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Drafting M10

M10 is the current core set.  In the past, that would be like saying "it's cold, unflavored oat meal."  Starting with M10, Wizards has added new cards to the core set, as well as adding more complex mechanics.  They have also tuned the set well for limited play.  I have drafted every core set from Fifth Edition forward, and I will say that M10 is by far the best core set to draft.  It also beats a bunch of Expert level sets.  

Doubt me?  Just wait for Mercadian Masques.  

M10 Drafting is not "draft lite" or some subspecies of "real drafting."  It is a bit simpler than something like Alara block, but the advantage of not drafting a mutlicolor set is that signals matter.   You can actually get a feel for what others are drafting, and what colors may be open.  You can also benefit by cutting a color strongly.  The main benefit of cutting a color - of taking all the good cards of that color - is that the people downstream of you are not seeing any cards in that color, so they are likely staying in other colors.  That means that, when the flow reverses in pack two, people may pass you better cards in the cut color than would have happened otherwise.  It doesn't always work - sometimes people open such a bomb that they stay in a color, even when you cut it hard.  Overall, though, paying attention to colors matters - unlike the new Alara block drafts.  

In most drafts, your first few picks may determine what color or colors you are playing.  However, the draft may not play out that way.   For example, assume that my first two picks were Sphinx Ambassador and Sleep.   That seems pretty good.   However, the person passing to me opened Djinn of Wishes and took a Mind Control over the Sleep.  That player will be taking all the good blue cards he can - in effect, cutting blue.   In packs one and pack three, I may not see any more good blue cards.   Hopefully, I will notice this in time to shift to a safer color pattern.   Sure, it is unfortunate to have your first picks sitting in your sideboard, but it beats losing because your blue deck is full of Coral Merfolk.

People talk about using the BREAD principle to decide what to pick.  The acronym has a fairly general acceptance, although people differ on the meanings of the latter letters.   Here's a general consensus:

BOMBS:  Bombs are the insane cards you always take and almost always play.  Baneslayer Angel is the quintessential bomb.  If you open her and are in white, you do the numa numa dance because you should win this draft.  If you are not white, you start wondering if you can splash WW.  Basically, you take bombs if there is any way you can fit them into your deck.

REMOVAL:  The next category is removal - cards that remove your opponent's threats.  The best removal is unconditional  - it does what it does regardless of the circumstances.  Terminate and Lightning Bolt are great examples.  Cards like Doom Blade (which only kills non-black cards) or Divine Verdict (which only kills attacking or blocking creatures) are situational.  The more limited or situational the removal, the worse it is - but anything that gets rid of whatever is annoying you is good.  

EVASION: I have seen other terms here, but evasion best describes what you want.  Evasion is the ability to go over (via Flying),  under (via  Shadow - at least, that's how I thought of it), or through (via landwalk or unblockability) an opponent's defenders.  Most drafts involve lots of creatures, and lots of creatures can create a huge ground stall.  Evasion breaks ground stalls.  I love evasion.

AGGRESSION / ABILITIES:  Different people have different terms for the A.  For me, the next step down from Evasion is going to be either a creature that loves to attack, or one with a situationally useful ability.  The "D" is for "dudes" or "dorks,"  so this category is for all the useful cards that are slightly better than a generic creature.  Gravedigger is clearly in the A category.  He does not have removal or evasion, but he gets another creature back, which is why he is more than a 2/2 for 3B.   I also include cards like Naturalize (the first copy, at least) and good sideboard cards in this category.

DUDES:  finally, when there is nothing else, take a guy.  Drafts are won by beating with creatures, and drafts are lost when you run out of creatures.  If there is nothing else available, take a guy.  When choosing among playable guys, take the dude with the best power to casting cost ratio.  Keep it within some limits, though.  A (Raging Goblin has a power to casting cost ration of 1, but Raging Goblin is only good in the first two turns, and even then it only does a couple points of damage. After that, is just dies to a blocker, or while blocking.  At the other end of the spectrum Darksteel Colossus also has a good power to casting cost ratio, but very, very few limited matches are going to go on long enough that you will be able to afford that much mana.   Good dudes include creatures like Warpath Ghoul.  Bad dudes include cards like Emerald Oryx and Serpent of the Endless Sea.   The cards are pretty bad, but they are dudes, so sometimes you play them. 

