2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

What alliance of any three robots would be absolutely unbeatable this year? I know it's only week 2 but this is based on what we've seen so far.

Mine would be 217, 1114, and 118. Maybe 58, 118, and 121?

Who is your ultimate alliance??

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

i think that the ultimate alliance has to include 3 hurdlers, just in case one gets blocked all the time.
For know, mine is 1114, 16 and 217. (if 217 and 16 improve their hybrid)
By what i can see, 330 could easily replace any of those, but i haven't seen it yet

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

I'd like to see what it would be like if 816, 1114, and 103 were on an alliance. I can only dream.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

1114, 103, 1625

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

Edit: nevermind. 931, 217, 288. Green aah-liii-aance :)

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

121, 1519, 1565 (us)!! only because we all look the same and have different drive systems XD

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

Personally, I think you should go with to fast hurdlers and the fastest lap bot ever. They should all have good hybrid modes and even a defensive hybrid thrown in there. These are the alliances you will see do well in coming regionals and nats.

I really enjoyed watching 1114's alliance at Midwest. They had excellent strategy and had 2041 bring the 2nd ball around while 1114 had the other, and 1114 would hurdle the 1st ball and turn around and take the ball 2041 had left there and hurdle it. I thought this was a great idea and use of the 3rd robot on a team.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

1114, 217, and 148

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

Personally, I'm going to see how the rest of the regionals pan out. Don't worry I'll come back to this.:D

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

You are all looking to the past. What about the teams who have action plans in place to either improve to or to exceed the levels of the best robots out there? The best teams never settle for the status quo, but keep looking for that edge that will turn a good robot into a great robot. The students of 2062 have taken on an ambitious improvement schedule that when complete could push that team up to where the Chickens are or beyond.

We will have to wait and see but I know these young men can turn this bot around into a great one. Yes, it will be a bit of a time crunch doing all the work at the regional but we have come through in the past and will this year also. Wisconsin regional here we come!!!

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

Personally I'd love to see 71,118,148 vs. 1114,217, 330. That'd be an epic match...

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

This match gets my popcorn poppin' based on the regionals so far! :D

1114 217 449 vs 103 118 1980

The Sim-Chicken-Robot Project vs the Cybersonic Robo Brigade

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

39, 1114, 118
or
39, 1726, 842, this might actully happen in AZ

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

haha, I really hope so, that would be quite epic!

I think any alliance that has 1114 and 217 paired up will have a very good chance of winning just about any match they play. 1024 would be a good third, they seem very capable of doing anything that is required of them (hurdling, lapping, racking up points in auto, etc.) Keep in mind that we still haven't seen the pink robot or the 254/968 robots yet!

As for ultimate cool robot alliance: 1501, 16, and 148. I would seriously love to see that.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

Grant... your dream came true in St. Louis.

Qualification Match 62 had the red alliance looking all green, as you can see here on The Blue Alliance.

Andy B.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

Coolest match i ever played in... all you could hear from that stands was "GREEEN ALLIANCE!!"

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

1114, 118, and 1024
Joey

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

Too bad it's impossible for three teams all in the top 8 to pair up ;)

It's far too early to cast my vote for ultimate alliance yet, I think I'll need to see how the other 5 weeks of Regionals play out first. I do believe it will be a shooter, arm, and herder/racer alliance though.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

It's too early. Maybe around Week 3, I'll weigh in. Actually...Hold that, between the last week of regionals and the Championship.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

As of now I'd have to say 1114, 573, and 148 but that could change.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

Since 217 and 1114 are both able to scoop the ball up immediately after hurdling, a 3rd hurdler might be ineffective. I would think they would rather have a racebot like 148 as their 3rd partner.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

85, thunderchickens, 148

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

from wat i have seen so far i think that 217...111....and...either of the martians(70 or 494) would dominate overdrive

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

You all forgot the ultimate sleeper who can do everything well 2062

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

Perhaps so, but the question is not about individual teams. It's about alliances. What generally wins competitions is not a robot's ability to "do everything", but the team's ability to work effectively with others.

Doing everything well is often less effective than doing one or two things exceptionally well. The RoboChickenPack alliance at St. Louis had a team with exceptional speed and agility, a team with exceptional ball-handling ability, and a team with exceptional tactical skills. They won against alliances with very good robots that individually did everything well...just not as exceptionally well.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

1114 1024 and 103

i wonder if 2056 is any good this year, 1114 and 2056 complemented each other to form an almost unstopable alliance (3 contests won, only 3 losses during elims, Waterloo Finals match 1, GTR semi's match 2, and IRI, i think Quarterfinals.)

check back with me tomorrow, i might have a totally diffrent alliance...

