On the verge of PapaGama Ascension Season 2, I thought I'd post some interesting info to consider and hopefully help before the action gets underway.  Visit the Card Gallery to see some of the Return of the Fallen deck differences.

As mentioned on the League page, the Return of the Fallen has fewer cards in its deck than the original Chronicle of the Godslayer.  It is why the game does not/cannot support a four-person game with the expansion only.  That said there are 65 total cards with a breakdown of 48 heroes and 17 monsters.

Each group has has a total of 6 different cards, a combination of heroes and constructs.  In parenthesis, I have listed value of cost:honor.

Enlightened

3 Scribes (1.0)

3 Sensei (0.67)

2 Askara of Fate (0.5)

2 Eternal Askara (0.6)

1 Retreat Construct (0.75)

1 Adayu (0.75)

Lifebound

3 Raven (0.5)

3 Lunar Stag (0.33)

2 Dandelion Witch (0.5)

2 Stonecircle Construct (0.8)

1 Serpentcall (0.57)

1 Nairi (0.5)

Mechana

3 Battery Monk (0.5)

2 Combustion Idol Construct (1.0)

2 Reclamax Construct (1.0)

2 Socket Altar Construct (1.0)

2 Dimension Diver (0.33)

1 Project Alpha Construct (1.0)

Void

3 Deathseeker (0.5)

3 Guardian of Sadranis (1.0)

2 Arbiter of Fate (0.5)

2 Black Witch Elite (0.4)

1 Sadranis (0.57)

1 Black Hole Construct (0.8)

Just some initial thoughts, I think the Stonecircle Construct is pretty awesome.  High rate of cost:honor plus, nice to put a newly acquired card into play on the next round.  I think the Mech constructs are a little iffy in the Return deck just because the same to be truly advantageous with a greater number of Mech constructs.  It can be a dicey proposition that does take a while to put into place.  I miss the Rocket construct from the original deck that puts Mech constructs immediately into play.  Obviously, Adayu is crazy strong though Nairi, depending on how many turns you can play her can post lots of points quickly.

Monsters (Power)

1 Samael (8)

1 Bazu (6)

2 Fire Tyrant (6)

3 Wurm (5)

3 Doom Weeper (4)

4 Sordid Asp (3)

3 Ravenous Gorph (3)

It's interesting because here, I don't think that Samael, in a two-player game with Return of the Fallen deck only, is as powerful or much of a game-changer like Avatar of the Fallen.  I guess it depends on how he is played but really, by the time 8-power are earned, it seems like you'd need a quick turn-around to start adding monsters to your own deck and using them for big scores, especially with the slimmed down deck.  Remember, we're talking there almost 3:1 in terms of hero/construct vs. monster likelihood.

One other interesting thing to consider, I did look to see to what extent the cards were "high cost" cards, be it Rune or Power.  It looked like by my count, there are 16/48 require 5 or more Runes to acquire; 7/17 require 5 or more power to defeat.  In total, 23/65 cards an expenditure of 5 or more, i.e., a complete hand of Apprentice or Militia.  Things to think about.

Of course, the trickiest thing about the Return of the Fallen expansion, in my opinion, would not be the ability to add Monsters to your deck nor going to the Void, though both provide strategic options.  No, instead, I think the thing that will make this second season so interesting will be the rapid way FATE can change the center row.  It's one thing to plan a strategy and have your opponent foil or co-op or counter.  It's a completely different thing when the appearance of a new card can drastically change, positively or negatively, your gameplan.  Hold your breath because here we go!