Let's move on to break down the set by colors.  I'll talk about archetypes and pick orders - but pick order exist far more in theory than in practice.  In theory, Doom Blade is simply better than Kelinore Bat.  However, if you are lucky enough to already have nine good removal spells and four creatures (it has happened), then the bats may be more valuable.   You can draft different archetypes, even within a single color, and some archetypes value certain cards more than others.  Instead of specific pick order - e.g. 5. Razorfoot Griffin, 7. Veteran Weaponsmith, I'll explain how valuable each card is in each archetype. 

White

The Bombs:

Okay -- the first two could be called bombs.  The other two are near bombs, but I will generally take Serra Angel or the Seraph over most white removal, although not necessarily over Doom Blade.  Serra Angel is a great evasion creature, and plays defense as well.  Guardian Seraph is in the same general vein.  Planar Cleansing and Captain of the Watch are also near bombs, but I found that I only have room for four pictures in the banner. :)  More importantly,  in this article I am not going to discuss all the rares and uncommons.  I'll generally mention some of the great first picks, and a few significant uncommons, but I will concentrate on the commons.  That's what you will see most often.

White has two viable archetypes.  The first, and by far my preferred archetype, involves holding the ground with pseudo-walls (think Palace Guard and winning through the air with fliers.  The second archetype is Soldiers, which drafts lots of soldiers, lets them buff each other, then beats for a fast win.  Both archetypes can win, but Soldiers seems riskier.  If you end up fighting with too many others for Soldiers, your deck can fail.  Fliers are a bit wider. 

Removal:  White has four reasonably available removal spells:  Pacifism, Divine Verdict, Blinding Mage and Harm's Way.   Harm's Way is uncommon, and excellent, since it can act as a combat trick and can deal with almost anything if you get creative.  Harm's Way redirects the damage, but does not change the source.  Redirecting the damage from a Deadly Recluse is fun, since the Deathtouch ability kills whatever creature takes the redirected damage.  Harm's Way can also deal with creatures like Prodigal Sorcerer, which white cannot otherwise remove (unless the control does something dumb, like attack with it.)  The other three removal spells are commons, and basically take creatures out of combat.  Pacifism is good in any deck, but better than Verdict in aggressive decks, since it is cheaper and can remove a blocker before it blocks.  Blinding Mage is good in all cases, provided you can keep it alive.   Personally, I like all four, and am happy to play any and all of these cards.  Among the commons, I tend to pick Pacifism over Blinding Mage over Divine Verdict, but that can change, especially if I already have a couple copies of Pacifism. 

Let's look at the rest of the white commons:

Angel's Mercy:   trash everywhere.  If you are playing this, something has gone badly wrong. 
Excommunicate:  very good in aggressive decks, like Soldiers.  In other decks, it still costs your opponent mana and a card draw, and it can kill auras, so it is often playable.  It's total value, however, is proportional to how fast your deck is.
Glorious Charge:  marginal.  It can be playable in Soldiers, but is almost useless in walls and fliers decks.  In very rare cases, it can be a complete blowout, but it is a lot worse under post-M10 rules.  Pre M10, they could put lethal damage on several creatures, then you could pump everything just a bit.  No more.
Griffin Sentinel:  this is very good in the walls and fliers archetype, but marginal in Soldiers.  It does beat, and beats well, but it does not beat hard.
Holy Strength:  Bad.  It does so little, and it allows bounce or removal spells to two-for-one you too easily.  Oakenform makes even wimps into beaters, which makes it marginally playable.  Holy Strength merely makes wimps into fat-butted wimps.
Lifelink: To the total amazement of old school players like me, a few life gain cards are really playable nowadays.  This is not one of them.  Lifelink does too little, at too great a risk of a two-for-one,  to make it worth playing.
Palace Guard:  This guy is not a first pick in either archetype, but it is solid in both.  In the Soldiers deck, it can beat, when helped a bit by Veteran  Weaponsmiths. In the walls and fliers decks, it holds the ground while the fliers do their job.
Razorfoot Griffin:  This is the core of the walls and fliers plan.  In the Soldiers builds, it is still good, but Razorfoot is in the upper end of the mana curve.  In that build, Excommunicate may often be more valuable, because soldiers decks are all about tempo.. 
Safe Passage:  This is often the combat trick that Glorious Charge wants to be.  It seems much better in the Soldier's builds,  where it can allow an all-out attack and prevent losses from blockers, but it works well in the fliers builds.  It also counters Overrun quite well.  It is not as valuable as another evasive or soldier buffing creature, but it is better than a random dork, like Silvercoat Lion.
Siege Mastodon:  This is a fine wall in the fliers build, but less valuable in Soldiers.  Soldiers want sot be faster than that.
Silvercoat Lion:  This is a decent aggressive creature, but it does not fly.  It is playable, if not exciting, in Soldiers.  In fliers, it may make the deck, and may even get in a few points early, on the play.  After turn three or so, it generally just sits around waiting to trade with a Warpath Ghoul or Fiery Hellhound. 
Solemn Offering:  This rarely makes the maindeck, but I like having one or two for the sideboard.  M10 has a number of annoying artifacts, pieces of equipment and auras that need to be killed.  
Soul Warden:  Personally, I generally win when an opponent plays a Soul Warden, since it is just a 1/1 with some life gain.  In an aggressive deck, however, that small lifegain can end up swinging a race, not to mention that a one drop can often swing on turn two.  I almost never pick Soul Warden, but your mileage may vary. 
Stormfront Pegasus:  This is a cheap, evasive creature with power equal to casting cost.  It is a very good creature in both Soldiers and fliers.
Veteran Armorsmith:  This guy pumps soldier toughness.  It is a solid card in Soldiers, but I never take above tenth pick or so in a fliers deck.  IN the fliers deck, I don't care whether my Swordsmiths are 3/2s or 3/3s.  In soldiers, I do.
Veteran Swordsmith:  The Swordsmith, on the other hand, is playable even as the only Soldier in your deck.  In a Soldiers build, it is close to the best common.  With several Swordsmiths and Armorsmiths, plus a couple uncommon soldiers, you have an army.
Wall of Faith: This is playable, albeit not great, in the walls and fliers build.  It is unplayable in aggressive decks.  The problem is that a true wall makes ground pounders stay home and block.  A creature like White Knight can help race in most circumstances, but if you play a wall, then your opponent is likely to keep his beaters at home.  In that case, White Knight is more going to get double blocked.

Blue:

The Bombs:

The blue bombs are a bit less bomby, but they are all cards that I would be happy to first pick.  However, even they are not bombs, they are generally do qualify as removal or evasion.  Air Elemental almost made the banner - it is a huge flier.  MInd Spring is also a great blue card.

Blue serves three main functions, depending on the colors it is paired with.  In most mixes, it will provide counters to stop an opponent''s best spells, while offering some evasive creatures.  In the clog-the-ground-and-win-through-the-air plan, the blue fliers are great.  When it is partnered with an aggressive, ground-pounding color, like red or green, it's most valuable function may be to counter or disable blockers just enough to win the race.  In these decks, the best card may be Sleep, but Unsummon also plays a part.   Blue also provides card drawing, which can help refuel in any archetype. 

Let's look at the blue commons:

Convincing Mirage:  Unplayable garbage.  In Zendikar, it cantrips.  Here, it does not.
Coral Merfolk:  This is a non-evasive 2/1 in a format full of 1/4s.  It would be okay in red, which rushes the opponent, but it isn't red.
Disorient:  It is a very bad combat trick.  For every time it can blow someone out, it will be useless a dozen more.  Unplayable.
Divination:  It draws cards.  Would Fact or Fiction be better? Sure, but Divination is what we have.  Playable. 
Essence Scatter:  In a format defined by creatures, this keeps an opponent's creature off the battlefield.  It is exactly as good as the opponent's best creature. 
Horned Turtle:  A staple in fliers decks. Between 8E, 9E, 10E and M10, I have over 100 copies, not to mention all those I have given away.  
Ice Cage: This is a blue Pacifism that vanishes when the creature is targeted.  Ice Cage can eliminate an attacker or blocker.  However, that non-blocker can, with a single Giant Growth, not only be become bigger, but back in the game.  I rarely rely on this and have routinely defeated it, but I have lost to it as well. 
Illusionary Servant:  Sometimes you will get a couple of these and destroy your opponent.  Sometimes your opponent will have a Blinding Mage, and you will be totally screwed.  It's a gamble, but when you win, you end up with a flier that can block and kill every other common flier in the set, and that beats for 20 in seven hits.
Jump:  Bad!  Bad card!  No Cookie!
Merfolk Looter:  The looter will win games in the long run.  It turns surplus lands in gas.  It is great in any more controlling deck, since it gets better ever turn it stays in play.  
Negate:  This counters most removal (Sparkmage Apprentice is the exception) and all of the late game spell bombs you don't want your opponent to resolve.   
Ponder:  Up to about turn seven or eight, this is probably the best card drawing spell in the format.  After that, Mind Spring is better.
Sage Owl:  I don't understand why people play this card.  A 1/1 flier is nothing.  Being able to look at the top four cards and rearrange them - but not draw anything - is nothing.  Together - barely more than nothing.  I might play this as a 23rd card, but I would not be happy about it.
Serpent of the Endless Sea:  If you are mono-blue, this can be a marginal way of clogging up the ground.  If you are mono blue, and have a couple of Convincing Mirages to give your opponents Islands, you have a bad deck.
Snapping Drake:  This is a great flier. Solid, solid pick for any deck.  Take them early and often.
Tome Scour:  No.  To win with this, you need to play at least five in the first 6-8 turns.  That means you need something like 15 copies in your deck, or a lot of card drawing.  In a typical draft, the 24 packs will, on average, contain 2-3 copies in total.  (240 commons in 24 packs / 101 commons in the set.)  Milling the library completely away wins a game,  Milling half a library is like doing a total of 10 points of damage, or giving the opponent 5 poison counters - it is pointless without the other half.  You will never have enough Tome Scours to actually win, only enough to waste time, resources and mana.
Unsummon:  This is a decent combat trick, if an opponent double blocks, etc.  It can also affect tempo in a race, or get a creature out from under an aura.  It is situational.   I frequently keep them in the sideboard unless I see that my opponent is giving me good targets.  (For example, Gargoyle Castle creates a fine target.)
Wind Drake:  The third best common flier in the set, behind Snapping Drake and Stormfront Pegasus.
Zephyr Sprite:  Blah.  It is too slow, and too wimpy.  No game ever goes 20 turns, so you will never beat for a full 20 with this thing.  It's only useful purpose is to trade with a 2/1 flier.  That should not be good enough to make the cut.
 

Black:

The Bombs:

. . .  I hear crickets  chirping.

Black doesn't really have any bombs, per say.  It just has a lot of solid stuff, and some very good cards that almost qualify as bombs.  Vampire Nocturnus and Nightmare are both really good cards, but I have trouble calling them bombs.  Consume Spirit is removal, a finisher and can really swing in the game, but it is not something that make me want to change colors if I'm not already black.  It's not that black is bad - it just has few bombs, but makes up for it with higher overall quality.

Black can combo well with most other colors and provide good support.  However, black really shines when you are the only black drafter at the table, and you can wind up mono-black.  Many black cards depend on just how many Swamps and black mana you can get, so two color decks with black are inherently weaker.   Consume Spirit is the best example of a card that gets worse in two color decks. 

Let's move on to the commons.

