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Believe it or not, we’re two months removed from the launch of Hearthstone’s seventh expansion, Kobolds and Catacombs. If you’ve been paying attention to the game’s history, you’ll know that means we’re due for another expansion – and a massive set rotation – in just two months.
As they’ve done since launch, Blizzard are set to add another hundred-odd cards to the collection in the form of a new expansion this April. The last two April expansions have, however, also seen a number of previous expansions removed from the standard and competitive modes of play.
This allows the meta to stay fresh, prevents completely unbeatable decks being built across years of different card mechanics and also allows new players to jump in without having more than a thousand cards to learn.
Whispers of the Old Gods, One Night in Karazhan and Mean Streets of Gadgetzan are all set to be relegated to Wild very soon, so we’re taking a look at all nine classes to see which card from these sets they’ll miss the most.
While there will also be some Classic set cards moving to the Hall of Fame, given there is only speculation as to which ones will actually be moved, those won’t be discussed in this article.
Before you click away – yes, I know the biggest loss for the Druid will, by far, be the removal of the entire Jade Golem mechanic from Mean Streets. We all knew that was coming, however, and it’s not something that will necessarily will weaken your Druid deck, because if it’s Jade Druid you’re starting from scratch anyway.
In terms of individual cards, Mark of Y’Shaarj is an incredibly important early-game component of the Aggro Druid that, once April rolls around, will no longer be valid in Standard.
The +2/+2 buff on a weaker minion allows for some solid early game trades and the potential card draw too is vital for any aggressive deck. With another vital minion-buff Mark of the Lotus and the strong 1-cost Enchanted Raven also on the way out, Malfurion mains will be in need of some new ideas.
The obvious choice here would be N’Zoth, the Corruptor, but to me, the Deathrattle Hunter archetype is already in enough of a decline for it not to be the biggest blow.
Call of the Wild is certainly not a card we see at the top of the meta right now but, given the huge power surge spell-only Hunter decks have enjoyed post-Kobolds, this is a card many players will be wishing stuck around longer.
It’s incredibly rare for any minion-summoning spell to not only summon three reasonable minions, but summon the exact same ones each time. To go from an empty board to a 2/4, a 5/2 with Charge and 5/4 with Taunt (thanks to Leokk’s buffs) in one turn can be an outrageous power swing and while a similar card, To My Side!, will still be around, its randomness decreases its value more than its cost.
Alleycat and Cloaked Huntress will also be big losses, but this one may prove to be the card that got away.
It’s far more likely the Mage’s biggest loss will come from a Classic card being moved to the Hall of Fame – with Ice Barrier and Gadgetzan Auctioneer heavily rumoured to be on the list.
As far as cards we definitely know are going, this one will sting some decks. Medivh himself is a pretty underwhelming minion, but the weapon he gives your hero works very well for Mage decks light on minions.
The ability to summon a minion with the same cost as a spell you cast three times can make for some truly outrageous tempo swings in the late game, and with that tool gone some players are going to have to seriously look at the delicate minion-spell balance they’re running with.
Firelands Portal and Medivh’s Valet will also be sorely missed.
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This was a tough one to decide on. The Paladin certainly got the better of the Grimy Goons cards from Mean Streets, with the potentially devastating buff the Outfitter providing in the early game too good for many Paladin decks to ignore.
The early game swing, alongside other cards like Smuggler’s Run and Grimestreet Enforcer allows for Uther (or Liadrin) to put minions with stats wildly above their cost on the board regularly and wear their opponents down from there.
Vilefin Inquisitor was the other candidate for this title, but its value drops sharply if not in the mulligan, and the Murloc Paladin archetype will still have enough weapons to be viable without it.
All in all, Priest stands to lose the most in the upcoming set rotation, with so many of the class’ match-winning cards coming from Mean Streets.
If you’d asked me before the nerf, by answer would’ve definitely been Raza the Chained, but with the seemingly unlimited Voidforms off the table, the virtually guaranteed board clear Dragonfire Potion gives the Priest will be the most missed – but it’s a long list to pick from.
Priest of the Feast, Potion of Madness, Drakonid Operative and Kazakus are all out the door in a few months time, and the Highlander Priest will almost certainly disappear from the legendary ranks when that happens.
Like the Druid, the Rogue will be stung most by the loss of the Jade Golem mechanic once Mean Streets is in Wild. Like Call of the Wild, Southsea Squidface isn’t exactly an earth-shattering card right now, but its undeniable synergy with the Rogue’s newest weapon – Kingsbane – will create a hole in any deck built around it.
Given the Rogue is also set to lose some other cheap, but important tools such as Counterfeit Coin and Swashburglar, Kingsbane decks look to be a big part of the Rogue class for the next year.
The Rogue will still have access to minions that help it draw weapons and increase their durability, but without Squidface will largely have to resort to old tricks like Deadly Poison to get value from their legendary blade.
Transforming minions – both friendly and unfriendly – has become a brand new, but important, tool for the Shaman since its introduction. But one of the most useful tools in that box is the 2-mana Devolve, which transforms all enemy minions into ones that cost one less.
The ability to completely short-circuit your opponent’s synergised board for cheap is almost critical to many decks and, while many Shaman players will recall an occasion the spell backfired and ‘devolved’ a cheap common into a cheaper legendary, it’s safe to say this is card they’ll desperately miss in Standard.
The Shaman Death Knight mechanic seems to hint this won’t be the last we see of this kind of card, but it’ll be a nervous wait for Thrall’s horde until the newest set is revealed.
The Warlock is in a very good place right now, with the consensus among the Hearthstone community that it’s the strongest class in the game right now. This becomes even more apparent when you look at just how little the Warlock will lose in the next set rotation.
Mistress of Mixtures allows the Warlock to easily regain a lot of the HP they sacrifice in the early game, and can be combined with Dark Pact for a stunning 12 HP recovery for just two mana. Gul’dan is far from in peril, but this loss of some early healing is probably what they’ll miss the most.
Anyone still trying to make Quest Warlock work will be sad to see Malchezaar’s Imp go, and there are a couple of Zoolock tools that will head off into the sunset, but the Warlock will emerge from this set rotation largely unscathed.
The Warrior relies heavily on Taunt minions and a stack of armour at present, and the Alley Armoursmith helps the class out massively in both.
The card essentially guarantees a Warrior player an additional seven armour, or forces their opponent to use hard removal on a five-mana card they likely have a second copy of. While Journey to Un’Goro has given Garrosh plenty of more Taunt friends to work with, they will have to turn to spells or other minions with less-reliable armour generation abilities to replace what they’ll lose from the Alley Armoursmith.