Core Set 2024 was just announced and it comes with a hefty number of changes. A total of 83 cards rotate out and 87 cards take their place. That’s around 30% of the entire Core Set refreshed.
On top of the rotation, a lot of the cards were changed – 36 in total. And not just the ones that rotate in, many of the cards that stay in the core set also got updated. Most of those changes are buffs, although we do have a nerf (Mind Control Tech now costs 5 mana) (Edit: I was kind of wrong about MCT being a nerf. Yes, the card costs 5 mana instead of 3, but you can now pick the target yourself, which is probably worth the uptick in cost) and a change that could be seen as both (Acolyte of Death is now a 2/4 but doesn’t require Frost rune – which is a buff in decks that couldn’t previously run it, but a nerf in decks that played Frost anyway). Talking about Runes – A LOT of those changes are loosening of Death Knight rune restrictions. Many cards got their Rune requirements reduced by one (which often lead to their complete removal – like Nerubian Swarmguard or Gnome Muncher now not requiring any Runes to add to deck). It might be interesting and might make Death Knight cards more versatile.
It’s also worth noting that some of the cards that were supposed to rotate out of Standard were added into the Core Set immediately. Most of those are Death Knight cards (many of their key cards were released in March of the Lich King, which will be gone from Standard), but we have some other examples like Demon Hunter’s Wayward Sage, Shaman’s Muck Pools or Neutral Vicious Slitherspear.
Anyway, here’s a list of all the cards rotating out and the ones that will replace them. Below the list of cards, I’ve also posted all the card changes (they are noted with an asterisk on the class lists). I’ll publish a full, updated list of cards in Core Set 2024 soon, once we get the official images.
Death Knight
Rotating out:
- Lord Marrowgar
- Ymirjar Deathbringer
- Bonedigger Geist
- Graveyard Shift
- Possessifier
- Corrupted Ashbringer
- Patchwerk
- Obliterate
- Heart Strike
- Rimefang Sword
- Overseer Frigidara
- Repulsive Gargantuan
- Rime Sculptor
- Defrost
- Runeforging
Rotating in:
- The Scourge
- Necrotic Mortician (*)
- Vampiric Blood
- Soulstealer (*)
- Corpse Explosion
- Blood Tap (*)
- Hematurge (*)
- Soulbreaker
- Frostwyrm's Fury
- Horn of Winter
- Marrow Manipulator (*)
- Might of Menethil
- Frostmourne (*)
- Corpse Bride
- Nerubian Swarmguard (*)
- Asphyxiate (*)
- Acolyte of Death (*)
Demon Hunter
Rotating out:
Rotating in:
Druid
Rotating out:
Rotating in:
- Greybough
- Park Panther
- Lesser Jasper Spellstone
- Thickhide Kodo
- Oaken Summons (*)
- Raven Idol
- Swipe (*)
Hunter
Rotating out:
Rotating in:
- Barak Kodobane
- Master's Call
- Rat Trap
- Ice Trap
- Lesser Emerald Spellstone
- Ball of Spiders
- Kill Command
Mage
Rotating out:
Rotating in:
Paladin
Rotating out:
Rotating in:
Priest
Rotating out:
- Darkbishop Benedictus
- Drakonid Operative
- Holy Champion
- Shadowed Spirit
- Shadow Word: Death
- Shard of the Naaru
Rotating in:
- Madame Lazul
- Obsidian Statue
- Ship's Chirurgeon
- Lesser Diamond Spellstone
- Void Shard
- Shadow Word: Pain
Rogue
Rotating out:
Rotating in:
Shaman
Rotating out:
- Grand Totem Eys'or
- Doomhammer
- Bloodlust
- Zap!
