Re: Who are your top team picks this year?
 

There were a few things we took into account from what we have seen ourselves, and what others were telling us.

254-Solid Machine..obviously. Great. Fast. Skilled drivers. Good history. Can always trust them to know how to win.
968-Again. Fast. Incredible shooter. However, had less skilled drivers.

Our thoughts. 254 had better drivers. 968 had a better robot.
I knew of people on both teams
I was friends with Cory McBride, and i knew he would give me the honest truth about his robot and his confidence.
I also knew of Travis Covington on 968, and i had heard much about him that i liked.
So either way, we were going to be good because we knew the teams would cooperate.

The reason we wanted to choose 968 more was because they had a two ball wide collection system, while 254's wasnt as big. 968 also had an agitator in their base that allowed the balls to pass through easier.

However, if 176 didnt use that strategy, we would have selected 254 because of their driver experience and the overall team experience.

Re: Who are your top team picks this year?
 

Nope. We were 6-1. 968 was 4-3.

Re: Who are your top team picks this year?
 

Oh... I misread Lil Lavery's post thinking that he said that 254 was behind 968...

Re: Who are your top team picks this year?
 

254 was "behind" 968 on some teams "pick lists", but seeding wise, 254 was far ahead of 968.

Re: Who are your top team picks this year?
 

We really werent sure how far they would fall. We thought if we were below 229 and 254 we had a shot in the dark at em...but we had to take em then, because they were the best available, and one of the best teams in the world anyways. Just werent sure if theyd be that under the radar because of the lower seeding.

Re: Who are your top team picks this year?
 

I confess to not reading all the recent posts to this thread, and I didn't make it to championships. I did get the opportunity to see both 254 and 968 in regional tournaments and think that the 'bots were just about identical. The only difference I noted (before championships) is that 254's driving team was smoother, faster, and just looked more experienced. Both were great teams last year.

Re: Who are your top team picks this year?
 

I noticed that team 254 was shooting from the ground a lot and it didn't seem like something they were used to doing. Shooting from the ground took a lot of adjusting for them while 968 stuck to their strategy of ramp scoring.

You also have to remember that 254 has their national finalist reputation from last year (and not to mention their many regional victories/awards). This made them a huge target for anyone who faced them. I remember seeing them lose parts on the field because the defense against them was brutal.

I am not too sure about 25 and 1503 though. They were both primarily hp fed robots. I know 1503 could pick up off the ground, but they generally stuck to their human load routine. I would have loved to see 25,111, and 195. That would have been an unbelievable trio to have to face.

Re: Who are your top team picks this year?
 

We made it a point to shift almost exclusively to shooting from the floor during practice between SVR and nationals--we didn't think anyone would be dumb enough to let us on top of the ramp. We were incredibly sucessful doing it throughout the quals and through part of the elims (until the below happened, and we put a dead battery in our robot vs wildstang), but eventually teams figured out they needed to hit us in auton, and if they hit us enough from the side, eventually they'd end up on top of our wheels and stuck inside of our robot (Probably our most glaring "weakness", and one that 968 had a fantastic solution for, that gave them a major advantage over the competition)

968 was very successful at taking advantage of this. They were able to go on the ramp almost at will, as teams tried to double team 25 most of the time. We stopped scouting after we got eliminated, but I think you'd find that 968 scored more points than 25 throughout the elims, due to the above.

Re: Who are your top team picks this year?
 

I have no problem not being the top dog in a first comp if it means we get a win. 968 was the big man on campus when it came to scoring points on our team. I do not know why teams came after us when 968 scored at least 60% of our teams points. In the semi final on the big field 968 unloaded 7 balls from the ground before any team got near them. I tip my hat to them.

Re: Who are your top team picks this year?
 

I would agree with this statement. Matt from 254 is an excellent driver, no doubt. I should mention though that the qualification matches on Newton were the first time our driver had ever driven the robot in competition. I'd like think he stepped up big time and became an excellent driver by the end of finals. There was an understanding between us too, that it was better to stop and think about your next move than to arbitrarily zoom around the field while you find/determine your next move.

Re: Who are your top team picks this year?
 

Yeah Travis, he was a great driver by the end of finals. Hes got a ton of experience now. And i could tell he was picking up a ton of minor things throughout matches as we started getting deeper. So all in all, we got an incredible pick, with a great driver, better than we first expected.

I remember, he even picked up 195 in a match, that was truly incredible.


And to what Cory and Shaun said, its true. 968 was the workhorse of this alliance. We planned for everything to happen. We knew we would take on the double teams and every single defensive robot. But did we care? Definitely not, it was our plan to be a distraction. It couldnt have worked any better. All 3 bots in our group had their job, each executed perfectly.

Re: Who are your top team picks this year?
 

Between that move in Newton SF-1 and 25 saving 968 from falling in Newton F-2, that is why I was incredibly impressed with that alliance (who cares about the A-Bomb :p ).
25 was definately the best decoy I've ever seen, especially considering 25 still scored tons of points (last second volleys in just about every match during the eliminations).

