Hearthpwn

To run the program, simply extract the zip file to wherever you want and then run the Hearthstone Mod.exe inside of it.

If you want to learn about how to use Lackey to its fullest, I suggest you read the tutorials for LackeyCCG.

If anyone is interested in making any of the following decks, please try your hand at it and share your decklist with me!

Primary Decktypes (please make these first): 

1. Aggro/Zoo Bard (War Drum, Dirgesinger, Songwriter, etc): Typical aggro deathrattle deck.
2. Midrange Bard (Angelcaller, Otto Tune, who knows): A pretty standard Bard deck some of the 5-6 drops.
3. "Peace" Bard (Conductor, Harmonize, Chant, Choir, Song of Passion): The "idealistic" Bard which probably won't really work, it's based on having a bunch of token minions but playing as if you're a control class: use conductor's buffs to keep board control until lategame, where you burst your opponent down with Choir/Song of Passion.
4. Control Bard (High Note, Low Note, Lament, Peace and Harmony): However you want to make a control deck with this class.
5. Debut Control Bard (Halfling Bard, Angelcaller, Otto Tune, Electric Guitarist, Regal Trumpeteer, Debut, Magic Mic): A midrangey control deck that focuses on combos with Debut and some of the high value melody minions. 
6. Melody Bard (Tavern Minstrel, Limelight, Double Time, Electric Guitarist, Bloodsail Shantyman): Crazy combo deck with Limelight, Debut, and Double Time that leads to some crazy combos. This deck is either going to be broken or suck, since it's not the thing that's viable... so I just need to make sure it's not broken.

Secondary Decktypes

1. Murloc Bard (Composer, Songwriter, and MURLOCS!): Remember that Tavern Minstrel is really Murloc Tidesinger in disguise. If you're building the deck in the playtester, type in Murloc Tidesinger to see what I mean.
2. Pirate Bard (Freebooter's Fiddle, Bloodsail Shantyman, Ship's Cannon, Southsea Captain): Who knows if this'll work.
3. Mech Bard (Cellobot, Composer, Song of Imagination?): Who knows.

"A picture is worth a thousand words, but a song is worth a million."
-Lindsey Starling

A legendary Musician who is said to have defeated a dragon with nothing but a violin, Lindsey preaches peace and unity to the world through music. No matter where we come from, we still feel the same joy and the same sadness. No matter how different we think we are, a song can show us that our emotions are the same. She travels the world as a wandering hero, teaching all she meets of her philosophy. Already, hundreds of other bards from every corner of the globe have joined her cause, thus forming the Starling Orchestra. They have taken up her goal of a world where people put their differences aside and live in harmony, a goal that they believe can be achieved through music.

• A minion can't use its melody if it already attacked that turn, and can't attack if it already used its melody that turn
• Minions cannot play their melodies on the turn they are played
• Minions CAN play their melodies on the turn they are played if they have charge
• Minions cannot play their melodies if they are Frozen or have "Can't Attack"
• Minions can play their melodies TWICE in a turn if they have windfury (or attack twice, or use 1 melody and 1 attack in any combination)
• Weapons can have melody effects, which cost 1 durability to use

While the conditions for using a melody are the same attacking, the actual effect is closer to a battlecry or spell.

• Melodies can be targeted regardless of Taunt
• Not all melodies need to be targeted
• You cannot play a melody if there is no valid target for it (the button won't appear)
• Melodies are unaffected by "50% chance to attack the wrong enemy"
• Melodies do not trigger attacking-related secrets, such as Noble Sacrifice and Vaporize

Already, we can see the versatility of Bard through its hero power. Since melody costs 1 durability on weapons, Acoustics gives you the choice of "Attack for one damage" or "Restore 2 Health to your hero." The first option is like a worse druid hero power, and the second is like a worse warrior hero power. Such is the price for versatility. This hero power allows Bard to play as a control class quite effectively, and the 1-damage makes up for its lack of reliable removal. 

