Whispers of the old Gods and Standard format are just around the corner, but before we get busy with laddering and theory-crafting, it is a good time to look back at some old acquaintances. Which were the most popular cards played over the past three months, since the League of Explorers meta has stabilized?

Our data analysts at Vicious Syndicate have looked at over 16,000 games to see which cards our players faced most while laddering. This analysis will allow you to reflect back at the past few months, and give you an opportunity to bid farewell (at least in standard mode) to quite a few creatures that many of you have come to love and hate.

The top 25 played cards are represented by 11 cards from GvG and Naxx. You will also see three cards that will no longer be with us in their old forms, as they have been downsized recently as part of the balancing of basic and classic cards. The percentages reported are the frequency of a particular card being played as a fraction of all cards played in the sample of over 16,000 games.

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Of course, this analysis gives us a sense of cards played , rather than cards used in decks. This biases in favor of low-mana cost cards. But, given the relatively fast meta-game we have been experiencing, this is what we actually have been seeing while laddering over the past three months. You will also see the dominance of several decks and their staple cards (Zoo, Secret Paladin and Druid). Finally, class cards are naturally under-represented.

rather than cards used in decks. This biases in favor of low-mana cost cards. But, given the relatively fast meta-game we have been experiencing, this is what we actually have been seeing while laddering over the past three months. You will also see the dominance of several decks and their staple cards (Zoo, Secret Paladin and Druid). Finally, class cards are naturally under-represented. The analysis does not include cards played through other mechanics (mainly secrets drawn through mysterious challenger and mad scientist), so all the annoying little Paladin secrets are nowhere to be found here.

The highest mana cost card is of course, Dr. Boom, which says a lot about how ubiquitous he is.

We hope you enjoy the table and try to imagine how dramatically the Metagame in standard will shift once many of these staple cards are retired or nerfed.