Important note: Most of this article was written before Blizzard has announced that four new class cards will be printed as a part of the Classic set to replace Hall of Famed ones (more information here). Talk about timing.

Hall of Fame has been a very useful tool for Blizzard. Being able to rotate out problematic cards from the evergreen sets is important, because the way Standard is structured. Basic & Classic set are a baseline for everything else – a solid, diversified pool of cards they can build upon. But to make that happen in the right way, Classic cards also need to be the most balanced ones. You make them too strong and they overshadow every new set, but you make them even slightly too weak and they might lose their purpose. Of course, there are outliers in both ways. Though, realistically cards that are too weak to see play at all (and there are a bunch of them in those sets) don’t matter that much unless they’re a majority – what matters are cards that turn out to be too strong.

Cards from expansion sets have a sort of inevitability – they WILL rotate out of Standard sooner or later, changing it once again. So even if a certain card is a bit too strong (but not strong enough to wrap the meta around it), it’s not that big of a problem. But if a Classic cards is strong enough to see common meta play in multiple decks, it’s bad, because it will likely always be that way. You see it now all over the ladder, but you will also see it a two, five or ten years from now (assuming the game lasts that long, but it’s on a good way to do just that).

What’s worth mentioning is that it’s not always about the power level, another important aspect of Hall of Fame is opening design space. I do know that the phrase got memed like there was no tomorrow, but ultimately it’s incredibly important. If Team 5 wants to release a card that would make another, new card way too powerful, then they have two options – do something about the new card, or about the old card. They can, for example, make the new one weaker or even not print it at all. Or they can look at the problematic old card instead. If it’s from an expansion set, again, it’s not that big of a deal, since it will rotate out sooner or later, leaving that design space open again. The truth is that there will ALWAYS be many cards blocking design space, but it’s part of the card game design. However, if they can prevent that by removing the most problematic Classic ones from the format you try to balance the game around, why shouldn’t they do it?

But, as more and more cards are getting removed to Hall of Fame and no new cards come to replace them, we have a bunch of gaping holes in the Classic set. It feels like eventually, even if not now, those holes should be filled to preserve the purpose of Classic set. It’s even more important for class cards than for neutral cards, because a Hall of Famed Neutral is missing for everyone, unlike a class card, which hurts only a given Hero.

Rules for Picking New Cards

When trying to decide which cards would make good candidates for Classic, we need to follow a few rules for the whole endeavor to make sense.

New cards can’t be too strong – picking new staples to replace the Hall of Famed cards is against the entire idea of Hall of Fame. On the other hand, the card can’t be too weak – it’s easy to just slap a useless card instead, but then adding it to Classic makes no sense.

Common through Epic cards need to be replaced with other Common through Epic cards, while Legendaries need to be replaced with other Legendaries if possible. Ideally, each rarity should be replaced with a card of the same rarity (e.g. Rare with Rare, Epic with Epic), but if another card from different rarity is a much better replacement, then it will be picked.

Same card types – minions are replaced with minions, spells with spells etc.

Ideally, a new card should have similar properties & effects to fill the gap in the best way. E.g. a value card is best to be replaced by another value card, a Secret might be replaced by another Secret.

The new card needs to fit into a Classic set mechanically, and it’s also good if it fits thematically. As for the mechanical part – no new keywords that aren’t present in Classic set, no mechanics that are tied to other cards from expansion sets (e.g. adding a single Jade card or C’Thun card) and so on. As for the thematic part, it’s also important that the card more or less fits into the style of Classic set design-wise and art-wise. For that reason, I’ve tried to not add e.g. corrupted cards from Whispers of the Old Gods (since they don’t make that much sense without context), or let’s say Feeding Time from Un’Goro, since Warlock summoning Pterrordaxes also makes little sense outside of the Un’Goro expansion.

As an important note, I’ve ignored the most of Promo & Reward Sets and focused on Classic instead, as the other two weren’t Hall of Famed because they were too strong / problematic. The only relevant card from those sets was Old Murk-Eye and I’ve decided to put it on the list, since the card was quite commonly played before its rotation.

Hall of Fame Replacements

Since everything is explained, let’s proceed with the list. First, I will show you my main pick (the card I would use as a replacement), and below I will also list alternative cards that I feel like could make an okay replacement too, a) I don’t feel they fit as much as my first pick or b) break one or a few of the rules I’ve listed above.

