Core Set 2023 was just announced and it comes with a hefty number of changes. A total of 73 cards rotate out and 73 new (or rather old) cards get to replace them. That’s around 25% of the Core Set, or 30% if we don’t count Death Knight (which, as expected, stays the same since it was just released a few months ago).
A LOT of the cards were changed – 40 in total. And not just the ones that rotate in, many of the cards that stay in the core set also got updated. Nearly every of those update is a buff, although we have some “redesigns” too – especially in Priest (some of the cards include the new Overheal mechanic).
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. Yes, it happened once, but that was for Demon Hunter, which was a new class at the time and it didn’t have Wild cards to rotate into the Core Set yet.
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. I’ll publish a full, updated list of cards in Core Set 2023 soon, once we get the official images.
Death Knight
No changes! Death Knight class was just released last expansion, and Blizzard decided to not touch its (still fresh) Core Set.
Demon Hunter
Rotating out:
Rotating in:
Druid
Rotating out:
Rotating in:
Hunter
Rotating out:
Rotating in:
Mage
Rotating out:
Rotating in:
Paladin
Rotating out:
Rotating in:
- Lothraxion the Redeemed
- Muster for Battle
- Hammer of Wrath (Buffed)
- Hand of A'dal
- Grimestreet Outfitter (Buffed)
Priest
Rotating out:
- Murozond the Infinite
- Lyra the Sunshard
- Kul Tiran Chaplain
- Focused Will
- Power Infusion
- Radiant Elemental
- Northshire Cleric
Rotating in:
- Catrina Muerte (Remade)
- Darkbishop Benedictus
- Mana Geode (Remade)
- Crimson Clergy (Remade)
- Holy Champion (Remade)
- Shadow Ascendant (Buffed)
- Shard of the Naaru
Rogue
Rotating out:
Rotating in:
- Shadowjeweler Hanar
- Elven Minstrel (Buffed)
- Ambush
- Plagiarize
- Cheat Death
- Fan of Knives (Buffed)
- Eviscerate
Shaman
Rotating out:
Rotating in:
Warlock
Rotating out:
Rotating in:
Warrior
Rotating out:
Rotating in:
- Armagedillo (Buffed)
- Bladestorm
- Dyn-o-matic
- Sword Eater
- Heavy Plate
- Frightened Flunky
- Woodcutter's Axe (Buffed)
Neutral
Rotating out:
- Reno Jackson
- Elise Starseeker
- Brann Bronzebeard
- Sir Finley Mrrgglton
- Mossy Horror
- Faceless Manipulator
- Escaped Manasaber
- Arcane Devourer
- SI:7 Infiltrator
- Violet Teacher
- Lone Champion
- Acidic Swamp Ooze
- Stormwatcher
- Cobalt Scalebane
- Dark Iron Dwarf
- Jungle Panther
- Ironbeak Owl
- Sunreaver Spy
- Mistress of Mixtures
- Murloc Tinyfin
Rotating in:
- Ragnaros the Firelord
- Dr. Boom
- Zilliax
- The Black Knight (Buffed)
- Dirty Rat
- Replicating Menace (Buffed)
- Eater of Secrets
- Cult Neophyte
- Armor Vendor
- Wargear (Buffed)
- Rotten Applebaum
- Royal Librarian (Buffed)
- Dread Corsair
- Hench-Clan Thug
- Bronze Gatekeeper (Buffed)
- Rustrot Viper
- Glacial Shard
- Murmy
- Tour Guide
- Snowflipper Penguin
Card Changes
Demon Hunter
- Flamereaper is now 5/3 (previously 4/3).
- Gan'arg Glaivesmith is now 3/3 (previously 3/2).
- Wrathscale Naga is now 3/3 (previously 3/2).
- Metamorphosis now costs 4 mana (previously 5 mana)
Druid
- Ancient of Lore is now 7/7 and restores 7 health (previously 5/5 and restoring 5 health).
- Druid of the Claw now costs 6 mana, but the Cat Form (Rush) is a 7/6 and Bear Form (Taunt) is a 4/9 (previously 5 mana, but forms were 5/4 and 5/6).
