I can’t forget about the cards I’m passing! While I may not be sending clear signals with this pack, there are a few things to note. A late Sarmoth will definitely convince someone to look for more Warlock cards, and that Hammer of Justice may convince someone to start looking for more Paladin cards in the next few seats.

Here’s a second sample draft.

Draft 2

Pack 1, Pick 1

Hypnotic Blade, Lionheart Helm, Bash, Old Bones, Kagra of the Crossroads, Gartok Skullsplitter, Ryn Dreamstrider, Shattering Blow, Sudden Reversal, Big Game Hunter, On Your Feet, Lady Courtney Noel, Kulan Earthguard, Dorric the Martyr

Boom! I opened a great ally in Old Bones, and there isn’t much of note in the rest of this pack. The next best cards are Gartok Skullsplitter and Kulan Earthguard, and Old Bones is significantly better than them. It’s a nice little boon when you open a bomb in an otherwise weak pack, reaping all the rewards while everyone else is stuck with the rest of the bummer pack.

Old Bones is deceptively strong and nearly bomb quality. The bear is the biggest you’ll see at 4 resources, and it can protect your hero. On turn 5 it’s eating whatever smaller ally the opponent has in play or dealing 4 straight to him or her. The protector power prevents your opponents from getting that last attack into your hero by their small ally that Old Bones is going to eat next turn. Bears may be the #1 threat to America according to Stephen Colbert, but this one is okay in my book, as long as the bear is on my side.

Pick 1 – Old Bones

Here I note that the person to my left, barring some ridiculous Alliance first-pick ally like King Magni Bronzebeard or Acolyte Demia, is probably going to take Kulan Earthguard. The rest of the cards just don’t come close to the cow’s power level.

Pack 1, Pick 2

Landro Longshot, The Shatterer, Green Whelp Armor, Burn Away, Voss Treebender, Wazzuli Wildmender, The Defias Brotherhood, Blood Guard Mal’wani, Sha’lin Nightwind, Ravenous Bite, Brigg, Battle Shout, Call the Spirit

Upon initial evaluation, I see that an uncommon is missing. I can’t get too specific, as there isn’t a huge standout common in the pack like Parvink or Fa’tafi that would give us some indication of how good the missing card is. Although there are no obvious strong choices for me, I can see that the pack is pretty deep. The only cards I don’t like playing are Burn Away, Blood Guard Mal’wani, and Landro Longshot. After sorting the great from the simply good, the strongest cards in the pack are Ravenous Bite, Voss Treebender, and Wazzuli Wildmender.

Where I valued Wazzuli pretty high last pack, I really want to play beatdown when I’m planning on playing Hunter. Therefore, I’m going to cut him from the equation and concentrate on the choice between Voss Treebender and Ravenous Bite.

Cutting Hunter from the players on my left by taking Ravenous Bite definitely has a lot of appeal to it, so I have to weigh that when considering the ability. It’s also nice to keep my faction option open by keeping with my class theme. Voss is incredible, exhausting big protectors that would give fits to a beatdown deck, so I consider Voss an incredibly high pick. Voss is also very good in any kind of deck, where Ravenous Bite doesn’t shine in a control deck the way it does in a beatdown deck.

However, the option to stay faction-less in the Hunter class and take a strong ability is too much to pass up, so I take Ravenous Bite.