstress is level 5 LIGHT fairy-type pendulum monster, with a pendulum scale of 9.
Couplet the Melodious Songstress's pendulum scale effect allows you to add one melodious spell or trap card from your deck to your hand, but only if you control no non-melodious monsters. Additionally this card restricts you to only pendulum summoning light monsters.
Additionally, Couplet the Melodious Songstress when added from your deck to your hand allows you to special summon one level 4 or lower melodious monster from your hand or GY. This can be handy if you already have a loaded graveyard for further play extension.
Couplet also shares the same effect of placing it into the pendulum scale from the extra deck by the same means as Refrain the Melodious Songstress.
Typically a deck playing a small melodious engine will play one copy of this card.
Melodious Concerto is our final new main deck card that we'll be talking about today, and functionally this is a simple one - This card allows you to fusion summon a melodious monster utilising monsters from your hand or field, as well as your pendulum zones. Additionally this card recycles itself when a melodious fusion monster is sent to your graveyard, drawing a card in the process.
Given this card recycles itself, you'll likely only run one copy - Even in a pure melodious deck.
The last card of note played in all variants of a melodious package is Bacha the Melodious Maestra. Bacha prevents the activated effects of your melodious fusion monsters from being negated, and when summoned special summons one melodious monster from your deck.
Lastly, Bacha the Melodious Maestra special summons one melodious monster from your graveyard when she is sent to the graveyard herself.
Overall a powerful extension tool and engine piece. Let's see where we can use it.
What are the Applications?
One of the most common uses of this package is through the inclusion of Ostinato, a powerful fusion spell with many similarities to cards like Branded Fusion. Ostinato allows you to fusion summon using materials from the deck for a melodious monster, but you must control no monsters to activate this card.
Typically this card will summon the aforementioned Bacha the Melodious Maestra, summoning Refrain the Melodious Songstress, then adding Couplet the Melodious Songstress from your deck to your hand via Refrain's effect. This will then trigger the effect of Couplet the Melodious Songstress to special summon a level 4 or lower melodious monster from your graveyard (typically another copy of Refrain the Melodious Songstress).
From this stage, decks utilise the board in various ways - Some choose to use these monsters as link material, while others use them for rank 4 Xyz plays. Let's explore some of the possibilites.
Above is a decklist that achieved Top 64 at this year's South America WCQ. Piloted by Edson Antonio Ramirez Revilla, this Centur-Ion variant utilises the melodious theme's swarming potential in order to achieve Xyz and link plays.
Following the aforementioned combo, this deck utilises the melodious package in order to summon Infernal Flame Banshee, granting access to a pyro search, in order to add key engine pieces such as Centur-Ion Primera from their deck to their hand. This allows for greater consistency than Centur-Ion can grant alone. Alternatively, this list plays other rank 4 Xyz monsters such as Number 41: Bagooska the Terribly Tired Tapir and the side decked copy of Gagaga Cowboy for alternative use cases.
Additionally, this list plays a copy of Schuberta the Melodious Maestra, a fusion monster with a one use ability to banish up to 3 cards in the graveyard(s) and banish them, granting additional utility to the strategy.
Our next highlighted list is a variant of everyone's favourite meta deck - Snake eye. This particular list was piloted by Pedro Henrique Nogueira to a Top 32 finish at the 2024 South America WCQ. While this variant has lost a great deal of popularity with the introduction of the Fiendsmith package in The infinite forbidden, this variant gains increased consistency in the same manner as the Centur-Ion decklist shown.
The increased consistency gained through additional engines giving access to the deck's core combo line allows this variant to push to over 50 cards, while still fitting a large suite of handtraps.
Lastly I wanted to show off this particular list, piloted by one Cesar Alejandro Ramos Molina at the 2024 Central America WCQ.
This list is a far purer variant, utilising powerful archetypal cards such as 1st Movement Solo, allowing you to special summon melodious monsters from the deck, but being far more restrictive than other engine pieces.
One noteworthy power card unique to the pure variant is Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Composer - a Link 2 monster whose effect allows you to special summon not one, but two melodious monsters from the deck at the cost of a discard.
Another reason this variant warrants consideration is the new boss monster of the theme also included in the deck's most recent wave of support - Flowering Etoile the Melodious Magnificat. This monster is seldom seen in engine splashes due to requiring more specific and greater numbers of materials, however this card both serves as a powerful disruption tool, as well as a means with which to dodge handtraps such as Effect Veiler or Nibiru, the Primal Being, further insulating your plays.
In more pure variants, older melodious monsters are more commonly seen. Much older extenders such as Sonata the Melodious Diva assist with combo lines in these decks.
Overall, Melodious has formed the basis of a powerful potential engine that could be included in several strategies, but has seen marginally less play due to the current dominance of the Fiendsmith package.
Do you have a favoured deck to include this package in, or do you feel this deck might see a resurgence in future? Please comment below your thoughts, and let us know what Deck you'd like me to cover next on Deck Dictionary!