- Soul of the Forest now costs 3 mana (previously 4 mana).
- Witchwood Apple now costs 1 mana (previously 2 mana)
- Treant now costs 1 mana (previously 2 mana).
Hunter
- Savannah Highmane is now 7/5 (previously 6/5).
- Jeweled Macaw is now 1/2 (previously 1/1).
Mage
- Babbling Book is now 1/2 (previously1/1).
- Flame Geyser now costs 1 mana (previously 2 mana).
Paladin
- Truesilver Champion now restores 3 health per hit (previously 2 health).
- Hammer of Wrath now costs 3 mana (previously 4 mana).
- Consecration now costs 3 mana (previously 4 mana).
Priest
- Catrina Muerte now costs 7 mana and resurrects only Undead minions (previously 8 mana and could resurrect any minion).
- Mana Geode is now remade with the new Overheal keyword.
- Drakonid Operative now is a 4 mana 4/5 (previously 5 mana 5/6).
- Crimson Clergy is now remade with the new Overheal keyword.
- Holy Nova now targets all enemies (previously enemy minions).
- Shadow Ascendant is now 2/3 (previously 2/2).
- Holy Champion is now remade with the new Overheal keyword.
- Psychic Conjurer is now 1/2 (previously 1/1).
Rogue
- Elven Minstrel is now 3/3 (previously 3/2).
- Fan of Knives now costs 2 mana (previously 3 mana).
- Swashburglar is now 1/2 (previously 1/1).
Shaman
- Feral Spirit is now a Nature spell (previously no spell type).
- Hex now costs 3 mana (previously 4 mana).
- Menacing Nimbus is now 2/3 (previously 2/2).
- Ancestral Knowledge now has Overload: (1) (previously Overload: (2)).
Warlock
- Hellfire now costs 3 mana (previously 4 mana).
Warrior
- Armagedillo is now 4/8 (previously 4/7).
- Woodcutter's Axe now buffs any friendly minions (previously only Rush minions).
Neutral
- The Black Knight is now a 4 mana 4/4 (previously 6 mana 4/5).
- Replicating Menace is now 3/2 (previously 3/1).
- Wargear is now 6/5 (previously 5/5).
- Royal Librarian is now 4/4 (previously 3/4).
- Bronze Gatekeeper is now 2/5 (previously 1/5).
Hello everybody,
Please. I Need an answer because I searched without an answer…
Does anybody know why Faceless Manipulator Is not in Wild Games anymore? I truly did not understand….
It is finally happening. And, maybe someone knows how this will be handled. Kor’vas was only available in the core set. So will she be removed from the game entirely now? Or, can I craft her so I can play her in wild?
It will be added to the Legacy set and can be crafted. This has happened before, at least with that one bad Druid card, the name of which eludes me right now.
I’m not so happy with some of the old cards returning to standard, like Solar Eclipse, Defile, Dirty Rat, Zilliax to name a few. I mean we’ve played with those cards for years, such powerful effects, and when they were rotating out of standard it was a relieve, time for something new. And now they’re back, that doesn’t feel fresh.
Agreed
How does it work? Should I dust the legendaries and epics that are rotating out of Standard for profit? I don’t play Wild.
This specific post is about Core Set rotation – Core cards are free so you can’t disenchant them.
But all of the 2021 expansions are rotating out of Standard with the next expansion’s launch. If Standard is the only game mode you play, then yeah, you can just disenchant all of the cards that rotate out. But it will obviously hurt your ability to play Wild, Duels, many Tavern Brawls, and maybe some other game modes in the future (who knows what they might release).
Really nice changes and all of that crap…
WTF!? Shadowstep still on Core Set!!!??? Good bye interaction to the board, board itself… xD BTW concoctions are in… Oh boy…
I was also really surprised. After seeing all of the new Rogue “bounce” cards from the expansion, I thought that they release them BECAUSE they plan to rotate out Shadowstep. But I guess not.
Well, at least they said “we will change Core Set if it’s needed.” It’s something.