When sets rotate out , whole landscape changes again, power curve goes back down. Also, maybe devs mix it up after getting 1 year of feedback. Maybe the basic set doesn't get auto-included and they make an "Evergreen set". Maybe some old cards come back to standard like Belcher/Healbot/Pre-nerf Moltens.
Far too early to speculate, but I do believe "Reno" decks will exist without Reno in some form. Renolock might die but Priest for sure has some tools. The other Reno cards are all fairly strong, especially Kazakus. I've been playing Savj Renolock tonight and even Krul has proven to be super strong. I did not expect that... I was very harsh on Krul.
Ill be sad to lose Elise too. Elise decks are super fun.
Just going through some of the sets, we'll be losing:
LOE: Uldaman, Anyfin, Forgotten Torch, Raven Idol, Entomb, Tomb Pillager, TUNNEL TROGG, Dark Peddler, RENO, ELISE, Brann, Finley
TGT: Living Roots, Arcane Blast, Wyrmwrest Agent, Ancestal Knowledge, Elemental Destruction, TOTEM GOLEM, Healing Wave, Tuskarr Totemic, THUNDERBLUFF VALIANT, Bash, Argent Horserider, Refreshment Vendor, TWILIGHT GUARDIAN, JUSTICAR TRUEHEART, Chillmaw
BRM: Quick Shot, FLAMEWAKER, Twilight Whelp, Lava Shock, IMP GANG BOSS, Blackwing Tech, Blackwing Corrupter, EMPEROR THAURISSAN
- Paladin loses almost nothing of importance, same with Hunter and Warrior (except Justicar)
- Druid loses some early game.
- Priest gets gutted again. Dragon deck dies and they also lose Entomb.
- Shaman get absolutely destroyed. Lose all the tools for both Aggro and Control decks.
- No Reno kills Renolock most likely as they lack healing again. Losing Imp Gang Boss and Dark Peddler hurt but Zoo is resilient and will find replacements.
- Losing Justicar makes Control Warrior suck harder.
- No Emperor will change some things, mainly Freeze Mage and the Maly decks that have sprung up.
- Tempo Mage ceases to exist without flamewaker.
Edit: And I predict March/April for next release. Closer to April imo. However they've been going Expansion/Adventure/Expansion/Adventure... and they said next full Expansion will change Seasons.
Quickest release time seems to be ~4 months. So in April we should get another full expansions which will be the first time we get back-to-back expansions, unless they change things.
Standard format - Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft Wiki
The current selection of Standard card sets is updated when the first new
expansion each year is released.
[1] At this point, Standard format will be updated to include only card sets added to the game in the current or previous calendar year, as well as the Basic and Classic sets. Cards from older card sets will no longer be available in Standard format. This will mark the start of the new "Standard year". The first Standard year is known as the Year of the Kraken.
[1]
Expansions are major additions to the main game of
Hearthstone. Expansions bring larger amounts of cards to the game than
adventures,
[1] with the former featuring around 145 cards and the latter only around 30.