The Justicar hero power is standard scaling from the normal one. Attack buffs typically increase by 1 and healing values increase by 2. 

Themes

The basic set is supposed to be a little-bit-of-everything set. We get removal, which is rare in Bard, a token generator, an AoE buff, weapon synergy minions and even a healing card. We want to make sure that Bard has versatility right from the getgo.

Spirit Dancer

While designing Bard, there was a card in the basic set that happened to synergize really well with Wisp. So well, to the point where I really wanted Wisp in Bard to be viable. Unfortunately, wisp just doesn't do enough to warrant a card slot. So, a card that generates wisps would both fit into Bard's 1 mana minion slot and allow wisp to see play! When this design came around, it was impossible to refuse.

You might not want to immediately play the wisps you get from this card. Bard has a lot of cards that synergize with how many minions you currently have on the field, and since wisp costs 0 mana, you can drop them all right before you play those cards to significantly increase their output.

Double Time

This card is an example of Bard cards that produce insane versatility through very simple effects. Its efficient mana cost allows to to be used to trade more effectively. It also is a card that could give Bard its finisher, possibly in combination with Leeroy Jenkins. When minions start getting Melody in the classic set, this card allows you to use a melody twice in a turn, or use any combination of 1 Attack and 1 melody.

This is also the type of card that can be very worrying in terms of overly large OTK combos with large charge minions or attack buffs. However, since I've already been staying away from Attack buffs just because it goes against Bard flavor in general, I won't have to go out of the way to keep this card in check.

Low Note

This card functions as Bard's "Hard" removal. It allows you to use your tokens to take down larger minions without killing those tokens in the process. It also allows you to simply ignore a minion for a turn and just use your minions' melody effects, rather than forcing your minions to remove a threat immediately and thus taking away their opportunity to use their melodies.

Instrumentalist

At first glance, this card might seem weird in the basic set, since there aren't any weapons. But remember, your Hero Power gives a weapon.

Now is a good time to talk about Bard weapons in general. Because the interaction between a Weapon and the Melody mechanic is really interesting, I've designed this class so that every single weapon has a Melody effect. This might sound redundant, but I've made sure that every weapon feels fresh and interesting. Lore-wise, Bards would have no reason to have a weapon that doesn't have a melody effect, anyway.

Song of Fortitude

The first of the Bard's "Songs". Songs are a set of cards in bard, identified with a card name in the format of "Song of...". All of them have some sort of synergy with controlling many minions. This one being the most central and the most simple, it belongs in the basic set.

This card is a simple reflection of how Bards tend to buff their minions in defensive ways rather than being a Savage Roar / Bloodlust clone.

Choir

Choir is actually an exception for Bard in that it is a direct damage spell. All classes need some sort of generic removal, and so this is how Bard will have it, only potent if you have a good board. While this card can function as some serious burn in an aggressive token deck, it's not too hard for any Bard deck to get at least 1 or 2 minions, so this card should be a core card in any deck.

Peace and Harmony

A good midgame multi-card draw for Bard that fits better in control decks, but can be used pretty much anywhere. It's simple and gets the job done, just like a basic card should.

Soothing Lyrist

What sets Bard apart from the token-style gameplays of Druid or Shaman is that it uses minions for control rather than outright aggro. This card is what links flooding the board with defensive gameplay, and allows you to both heal your hero and develop your board in the same turn.

Reverberate

The main thing that Bard was lacking before this card was designed was the fact that once you lost tempo or board control, there was no way to get it back. This card fixes just that, allowing you to thin your opponent's board while starting to rebuild your own. 

Orchestra

Orchestra is a one-of-everything token generator. It summons these exact four minions every time.

Themes

The main theme of the classic set is to expand as much as possible on the Melody mechanic. This means both minions and weapons that have melody as well as cards that boost melodies. An important trend to note is that Melodies are almost always a beneficial effect for yourself, rather than a harmful effect for your opponent. 

