Hearthstone’s annual Standard rotation is approaching. When Whizbang’s Workshop launches on March 19, the expansions from 2022 will no longer be available to play in the Standard format. All cards from Voyage to the Sunken City, Murder at Castle Nathria, March of the Lich King, and Path of Arthas will only be usable in the Wild format and various temporary formats, such as some Tavern Brawls and some Twist seasons.
Standard decks from March 19 can include cards from Festival of Legends, TITANS, Showdown in the Badlands, and the upcoming Whizbang’s Workshop.
But that is still almost a month away. If you want to play Standard before that, what should you do? Based on past years, the rotation will have a big effect on the meta, and the new expansion will feature prominently in the new world. However, some of the old decks will survive.
In this article, I will examine decks that survive the rotation the best. That makes these decks good options to craft, if you want to start playing a new deck now, as you will still be able to play them, or at least a significant portion of them, in the new Standard format.
Let’s take a look at the most rotation-proof decks in the current Standard format!
Plague Death Knight
Steamcleaner is leaving Standard. Plagues are not. It’s a great time to be undead.
The most popular Plague Death Knight deck loses Nerubian Vizier in the rotation. That’s it. It will be easy to replace. Many changes are coming to the Death Knight Core set and many additions as well, so you will have multiple replacement candidates already from Core, not to mention from Whizbang’s Workshop.
You will probably also want to replace Harth Stonebrew, as it does not seem to be contributing much to the deck. Or you might keep it in just for fun. The Year of the Plague is almost upon us. Or was it Pegasus? Either way, there will be plenty of Plagues around.
- Format: wolf
- Season: season-119
- Player:
9,360
Sludge Warlock
Sludge Warlock was just nerfed, but the nerfs were not too severe after all, and the deck is perfectly fine. Not only that, but when you choose the right version of the deck to craft – one without Sir Finley, Sea Guide – the deck does not lose a single card in the Standard rotation! Craft now, play for another year!
It is incredibly rare for a deck to survive a rotation with both its cards and its power level intact, but it is possible. Cubelock was strong across rotations, and perhaps it is time for another Warlock deck to achieve the same feat. Even if it isn’t, Sludge Warlock should remain at a playable level even after the rotation.
- Format: wolf
- Season: season-118
- Player:
- 4,680
Rainbow Death Knight
Rainbow Death Knight is extremely well-positioned for the new Standard year. The deck gets to keep all of its Legendary cards: Maw and Paw, The Primus, Climactic Necrotic Explosion, and Reska, the Pit Boss.
Furthermore, the new Core set will remove many Rune requirements and open up cards like Frost Strike, Hematurge, and Necrotic Mortician for use with the deck.
The new Core set comes with even more gifts, as Acolyte of Death and Corpse Bride are added to the Core set. They are some of the most important cards for Rainbow Death Knight, and the deck will retain access to them for another year.
There are some losses too. Arms Dealer, Tour Guide, Plague Strike, Malignant Horror, and Murlocula will leave Standard when the new expansion arrives. Malignant Horror is the only major loss, as it has been a great corpse spender. However, the new additions to the Core set should easily offset these losses. All of the rotating cards are Commons, so you can easily craft them to play with them now, as they are not a big investment.
- Format: wolf
- Season: season-119
- Player:
- 8,400
Control Warrior
Odyn, Prime Designate is a fresh win condition for Control Warrior, and one that will survive the rotation.
While Deepminer Brann also survives the rotation, it will need to find some new friends, as both Astalor Bloodsworn and Tidal Revenant are headed out of Standard. While there may be new synergy cards that you can use with Brann, Odyn Warrior is a safer deck to craft.
None of the current top lists are fully rotation-proof. This list only loses Sir Finley, Sea Guide and From the Depths, and neither of those are strictly mandatory, so you can just skip them already. Garrosh's Gift makes for a good replacement.
- Format: wolf
- Season: season-119
- Player:
- 8,340
Rainbow Mage
Mage will be able to blast away after the rotation too thanks to Sif sticking around in Standard format. Excavations will also stay, so the current Rainbow Mage list does not lose much at all. The performance of the deck is not top-tier at the moment, but if damage combos are your thing, you can feel safe that you can pull them off after mid-March too.
The biggest loss is that of Arcane Wyrm, but Frostbolt is coming back to the Core set and Flame Geyser stays, so at least some cheap damage spells will continue to be available.
The only other card that is leaving is Prismatic Elemental, which you might not want to craft at this point, as it is an Epic card. You can always play another Arcane Artificer and maybe a Vast Wisdom to fill the gap temporarily. In the new Core set, you’ll get Primordial Glyph to add to the deck.
- Format: wolf
- Season: season-118
- Posted By:
- 7,140
Dragon Druid
Dragon Druid is in an interesting position. The current deck will have to change a fair bit, as it includes several rotating cards. However, the core concept of Dragon Druid is almost guaranteed to survive.
The big Core Dragons, Alexstrasza the Life-Binder and Ysera the Dreamer are rotating out, but they are replaced by the original Alexstrasza and a buffed version of the original Ysera that will give you two Dream cards each turn. All of these are Core cards, so they have no crafting cost.
The deck is losing some other tools too, though. Astalor Bloodsworn, Amalgam of the Deep, Amber Whelp, and Azsharan Gardens are rotating out of Standard. However, none of those cards are key cards for the archetype. It can be difficult to replace them properly before the rotation, and you really don’t want to be crafting Legendary or Epic cards that rotate out at this point, but if you’re missing any of the newer cards for Dragon Druid, they are safe to craft as you can rebuild the list after the rotation based on the newer Dragons.
- Format: wolf
- Season: season-119
- Posted By:
- 9,600
Aggro Paladin
If you’re feeling a bit experimental, you could consider Aggro Paladin. The deck is doing really well at the moment, and many parts of it should survive the rotation.
Both Legendary cards used in the deck, Sir Finley, the Intrepid and Amitus, the Peacekeeper should see plenty of play for the next year.
As a downside, you really want two copies of The Garden's Grace, which is an Epic card that will rotate out of Standard. The deck is also losing half of its one-drops, as both Sanguine Soldier and Foul Egg are on their way out. In order to keep using Boogie Down, the deck will need to find some replacements for those, and it is unclear what those replacements will be.
In addition to those cards, For Quel'Thalas! is the only card that is leaving. So, you will keep the Legendary cards and the Excavate package, but will need some new one-drops and a replacement for The Garden's Grace. Not an impossible task, although not one that will be guaranteed to succeed either.
- Format: wolf
- Season: season-118
- Player:
- 5,760
Plenty of Decks to Play!
As you can see from the above, the rotation is not the end. Sludge Warlock survives completely unscathed, and Rainbow Death Knight, Plague Death Knight, Control Warrior, and Rainbow Mage will only need simple replacements that will be easy to make. Dragon Druid and Aggro Paladin will need some more work, but should also be rebuildable for the post-rotation meta.
I have not discussed the various Highlander decks here. Reno, Lone Ranger will stay in Standard for another year, as will the Showdown in the Badlands Highlander synergy cards, like Theldurin the Lost. That said, Highlander decks use a wide variety of cards, often expensive ones, and many of the current cards will rotate out. Therefore, while the Highlander synergy cards will remain available and you will be able to build Highlander decks around them, they will look a fair bit different than the current variants. That makes them more difficult to craft right now.
Anyway, there are several decks that you can craft even now, one month before the rotation, and still use them for another year.
Old Guardian
Ville "Old Guardian" Kilkku is a writer and video creator focused on analytic, educational Hearthstone, and building innovative Standard format decks. Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/OldGuardian Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/old_guardian
