The only reason people really hate the deck is because it requires no real skill to play. Yes, the deck can be pretty damn OP in certain metas, but the main reason people hate it is the skill involved in playing it.
Most current SP lists don't even run DF, and if the card gets nerfed it will make a perfectly balanced and decent deck archetype(aggro pally,without secrets) unviable.
Think about it. The card was fine before TGT came out, now that MC exists people suddenly think it's OP? Kind of easy to tell which card is the problem.
No one that is making reasonable arguments against Secret Paladin is claiming that you can't draw poorly and lose. The only way to truly determine whether or not a deck is overpowered is to look at statistics derived from a large sample of games played. The following is from the front page of Hearthstats:
I don't think that the huge lead that the Paladin class currently holds in constructed is due to Murloc Paladin. Every statistical analysis I have seen shows a similar level of win rate imbalance. And then you have to consider the skill involved in piloting the deck. I don't think a close look at that aspect helps your case at all.
No one that is making reasonable arguments against Secret Paladin is claiming that you can't draw poorly and lose. The only way to truly determine whether or not a deck is overpowered is to look at statistics derived from a large sample of games played. The following is from the front page of Hearthstats:
I don't think that the huge lead that the Paladin class currently holds in constructed is due to Murloc Paladin. Every statistical analysis I have seen shows a similar level of win rate imbalance. And then you have to consider the skill involved in piloting the deck. I don't think a close look at that aspect helps your case at all.
To be fair, hearthstats bases those statistics on the entire hearthstone meta(including lower ranks). I don't think you can realistically claim that hunter is the second strongest class in the game right now, it's just popular in the lower rankings where you can climb faster and opponents are worse at dealing with aggro. The same goes for SP, except the deck is much better at the higher ranks too(even though I disagree that it's the best deck in the game).
You are entirely correct that my methodology was flawed. I'll just go ahead and plead laziness. However, I will defend two points in support of my post. 1) Every attempt to measure the relative win rates of popular decks that I have seen has shown similar results with regard to Secret Paladin (I agree that Hunter is nowhere near being overpowered). 2) I don't think it is appropriate to dismiss problems of balance just because they primarily effect players at lower ranks. After all, the vast majority of players occupy those ranks. Their experience should be taken into consideration.
Most current SP lists don't even run DF, and if the card gets nerfed it will make a perfectly balanced and decent deck archetype(aggro pally,without secrets) unviable.
Think about it. The card was fine before TGT came out, now that MC exists people suddenly think it's OP? Kind of easy to tell which card is the problem.
Divine Favor was OP before TGT, it was run in the classic eboladin. Drawing 5-7 cards for 3 mana wasn't fair that time, too.
You say it was OP, I say it was the only thing that made the deck viable in the first place. If an aggro pally draws over 3-4 cards against you on a regular basis, that means you are either not playing around DF properly, or you are using one of the decks that the card is supposed to destroy. It's a completely dead card against aggro and even against midrange or not completely late game decks it usually doesn't draw over 4 cards. Plus hunters have their hero power, shaman has their insane burst spells and doomhammer and every other class has some other tool to help you play aggro(ok,except maybe priest,warrior and rogue). If you nerf DF there is absolutely no reason you would pick paladin for that purpose(not that you would in most cases right now anyway).
And again, secret paladin now doesn't even play DF that often and even when it does, it's mostly as one off. I fail to see how nerfing the card would make SP balanced.
It's a deck that people play and it's a very good one at that. Does it require much skill from the player? No, not neccessarily but that doesn't mean that it deserves trash talk. If you really hate Secret Pally so much, just play a deck that counters it. Same story with Face Hunter at the time, many hated it but eventually it became a bad deck for the meta so people stopped playing it.
You are entirely correct that my methodology was flawed. I'll just go ahead and plead laziness. However, I will defend two points in support of my post. 1) Every attempt to measure the relative win rates of popular decks that I have seen has shown similar results with regard to Secret Paladin (I agree that Hunter is nowhere near being overpowered). 2) I don't think it is appropriate to dismiss problems of balance just because they primarily effect players at lower ranks. After all, the vast majority of players occupy those ranks. Their experience should be taken into consideration.