Conceal -> Counterfeit Coin

I feel like Coin is the best fit into the Rogue class. It’s just natural. Rogue was always a class that takes the best advantage of the Coin – for the combo & tempo sake. Gaining 1 mana for 0 mana is a balanced effect, which has been proven by the nerfed Innervate already.

That said, my only worry is that Counterfeit Coin might be too strong in Rogue as long as Gadgetzan Auctioneer stays in Standard. Talking about the cards that probably should get HoF’d, Auctioneer is definitely high on that list. A card that is perfectly fine by itself is basically a 0 mana to draw a card AND get 1 mana with Auctioneer, making the cycle turn even more obscene.

Other options:

Gang Up – After Coldlight Oracle has rotated out, I believe that Gang Up could be a part of the Standard set for Rogue. The main issue I have with this card is that it somewhat doesn’t fit thematically into the Rogue class.

– After has rotated out, I believe that Gang Up could be a part of the Standard set for Rogue. The main issue I have with this card is that it somewhat doesn’t fit thematically into the Rogue class. Burgle – It might serve as a nice baseline for one of the most common Rogue themes – “Thief Rogue”. While there were no such cards in Classic set, most of the sets after that have introduced some cards that generate random cards from the opponent’s class.

– It might serve as a nice baseline for one of the most common Rogue themes – “Thief Rogue”. While there were no such cards in Classic set, most of the sets after that have introduced some cards that generate random cards from the opponent’s class. Envenom Weapon – I really like the design behind Envenom weapon. It lines up nicely with a T2 dagger if you need to clear some stuff in the early game, later in the game you can use it to clear 2 or even more minions if you can add some durability to your weapon or just play it on a higher durability one in the first place etc. But I feel like the card is too weak, mainly because Rogue has other, better ways to deal with big minions, and punching them is generally a bad idea because of the limited healing options.

– I really like the design behind Envenom weapon. It lines up nicely with a T2 dagger if you need to clear some stuff in the early game, later in the game you can use it to clear 2 or even more minions if you can add some durability to your weapon or just play it on a higher durability one in the first place etc. But I feel like the card is too weak, mainly because Rogue has other, better ways to deal with big minions, and punching them is generally a bad idea because of the limited healing options. Sabotage – It’s like a classic Rogue card – it has combo and it turns the board in Rogue’s favor. Still, it’s an Epic, and it’s a pretty mediocre card, so I feel like Coin is just a better option.

Ice Lance -> Snap Freeze

It was a tough choice between Freezing Potion and a Snap Freeze, but I’ve decided that Snap Freeze makes a bit more sense thematically. It’s like a better version of Shatter and while still not good enough, at least it’s not completely a joke card the way Shatter is. Freezing Potion might be a better card, but I just don’t think that Potion cards from Mean Streets of Gadgetzan belong to Classic set thematically – they were kind of unique to that set.

I think like Snap Freeze is also the best replacement mechanically – they both share a very similar effect. At the base level, they freeze the enemy, but if the enemy is already frozen, a new effect occurs. In case of Ice Lance, it was 4 damage, and in case of Snap Freeze it’s destroying a minion. It seems like destroying a minion is generally a better effect, but the main use of Ice Lance was as a part of the burst combo (since the opponent was already frozen with Frostbolt, it was 1 mana for 4 damage, or even more with Spell Damage), for which you can’t obviously use the Snap Freeze. Still, it wouldn’t be the worst Mage spell ever. And it’s definitely a card I could see fitting into Mage’s Classic toolkit.

Other options:

Freezing Potion – Freezing Potion is like one part of the Ice Lance for 1 less mana. Sadly, Ice Lance was mostly played for the damage part, not for the Freeze part. But still, Freezing Potion is an okay, very high tempo card – just like every other 0 mana card, it has its uses.

– Freezing Potion is like one part of the Ice Lance for 1 less mana. Sadly, Ice Lance was mostly played for the damage part, not for the Freeze part. But still, Freezing Potion is an okay, very high tempo card – just like every other 0 mana card, it has its uses. Cinderstorm – As the Tempo Mage has already shown, Cinderstorm is being used mostly as the burn card right now. 5 damage for 3 mana is not absolutely impressive considering that it can miss the target quite easily, but it’s still a solid option when there aren’t other available. It might be used as a more balanced burn replacement for Ice Lance, but my issue is that it’s a bit too similar to Arcane Missiles which are also evergreen. Plus it doesn’t fit thematically that much.