- Strenght Totem
Rotating in:
- Kalimos, Primal Lord
- Muck Pools
- Air Elemental (*)
- Spirit Claws
- Wrath of Air Totem
Warlock
Rotating out:
Rotating in:
- Arch-Villain Rafaam
- Doomguard
- Dark Alley Pact (*)
- Lesser Amethyst Spellstone
- Bloodbound Imp
- Demonic Studies
Warrior
Rotating out:
Rotating in:
Neutral
Rotating out:
- Ysera the Dreamer
- Alexstrasza the Life-Binder
- Dr. Boom
- Cairne Bloodhoof
- Zilliax
- The Black Knight
- Gadgetzan Auctioneer
- Azure Drake
- Eater of Secrets
- Humongous Razorleaf
- Rotten Applebaum
- Chillwind Yeti
- Grim Necromancer
- Explosive Sheep
- Emerald Skytalon
- Tour Guide
Rotating in:
- Alexstrasza
- Ysera (*)
- Siamat (*)
- Sylvanas Windrunner
- Gnomelia, S.A.F.E. Pilot (New)
- Leeroy Jenkins
- Justicar Trueheart (*)
- Molten Giant
- Mountain Giant
- Mind Control Tech (*)
- Footman (New)
- Stonehill Defender
- Vicious Slitherspear
- Evasive Wyrm (*)
- Warsong Grunt (New)
- Night Elf Huntress (New)
- Wandmaker
- Southsea Deckhand
- Fire Fly
- Boulderfist Ogre
Card Changes
Death Knight
- Plagued Grain – 2x Unholy Rune (previously 3x Unholy Rune)
- Army of the Dead – 1x Unholy Rune (previously 2x Unholy Rune)
- Deathbringer Saurfang – 3/6 (previously 3/5)
- Harbinger of Winter 3/2 stats and 1x Frost Rune (previously 2/2 stats and 2x Frost Rune)
- Frost Strike – 1x Frost Rune (previously 2x Frost Rune)
- Noxious Cadaver – No Rune (previously 1x Blood Rune)
- Gnome Muncher – No Rune (previously 1x Blood Rune)
- Necrotic Mortician – 1x Unholy Rune (previously 2x Unholy Rune)
- Soulstealer – 2x Blood Rune (previously 3x Blood Rune)
- Blood Tap – 1x Blood Rune (previously 2x Blood Rune)
- Hematurge – 1x Blood Rune (previously 2x Blood Rune)
- Marrow Manipulator – 2x Frost Rune (previously 3x Frost Rune)
- Frostmourne – 6 mana 4/3 (previously 7 mana 5/3)
- Nerubian Swarmguard – No Rune (previously 1x Unholy Rune)
- Acolyte of Death – 2/4, No Rune (previously 3/4, 1x Frost Rune)
- Asphyxiate – No Rune (previously 1x Blood Rune)
Demon Hunter
- Metamorphosis – Deals 5 damage (previously dealt 4 damage)
- Battlefiend – 1/3 stats (previously 1/2 stats)
Druid
- Oaken Summons – Wording change, removed “Recruit”.
- Swipe – Now costs 3 mana (previously 4 mana).
Mage
- Kalecgos – 8 mana cost (previously 9 mana cost)
Shaman
- Flametongue Totem – 0/3 stats (previously 0/2 stats)
- Air Elemental – 3/1 stats, wording change to include the new “Elusive” keyword (previously 2/1 stats)
Warlock
- Twisting Nether – Now destroys all minions and locations (previously only minions)
- Dark Alley Pact – Summoned Fiend has Taunt
Neutral
- Big Game Hunter – Now has “Tradeable”
- Sleepy Dragon – Now 6/12 stats (previously 4/12 stats)
- Ysera – Now gives 2 Dream cards per turn (previously 1 Dream card per turn) – Some Dream cards also changed!
- Laughing Sister – Wording changed to include the new “Elusive keyword”
- Ysera Awakens – 2 mana, damages all characters (previously 3 mana, damaged only minions)
- Dream – 0 mana, can return any minion to hand (previously 1 mana, could only return enemy minions)
- Nightmare – Gives +5/+5 (previously +4/+4)
- Siamat – 7/7 stats (previously 6/6 stats)
- Justicar Trueheart – 5 mana 6/4 stats (previously 6 mana 6/3 stats)
- Mind Control Tech – 5 mana, you can pick a target (previously 3 mana, random target)
- Faerie Dragon – Wording changed to include the new “Elusive keyword”
- Evasive Wyrm – Wording changed to include the new “Elusive keyword”
Why are they giga-buffing rainbow DK by making basically every corpse spender a single rune card? Army of the dead, the discover card, Necrotic Mortician, the handbuff card. I don’t get it, this deck is already the best in the game, has gotten a buff basically every patch since Festival, and loses nothing in rotate. Why??
I wish they’d stop putting rotating cards into the core set. Especially a card like Slitherspear, which has such an early snowball potential. Even Muck Pools- and evolve has some of my favorite shenanigans -feels stale at this point, despite never being a prominent card. But I’d even rather see Mutate- which is worse and weaker -than try to make muck pools work. Again.
So…what if I just disenchanted all those old legendaries last week, and now they come back. Am I just shafted? I just got back into the game, and that will definitely ruin it, after just selling all this stuff to be able to make a deck or 2. That are now going to be obsolete basically.
Cards in the core set are offered to all players for free and cannot be disenchanted. This is the updated core set for next year, starting with the new expansion (in March or April). If you’re saying you disenchanted cards that will now be offered in the core set, you technically just got the dust “for free”, since those cards will be in your collection anyway (at least as long as they’re in core).
If you’re saying you used dust to craft legendaries that will be rotating out with the new Standard year, that sucks… and it’s how the rotation works. So if you’re not planning to play Wild, yeah, they’re going to be “useless” when they rotate out of Standard.
And shadowstep still doesn’t rotate…
Looks like Swipe got buffed too. Now it’s 3 mana, down from 4.
You’re right, it’s missing from the official image. I’ll add it to the list 🙂
So sad to see they’re abandoning Rogue secrets once again. 🙁
Thanks for the summary. Finally some news