Standard Decks To Try Out Before the Year of the Raven Standard Rotation

Loved by some, hated by the others, there is no doubt that this is one of the most powerful meta decks right now. The amount of burn it runs is insane, Secrets can seriously mess with long-term plans of the opposing player, and most importantly, Aluneth is the deck’s MVP, as it can cycle through the whole list in just a few turns.

To be fair, it’s hard to say whether a deck like that will be viable after the rotation or not. Aluneth is still there, and a lot of the burn cards are still there, so why is it on the list? Well, it’s simple. Even if it will still be played, it definitely won’t be played in its current form. A big chunk of the Secret package is gone. No Kabal Lackey, no Medivh's Valet, no Kabal Crystal Runner. Even Secrets themselves got hit – Potion of Polymorph is rotating out and Ice Block is getting Hall of Famed. If that’s not enough, the deck is losing Firelands Portal, which is also a hit, although not as significant; some lists were cutting it already.

It’s hard to say how the deck will look after rotation. With the current Secret synergies we have left (basically Arcanologist and Kirin Tor Mage), it probably won’t be worth it to play the Secret package. Or maybe we’ll get a new Secret-related card? Or maybe the deck will drop them and go for a more regular early game without Secrets?

Either way, if you like how the deck looks and plays in the current form, it’s the perfect time to try it on the ladder one more time.

Jade Druid was full of contradictions. On the one hand, majority of players I’ve been talking to absolutely hated playing against it. On the other, it was a quite popular deck throughout its whole existence. Even back in the day, when it wasn’t even a good choice (Tier 3 deck), it still featured a solid play rate. I guess that even though lots of people hated it, others have loved the play style of snowballing threats.

However, those who were against the deck (and Jade Idol in particular) can sigh with relief. The deck will no longer be playable in Standard after the upcoming rotation – all the Jade cards will be gone. Even though some kind of Ramp Druid will probably find its way back into the meta (they always do), larger and larger green men will no longer be the nightmare of some Standard decks.

In other news, Druid is also losing Fandral Staghelm, which was never an absolutely crucial part of any Druid deck, but it always helped.

Oh the Big Priest. I feel like we’ve started this compilation with some of the most hated decks. But that’s usually how it works – strong meta decks are often disliked by lots of players, because they simply have to be unfair in order to be best.

In case of Big Priest, the “unfair” factor came pretty much only from a single card – Barnes. Getting Barnes on curve and then either rolling Y'Shaarj, Rage Unbound (which always pulled a huge minion), or having an Eternal Servitude ready most likely meant a quick victory for the Priest. On the other hand, the deck could also low-roll and not get either ways to summon big minions early, or any ways to revive them.

But Barnes, just as like Y’Shaarj, will no longer be playable, meaning that the biggest “unfair” part about the deck will be just… gone. It will still be able to summon big minions on Turn 6 (Shadow Essence) and revive them (Eternal Servitude, Lesser Diamond Spellstone), but without those two, it just won’t be as swingy.

Another big problem is losing lots of AoE clears. Pint-Size Potion + Shadow Word: Horror combo will be out of Standard. Same goes for Embrace the Shadow, which means that you would be forced to run Auchenai Soulpriest for the combo with Circle of Healing, and that’s not a great idea in this deck. On top of that, Dragonfire Potion is also gone. So, in other words, the deck should be less swingy, and at the same time will have a lower chance to actually get to the late game where it will excel.

While everything heavily depends on the cards Priest will get in The Witchwood, I’m not very optimistic about the future of this deck. So if you’re a professional high-roller, be sure to play it before it’s gone.

Priest’s “Dragon package” is now ever-present. Pretty much every Priest deck runs it. However, it is going to get significantly weaker with the upcoming rotation. Drakonid Operative is gone, and it was THE reason why you want to run Dragon package in the first place (in the slower matchups, at least). Not to mention that Netherspite Historian, which was basically “I play a 2-drop and get another copy of my overpowered Dragon”, is also gone. Which means that the only incentives to play Dragon decks in Priest right now will be Duskbreaker and Twilight Acolyte. Will it be enough? It’s really hard to say, but the decks will need to go through a massive overhaul.

But that’s not everything. Just looking at this deck list, Potion of Madness, Pint-Size Potion, Shadow Word: Horror and Greater Healing Potion are also gone. Well, Kabal Songstealer too, but it can be easily replaced. As much as the Pint-Size + Horror combo can be replaced with the Auchenai Soulpriest + Circle of Healing, the Pint-Size part of the combo was also incredibly useful in combination with Cabal Shadow Priest. Instead of stealing stuff on Turn 7, we will have to wait until Turn 9 (Twilight Acolyte combo), and that’s often too late.

