I find that I both like and dislike the serpentine draft. I definitely like the idea that it helps to even out the eliminations field a lot, in some cases. However, I find that I dislike it, because it seems a higher ranked alliance captain becomes much more likely to pick from withing the top 8, and the likelihood of a juggernaut first alliance becomes that much greater. (Although, it does tend to make for very interesting finals!
)
I think it might be interesting to see a reverse serpentine draft, with the 8th alliance captain picking first, then going up to the first alliance and then back down. If FIRST is going with a serpentine draft with the goal of leveling the field, this might possibly be one option.