10 Decks to Play Before Hearthstone's Standard Rotation - Last Chance Legendaries

Voyage to the Sunken City is right around the corner, and with it comes the Standard rotation that will take away the cards from Ashes of Outland, Scholomance Academy, and Madness at the Darkmoon Faire (as well as at least some of the Core Set). Because we likely won't see a lot of these cards on the other side in Wild (and, if we do, it won't be in the same decks), we're putting together a short series of articles featuring decks that you can play one last time in Standard before the rotation comes.

None of these cards know what it's like to move out of Standard, but we're gonna teach 'em how to say goodbye.

Ladies and Gentlemen... DRAGONS

Polkelt's OCD (Ordering Cards in Deck) has made its mark on Hearthstone, and to send him off in style we're featuring a deck that can use his ability to get a Skull of Gul'dan on the top of the deck, which will then draw (and discount) Lady Prestor so we can play lots of cheap Dragons.

Also featuring on this farewell tour is Ace Hunter Kreen, a solid mid-game minion who can turn an early advantage into an insurmountable lead.

Speaking of Trees

We certainly aren't missing out on Aggro Druid in the current meta, but that doesn't mean we can't still appreciate a minion who has featured in plenty of decks during his time in Standard. Greybough may be in his Third Life after the nerf to Razormane Battleguard took him out of the top tier, but the tree-fungus-person still has plenty of wins to offer (and that's a thing that everyone needs).

Big Beasts for Big Beats

At first, Beastmaster Leoroxx did nothing. As yet another Big Beasts payoff for Hunter, the minion was an afterthought for most of his time in Standard. Then, Alterac Valley showed up and brought with it not only more Big Beasts payoffs (Wing Commander Ichman), but also plenty of cards to make getting to Leoroxx worth the wait (Vanndar Stormpike, Mountain Bear, Humongous Owl).

This deck stalls early aggression with Secrets, both from deck and from Rinling's Rifle, before going absolutely nuts in the late game with Big Beast after Big Beast (with Jewel of N'Zoth and Revive Pet added in for good measure).

Mo' Zaki, Mo' Problems

How the mighty have fallen. Mozaki, Master Duelist was once one of the powerhouses of Standard but following the (second) nerf to Incanter's Flow, the deck has a more difficult time manufacturing wins. That's good news for us, who can play the deck while claiming we're "hip" and "chic" and that "we don't cry into the bathroom mirror in the middle of a date." A deck that used to be good is just a meme, and we'll meme for one last time with Mozaki.

Try N'Zoth for All Your Summoning Needs

Yet another once-overlooked Legendary, N'Zoth, God of the Deep (or, as we call him, "New'Zoth"), got a huge boost in playability when Blizzard knocked his Cost down to 9 and angered Old God purists everywhere. N'Zoth Paladin is a midrange deck that relies on N'Zoth's ability to conjure a board of powerful minions on demand to win games and influence metas. Murgur Murgurgle, a Prime who needs no introduction, is also here to get his deserved sendoff into Wild.

You Can Call Me Al

Deathrattle Priest is definitely here to stay, and, thanks to mana cheat from Vanndar Stormpike, can get its pieces into play much earlier. Al'ar is a minion that a lot of players have tried to make work, whether in Deathrattle Demon Hunter decks or by pressing "Disenchant" and crafting something better. We'ev tried our best to provide Al'ar with probably their best chance of making a difference in the world.

And, after featuring in just about every Priest deck for two years, we finally say farewell to Soul Mirror--at least until our Priest opponent Discovers another copy or two.

I've Got a Secret

Shadowjeweler Hanar is a powerful minion who more than made a name for himself when first released, caught a nerf, then still found a home in Secret Rogue decks. Rogue has gone in other directions recently, but that doesn't mean we can't still type "Secret" into the Card Search and add (almost) everything that comes up. That's how we got Jandice Barov (whose story is almost identical to Hanar's) and new Legendary Blademaster Okani in the deck, and we don't regret it.

So, play some Secrets (or minions with Secrets), annoy your opponent, maybe win some games.

You'll See What Eys'or

Grand Totem Eys'or hasn't single-handedly (or single-eyedly) made Totem Shaman a tier 1 deck (or tier 2, or...), but he still deserves just as much of a loving farewell. For your consideration, we've put together a deck that utilizes Totem synergies alongside actually good Shaman cards for a deck that maybe, just maybe can scrounge out a win while dedicating real deck space to the inadvisable "combo" of Bolner Hammerbeak, Draenei Totemcarver, and Pen Flinger to make one very big Bolner on a board of Totems. We don't know if it's good, but no one stopped us from doing it despite the ample opportunities we gave them.

And, if you're anything like us you'd also like any excuse to play Instructor Fireheart and Brilliant Macaw. Pen Flinger and Bolner Hammerbeak can do some pretty weird stuff with her.

Tickets, Please

Behold, our darkest creation: ASAP Warlock (ASAP stands for "AS Annoying as Possible"), a deck designed to eat, burn, or negate as many cards of your opponent's as it possibly can. There probably aren't too many people crying over the rotation of Tickatus, but the Demon's powerful synergy with Y'Shaarj, the Defiler cannot de denied. And, if your other minions didn't hit the cards you wanted, there's always the perfectly balanced (and also soon-rotating) Raise Dead to get 'em back to you can play 'em again. It's not that we hate our opponents; we just hate fun.

You Spin Me Right Round, Baby

The Silas Ashtongue OTK combo is a fun way to win the game if you can pull it off with a ton of Armor and a Shield Slam, and we've got a Control Warrior here who's trying to do just that. Also, because the combo minions are our only non-Dragon minions in deck, we're running Kazakusan for pressure and the ability to win games when we can't quite get there with the OTK.

Control Warriors have gotten so used to Bulwark of Azzinoth buying them a turn or two that we wonder what they'll do when they no longer have that absolute horsecrap powerful weapon to hide behind.

What cards will you miss when the rotation happens, and why aren't any of them Tickatus? Share your thoughts in the comments!

If you have your own Last Chance decks to share, be sure to add them to our site via the deckbuilder and write up a guide to help others achieve your success.