Debut

The Melody mechanic suffers from the fact that it is always slow, since minions can't play their melodies on the turn that they are played and few if any melody minions will have Charge. This card offers a solution to that issue, and opens up the Melody Bard decktype into something viable. This card on its own may be hard to justify a deck slot for, but potent melody effects and some more support in GvG should allow debut to see a lot of play.

It's also worth noticing that this card can also function as a 1-turn humility to kill an enemy minion, or something to turn a friendly minion into a 1-damage charge. This reflects how Bards are extremely versatile.

The Conductor

In case it wasn't clear from the card, the buffs from Divine Symphony and Heavenly Harmony are PERMANENT. It's like you have a stormwind champion on your board that doesn't stop until you go face, since the effect applies to both current and future minions that are played.

This also has an interesting interaction when played on turn 1, since you can choose which Masterpiece to play on turn 2, turning it into either a 2/2 or a 1/3 based on how you want to trade.

Kindlewood Violinist

Kindlewood Violinist is officially the only melody effect that deals damage. It's an extremely powerful two-drop, which functions as a shielded mini-bot against 2-health or lower minions, or a regular bloodfen raptor against any others. The choice you make in using this melody is "Do I need to trade into something with 3+ health, or can I kill a weak minion?" 

This card has often been called out for its balance. Admittedly, it is strong, but your opponent has to knowingly play into it for it to really harm you. It gets removed by any standard 2 mana removal, and is also just a regular 2 mana 3/2 versus anything with more than 2 Health.

Limelight

Seeing as how Battlecry and Deathrattle both have a double-trigger legendary, it would be fitting to give Bard a double melody trigger effect. But it would be boring to just slap it onto another legendary, so instead it appears in this feign-death-esque card. In case the wording is unclear, it gives you a one-turn only double trigger for your melodies when they get activated (closer to brann and rivendare than feign death).

This card does have some crazy combo potentials, but due to the nature of melody effects being positive for you rather than harmful to your enemy, they usually have a way to deal with it. Even the craziest of melody effects aren't game-breaking with this, so it could see play in Debut/Melody Bard as a balanced yet powerful combo card.

Composer

Composer is the card that single-handedly streamlines songs from being clunky and a loss of tempo into a cornerstone of Bard. This minion, in combination with the more potent songs like Song of Fortitude and Song of Passion is an extremely devastating combo that truly defines how Bard decks play as opposed to other midrange or token decks. Because of Composer, songs fit well into many Bard decks. 

This description has made it sound OP, and I can't deny that it is fairly strong. It does give huge amounts of value, but this is simply one of those Bard cards that is strong so that it can define the class. From playtesting experience, the board impact is strong, but not so strong that it's impossible for my opponent to come back.

High Note

In case the card text did not make it obvious, the minion is silenced while it is in your opponent's hand. This means that it is now just a vanilla minion, it won't activate its battlecry on being played and it will remain silenced when it re-enters the field. If your opponent then returned it to their hand normally, it would be un-silenced, though. The card would look like this in their hand:

War Drum

The first of Bard's melody weapons! Note that most if not all of Bard's weapons will have melody effects. This is because Melodies have interesting interactions with weapons (they cost 1 durability but can be used immediately) and make thematic sense from the viewpoint of equipping instruments and playing them.

This drum showcases a more aggressive theme in Bard. While Bard is mainly a control class, it would be narrow-minded to not give it any way to play aggro. This card is a rare sight in that it gives a strictly damage-based buff. The choice you make in using the melody is "Do I need to hit something for 3 damage, or do I have enough minions so that the melody is more valuable than 3 damage?"

Song of Loyalty

Bard has many minions that are powerful if they can stay alive for more than one turn and snowball, as a result of the Melody mechanic. Song of loyalty allows you to protect a powerful minion if you have board dominance, but still allows for counterplay since the minion you buff is more vulnerable to BGH and is a better justification for silence.

