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The original Alara draft format was one of my favorites.  As I see it, ACR and LLM are two of the most skill-proving and fun formats of all-time, with other contenders being RGD and IPA.  Now, Wizards has mixed up the packs, combined all of the cards from each of the three sets into one "super-set", where you can open any card in the set in each pack. 

  Pack 1 pick 1:

  My Pick:
 

BBE feels like the best of the Green cards, although Titanic Ultimatum has certainly blown some games open.  The other option is avoiding Green altogether, but BBE is a fine (wo)man to have on the team.

  Pack 1 pick 2:

  My Pick:
 

Much like Judah, I feel that Jund often ends up as a RG-base deck that splashs two colors.  Unlike Judah, I feel really comfortable playing those Jund decks.  How odd!

  Pack 1 pick 3:

  My Pick:
 

This was a poor pick.  I had dreams of 5C here, but I should have been smarter and grabbed an on-color card, or maybe even the Resounding Silence, which is removal that isn't DOUBLE-off-color.

  Pack 1 pick 4:

  My Pick:
 

Like Bloodbraid Elf, Bull Cerodon is one of the cards in this set that can dig you out of a hole or finish the opponent out of no-where.  I love me a Cerodon and I was stunned to see him at the fourth pick.  Alara block has some odd packs!

  Pack 1 pick 5:

  My Pick:
 

I wanted the fixing more than I wanted merely mediocre dudes or pump.

  Pack 1 pick 6:

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 7:

  My Pick:
 

Given that I felt like I would probably have at least four basic types of lands in my deck, Spore Burst had an edge over the hastey feller.

  Pack 1 pick 8:

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 9:

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 10:

  My Pick:
 

While I can't judge most of the picks that resulted in the Rakeclaw wheeling, someone picks Gifts of the freaking awful Gargantuan over him.  That is just awful.  Also, that crappy 1/2 elf that pings flyers.  Blech.

  Pack 1 pick 11:

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 12:

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 13:

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 14:

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 15:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 1:
 

This was actually kind of hard.  I wasn't sure how often I'd actually cast Ultimatum, while I can cast Terminate or Stun Sniper a little more easily.  In the end though, Ultimatum is crazy when you resolve it, and it made me feel better about being Jund.
  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 2:
 
  

Another really good pack shows its face.  I like the removal, but a case could be made for the rare or the Leech.

My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 3:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 4:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 5:
 

Again, this seems very late for a Blood Cultist to show up, even if they are disgusting human beings.
  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 6:

  My Pick:
 

I like the flexibility of Jund Sojourners as beaters or weak removal, but Macta Rioters are probably better.

  Pack 2 pick 7:

  My Pick:
 

DARK TEMPER SHOULD NOT BE IN THE PACK ALONG WITH THE SICKO CULTIST!!!!

  Pack 2 pick 8:

  My Pick:
 

Wow.  I want to cast Ultimatum, so I had to pass the upkeep Lion, but the Lion and the Rhino are both very nice pickups so late in the draft.  In fact, this is a bit late for Corpse Connoisseur to show his rotting head too.

  Pack 2 pick 9:

  My Pick:
 

Alright, these aren't the best drafts, but what can you do?
  Pack 2 pick 10:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 11:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 12:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 13:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 14:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 15:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 1:

  My Pick:
 

It was a simple decision for me, as Backlash deals with people earlier than the Elemental.

  Pack 3 pick 2:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 3:

  My Pick:
 

Tough choice, but Bombs beat Removal, and Hydra should unless the game is just going badly anyway.

  Pack 3 pick 4:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 5:

  My Pick:
 

This solidified my plan to have at least one of each basic in my deck.

  Pack 3 pick 6:

  My Pick:
 

So did this.

  Pack 3 pick 7:

  My Pick:
 
As did this, and it is a very nice trick too.

  Pack 3 pick 8:

  My Pick:
 

Sweet.

  Pack 3 pick 9:

  My Pick:
 

I hate-drafted him.  I really don't want to stare down "Pro: Your Team," if I can help it.

