I have been reading a lot of people claim that secret Paladin will be a dominant tier 1 deck. I’m not too sure about this as the loss of Sunkeeper, Maul, Call to Arms, and most of all Divine Favour are pretty detrimental to the deck. It has recieved extra support such as the new legendary but will they be enough to sky rocket it’s overall win rate????? Thoughts??? I guess it also depends on the meta as well
Sunreaver Spy looks like its capable of carrying games by itself, especially if there's a secret protecting it. I think it will mostly depend on how many minions you can get on the board in the early game, before all your secrets come out.
Sunreaver Spy looks like its capable of carrying games by itself, especially if there's a secret protecting it. I think it will mostly depend on how many minions you can get on the board in the early game, before all your secrets come out.
I think Rogue is the only class that can deal with T1 Autodefense Matrix into T2 Sunreaver Spy because they have Vendetta, Backstab and SI-7. But if you suspect Auto Defense and then it ends up being Never Surrender you’re screwed.
I see it as a midrange deck like the old secret paladin. We'll have to see how the meta plays out but i see it dominating the early meta at the very least
Plus Raven cards. Also, Hammer of Wrath is still there: the card is forgotten just because of insane powercreep, but it may be good enough after Rotation.
On paper, it appears that secret paladin's early game is among the best in the game, if not the best.
The trick for players will be figuring out what to do when you get to turn 6 or so and haven't won yet. There aren't any Divine Favors, Calls to Arms, or Vinecleavers around to bail you out anymore. How are you going to stretch out your deck? Liam is an option, but not a particularly inspiring one.
I personally believe it might shift to a slightly more midrange deck with some dragon stuff to carry those last few turns. But we'll see.
It's gonna run out of steam without Divine Favor. There's no card draw at all. If you can stabilize one time against them they wont have enough to push through
Playing against it, the card that ended me the most is Tarim. You can see a secret paladin working feverishly to maintain the numbers advantage, and then crush you. Maybe the more powerful early minions will compensate, but it won't have that get out of jail thing.
I don't think it's going to be amazing. It's first four turns are incredibly strong but it lacks game closing ability unless there are some neutrals that i'm overlooking.
No call to arms and no sunkeeper means you will be hero power passing if you lose tempo and you will never get it back. Call to arms deck thinning and board presence was incredibly strong. It was draw minions and play them at the same time, and with Divine favor gone you literally have no reload.
I agree with the other poster, this has to be a more midrangey deck that relies on some neutrals and spending mana on one chunky thing at a time. Because right now it looks like an aggro deck with one or two waves tops so dumping your hand just isn't viable.
My gut feeling is that the new Secret Paladin is gonna be like classic Face Hunter. It'll get a strong start, and can kill you by ~turn 6, but if you make it through they don't have the value to keep going.
Also, something to consider is that, if you want your Sunreaver Spy and Mysterious Blade at full power on-curve, you need to put a Secret into play on turn one, which means you don't have a 1-drop on turn 1. The exception to this is having Secret Keeper, either or those cards, a Secret, and The Coin all in your opening hand, but I can't imagine all those stars will align reliably. That alone might hold it back from being an insane aggro deck, at least with how the card pool is right now.
Also, something to consider is that, if you want your Sunreaver Spy and Mysterious Blade at full power on-curve, you need to put a Secret into play on turn one, which means you don't have a 1-drop on turn 1. The exception to this is having Secret Keeper, either or those cards, a Secret, and The Coin all in your opening hand, but I can't imagine all those stars will align reliably. That alone might hold it back from being an insane aggro deck, at least with how the card pool is right now.
It's like youre reading straight from my inbox. I have said almost this same thing to the people I have been theory crafting with.
it wont be an aggro deck, as you said, without tarim, divine favor and call to arms, it's going to be hard to keep the aggro pace it will be a great midrange deck like the old secret paladin with mysterious challenger, instead of him, we have bellringer sentry and masked contender, and we add all the classic midrange paladin package. Moreover, secret paladin doesnt need any 1 drop except a secret, it has the 2 best 2 mana cards in standard right now, 1 totem golem or an unnerfed fiery war axe.