– As the Tempo Mage has already shown, Cinderstorm is being used mostly as the burn card right now. 5 damage for 3 mana is not absolutely impressive considering that it can miss the target quite easily, but it’s still a solid option when there aren’t other available. It might be used as a more balanced burn replacement for Ice Lance, but my issue is that it’s a bit too similar to which are also evergreen. Plus it doesn’t fit thematically that much. Coldwraith or Cryomancer – I’ve bundled those together, because they’re basically here for the same reason – they’re pretty weak by themselves, but get an extra effect (and thus become really good) if a condition is met – and that condition is a frozen target. Which makes their effect a bit similar to the one of Ice Lance, maintaining more Freeze synergies in Standard (because Freeze was one of the Mage’s main themes in Classic). The main issue with those is that they’re minions and besides Freeze synergy don’t share much in common with Ice Lance.

Power Overwhelming -> Fiendish Circle

But why Fiendish Circle out of all the options? While it doesn’t replace Power Overwhelming directly, I just feel like it’s the card that belongs most to the Classic set without breaking it in any way. The card fits both mechanically and thematically – Warlock’s Classic set is heavily tied to Demons. It might be playable in some decks in the future, but it’s not likely powerful enough to be a long-time staple.

The thing about Power Overwhelming is that no card is really similar. The closest one would probably be Demonfuse, but I’ve explained why I don’t like it below. So while there are some other options, I feel like in this case instead of going for a similar card, adding a card that just seems like something a Classic Warlock might have is a better idea.

Other options:

Dark Pact – I would never put it on this list before the nerf, but after healing got reduced from 8 to 4, I feel like the card is finally balanced. It would give Warlock some more evergreen healing options without making the class invincible. That said, it might limit the design space a bit – we all know how powerful it was with Possessed Lackey or Carnivorous Cube , and still is to a certain extent, so if more cards like that are printed, even a +4 health version might be a bit problematic.

– I would never put it on this list before the nerf, but after healing got reduced from 8 to 4, I feel like the card is finally balanced. It would give Warlock some more evergreen healing options without making the class invincible. That said, it might limit the design space a bit – we all know how powerful it was with or , and still is to a certain extent, so if more cards like that are printed, even a +4 health version might be a bit problematic. Sanguine Reveler – It’s a minion, but it shares some uses with Power Overwhelming – mostly popping Deathrattle minions while gaining some extra advantage. PO was obviously stronger, because giving +4/+4 to it immediately meant that you could easily trade into something, but this leaving a 3/3 body behind isn’t too shabby.

– It’s a minion, but it shares some uses with Power Overwhelming – mostly popping Deathrattle minions while gaining some extra advantage. PO was obviously stronger, because giving +4/+4 to it immediately meant that you could easily trade into something, but this leaving a 3/3 body behind isn’t too shabby. Demonfuse – While both are cheap buffs with a downside, Demonfuse is just a bad card. And I mean really, really bad. Ideally, we want the Hall of Fame replacements to not be amazing, but also not completely useless. So while I think that it would fit thematically, I don’t like putting it into Classic, because putting a bad card like that is just pointless.

– While both are cheap buffs with a downside, Demonfuse is just a bad card. And I mean really, really bad. Ideally, we want the Hall of Fame replacements to not be amazing, but also not completely useless. So while I think that it would fit thematically, I don’t like putting it into Classic, because putting a bad card like that is just pointless. Spirit Bomb – This is an interesting one – while they might not seem directly related to each other, I feel like those two cards are quite similar in a few ways. They can both be used to deal extra damage to a minion (e.g. you could PO your 1/1 to trade into a 5/5 and you can do the same thing with Spirit Bomb), and they both have a powerful effect for their mana cost, but with a clear downside. In case of PO it’s the minion dying at the end of the turn, and in case of Spirit Bomb it’s taking 4 extra damage. The “powerful card, but with a downside” is the most common theme in the Warlock’s Classic set. I dislike adding this card for two reasons, though – first one is because it might turn out to be too good at some point (because I believe that the card has potential), and it’s a bit too similar to Shadow Bolt – it’s the same effect, but for 1 less mana at the cost of 4 self-damage.

