Year of the Mammoth Pre-Rotation Poll

A look at cards rotating out of Standard in the year of the mammoth and MsoG Poll Results.

Year of the Mammoth Pre-Rotation Poll

With the Year of the Mammoth stomping ever closer, the Year of the Kraken nears its end. This marks only the second time a standard rotation takes place in Hearthstone with a grand total of 208 cards from BRM, TGT and LOE plus 6 cards from the classic set leaving standard for wild.

Looking back at 2 years of Hearthstone, it’s hard to remember a time before Living Roots, Flamewaker, or Reno Jackson. Cards from Blackrock Mountain, The Grand Tournament and League of Explorers have defined numerous archetypes ranging from Patron Warrior, Secret Paladin and Renolock, and will remain highly influential in the wild Meta.

Just how successful have these expansions been overall?

We thought it would be interesting to see the community’s final rating on the cards rotating out of standard. What are the most influential cards leaving standard? How good was the TGT expansion in retrospect? What anticipated cards never really made it into competitive decks?


Share your opinion on the three sets in the polls below:

Year of the Mammoth Pre- Rotation Polls:

Rate the cards according to their strength on the standard ranked during their whole “standard run” from release up until now:

  • 5 :    Meta defining/ build around card/ staple across multiple archetypes
  • 4 :    Very strong/ staple card
  • 3 :    Decent/ useful option
  • 2 :    Weak/ situational/ niche
  • 1 :    Terrible/ dust fodder

Don’t have the time/ endurance to rate all 208 cards?

No problem. Answer as many as you like; the questions are randomized, ensuring they get answered equally. With editing enabled, feel free to take a break and come back anytime you like. The polls will stay up until the next expansion launches (scheduled for mid-April)

Poll Results

We will release a short synopsis of the results about a week before the rotation.

Blackrock Mountain (BRM)

The Grand Tournament (TGT)

League of Explorers (LOE)

About Our Polls

Last December, we performed our first poll on Mean Streets of Gadgetzan one week before its release which garnered a lot of community interest with over 8,200 votes cast. As long as interest continues we’re planning to poll upcoming expansions a few days before release – next with Journey to Un’Goro this April.

Going forward we’re thinking about polling sets rotating into wild after they have completed their “standard run”. This allows us to compare community expectations to the actual play experience with the cards. At the same time, evaluating cards over multiple seasons and Meta’s prevents individual cards and archetypes from skewing the picture too much and gives cards more chances to shine and reveal their true potential.


For example, even though Paladin might not be played much these days, we know Mysterious Challenger to be a great build around card because it was considered to be Meta defining just 1 year ago.

We hope that over time, this data will give an intriguing recollection on how the community evaluated individual cards and sets at the time of release and rotation while also capturing Hearthstone’s evolution over the coming years.

What do you think? Give us your feedback in the comments section, Reddit, Twitter or email.

Mean Streets of Gadgetzan Pre-Release Poll Results

Back in December of 2016, the Reddit community was polled on all the MSG cards one week before its release. Over 8,200 votes have been cast rating the MSG cards a 2.82 on average on a scale from 1 to 5 (standard deviation: 0.89).

Compare these expectations to your own experience with the cards over the last 3 months:

Mean Streets of Gadgetzan Results (MSG)     alternatively:     Spreadsheet

The top 20 MSoG cards according to the community’s expectations:

Rank Name Rating
1 Dragonfire Potion 4.7
2 Kazakus 4.7
3 Drakonid Operative 4.5
4 Aya Blackpaw 4.4
5 Jade Idol 4.4
6 Raza the Chained 4.4
7 Rat Pack 4.2
8 Kabal Talonpriest 4.1
9 White Eyes 4.1
10 Inkmaster Solia 4.1
11 Abyssal Enforcer 3.9
12 Hobart Grapplehammer 3.9
13 Doppelgangster 3.8
14 Dispatch Kodo 3.8
15 Mistress of Mixtures 3.8
16 Potion of Madness 3.8
17 Kun the Forgotten King 3.8
18 Jade Blossom 3.7
19 Felfire Potion 3.7
20 Pint-Size Potion 3.7

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