Acolyte of Xathrid:  it is a 0/1 mana-sucking nothing.  I never want to maindeck this thing, but I might sideboard it in against a deck that cannot kill it, and that tries to hold the ground while winning, slowly, in some other way.  In that case, it can slowly ping the opponent.
Assassinate:  It is removal that kills almost everything.  I really like this.  the only downside is that other colors may steal and splash this, so take it fairly early.
Child of Night:  Personally, I love to see this in anything but a fast RB deck.  The Child gets a tiny bit of lifegain, then dies to a 1/4.  Usually.  In a speed deck, or one with a lot of Panic Attacks, it can be quite valuable.
Disentomb:  If you have to play this, it is because you have a bad deck, or a Baneslayer.
Doom Blade:  First pick quality removal - and one almost any deck will steal and splash for.  Don't count on seeing them after the first couple picks.
Dread Warlock:  This is why I play black.  He is a cheap beater that is often unblockable.  He is not a first pick, if I can avoid it, but if I see him fourth pick I consider it a reason to think black may be open.  
Drudge Skeletons:  This guy can hold the ground while I win with evasion (see Dread Warlock), but I never pick it highly.  It usually comes around 8-12th pick.
Duress:  a very good sideboard card, and one I will occasionally maindeck, if I saw a couple cards like Overrun going around.
Gravedigger:  He gets back a creature and can chump or trade with a lot of problem cards.  Having a couple can be insane - you basically lock up the ground by chaining them.
Kelinore Bat:  Black's best common flier.  Howling Banshee is better, but the bat is plenty good.
Looming Shade:  In a two color deck, this is marginal to good.  In a mono-colored deck, it is insane. 
Mind Rot:  I have never decided whether I should maindeck this or not.  Generally, I leave it in the sideboard, but bring it in against Green decks and any slow decks with expensive bombs.  Even if it only hits a couple lands on turn four, that may keep them from casting their bombs until after they are dead.  OTOH, late game, if you need that one blocker to stabilize, this is worse than Lava Axe.
Sign in Blood:  Card drawing is card drawing.  If I'm black, I want at least one and might play as many as three.
Soul Bleed:  So slow, so bad.  I have never played this card, and I am extremely grateful for that fact.
Tendrils of Corruption:  It is removal, and the life gain is a side benefit to a decent removal spell.  This is great in mono-black decks, but playable in two color decks, especially GB with Borderland Rangers and Rampant Growth to fetch enough Swamps.  Very, very good.  Not quite Doom Blade good, but almost nothing else is, either.
Unholy Strength:  this borders on unplayable, but it is not quite that.  It is at worst a Shock, assuming that the opponent does not simply kill the target when you cast it.  If it lands on a Dread Warlock or Bog Wraith, it can significantly shorten the game.  I tend to keep them in the sideboard, unless I'm facing a deck with no Excommunicate or Lightning Bolt or Assassinate or Unsummon or Pacifism or - well, unless I'm pretty certain my opponent cannot remove my creature.
Vampire Aristocrat:  Great in an aggressive RB deck, or in a deck with a token producer.  Overall a solid black creature, although I would almost always rather have a Dread Warlock. 
Warpath Ghoul:  A solid beater for an aggressive deck, but since I much prefer the walls and fliers plan, not my favorite.  Decent, not great.  One step below Vampire Aristocrat, and not just in the alphabetical listings.
Weakness:  This kills a ton of problem cards, including all the 2/1 fliers, Prodigal Sorcerer and Looming Shade in the mirror match.  It is situational removal, which is not as good as "real" removal, but it beats a generic dork. 
Zombie Goliath:  a black fattie.  I can take it or leave it, and I generally leave it.  It is fine if you have nothing better, but I try to have something cheaper / faster / bigger / more evasive. 

Red:

The Bombs:

The red bombs all all removal related - and I almost stretched to six to include (Magma Phoenix.).   I would almost include Pyroclasm and Bogardan Hellkite as bombs as well, since both are really solid cards.  Pyroclasm is great, but a bit too situational to be a bomb, and the Hellkite is amazing, if you ever get that much mana.   I have had great luck with Capricious Efreet, but I like to couple it with token producers or cards like Elvish Visionary, so I tend to break at least even with it.

I see red as primarily a support color - red provides removal, and maybe last minute reach, that other colors lack.  It also provides Fireball and Earthquake, but I splash for those whenever I can get them, no matter what colors I am playing.  What tends to swing me into red is a double red card, like Siege-Gang Commander, Shivan Dragon or Goblin Artillery.  I am also quite partial to Inferno Elemental.

Red can be drafted for one of three roles.  It can form the basis of an all-out rush deck, with a ton of small, fast weenies that just attack and win by turn six - or lose.  It can also support a walls and fliers plan, while contributing damage here and there via beaters.  Finally, it can partner with green to support a beatdown plan, remove strategic blockers when an opponent double blocks, or when an alpha strike just needs a slightly clearer run.  I'm not a big fan of the first plan, but I have won drafts that way - once deliberately forcing it by first picking a Jackal Familiar.  (That is NOT recommended, but 5 Jackal Familiars, several Goblin Pikers and three Panic Attacks won the draft.)

Do I need to mention that Prodigal Pyromancer is good?  He is even better with a Gorgon Flail, something that the Cunning Sparkmage / Basilisk Collar crowd is now demonstrating in constructed.  On to the commons.

Berserkers of Blood Ridge:  It is a large creature in a color with few of them.  I find it to be a very solid pick, but it is not great.
Burning Inquiry:  This card, on the other hand, is not even good.  If you see this and a land 14th pick, take the land.
Burst of Speed:  another skill tester.  If you leave this in your sideboard, or better yet, in the pack, you pass the test.
Canyon Minotaur:  It is a Hill Giant in everything but name, and Hill Giants are playable. 
Fiery Hellhound:  In a more aggressive deck, these can be great.  They tend to end up trading with walls and 1/4s in the end, but they often get lots of damage in first.  They are decent creatures.  I take a wall or flier over them nearly every time, but that's because I prefer that archetype.
Firebreathing:  Terrible.  You invest in a creature, then enchant it with this, then invest lots of mana - and I kill or bounce the creature in response. Completely unplayable.
Goblin Piker:  If you are drafting the aggressive deck, you will want lots of these.
Jackal Familiar:  ditto - and only if you are drafting the truly aggressive deck.  If so, you want all of these you can get.  If you are not going balls to the wall, avoid these like the plague.
Kindled Fury:  This is an acceptable combat trick for very aggressive decks, since First Strike can matter.  Not great, and not a high pick since they always table.  As they should. 
Lava Axe:  When your deck can almost get there, but not quite, drawing this will end the game.  When you have not quite stabilized, and need just one  blocker to survive and win, drawing this will also end the game. 
Lightning Bolt:  A defensible first pick, and worth splashing for in many decks.  Among the best burn spells ever printed.  Take them when you see them, because they only table when the table is really, really bad.
Lightning Elemental:  I like him more than I probably should.  I rate it as decent, but far short of great.  Other people hate it.
Panic Attack:  In the aggro deck, I want 2-3.   This is how the weenies get through for the win.  It is also nuts in GR and GB decks. In non-aggro decks, it is far worse.
Raging Goblin:  He's at best a slow Shock - and most of the time he is just going to chump something.  He is too small and to weak to be relevant.  I never, ever play this guy.
Seismic Strike:  The quality of this removal spell is directly proportional to how much red you play.   In mono-red decks, this can kill almost anything.  In two colored decks, it is still removal.  In splash red decks, it lives in the SB.
Shatter:  Sideboard material, in case the opponent has Platinum Angel.
Sparkmage Apprentice:  I have had this kill a lot of Kelinore Bats and Stormfront Pegasi, then chump something.  I like it, and tend to take it mid to late pack.
Trumpet Blast:  a bad Glorious Charge is not worth playing.
Viashino Spearhunter:  This is a decent beater in an aggressive deck, with a few Panic Attacks to get it past the Horned Turtles of the world.
Yawning Fissure:  Bleah!!
 

Green:

The Bombs:

I really want to add Kalonian Behemoth and Howl of the Night Pack to the bomb line, but I can't really fit more than four pics. In mono-green, Howl is a blowout.   Kalonian Behemoth is a situational bomb - it only works in a deck with good mana acceleration.  Fortunately, though, that is something green does very well.  Of course, I could also include several other great green cards in near bomb status.  Protean Hydra was nuts the one time I got one, but I have only played it once, and only in a couple games, so I'm not sure.  Acidic Slime is a favorite card - I love a card that combines problem removal with a solid creature.  On the other hand, I loved playing Viridian Zealot, too, but it has never had more than cult status in constructed.

Green has no fliers, to speak of.  (Birds of Paradise hardly counts.)  However, green has ways of deaing with fliers, starting with Windstorm and moving down. Green also has little removal, but what it does have is creatures that smash through on the ground, and mana acceleration.  I love decks featuring green power and acceleration, coupled with red burn, or blue or white evasion.  Admittedly, I would prefer a mono-blue, blue-white or blue-black deck to anything with green, but green decks are sort of a guilty pleasure.  They are just fun. 

