Hearthstone’s rotation will change everything we know about the metagame. Three expansions will sail to wild with Voyage to the Sunken City.

With Voyage of the Sunken City's arrival, Hearthstone will see its yearly rotation. The sets from 2020 will leave standard next April 12. Everything will change with the next Hearthstone rotation. Which key cards are leaving, and which classes will be hurt the most?

Hearthstone Rotation

On April 12, when we begin the Voyage to the Sunken City, we will welcome a Hearthstone new year and the much-awaited set rotation. This means that the 2020 expansions will become exclusive to the Wild format. That means there will be 510 fewer cards to play with, and some are incredibly powerful.

Ashes of Outland, Scholomance Academy, and Madness at the Darkmoon Faire sets will no longer be part of Standard play. Without these three expansions, the Metagame will change completely, and some classes will need Voyage to the Sunken City to carry them, or they will become unplayable.

Let's do a class-by-class review of what key cards we are losing with this Hearthstone rotation.

Hearthstone Neutral cards Rotating

The most impactful Neutral cards that we will be losing in this Hearthstone rotation could be divided into two categories. First of all, we all need to bow before the Old Gods. C’Thun, Y’Shaarj, Yogg-Saron, and N’Zoth were all core cards during the pre-Stormwind metagame.

Hearthstone's New Old Gods will be rotating into Wild
Hearthstone's New Old Gods will be rotating into Wild

Less shiny, but not less important, with this Hearthstone rotation, two cards will no longer be eligible in the standard game mode. Let’s all say goodbye to Cult Neophyte and the Animated Broomstick.

Cult Neophypte and Animated Broomstick are leaving
Cult Neophypte and Animated Broomstick are leaving

Rogue

Rogue has dominated the meta for quite a while with different archetypes. Weapon Rogue, Garrote Rogue, and even the old Tempo Rogue had been present in almost every metagame of 2021. Will Rogue be able to compensate for the lack of this highly efficient card-draw and tools after the Hearthstone rotation?

Will Rouge find its way without these powerful cards?
Will Rouge find its way without these powerful cards?

Demon Hunter's first Hearthstone rotation

Talking about card draw and efficient tools, it’s Illidan’s time. The class that came to Hearthstone in 2020 will see its first-ever rotation, and it will change what we knew about the class. Prepare to say goodbye to the meta-defining Skull of Gul'dan and Glide, and the highly powerful Spectral Sight and Felscream Blast. How crazy is it that Skull of Guldan doesn’t see play now? Well, it will be missed for sure.

The end of an era
The end of an era

Hunter

When we talk about Hunter, sometimes we underestimate the power of their cards. This is mainly because Hunter's aggressive archetypes get the job done by brute force and piling up damage. In this department, we can highlight three cards that will be missed when the Hearthstone rotation arrives.

Face will always be your place friends, farewell
Face will always be your place friends, farewell

Priest

The class that Hearthstone said would be deleted in their April’s Fools patch notes will lose an iconic duo. Honestly, I don’t mind if you were not joking Blizzard, at least Priest won’t have the infinite resource generation, chaining Renews and Palm Readings. Honorable mention to Soul Mirror, a card that everyone played when turn 7 existed and control decks were a thing. Maybe we will get to explore that territory again after Hearthstone’s rotation.

Don't fool yourself, there are a hundred cards in this image, not just three
Don't fool yourself, there are a hundred cards in this image, not just three

Paladin losing everything to Hearthstone rotation?

Talking about the holy light, after this Hearthstone rotation Paladin will be losing, well, everything. Is there another thing in Paladin besides Librams? I feel that we’ve been seeing the same archetype for two years now. That will end in a week, so if you are a fan, make sure you visit the library before we go to Sunken City.

Paladin's backbone
Paladin's backbone

Shaman

Before we get into Hearthstone’s #1 public enemy, let’s stop a second to contemplate what Shaman is losing this rotation. Honestly, it isn’t much since the class was border unplayable until Forged in the Barren’s miniset came to the rescue. However, Instructor Fireheart, Lightning Bloom, and Serpentshrine Portal are three cards that are seeing play today and we wanted to mention them.

They might not seem that powerful, but they were all Shamans had not a while ago
They might not seem that powerful, but they were all Shamans had not a while ago

Warrior

Similar to Shaman, Warrior doesn’t seem to have any outstanding cards leaving this Hearthstone rotation. However, some were popular enough to highlight in this farewell article.

Will they be missed? Well, Garrosh might
Will they be missed? Well, Garrosh might

Mage

Before everyone starts to riot, we need to address the Mage class. With this Hearthstone rotation, we will finally say goodbye to Incanter’s Flow, a card that was nerfed twice, and players still full mulligan for it. On top of that massive mana cheat discount, Mage is losing Brain Freeze and the duo that created an archetype, Mozaki and Cram Session.

The day the Incanter finally stops flowing is round the corner
The day the Incanter finally stops flowing is round the corner

Warlock

People might think that Warlock is not losing much since most of its archetypes were tied to the Demon Seed from Stormwind. However, with this Hearthstone rotation, Guldan will see Raise Dead, Backfire, and Flesh Giant rotating into the wild, and those are heavy losses. Honorable mention to one of the most hyped and complained cards, Ticketus, that will also leave standard.

Will this be the end of Quest Warlock?
Will this be the end of Quest Warlock?

Druid after Hearthstone rotation

Finally, Druidstone will come to an end after Hearthstone’s rotation. While Guff seems to be powerful enough to carry the class, wait until you see what is leaving. I tried to keep it short, but the list couldn’t go shorter than 8 cards. Yes, 8 cards that have been dominating the meta for the last two years.

Druid's starter kit, naturally.
Druid's starter kit, naturally.

On top of these staple ramp, draw, and value cards, Druid will no longer have access to some heavy lifters. Say goodbye to the Eclipses, Cenarius Guard, and the Resizing Pouch.

So, you were thinking of setting up lethal?
So, you were thinking of setting up lethal?

While the metagame is a complete mystery, we at least can picture which cards we won’t be seeing anymore after April 12th when we start our Voyage to the Sunken City and with it, Hearthstone’s rotation.

Furthermore, we will see changes to the Core Set. Some players fear that some of the iconic cards we mentioned today could make a comeback from Wild to the Core Set.

Stay tuned to Esports.gg for more Hearthstone news and update. See you next time, in Sunken City.