  Pack 3 pick 10:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 11:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 12:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 13:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 14:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 15:

  My Pick:


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I built the deck like this:

 

 

I felt pretty good about the deck going.  Round one, I was paired with Splldrong.  Nice name!  Game one I was on the draw.  I mulled a 1-land with Pouncer into a 1-land with Pouncer, and kept.  Not wise.  I never drew land.  Game two was a little different.  I kept a 3-forest, multiple spell hand that also had Pouncer.  I played two Forests while Spellingman played out an Island and a Mountain.  He played a Scepter of Insight, while I fetched a Mountain with Pouncer and played Nacatl Outlander.  He drew an extra card while I hit him and then played Rhox Brute.  He played (Skyclaw Thresh), but I had Soul's Fire to torch it.  I hit him down to twelve.

He dug for another card and passed the turn.  I hit him again and watched him draw then scoop'em.  I believe I sided in a Crasher or two for the Gleam of Resistance and maybe something else.  I kept an opener of Mountain, Forest, Outlander, Borderpost, Brute, Sojourner,  and Magma Spray.  He led with an Island.  I drew another Forest and used a Forest to play the Borderpost.  He had an Esper Stormblade off of a Swamp.  I draw a Crasher, play the Forest and drop the Outlander.  He plays a Swamp and passes to me.  I draw Sangrite Backlash and play a Mountain.  I attack with the Outlander and pass the turn.  He plays an Arcane Sanctum and attacks.  I cycle the Outlander, killing the Stoneblade, and drawing another Mountain.  I untap, play it, and run the Crasher out.  He takes my attack for four.  I pass.  He does nothing on his turn.  I attack again and he bounces the Crasher with Resounding Wave.  I play the Brute after combat and pass the turn. He concedes.

 

Next up was CHTennis. I win the dice roll and elect to be firsties.  I mull a two-land, no-on-color spell hand into a one land into a hand of Grixis Panorama, Mountain, Forest, Drag Down, Jund Ultimatum.  He mulls once.  I play a Mountain and he does also.  I draw another Mountain and drop Panorama.  I'm planning on hopefully curving into ultimatum and winning off of it, since I'm probably not winning otherwise.  He drops Jund Panorama.  I crack mine for a Swamp.  I draw Suicidal Charge and play a Forest.  He breaks his Pano for a Forest.  He plays no land, but has a Crasher of his own.  Thinking that I need to stay alive long enough to Ultimatum his world, I toast the Crasher.  I draw an Exploding Borders and play it.  I have two Mountains, two Swamps and one Forest in play.  He has a Nacatl Outlander of his own.  I play Spore Burst for three men.

He has a Forest and a Jund Hackblade.  He attacked with the 'blade and I blocked with two men.  I untapped, drew Blood Cultist and played her.  I passed with no other plays.  He had no plays.  I drew BBE and cascaded into the Borderpost.  I sent the elf and the 1/1 token.  He blocked Elf, and I pinged his man to get a counter.  I untapped and drew a Mountain.  I attacked with my team, then blew up two Forests and a Mountain with Ultimatum.  He had a Plains and a Knight of the Skyward Eye.  I drew Pouncer and played Suicidal Charge.  I attacked with my token, then popped Charge to ping his dude to death, as he could have the fourth land for pump if I didn't.  He played another Plains and passed.  I drew Absorb Vis.  I played the Pouncer and had him pounce alongside the token, dropping him to six.  He played Battlegrace Angel.  I swung with the team.  He blocked Pouncer and I Vis'd him out.

I may have sided in Rakeclaw Gargatuan for something (maybe Gleam).  I keep Swamp, Mountain, BBE, Ultimatum, Blood Cultist, Pouncer, and Absorb Vis.  I feel good against all but the fastest curves with this hand!  He leads with a Plains.  I draw a Plains and play a Mountain.  He has Sigiled Paladin, who can be a big problem for me.  I drop a Swamp after drawing Outlander. He beats down but has no other play.  I turn Vis into a Forest and promptly draw a second forest.  Okay, any combination of two Swamps and/or Mountains lets me assemble Voltron.  I play a Forest and the Cultist.  He attacks and lays out the Knight of the Skyward Eye again.  No mana for him though.

