Secret Shields Paladin [Legend]
- Last updated Oct 12, 2016 (Yogg Nerf)
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Wild
- 19 Minions
- 7 Spells
- 4 Weapons
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: Secret Paladin
- Crafting Cost: 6580
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 7/30/2016 (Old Gods)

- Jambre
- Pro Player
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Country:
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Tournament Decks:
4
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Ladder Decks:
47
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Submitted By:
A fresh rendition of the secret paladin for competitive play. Piloted to top 10 (July) and top 5 (August/September/October) legend in Standard by Jambre! Proof: https://twitter.com/TPG_Jambre/status/766774473685078016, https://twitter.com/TPG_Jambre/status/775370331590713344
Deck Changes: Updated to Jambre's September deck list. For his October list, simply replace Defender of Argus with a 2nd Argent Commander. Remember you can substitute Leeroy with Stranglethorn Tiger.
Meta Update: This deck is still a winner, coming in at a win rate of 55% post-nerf according to metastats (http://metastats.net/deck/af09f99d-8974-47ce-aad1-75b4bdb1fab9/week/).
For my update to Jackker's Steward of Darkshire based secret paladin featuring Barnes and Moroes see http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/582009-secret-steward-paladin-legend.
For a Wild version of this deck see: http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/584095-secret-paladin-wild
For my latest ladder decks see:
http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/613816-barnes-secret-hunter
http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/639616-vlpss-curator-secret-hunter-legend
http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/525655-totem-superiority-easy-rank-5-midrange-shaman
http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/626899-sjows-1-legend-disco-lock
This deck list differs from recent secret paladin lists. It has fewer secrets (just 3) and still takes advantage of Rallying Blade synergy, but instead of depending on Steward of Darkshire to create shielded minions or tokens, it includes several already shielded minions. 6 of them (2 each of Argent Squire, Argent Horserider and Silent Knight) cost 3 or less mana and serve as our opening plays. This leads to many high value trades and often buffing at least one minion with the blade. We finish our opponent with a string of high value minions including the most famous of shielded paladins, Tirion Fordring.
Trade for great value, but sometimes the strategy is to smash your opponent's face and let him stress about how to deal with your awkward array of shielded minions and a few secrets.
Consider how your opponent will tilt when Redemption brings back your Argent Horserider, shield intact.
Use your weapons to clear opponent minions and preserve shields until needed. Use Dragon Egg wisely. The eggs are great targets for all your buff cards (including Blessing of Kings, Defender of Argus, and Keeper of Uldaman) and good protection against AOE. Your other buffs should go to shielded minions where possible.
MULLIGANS
There are no 2 mana cards in this deck. Do not keep secrets in your opening hand. In a perfect world they are all summoned by Mysterious Challenger on turn 6. If we do not have coin, we will play a 1 mana card followed by two others next turn, especially if we get stuck with an early secret. We can also start with a 1 drop and then hero power on turn 2, but this is less desirable, so mulligan hard for 1 mana minions if you are going first.
If we have the coin, we can play a 1 drop, then coin out a 3 drop on turn 2, and then play another 3 drop on turn 3. Keep in mind that your sneaky opener of Argent Squire on turn 1 and then Silent Knight on turn 2 can be foiled if the warrior plays Ravaging Ghoul on his turn 3 before you can equip your Rallying Blade on your turn 3. [I still won that game, by the way, as my weapon killed his ghoul and both my minions lived due to their shields. It just wasn't as sweet as I had hoped for. I had dreams of buffing both minions! Too greedy?]
Always keep:
Argent Squire
Dragon Egg
Additionally, with at least one of the above keep Abusive Sergeant or possibly Rallying Blade
Keep with coin:
Rallying Blade
Argent Horserider or Silent Knight
SUBSTITUTIONS
+ Stranglethorn Tiger
+/- Argent Commander
- Consecration
+/- Defender of Argus
+ Divine Favor
+ Silvermoon Portal
+ Psych-o-Tron
- Leeroy Jenkins
+ Ragnaros the Firelord
CLASS MATCHUPS
*** Win/loss data includes 3 versions of this deck list. 65% win rate overall after 75 games. Finished with a 15-3 streak. ***
Warrior - Favored (10-3). This is your match to win. Shields reduce value from weapons so don't waste them lightly. Be aggressive but make good trades. Have buffs ready to contend with 6 health taunts. Remember you can also use Keeper of Uldaman on opponent cards. Expect to see Ravaging Ghoul twice. Sometimes you should trade rather than leave a lot of unshielded 2/1's on the board.
