Deck Guide: Secret Hunter - A Great Counter to Big Spell Mage!

Traveling Travel Agency brought a few decks back into the meta, particularly Big Spell Mage, which is extremely strong and popular.

By the way, we also prepared a guide if you want to learn how to play this deck. Just click here if you're interested.

So, Secret Hunter has come up as an alternative, and can fight this Mage list head-to-head. Its win rate in HS Replay is also over 60%.

Considering that, we at Cards Realm decided to bring you a thorough guide on Secret Hunter. Check it out!

Its main game plan is to play lots of Secrets, and buff Starstrung Bow and Mantle Shaper.

Secrets will also make your opponent "uncertain", as they'll always have to play around your game plan and "bait" you into using your hidden Secret. For instance, if you have an Explosive Trap on the board, your opponent might just use a spell they'd rather not use at the moment just to find out if you had an Ice Trap.

Plays like these force them to drop their initial game plan because they'll be scared to end up behind. Now, imagine you have three or more Secrets, and, even after you activate them, you can cast them again with Product 9. You'll be an even bigger problem for your opponent.

Minions

Now let's go through all the minions in this deck.

Starting with your first round, you'll have two options: Costumed Singer and Vicious Slitherspear. The first one is the better choice. The faster you play it, the more cards it will draw for you.

As for Vicious Slitherspear, it is best to fight for the board and put pressure on the opponent's hero.

Observer of Mysteries gives you more Secrets and puts even more "cards up your sleeve", even if it is just for one turn, considering you could get any type of card!

As 5-costs, you have Product 9 and Mantle Shaper. We mentioned both of them before: they're quite efficient after you use a few Secrets.

Finally, Zilliax Deluxe 3000 with the Haywire and Power Modules, gets Taunt and the following effects: At the end of your turn, deal 3 damage to your Hero. At the beginning of your turn, double this minion's attack.

Spells

You also have a few tools to reinforce your board that don't cost a lot of mana: Bunch of Bananas and Sneaky Snakes.

As for your 2-cost spells, you have a lot of them. Starting with your Secrets: Bargain Bin, Bait and Switch, Hidden Meaning, Ice Trap, and Explosive Trap.

Titanforged Traps will be essential to make up for any Secrets you can't access in certain moments. Of course, you won't always get what you want, but you'll get two of them if you Forge them.

Patchwork Pals gives you all three Animal Companions, and also discounts their cost! It is an extremely powerful spell because it is so flexible; you can use it offensively with Huffer and Leokk, or defensively with Misha.

To deal even more damage, use Camouflage Mount. This spell grants +3/+3 to a target minion and includes a bonus effect.

Why is Secret Hunter a Good Counter against Big Spell Mage?

Big Spell Mage is undeniably dominating the meta, both in popularity and victories. However, it struggles against Secret Hunter, particularly because of Ice Trap, which counters an enemy spell.

By the way, this list only plays one copy of this spell, but you are welcome to add another one as long as Big Spell Mage is popular.

Despite strong, this Mage deck only has one win condition: Big Spells! Ice Trap deals with them, unless you don't have it in your hand. Your opponent will always second-guess themselves, and they'll have to take some risks to find out whether you have it or not.

Another issue for your opponent will be how long they'll have to wait. Despite discounting many of their big spells consistently, they'll only be able to cast them on turn five or six. Until then, you can put pressure on Patchwork Pals.

Look at this example: I combined Animal Companions with Vicious Slitherspear, and Big Spell Mage doesn't play any removals to deal with that. This way, you'll deal a lot of damage to them really early on.

If possible, add Bunch of Bananas and Sneaky Snakes to this combo.

Patchwork Pals is the main way you'll put pressure on your opponent, as you'll have three decent minions for a cheap cost.

Furthermore, you can also set up some combos, like Vicious Slitherspear and Bunch of Bananas. Because of this minion's effect, each banana will give it +2 attack.

Another strong tool to finish games is Zilliax Deluxe 3000 with Bait and Switch. Because Zilliax has Taunt, your opponent will have to attack it, and this will activate your Secret and give it even more attack, which, in turn, will be doubled at the beginning of your turn.

Your mulligan will be quite simple. Prioritize Costumed Singer, as drawing as many cards as you can early on is essential.

Forging Titanforged Traps early on is also essential, as this way you'll Discover two Secrets.

Finally, look for Patchwork Pals to add even more resources to your hand, or to get generic Secrets that will be useful to you regardless of the situation, like Bargain Bin and Hidden Meaning.

Aggro

Fast decks usually fill the board with minions that don't have a lot of health. Explosive Trap will be your best answer to destroy your opponent's entire board.

If you don't have it, you can fight the board with Misha's, the Animal Companion, Taunt alongside Bait and Switch. If you use a Secret, your Bear will be 7/7, and provide your hero with a big protective barrier.

A buffed Vicious Slitherspear or Sneaky Snakes with Bunch of Bananas is another option to fight enemy minions.

Control

In these cases, prioritize Ice Trap, as control decks typically play very relevant spells.

However, in general, focus on playing many Secrets to discount the cost of Starstrung Bow and Mantle Shaper and use them to gain an advantage over your opponent.

Taking advantage of how slow your opponent plays is also essential, as is using your defensive Secrets to put pressure on them with your Animal Companions.

Note: regardless of the matchup, Titanforged Traps and Patchwork Pals are excellent because of how flexible they are. You can both use them offensively and defensively.

I hope you learned something about Secret Hunter with this article!

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Thank you for reading, and see you next time!