I draw a Mountain (yay).  BBE brings out a Magma Spray for his problem-child Sigiled Paladin.  I stay back on defense.  He has a third Plains, followed by (Paragon of Amesha).  I draw a Swamp.  Awesome!  Nacatl Outlander joins my side.  He plays nothing aside from another Plains.  I draw Magma Spray, lay land (2 away, as I stupidly played a Plains at one point!) and pass the turn again.  He plays Battlegrace Angel!  AWESOME!  I fetch the missing Mountain, and then draw Exploding Borders.  I use it to get an Island, play the Mountain, and pass the turn.  He hits me with Angel for five, dropping me to nine.  I untap and Ultimatum his team, then beat for five.  I follow with Borderpost.  He plays Glory of Warfare.  I hit him again.  He never plays another card and dies.

For Round three, I was matched with tsygna.  He had a spicy Bant deck by virtue of being the only Bant drafter.  Multiple Nacatls to start things off, lots of Exalted men, Rhox War Monk, and so forth.  I kept 2 Forest, BBE, Ult, Swamp, Pouncer and Island.  Not the best hand, but not bad.  He dropped a Forest to start things off, and I drew Gleam of Resistance, and played a Forest of my own.  He had Bant Pano, while I played a Swamp after drawing outlander.  I fetched a Mountain after he played another Forest and cracked for a Plains.  He had an Island and Talon Trooper.  I drew and played a Mountain, firing off BBE, who found Sangrite to take out his Trooper.  I cracked in for five.  He had a War Monk, and I replied with Brute that I had just drawn. He dropped a Lorescale Coatl, without a land for the turn.  I played a Swamp, bringing me to two lands of each type for Ultimatum.  He had Rhox Charger... I dropped the third Mountain and blew up his side of the board.  He took eleven on the ensuing attack.  Oblivion Ring ate my Brute.  I beat him down to one.  He untapped and scooped them up.

I believe I cut Suicidal for the Rakeclaw.  I am not certain though.  I kept Borderpost, 2 Mountains, Outlander, BBE, Borders, and Soul's Fire. He leads with a Nacatl.  I have the Borderpost.  He has another Nacatl and a Plains.  He hits me.  I play the Outlander and pass.  He has land and hits me.  I Magma Spray one guy, Sangrite the other and attack... only to be eaten by his Qasali Ambusher.  He hit me with the Ambusher and played out Courier's Capsule.  I had BBE, but whiffed with Magma Spray.  I stayed back to block.  He played a Borderpost and an ORing.  I ran Exploding Borders for a Swamp and played a Grixis Pano.  He cycled a Bant Sojourner and attacked with his Ambusher again.  I cracked the Pano for an Island and tried Drag Down on his Ambusher.  He played Gluttonous Slime to eat both of his men and hit me with it down to four life.  He followed with Jhessian Balmgiver.  I played a Forest, Spore Burst, and Soul's Fire to kill the stupid Balmgiver.  We traded our men, and he followed up with War Monk and had an Exalted man to make his next swing lethal. 

I keep a bad hand game three.  Forest, Island, Sangrite, Absorb Vis, Branching Bolt, Drag Down, and Rhox Brute... kind of an "If I get a Swamp or Mountain, I'm probably okay..."  I go Forest, opponent goes Island, I go Island (no land drawn), and he goes Forest.  I draw no land.  He draws no land.  I draw and play a second Forest.  He does also, with a Lorescale Coatl to make it better.  I draw Forest part three.  And play it.  Yuck.  He hits me.  I draw a Swamp!  He's still stuck at three lands.  I play the swamp and try a Drag Down on his man. He uses Resounding Wave to dodge it.  I cycled Vis into a Mountain.  Sangrite makes his snake go hide in his pants Graveyard for a while.  He plays a Nacatl, which is more of a pussy(cat) at this point with just Island/Forest to support it.  I have the Rhox Brute and the Outlander on my side.  He finds an Island, but no play.  I run a fatty Bull Cerodon out to smash face.  He fires out a Gluttonous Slime to devour his Nacatl and devour my Nacatl.  He still takes nine.  Courier's Capsule digs him up a Bant Panorama.  I attack with my team, than play out Worldheart Phoenix.  He drops an Elvish Visionary and I Branching Bolt it for the win.

My opponents did draft poorly in my mind as Red was absurdly open.  I like getting a deck that is either RGx or UBx.  WGx seems like the stains in my limited experience with it, but it can win a game now and again if you're the only WG drafter or get a lot of bombs (as Judah said in his article).   Aside from that though, you can see how nuts the format is, and how it can be a lot of fun.  If you haven't revisited Alara, do so now!