Yeah, I get your point and actually agree with it. Even though I think face hunter is a completely fine and balanced deck and pretty much find it terrible right now, it's undeniably still one of the most annoying decks at those rankings, and hinders many people's experience of the game. Secret paladin is clearly the biggest offender in this regard.
I'm just saying that hearthstats is not a great way to tell what decks/classes are strongest or most OP.
It's a deck that people play and it's a very good one at that. Does it require much skill from the player? No, not neccessarily but that doesn't mean that it deserves trash talk. If you really hate Secret Pally so much, just play a deck that counters it. Same story with Face Hunter at the time, many hated it but eventually it became a bad deck for the meta so people stopped playing it.
This is called lazy thinking. Why should people be forced to play decks they don't like and hinder their game experience just to beat that one deck? If a deck governs the meta like that you know it is in a badly need of a nerf.
Face hunter is different, because you can easily beat it with almost any deck if you know what you are doing, and it's very easy to tech against.
You are also ignoring the fact that the deck is excruciatingly frustrating to play against, and even if you are using a "counter" deck other than face shaman or hunter they can easily roll you over if they get a good curve.
It's a deck that people play and it's a very good one at that. Does it require much skill from the player? No, not neccessarily but that doesn't mean that it deserves trash talk. If you really hate Secret Pally so much, just play a deck that counters it. Same story with Face Hunter at the time, many hated it but eventually it became a bad deck for the meta so people stopped playing it.
This is called lazy thinking. Why should people be forced to play decks they don't like and hinder their game experience just to beat that one deck?
Because that is how card games work. Try going to a MtG Legacy event with a Slivers deck and see how well you do.
On top of that, you can't beat every deck at once, so it's sometimes worth it to run a deck that beats SP's counters rather than SP itself.
Two major reasons why secret paladin will curve out better than your deck:
1. Secret Keeper, Minibot, Juggler, Creeper, Muster, Coghammer = Better early board presence + deck synergy and percentage of starting hands with early board presence cards. Control and midrange don't have the same starting hands on average, and their synergies don't start to take into effect until usually turns 4+.
2. The fact that MC thins your deck by at least 4 if not 5 secrets each time it's dropped makes it very likely for secret Paladin to draw into second Challenger, Boom, Tirion, Shredder, Belcher, or Ragnaros for late game damage.
I simply play whatever seems to be the strongest deck in ranked because I play to win and experiment with other decks for fun on casual. Having played both Patron pre-nerf and Paladin, I can say for sure Paladin is easier to pilot and you're almost never stuck with a starting hand of Boom, Tirion, Belcher or some non-sense.
It's a deck that people play and it's a very good one at that. Does it require much skill from the player? No, not neccessarily but that doesn't mean that it deserves trash talk. If you really hate Secret Pally so much, just play a deck that counters it. Same story with Face Hunter at the time, many hated it but eventually it became a bad deck for the meta so people stopped playing it.
This is called lazy thinking. Why should people be forced to play decks they don't like and hinder their game experience just to beat that one deck?
Because that is how card games work. Try going to a MtG Legacy event with a Slivers deck and see how well you do.
On top of that, you can't beat every deck at once, so it's sometimes worth it to run a deck that beats SP's counters rather than SP itself.
So you believe that when a deck is CLEARLY hindering the fun of the game for basically every player, nothing should be done about it? Great logic there. And by the way, currently I main face shaman so I don't even lose to paladins of any kind that often, I just think that people who do not like decks like mine should be "forced" to play them because every retard and their mother are playing SP on ladder.
By the way, nothing makes me laugh harder than getting added by a secret paladin after a win and watch him rant about my "brainless" deck.
It's a deck that people play and it's a very good one at that. Does it require much skill from the player? No, not neccessarily but that doesn't mean that it deserves trash talk. If you really hate Secret Pally so much, just play a deck that counters it. Same story with Face Hunter at the time, many hated it but eventually it became a bad deck for the meta so people stopped playing it.
This is called lazy thinking. Why should people be forced to play decks they don't like and hinder their game experience just to beat that one deck? If a deck governs the meta like that you know it is in a badly need of a nerf.
Face hunter is different, because you can easily beat it with almost any deck if you know what you are doing, and it's very easy to tech against.
You are also ignoring the fact that the deck is excruciatingly frustrating to play against, and even if you are using a "counter" deck other than face shaman or hunter they can easily roll you over if they get a good curve.
If you think like this, card games aren't meant for you. People play to win. If you don't want that just play against your friends or the practice AI but do not blame others for 'hindering' you, it's part of the game. Get used to it.
It's a deck that people play and it's a very good one at that. Does it require much skill from the player? No, not neccessarily but that doesn't mean that it deserves trash talk. If you really hate Secret Pally so much, just play a deck that counters it. Same story with Face Hunter at the time, many hated it but eventually it became a bad deck for the meta so people stopped playing it.
This is called lazy thinking. Why should people be forced to play decks they don't like and hinder their game experience just to beat that one deck? If a deck governs the meta like that you know it is in a badly need of a nerf.
Face hunter is different, because you can easily beat it with almost any deck if you know what you are doing, and it's very easy to tech against.
You are also ignoring the fact that the deck is excruciatingly frustrating to play against, and even if you are using a "counter" deck other than face shaman or hunter they can easily roll you over if they get a good curve.
If you think like this, card games aren't meant for you. People play to win. If you don't want that just play against your friends or the practice AI but do not blame others for 'hindering' you, it's part of the game. Get used to it.
Read my previous post. I don't lose to secret paladins. That doesn't mean I have to think the deck is fine.
It's a deck that people play and it's a very good one at that. Does it require much skill from the player? No, not neccessarily but that doesn't mean that it deserves trash talk. If you really hate Secret Pally so much, just play a deck that counters it. Same story with Face Hunter at the time, many hated it but eventually it became a bad deck for the meta so people stopped playing it.
This is called lazy thinking. Why should people be forced to play decks they don't like and hinder their game experience just to beat that one deck?
Because that is how card games work. Try going to a MtG Legacy event with a Slivers deck and see how well you do.
On top of that, you can't beat every deck at once, so it's sometimes worth it to run a deck that beats SP's counters rather than SP itself.
So you believe that when a deck is CLEARLY hindering the fun of the game for basically every player, nothing should be done about it? Great logic there. And by the way, currently I main face shaman so I don't even lose to paladins of any kind that often, I just think that people who do not like decks like mine should be "forced" to play them because every retard and their mother are playing SP on ladder.
By the way, nothing makes me laugh harder than getting added by a secret paladin after a win and watch him rant about my "brainless" deck.
Quit acting like a toddler, it's not CLEARLY ruining everyone's fun. It's a top-tier deck and very strong and MC probably needs a nerf but I think you're just salty right now.
No, Blizzard is not compelled to ensure that everyone's shitty awful Pirate Rogue or Mill Druid or whatever else deck is viable. Some decks are going to be good, most are going to be bad. If you don't like it, don't play competitive card games.
You can definitely beat SP with non-SMOrc decks (i.e. midrange druid, control priest, patron warrior) and alternatively you can play decks that beat those decks (i.e. Renolock). It's not even like Secret Paladin is nearly as unbeatable as Patron Warrior in its bad matchups, as it isn't too hot without MC and doesn't have the card draw (Divine Favor is too inconsistent).
It's a deck that people play and it's a very good one at that. Does it require much skill from the player? No, not neccessarily but that doesn't mean that it deserves trash talk. If you really hate Secret Pally so much, just play a deck that counters it. Same story with Face Hunter at the time, many hated it but eventually it became a bad deck for the meta so people stopped playing it.
This is called lazy thinking. Why should people be forced to play decks they don't like and hinder their game experience just to beat that one deck?
Because that is how card games work. Try going to a MtG Legacy event with a Slivers deck and see how well you do.
On top of that, you can't beat every deck at once, so it's sometimes worth it to run a deck that beats SP's counters rather than SP itself.
So you believe that when a deck is CLEARLY hindering the fun of the game for basically every player, nothing should be done about it? Great logic there. And by the way, currently I main face shaman so I don't even lose to paladins of any kind that often, I just think that people who do not like decks like mine should be "forced" to play them because every retard and their mother are playing SP on ladder.
By the way, nothing makes me laugh harder than getting added by a secret paladin after a win and watch him rant about my "brainless" deck.
Quit acting like a toddler, it's not CLEARLY ruining everyone's fun. It's a top-tier deck and very strong and MC probably needs a nerf but I think you're just salty right now.
No, Blizzard is not compelled to ensure that everyone's shitty awful Pirate Rogue or Mill Druid or whatever else deck is viable. Some decks are going to be good, most are going to be bad. If you don't like it, don't play competitive card games.
You can definitely beat SP with non-SMOrc decks (i.e. midrange druid, control priest, patron warrior) and alternatively you can play decks that beat those decks (i.e. Renolock). It's not even like Secret Paladin is nearly as unbeatable as Patron Warrior in its bad matchups, as it isn't too hot without MC and doesn't have the card draw (Divine Favor is too inconsistent).
When have I stated that SP is unbeatable or even as strong as people make it out to be? That's not the point. The point is, it's still the most popular deck in the game due to it being ridiculously easy to do well with and it's also an extremely frustrating deck to play against for most decks. When everyone from the lower ranked casual players to the more competitive players who play at legend rankings have to face a deck like this over 30% of the time on ladder, how can you even imply that it is not an unhealthy deck to have in the game? Hell, I would argue that your point about "people playing it to win, get used to it or quit the game" would actually be more relevant if the deck was as good as people make it out to be, but it's actually not even the best deck in the format, which again leads me to conclude people play it because it's easy to play.
People can argue that patron warrior was just as annoying to play against(I disagree with this statement, but that's just my personal opinion), but at least the difficulty in piloting the deck made it so you only ran into this issue with it on the higher legend rankings.
tl;dr: SP is not OK. If people want to play it because they enjoy it, I guess that cannot be stopped. But I'm willing to wager the 30% or so of the current HS population that has shifted to maining SP eversince TGT came out aren't doing it because they find it fun. We all know the game would only benefit from the deck being deleted from existence, so let's stop pretending otherwise. Ironically enough, blizzard will probably turn MC into a 4/4 and still keep the deck viable unlike what they did to patron, which is just a shame because PW is a deck I would have been glad to keep in the game(even if it needed to be nerfed) whereas I wouldn't care at all if they changed MC's battlecry into: your hero takes 30 damage to face.
It's a deck that people play and it's a very good one at that. Does it require much skill from the player? No, not neccessarily but that doesn't mean that it deserves trash talk. If you really hate Secret Pally so much, just play a deck that counters it. Same story with Face Hunter at the time, many hated it but eventually it became a bad deck for the meta so people stopped playing it.
This is called lazy thinking. Why should people be forced to play decks they don't like and hinder their game experience just to beat that one deck?
Because that is how card games work. Try going to a MtG Legacy event with a Slivers deck and see how well you do.
On top of that, you can't beat every deck at once, so it's sometimes worth it to run a deck that beats SP's counters rather than SP itself.
So you believe that when a deck is CLEARLY hindering the fun of the game for basically every player, nothing should be done about it? Great logic there. And by the way, currently I main face shaman so I don't even lose to paladins of any kind that often, I just think that people who do not like decks like mine should be "forced" to play them because every retard and their mother are playing SP on ladder.
By the way, nothing makes me laugh harder than getting added by a secret paladin after a win and watch him rant about my "brainless" deck.
