Re: 2015 Champs Predictions
 

Updated version for those of you who don't look at previous comments.

Re: 2015 Champs Predictions
 

grabbing all 7 cans and making 5 stacks lock you into making it through quarters, and semis, then you obviously win finals. The only possible way for you to not make it out of quarters or semis is to do the absolute bare minimum (i.e. 5 stacks and nothing else) and for all of your opponents to be stacking through the roof.

Example: there are 4 alliances in semis. Alliance 1 has the fastest can grabbers, alliances 2 and 3 have the next fastest, alliance 4 doesn't have any. Alliance 1 grabs all 4 cans in every match and puts up 5 stacks, alliance 4 grabs zero in every match. In order for alliance 1 to not make the finals alliances 2 and 3 have to grab all 4 cans and put up 7 stacks when they play against the 4th alliance, and they have to go 2 and 2 on the cans when they play each other building 5 stacks a piece. If any of these conditions are not met, alliance 1 has a free by into the finals.

Re: 2015 Champs Predictions
 

Its nice to see 3130 on the updated list. If there is a MN robot that makes it to Einstein this year I would bet it would be 3130.

Re: 2015 Champs Predictions
 

I think we saw this at MSC, it doesn't matter how fast the can grabber is if you don't race anybody. The best can grabber wasn't the fastest, but one that could stack afterwards with the newly acquired cans. If you can get both speed and stacking(see 548) even better. There were very few races at MSC in the tournament, and most teams didn't want to risk messing up their average by racing and messing up their cycles. I don't think we will see many races until divisional finals and Einstein finals.

The other thing two can grabbers mess up is auto. If you want to run auto, you can't move your can grabber on the bump side without careful planning or in Tele op. You move into the space the yellow totes end up. Octo match 5 at MSC we raced 469 because we had no choice to move, fortunately we did get the can. Teams are going to have to decide if they want auto, or grab from the bump side.

Re: 2015 Champs Predictions
 

Given your Newton prediction, so do I.

Re: 2015 Champs Predictions
 

At the highest level regionals, the finalists have been the most predictable in years. Yes there have been upsets but they've mostly been at regionals where the very top teams have had OPRs in the 70s and 80s. Once the OPRs go past 90 the events go to form. It's an unfortunate aspect of this year's game.

Re: 2015 Champs Predictions
 

What if the picking robot IS the fastest can grabber in the division?
I'm not saying I disagree with you, I'd probably still pick the next fastest can grabber, but there are other options. If I were 1114 and I had the fastest can grabber in my division, I might pick 148 for the pure scoring they offer.
Also, teams on Einstein might choose to forgo the direct can battle in favor of a 2-2 split of cans. Anything is possible. Maybe some of these team's can grabbers break and they lose to an alliance with a slower can grab.

I also really like to root for the underdog (I'm one of THOSE people that thinks serpentine drafts are AWESOME).

Re: 2015 Champs Predictions
 

Having seen 1619 in action... if they fall to be a 3rd bot on an alliance, then their robot is broken (the only reason they'd seed outside the top 8) or a lot of scouts need to find new jobs.

I expect 1619 to challenge 2056 and 2451 for the top seed.

Re: 2015 Champs Predictions
 

+1

Also, someone should make like a March Madness Bracket thing for this (I know there has been one in the past, not sure if it's happening again though).

Re: 2015 Champs Predictions
 

My completely unbiased predictions for 2015:

Archimedes: 1711, 1711, 1711, 1711
Carson: 1711, 1711, 1711, 1711
Carver: 1711, 1711, 1711, 1711
Curie: 1711, 1711, 1711, 1711
Galileo: 1711, 1711, 1711, 1711
Hopper: 1711, 1711, 1711, 1711
Newton: 1711, 1711, 1711, 1711
Tesla: 1711, 1711, 1711, 1711

Finalists: 1711, 1711, 1711, 1711
Winners: 1711, 1711, 1711, 1711 after pulling off an amazing upset

:D

In all seriousness though, I do expect for some serious upsets. Not just in Einsteins, but in qualifications and divisions as well. Some of the divisions run deep with great teams; expect unexpected alliances to form and win.

Re: 2015 Champs Predictions
 

There's no way the 1711, 1711, 1711, 1711 alliance would lose to the 1711, 1711, 1711, 1711 alliance. 1711 is just too good at stacking and 1711 would definitely beat 1711 to the cans every time. Unless 1711 missed the can, then maybe 1711 and 1711 would have a chance.
I don't think 1711, 1711, and 1711 would be able to get together in Tesla. And 1711 as a third pick in Hopper? Not even possible. They're more likely to get a robot like 1711 on the backside of the draft than 1711.

Be a little more realistic with your predictions Jaywalker1711.

Re: 2015 Champs Predictions
 

Dang, that's more clones than Melee's character list.
Also, this is why I'm not making predictions of the "what 4 robots will win each division" variety.

Re: 2015 Champs Predictions
 

It is impossible to accurately predict alliances, let alone the winning ones. Instead of listing off random hypotheticals, we should do more in-depth analysis of the teams! Or we could just wait...

Re: 2015 Champs Predictions
 

Blasphemy! This is FRC we must over analyze everything!

Re: 2015 Champs Predictions
 

Still to their advantage to get the other fastest grabber, they're not racing the rest of their division anymore, they're racing the other division winners, 1114 would have to comfortably have the fastest most reliable grabber in the world to feel safe with no other grabbers on their alliance, if they ever don't go 5 and 5 with the cans they lose that match immediately, that's a big risk to take for an alliance that puts up 8 stacks just for show.