I believe that some kind of Control Priest might still be playable, depending on the cards we’re going to get. But will it look similar to the current one? Will it still run Dragons? Well, that’s hard to say.

Just like above – the Dragon package is gone. Or rather, it will be much more difficult to run it. In case of Combo Dragon Priest, not only Drakonid Operative and Netherspite Historian are rotating out. The deck is also losing Book Wyrm, which was a very common tech recently.

But that’s not all. There are two more key cards rotating out. First one is Potion of Madness. Right now, it is possible to steal your opponent’s low attack minion (most notably Doomsayer), buff it and punch your opponent to kill him. Without Potion of Madness, it won’t be that easy. Yeah, you can still run Shadow Madness instead, but that’s 3 more mana, making is WAY less flexible. On top of that, Kabal Talonpriest was an important part of the combos. Not only it added +6 or +12 damage to the combo, but buffing a minion preemptively often put it outside of the opponent’s removal range.

Divine Spirit + Inner Fire is still there, so we might see it come back into the meta after a while. But right now, the deck is taking a HUGE hit.

Another deck for the fans of high-rolling. While I believe that Spell Hunter might be playable next expansion (especially if they print another synergy card), this specific version won’t. Both Barnes and Y'Shaarj, Rage Unbound will be gone, meaning that you will no longer be able to put just those two into your deck and then summon a 3/4 + 1/1 + 10/10 on Turn 4.

Besides that, the deck isn’t losing a lot. Cat Trick is just about the only notable card that will be gone, and even though it’s good, I think that the deck might do fine without it.

To be fair, I was on the edge about putting it into the “meta decks” category, but I just don’t think it’s good or popular enough right not to deserve a spot there.

Evolve Shaman, also called Token Shaman, is losing LOTS of cards very soon. Just to give you a quick list: Evolve, Devolve, Jade Claws, Maelstrom Portal, Jade Lightning, Doppelgangster, Aya Blackpaw, Thing from Below. That’s exactly half of the deck gone, which basically means that the deck will have to alter its play style completely in order to fit in again. Given that Shaman is in a terrible spot right now, I think that one expansion worth of cards after all of those rotate out won’t even be able to bring it back to the meta.

Evolve mechanic is getting significantly weaker. Not only your most important card is gone (Evolve), but some of the best Evolve targets are gone with it (Doppelgangster, Thing from Below). Yes, both Saronite Chain Gang and Corridor Creeper will still be there, but with no Evolves, they will be less consistent. Unstable Evolution and Thrall, Deathseer have their advantages, but they don’t really work well with some of the cards. Like, you can’t play Chain Gang + Unstable Evolution on Turn 5. Or rather, you can, but you will only Evolve a single minion. And to combo it with the Hero, you need to wait until Turn 9 – that’s way too late.

Jade package was ever-present in multiple Shaman archetypes. Jade Claws in particular were really powerful way to not fall behind in the early game. On top of that, with both Devolve and Maelstrom Portal gone, dealing with wide boards will be a nightmare.

I think it’s safe to say that this deck is dead after the rotation, so it’s basically the last time to play it in Standard. However, just like before, we need to wait until they show more cards before giving out the final verdict.

Similarly to the Evolve Shaman, Jade Shaman is losing a lot. Or rather, to be more precise, it will be no longer playable, as the whole Jade mechanic is rotating out.

Right now, people are trying out decks like that on the ladder. They aren’t exactly the most powerful, but some players have had decent success, even in high Legend. I won’t even list all the cards that are gone, as it would be too long. If you like Shaman, Jades, or both, just play it now!

Oh, the infamous combo deck. People were trying to OTK the opponent with Sorcerer's Apprentice + Archmage Antonidas combo for as long as I remember, but the strategy really became viable only in Journey to Un’Goro, thanks to the Quest (Open the Waygate) and Molten Reflection. We all know how the deck works right now, but the question is – why it won’t work after the rotation?

