The Cards We're NOT Going to Miss When Ashes of Outland Rotates

The end of the Year of the Gryphon is at its final moments, and with it, Ashes of Outland, Scholomance Academy, and Madness at the Darkmoon Faire will leave the Standard format to join Wild. Therefore, it is time to look back and see what we're going to leave behind when the rotation hits.

For this exact purpose, we present you a series of articles in which the staff of Out Of Cards will share with everyone the cards we'll miss and the ones we'll be glad to not face anymore. This time, we're taking a look at Ashes of Outland and what we're definitely not going to miss the most from that set - enjoy!

In case you missed them, here's what we going or not going to miss from the other Year of the Phoenix sets:

• The Cards We're Going to Miss Plenty When Ashes of Outland Rotates
• The Cards We're Going to Miss Plenty When Scholomance Academy Rotates
• The Cards We're Going to Miss Plenty When Madness at the Darkmoon Faire Rotates

Avalon - Librams

I can definitely see why our Echo is going to miss Librams, but at the same time... that's exactly why I'm glad they'll go away (hopefully) forever. Yes, because being able to boast such a flexible and consistent package is bound to make up for a frustrating gameplay experience. You managed to drop an Aldor Truthseeker on curve? Sure thing: now all your minions have at least +1/+1 thanks to Libram of Wisdom. You're very close to winning the game? Libram of Hope gets in the way. After a long time, you were finally able to outvalue your opponent and are ready to close the match? Nope, Lady Liadrin resets both the game's equilibrium and your chances to win.

Just too much, and too consistent. Back when they got released, Paladin was in a deep identity crisis, and I am glad Team 5 printed them, but it's definitely time for them to go and leave place to something else.

BloodMefist - Kayn Sunfury

The release of Demon Hunter was...turbulent. So many cards were so busted for so long, and we had our first set of nerfs within one day! Even though Kayn Sunfury fell out of favor and isn't seen as much as he used to, he represents the re-introduction of Charge and an extremely frustrating lack of counterplay that I will not miss. Having a board full of Taunts might just not matter since DH can bypass them all for 4-mana and get an extra 3-damage on top of it. Whether it was to kill a priority minion or just smack me in the face, I vehemently hated how this guy would find me even after I hid behind my servants and cannot wait to see him disappear (unless he gets added to the Core set - please don't get added to the Core set).

Demonxz95 - Incanter's Flow

Is Incanter's Flow the most loathsome card to come from Ashes of Outland? Not necessarily, but I can't exactly say it's a good time either. Too often would I encounter a Mage opponent playing it on curve, and all I could do was just groan. Here we go with this shit again. It doesn't help that all-spell decks being super popular meant that the effect would just apply to your entire deck. That being paired with a second copy, and it's just not fun. Of course Incanter's Flow is not the only reason (or perhaps even the most egregious one) that Spell Mage was just so annoying, but it is the most annoying one. I happily say bye-bye.

Echo - Skull of Gul'dan

Being one of the 4 Demon Hunter cards to be nerfed day 2 of the class being out, Skull of Gul'dan has continued to be a staple in most builds of the class, and for good reasons. The amount of times this card is played against me and I cross my fingers and hope is way higher than probably any other card in the game. It just enables such insane turns that feels miserable to play against and due to how outcast works, there's not much counterplay to prevent the inevitable storm. While there are some decks that I love that will miss it, not having to deal with the opponent clearing my board and gaining a load of life on turn 6 is enough to where I'm happy to see this card gone.

GoliathTheDwarf - Scrapyard Colossus

Ok, who around here got really tired of losing to Big Priest during times where it was popular? *Looks over sea of raised hands* Yeah, me too.

I hated this large, sticky card that could be copied to fill the board or resurrected like a constantly rebuilding and unscalable wall. It was just not fun for me to play against. Cards like this are why I like cards like Devolving Missiles and if I have to let go of a solution card, I'm happy to let go a problem one as well. 

Linkblade91 - Soul Mirror

I like winning and holding the board, with cards like Bearon Gla'shear, Soulciologist Malicia, Arbor Up, etc. helping me generate a wide army. Soul Mirror is a one-stop answer to such a strategy, destroying everything I hold dear in a matter of seconds. It's extremely frustrating to watch happen and I won't miss it in the slightest. That you could generate more from Renew or whatever really set me off.

Sule - Overgrowth

Ramp is a tough thing to balance. Decks that get to do powerful things before their opponents are usually happy to do so, and Overgrowth (when combined with Nature Studies, Innervate, and Lightning Bloom to get it out even faster) always swung the power level of whatever game it was part of. It even felt awful as the Druid player. Did you get Overgrowth early? Great, then you're probably going to win. No? Well, I guess you don't get to play this game. I'm not sure I despise it, but I'm certainly not going to miss it.