Once a year Blizzard changes things up with our beloved Hearthstone, rotating old card sets to become Wild-only, severely limiting the Standard card pool and making drastic changes to the meta. This can all be a bit confusing, so here's the definitive answer to how set rotations work. Below you will also find historical information on each of the rotations we've seen.

Hearthstone Set Rotation Basics

• Once per year with the release of the first expansion, usually in March or April, the rotation takes place.

• In addition to the regular sets that are available for play in Standard, a Core Set of cards is also available.

  • This set contains cards that are available for free to all players.

  • Each year, some cards in the Core Set will be replaced by different ones.

  • Cards in the Core Set are typically from older expansions, though Blizzard sometimes creates brand new cards as well.

  • Any card from an existing set that moves into Core will move back to its original set if it leaves the Core Set in a future year.

• Standard format, upon rotation, is restricted to sets released in two calendar years. (2022 = sets from 2021 and 2022).

• The first set of a year also marks the new name of a "Hearthstone Zodiac" year. (Kraken, Mammoth, Raven, Dragon, Phoenix, Gryphon, Hydra, Wolf, Pegasus, Raptor, Scarab).

List of Standard Rotations

These are all the rotations that Standard has gone through with the most recent showing up first.

Which Hearthstone Sets Rotate in 2026? Year of the Scarab

The rotation for 2026 is here! Year of the Pegasus sets will be rotating out.

New for 2026 - Card Trials

• FREE During Cataclysm: Into the Emerald Dream

• FREE During Cataclysm: The Lost City of Un'Goro

Rotating Sets

• Whizbang's Workshop

• Perils in Paradise

• The Great Dark Beyond

New Sets

• Cataclysm

• TBA 2

• TBA 3

Year of the Raptor (2025)

The Year of the Raptor was officially announced on November 13, 2024 and started on March 25, 2025, with the launch of Into the Emerald Dream.

Rotating Sets

• Festival of Legends

• TITANS

• Showdown in the Badlands

New Sets

• Into the Emerald Dream

• The Lost City of Un'Goro

• Across the Timeways

Year of the Pegasus (2024)

The Year of the Pegasus was officially announced on February 12, 2024 and started on March 19, 2024, with the launch of Whizbang's Workshop.

Rotating Sets

• Forged in the Barrens

• United in Stormwind

• Fractured in Alterac Valley

New Sets

• Whizbang's Workshop

• Perils in Paradise

• The Great Dark Beyond

Year of the Wolf (2023)

The Year of the Wolf was officially announced on March 23, 2023 and started on April 11, 2023, with the launch of Festival of Legends.

Rotating Sets

• Voyage to the Sunken City

• Murder at Castle Nathria

• March of the Lich King

New Sets

• Festival of Legends

• TITANS

• Showdown in the Badlands

Year of the Hydra (2022)

The Year of the Hydra was officially announced on April 5, 2022 and started on April 12, 2022, with the launch of Voyage to the Sunken City. It concluded with the launch of Festival of Legends on April 11, 2023.

Rotating Sets

• Ashes of Outland

• Scholomance Academy

• Madness at the Darkmoon Faire

New Sets

• Voyage to the Sunken City

• Murder at Castle Nathria

• March of the Lich King

Year of the Gryphon (2021)

The Year of the Gryphon ran from April 2021 - 2022. This year introduced a major overhaul into how set rotations worked with the addition of the Core Set. The Core Set replaced the Basic and Classic sets, to keep Hearthstone fresh and exciting with relevant cards. Any cards that were no longer a part of the Core Set were moved into the Legacy set. This also introduced the removal of the Hall of Fame set as it was no longer needed.

Rotating Sets

• Rise of Shadows

• Saviors of Uldum

• Descent of Dragons

New Sets

• Forged in the Barrens

• United in Stormwind

• Fractured in Alterac Valley

Historical Details

• This was the first introduction of a Core Set.

• Cards from Classic and Basic have been moved to the Legacy set if they don't belong to another set.

• The Hall of Fame was removed from the game. Cards went back to their original sets.

Year of the Phoenix (2020)

The Year of the Phoenix ran from April 7, 2020 to March 30, 2021.

Rotating Sets

• The Witchwood

• The Boomsday Project

• Rastakhan's Rumble

New Sets

• Ashes of Outland

• Scholomance Academy

• Madness at the Darkmoon Faire

Year of the Dragon (2019)

The Year of the Dragon ran from April 9, 2019 to April 7, 2020.

Rotating Sets

• Journey to Un'Goro

• Knights of the Frozen Throne

• Kobolds and Catacombs

New Sets

• Rise of Shadows

• Saviors of Uldum

• Descent of Dragons

Year of the Raven (2018)

The Year of the Raven ran from April 12, 2018 - April 9, 2019.

Rotating Sets

• Whispers of the Old Gods

• One Night in Karazhan

• Mean Streets of Gadgetzan

New Sets

• The Witchwood

• The Boomsday Project

• Rastakhan's Rumble

Year of the Mammoth (2017)

The Year of the Mammoth ran from April 6, 2017 - April 12, 2018. This rotation introduced the concept of the Hall of Fame where certain cards were removed from the Classic set so they could no longer influence the Standard meta.

Rotating Sets

• Blackrock Mountain

• The Grand Tournament

• League of Explorers

New Sets

• Journey to Un'Goro

• Knights of the Frozen Throne

• Kobolds and Catacombs

Year of the Kraken (2016)

The Year of the Kraken ran from April 26, 2016 to April 6, 2017. This was the first set rotation that happened in Hearthstone's history.

Rotating Sets

• Curse of Naxxramas

• Goblins vs Gnomes

New Sets

• Whispers of the Old Gods

• One Night in Karazhan

• Mean Streets of Gadgetzan

Standard arrived with the launch off Whispers of the Old Gods, the first expansion of the Year of the Kraken.

Curse of Naxxramas, and Goblins vs Gnomes cards became Wild only.

Additionally, promotional and reward cards were moved to a new set dubbed the Hall of Fame:

This year started with the release of Journey to Un'Goro. Blackrock Mountain, The Grand Tournament, and League of Explorers became Wild only.

Additionally, these cards were moved to Hall of Fame:

This year started with the release of The Witchwood. Whispers of the Old Gods, One Night in Karazhan, and Mean Streets of Gadgetzan became Wild only.

Additionally, these cards were moved to the Hall of Fame:

This year started with the release of Rise of Shadows. Journey to Un'Goro, Knights of the Frozen Throne, and Kobolds and Catacombs became Wild only.

Additionally, these Classic cards were moved to the Hall of Fame:

For the first time ever, some cards from a newer set were also removed from Standard:

For another first, two Basic cards were sent to the Hall of Fame and replaced as well:

They were replaced with these cards, which will always remain in Standard:

This year started with the release of Ashes of Outland. The Witchwood, The Boomsday Project, and Rastakhan's Rumble became Wild only.

Additionally, Classic Priest and neutral cards were moved to the Hall of Fame. Many of these cards had been staples since the release of the game, including:

The Priest class received some changes, and several of its original cards joined the Hall of Fame as well:

In order to maintain the same number of class cards available, some new replacements were released which will always be playable in Standard: