Wild Secret Paladin Deck List Guide

Our Wild Secret Paladin deck list guide will go through the ins-and-outs of this deck! This guide will teach you how to mulligan, pilot, and replace cards you are missing for this popular list!

Introduction to Wild Secret Paladin

Secret Paladin is a deck with a long history in Hearthstone. The deck’s grip on The Grand Tournament metagame was so oppressive, players have long incorrectly (until recently, at least) assumed that Wild Hearthstone was overrun with a swarm of Secret Paladins.

For some time, Paladin secrets were nothing more than an afterthought. Avenge helped, but filling your deck was several one-mana spells that had little impact on the game felt bad. This, of course, changed quickly with the release of Mysterious Challenger. Few individual cards have enabled an archetype quite like this secretive six-drop. Now, ripping up to four secrets from your deck and throwing them directly into play justified the inclusion of these otherwise low-value cards.

In the past, Secret Paladin relentlessly played valuable minions on curve, turn after turn. The deck, starting with turn one, played a seemingly endless supply mana-efficient threats. Secret Paladin hit its real power curve, however, from turns six through eight with Mysterious Challenger, Dr. Boom, and Tirion Fordring. Hitting the sequence of minions was absolutely crushing for opponents.

More recently, the release of Call to Arms has shifted Secret Paladin towards a lower curve and more aggressive gameplan. Now, rather than beginning the series of power turns with Mysterious Challenger, the deck tops out at this powerful six-mana minion. The result is a relentless aggro deck with the potential for a massive mid-game power spike.

Wild Secret Paladin Card Choices

Wild Secret Paladin is a tight list, containing a fairly standard Secret Package, an assortment of Efficient Minions, and a few High-Value Spells/Weapons.

Secret Package

• Avenge – Likely the best Paladin Secret printed in Hearthstone thus far, Avenge adds a lot of stats onto the board for one mana.
• Competitive Spirit – Paladins excel at going wide on board. Competitive Spirit rewards this game plan with +1/+1 to each minion.
• Noble Sacrifice – Noble Sacrifice pairs well with Avenge and even the threat of this Paladin Secret can make attacks uncomfortable for your opponents.
• Redemption – With a slew of Divine Shield minions in this deck, there are plenty of good Redemption targets.

Efficient Minions

• Righteous Protector – An Argent Squire that can block large minions from reaching your face, Righteous Protector is a mainstay in nearly all Paladin decks.
• Sir Finley Mrrgglton – Unlike Dude Paladin, Wild Secret Paladin cannot often make good use of the Paladin Hero Power. Sir Finley gives you the opportunity to find something better.
• Haunted Creeper – Sticking a board is critical for nearly all of Paladin’s success. Haunted Creeper offers 3/4 worth of stats, half of which are on a delay leaving you less susceptible to removal.
• Knife Juggler – With Call to Arms and Muster for Battle, Knife Juggler can quickly swing a board back into your favor.
• Mad Scientist – Typically, you don’t want to pull too many Secrets from your deck before Mysterious Challenger. A single Mad Scientist, however, can still add some value to this deck when the six-drop is not yet found.
• Shielded Minibot – Shielded Minibot is perhaps the most efficient two-drop in Hearthstone. This little robot helps you fight for board early while remaining difficult to remove.
• Spellbreaker – Large Taunt minions make Silence highly-valuable in the current metagame. As such, reserving a couple spots in your board-centric deck for Spellbreaker is usually a good idea.
• Loatheb – The lone five-drop in the deck, Loatheb can lock out your opponent’s turn and set up for either a Mysterious Challenger swing turn or lethal with Sunkeeper Tarim.
• Mysterious Challenger – The minion that long haunted players during The Grand Tournament, Mysterious Challenger is back to pull a Christmas tree of Secrets into play.
• Sunkeeper Tarim – Sunkeeper Tarim should be one of the first cards added to nearly any Paladin deck.

High-Value Spells/Weapons

• Divine Favor – In a deck that tops out at six mana, Divine Favor can draw an insane number of cards for three mana.
• Muster for Battle – There are few turn three plays in Hearthstone better than an on-curve Muster for Battle. The weapon helps you clean up opposing minions while developing on board with three Silver Hand Recruits.
• Rallying Blade – Chopping down enemy minions to make way for your own is crucial for managing the early turns. Rallying Blade can effectively deal with many priority targets in the current meta.
• Call to Arms – At four mana, Call to Arms can bring as much as six-mana’s worth of minions from your deck into play. This card is an auto-include in all Paladin decks, and for good reason.

Wild Secret Paladin Mulligan Strategy & Guide

As a curve-oriented deck, many of the important decisions for Wild Secret Paladin are made during the mulligan phase of the game. With such a low curve, you can aggressively mulligan for some of the key cards in certain matchups knowing that you’re still likely to hit a good curve, even if you send back lower impact two-drops.

Generally, against other fast decks, you want to prioritize minions that battle for the board. While when facing slower decks, applying pressure is the key to this deck’s success.