Technically, it might STILL work, as the combo will be possible to achieve. But a better way to phrase that is that it will suck big time. Want to finish the Quest? Well, you will have to improvise a lot, as both Babbling Book and Cabalist's Tome will be gone. Want to get to your combo pieces quickly? Well, Coldlight Oracle is rotating out to Hall of Fame. And most importantly – want to survive long enough to actually be able to draw your combo and play it? Nope, sorry, Ice Block is also rotating out. As you can see, playing the deck in its current form will be a nightmare. Even the Quest-less version (which is weaker right now), without the Ice Block in particular, it would be incredibly hard to survive long enough. Without those extra turns, instead of the current ~40% win rate (which is very low already), the deck would probably feature a 20% win rate or something like that.

I’m not saying that the Exodia combo is gone for good. We might see more cards, more survival tools, maybe even more good ways to generate random cards or cycle through the deck. But right now, it doesn’t look good for the deck, so if you’re a fan of this ultimate combo build, play the hell out of it before it’s gone.

Kingsbane Mill Rogue seems to be one of the community’s favorites. I mean, sure, the deck is quite fun to play, and milling cards can feel good (at least for you, not for the opponent). However, the deck will no longer be playable in its current form after the rotation.

First of all, the “Mill” part of the deck is gone. Coldlight Oracle is getting Hall of Famed, meaning that you won’t be able to force your opponent to draw cards. This strategy was incredibly powerful against some decks, like Warlock or Exodia Mage, where not only was it easy to mill, but burning a key card could simply result in an immediate victory.

But that’s not all. The weapon part of the deck is also getting weaker. Both Southsea Squidface and Naga Corsair are rotating out. The only ways to buff the weapon’s Attack in Standard will be Deadly Poison and Captain Greenskin, which is definitely far from enough.

Of course, we might get more weapon buffs. Or maybe even a Rogue-only card that draws for both players? It’s really hard to say, but there is a significant chance that this deck will no longer be playable in Standard. So either play it now, or enjoy it in the Wild after the next expansion launches.

Right after its release, C'Thun was the most popular Old God, seeing play in Druid, Warrior, Warlock and even Priest. But after a while, other, stronger decks have popped out, and without more support, C’Thun was basically turned into a budget card. Since every player could get it for free, and the support cards were generally cheap (besides Twin Emperor Vek'lor) it was a good option for players with small collections… and that’s pretty much it.

However, more recently, it has seen some play in the Spiteful Summoner version of the Druid. There are basically two versions – one running generic minions and one going for the C’Thun synergies. I remember Thijs playing this build quite a lot, but it wasn’t really popular choice on the ladder. Still, it was an interesting and pretty unique deck, which is why I’ve decided to feature it on this list.

Just like in the case of Jade decks, there’s no point in listing all the cards rotating out. C’thun and all the support cards are gone, so the deck will simply not be playable in its current form. That said, the other version of Spiteful Druid should actually still be good, as it doesn’t lose any key cards… Well, Mire Keeper is quite key, but it’s still possible to play it without it.

And now that’s a meme deck if I’ve seen one. The deck was created and popularized by Savjz, and at one point you could actually meet it on the ladder every now and then. Of course, since the deck is not really great, the fad has quickly died, but Savjz has played it recently on his stream again and I’ve remembered how much fun it can be.

The deck doesn’t want to win through any usual methods. Rushing your opponent? Burning him down? Playing some sort of combo? Outvaluing? Well, not really. What it wants to do is fill your opponent’s deck with Weasel Tunneler to the point where he basically skips most of his draws and gets Weasels instead.

You play Weasels, copy them (Mirage Caller, Zola the Gorgon, Herald Volazj), eat them and then get more (Carnivorous Cube), re-summon them (Twilight's Call, N'Zoth, The Corruptor). and when your opponent plays one, you can steal it and still shuffle into their deck (Potion of Madness). Yeah, that’s quite a lot. On top of that, you can also shuffle a lot of other “useless” cards with Psychic Scream, if Weasels weren’t enough.

Everything besides Weasels is mostly ways to survive (like the Quest itself – Awaken the Makers is amazing when you can consistently finish it on Turn 5-6, and get a 5 mana 8/8 with Taunt that heals you up to 40) and some more value (Elise the Trailblazer + Shadow Visions to fish for packs). The strategy is to basically force your opponent to draw Weasels a few turns in a row, while you hit them with whatever minions you have on the board. Sticking a 5/5 or something is great if your opponent draws 1/1’s instead of removals.

It’s a fun deck, but it’s also really hard to play correctly, and of course it’s not that great in the first place. It’s also super expensive. But if you can afford it, you should try it at least once.

