Bard Class
– D&D: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms
Date Reviewed: August 4, 2021
Ratings:
Constructed: 3.25
Casual: 4.00
Limited: 2.13
Multiplayer: 3.13
Commander [EDH]: 3.50
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
David
Fanany
Player
since
1995
Bards are sometimes the forgotten figures of Dungeons and Dragons – and other fantasy properties, for that matter. Though the concept of a wandering minstrel may have connotations of disreputability or scoundreldom to some readers, it can also be spun in a positive direction. Skalds preserve the lore of the land and the songs of the people, and the hidden dimensions of the story of when Ymir was the only being in the multiverse; the stars and the planets and the heart of the human race move to the music of the spheres. And if nothing else, watching WWE for 25 years has taught me that guitars have an expanded critical hit range when used as an improvised weapon.
And if you’re not convinced by any of that, you might be compelled by a support card for legendary tribal. People have played this archetype in casual Magic for many years, but it’s rarely received direct support of this type. Legendary creatures tend to be efficient anyway, so even more cost reduction, plus additional power and toughness, might just overwhelm some opponents – much less automatic card-drawing. The only downside is that Bard Class is most effective when almost all your other spells are legendary, and also red and/or green for Level 2. That puts some constraints on your deckbuilding options, but if you can get everything to line up, the effect will be something like the old Fires of Yavimaya deck on Red Bull: a table state that makes opponents ask “Is such a thing even possible?”
Constructed: 3/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 2/5 (this might be low as there’s a lot of legendary spells in Adventures in the Forgotten Realms, but I’m not sure it’s worth building a draft deck around Bard Class when many of those spells are off color and just get the first bonus and occasionally the last one)
Multiplayer: 3/5
Commander: 3/5
If ever you’ve wanted to sing the song of your people, this offers you the opportunity to do so, and a deck built to take advantage of the song of your people can pay off nicely. The Bard Class empowers your legendary creatures…and spells, so planeswalkers aren’t displeased entirely by such, and even just the level 2 ability provides a lot of benefit over a long game by easing casting costs nicely. The third ability is nice card advantage, especially in formats with lots of legendaries, but I imagine the first two are where the main appeal is. This is definitely the kind of spell you want to build around, and it’ll pay off if you let it.
Constructed: 3.5 (might be a chance for it to work; it’s cheap and doesn’t curve poorly if you can take advantage of Lv.2 that turn, and Jund/Gruul is strong in deeper formats)
Casual: 4
Limited: 2.25 (there aren’t a ton of legendaries below rare, so you might be hard-pressed to make this work)
Multiplayer: 3.25
Commander: 4
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