Hearthstone Secrets List and Guide

Hearthstone Secrets List and Guide by ScrubRandall

Hey, guys just wanted to drop a quick post summarizing all secrets and what to do when one is thrown down.

As of current, only hunters, mages, and paladins have secrets. Also, they can have multiple secrets active at once, but not the same secret.

Paladin: 

All one mana

Eye for an eye (common)
Noble Sacrifice (common)
Redemption (common)
Repentance (common)

All of these cost one mana, and the first two have to do with attacking the hero himself.

Eye for an eye deals equal damage to your hero

Noble Sacrifice summons 2-1 defender as new target. To take as little damage as possible, attack with low damage minion.

Redemption brings a minion back to life when it dies with one health. To counter, at beginning of attacking, attack minion with lowest health first.

Repentance brings a minion that you summon down to 1 health when summoned. To counter, play a low cost minion before you play anything else.

Paladin summary: when they play a secret, think low health low cost. Attack hero with low cost minion, kill low cost minions first, and play a low cost minion out of you hand first.

Mage: 

All 3 mana

Counter spell (rare)
Ice Barrier (common)
Ice Block (epic)
Mirror Entity (common)
Spell Bender (epic)
Vaporize (rare)

Counter spell counters whatever spell you cast and deals it to opposite player. To counter, play a spell that may not be very harmful to you, or perhaps a heal spell.

Ice Barrier and Ice Block are both cards that you cannot do much about, but do not hurt you as a player, either. The first gives 8 armor to mage as soon as she is attacked, and the second prevents fatal damage and makes mage immune for the turn that the spell is activated. None of the two really need to be countered, but I would suggest not going for a kill, but instead board control if you see that a secret is up that you have not triggered.

Mirror Entity makes a copy the next creature you cast. Play a weak low mana minion to counter.

Spell Binder says when you cast a spell on a minion, summon a 1/3 target as new target. This is not crippling, either, but if you are casting, say, assassinate it would be a huge waste. Simply using a ‘bait’ spell would be a good call to counter. Doing two damage, then combing with you main spell.

And finally, Vaporize. This will kill a minion that attacks the mage. To counter, simply attack with low health minion first so they can take damage rather than heavy hitters.

Mage Summary: Some of these spells are not that big of a deal, but others can lose you the game. When a spell is active, focus on board control instead of attacking mage. Since 3 of her spells are activated when she is attacked, always attack with low health minion first. If this actives nothing, then this will really narrow down what spell is out. Also, make sure your first minion you summon is not very threatening, as they could summon a copy, and make sure the first spell you cast in a turn is minor, as it could be finding a target other than the one you intended.

Hunter

All 2 mana

Snipe (common)
Snake Trap (epic)
Misdirection (rare)
Freezing Trap (common)
Explosive Trap (common)

Snipe makes it to where whenever you play a minion, it takes 4 damage. This is a very strong card late game, and to counter simply play cheap minion first, or play a minion that has a ton of health. On a side note, if something with divine shield is played, does it lose shield or take damage? Not sure.

Snake trap says when a minion is attacked summon 3 1 / 1 snakes. This may sound minor, but several hunter decks work on buffing beasts very quickly. To counter, make sure you hold on to your AOE cards, as this could do some heavy damage.

Misdirection says when your hero gets attacked, another character is attacked instead. To counter, attack with a low damage minion. This will allow your friendly to not be too damaged by the blow.

Freezing trap brings the minion attacking hero back to your hand costing two more. As is the trend here, attack with a low costing, cheap card.

Explosive trap says when hero is attacked, deal 2 damage to all enemies. This card is potentially devastating, and the fact of matter is that you will take damage if this is in his hand. There are two ways to counter. One is attack hero before you start to put your minion on the field for that hand. Two is get complete board control, and attack hero as little as possible. This means if you entire board is killed but 2 or 3 minions, you are not going against 4 or 5. Obviously, the earlier is the better call.

Hunter Summary: Throw down low costing minions first when secret is played. Attack hero immediately if secret is out, this is opposite of our mage strategy where we want board control. Attack once with low health minion. And finally, keep an aoe card on you, as it could be quite helpful if snakes start popping up.

TLDNR: Read Bold parts only. Hope this helps!