Shaman - Worthy opponent (7-5). Fight for a stable board. Try to keep shields and eggs intact to protect against Lightning Storm, but you will also need to use shields in trades. Have buffs ready so you can kill Mr. 7/7 for free with a shielded minion. Watch your health and expect burst damage to face. Can't afford to leave opponent minions up in this fight if your health drops below 20.
Warlock - Worthy opponent (3-5). Zoo is the worst match up for this deck. Cheap minions to pop your shields and more ways to buff minions. Get good value from Consecration (mulligan for it) and hope for a decisive board swing right before turn 6. The 2nd Consecration helps on this fight. Against Reno, you are favored, keep the pressure on but be smart about board clears. Good luck!
Hunter - Favored (7-4). Hunter has a hard time dealing 1 damage so you can out value him with trades or win the face race. Eaglehorn Bow and Unleash the Hounds value is diminished by your shields so keep the pressure on and shields up. Go for quality minions not quantity and keep the board clear with weapons. Try to close out on turn 7, but you can still win late. Watch for Freezing Trap.
Druid - Favored (6-1). Be ready to kill his 5 health minions Violet Teacher and Fandral Staghelm. If you can use a buffed, shielded minion to do it for free, the game might be over. Save Consecration for a group of tokens. Watch for Swipe.
Mage - Favored (7-3). Don't let tempo mage out tempo you. Kill Flamewaker quickly so he doesn't eat up your shields. Pressure freeze mage and you should win easily.
Rogue - Favored (4-1). Focus on smart trades and face damage. Similar to druid. Spread your buffs since minions will get removed. Expect Sap. Good matchup.
Paladin - Worthy Opponent (2-3). Pressure control and hope you can get him down before a big heal. Have fun on the mirror match.
Priest - Favored (3-1). Keep up the pressure and preserve shields/eggs to guard against his board clears. He should run out of answers if you play smart. Good matchup.
Please share your experiences, corrections, and suggestions in the comments below.
https://twitter.com/TPG_Jambre/status/791300490172702721
Updated decklist, now with 100% less consecration.
I think that you forgot to update the actual decklist.
Only reason I didn't make the change is I don't personally have a 2nd Argent Commander and the difference over Defender of Argus doesn't seem like enough reason to craft it. Win rates are about the same for both versions from what I can see. But I did make mention of it in the intro. Thanks for the update, you saw it a few hours before I did.
After playing some more games, I'll agree with you that one Defender of Argus is better than a 2nd Argent Commander. The card won me a couple of games, whereas AC would just sit dead in hand.
argus is fine as it gives you more chances to go face without worrying as much about defense. also it gives dragon eggs an answer without having to wait for the buffers to come along. even without dragon egg it works with other minions as well.
muz i think your assesment is right on that. i'm probably gonna do 1 of each for better balance.
https://twitter.com/TPG_Jambre/status/785519202455187456
He exchanged the Defender of Argus for a second Argent Commander
Just an update. compiled more data on this deck build over 2 month period of game data. Managed to get to rank 5 both times with it in normal ranked play
I made slight modification by replacing 1 of the Stranglethorn Tiger with a Divine Favor for better card draw to suit my card spamming style.
Can you call it "secret paladin" with 3 secrets?
Yes
This deck is insane. People do not know how to play against it, It is my favorite atm and I just keep creeping up the ladder. I added concecration because I ran into to many zoo and need a board clear. :)
had the same problem to be honest. this deck lacks an answer for board clearance by stuff like zoolocks which spam the board. unless you get the opportunity to buff up those eggs to get board full of free minions for clearance duty, you may end up wasting shields just killing their board.
sometimes i either pressure them by going for face to force them to clear their own minions, though at times i will sacrifice a minion here and there to make better trades at my own discretion.
