Considering Worlds Beyond is on the horizon, this might be the final rotation of all time.
Azvaldt was one of the coolest sets released in modern history, similar to sets like Omen of the Ten which released completely new characters exclusive to Shadowverse. Not only did the characters have aesthetic designs, but for the most part, they also shook up the metagame at various points in their lifespan.
Swordcraft
It should come as no surprise that the biggest loss will be the rotation of Barbaros and consequently, the loot package. A deck that was tier 1 at two distinctly different periods of time, Barbaros and her pirate crew are finally on the final stretch of their journey to find One Piece, and retire at long last.
In addition, the powerful Rally win condition of Radiel is rotating out, as well as Wandering Knight, a card which is not commonly seen in the current expansion.
Overall, this will have negligible impact on Sword's current strength. Loot Sword currently sees zero play and Rally Sword can easily work around Radiel rotating out.
In other words, the upcoming expansion has tremendous upside with close to zero downside from the cards lost.
Shadow
I can confidently say that Last Words Shadow is no more.
Istyandet was the perfect card for the deck, coupling as your primary win condition and board reset for the low cost of only two play points. Without a replacement, the deck is dead in the water. This is not even mentioning the loss of Abyssal Colonel, which saw play in both Last Words Shadow, and Transmute Shadow.
Speaking of Transmute Shadow, the deck also loses both Ceridwen and From the Dust Reborn, one of the key engines of the deck. Even the new Midrange Shadow archetype loses a decent portion of the Ghost Engine.
Overall, this is a disastrous loss for Shadow as a craft. The upcoming expansion will need to print very strong cards to keep the class in the meta.
Rune
It goes without saying that the Sephie archetype is completely gone.
In addition, Spellboost takes a few hits in the form of Simael and Crushing Rain rotating out. Though a major loss on the surface, I believe that these cards were limiting design space, and them leaving the game will allow Cygames the flexibility to finally print some real support for the Spellboost archetype (possibly copium).
Lastly, the Earth Rite package takes a major hit in the loss of Ultramarine Witch. The 1pp earth sigil that draws a card has been essential to Earth Rite for the past few years, and this will no doubt require a reprint.
Forest
Everyone's favourite OTK, Magachiyo, is completely dead after this expansion.
Apart from that, decks that utilise fairies, including Castelle, will be impacted by the loss of Plumeria, a strong tempo tool that can also heal you.
Control is relatively unscathed, Fairy of Gaia is rarely used, and Galepierce can be replaced with any plethora of bounce tools. It did lose the Merchant of the Wind, but again, it's easily replaceable with a different draw 2 option.
Castelle will likely still be viable after this, as they've only really lost one card and stand to gain more in the next expansion.
Portal
Portal loses the entirety of the Enhance engine, which has been one of their most successful decks this expansion.
In addition, Machina Portal is also significantly weakened due to the loss of Kryzael and Puppet Workout.
Finally, even evolve portal is negatively affected, as they lost Alice, Wonderland Explorer.
That said, Artifact Portal is almost completely untouched and will likely become the best Portal deck moving forward.
Haven
The biggest loss is Agent of Commandments, which has won Heal Haven countless games over the past few expansions. This will heavily impact the win rate of the deck, unless the deck receives additional support moving forward.
It also lost a significant portion of the Crystallize engine, that utilises Uneriel to finish off the game.
This puts Haven in the position where it might have no viable deck for the next expansion.
Blood
A significant portion of the Wrath package disappears with the upcoming expansion. It is unlikely that anything printed in the next expansion will be enough to replace what is lost.
Evolve Blood is also impacted by the loss of Signa, critical for cheap evolves, board clear and face damage.
However, the U10 blood package is completely untouched, and will be the likely main blood deck for the next expansion.
Dragon
Drazael has been a powerful tool that synergises with most Dragon Archetypes, including the currently powerful Buff Dragon. Ramp Dragon will also be weakened by the loss of Drazael.
Essentially, the survivability of the class will be impacted, but it is likely to remain a strong class.
Neutral
For the most part, the only major loss is Alice, Wonderland Explorer. Spellboost will also be impacted by the loss of Winged Inversion. Everything else already stopped seeing play in recent times.
Final thoughts
Overall, Azvaldt was a highly impactful expansion whose presence was felt across a number of different expansions. To be honest, many of the cards were so powerful, that I believe they gatekept design space. After all, there's only so much support you can give to volatile bombs like Simael, Garodeth and Barbaros without accidentally breaking something in the process. So as much as this is a time of mourning and loss, it may also serve as the dawn of a new era.
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