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Rogue is a class that has always performed well in Constructed in Hearthstone. The class has strong Basic and Classic Cards such as Backstab, Eviscerate, Shiv and others. Rogue received some powerful additions in the Journey to Un'Goro and Kobolds & Catacombs expansions but not so much in the Knights of the Frozen Throne expansion. These sets will be rotating out of Standard in 2019, so enjoy them while they are still available.
We have also done a few pieces for other classes which are losing great cards in Constructed, such as Druid, Hunter, Mage, Paladin and Priest. Here are the best cards Rogue will lose in Standard in 2019.
#5 Kobold Illusionist
Expansion: Kobolds & Catacombs
In Standard, Kobold Illusionist is one of the tools you need for Malygos Rogue. The new weapon from the Boomsday Project Necrium Blade also allowed for Rogues to trigger his Deathrattle, making multiple copies of Malygos on the field. In Wild, popular streamer Dane used Kobold Illusionist in his deck Big Rogue. The idea of Big Rogue is to use Kobold Illusionist to summon small copies of big minions from your hand.
Kobold Illusionist fits in very specific deck archetypes but proves to be very powerful in those decks.
#4 Valeera, The Hollow
Expansion: Knights of the Frozen Throne
The Death Knight card for Rogue, Valeera the Hollow is quite a unique one. It is powerful but not as powerful as Hunter or Mage DK. Valeera the Hollow is unique because it is the only card that gives Stealth to a hero. Till Hagatha was released, it was the only card to have a Passive Hero Power, which was only seen in adventures previously.
Having a double copy of a card can be really powerful, especially if you are using combo cards. Although Rogue loses its weapon, it gains a powerful Passive Hero Power.
#3 Fald'orei Strider
Expansion: Kobolds & Catacombs
Fal'dorei Strider is a nice spin on a previously released card, Beneath the Grounds. Instead, the card shuffles into your own deck. With the new Rogue Spirit Spirit of the Shark, Fal'dorei Strider can shuffle 6 Ambushes into your deck. When you summon the 4/4 Spiders, they come in handy on your board and a threat to your opponent.
The card has a surprisingly good power level and will be a loss for Rogues, but not as a standalone card.
#2 Elven Minstrel
Expansion: Kobolds & Catacombs
Elven Minstrel is the card that makes Fal'dorei Strider so powerful. Even on its own, it is an extremely strong card because the card draw is the strongest mechanic in Hearthstone. Moreover, it specifically draws minions from your deck and you can draw exactly the minions you need.
It also synergizes well with Spirit of the Shark, where you can draw up to 4 cards! With 2 Elven Minstrels, that's 8 minions you can draw.
#1 Vilespine Slayer
Expansion: Journey to Un'Goro
You're telling me that putting Assassinate on a body actually makes it good? Well turns out, that's true! Assassinate in theory is a good card, but spending 5 mana to destroy a minion wasn't powerful enough to include in decks. The 3/4 body of Vilespine Slayer can trade into minions.
You can also use Shadowstep to return it to hand, Elven Minstrel to draw it and Lab Recruiter to shuffle more copies into your deck. You can't do all that with the Assassinate spell.
Honourable Mentions
Sonya Shadowdancer
Expansion: Kobolds & Catacombs
Sonya Shadowdancer is a great include in many different Rogue decks, including the powerful Odd Rogue. Getting 1/1 Vilespine Slayers, 1/1 Elven Minstrels and others can be extremely powerful because of how cheap it is. Sonya is very vulnerable, but you can take advantage of her effect because her mana cost is cheap.
Kingsbane
Expansion: Kobolds & Catacombs
Kingsbane is one of the best weapons Rogue has. You can shuffle it endlessly into your deck, keep the upgrades from Deadly Poison, Captain Greenskin and other weapon buffs. It was too powerful until Leeching Poison was nerfed to give temporary life steal instead of permanent. Kingsbane will be a big loss for Rogue.
Hallucination
Expansion: Journey to Un'Goro
Hallucination is a cheap spell but strong for what it does. Unlike other Rogue cards with similar effects, the RNG is not as much. It is a cheap spell which can also be used to combo your other Combo cards due to its cost. Decision making is always better than RNG, which is Hallucination is a strong, yet balanced card.
The Caverns Below
Expansion: Journey to Un'Goro
The Rogue Quest Caverns Below was so powerful it saw a nerf twice. The picture above is the original release and then it got nerfed to "Play five minions". It was still extremely strong in Standard so they nerfed it to "your minions are 4/4".
The problem was the permanent effect of the Quest reward. You could not silence a minion and return it to that state, you just had permanent 5/5s and later 4/4s beating you down. This is especially strong with 1-cost and 2-cost minions.