– This is an interesting one – while they might not seem directly related to each other, I feel like those two cards are quite similar in a few ways. They can both be used to deal extra damage to a minion (e.g. you could PO your 1/1 to trade into a 5/5 and you can do the same thing with Spirit Bomb), and they both have a powerful effect for their mana cost, but with a clear downside. In case of PO it’s the minion dying at the end of the turn, and in case of Spirit Bomb it’s taking 4 extra damage. The “powerful card, but with a downside” is the most common theme in the Warlock’s Classic set. I dislike adding this card for two reasons, though – first one is because it might turn out to be too good at some point (because I believe that the card has potential), and it’s a bit too similar to – it’s the same effect, but for 1 less mana at the cost of 4 self-damage. Bloodfury Potion – I really like Bloodfury Potion and I think that it would be the best card to replace Power Overwhelming, but only if we disregarded the card’s power. For a very long time, it was a Zoo Warlock staple, because since the deck runs so many Demons anyway, having a +3/+3 for 3 mana buff was amazing in a deck like that (like, turning Voidwalker into a 4/6 with Coin on T2 was often game-winning). So I feel like it might be a bit too strong Plus, like I’ve mentioned on Freezing Potion, I don’t think that Potions

– I really like Bloodfury Potion and I think that it would be the best card to replace Power Overwhelming, but only if we disregarded the card’s power. For a very long time, it was a Zoo Warlock staple, because since the deck runs so many Demons anyway, having a +3/+3 for 3 mana buff was amazing in a deck like that (like, turning into a 4/6 with Coin on T2 was often game-winning). So I feel like it might be a bit too strong Plus, like I’ve mentioned on Freezing Potion, I don’t think that Potions Demonheart – Another card I thought about, but I feel like it’s too close to Demonfire. Making a card like that in expansion is fine, but I don’t believe that having two cards that are so similar mechanically in an evergreen set is a good design.

Azure Drake -> Bone Drake

Azure Drake used to be staple 5-drop, played in practically anything besides Aggro. Okay 4/4 body combined with a card draw AND Spell Damage made it really flexible, too flexible for Blizzard taste. I feel like if we look at the current pool of cards, Bone Drake would be the best replacement for it. It’s also a Midrange minion, it’s a Dragon and it gives player extra value – not a card from the deck, but a random Dragon (which tend to be pretty big). The card is in Standard for over a year now and it was never problematic – it was sometimes included in Dragon decks, but it was never and probably never will be an absolute staple the way Azure Drake was. The effect is pretty simple and straightforward, which is also good for the sake of Standard.

Even thematically, the card is a good fit for Classic, given that the set already has cards like Flesheating Ghoul, Spiteful Smith or Abomination. Undead Dragons are cool.

Other options:

Frigid Snobold – It’s a midrange minion with Spell Damage, which replaces that aspect of Azure Drake. It might be a bit too weak, though, and it’s comparable to an already existing Ogre Magi . I thought about Evolved Kobold too, but I don’t think that we want +2 Spell Damage in Standard forever, because at one point it might turn out to be too powerful.

– It’s a midrange minion with Spell Damage, which replaces that aspect of Azure Drake. It might be a bit too weak, though, and it’s comparable to an already existing . I thought about too, but I don’t think that we want +2 Spell Damage in Standard forever, because at one point it might turn out to be too powerful. Midnight Drake – Another midrange Dragon. And it would be pretty cool to have the Twilight Drake + Midnight Drake duo in Standard.

– Another midrange Dragon. And it would be pretty cool to have the + Midnight Drake duo in Standard. Bright-Eyed Scout – Midrange card draw with a twist. While we already have Gnomish Inventor in the same mana slot, Bright-Eyed Scout comes with a twist. However, given that the card is already staple in some decks, such as Big Druid and to a certain extent Big Spell Mage, I wonder if it wouldn’t be a problematic card if “Big” decks would dominate the meta.

Coldlight Oracle -> Dancing Swords

This was a pretty tough choice. There are very little cards that force opponent to draw cards in general, for a good reason – the mechanic is not very fun from the receiving end, and it’s one of the reasons why Coldlight Oracle was Hall of Famed in the first place. However, I feel like slight mill has a place in the game, especially if it comes in a package like Dancing Swords. You play a 3 mana 4/4, which forces opponent to draw a card when it dies. Normally it’s a downside, but in the right deck, you can turn it into an upside, making the card really good. It has never seen a lot of mainstream play (Mill Rogue was the only deck that used it if I remember correctly), but it’s not completely useless and it might be an interesting option in mill-centered decks in the future.

That said, if Blizzard really doesn’t want Mill decks back in Standard, there are some other options.

Other options:

Goblin Sapper – It’s not a mill card, but it benefits from your opponent having a big hand size, which actually might fit into the Mill archetype too. A 3 mana 2/4 is really weak, but a 3 mana 6/4 would be played in LOTS of decks. So it’s just a question of whether you can either force your opponent to have enough cards, or play in the meta where it’s common occurrence.