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

Just a friendly reminder...

Plugging your own team for the ultimate alliance is like saying that your report is the best in the class and should get an A just because you wrote it. Neither is necessarily true. If you haven't competed yet, you're self-grading the report before the teacher does--and if you've seen "A Christmas Story", you know what can happen with that.

I'm not saying that you don't have the best robot, I'm saying that you'll need to show that it deserves a place on the Ultimate Alliance.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

1114, Team X, Team Y

Break out your lotto number drawing machines because it just doesn't matter.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

I would go with 1114, 16, and 148 for my week 1 alliance. Two of the best hurdlers of week 1 and one of the fastest lap bots of week 1. There still plenty of regionals left and I am sure more great bots will emerge as the weeks go on.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

It most certainly does matter, the 2nd alliance at MWR played very close matches against the 3rd alliance, even defeating them once.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

Dang I just looked at my original post and I accidentaly wrote 118 for my first ultimate alliance. I meant 148 the robowranglers.

So mine would be 217, 1114, and 148.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

Way too early to tell. I'll weigh in during Week 7.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

I'd like to see some robots play catch. Get my team, another catapult and a team that could dampen the ball. Get the 2 balls flying around the field so fast the refs won't be able to count it.
So, anyone know of another quick catapult? :P

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

From what I saw last week, mine is

1114, 121, and 25. But, this will all change in the coming weeks.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

I have to admit that was my favorite match!! Extremely fun to play in. Really enjoyed working with you guys!!!!!!!!

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

Heh, noticing any trends in the choices? I'd say 80%+ of the posts in this thread mention 1114, 217, or both.

I sent our lead mentor the video of QF4.1 (i think) from MWR, with 1114 scoring about 7 hurdles... he's been having nightmares since everywhere we compete, we compete against them... (or hopefully WITH them).

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

1114,217,1625
sim-chicken-ovation

1114,217,16
the sim chicken squad

based on week 1

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

Believe me you'll have to prove yourself to get mentioned by another team in this thread, i'm surprised my teams been mentioned after not to good of a show at chicago.

but when you see a well respected person from an elite team mention your robot as part of the "ultimate" alliance the recognition is a great feeling.

so prove yourself worthy :]

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

hey i have on question what type of alliance is the utlimate

three hurdlers all fast

or two hurdlers one lapbot

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

From what I have witnessed, 2 epic hurdlers and 1 very quick lapbot seem to do the best. But if you have 3 hurdlers that are all fast, designating one of them as a lap bot will also work. That's what we did at MWR and it worked very well.

of course, having 3 swerves didn't hurt :cool:

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

yeah that was my original idea, three hurdlers all really fast could do the same job and on top of that if one of them breaks down its a realitively small loss becuase the desinated lap bot could just start hurdling.

however the only disadvantage i can find(its not too big either) to having another hurdler is that you would have another tall obstruction of your view while trying to hurdle; meanwhile if you had a small low lapbot you could easily just bob and weave through jams and no matter what happens you can easily rack up points and to the hurdlers there will only be 4 other bots in their way instead of 5

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

The ultimate alliance is as follows...

the ulitmate hurderler... aka 1114, 118... a fast team w/ easy pick up, great drivers, and easy hurdeling...

the ulitmate hybrid placers... aka a team who can knock off the ball in hybrid + pass 2-5 lines in hybrid as well as hurdling + placing during the match... *40, 126 from who i've seen...

The ulitmate hurdler/placer... this would be a team such as 121, 1519 who can do 2-4 lines in auto then during tele-op can hurdle 4+ times a match as well as do fast laps and be able to place on the overpass no matter what side of the field they are on...


So in the end its 3 hurdling teams with 2 placer bots, and all 3 bots doing 2-5 lines in auto and knocking at least 1 ball off if not both...

=D

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

stricly from week one...

1114- speed and ease with hurdling

121- hurdle a good amount of times, and can place at the end

148- very quick lap runner (b/c there are only two balls anyway)

my $0.02

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

1114 just dominates.
30-40 points in hybrid and 5-7 hurdle is 100 point only by 1 team
not many matches excluding 1114 go up to 100

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

Unrealistic: 1114, 330, and 148 (if they added a knocker)
Realistic: 1114, 330, and any team that can knock but won't get penalties.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

1114-best launcher out there
1124-Strongest arm bot I have seen, and a very strong placer
148-I am convinced that the winning alliance will have a pure speed-bot, and this is the strongest I have seen yet.

