Secret Paladin: Is it Overpowered?

Intro

Welcome once again my Hearthstone peeps to my little corner of this lovely website. Last article I spoke about some of my favorite podcasts out there on the internet about Hearthstone. I really hope that those podcasts really helped you as a player in some form or another. Also, I know that there are more podcasts out there and I am going to have follow up article this week about more podcasts you should check out. In the end, I am wanting to give you guys a look at things I use to get better at the game of Hearthstone and hope it, in the end, makes you a better player also.

Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, I want to discuss something in this article that I think has become a major topic of discussion out there in the Hearthstone community. To be honest, this topic has become more of a popular than if Face Hunter is a cancer to the game or not. That topic is a simple question, is Secret Paladin OP and if so how does Blizzard fix it?

Now, within this article I am going to throw out both side of the argument and truly play devil’s advocate. I am also going to throw out a solution that some people think needs to happen. Somewhere in the mess of this I will give my final opinion and it may surprise you what I think (just please no running to my Twitter or Twitch channel with flaming torches screaming for my head 😀 ).

So let’s get right to it shall we.

Argument against Secret Pally

The problem most people had with Face Hunter is that it really didn’t take any skill to play it. It was one of those decks that people said even a monkey could pilot up the ladder. The same is being said about Secret Paladin. Basically, if the deck curves right, it is damn near impossible to beat. If the opposing player gets to Christmas tree up there Paladin on turn 6, the game is over and you just might as well concede. All a player needs to do is just play on curve through turn 6, play mysterious-challenger and they will win the game no matter what. Basically, it has become the new Patron Warrior before the Warsong nerf.

Some people even say that the only way to stop this deck is for Blizzard to step in and nerf mysterious-challenger. I have even asked, if that happens, how should Blizzard do it?  In my opinion, if it is nerfed, it should become a 6/6 for 6 mana and only launches up one secret. That way the player can’t throw up five secrets up on the board and totally break down the opposing player. The multiple secret launch ability of MC is what, if you think so, makes it OP and that they have to take it down to just one secret.

It has been said that this deck is truly OP easy to pilot and that point along with mysterious-challenger is why the deck needs a serious nerf in some way or another. That even if the old Patron Warrior was OP, you still needed skill to use it. That the average player could not pilot that deck to a steady streak of wins on ladder but Secret Paladin does not require that same amount of skill. Anyone can pilot this deck to a 60% win streak or better and make Legend rank.

Also, any deck that can just take over the ladder is an OP deck. That it is a staple in most tournament deck lists and that most people will automatically default to this deck if they need a win. The question is why and the only answer is because this deck is OP and needs to be taken down a notch or two and as long as mysterious-challenger is alive the way it is now it will continue to do so.

There is truly no stopping Secret Paladin….

Or is there?

Argument for Secret Paladin

People will always piss and moan about a deck when it a good deck and Secret Paladin is no different. It can be beat on a consistent basis and the problem with the deck isn’t the deck itself but players not taking the time to think about how to tech against it. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to look up an article on this site or any other one that a google search will pull up and find a way to play against it.

If you are playing on the ladder, you will not face this deck every time, especially in the higher ranks. The reason is, unlike Face Hunter, this deck does actually take a high cost cards to even be able to make the deck, more or less even master it. This deck is not OP, it is just many players just don’t pay attention and play decks that do well against like Freeze Mage.

For instance, if someone can keep control of the board against this deck, it is almost impossible for this deck to come back. mysterious-challenger has to have a minion on the board when it comes out to truly make it combo up right. Otherwise it is very difficult for it truly show its power.

This deck also isn’t as easy to pilot as some people may think, especially in the current Meta where there are so many different decks floating around on the ladder. If you make the wrong decisions, you will lose, no matter how good a deck might be. For instance, if you play a muster-for-battle and not pay attention to what type of deck of deck you are playing against, you will lose everything on your table and potentially the game.

Most average players would, at best, win 50% of their games with this deck and that will take them on a long trip to the middle of the road. Yes, some players can win 70% of their games with this deck but those players are people like World Champion Ostkaka and he would win a high percentage of his games with any major deck in the Meta right now.

Bottom line is this deck isn’t nowhere near OP, it just takes the right deck and player to beat it is all.

My opinion

So where do I stand on all of this?

Well, I do think that Secret Paladin is a very strong deck. Is it OP? Maybe but I do not think a nerf is needed at all and here is my reasoning behind this. Before the Warsong nerf, Patron Warrior was the deck everyone was screaming about. The thing was, it would totally destroy Secret Paladin and still hangs with it 50% of the time. You never heard about Secret Paladin being OP until the Warsong nerf happened.

My point being is when a card is nerfed to take a certain deck down, it ALWAYS causes another deck to jump up as the deck to beat. No deck is as OP as some decks used to be. I have been playing since beta and you can search online and see decks that was truly OP in the game (Hunter, I am looking at you). Go back and look at old Hunter decks before the starving-buzzard nerf. You could just scare people into conceding back then. Nerfing a card always causes ripples within the Meta that always makes other problems.

I think, in the end, at some point a deck will come in the near future that will take Secret Paladin down. There is no need for a nerf to MC and it happens it will just cause more problems than it fixes. I think, and you are already seeing it, people will figure out decks to play that will counter Secret Paladin and even things out.

Also, if this deck was truly OP, everyone would be playing it and that would in the end make everyone sit at 50% because all games would end up being a mirror match.

Over half the decks within the Meta can beat Secret Paladin at least 50% of the time. Truly, just take time and look up some of the great MUA articles on this site that shows how to play against Secret Paladin and you will be fine. It is like everything else in this game, it just takes some time and a little patience to figure out what to do.

Closing

With this article I truly wanted to give both sides of the argument and then kind of sway people a little on my point. I know there are people that will not agree with me on this but I think that nerfing in general is truly bad for the game and should only be done in most dire circumstances. Now, if you don’t agree, please take the time to comment below because I am not some all-knowing guy and can be swayed myself. Plus, I love hearing from everyone and love knowing what you think in general about this awesome game we all play.

When it comes to my articles, I like talking about the more mental side of things because I think it is just as important as what deck you are playing. The biggest mental part of this game is not getting upset at the game while you are playing it because that causes bad decisions while you are playing.

The point of articles like this is to give you a different perspective on things and help you understand where others stand and maybe see their side of things. That will help you not get upset when playing against a deck like this because it, or at least I hope so, think about some of these things while you are playing and help you as a player stay cool.

I truly do love this game that we all play and I am wanting to be your happy little guru that you can go to look for help and, maybe, find a little happy spot. I am wanting to be that person you can run to with articles and on Twitter to find a little guidance on the mental side of things and hopefully help you feel a little happier when things seem to take you down that hill we all call Tilt.

So, to truly connect with me, follow me on Twitter and go follow me on Twitch. I answer all questions thrown at me in a tweet. Also, I am going to be streaming very soon so be sure to follow me on Twitch so you can come hang out while I make bad jokes and be just my goofy old self.

Thanks again for hanging out with me for a little while and once again…

---