While I’m not sure who created this deck first, it was mostly played and popularized by Zetalot. It’s yet another combo deck, and it’s actually quite interesting.

The goal is simple – you play 2x Corrupted Healbot throughout your game, then once they’re already dead, you play 2x Twilight's Call, play either Embrace the Shadow or Auchenai Soulpriest and Circle of Healing. Since Healbots are your only Deathrattle minions, you summon 4x 1/1 copies of them. Normally, killing them would result with healing your opponent for 32, but thanks to the cards which turn healing into damage, well, you deal 32 instead.

Of course, it’s not the best combo deck around. It requires quite a lot of set-up (both of your Healbots need to die first), then you need four combo pieces (the combo is really not flexible, your Twilight’s Calls are absolutely necessary to do anything), it can be countered quite easily (just transform one of the Healbots with something like Polymorph and the combo potential goes down from 32 to 16), and Armor completely screw it (so if you face a slower Warrior or Druid, you basically can’t win).

Still, the deck is quite fun to play, and the fact that your opponent will never expect it kind of gives it an edge. Tons of players on the ladder have never seen it, and so they don’t really understand how to play against it. And it’s something pretty unique.

Because Corrupted Healbot rotates out you obviously won’t be able to play it in Standard soon.

Grimy Goons were one of the three Mean Streets of Gadgetzan “gangs” – Hunter, Paladin and Warrior belonged to them. Their unique mechanic was called “handbuff”, because unlike the usual buffs, which work on minions on the board, those cards affected minions / weapons in your hand instead. However, it was also the least successful mechanic – both Kabal (Highlander cards) and Jade (well, Jades) worked much better.

The only successful Handbuff deck ever was a Handbuff Paladin. While it was not good back in the Gadgetzan, at one point it was a solid meta choice during Journey to Un’Goro. Actually, it has seen some play here and there throughout the whole Year of the Mammoth. Never on the top of the meta, but usually good enough to hit at least Rank 5 (or even Legend).

The featured build was created by ctgiese and shared on reddit – he used it to hit Legend this season.

While it’s definitely not as good as Dude Paladin or Murloc Paladin, apparently it’s also a viable choice. Paladin class is in a great spot right now, so even a sub-optimal deck can be used to get Legend. The deck will no longer be playable after the rotation, as the Grimy Goons handbuff cards will be gone (as well as Doppelgangster). The only handbuff left in Standard will be Val'anyr, and while it’s a solid weapon, I don’t think it will be good enough to build the handbuff deck around it. So if you want to play something like this right now, I’d suggest going for it quickly before the rotation.

And last, but not least, the Exodia Paladin. A deck that was extensively theorycrafted before Knights of the Frozen Throne, but it never really took off, at least not in the meta. Some players hit higher Legend ranks using it, so it’s not THAT bad. I have to say that a significant part of those higher win rates was the fact that most of the opponents simply don’t know how to play around it. When I was playing it, my opponents were often giving me the Coins even though they didn’t absolutely need to. Some even tried to mill me by giving me multiple coins. Like sure, it was sometimes a 1 in 15 to lose the game on the spot (milling a crucial card), but giving me a free win if it doesn’t work out.

But let’s start from the beginning. This deck works thanks to the new Paladin’s Hero Power (Uther of the Ebon Blade). It turns your Hero Powers into unique 2/2’s – once you get all of them on the board (four in total), you instantly win the game. Given that you normally can only summon one per turn, your opponent should be able to clear them right away. However, thanks to Auctionmaster Beardo, it is possible to summon all four during a single turn. However, the whole combo costs 11 mana, not to mention cost of the spells necessary to re-activate the Hero Power. That’s where Burgly Bully comes in handy. Not only are Coins free spells, but they also GIVE you extra mana, making the 11 mana possible to get. In the long run, you need either three Coins or two Coins + 1 mana spell. Once you play your DK Hero and get those pieces, you just win the game on the spot. It’s actually the only “true” Exodia combo in the game – Exodia Mage can still be stopped by tons of Armor (not enough time to go through all of it) or Ice Block / Evasion (in case the Mage can’t pop it during the first turn). This combo, on the other hand, can’t be stopped by anything. You just win the game and that’s it.

It’s a really interesting deck that will no longer be playable after the rotation. Auctionmaster Beardo is gone, meaning that the combo will no longer be possible, not to mention that you wouldn’t have enough mana to do it without Burgly Bully (which also rotates out) anyway. So go and play it while you still can!