Other contenders
111
71
217
1024

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

The Winning Alliance from Waterloo is my pick, but 1114 is good with anyone.. I hope that at Atlanta they are in myt divison and hopefully can pick us..:) (I was Dreaming of course)..

But other good alliance could be 71 and 217 with a fast robot ( could be us)

But you could slide numerous amount of fast teams in their but....

1114 and 217 with anyone fast aginast 71 and 2171 with someone fast..I'd pay to see a best of 7-with them..

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

did any one watch SVR? i mean how could you forget about the greatest blue alliance ever??!?!??!?!

2024 192 and 8!!!!

haha jk but thanks again 192 and 8 :D

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

330,987,968

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

What people on this thread seem to be missing is the inevitable outcome of defense. At the moment people seem to be scared of it and some teams are not even playing it and just running laps. If you watch the matches with scores in the 120s and above defense is almost unseen.

The only regional i really saw any defense was Florida and from that you can see what just playing keep-away with a ball can do to shut down a good hurdler.(especially launchers)

anyways back on topic I believe that the ultimate alliance is going to be one who has 2 (or 3) good hurdlers and one that can herd (the opponents) ball and has a good drive train for pushing matches and blocking.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

Wow- very cool to see my own team on someone's list. We said at the beginning of the season, "we're good at arm robots; let's build one". I guess it worked?


Here's my choice for the ultimate alliance of 2008. In no particular order:

I'd have to put team 1024 in the ultimate alliance- they didn't win three regionals for nothing. Obviously they are a strong robot and work well with other teams.

I'll also add 1114- they are also a very strong robot, with a regional win to attest to that. They have a great hybrid mode, too.

And how could the ultimate alliance of 2008 be complete without 217? They also have two regional wins this year to speak to their great robot and partnership skills. They're experienced, and consistently good.

So what does that make this alliance? The SimChickenBytes?

Can't wait for Atlanta to find out!

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

They are all great teams, but you really only need 2 hurdlers in an alliance.

I think 330, 968, and a lap bot vs. 1114, 217, and a lap bot would be intense.

987 and 1717 should also be considered.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

1114,1024,217. I know I chose three hurdlers but, should someone break there are still 2 hurdles left. Also 1114's auto is the best I've seen yet, and If i remember right 1024 and 217 have kick butt auto's as well so they might set an Auto record. Also this alliance may be capable of breaking the 200 point barrier.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

that would be scary.....and awesome. depending on which side you are on...

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

As it stands right now, my ultimate alliance is 1114, 330, and 148. If 1726 can upgrade their hybrid to be more competitive with 148's, I would go with 1114, 330, and 1726 due to 1726's considerable prowess at knocking off balls (especially compared to 148's lack of any knock-off mechanism). If 1625 can chase out the mechanical gremlins, I would go with 1114, 1625, and 1726/148.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

Hmm maybe I shouldn't post my own team but whatever.

My ultimate alliance: 1114 , 1126 and 2228.

Hmmm I wonder why the first 2 teams sound sooo familiar :yikes:

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

I see nothing wrong with 3 hurdlers. You just need to designate 2 of the robots as the "primary hurdlers". If one of those two misses picking up a ball, the third robot could pick it up and hurdle it. I think it would be perfect with three fast hurdlers, because if they thaught it would be hard to get to the ball, they could just pass it up and let the other teammate take it.
Here is my updated alliances:
1114, another great hurdler, 1024
I think 1024 could fill that 3rd hurdler position well if they had 2 other great hurdlers with them. They can knock the ball off the overpass extremely well, and can hurdle better than most, however they are not the best I have seen. Not taking anything away from their hurdler, I just think others can do better, and that the speed of the robot could fit the speedster/backup hurdler role perfectly. They are also a good group to work with. I got to work with them in a match once, and it was a great time. They definately deserved to win three regionals, great job!
Joey

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

I am surprised that nobody mentioned the two west coast teams: 100 and 254.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

330, 968, 1717

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

You may get a glimpse of it in Hawaii this weekend, week 5, as many of the "top tier" teams will be competing.
Just to name a few.
254, 968, 25, 233, 337, 368 (all of whom are 2008 gold winners after week 3). If teams like 330, 103, 987 and others ever decided to come in '09 with the same group as '08, that would be scary.
Other regional finalists/winners from '07 and '08: 1138, 597, 2024, and 359 attending. There are no slouches for all of the veteran teams participating.:D

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

that is very humbling as a member of 2228, did u mean 1024 though instead of 1114? otherwise it doesn't sound familiar to me

and great semifinals match at buckeye, truely the best match ive seen this year, even if we did lose!! congrats on the win

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

I felt bad for you guys when you got ran over by 1024, but honestly it was one of the coolest plays I have seen this year.
Joey

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

haha, no hard feelings, we went airborn!!! one of the first flying robots!!

