In the late game 3 life is also less of an issue than the six or more life Swords will be giving up to get rid of that Wurmcoil Engine etc
You can remove three +1/+1 counters from Runaway Steam-Kin to generate three red mana
There's some really good stuff in here, like Heroic Intervention
Vampires has had an overwhelming representation in Pioneer Challenges on Magic Online recently, which has warped the format considerably
The 100 Worst Cards in Modern, Sorted by Set Mirrodin (10) Loxodon Peacekeeper, Chimney Imp, Relic Bane, Fractured Loyalty, Battlegrowth, Turn to Dust, Wurmskin Forger, Liar's Pendulum, Myr Prototype, Omega Myr Darksteel (5) Grimclaw Bats, Crazed Goblin, Drooling Ogre, Goblin Archaeologist, Lich's Tomb Fifth Dawn (3) Desecration Elemental, Razorgrass Screen, Skullcage Champions of Kamigawa (5) Vigilance, Wandering Ones, Numai Outcast, Shimatsu the Bloodcloaked, Hankyu Betrayers of Kamigawa (1) Shinka Gatekeeper Saviors of Kamigawa (4) Pure Intentions, Death of a Thousand Stings, Deathknell Kami, One with Nothing Ravnica: City of Guilds (5) Wojek Siren, Zephyr Spirit, Blood Funnel, Viashino Slasher, Cyclopean Snare Guildpact (2) Cryptwailing, Nivix, Aerie of the Firemind Dissension (4) Utvara Scalper, Weight of Spires, Street Savvy, Rakdos Riteknife Coldsnap (2) Kjeldoran Javelineer, Freyalise's Radiance Time Spiral (3) Moonlace, Sprout, Brass Gnat Planar Chaos (2) Circle of Affliction, Lavacore Elemental Future Sight (4) Gift of Granite, Putrid Cyclops, Cyclical Evolution, Soultether Golem Lorwyn (5) Bog Hoodlums, Exiled Boggart, Lammastide Weave, Sylvan Echoes, Twinning Glass Morningtide (3) Merrow Witsniper, Pulling Teeth, Stomping Slabs Shadowmoor (1) Bloodshed Fever Eventide (5) Talonrend, Wilderness Hypnotist, Talara's Bane, Unnerving Assault, Moonhold Shards of Alara (1) Lich's Mirror Conflux (4) Controlled Instincts, Corrupted Roots, Dark Temper, Wandering Goblins Alara Reborn (1) Vectis Dominator Magic 2010 (7) Lifelink, Acolyte of Xathrid, Soul Bleed, Jackal Familiar, Yawning Fissure, Bountiful Harvest, Regenerate Zendikar (4) Noble Vestige, Trapfinder's Trick, Magma Rift, Scythe Tiger Worldwake (3) Scrib Nibblers, Bull Rush, Razor Boomerang Rise of the Eldrazi (2) Aura Finesse, Death Cultist Magic 2011 (4) Incite, Dryad's Favor, Primal Cocoon, Warlord's Axe Scars of Mirrodin (0) Mirrodin Besieged (2) Distant Memories, Horrifying Revelation New Phyrexia (2) Defensive Stance, Evil Presence Magic 2012 (3) Taste of Blood, Scrambleverse, Kite Shield Innistrad (2) Sensory Deprivation, Gruesome Deformity Dark Ascension (1) Favor of the Woods