Quit acting like a toddler, it's not CLEARLY ruining everyone's fun. It's a top-tier deck and very strong and MC probably needs a nerf but I think you're just salty right now.
No, Blizzard is not compelled to ensure that everyone's shitty awful Pirate Rogue or Mill Druid or whatever else deck is viable. Some decks are going to be good, most are going to be bad. If you don't like it, don't play competitive card games.
You can definitely beat SP with non-SMOrc decks (i.e. midrange druid, control priest, patron warrior) and alternatively you can play decks that beat those decks (i.e. Renolock). It's not even like Secret Paladin is nearly as unbeatable as Patron Warrior in its bad matchups, as it isn't too hot without MC and doesn't have the card draw (Divine Favor is too inconsistent).
When have I stated that SP is unbeatable or even as strong as people make it out to be? That's not the point. The point is, it's still the most popular deck in the game due to it being ridiculously easy to do well with and it's also an extremely frustrating deck to play against for most decks. When everyone from the lower ranked casual players to the more competitive players who play at legend rankings have to face a deck like this over 30% of the time on ladder, how can you even imply that it is not an unhealthy deck to have in the game? Hell, I would argue that your point about "people playing it to win, get used to it or quit the game" would actually be more relevant if the deck was as good as people make it out to be, but it's actually not even the best deck in the format, which again leads me to conclude people play it because it's easy to play.
People can argue that patron warrior was just as annoying to play against(I disagree with this statement, but that's just my personal opinion), but at least the difficulty in piloting the deck made it so you only ran into this issue with it on the higher legend rankings.
tl;dr: SP is not OK. If people want to play it because they enjoy it, I guess that cannot be stopped. But I'm willing to wager the 30% or so of the current HS population that has shifted to maining SP eversince TGT came out aren't doing it because they find it fun. We all know the game would only benefit from the deck being deleted from existence, so let's stop pretending otherwise.
BabyRage MYEM I CANT WIN ITS NOT FYUN MYEEEEEEEM GIF ME MOAR MONNIES FOR HEARTHSTONE CARD PYACKS MYEEEEEEM BabyRage
Secret Pally is good but not overpowered. I have a good win rate versus them. We already know what they play. Countereing it isn't all that bad. If you draw poorly you will lose most games versus any class/deck. Managing your life total and thinking of worse case scenarios (if they have truesilver and BOK turn 8+) helps. The only two games I've lost recently versus secret pally are when they drop a surprise Ragnaros on me. It's not like they can OTK you if you have any sense.
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Casual HS player - Achieved Legend in November 2015 and August 2016
It's a deck that people play and it's a very good one at that. Does it require much skill from the player? No, not neccessarily but that doesn't mean that it deserves trash talk. If you really hate Secret Pally so much, just play a deck that counters it. Same story with Face Hunter at the time, many hated it but eventually it became a bad deck for the meta so people stopped playing it.
This is called lazy thinking. Why should people be forced to play decks they don't like and hinder their game experience just to beat that one deck?
Because that is how card games work. Try going to a MtG Legacy event with a Slivers deck and see how well you do.
On top of that, you can't beat every deck at once, so it's sometimes worth it to run a deck that beats SP's counters rather than SP itself.
So you believe that when a deck is CLEARLY hindering the fun of the game for basically every player, nothing should be done about it? Great logic there. And by the way, currently I main face shaman so I don't even lose to paladins of any kind that often, I just think that people who do not like decks like mine should be "forced" to play them because every retard and their mother are playing SP on ladder.
By the way, nothing makes me laugh harder than getting added by a secret paladin after a win and watch him rant about my "brainless" deck.
Quit acting like a toddler, it's not CLEARLY ruining everyone's fun. It's a top-tier deck and very strong and MC probably needs a nerf but I think you're just salty right now.
No, Blizzard is not compelled to ensure that everyone's shitty awful Pirate Rogue or Mill Druid or whatever else deck is viable. Some decks are going to be good, most are going to be bad. If you don't like it, don't play competitive card games.