– It’s not a mill card, but it benefits from your opponent having a big hand size, which actually might fit into the Mill archetype too. A 3 mana 2/4 is really weak, but a 3 mana 6/4 would be played in LOTS of decks. So it’s just a question of whether you can either force your opponent to have enough cards, or play in the meta where it’s common occurrence. Tanglefur Mystic – This is probably my #2 candidate for the Coldlight replacement. Both are 3-drops, both have mirrored effects that add cards to the hands. But instead of forcing your opponent (and yourself) to draw from your own deck, it generates a random 2-drop. Instead, it has a solid, 3/4 stats for 3 mana, so an early game deck that benefits more from 2-drops than the opponent might find it somewhat useful. Not an amazing card, but it’s solid enough that it might actually see some play in the future – and that’s what I feel would make the best replacement.

– This is probably my #2 candidate for the Coldlight replacement. Both are 3-drops, both have mirrored effects that add cards to the hands. But instead of forcing your opponent (and yourself) to draw from your own deck, it generates a random 2-drop. Instead, it has a solid, 3/4 stats for 3 mana, so an early game deck that benefits more from 2-drops than the opponent might find it somewhat useful. Not an amazing card, but it’s solid enough that it might actually see some play in the future – and that’s what I feel would make the best replacement. Jeeves – This one shares the “force both players to draw cards” effect with Coldlight Oracle, but honestly I don’t think that it belongs into Standard. It was a problematic card by itself, so bringing it back, despite being a good fit, would most likely be a mistake. The card might be too powerful in certain Standard archetypes that want to drop their hand as quickly as possible.

Ice Block -> Duplicate

I felt like it would be best to replace Ice Block with another Secret. Secrets are one of the Mage’s main themes from the Classic set and they teach players that first come to HS how this mechanic works. Ice Block had to be gone, but it doesn’t mean that we can’t have something else instead. My personal pick is Duplicate – I think it was one of the most balanced and coolest Secrets ever created. While it was extremely slow, it created a nice dynamic between two players. Just by playing it and dropping the minion you want to copy, you didn’t get any value yet, it was your opponent who decided when to trigger it. Can he afford to not kill the minion? Or can you afford to keep it as the lone minion on the board without playing anything else? Or maybe he can counter it with let’s say Hex and you get two copies of the Frog? It activated some interesting strategies, but it never felt abusive because of how value-oriented it was.

Other options:

Effigy – It’s a bit like Duplicate, but instead of adding value, it adds immediate tempo to the board. I remember it seeing some play in Tempo Mage back in the day, because it was more difficult to counter than Mirror Entity , as you could just play it when you only had 3-4+ mana minions on the board (so outside of some bad RNG rolls, it was never worse than 3 mana body). But I just feel like Duplicate is more interesting and less RNG, as well as more unique, as this is a bit of a mix between Duplicate and Mirror.

– It’s a bit like Duplicate, but instead of adding value, it adds immediate tempo to the board. I remember it seeing some play in Tempo Mage back in the day, because it was more difficult to counter than , as you could just play it when you only had 3-4+ mana minions on the board (so outside of some bad RNG rolls, it was never worse than 3 mana body). But I just feel like Duplicate is more interesting and less RNG, as well as more unique, as this is a bit of a mix between Duplicate and Mirror. Frozen Clone – It’s also a bit similar to Duplicate, but instead of two copies of a minion that dies on the Mage’s side, it’s two copies of the minion opponent plays – again, a mix between Mirror Entity and Duplicate (which is pretty funny, actually). I like Duplicate more, because it opens new strategies, unlike Frozen Clone, which is just a value tool and nothing more – your opponent chooses what minion he gives to you, and most of the time he will first play something small/weak from his hand, and that’s not a great deal for you.

– It’s also a bit similar to Duplicate, but instead of two copies of a minion that dies on the Mage’s side, it’s two copies of the minion opponent plays – again, a mix between Mirror Entity and Duplicate (which is pretty funny, actually). I like Duplicate more, because it opens new strategies, unlike Frozen Clone, which is just a value tool and nothing more – your opponent chooses what minion he gives to you, and most of the time he will first play something small/weak from his hand, and that’s not a great deal for you. Mana Bind – Another unique Secret, this time closer to Counterspell. Instead of countering the spell, though, it lets it through and gives Mage a 0 mana copy. It was played in some early versions of Quest Mage (since the free spell activated the Quest), but it’s usually played around the same way Counterspell is – by dropping a Coin or some cheap spell, so it rarely got insane value. That said, it’s a rather balanced Secret, so I could see it being used to replace Ice Block.

Molten Giant -> Frost Giant

When thinking about replacement for Molten Giant, the main idea was to have a big card that gets gradually cheaper, and there is one group of cards that do exactly this… other Giants. Yeah, there’s no reason to overthink it. The problem with Molten Giant, when compared to the other Giants, was always that his effect could get him down to 0 mana (or nearly 0 mana) way too early – they’re balanced around being pretty useless in the early game and you being able to drop them for free in the late game. But Molten Giant + Sunfury Protector or Defender of Argus was a common T4-T5 play against Aggro, and that felt way too early.

Frost Giant is better, because it’s limited by the fact that you can (for the most part) use Hero Power only once per Turn. But it was actually good enough to see some play in Warrior deck (that said, it was a Combo deck built around now-nerfed Charge). 0 mana 8/8 is not bad at all, but it takes a while to get this one that cheap – just like it should be.

Other options:

Clockwork Giant – It’s another Giant option, but I think that it was the most awkward of Giants, as it was completely useless vs Aggro and only okay vs Control, since it never got down to 0 mana. Dropping a 3-4 mana 8/8 (technically it could get down to 2 mana, but unless you forced your opponent to draw, it was unlikely that he ended his turn with 10 cards in the hand) is still good, but definitely not as spectacular as getting it out for free.

– It’s another Giant option, but I think that it was the most awkward of Giants, as it was completely useless vs Aggro and only okay vs Control, since it never got down to 0 mana. Dropping a 3-4 mana 8/8 (technically it could get down to 2 mana, but unless you forced your opponent to draw, it was unlikely that he ended his turn with 10 cards in the hand) is still good, but definitely not as spectacular as getting it out for free. Arcane Giant – And this, one the other hand, might be too powerful to keep it in Standard. I remember that it was a staple in Druid for a while, and honestly I could totally see current, spell-heavy Druid decks running it too. If you play a deck that’s literally full of spells, it was quite easy to get Arcane Giant to almost free. And since we don’t want to add too strong cards to Standard, I feel like Frost Giant would be a better option than Arcane.

Old Murk-Eye -> Murloc Tinyfin

Here’s the only time I’m breaking my Legendary -> Legendary, Common-Epic -> Common-Epic rule, simply because there are only two other Legendary Murlocs, one of which wasn’t even played for being a Murloc (Sir Finley Mrrgglton) and another one might be a bit too strong to keep in Standard forever (Finja, the Flying Star). But you know what card we can replace Old Murk-Eye with to make everyone happy? Murloc Tinyfin, of course! I mean, come on, the card costs 0 mana and it’s adorable. Sure, it’s only a 1/1, but what would you expect from a Murloc baby holding a wooden sword? Playing it in Murloc deck definitely adds some extra win rate, because there are some people that would just never kill it when they see it – they’d rather concede or leave it on the board.

But seriously, even though it has never really seen a lot of mainstream play, it fits the Murloc archetype really well. Murloc decks want to swarm, and having a 0 mana minion is a perfect way to swarm. I wouldn’t be surprised if some Murloc deck in the future might want to run it in Standard.

Other options:

Rockpool Hunter – See, the thing about Rockpool Hunter is that… it’s too good. The only reason why people don’t complain about the card left and right is because Murlocs were kind of forgotten in the last few expansions. Ever since Un’Goro, Blizzard didn’t really print any new, good Murlocs and/or Murloc synergies (well, they got two okay ones for Shaman, a class that’s notorious for not playing Murlocs despite having a Murloc Quest, but that’s all). In a world where this card is in Standard forever, it WOULD be overpowered sooner or later, unless Blizzard decides to turn the Murloc tribe into a joke and not add onto it anymore.

– See, the thing about Rockpool Hunter is that… it’s too good. The only reason why people don’t complain about the card left and right is because Murlocs were kind of forgotten in the last few expansions. Ever since Un’Goro, Blizzard didn’t really print any new, good Murlocs and/or Murloc synergies (well, they got two okay ones for Shaman, a class that’s notorious for not playing Murlocs despite having a Murloc Quest, but that’s all). In a world where this card is in Standard forever, it WOULD be overpowered sooner or later, unless Blizzard decides to turn the Murloc tribe into a joke and not add onto it anymore. Puddlestomper – Well, it’s Rockpool’s Hunter more balanced cousin, but I feel like it’s too bland. 0 mana 1/1 Murloc feels more fun and has more potential for some future interesting shenanigans than a 2 mana 3/2 without any effect. Still, I would definitely prefer this over Rockpool Hunter, because of the power level.