VS Fast Decks

Higher Priority (Keep every time)

• Righteous Protector – Missing turn one against another aggressive deck can set you behind early. Righteous Protector can force awkward trades or protect your face in the early game.
• Sir Finley Mrrgglton – Sir Finley’s 1/3 body allows him to effectively battle for board in the early game.
• Haunted Creeper – While the initial body of Haunted Creeper doesn’t help you much, the residual bodies can clean up damaged minions.
• Mad Scientist – Like Haunted Creeper, Mad Scientist’s value doesn’t come from his stat line. Pulling a Secret in aggressive matchups is far more effective than in slower games.
• Shielded Minibot – You’d be hard-pressed to find a two-drop that trades more efficiently than Shielded Minibot.
• Muster for Battle – Too much early face damage can be a problem against other aggro decks, but Muster for Battle can still help remove enemy minions and prevent too much repetitive damage.
• Call to Arms – Call to Arms can swing the board so hard that it is worth keeping in any matchup. Even in an aggressive deck, such as this one, the win rate for Paladin skyrockets with this four-drop in hand at the start of the game.

Lower Priority (Keep only if certain conditions are met)

• Knife Juggler – Knife Juggler is great at picking off damaged minions, but isn’t necessarily ideal on turn two. You’d likely be more comfortable with just about any other two-drop.
• Rallying Blade – Without minions on turns one and two, you’re going to get far enough behind that even Rallying Blade can make up ground.

VS Slow Decks

Higher Priority (Keep every time)

• Righteous Protector – While Righteous Protector isn’t terribly aggressive, Wild Secret Paladin doesn’t run many one-drops, so keeping this card ensures a first-turn play.
• Sir Finley Mrrgglton – Similarly, Sir Finley may not get much damage in, but can start the chain of high-value minions.
• Haunted Creeper – Haunted Creeper offers a resilient minion against opponents with a lot of removal options.
• Shielded Minibot – Shielded Minibot is still your best turn-two play, so keep this card if you see it in your opener.
• Muster for Battle – Muster for Battle applies a deceptive amount of pressure against slower decks and can make up for missing turns one or two.
• Call to Arms – Again, there are few cards that are more beneficial to keep in your mulligan than Call to Arms.

Lower Priority (Keep only if certain conditions are met)

• Mad Scientist – Mad Scientists tutoring an early Avenge can pile on a substantial amount of pressure, but is still less impactful than ripping Secrets into play with Mysterious Challenger.
• Knife Juggler – Knife Juggler can help get some extra damage in, but is often too easily removed if thrown into play on turn 1.

Wild Secret Paladin Play Strategy

Despite the fact that the cards you play against both Aggro and Control are usually the same, your gameplan is quite different between these two matchups. Against Aggro, you need to maintain control of the board going into your power turns on five and six. In Control matchups, you want to apply consistent pressure over the course of the game and force your opponent to respond to the board state that you’re presenting.

VS Aggro Decks

Against Aggro decks, hitting an early curve is absolutely crucial. Because this deck has few viable comeback mechanics, the game can spiral out of control quickly if your opponent is able to get a footing with minions.

Prioritize minions that trade well in your early turns, such as Shielded Minibot and Righteous Protector and save your Knife Jugglers to swing the board back should you start to lose control.

Muster for Battle can do a lot in these matchups to keep the opposite side of the board clear. Likewise, Call to Arms can either swing things back in your favor or lock down an already established position.

Either way, your goal is to continue managing the board state in order to land a Mysterious Challenger or Sunkeeper Tarim on turn six. Both of these high-power minions at the top end of your curve can lock out the game.

VS Control Decks

Against Control decks, a consistent stream of pressure can keep opponents from realizing their own game plan.

Hitting a curve is still important, but it’s likely that you should be more concerned with opponent’s removal than fighting for board. Know the options available to your opponent and play around them accordingly. As always, try to find balance between applying pressure and overextending. If the class your facing has a lot of mass removals, hold a Call to Arms or Muster for Battle to redevelop after you get wiped.

If you find yourself with a wide board and Loatheb in hand, he can freely come down on curve to lock in your board position. With Sunkeeper Tarim in hand as well, this is often checkmate in certain matchups.

In many Control matchups, Divine Favor can carry be a win condition in its own right. If you draw the card early, you dump your hand more liberally knowing that you’ll have plenty of reload down the line.

Mysterious Challenger on curve can still be devastating in these games, especially with an early lead. Not only does it present a difficult board state for your opponent, but it dramatically improves your draws going into the late game.

Wild Secret Paladin Card Substitutions

Wild Secret Paladin comes in at 7860 Arcane Dust, just enough to make newer players balk at the crafting cost. While the Epic cards in this list (Call to Arms and Mysterious Challenger) cannot be replaced, the Legendary cards are a bit more flexible. The replacements below reduce the crafting cost while still maintaining the integrity of the deck.

• Loatheb – Loatheb is great for locking out opposing decks, but not a requirement for this deck. He can be replaced with a second copy of Mad Scientist, other early-game minions such as Secretkeeper, or high-value minions like Keeper of Uldaman.
• Sir Finley Mrrgglton – Like Loatheb, Sir Finley is nice to have but not required. Additional early game minions like Mad Scientist or Secretkeeper can fill the void left by this Murloc.
• Sunkeeper Tarim – Sunkeeper Tarim is the least replaceable Legendary minion in this deck. Unfortunately, there is no good direct replacement for this card, but another valuable mid-game minion such as Keeper of Uldaman or Sludge Belcher can provide a temporary stand-in.

Wild Secret Paladin Card Omissions

Secret Paladin veterans may see some old faces noticeably absent in this Wild Secret Paladin variant. With the release of Call to Arms, the deck has shifted to a much lower curve, resulting in a deck that prioritizes aggression. As such, there isn’t room for some of the cards that previously filled out the top-end of the Secret Paladin curve listed below.

• Dr. Boom
• Tirion Fordring
• Sludge Belcher
• Piloted Shredder