Heavy Metal

Another melody weapon for Bard, but this one behaves differently from War Drum. The drum is a more typical melody weapon, where you choose between an attack and a buff. This weapon serves as a two-in-one value card that gives you versatility in removal. You have three choices: 4 mana, draw 2 cards if you're in a tight spot, attacking for 4 once and then drawing a card, or a 4 mana 4/2 weapon. Each effect is slightly weaker than it would be alone, but that's the price of versatility. This has been one of my favorite cards in playtesting, and I can assure you that all 3 options are very useful.

Tavern Minstrel

This card showcases two things: A token-summoning card as well as a nuanced melody. This card is pretty weak on its own, but may become the staple of a combo debut/limelight/melody deck, since having two is exponentially better than having one.

Note that this minion is supposed to be a murloc, but we can't make murlocs due to competition rules. Murloc Bard will be a thing, someday, I promise.

Song of Protection

This card can both be used as a mechanism to trade without hurting your own minions or preserving your board into the next turn. Since Bard should usually have a board that they can benefit with divine shield, and Bard has a lot of spells that synergize with controlling many minions, both of these effects should see usage.

In case the text is ambiguous, this card gives all friendly minions divine shield that they then lose next turn.

Song of Passion

In the previous set, we saw the card Song of Fortitude. In case it wasn't obvious, there are many cards in Bard named by "Song of..." which are all effects that scale with the number of minions you control. They are collectively referenced as "Songs" and have various cards that synergize with them.

Song of Passion serves as Bard's burst damage with a full board. Comparing it to Bloodlust:

Cons: It doesn't always go face. :(
Pros: It doesn't always go face! :D

Bard is a control class, so it's fitting that their finisher also serves as a way to clear the board.

Elderwood Bard

A super potent healing card that demolishes aggro and provides the healing that control/debut Bard needs to be a viable deck. Showcases exactly how Bard should play, where you receive a stronger heal by also healing the enemy hero.

Angelcaller

The perfect example of what a melody effect should look like. Part of the time, being able to trade with a 5/7 minion is an absolute necessity. However, if you've cleared your opponent's board, as a Bard player you would rather draw two cards than just attack face. This is exactly how a melody effects should work, where there is always some sort of choice to make on whether to attack or use the melody, rather than one option or the other always being superior.

Star of the Show

Star of the Show serves as Bard's big, expensive melody minion for maximum value with Debut. Whereas most melody cards involve a choice based on the situation, this one is more of a cycle: If it has 4 attack, play the melody to become an 8/8. If it has 8 attack, then attack and trade with your backup singers. Then, repeat.

Dirgesinger

Once again, we have a card that fits with a lot of themes.

Firstly, it opens up a deathrattle/zoo deck type, since this card works extremely well with cards like Nerubian Eggand Haunted Creeper.

Secondly, it synergizes with the general Bard theme of flooding the board and having tokens.

Thirdly, it works well with melody minions in a way similar to Debut, since while most minions take a huge hit with their attack dropped to 1, melody effects are just as strong as ever.

Themes

Flavor-wise, many of these cards are themed on modern music and technology to go along with the GvG theme of mechanical contraptions. Aside from that, this set's purpose is to build on existing aspects of Bard - we finally get an efficient token-summoner, and a lot of cards to push a melody-centered Bard deck.

Magic Mic

As I said during Phase III, Debut is an extremely interesting card, but probably won't be good enough to occupy a deck slot. Magic Mic solves that problem, introducing Bard's third melody weapon as a way for Debut to see play. 

Most of the time, you'll probably want to use both attacks to get Debut spells, but it can also serve has removal for a scary Knife Juggler in a desperate situation.

Cellobot

This is the card that will turn Mech Bard into a formidable force. The Mech tribe is based on flooding the board, meaning that Songs, which synergize with a full board, are especially effective in combination. Cellobot allows Mech Bard access to songs without having to waste valuable deck slots on them.

White Noise

For a class based on summoning tokens, Bard has had some pretty inefficient summoners up to this point. White noise is admittedly quite strong, but this is intentional. If tokens are going to have a chance of being successful, there needs to be at least one super-solid card that helps them out, and this fits the bill. Plus, nerfs can always be done if it gets out of hand.