– Well, it’s Rockpool’s Hunter more balanced cousin, but I feel like it’s too bland. 0 mana 1/1 Murloc feels more fun and has more potential for some future interesting shenanigans than a 2 mana 3/2 without any effect. Still, I would definitely prefer this over Rockpool Hunter, because of the power level. Finja, the Flying Star – See, I was on the fence about Finja. On the one hand, it would seem like the best replacement – both are Legendary, midrange Murlocs and both can serve as a win condition in Murloc deck. But I remember the time when so-called “Water Package” was all over the ladder, and Finja is a nasty card if given the opportunity. Pulling 2 Murlocs is already very powerful, and if you give it more time to sit on the board and it strikes again, well, most of those games were wins. So it might be just too strong to be a replacement, similarly to Rockpool Hunter. Plus, a ninja Murloc might not exactly fit into Classic set thematically. But it we disregard that, as well as the power level, I’d say that Finja is the best replacement.

Sylvanas Windrunner -> Baron Rivendare

Sylvanas was played in two kinds of decks – in Deathrattle decks and in all kinds of Midrange/Control decks. The latter was the main reason why the card got Hall of Famed, so I figured out that I should focus on the first one instead. So I’ve picked Baron Rivendare instead. While Deathrattles were never a main focus of Classic set, Deathrattle is one of the main keywords HS has to offer, and at least a few Deathrattle cards were printed in every expansion since then.

Baron Rivendare is a pretty cool card. It has a weird stat-line, making it basically unplayable by itself. But he also creates some cool Deathrattle shenanigans. He was mostly played in off-meta decks back in the day, and he was never close to being a meta-defining card, which would be perfect. His effect was just printed on a Hunter card – Necromechanic – and despite Deathrattle Hunter being one of the best decks in the game right now, it sees no play at all. I do think that this kind of effect has some potential to see play in the future, but I don’t think that it will ever be too problematic because unlike Battlecries (*cough* Brann Bronzebeard *cough*), you often can’t control when Deathattles are getting triggered.

Other options:

Maexxna – While Maexxna has nothing to do with Deathrattles, they’re both Legendaries that fit into Midrange decks. Slow at first, but have a potential to gain more value later. Of course, Poisonous is not nearly as strong of an effect as stealing a minion, but that’s kind of the point.

– While Maexxna has nothing to do with Deathrattles, they’re both Legendaries that fit into Midrange decks. Slow at first, but have a potential to gain more value later. Of course, Poisonous is not nearly as strong of an effect as stealing a minion, but that’s kind of the point. Sneed's Old Shredder – Continuing the Deathrattle theme, Sneed’s Old Shredder is another high cost Deathrattle minion with a potentially powerful effect. I generally dislike cards that give you completely random stuff, like Shredders, especially since right now the pool of Legendaries is so wide (you have 1/1’s and 12/12’s). But it would somewhat fill the Sylvanas’ slot quite well – a Deathrattle card, useful in slow Midrange decks or Control decks, slow at first, but giving you more tempo/value once it gets triggered.

– Continuing the Deathrattle theme, Sneed’s Old Shredder is another high cost Deathrattle minion with a potentially powerful effect. I generally dislike cards that give you completely random stuff, like Shredders, especially since right now the pool of Legendaries is so wide (you have 1/1’s and 12/12’s). But it would somewhat fill the Sylvanas’ slot quite well – a Deathrattle card, useful in slow Midrange decks or Control decks, slow at first, but giving you more tempo/value once it gets triggered. N'Zoth, The Corruptor – While I feel that N’Zoth would fit into the Deathrattle niche perfectly, I ultimately think that putting him into Standard would do more harm than good. He is a deck-defining card, and would definitely be a staple he used to be at times when he was in Standard. Plus, I don’t feel like adding a single Old God and ignoring the other three would be the best idea (they get angry very easily).

Ragnaros the Firelord -> Kel’Thuzad

And last, but not least, the Firelord himself. Ragnaros used to be one of the cards that defined what Hearthstone is, one of the most popular Legendaries in the entire game. A lot of people were sad to see it gone from Standard, but I feel like ultimately that was a good decision. Having the same big threat being played in every single deck, especially one that often boils the status of an entire match to a coin flip, was not very healthy for the game in the long run. However, it left a gap open for a long while – slower Midrange and Control decks want to have some sort of high cost Legendary they can fall back onto when they need to put a big threat into their list. Right now, The Lich King plays exactly that role, but for a long while, we didn’t have a card like that.