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

1114, 217, 148

I picked 148 over 1024 basically because the reason to choose 1024 is for their killer hybrid... so why not just pick 148. 1114, and 217 are much better hurdlers, and no need for a third when you have these two controlling the balls. I could put 118, 330, 233, 254, 968, 987, 2056 or any of the other top hurdlers there instead of 217. But so far 217 has put up the second best hurdling numbers (haven't seen any 4th week stats yet).

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

1124 (Winners of CT) Undefeated 6 Hurdles per match, 1114, and the experience of 71.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

1114, 330, 1024.


Amazing.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

I picked the same three teams as you- I agree on the "in case someone breaks" logic. Besides, to be a good hurdler, you have to be quick. These robots can all do quick laps.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

I doubt an alliance without 3 hurdlers will make it very far on Einstein.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

I think three hurdlers would do good. Especially if one of the hurdlers was fast and could do laps. But they would also have to be an effecient hurdler if for some reason one of their alliance members was having an off match.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

Having watched both 39 and 330 dominate different regionals, I would put them on a similar level...and give the hurdling edge to 39, ball pickup is probably a tie, ball removal/placing would go to 330.

Sadly our shooter just doesn't have enough distance.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

Glenn,

How many regionals do the Hawaiian kids go to? :ahh:

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

1126, 1629, and 148

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

My ultimate alliance

1114-The best all-around robot, they can score like no ones business and they have the smoothest, smartest, and strongest drive team in FIRST.

217-Three reasons, they are the best hurdlers, they have the best pickup system, and I just love watching Karthik and Paul Copioli do things together.

The most divisive issue is the third partner, three hurdlers or a good lap runner, I believe the hurdlers are more important, because they can play any game so with for my third member

1024-A team with talent to burn. A team that has really been smoking this year in terms of performance. A team that has been really hot lately. A team that has been the recipent of more bad puns related to fire than anyone else in the history of the world, they are an amazing team. They are super fast and have a hybrid that is amazing. They could be a straight lap runner and would still be able to dominate. They can hurdle when needed and can still play defense or do what ever needed to be done to win.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

Maybe we should talk about possible einstein matchups.
217, 1114, and 1024 vs 987, 330, 1717 vs 968, 254, 368 vs 11, 25, 103 vs 233, 1902, 179 vs 111, 71, 148 vs 1731, 121, 836 just to name a few and mix and match them where necessary. :P

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

1114, 217, 148

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

we've never done more than one until last year.
Trying to be FIRST in miles racked up per season......hehe. We're also going to Portland and Seattle for another national program before school gets out.
Next year: Kansas City, Louisiana, Hawaii, CM and hopefully IFI.:D

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

the only problem i see with that alliance is that only 1126 can get the ball down.

I'm surprised that 1731 hasn't been mentioned, but i'm not sure who i would say is the ultimate alliance yet.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

Sorry to go off topic but i hope it comes down to the best claws vs. the best shooters. that would be interesting...

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

THE CLAWS 217,330 33 VS THE LAUNCHERS 1114,71,968 WHAT A MATCH THAT WOULD BE!!!!!!!

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

How about 330, 968, 1717 vs. 217, 1114, 71?

I hope we get to see some of the west coast teams team up in Atlanta this year.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

i would like 233, 1323 and 100

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

claws vs. shooters... hmm

sounds like a match like this would definitely settle some disputes discussed earlier this season!

im not going to give any team numbers for ultimate alliance because i know nothing of the dynamics behind the team numbers. We could say that 1114, 217, and 1024 could win in Atlanta, but we also have no idea how these teams would work together. They could be completely incompatible.
(yes i do realize that 1114 and 1024 won MWR)

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

1625,1730,1675

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

That would be a great alliance if none of the robots broke. That was the major drawback to this alliance. It was definitely fun while it lasted.

As for the discussion, unless the talent for a division is incredibly deep, I don't see 3 big name hurdlers getting together. I still like 2 awesome hurdlers and a lap/D bot. Having 3 hurdlers on one alliance could be very good if planned out correctly, but if the robots are fighting over balls things could get messy. I think it is best to leave 2 great hurdlers to what they do best and not mess up their rhythm. My alliance will be 1114, 217, 148 after what I have seen up to week 4.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

I'm surprised no one has mentioned team 27. From what I saw, their robot seemed on par with 1114. Powerful shooter, fast pick-up, good knock down mechanism, speedy drive train.