Electric Guitarist

As people should know if they've read about how melody works, it has a very interesting interaction with windfury, allowing for four different combinations of using an attack and playing a melody each turn. As such, it made sense for there to be a minion that had windfury for itself to show that interaction without requiring a combo from Double Time. Designed based on Questing Adventurer, this card can become quite crazy if it is left alive unchecked, but is relatively easy to remove if it isn't capitalized on immediately.

Rockstar

It's nice to sometimes have class cards that take a break from the crazy combo-heavy jam-packed with synergy minions. This card is a simple yet interesting turn 3 + 4 play that ties well into this set's modern musical themes.

Song of Imagination

No, Songs do not stop with the classic set, more will keep coming. As of right now, Bard will have 8 songs total, which means 3 more that you have yet to see. 

GvG is where we were introduced to the idea of referencing and transforming minions based on their cost, and this card is the AoE counterpart to Otto Tune. This card serves as a higher-cost but higher-power alternative to Song of Fortitude, and should create some crazy games with Cellobot. 

Drop the Bass

Like most other classes, Bard has more than one AoE card. While reverberate is better for aggressive or midrange decks trying to win tempo back, this one fits better in control decks wishing to clear the board but keep their powerful minions untouched.

Otto Tune

Otto Tune is the minion with the single most powerful melody effect, and he is the embodiment of Bard's unique mechanic.

There is really not much to say about this card: It's simple and effective. Debut has obvious synergy here, and this would likely serve as the big threat in Debut decks. 

Mechanics-wise, it is important to note that if a minion's mana cost would exceed 10 through the transformation, it transforms into a 10-cost minion. This is to avoid ambiguities with 11 mana, 13 mana, etc minions that don't exist.

Chant

Remember how these 3 sets are a break from Bard's themes of "no damage allowed"? Well, here's another example. Aside from Choir, Bard has absolutely no removal, so if it wants any chance of doing well in a real game, it will need a least a little. The fact that it can recycle itself given you have a full board allows Bard to get decent removal even though has so few spells that can do so.

In case you're concerned about this being an "infinite value" card, and see it as OP compared to headcrack, let me justify it. Firstly, this card is always bad value, since it's a 3 mana darkbomb. More importantly, your condition for recycling it actually has counterplay, since your opponent can clear your board to prevent you from getting it back. If this card was unstoppable, then it would be broken, but it has counterplay, so it should be fine.

Halfling Bard

Bard is not exactly the type of class that would have Dragon synergy, so I won't try to shove it in. Instead, it will get its dose of dragons through a generic big body.

Anyway, this card is the final piece of the puzzle for Melody/Debut Bard to become a thing. This minion is a 7/7 on turn 4 with Debut, which sounds strong, but I think is just within the bounds of acceptability. It's a very simple yet effective card, and that's why it earns its spot in the example cards.

Themes

In TGT, many classes received cards that were intended to be used in very new and strange ways. Bard's TGT set has this same goal, of attempting to create several new decktypes.

Also, TGT was trying to significantly slow down the meta. With cards like Varian Wrynn and Confessor Paletress, it's like blizzard expected games to be filled with huge mana-cost minions. As such, classes were given both stronger lategame minions and ways to deal with that lategame. Bard has always needed something like this - as a "token-based control class", it needs some way to be able to use a bunch of small minions to at least stand a chance against a bunch of big ones.

Lament

Again, as we shift away from the singular deck type of "Peaceful Bard", the idealistic midrange/token/control deck that doesn't have any removal, we need a good "deal 3 damage" spell. Contrary to Chant, which is overpriced for a bonus, this one is underpriced with a drawback. Useful lategame to kill big minions in combination with your smaller ones, or early game if you're willing to make the tradeoff of giving your opponent a card.

Bloodsail Shantyman

Finally, the "Whenever you activate a Melody" card comes into play. What's more is that it's a pirate, and it has some pretty awesome synergy with Ship's cannon.

