Re: Capabilities Needed to be Picked at Champs
 

If we were to end up captaining an alliance in our division, I'd pick teams in the following order:
1st pick: 254,1241,987,best unblockable outerworks shooter.
2nd pick: Best high goal shooter available. Doesnt matter if they are defendable.
3rd pick: Best low goal robot available that has good drivers.

The reason for the 3rd pick is to play defense and feed balls to shooter bots crazy fast. 1st and 2nd pick is for triple offense focused play with robots that take turns defense mid match when balls are not readily available. The specific teams I listed in the first pick are there to force defense to be played on them making it 2.5 shooters vs 2 in a match. The reason the shooters are chosen first is because the weakest one still needs to be able to bring it to the best in case one of the top two break and needs to sit out a match. Of course all this is subject to change depending on teams in our division and what most robots in the division lean towards.

Re: Capabilities Needed to be Picked at Champs
 

Different alliance captains are going to want different things. But there are some universal traits that all teams will have to get picked at world champs.
1. They have a consistent crossing auto.
2. They do not break down, or get stuck on defenses.
3. They can cross at least two classes of defenses.
4. They have experience with getting and staying on the batter. Meaning they've done it for most if not all of their matches.
5. And most importantly, they have good drivers. If you're the third or fourth robot on an alliance chances are you're playing defense, which means that your driving ability is what will get you higher on most lists.

If you gave the controls of 254's robot over to someone who didn't have any experience with the robot, chances are it would not perform well at all. What makes a team successful in matches (among other things) is the amount of practice a drive team has.

So if your team is consistent, gets on the batter, has a decent auto, and has good drivers, you should have no problem getting picked.

Again these are just my predictions/opinions...

Re: Capabilities Needed to be Picked at Champs
 

What about robots with spy box high goal autonomous routines? It would make more sense to pick one of these because it contributes to the hardest thing to get (capture) and still scores 10 points. As opposed to a robot that has a 10 point crossing autonomous, which is less valuable (IMO) because the breach is going to happen anyway.

Re: Capabilities Needed to be Picked at Champs
 

At the extremely competitive level that champs will be played at, I don't think the top teams will have a problem getting 8 balls into the tower, an extra one won't make/break a match. Crossing a defense will be more reliable, and it's what is more achievable for teams around for those picks.
Again, some alliance captains might disagree with my opinion, but I'd take the robot that crosses, because it's probably going to be a safer bet.

Re: Capabilities Needed to be Picked at Champs
 

Where do you think a robot that could do 6 high goals (none in auto), cross 2 classes of defenses in auto, and scale (no foot print scale) would get picked?

Re: Capabilities Needed to be Picked at Champs
 

If the robot in question does so every match then it will likely be picking.

Re: Capabilities Needed to be Picked at Champs
 

What teams will be looking for will depend on seeding. Higher seeded alliances will value reliability over taking chances. However, I think the best 2nd and 3th picks will be robots that can reliably do both of the Cat B defenses (ideally in autonomous), get on the batter, and potentially hang. The Cat B defenses take the longest time to do. It's almost guaranteed either the alliance captain or the first pick will be low bots. Being able to do the drawbridge is nice, but sally door is also nice. Teams are starting to choose the Sally Door over the Drawbridge because visibility is now being valued more than the ability to stop a breach. Breaches are going to happen no matter what you throw out there.

Re: Capabilities Needed to be Picked at Champs
 

To this point, the Sally Port is so much easier to "tap" than the drawbridge. 4607 can damage the Sally Port quickly, but the Drawbridge just sucks for everybody.

Re: Capabilities Needed to be Picked at Champs
 

Anywhere from 1st pick to not picked depending on consistency...

Re: Capabilities Needed to be Picked at Champs
 

Yet I've seen a few events where the last picks have scored high autonomously...

I believe that most high seeded alliances at champs will have two powerhouse boulder scorers, and will choose their third robot for defense (the backup might be another scoring bot though). Lower seeds will see a mix of defensive/offensive third robots, but if they choose to play more offense they will have to be able to outgun the two powerhouses while handling defense. My prediction is that most alliances will have a dedicated defense robot, either in the courtyard or the neutral zone.

Re: Capabilities Needed to be Picked at Champs
 

Another factor that comes into play with regards to the value of a defensive robot is whether the GDC decides to raise the health of the tower. I see it as fairly likely that they bring it up, or else a capture will happen basically every match. If the tower health is raised to the point where 2 strong high goal shooters can't bring it down alone, the value of offensive capabilites in a 3rd robot goes up.

If it's brought up a little bit then a defense robot becomes more valuable since the capture will be preventable. As it stands, a defensive robot, even the best, will have trouble preventing a capture. 3 robots all score during or right after auton and the defense robot now has to prevent 2/3 elite scoring machines from getting 5 boulders into the tower. This is doubtful especially considering how unblockable some teams are.

Re: Capabilities Needed to be Picked at Champs
 

I don't see them changing it. And I also don't see a capture happening nearly every Quals match. The average ability of teams is much lower than you're anticipating in my opinion. Watching Quals matches from past years at champs shows lots of teams who fail to do much of anything.

Re: Capabilities Needed to be Picked at Champs
 

I went to Champs when there were 4 fields. I keep forgetting there are 8... we were also a rookie team at the time so every team there seemed like they "had it all". I guess you could say it's been too long :p

Re: Capabilities Needed to be Picked at Champs
 

If you don't drive well, you won't get picked. And if you do, your alliance won't get very far. Good driving is important whether you're playing offense or defense, and some offensive robots may need to adapt to a defensive role quickly as eliminations comes around should they find themselves lower ranked than they would like and on an alliance that already has enough firepower in their first two robots.

I strongly recommend teams use the few weeks before champs to polish their driving.

Re: Capabilities Needed to be Picked at Champs
 

One other factor on crossing in auto: be able to cross something other than the low bar or rough terrain. Of course crossing the DB or SP would be super cool...