Re: [FiM] Michigan State Championship Preview
 

The stream was a different type of roboZone. The episode on Sunday will be the same style (recording, format, analysis, etc) as the district episodes were (to the best of my knowledge)

Re: [FiM] Michigan State Championship Preview
 

If anyone wants a lesson on how to play some intense defense in Stronghold, be sure to check out the jobs that both 6086 and 5150 did in the finals. The amount of disruption and havoc they handed out was absolutely game-changing.

I want to send a special thanks to our alliance partners. Thanks to 6086 for stepping in when we needed them most, and providing a performance that made a win possible. 1718 was, somehow, a sleeper that we were more than excited to pick up so late in the draft. 67, it's pretty wild to think that we've somehow never played in the elims together, maybe we should try it more often?

Thanks to all volunteers as well. Without you such great events simply aren't possible.

Re: [FiM] Michigan State Championship Preview
 

Thanks for picking us! We were somewhat surprised we fell so far in the draft, but ecstatic with the alliance that picked us up. To be on an alliance with 2 legends was phenomenal! It was especially sweet to win our 1st State Championship with the team I got started with (RUSH). While it was painful to sit out the last 2 matches without being able to help control our fate, it was great to be able to pull up a team as good as 6086 to take over - you guys played tremendous defense!

I also want to thank all the volunteers - while no one was thrilled about how late everything ran, they had to stay even later to pack everything up. Thanks for all your hard work and dedication to putting on a great event.

Re: [FiM] Michigan State Championship Preview
 

What a weekend. I had a blast. Winning MSC is a dream I've been chasing since 2009 and it felt so good to finally achieve that. Thanks to all the volunteers who made this event happen, to the sponsors who supported the event, and to FiM for putting on quite the show. I look forward to watching the 1 hour special coverage.

27 - 20+ years playing in MI without an alliance together? It finally happened! 3 years in a row in the finals at MSC and 2 wins speaks to the caliber of team that RUSH has really become. Thanks for selecting us. It was great to work with you again. I enjoyed winning with the same people I knew when I was a student and meeting the new ones that have helped the team become what it is today. The number of alumni you retain is remarkable.

1718 - What a steal of a pick, can't believe you were still there. You guys rocked and we would never have set the MI high score without your super accurate defense shot. I hope you can resolve your drive train issues for St. Louis.

6086 - Wow. You earned the win. What an phenomenal performance from a rookie team. When I heard Pi was out I thought it was over for us. So glad you proved me wrong.

5150 - Most consistent and clean defense I saw in the playoffs. You cut down our scoring like no one else could have without drawing the multitude of penalties so many other teams got. You put together an alliance that proved you have better scouting and sense of how the game will play out than many other teams your age.

5460 - I knew how awesome you guys were when I saw you put up 9 high goals in a qualifying match. What a fantastic robot. I'm glad I got a chance to talk to some of your mentors before alliance selection. You seem like you have it together and I look forward to seeing what comes out of your team in the future.

2137 - A gamble of a pick after the robot issues you faced in qualifying - but you pulled it off. When you're on you are on. And you killed it throughout the entire playoffs. Glad you were able to get everything together. Great performance.


Also congrats to Andrew Spiece - an award well deserved.

Re: [FiM] Michigan State Championship Preview
 

I was very surprised by some of the picking. Many teams (1718, 2834, and quite a few more) went much later then I anticipated. There were also teams not picked that I thought would (68, 1701, 3539, off the top of my head). I would love to see all the captains pick lists and see how the scouting differs from team to team. How high was 1718 on 27+67's list?

Re: [FiM] Michigan State Championship Preview
 

I'll just say we certainly felt they would be gone in the first round. They might have had a couple mishaps Friday, but Thursday, most of Friday, and Saturday morning showed they were an extremely effective robot, and their contributions to help get us to the finals won't be forgotten.

And on 6086's behalf, we would've been very happy to grab them as a third partner if the rest of the draft had unfolded a bit differently as well.

Re: [FiM] Michigan State Championship Preview
 

I have to say the amount of talent at this competition was stellar and the entire competition was full of excitement. I am still very surprised that there were no more upsets in the playoffs besides the one big and obvious one.

The ranking system seemed to carry a lot of teams towards the top and also push a lot of talented teams deep in the rankings. This made scouting more important then any other year before and made alliance selection very very interesting to watch.

Congrats to 27, 67, 1718, and 6086 on a fantastic win!