With this card, we have set up the framework for what Pirate Bard looks like: Summoning a bunch of token pirates tocombo with Ship's Cannon and Southsea Captain, while using weapons to both synergize with pirate cards and provide easy access to instant melodies.

Song of Chivalry

Finally! This is one of the oldest Bard cards to ever be designed. It does an excellent job of staying true to the "no aggressive songs" theme, since the sole purpose of this card is to turn a board full of tokens into a formidable trading force. 

This is one of Bard's mechanisms for competing against strong minions.

Harmonize

Again, with the theme of versatility, this card is very powerful and can do A LOT. It can both buff tokens to 3/3's (which can attack on the same turn, like Keeper of Uldaman) while dropping your opponent's huge minions to managable bodies. If set up correctly, this card can be a huge tempo swing, but at the same time, it can also be useless. There are several notable combos with cards like Drop the Bass for a 9 mana kill all minions except for 1, and also, if you have Heavenly Harmony active from The Conductor, your minions are all 3/4s and can make an insane trade with the enemy board.

Song of Celebration

Finally, a card draw engine that works in aggressive decks as well as token/midrange. While not as reliable, it can snowball to be very powerful. Since your opponent can actually do something about your board, hopefully it doesn't feel as anti-fun as Divine Favor.

Grand Piano

This card is a miracle for me. While it may not be the best card, it solved two HUGE problems at the same time. I knew I needed to make one last melody weapon that was based in the late game (this was designed after Freebooter's Fiddle), but I didn't know what to do with it. I had also been trying to pull of the "your minions are more expensive but get a stat buff", in order to turn useless token minions into decent lategame minions. This card accomplishes both those jobs very well.

Right now, it might be a bit weak. Thinking about a 4 mana 6/5 leper gnome feels kinda strong, but at the same time, you paid 5 mana to do it. It will require some playtesting, and believe me, I'm excited to try this card out.

Mr. Popular

Out of all the legendaries I've made for Bard, this one required the least smashing my head into a wall. Ever since Toshley came out, I've always wanted to create a card that had every single effect trigger. But honestly, justbattlecry, deathrattle, and inspire didn't seem like enough. Once Bard had Melody introduced, I eventually came around to realize that I finally had the four triggers, and so I put this card together. 

In the limited playtesting that I've done with it so far, it seems pretty strong, but not overwhelmingly so. Conceptually, it seems crazy OP to me, so I'll keep my eye out.

Regal Trumpeteer

First, let me talk about how this card interacts with melody minions, since it's kind of complicated. There are two main possibilities:

• Using the melody effect first: This process is the more normal of the two. You pick up the minion, press the melody button, and use the melody. Once the effect is done, the minion is still glowing green since it's able to attack, but when you pick it up, the melody button is gone, since you can't use it.
• Attacking first: This is more complicated. You pick up the minion and attack with it. Afterwards, the minion can still use its melody, but it can't attack. So, instead of glowing green, it glows blue, and picking it up causes you to immediately enter melody targeting with the blue arrow. 

I remember before I revealed this card someone said that "That effect is too OP to ever exist, even on a legendary (paraphrased)". To me, this card feels like Coldarra Drake, a 6 mana 6/6 minion with a potentially crazy effect that probably won't really see much play. Again, this one will need to be playtest, since its power is so dependent on how easy it is to keep a board full of melody minions.

Wailing Mountain

This card was made since Bard was completely lacking any card that costed more than 7 mana. It doesn't really fit into any currently existing Bard deck, since most Bard cards are based on low-cost minions. But I think that it might work in the Melody/Debut/Control Bard deck, and lead to some really interesting and crazy games.

I always viewed this card as underpowered, because of how slow and unreliable is, but it could be OP as well.

