With the release of another very strong 1-cost paladin secret…I wanted to put voice to something that’s bugged me for a while…the varying cost of secrets amongst classes.
Paladins secrets have always been reasonably good but, with the recent additions of secrets like Oh My Yogg!!, Reckoning and the new Judgement of Justice card, aren’t they getting a bit TOO strong when you compare them to their Mage counterparts which cost 3 mana as opposed to 1?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not having a dig at paladins specifically. It’s more about the general difference in secret costs across the board. Paladins cost 1, Hunters and Rogues cost 2, Mages cost 3…but is there as much justification in the cost differences these days as there used to be years ago when there weren’t as many secrets knocking about?
Not really relevant since they often don’t pay for it. As classes get more secrets, the archetype itself ends up being supported, meaning they can cheat them with more or less ease. So although I wholeheartedly agree with your explanation, the cost doesn’t really change much.
Thanks for the feedback, and your insight is interesting. But doesn’t the fact that most classes can cheat them anyway make the cost difference redundant? Given that paladins can cast up to 4 secrets for basically free from turn 2 and they are arguably as strong as any mage secret, what justification is there for them costing 2 mana less. I just think all secrets across the board should be adjusted to a 2-mana cost and have done with it. It could be argued that the class with the weakest secrets in standard, at the moment, is Hunter , and theirs have a bigger mana cost than paladins. I know it’s only 1 mana but in the early game where both classes start fast, that’s massive
Can’t really counter-argument against this without going into a circular argument. I think you are right. I find that Paladin secrets are at a power peak that likely justifies a mana adjustment on all of them. I don’t share the same view for Hunter and Rogue though. Mage spells, being the most expensive, are on a class of their own.
This being said, I think you make a very strong argument.
Apologies if I gave the impression I was arguing, I’m just trying to discuss and get some feedback on my thoughts and bounce opinions off people 
When I say argument I mean it in the sense of a sensible and respectable debate, not in the sense of “internet arguing”.
So no need to apologise, we exchanged points of view, an idea stood up the scrutiny. All is good. 
I doubt at this point that mana adjustment for secrets is possible. It’s part of the makeup of the game.
Yes, some Paladin secrets are quite powerful for their cost.But when you think about it, a lot of 1 mana spells and minions are very powerful.
Oh My Yogg while a very disruptive secret is still not at Mage’s power level of Counterspell.
Completely cancelling a spell is different from replacing it with another.
For one, the effect is random.
And they made a recent adjustment to Oh My Yogg that the replaced spell must have a viable effect on the board.
So no longer do you get your coin transmuted into nothing. For instance, it will only turn into Shadowstep, if you have minions.
I see what you’re saying with your comparison of Oh My Yogg to Counterspell, but I would argue that it is just as disruptive…if not more so. As we know, Counterspell disrupts a spell completely and Oh My Yogg replaces it with another. The reason I’d say it’s just as disruptive is it’s chance to not only cancel out your spell, but cause the resultant spell to backfire on you. This is an extreme example, to make a point, but when a mage opponent casts counter spell and you, as a druid, cast Survival of the fittest, you don’t have to worry about potentially getting a pyroblast in the face
I think the potential for Oh My Yogg to cause a spell to backfire on you more than justifies its cost to be brought closer to counterspell. Maybe not all the way uyp to 3 mana, but at least 2
…not very secret then is it? 
Typically mage secrets are better and they have way more spell interactions than the other classes, so it makes sense they cost more.
Paladin secrets WERE weaker when the game was launched, so it made sense that they would cost less at 1. This has cause some issues when new stronger secrets have been added but rarely if ever has the cost mattered. Without “who am i?” or as it is now the sword to cheat them out, they don’t see any play, even at 1 mana (Oh my Yogg wasn’t in a competitive deck until this expansion for example).
Indeed. I haven’t thought of that
If secrets had variable costs, then you would know for certain what the secret is.
Aside from this, secrets are more powerful when played automatically/or discounted by other minions and cards.
And since every Secret-casting class has access to such minions, their individual cost doesn’t seem to matter a lot.
Interesting idea :o
I’ve usually only thought of secrets in the way of “Mage secrets are damn strong and too varied” but with the inclusion of newer, better paladin secrets (which they needed tbf) a revision of secrets in general must have been done by the dev team at some point.
I’m not sure, but the general feel I get from recent updates and new card inclusions like “Oh My Yogg!” is the disruption of powerful actions, such as casting a spell, throwing an AOE out there, playing multiple minions etc etc. I think the dev team do have a long-term roadmap for improving and maintaining the overall balance of the game. Having the option to put a certain effect in as a minion, spell or secret gives them a lot of flexibility to tailor the power as needed. Imagine “Oh My Yogg!” as a minion effect, or a permanant “next spell” spell effect rather than a secret that can be disrupted.
I know we have some peeps much more experienced in game design than me on here who may have some insight into that possible process, but I find it pretty likely anything we think of has likely passed the devs table at some point.
Long story short, they may end up testing this in the future using a brawl; Two decks packed with secrets and secret synergy cards and everything costs 1-2 mana! Could be cool
Just one note on Oh My Yogg vs. Counterspell - I’ve experienced multiple situations when the new spell was even better than the “countered” one, so I think it really IS worse than the Counterspell. The drawback is its random nature.
I honestly admit that when i meet a paladin, i just quit, simply because i only have had bad experience with there secrets time after time, and now i don’t want to waste a whole game on something, that will end with me as a looser anyway.
I have yet to meet a paladin that haven’t had a high boosted minion in round 4, that i can’t touch, and even if i can, the paladin always have the right secret that stop everything.
So i think that the secret should be looked at either the effect they have or the costs.
Most other classes secret come later in the game where you actually have a possibility to counter, but paladins secret are fast and strong and mostly have a damaging effect that it is defficult to recover from before they have build a solid board.
I don’t think the strenght of the Paladin deck will change much even with the nerf and the new expansion, it will just take a little time to adjust for a paladin and then there secret deck will be the top deck again, simply because it is easy to adjust and easy to play.
Might wana reconsider that. After holding the top 3 spots pretty much consistently since the last set of “nerfs” the top Paladin deck is down to 5th, behind DH, Hunter, Druid and Shaman, with it all changing by the hour.
You’ll have a new enemy soon enough 
I really hope you are right 
I actually like playing all kind of deck and hope that things will open up, so it is possible to change between the different decks i have without a 90% chance of loosing 
But honestly it is to early after the expansion set to say anything for sure, and i still think that paladin might get to the top again, as soon as they have had a chance to make the changes that are necessary, simply because it is so easy to play and have lots of possibilities.