And while Lich King would definitely be the best fit here, I’ve decided to pick Kel’Thuzad instead – simply because Lich King is just too good (I’ll explain it below). Kel’Thuzad, on the other hand, was never a staple the way other cards like those were. Because he didn’t fit into every deck – if you couldn’t consistently trigger his effect, then he was just bad. You had to put him into the right deck or build a deck around him. I feel like Kel’thuzad has created some interesting shenanigans, and promoted late game board control more – you often couldn’t just ignore whatever your opponent has on the board, or else he revived everything. Kel’Thuzad was powerful enough for its mana cost, but it never felt oppressive, because the other player always had at least some control over how powerful the resurrection will be.

Plus, Kel’thuzad is nearly as iconic character as Ragnaros, so it would be fun to have him in Classic. I mean, The Lich King is even more iconic, but hey, his favorite necromancer is good enough.

Other options:

Troggzor the Earthinator – The card will be memed forever, not because it was particularly good or bad, but because it was the first card that people were completely wrong about. Nearly every pro (and thus nearly every regular player too) was saying that it’s going to dominate the meta and be too strong. As it turns out, it has never see mainstream play. Still, the card is cool, and it might actually be played at one point if it didn’t rotate out. It’s a nice counter to a spell-heavy meta. Like, imagine dropping it against the current Druid decks or Spell Hunter – it would wreck some havoc. That said, unless the meta would be completely dominated by spell decks, it would never be as omnipresent as Ragnaros ever was. Which is good.

– The card will be memed forever, not because it was particularly good or bad, but because it was the first card that people were completely wrong about. Nearly every pro (and thus nearly every regular player too) was saying that it’s going to dominate the meta and be too strong. As it turns out, it has never see mainstream play. Still, the card is cool, and it might actually be played at one point if it didn’t rotate out. It’s a nice counter to a spell-heavy meta. Like, imagine dropping it against the current Druid decks or Spell Hunter – it would wreck some havoc. That said, unless the meta would be completely dominated by spell decks, it would never be as omnipresent as Ragnaros ever was. Which is good. The Lich King – The Lich King would absolutely be the best 1 to 1 replacement for Ragnaros in Standard, but that’s the thing – we aren’t looking for a 1 for 1 replacement. The Lich King is staying in the top 10 most popular cards on the ladder ever since it was printed, it’s the most common high cost Legendary card in the game, for a good reason. But that was exactly why Ragnaros got Hall of Famed in the first place, so re-introducing another card that is just as good would make little sense.

– The Lich King would absolutely be the best 1 to 1 replacement for Ragnaros in Standard, but that’s the thing – we aren’t looking for a 1 for 1 replacement. The Lich King is staying in the top 10 most popular cards on the ladder ever since it was printed, it’s the most common high cost Legendary card in the game, for a good reason. But that was exactly why Ragnaros got Hall of Famed in the first place, so re-introducing another card that is just as good would make little sense. Soggoth the Slitherer – I feel like Soggoth would be a pretty balanced replacement for Ragnaros – while it doesn’t add much value to the deck, having a Taunt that can’t be removed by spells can be handy in some situations. I remember it being played in Warrior back in the day, maybe even Odd Warrior would pick it up right now. The thing I dislike about this card, though, is that it’s boring. It’s just a big Taunt that can’t be targeted by Spells, it doesn’t have the “high cost Legendary” feeling to it.

Closing

That’s all folks. To be perfectly honest, I’m absolutely surprised and a little bit salty by the fact that Blizzard just revealed four new Classic cards to replace Hall of Famed ones after I’ve already spent hours doing research and writing this. But still, I feel like having another look or perspective won’t hurt at all, especially since I’ve also included Classic cards. And to be fair, I don’t feel like Blizzard’s choices are best – I feel like the cards are too weak and not very interesting. What’s the point of even replacing the Classic cards if the new ones will all be unplayable anyway?

But, enough with this rant. I hope that you’ve enjoyed this (admittedly pretty long) article. Do you agree with my picks? If not, what cards would YOU choose to be part of the Classic set instead of Hall of Famed ones? Be sure to let me know in the comments. Good luck on the ladder and until next time!