Songwriter

The reason that the Discover mechanic is so cool is that it allows cards that are cool but not strong enough to fit into decks to see play. This is what songwriter accomplishes for Bard - a lot of the songs are very interesting, but they aren't good enough to warrant a deckslot. As well as fitting into the non-legendary 1-slot for token bard, this card allows for some pretty interesting matches to occur.

As per request, here is a list of all songs:

Freebooter's Fiddle

In the TGT set, Bloodsail Shantyman established what a pirate Bard deck is going to look like: Weapons, Melodies, and Tokens. This weapon concludes Bard nicely, accomplishing all three of those goals AND serving as an interesting weapon in general.

Note that if you use the Melody and this weapon has 2 or 3 durability, the Southsea Deckhand will have charge when it's summoned. This means that you have the choice between "swing with your face for three" or "deal 2 damage" most of the time. Already, that makes for a pretty interesting card, not to mention the added benefits when used in a Pirate deck.

Song of Adventure

When I was talking about cool songs that won't see play, this one comes to mind. The effect is way too slow for most tokens decks to handle. Composer is better used on far more efficient Songs, like Fortitude and Passion. Regardless, it theoretically bridges the gap between early game board control and late game threats, and can still see play due to Songwriter.

None yet, Bard isn't even out of alpha!

For those who weren't there to see it, the design process for The Conductor was pretty traumatizing, although I ended up with something I really like. It spawned a total of 17 different versions, here were some of the craziest ones:

...yeah, glad we got that one out of the way.

I tried to make it so that each token only used one number. I failed.

Unfortunately, we never got to see a card that gave a minion a melody effect. Here's one that was going to happen:

Here's an interesting card from GvG that never made the cut because it was always too weak for what I wanted it to do (token decks) but too strong for stuff I didn't care about (Malygos Bard, wtf):

While designing the classic set, I realized that I had pushed the "simplicity is elegance" ideal so hard that the set was pretty boring. It got freshened up, and I'm pretty happy with the result. Here's two iterations of one of the minions that got cut:

In the basic set, there was this huge push to make "tempo bard" which revolved around things like "if you cast a spell this turn" and "if you summoned a minion this turn." It was kinda nice, but the effects seemed too blatantly obvious. Here was one:

Here was the original version of Instrumentalist, which went through 8 iterations:

Funny how the card that is currently Star of the Show that summons backup singers used to be the backup singer itself. This was back when buff bard was going to be a thing.

Some iterations of the Soothing Lyrist artwork before I settled on the reverse knife juggler:

This card was really... out there. It was designed before "Songs" were really a thing, and could just apply to any spell.

Folk Legend was 3 mana: Summon a random Legendary minion.

This was a SUPER old and OP version of limelight. Since Bard wasn't going to have ANY hard removal, instead you were supposed to use this + silence or BGH.

Speaking of Silence:

For some reason, I had a big qualm about Bard's hero power "not representing the class enough" and spent like 6 hours trying to rework it (I ended up leaving it in the version it is now). It used to be a shaman-esque thing that generated one of four different buffs:

Old art for our hero, Lindsey. Turns out, a lot of people really like to photoshop this picture.

Alternate art for remix, but then remix got removed.

Amplifier was going to be a GvG card, but it was too OP.

Old art for low note. I had to use content-aware fill to extend the borders just a smidge, but the positioning never worked out anyway. 

Pretty cool art for a pianist, but never got used :(

Pagan/ritualistic drummer, just never got around to using it.

An actual 18th century painting called "The Bard." It was going to be used for a card called Song of Freedom, but I could never come up with an effect.

Art for an 1812 Overture card, but it never got made. Too violent for Bard.

Old Song of Loyalty art, since it was actually relevant to bards. But it didn't show the theme well enough.

This art looked great from a distance for Regal Trumpeteer, but on a closer look, that face....

I spent so long looking for this picture after seeing it on Mcf4rtson's bard, I asked him where he got it, he told me, I kept saving it for the whole competition and never ended up using it. Huh.

A more dismal tone. Was originally going to be used for Lament, but the fact that the violinist is so pushed to the side made it not work.