The Daughters have always been one of my favourite clans in Vtes (who doesn't like pretty singing vampires? They're just girl versions of Lestat~). And the MELpominee discipline, despite being a little weird (blood into voice?), ended up (after HttB) as one incredibly useful, and deadly discipline. Combine this discipline with the many Clan-based Daughters cards, and this obscure (and did I mention pretty?) bloodline becomes quite a powerhouse to deal with.
Action
MEL offers many interesting and deadly actions, some of those definitely ranked way up there in power level. The most fearsome one at the moment (definitely the most commonly seen one now) is Shattering Crescendo. Granted, Shattering isn't easy to use, needing 2 of same cards to deal 2-3 damage to up to 2 minions controlled by a Methuselah, and it has no in-built stealth. But think of the power it offers. How often do you have minions with 3 blood or less running around working for you (if you have many minions with more than that amount of blood all the time, then you're either extremely efficient in blood/pool management or you're the exact opposite), and think of how much damage just a single successful Shattering will do to your HR department.
More often than not, a successful Shattering will send at least 1, or even both of your minions to lala land, and if timed well (or when thrown indiscriminately in sufficient quantity), will seriously compromised your ability to conduct defensive actions against the Daughters. Don't forget, the Daughters are PRE bleeders, excellent voters and very effective killers in a group of Choir. Losing minions is not a good thing with the Daughters as your predator. And, er, did I mentioned that the damage is unpreventable? (Not that it's easy to prevent damage out of combat) And never underestimate the bargaining power of this card when you can scream at anyone on the table with shattering effects.
Choir is another interesting kill tech - it cannot be bounced, and therefore, Intercepts and DIs are the only means of defending against it. (Of course, combat is the ultimate answer to every threat). Combine with the new clan-action Harmony, and even a single Choir is 3 points of damage. (Please remember that Daughters have FOR for those Freak Drives and a master location to untap them)
Persistent Echo is like a superior Storage Annex, Blessed Audience need a bit of work, but with Scout Youngwood it can serve as a surprise element card. All these great action cards make the Daughters a very interesting group of vampires to work with.
Action Modifier
MEL has some of the most effective block denial, stealth and vote support modifiers. Let me just point you to Madrigal and you can see why every vote deck would die for this card - a 2 vote boost (useable as a Reaction) plus extra 1 blood for vampires who support you - a combination of Bribe and mini-Voter Cap for other vampires you control who has vote - what's not to like about this card? My Anarch Daughter breed vote deck uses Madrigal with Rant to effectively gain votes without losing blood.
Virtuosa is simply fearsome, it is so flexible that it costs 3 blood. If you use it in the traditional way for a Daughters Vote, then the 3 blood can usually be partially or completely recovered with Voter Cap, and if you're using it to bleed (Media Influence plus Virtuosa equals 1 stealth 5 bleeds), not bad at all. The true value of the Virtuosa is of course the unblockable part - that is simply too awesome for the otherwise not-stealth heavy Daughters.
You throw Siren's Lure into the picture and suddenly you have the Daughters capable of pushing much of their actions through, and if it's a Shattering then the blocking vampire may be either in torpor or in such bad shape that it cannot effectively combat the luring vampire; and if it's a heavy ousting bleed then all is good for the Daughters.
Combat
Nothing to see here, moving along. Oh wait, Death of the Drum can be a real surprise when you see one. Ya, when you see one let me know.
Reaction
Nothing to see here as well, Madrigal had already been mentioned. I guess if you really want, you can use Tourette's Voice to give your Entourage Intercepts...
Referendum
Ah, the cards they get here are again excellent power cards. Lilly Prelude is simply fantastic - 4 points of damage to any number of Methuselahs (and not limited to a minimum number, meaning you don't ever have to eat any unless you like it) while gaining 1 bonus pool (just because I can), unaffected by random requirements such number of players or capacity of the vampire playing the card.
Fanfare for Elysium may not be much of anything at inferior, but at superior it becomes an excellent combat defense card.
Let's face it, MEL is a voting discipline, given that it is the only discipline that has specific referendum cards requiring it~
But it also have a good range of stealth, block denial and non-combat kill/damage actions; making this perhaps one of the most bizarre disciplines in the game. Bloody Voices~ mmm.
\(^0^)/
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