You can definitely beat SP with non-SMOrc decks (i.e. midrange druid, control priest, patron warrior) and alternatively you can play decks that beat those decks (i.e. Renolock). It's not even like Secret Paladin is nearly as unbeatable as Patron Warrior in its bad matchups, as it isn't too hot without MC and doesn't have the card draw (Divine Favor is too inconsistent).
When have I stated that SP is unbeatable or even as strong as people make it out to be? That's not the point. The point is, it's still the most popular deck in the game due to it being ridiculously easy to do well with and it's also an extremely frustrating deck to play against for most decks. When everyone from the lower ranked casual players to the more competitive players who play at legend rankings have to face a deck like this over 30% of the time on ladder, how can you even imply that it is not an unhealthy deck to have in the game? Hell, I would argue that your point about "people playing it to win, get used to it or quit the game" would actually be more relevant if the deck was as good as people make it out to be, but it's actually not even the best deck in the format, which again leads me to conclude people play it because it's easy to play.
People can argue that patron warrior was just as annoying to play against(I disagree with this statement, but that's just my personal opinion), but at least the difficulty in piloting the deck made it so you only ran into this issue with it on the higher legend rankings.
tl;dr: SP is not OK. If people want to play it because they enjoy it, I guess that cannot be stopped. But I'm willing to wager the 30% or so of the current HS population that has shifted to maining SP eversince TGT came out aren't doing it because they find it fun. We all know the game would only benefit from the deck being deleted from existence, so let's stop pretending otherwise.
BabyRage MYEM I CANT WIN ITS NOT FYUN MYEEEEEEEM GIF ME MOAR MONNIES FOR HEARTHSTONE CARD PYACKS MYEEEEEEM BabyRage
Congratulations, you just successfully ended my attention to anything you post from now on :)
It's a deck that people play and it's a very good one at that. Does it require much skill from the player? No, not neccessarily but that doesn't mean that it deserves trash talk. If you really hate Secret Pally so much, just play a deck that counters it. Same story with Face Hunter at the time, many hated it but eventually it became a bad deck for the meta so people stopped playing it.
This is called lazy thinking. Why should people be forced to play decks they don't like and hinder their game experience just to beat that one deck?
Because that is how card games work. Try going to a MtG Legacy event with a Slivers deck and see how well you do.
On top of that, you can't beat every deck at once, so it's sometimes worth it to run a deck that beats SP's counters rather than SP itself.
So you believe that when a deck is CLEARLY hindering the fun of the game for basically every player, nothing should be done about it? Great logic there. And by the way, currently I main face shaman so I don't even lose to paladins of any kind that often, I just think that people who do not like decks like mine should be "forced" to play them because every retard and their mother are playing SP on ladder.
By the way, nothing makes me laugh harder than getting added by a secret paladin after a win and watch him rant about my "brainless" deck.
Quit acting like a toddler, it's not CLEARLY ruining everyone's fun. It's a top-tier deck and very strong and MC probably needs a nerf but I think you're just salty right now.
No, Blizzard is not compelled to ensure that everyone's shitty awful Pirate Rogue or Mill Druid or whatever else deck is viable. Some decks are going to be good, most are going to be bad. If you don't like it, don't play competitive card games.
You can definitely beat SP with non-SMOrc decks (i.e. midrange druid, control priest, patron warrior) and alternatively you can play decks that beat those decks (i.e. Renolock). It's not even like Secret Paladin is nearly as unbeatable as Patron Warrior in its bad matchups, as it isn't too hot without MC and doesn't have the card draw (Divine Favor is too inconsistent).
When have I stated that SP is unbeatable or even as strong as people make it out to be? That's not the point. The point is, it's still the most popular deck in the game due to it being ridiculously easy to do well with and it's also an extremely frustrating deck to play against for most decks. When everyone from the lower ranked casual players to the more competitive players who play at legend rankings have to face a deck like this over 30% of the time on ladder, how can you even imply that it is not an unhealthy deck to have in the game? Hell, I would argue that your point about "people playing it to win, get used to it or quit the game" would actually be more relevant if the deck was as good as people make it out to be, but it's actually not even the best deck in the format, which again leads me to conclude people play it because it's easy to play.
