Secret Passage

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Secret Passage
Info
Cost
Type(s)	Action
Kingdom card?	Yes
Set	Intrigue
Illustrator(s)	Marcel-André Casasola Merkle
Card text
+2 Cards +1 Action Take a card from your hand and put it anywhere in your deck.

Secret Passage is an Action card from the second edition of Intrigue. It is an unusual sifter that allows you to put a card from your hand anywhere in your deck.

FAQ

Official FAQ

• First draw 2 cards and get +1 Action; then put a card from your hand anywhere in your deck.
• The card can be one you just drew or any other card from your hand.
• It can go on top of your deck, on the bottom, or anywhere in-between; you can count out a specific place to put it, e.g. four cards down.
• If there are no cards left in your deck, the card put back becomes the only card in your deck.

Other Rules clarifications

• Where you put the card is public knowledge.
• You don't have to put the card into a specific spot, you can just shove it into your deck if you want.

Strategy

Written by Seprix.

Secret Passage is a Fugitive variant. Its primary strength is cycling. When you draw two cards, you must put any card in your hand back into your deck somewhere. Although Fugitive cycles better than Secret Passage in theory, the ability to put a card from your hand anywhere into your deck is actually not bad after first glance.

Firstly, Secret Passage combos with some self-deck inspection cards such as Patrol or Sentry. Simply throw a bad card just below the top card on your deck, and Sentry can trash it or discard it. Put a 'stashed' Victory or Curse card into the deck 4 cards down and Patrol will pick it up. Topdeck a bad card and then discard it with Duchess.

Secondly, Secret Passage combos with cards that check the top cards of your deck. Herald and Vassal immediately come to mind. Mystic and Wishing Well are also nice complementary roles for Secret Passage. Apothecary can draw up Coppers you put into the deck.

Lastly, Secret Passage is a versatile card in itself. Stash a collided terminal for next turn. Put a Copper into your next hand for Masquerade protection. Even throw your bad cards onto the bottom of your deck so that they miss the shuffle.

Secret Passage also combos well with Chariot Race. Instead of hoping that your top card beats your opponents top card, Secret passage lets you place your highest valued card on top of your deck, and then draw it with Chariot Race. This will also allow you to avoid drawing cards that aren't comparable with other cards like Overlord.

While Secret Passage is not the strongest card in Dominion, it is a tactically useful one indeed. To sum up this article in a single sentence: Pick up Secret Passage when you need to cycle, have deck inspection cards, or wish to stash away good cards for next turn.

Synergies/Combos

• Herald
• Vassal
• Wishing Well
• Mystic
• Spy
• Duchess
• Patrol
• Cartographer
• Sentry
• Apothecary
• Chariot Race
• Lookout
• Treasure Map
• Scavenger

Versions

English versions

Print	Digital	Text	Release	Date
		+2 Cards +1 Action Take a card from your hand and put it anywhere in your deck.	Intrigue 2nd Edition	October 2016

Other language versions

Language	Name	Print	Digital	Text	Notes
Chinese	密道 (pron. mì dào)
Dutch	Geheime doorgang			+2 Kaarten +1 Actie Kies een kaart uit je hand en doe deze op een plek naar keuze in je trekstapel.	2. Edition (2016)
French	Passage secret
German	Geheimgang			+2 Karten +1 Aktion Lege eine deiner Handkarten an eine beliebige Stelle in deinen Nachziehstapel.	2. Edition (2021)
Japanese	抜け穴 (pron. nukeana)			+2 カードを引く +1 アクション 手札1枚を山札の好きなところに加える (山札の中を見てはいけない)。
Russian	Секретный Проход (pron. syekryetny prokhod)			+2 Карты +1 Действие Возьмите карту из руки и положите её в любое место вашей колоды.
Spanish	Pasadizo Secreto			+2 Cartas +1 Acción Toma una carta de tu mano y colócala en cualquier lugar de tu mazo.	(2016)

Trivia

Official card art.

Secret History

I had been thinking about trying to get in another Wishing Well combo, but it's tricky, because Wishing Well draws a card prior to the wish. Changing the top card just isn't enough. I thought of this and it was love at first sight. It does lots of neat little tricks. When it can't do those tricks, it's still useful, just for putting bad cards on the bottom of your deck (where you hope they miss a shuffle).

—Donald X. Vaccarino, The Secret History of the Dominion 2nd Editions

Donald X.'s opinion

My favorite Secret Passage trick - which you see a bunch when you play just a few sets at a time - is defending against Swindler. You play Secret Passage, and have no more card-drawing for the turn. You put Estate 6th from the top. You finish your turn and draw your new hand of 5 cards. Now if they Swindler you, they hit the Estate.

—Donald X. Vaccarino, Secret Passage: Cute Tricks and Creativity in Dominion

Why can't you hide where you place the card?

In general I don't keep information private unless it's naturally private. I specify in the rulebooks; money and number of cards in hand (for whatever game) are public. People look it up, a rare actual use of rulebooks. It's the classic case of, you could just keep track; let's not add tracking that to the game. In that spirit, you do not get to hide where the card goes, if they care, which they mostly shouldn't. Since you can't hide your deck, it would be possible to visually tell, and let's not make this a vision contest. If you just kind of randomly stick the card in there, that's also public, not the exact position but that you did it kind of randomly. If you are trying to make it look random while counting down 6 I will ban you from the tournaments I run (I do not run tournaments).

—Donald X. Vaccarino, Is the card from Secret Passage really secret?