But yes if people don't want to deal with that, a consecration or 2 would work wonders. Is it just me or does it feel like there are too many weapons ? Maybe removing 1 of the truesilvers to make room for a consecration would work?
The latest version has Consecration x2 in place of buff cards (Blessing of Kings or Silvermoon Portal).
am i the only one who thinks divine favor may be needed for this build?
i took out 1 tiger and added a divine favor, testing that out. only 1 divine is less chance of drawing it, but still better than no chance at all. some times i went dry of cards and couldn't recover.
and other times having 2 stealth tigers kept the pressure up. so theres a pro and con :X
*update
I managed to improve my rankings from 14 ish to reach rank 5 with this secret shield pally build. For today i got from rank 9 to 5 after switching out a tiger for divine favor. it felt like that worked better for situations i need more cards when i run out of steam since my play style is not to hold back spamming cards.
Here is my stats
It's been often requested so I added it to the substitution list the other day. Let us know how it works out. Could also cut a truesilver for it, I suppose.
yeh worked nice for me. took out a tiger didn't seem like a big deal. as for truesilver. i feel 1 would be fine for me, since i'm already running rallying blade, so too many weapons hm... i felt at times i had more than needed :] so yeah. but with all those weapons i never felt like i didn't have enough, so i could safely clear minions and have weapons to spare for going face at times, or as a deterrent for them placing minion on board.
But what would i replace one of the truesilver with? a 2nd divine favor ? or something else.
I was staying you could cut the 2nd truesilver instead of the 2nd tiger to put in the 1st divine favor. I don't think you need 2 divine favor.
Is it bad? It can be surprisingly good, and sometimes better.
Portal: +2/+2 buff on single target, random minion (often 2/3 or 3/2), no taunt
Argus: +1/+1 buff on up to 2 minions (max +2/2), 2/3 minion, 1-2 taunts
Argus is a little better when you have 2 minions in play (consistent minion, 2 taunts), but Portal is better when you don't, especially if you are not playing defense (and shields are better used for offensive trades). Also Argus forces a split of the buff, Portal can put all +2/+2 on a key minion to trade up.
With our board empty, Horserider + Portal is a charging 4/3 with shield that kills Azure Drake for free. Sometimes the extra +1/+1 is better than taunt. Horserider + Argus don't kill the drake without help or an additional turn.
Argus is still the better card in aggro decks. But this is not a flood the board deck, and Portal seems viable, perhaps even preferred.
silvermoon portal is actually pretty amazing.
Here are the reasons.
1. you are rarely going to have 2+ minions on the field when you are against tempo oriented classes, making argus pretty hard to get full value out of, this was a problem even with the previous version, however in tempo oriented matches you are usually going back and forth with a single minion which is easier to buff
2. silvermoon portal makes your single divine shield minions stronger, for example silent knight can easily trade with things like corruptor/azure drake, squire can trade with most 2-3 drops.
3. silvermoon portal makes your dragon egg into a 2/4 instead of a 1/3, 2/4 can trade with a lot of things in this meta and get you another whelp while 1/3 is still poorly stated and likely to get 1 shotted.
The thing about silvermoon portal is that you can save your blessing of kings for mostly just going face due to the large +4/+4 buff, but often you ended up using it to trade in order to keep up the tempo advantage before portal was released, portal solves this while getting a 2 drop, it's also why I don't like the tigers in this setup. argent commander can easily outburst tiger and used for trades effectively.
I thought the same thing too initially when i made a deck just like this. The one key factor that people forget is that it provides tempo in a way that argus doesn't. In many games id end up buffing a 2/2 shield minion to a 4/4 and trading into a zoos taunt minion to kill it, while at the same time getting a card like huge toad, millhouse, etc. Only once out of out 50 games with it did i ever get a doomsayer. Its very rare that this deck needs taunts, more often than not you need card draw or a bigger body for trades.
I don't understand how a deck that has so few secrets require 2 mysterious challengers?