People can argue that patron warrior was just as annoying to play against(I disagree with this statement, but that's just my personal opinion), but at least the difficulty in piloting the deck made it so you only ran into this issue with it on the higher legend rankings.
tl;dr: SP is not OK. If people want to play it because they enjoy it, I guess that cannot be stopped. But I'm willing to wager the 30% or so of the current HS population that has shifted to maining SP eversince TGT came out aren't doing it because they find it fun. We all know the game would only benefit from the deck being deleted from existence, so let's stop pretending otherwise.
BabyRage MYEM I CANT WIN ITS NOT FYUN MYEEEEEEEM GIF ME MOAR MONNIES FOR HEARTHSTONE CARD PYACKS MYEEEEEEM BabyRage
Congratulations, you just successfully ended my attention to anything you post from now on :)
Top kek, see if I care about a whiny player of a children's card game ᕕ( ՞ ᗜ ՞ )ᕗ
The only reason people really hate the deck is because it requires no real skill to play. Yes, the deck can be pretty damn OP in certain metas, but the main reason people hate it is the skill involved in playing it.
No one that is making reasonable arguments against Secret Paladin is claiming that you can't draw poorly and lose. The only way to truly determine whether or not a deck is overpowered is to look at statistics derived from a large sample of games played. The following is from the front page of Hearthstats:
1. Paladin 57.58%
2. Hunter 54.46%
3. Warlock 54.3%
4. Druid 54.04%
5. Mage 53.34%
I don't think that the huge lead that the Paladin class currently holds in constructed is due to Murloc Paladin. Every statistical analysis I have seen shows a similar level of win rate imbalance. And then you have to consider the skill involved in piloting the deck. I don't think a close look at that aspect helps your case at all.
You are entirely correct that my methodology was flawed. I'll just go ahead and plead laziness. However, I will defend two points in support of my post. 1) Every attempt to measure the relative win rates of popular decks that I have seen has shown similar results with regard to Secret Paladin (I agree that Hunter is nowhere near being overpowered). 2) I don't think it is appropriate to dismiss problems of balance just because they primarily effect players at lower ranks. After all, the vast majority of players occupy those ranks. Their experience should be taken into consideration.
It's a deck that people play and it's a very good one at that. Does it require much skill from the player? No, not neccessarily but that doesn't mean that it deserves trash talk. If you really hate Secret Pally so much, just play a deck that counters it. Same story with Face Hunter at the time, many hated it but eventually it became a bad deck for the meta so people stopped playing it.
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Two major reasons why secret paladin will curve out better than your deck:
1. Secret Keeper, Minibot, Juggler, Creeper, Muster, Coghammer = Better early board presence + deck synergy and percentage of starting hands with early board presence cards. Control and midrange don't have the same starting hands on average, and their synergies don't start to take into effect until usually turns 4+.
2. The fact that MC thins your deck by at least 4 if not 5 secrets each time it's dropped makes it very likely for secret Paladin to draw into second Challenger, Boom, Tirion, Shredder, Belcher, or Ragnaros for late game damage.
I simply play whatever seems to be the strongest deck in ranked because I play to win and experiment with other decks for fun on casual. Having played both Patron pre-nerf and Paladin, I can say for sure Paladin is easier to pilot and you're almost never stuck with a starting hand of Boom, Tirion, Belcher or some non-sense.
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Secret Pally is good but not overpowered. I have a good win rate versus them. We already know what they play. Countereing it isn't all that bad. If you draw poorly you will lose most games versus any class/deck. Managing your life total and thinking of worse case scenarios (if they have truesilver and BOK turn 8+) helps. The only two games I've lost recently versus secret pally are when they drop a surprise Ragnaros on me. It's not like they can OTK you if you have any sense.
Casual HS player - Achieved Legend in November 2015 and August 2016
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