As for 254 and the ramp, at first it the Poofs didn't look as comfortable off of it, then they looked genius. During QF 2 on Newton, 229 waited on their own ramp for 254 to ramp up during every match, and in every match 254 lined up to shoot from the floor. 254's alliance partner, 71, also did the same thing (71's greatest damage was typically on top of the ramp as well). Their opponent, 229, while playing mostly defense, did score some points, and not from their usual spot on the ramp either. 365 on Galileo spent a vast majority of it's time on the ramp, but during the Galileo SFs, when 177 was camping the ramp defensively, 365 lined up from the floor and fired. 365, 71, 254, and 968 also all shot from the floor effectively during autonomous. The only two teams (that I can recall) that ONLY shot from the ramp at CMP were 222 and 1646, and that was because their designs actually would not allow them to shoot from anywhere else. At the Championship event, it was critical to be able to spread the defense out, making teams that religiously shot from the ramp often unfavorable, as they were easy to predict, and could cause alot of traffic around the base of the ramp (where teams often prefered to fire). The 296, 217, 522 alliance shows very well how an alliance could spread out a defense. 296 could fire from all the way off of the side of the ramp (almost in front of the corner goals), while 217 could shoot from in front or on top of the ramp, and 522 could shoot from about mid-field. During their offensive period, the 2 defensive bots had to chose which bots to defend, and especially considering 296 could use the ramp walls, and 217 both the walls and the slope, to make it more difficult for the defense to move them, and nearly impossible for the defense to block their shots, it made them a very very difficult alliance to stop. Thus why you saw 968 and 25 trying to outscore them in the 98-94 F-2 match.

Re: Who are your top team picks this year?
 

ERV Team 204
MOE Team 365
Dawgma Team 1712

Re: Who are your top team picks this year?
 

From what i've seen, which...umm...isnt much...1126/SparX. They dominate. Ive discovered the "Thunderchickens", i have to give them credit for thier name and the fact that they won the freaking national championship. :yikes: :yikes:

Re: Who are your top team picks this year?
 

just out of curiosity, when you choose your top teams for this year what is it determined by, how well they did last year, or by the connections you've made with them, every year i see top team choices of the year, and ive always wondered how you all determine your choices:) thanks.

Re: Who are your top team picks this year?
 

Well I guess I'll be the first one to share this year, in no particular order.

1730
1114
67
234
85
868
1023
503
1015
868

Re: Who are your top team picks this year?
 

These threads tend to not be very scientific.
I wouldn't put much merit in them.
They're just popularity threads really.

Re: Who are your top team picks this year?
 

My post wasn't based on popularity.

Re: Who are your top team picks this year?
 

popularity?!?! i guess that could be fun, but whatever the Mississauga regional is in like 7 days and im soo excited, deffinetly going to be cheering for the teams that places second place with our team last year. Good luck everyone!

Re: Who are your top team picks this year?
 

Ok, so I've only gone to the Florida Regional, so I don't have a top 10, but I definitely have to say that 1270 was really good, and anyone that went to the Florida Regional knows that team 86 was great. ^_^

Re: Who are your top team picks this year?
 

The thread will certainly make them popular.

Re: Who are your top team picks this year?
 

I think the amount of members active on Chiefdelphi makes them popular.

Re: Who are your top team picks this year?
 

This would be my top 10:
111
1114
118
25
254
75
71
118
175
195

Other notables:
1503, 296, 501, 330, 1126, 229, 217, ect.... (I could go on for a while)

Re: Who are your top team picks this year?
 

501 did well in their first regional but had to switch drivers, so if they get their old drivers back they could be a serious force. 107 has a good double ramp and decent scoring capabilities, 111 has great scoring and a perhaps subpar ramp. 648 has good scoring capabilities and can push people around on defence if nessisary(also autonomous mode >.> <.< who me? Biased?). There was another team I think it was 1710 who was a very good scoring machine at the MWR, I could see them doing fairly well at nat'ls. Every one of these teams still have questions to answer before nationals.

Re: Who are your top team picks this year?
 

175 - Buzz Robotics:
Best robot at the BAE/Granite State Regional.
111 - Wildstang, 254 - the Cheesy Poofs, 25 - Raider Robotix, & 71 - Beatty:
4 teams that always build high quality robots.
45 - Technokats:
K.I.S.S. at it's best (Go's along with their theme, now that I think about it...)
1501 - Team THRUST:
See their video of all the bonus points they scored in the Boilermaker thread, they have an awesome lift system.
461 - Westside Boiler Invasion:
Surprisingly great robot after graduating half of the team last year.
1747 - Harrison Robotics:
Great team with little to no support from their high school.

These are just my personal favorites. I'd have to expand this list alot to show all of the teams I think are capable of winning it all.

Re: Who are your top team picks this year?
 

umm I would have to say

65
503
1038
123
68
33
254
1126
4
70

and thats not including us (66).