Welcome to another edition of Drafting with Big Nass. Let’s just jump right in, shall we? As always, text recap follows the video links:

Pack 1, Pick 1:

My Pick:

The three best cards in the pack are Wolfhunter's Quiver, Deranged Outcast, and Death's Caress. Personal preference leads me to take the black card, but I think the pick is pretty close. I just can’t turn down a Brainspoil.

Pack 1, Pick 2:

My Pick:

Markov Warlord is one of the best finishers in the set, and I’m happy to snatch him up. He’s kind of like Fireball in that he almost always kills your opponent. B/R is one of my favorite color combinations as well, so this is a good start.

Pack 1, Pick 3:

My Pick:

Loyal Cathar is the best card in the pack, but I want to try to stay on-color here. I really want to be in red for the Warlord—I don’t like to splash, and R/W is not usually very good. Torch Fiend is fine, and it almost always makes the cut.

Pack 1, Pick 4:

My Pick:

We’re passing a pretty good white deck, but that can’t really be helped. Blood Feud, while expensive, is very effective.

Pack 1, Pick 5:

My Pick:

Falkenrath Torturer is really good if you can manage to pick up a Traitorous Blood or two. Even if you don’t, it’s still better than Chosen of Markov, and it’s certainly better than Black Cat.

Pack 1, Pick 6:

My Pick:

Again, I hate splashing. Burning Oil is still good without the flashback, but I really want to try out the Blademaster. I’m planning on picking up some Bloodcrazed Neonates next pack—along with ways of pushing them through, so Blademaster should be pretty good.

Pack 1, Pick 7:

My Pick:

That’s a really late Kessig Recluse, but there are still good red cards in this pack, so I don’t want to abandon black just yet.

Pack 1, Pick 8:

My Pick:

Pack 1, Pick 9:

My Pick:

Pack 1, Pick 10:

My Pick:

Pack 1, Pick 11:

My Pick:

Pack 1, Pick 12:

My Pick:

Pack 1, Pick 13:

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Pack 1, Pick 14:

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Pack 1, Pick 15:

My Pick:

Pack 2, Pick 1:

My Pick:

Not much to talk about here . . . it’s Diregraf Ghoul over basically nothing.

Pack 2, Pick 2:

My Pick:

As much as I really want to take the Vampire Interloper, Heretic's Punishment is amazing if you can untap with it. It’s normally not that great in this sort of deck, but we actually have a fair number of expensive cards, so the expected damage from each activation should be high enough to justify this pick.

Pack 2, Pick 3:

My Pick:

Again we’re faced with the choice of taking a 5-mana bomb over a really good, cheap creature for our deck. Again, I’m going to make the same choice.

Pack 2, Pick 4:

My Pick:

Crossway Vampire and Markov Blademaster are BFFs.

Pack 2, Pick 5:

My Pick:

Harvest Pyre is only really good when you can mill yourself. Even when you can’t, it’s still playable, but I’m not taking it over Bloodcrazed Neonate.

Pack 2, Pick 6:

My Pick:

Pack 2, Pick 7:

My Pick:

Pack 2, Pick 8:

My Pick:

Pack 2, Pick 9:

My Pick:

Pack 2, Pick 10:

My Pick:

Pack 2, Pick 11:

My Pick:

I guess we’re the only red drafter . . . Regardless, I’m pretty happy to table the Rakish Heir as we already have a large number of Vampires.

Pack 2, Pick 12:

My Pick:

So large, in fact, that I might play Vampiric Fury for the first time ever.

Pack 2, Pick 13:

My Pick:

Pack 2, Pick 14:

My Pick:

Pack 2, Pick 15:

My Pick:

Pack 3, Pick 1:

My Pick:

MISS. I hate Kessig Wolf in most decks, but it is the card we’re most likely to play out of this junk.

Pack 3, Pick 2:

My Pick:

Ah, much better.

Pack 3, Pick 3:

My Pick:

Pack 3, Pick 4:

My Pick:

Pack 3, Pick 5:

My Pick:

I thought about taking the Traitorous Blood, but I think the Cultist is going to end up being better. We already have some number of Nightbird's Clutches that we can play in case we don’t see any more Threatens.

Pack 3, Pick 6:

My Pick:

Pack 3, Pick 7:

My Pick:

Kessig Wolf Run is one of the few cards I will splash for, but not today. Traitorous Blood is just what the doctor ordered.

Pack 3, Pick 8:

My Pick:

Pack 3, Pick 9:

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Pack 3, Pick 10:

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Pack 3, Pick 11:

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Pack 3, Pick 12:

My Pick:

I could have taken Hauberk here, but I really don’t like playing it when I don’t have any creatures I can sacrifice for value.

Pack 3, Pick 13:

My Pick:

Pack 3, Pick 14:

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Pack 3, Pick 15:

My Pick:

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This is what I ended up submitting:

[cardlist]

[Creatures]

1 Black Cat

1 Bloodcrazed Neonate

1 Crossway Vampire

1 Diregraf Ghoul

1 Falkenrath Marauders

1 Falkenrath Noble

1 Falkenrath Torturer

1 Forge Devil

1 Hinterland Hermit

1 Markov Blademaster

1 Markov Warlord

1 Rakish Heir

1 Skirsdag Cultist

1 Torch Fiend

1 Galvanic Juggernaut

[/Creatures]

[Spells]

1 Altar's Reap

1 Blood Feud

1 Death's Caress

2 Traitorous Blood

1 Dead Weight

1 Heretic's Punishment

1 Warden of the Wall

[/Spells]

[Lands]

11 Mountain

6 Swamp

[/Lands]

[/cardlist]

I would have liked to pick up some better 2-drops—such as Vampire Interlopers for instance—but overall, I was pretty happy with the deck. The Traitorous Bloods worked out very well, and I never felt that playing two was too many. I made it all the way to the finals, where I was defeated by my opponent’s collection of mythic rares. Spoiler: I can’t deal with Angelic Overseer. I did play a memorable game along the way that involved me racing a 6/6 Elgaud Inquisitor with a Falkenrath Marauder and a Falkenrath Noble, so I highly suggest you check it out.

Until next time, may your Vampires always get their +1/+1 counters.

Nassim Ketita

arcticninja on Magic Online

http://www.youtube.com/nketita