Green has some great uncommons.  Cudgel Troll is fine, since Wizards made regeneration matter in this format.   Even Enormous Baloth is playable, if you have enough mana fixing.  He's not great, and he's just sad when an opponent has Drudge Skeletons, but I am constantly surprised that he is not just plain bad.  Not what I want, but I have played him and he's won me drafts.

Let's move on to the commons.

Borderland Ranger:  I love this guy.  He makes splashing for Earthquake and Fireball possible in a GU deck, and makes sure I hit my land drops.  Great, and a high pick.
Bountiful Harvest:  Not great.  Not playable.  Not under any circumstances. 
Bramble Creeper:  He's a five power non-evasive guy on offense, and a nothing/3 on defense.  I have played him, but I would rather not.
Centaur Courser:  Hill Giants are playable, and this guy is one mana cheaper.  He is a fine green creature.  Not evasive, and he cannot smash through a Horned Turtle without help, but I am happy to have him in my deck.  He is not as good as the Ranger, but pretty good none-the-less.
Craw Wurm:  With some mana acceleration, he can get into play fast, and usually two-for-one's the opposition.  I cannot say I am happy to have him in the deck (unless I have a Whispersilk Cloak), but he often makes the cut.
Deadly Recluse:  a great card.  This holds off pretty much every flier except Baneslayer Angel and Razorfoot Griffin (because of First Strike).  The Recluse can also trade with fatties, like Craw Wurm, if necessary. 
Elvish Visionary:  if you play green, it is usually because you have something good somewhere in your deck that you are just waiting to find.  The Visionary gets you one card closer to it.  I draft these heavily.
Emerald Oryx:  you can sideboard this in against other green decks, but if it is in your maindeck, something has gone wrong. 
Entangling Vines:  Green's removal.  It is a good way to deal with problem creatures that do not attack, like Blinding Mage or Royal Assassin, or a flier that you cannot otherwise stop.
Fog:  meh.  It does nothing to change the board position, and just buys a turn.  I might consider it if my opponent had Overrun, but probably would still not play it.  On the plus side, you can get these 15th pick, which is probably the only right time to take them.
Giant Growth:  green beats on the ground.  Eventually a gang of lesser creatures try to get in green's way - and then Giant Growth blows them out.
Giant Spider: the easiest way to beat green is fliers.  The easiest way for green to stop fliers is Giant Spider.  'Nuff said?
Llanowar Elves:  A great one drop, and solid mana acceleration.  Not a first pick, but a welcome addition to pretty much any deck.
Mist Leopard:  Some people really like this.  I don't - I want people to worry about my Giant Growths when they decide how to block.  This is immune to Giant Growth.
Naturalize:  I want two such effects in my sideboard, but I only maindeck them if I passed some scary enchantments or artifacts.
Oakenform:  I used to think this was unplayable, but I have recently had some luck with this on an evasive creature.  It's a gamble, in that you are begging to get two-for-oned, but have a monster if they cannot remove it.
Rampant Growth:  Yes. Very solid card.  It's not better than an evasive creature or removal, unless you have an important splash or a super fattie like Bogardan Hellkite.
Regenerate:  Once in great while, this will blow out an opponent.  Most often, you will get blown out because you are playing bad cards like Regenerate.
Runeclaw Bear:  aggressive green decks like Grizzly Bears, no matter what they are called.  Playable.
Stampeding Rhino:  This card, on the other hand, is more than playable.  It is quite good, and seeing these late is a strong reason for me  to shift into green.  A powerful semi-evasive card with a reasonable casting cost, this is what makes green good.
 

Artifacts:

The Bombs - or at least the artifacts that come close to it.  These cards are playable.

This says "deal with me or lose..."

Good on a fattie, or to protect a utility creature like Blinding Mage.

This makes blocking so painful, not to mention what it can do on a Prodigal Sorcerer.

facing a beatdown army with this on their side is much harder than you might expect.

I almost included Rod of Ruin, but it is very slow, very situational, and usually more of a sideboard card, but it does break creature stalls. 

Finally:

3/4 fliers are tough to deal with in this format.

 

I'd like to do a draft walkthrough, but this is pretty long already, and it makes little sense to add more if it means it will not be published until after the NIX TIX period is over.  

PRJ

"one million words" in the M10 queues