This guide will go though each of the three classes which have Secret spells and discus how to identify and potentially play around them from the state of the board and the type of deck your opponent is playing.

Hunter

The hunter has 6 Secrets in total each of them costing 2 Mana, the most commonly played Hunter secrets are Bear Trap, Explosive Trap and Freezing Trap, with Snake Trap being occasionally played. Whilst Snipe and Misdirection seeing little to no play. If a Mad Scientist is played them determing the secret will be based off determining the deck type.

Bear Trap: "After your hero is attacked, summon a 3/3 Bear with Taunt." Whilst the text doesn't say the bear that is summoned is Ironfur Grizzly, Bear Trap is played in more beast orientated decks as to gain the synergy from the bear being a beast. This secret would be played when you have 1 minion and going into a turn that could let them synergise with the Bear such as turn 3 with the turn 4 Houndmaster. The problem with this trap is that it could be played in the same deck as Freezing Trap and so you will have to have that Secret in mind as well. So the choice to attack the enemy hero or not must be decided. If you have mulitple minions, attacking with the least valuable minion first is advised becasue if its Freezing Trap or Bear Trap you still play around both.

Explosive Trap: "When your hero is attacked, deal 2 damage to all enemies." This trap is usually played in very aggressive Hunter decks which are trying to get every bit of damage through. So this trap will be played either with a Eaglehorn Bow to gain the extra charge for more damage or to potentially counter a board if your board has low health minions on. The best way to play around this trap if you have a board of low health minions is to trade the lower health minions into your opponent’s minions if you suspect Explosive Trap. If there is an empty board not attacking here can be a good idea as your opponent will not get the extra Bow charge if they have a Bow and will give the ability to trade if your opponent does play a minion, but always calculate the amount of damage they could have as a board full of low health minions may be better destroyed than giving your opponent a large amount of hounds with Unleash the Hounds.

Freezing Trap: "When an enemy minion attacks, return it to its owner's hand and it costs (2) more." This Trap is mainly played in mid-range Hunter decks as well more beast orientated decks. This will mainly be played on a board to try and protect a certain minion or to counter a larger minion that is on your board. Playing against this Trap is either too attack with a low value minion that you don't mind being sent back to the hand. If you only have one minion you need to determine if it is worth letting that minion be sent back to your hand or too play another minion that will potentially be sent back next turn. Be careful though if a minion is worth 9 or 10 Mana then if its sent back to hand it will be 11/ 12 Mana and then can not be played even if you still have the coin or Innovate.

Misdirection: "When a character attacks your hero, instead he attacks another random character." This is rarely played and so is hard to play around as you usually assume the 3 main Secrets. This will mainly be played in a Mid-range style deck. To play around this Secret attacking with the least valuable minion is best as to also play around Freezing Trap and Bear Trap.

Snake Trap: "When one of your minions is attacked, summon three 1/1 Snakes." This will mainly be played when your opponent has a Knife Juggler on the board to gain the extra value or when the board is even as once triggered gives more commanding board lead. This will be played in beast orientated decks to again gain the beast synergy. Because this card is rare its hard to play around it, but if after you have attacked the enemy hero and a Secret hasn't triggered then it will most likely be Snake trap.

Snipe: "When your opponent plays a minion, deal 4 damage to it." This is the least played Secret as it can only really trade 1 for 1 at best. So if you do suspect this Secret could be Snipe then playing a minion with a deathrattle or low health minion that you don't mind being destroyed. This trap would mainly be played to gain value with Eaglehorn Bow or early in the game to guarantee a one for one.

Mage

The mage has a total of 8 secrets each costing 3 Mana, but 2 are very rarely played, these being Spellbender and Vaporize.

Counterspell: "When your opponent casts a spell, Counter it." This Secret is usually played in tempo decks as to try and protect the valuable minions from enemy spells. Tempo decks usually play Counterspell, Mirror Entity or Effigy determining if Counterspell is in play can be quite hard, the decision that has to be made, should you play a minion and risk it getting copied by Mirror Entity or play a spell to see if it is Counterspell.

Duplicate: "When a friendly minion dies, put 2 copies of it into your hand." This Secret is mainly played in slower mage decks such as the Echo of Medivh decks or dragon Mage. If you suspect this then destroying the least valuable minion to your opponent is the best way here wherer possible. With this Secret it is the orignal card that gets dupilcated even if it has a reduced mana cost and argmented stats, except cards that have a reduced cost from global factors such as Frost Gaint and Molten Gaint.

Effigy: "When a friendly minion dies, summon a random minion with the same Cost." This secret is mainly played in either slower Mage decks that want to get value of applying Effigy to a high Mana cost minion or tempo decks to keep control of the board. As it has the same trigger condition as Duplicate they are impossible to tell the difference. When this secret triggers it is the mana cost on the orignal card that will determine the minion that is played.

