So to talk about hidden agenda, we first have to talk about conspiracies. A conspiracy is a special card type that has appeared in, fittingly enough, both Conspiracy sets. They are only legal in Limited formats, and do not go into your deck. Instead, at the start of the game, you may place any number of Conspiracy cards into the command zone, and they have a variety of static and triggered abilities. Conspiracies are open information and are placed face up…unless they have Hidden Agenda.
Hidden Agenda cards are placed face down, and all require you to secretly choose a card name as you place them into the command zone at the start of the game. Officially, you do this by writing the card name down on paper and keeping the paper with the face down conspiracy. At any time when you have priority, you may turn the face down card face up and reveal the chosen card name. This is a special action that doesn’t use the stack and can’t be responded to. At the end of the game, if any Hidden Agendas are still face down, you must reveal them to all players. One conspiracy, Summoner’s Bond, has Double Agenda, which is exactly the same except that you name two cards instead of one.
Hidden Agendas have various effects, from giving the named card haste, to letting you search up a named card, and many other things. There’s not a lot else to say – you do have to name an actual card, you can’t try to name a token.
Hidden Agendas were a very fun and flavorful addition to the Conspiracy sets, but as they are so specifically associated with those sets and that particular Draft format, it’s almost impossible for them to appear elsewhere. That said, if there’s ever a third Conspiracy set, it’s almost a guarantee that Conspiracies and Hidden Agendas will return.
No Hidden Agendas here, please go buy you cards and supplies from cardkingdom.com!