I have been reading a lot of people claim that secret Paladin will be a dominant tier 1 deck. I’m not too sure about this as the loss of Sunkeeper, Maul, Call to Arms, and most of all Divine Favour are pretty detrimental to the deck. It has recieved extra support such as the new legendary but will they be enough to sky rocket it’s overall win rate????? Thoughts??? I guess it also depends on the meta as well
Yeah, Secret Hunter only worked because of the Spell Stone. Paladin has nothing like that.
I think that it will not be aggro anymore, and if it works will be midrange. But that's just me.
People are quick to forget all the broken pally secrets are in wild
Errrrrmmmmmm
Sunreaver Spy looks like its capable of carrying games by itself, especially if there's a secret protecting it. I think it will mostly depend on how many minions you can get on the board in the early game, before all your secrets come out.
Unpopular opinion: Rogue is OP
They do? What card would that be?
I think Rogue is the only class that can deal with T1 Autodefense Matrix into T2 Sunreaver Spy because they have Vendetta, Backstab and SI-7. But if you suspect Auto Defense and then it ends up being Never Surrender you’re screwed.
I see it as a midrange deck like the old secret paladin. We'll have to see how the meta plays out but i see it dominating the early meta at the very least
I’m with jakor. I think the meta might be slow and midrangy enough for Tirion to see play again maybe.
never surrender is pretty insane, the real issue is that Standard Paladin won't swarm the board anymore. Not as before at least.
Anyway, Mysterious Blade and Sunreaver Spy for stats, Desperate Measures for consistency.
Plus Raven cards. Also, Hammer of Wrath is still there: the card is forgotten just because of insane powercreep, but it may be good enough after Rotation.
It may not be a granted t1, but a good candidate.
On paper, it appears that secret paladin's early game is among the best in the game, if not the best.
The trick for players will be figuring out what to do when you get to turn 6 or so and haven't won yet. There aren't any Divine Favors, Calls to Arms, or Vinecleavers around to bail you out anymore. How are you going to stretch out your deck? Liam is an option, but not a particularly inspiring one.
I personally believe it might shift to a slightly more midrange deck with some dragon stuff to carry those last few turns. But we'll see.
It's gonna run out of steam without Divine Favor. There's no card draw at all. If you can stabilize one time against them they wont have enough to push through
Playing against it, the card that ended me the most is Tarim. You can see a secret paladin working feverishly to maintain the numbers advantage, and then crush you. Maybe the more powerful early minions will compensate, but it won't have that get out of jail thing.
I don't think it's going to be amazing. It's first four turns are incredibly strong but it lacks game closing ability unless there are some neutrals that i'm overlooking.
No call to arms and no sunkeeper means you will be hero power passing if you lose tempo and you will never get it back. Call to arms deck thinning and board presence was incredibly strong. It was draw minions and play them at the same time, and with Divine favor gone you literally have no reload.
I agree with the other poster, this has to be a more midrangey deck that relies on some neutrals and spending mana on one chunky thing at a time. Because right now it looks like an aggro deck with one or two waves tops so dumping your hand just isn't viable.
It doesn't have the card draw, and the loss of Tarim is just a bit too much to overcome, I think.
I was super interested in this archetype for a hot minute, but I think the scales have fallen from my eyes.
My gut feeling is that the new Secret Paladin is gonna be like classic Face Hunter. It'll get a strong start, and can kill you by ~turn 6, but if you make it through they don't have the value to keep going.
Also, something to consider is that, if you want your Sunreaver Spy and Mysterious Blade at full power on-curve, you need to put a Secret into play on turn one, which means you don't have a 1-drop on turn 1. The exception to this is having Secret Keeper, either or those cards, a Secret, and The Coin all in your opening hand, but I can't imagine all those stars will align reliably. That alone might hold it back from being an insane aggro deck, at least with how the card pool is right now.
It's like youre reading straight from my inbox. I have said almost this same thing to the people I have been theory crafting with.
it wont be an aggro deck, as you said, without tarim, divine favor and call to arms, it's going to be hard to keep the aggro pace
it will be a great midrange deck like the old secret paladin with mysterious challenger, instead of him, we have bellringer sentry and masked contender, and we add all the classic midrange paladin package.
Moreover, secret paladin doesnt need any 1 drop except a secret, it has the 2 best 2 mana cards in standard right now, 1 totem golem or an unnerfed fiery war axe.