Alliance picks declined
 

From what I have seen at most regionals, there are 2 or 3 top teams usually with team #1 picking team #2 and winning. Has anyone seen where team #2 has declined to form their own alliance and, if so, how did it work for them?

Re: Alliance picks declined
 

This happened in 2013 at champs. 1678 seeded first on Curie and was declined by many of the other alliance captains. This disrupted many of the other alliances in the division.

Re: Alliance picks declined
 

I think they were trying to break some powerhouse potential alliances rather than be with the teams they picked.. a lot of scorched earth

Re: Alliance picks declined
 

On Galileo last year, 2836 seeded first, and 2056 second.

2836 picks 2056. 2056 declines. 2836 picks 525 (seed #3). 525 declines. 2836 picks 2067 (seed #4). 2067 accepts.

2056 picks 330 (seed 11) and dominates the field, winning the division. (In finals against alliance 6)

525 picks seed #37.

2836/2067 lose in the semis.
525 loses in the quarters.

Re: Alliance picks declined
 

In the few I have watched the #1 alliance did not win. This is just a observation I have no hard data at this point

Re: Alliance picks declined
 

In the CWU PNW District event, the 1st seed picked the 3rd seed, knowing they would decline, just to separate the 2nd and 3rd seed getting together, who could probably have won the event. The 1st and 2nd seed won't always be the best pick for an alliance, and just choosing your alliance based on ranking may not always be the best idea.

Re: Alliance picks declined
 

We would have been thrilled if 1717 or 2056 had accepted our invite. However, they hadn't worked through the game theoretic outcomes about what was going to happen as other teams declined us as well, which we were pretty sure was going to happen. Fortunately, the Curie field was very deep and 148 was a perfect match for us.

If you don't seed 1st, don't expect the higher seeds to roll over for you so that you can build your own desired alliance. They will control the draft however they can. Qualifications matter.

Re: Alliance picks declined
 

At the Finger Lakes Regional, team 5240 (#4 alliance captain) was declined by 20 (#5 alliance captain). Team 20 selected 639 and 1405 and won the regional.

Re: Alliance picks declined
 

A Similar situation happened at Reading Event this year when 133 (Rank 3) declined an invitation from 4905 (Rank 2) to form their own alliance. 133 (with 4761 and 4474) lost against 4905 (with 3930 and 1699) in the Semis.

Re: Alliance picks declined
 

Data for 2015:



The one event that the 7th seed won was Finger Lakes, won by 4039, 3015, and 378, who are all excellent teams. IIRC 4039 was broken for a while during qualifiers, so they were a much lower seed (7th) than what they could have been.

Re: Alliance picks declined
 

This is great data. Thanks.

Re: Alliance picks declined
 

Actually the number one seed 319 invited the number 3 ranked 133. 133 declined which made them unavailable for the number 2 ranked 4905.
319 selected the 5 seed, 1058, and with a 3rd pick of rookie team 6161 went on to defeat the number 2 alliance in the finals.

Re: Alliance picks declined
 

I've been wondering about this decline for a while. Not sure why 133 wouldn't want 319.

Re: Alliance picks declined
 

We also had to decline 2228 (#5 captain) who was great, but we thought pairing with 3015 and 378 was the perfect alliance to have a shot at finals. The decline was a stressful decision because we needed both teams to have the best chance at gold, and either could have been picked before we got the chance. I think this move was only successful because of the depth and parity of skill of the teams at FLR. There weren't really any huge outliers so any alliance had a shot. But 2015 was a pretty distinct year for alliance selection strategy and its effect on finishing position. This and years other than 2015 will have different success rates for low ranked alliances.

Re: Alliance picks declined
 

Happened at MAR Champs last year. #1 seed(316) picked #2 seed(1640) and 1640 declined. 316's alliance actually went on to win.