Ice Barrier: "When your hero is attacked, gain 8 Armor." This card is mainly only ever played in freeze mage and because freeze Mage only plays Ice Barrier and Ice Block then determining which of these Secrets is as simple as just attacking the enemy hero.

Ice Block: "When your hero takes fatal damage, prevent it and become Immune this turn." Like Ice Barrier this card is mainly played in freeze Mage but may also be played in some other slower Mage decks. The way to determine this secret is to ignore it and assume that its other Secrets if it is a slower mage deck but since the release of Effigy Ice Block isn't really played in slower decks any more.

Mirror Entity: "When your opponent plays a minion, summon a copy of it." This card is mainly played in mech Mage and sometimes in tempo Mage. This card can be very difficult to play around as it means you have to make the decision of if you want your opponent to have the same minion on the board as you. Because Mirror Entity doesn't activate Battlecries usually playing a minion that has a battlecry is best or a favorable deathrattle for yourself such as Zombie Chow or Darnasus Esperant.

Spellbender: "When an enemy casts a spell on a minion, summon a 1/3 as the new target." This card is rarely played in Mage decks as Counterspell is just better other than if your oppenent is going to play a buff card. So the best advice here is just to ignore this secret as it is too hard to determine that it will be in play.

Vaporize: "When a minion attacks your hero, destroy it." Like Spellbender this card is rarely ever played, the problem with this card is that all it can do is at best trade 1 Secret for 1 Minion, which is like most of the Mage spells. Since the enemy player doesn’t get to choose which minion gets destroyed it's hard to get value out of it, unless it's played later game and they have no removal. So if after checking for other Secrets there is still a secret in play then attack with the least valuable minion or one that you don't mind getting destroyed on the off chance that Vaporize is the Secret.

If a Secret comes from a Mad Scientist and its early in the game and so you haven't determined the deck type yet, it can be very hard to identify the secret and so a different thought process has to be made. Whilst this may not be the most effective way it is a safer way to play around all secrets. First check for Mirror Entity by playing a cheap Mana minion or one with a battle cry. If it doesn't trigger carry on if your opponent plays a minion then using a spell to try and remove it as this will trigger either Duplicate, Effigy or Counterspell. If you have destroyed the enemy minion and the Secret hasn't triggered it will most likely be freeze Mage. But attack the enemy hero with the least valuable minion in case of Vaporize.

Paladin

Paladin has 6 secrets each costing 1 Mana. With the rise of Mysterious Challenger decks this part of the guide is a little different, firstly the breakdown of Secrets and what board state they will be played on and then moving onto the Mysterious Challenger and how to play around that card.

Avenge: "When one of your minions dies, give a random friendly minion +3/+2." Avenge is played when there is a number of minions on the board so before a muster for battle or when there are 2 minions on the board to try and buff one of them.

Competitive Spirit: "When your turn starts, give your minions +1/+1." Like Avenge this would be played as too try and buff as many minions as possible. Note this Secret will not trigger if your opponenets board is empty so leaving one minion alive if you suspect this Secret could be good as too deny value.

Eye for an Eye: "When your hero takes damage, deal that much damage to the enemy hero." Eye for an Eye is rarely played as its too unpredictable and doesn't get much value.

Noble Sacrifice: "When an enemy attacks, summon a 2/1 Defender as the new target." Noble Sacrifice is usually played to protect a minion such as a Knife Juggler. Playing around this is if you have 2 minions on the board you need to make the decision of which you don't mind trading into the 2/1 that drops. Also remember that this Secret can trigger Avenge when the 2/1 dies if there is another enemy minion in play and will trigger Redemption on the 2/1.

Redemption: "When one of your minions dies, return it to life with 1 Health." Redemption is usually played when there is a Deathrattle minion such as a Piloted Shredder or a stronger minion with Divine Shield such as Shielded Minibot as too gain more value. So when trading have this in mind, as well when using AOE removal remember to trigger the Secret before applying AOE as to gain more value.

Repentence: "When your opponent plays a minion, reduce its Health to 1." Repentance is rarely played on a board unless to buff Secret Keeper early as it will not gain too much value, the Secret may also be played late game as to try and get lucky to reduce a larger late game threat's health.

Now to play against the Mysterious Challenger, when the Challenger get's played it will play one of each Secret from their deck. If played early it will be a combination of 4 or 5 of the main secrets. Playing around this is very situation dependent on the hand that you have, so think about it like this:

If you try to destroy with a minion then Noble Sacrifice will trigger blocking the attack, Avenge will trigger buffing the Challenger then the nobleman will be raised from the dead as a 2/1, then at the beginning of the opponents turn Competitive Spirit will trigger. If you destroy the minion though spells Mysterious Challenger will come back to life off Redemption but Avenge will not trigger unless there is other minions in play. So deciding how to remove Mysterious Challenger in the best way must be thought about. Using cards such as Polymorh or Hex on a buffed Challenger is also advised.

Are you into fantasy leagues? Then check out AlphaDraft and put together your allstar lineup!