Smash Palace: Chorus of Steel is not Flesh and Blood's first multiplayer box set; it is a direct follow-up to the original Guardian-themed Smash Palace that launched August 29, 2025.
Comparing the two side by side shows the format did not just get a new class theme. The actual box contents shifted in ways that change how a playgroup should plan around either one.
This breakdown lines up both releases' hero counts, included extras, and official pricing, since several of those numbers moved more than a passing glance at the shelf would suggest.
Collectors who already own the original Guardian box and are deciding whether Chorus of Steel is worth adding should come away with a clear picture of what actually changed.
Both releases use the same basic shell: 12 Mastery Pack booster packs plus a 40-card Event Deck, built specifically for Ultimate Pit Fight multiplayer play rather than standard 1v1 Constructed. That shared skeleton is why the two boxes get compared directly instead of treated as unrelated products.
The original Smash Palace ran on Mastery Pack Guardian content, released August 29, 2025, while Chorus of Steel swaps in Mastery Pack Warrior content for its October 30, 2026 release. Same format, different class entirely, which also means the two boxes are not really combinable into one shared card pool.
The original Guardian-themed box shipped with six playable Hero cards, giving a multiplayer table a full roster to pick from straight out of the shrink wrap. Chorus of Steel includes only two: Zane, Broadly Beloved and Killjoy, the Crooked Blade.
That is the single biggest structural change between the two releases. A returning group that got used to six available heroes in the original box needs to adjust expectations, since Chorus of Steel does not natively field the same table size with new heroes alone.
Zane, Broadly Beloved can equip two-handed swords as though they were one-handed, and the first time the crowd cheers him each turn after winning a wager, every hero at the table draws a card. Killjoy, the Crooked Blade can attack any opposing hero regardless of seating, and the first time the crowd boos him each turn after stealing a Gold, every hero with more life than him loses a point of it.
Both abilities lean directly into Ultimate Pit Fight's wager-and-steal mechanics rather than importing a standard 1v1 kit into a multiplayer box. That lines up with the original six Guardian heroes, which were also built around table-wide interaction rather than head-to-head combat alone.
Chorus of Steel adds two Weapon cards, both printed in Rainbow Foil, sitting alongside the Event Deck extras rather than buried inside the boosters. The original Guardian box's six Hero cards had no equivalent weapon inclusion called out separately from its booster contents.
Pairing two foil weapons with only two Hero cards suggests Legend Story Studios treated this release as a different kind of showcase: fewer heroes, but each one launches with dedicated, premium-finish gear built specifically for it.
Chorus of Steel also adds 8 perforated tokens and 2 Two-Player Game Arenas, neither of which the original release's publicly listed contents called out as a dedicated extra beyond its six heroes and Event Deck. Sorting those 8 tokens separately from booster pulls is easier with a 9-pocket binder page set aside for tokens alone.
The Two-Player Game Arenas specifically suggest Chorus of Steel is built to flex down to smaller groups too, not just the larger table the original Guardian box assumed by default.
The original Guardian-themed Smash Palace carried an official MSRP of 99.90 CAD (69.90 USD). Chorus of Steel's official MSRP moved up to 109.90 CAD (79.90 USD), a 10 CAD increase across one product generation.
That increase tracks with the added weapons, tokens, and arenas rather than reflecting fewer overall components for more money. Chorus of Steel is doing more inside the box, which is the more straightforward explanation for the higher price than general TCG inflation alone.
A playgroup that already owns the original Guardian box is not buying a strict replacement with Chorus of Steel; the two use entirely different class content and can both stay in rotation for variety. The real decision point is hero count, since Chorus of Steel's two new heroes work well as an addition to a group's roster, not as a six-hero replacement on their own.
A collector buying their first Smash Palace-format box should lean toward whichever class theme their group actually plays, since the core multiplayer shell plus Event Deck experience is functionally the same between both releases.
Two: Zane, Broadly Beloved and Killjoy, the Crooked Blade.
No, weapons are new to the format starting with Chorus of Steel.
The original Smash Palace is Guardian-class; Chorus of Steel is Warrior-class.
Yes, its MSRP is 109.90 CAD versus the original's 99.90 CAD.
Whichever generation your group ends up running, keep the Event Deck and hero decks separated the same way between sessions; store everything in an EVORETRO Magnetic Black Deck Box so game night setup stays fast regardless of which box is on the table.
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