As for the ultimate alliance I'd have to go with a 1114 + 968 combo. There's no saying who the third pick would be, but it would need to be a fast lap-runner with a knock-down mechanism.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

1114, 1124, 148 vrs. 217, 175, 27

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

1114, (175/1124), 217

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

Team 16 hasn't been mentioned since just after MWR (week #1). You can bet that they've been busy ever since, getting ready for Bayou. An alliance there with 16, 118, & a "D-bot", could dominate the elims in New Orleans even more so than the Los Angeles Regional winners.

Since I find the webcasts a bit inadequate for watching the matches, I'm going to Bayou to scout for the Championship. Well, actually I just want to get a first-hand look at Bomb Squad in action!

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

71, 1114, 148
vs.
330, 217, 1024

Dream matchup.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

Hmmm. Dave, have you been sneaking looks at my FF Bayou picks?:yikes: If 1902 is defense...

And dominating more than L.A. is saying something. 330+1717 NEVER scored less than 100 points, even under defense. (Heavy defense, too.) IN the elims, it was even worse--there was one match with a 90-point margin of victory after penalties on 330 and 1717's alliance and none on the other. Another match ended up 142-0 after 2 penalties on the other alliance.

1114, 330, and someone to keep other robots out of their way. 148, 980, 1024, 1717, or pretty much anyone else with a good drivetrain.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

2056, 1114, and 1680 were even more dominating at Waterloo.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

Ouch.

I say that any alliance with average scores over 100 has its teams going into the pool for ultimate alliance.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

So I re thought my previous ultimate alliance and for some reason had a brain fart on some teams. That alliance of 1126, 1114 and 2228 would be a close 2nd but my number one alliance would be 1126 1114 and 1024. 3 great hurdlers that can all knock off and have great hybrid modes. One can only hope in Atlanta:yikes:

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

Yes, I could tell a tale of a practice robot and some "avoidance" code not seeing me in my Easter outfit - they were some very fast high heels:ahh:

Congrats on the LA win, David, and we are looking forward to seeing you in the Big Easy!

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

1114, 233, 930

Best Hurdlers
Best End Game
Best Laps

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

1114, 968, 148

who needs an end game if you can hurdle that many times and run that many laps?:cool:

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

I think any alliance with the numbers 1114 and 16 in it would be unstoppable!

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

For me the ultimate alliance this year is 1114/x/y, since 1114 is the only team that really sticks out above all the elite players of this year (maybe 1114/217/1024? 1114/330/148? who knows).

But none of these alliances really have much of a hope of occurring, as I expect at least 2 (more likely all 3) to be in the top 8 in their division or to be easy first round picks.

I think the actual winning alliance at the Championships is going to be a 5th-8th division seeded alliance, captained by either a team performing well enough to get noticed but not spectacular enough to be considered one of the dominate top teams (25, 39, 111, 254, 1625) or by one of the highly publicized robots of this year having an off match or two in qualifiers (27, 217, 233, 330, 968, 987, 1024, 1114, 1126, 1717, etc.). There are so many good hurdlers out there that in at least one division a low captain will be able to pick another robot of almost equal hurdling ability (say 5-6 hurdles per match), but will have first or second choice at the good lap runners or herders (of which there are very few and will almost be guaranteed to be passed up in the first round for hurdlers). I'm a firm believer in alliance play and that 3 well above average robots will be able to defeat 1 or even 2 phenomenal robots with no supporting alliance, and that having a partner that doesn't need a trackball will be essential.

So I'm hoping to see something like 118/39/1986, 1625/100/207, 118/33/60, and who knows what else. The last bot is really up in the air to me as lap runners/herders don't seem to be getting that much publicity aside from 148 (and unfortunately I think they're going to do well enough to get in the top 8 in their division, and I don't think there'll be 2 good enough hurdlers for them to pick up out there).

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

Your rationale makes sense. However, I would be more inclined to agree with it in last year's game. Teams picking late could get a good ringer bot first round and take the "best" ramp (bonus robot) on the way back. Since bonus points were huge last year, it decided many matches.
I think at CMP, there will be more than 24 good hurdlers, lap/racer bots to go around per division. I'm not entirely convinced that a #1 seed with a first pick will be at a disadvantage once the 3rd alliance partner choices comes around. I still think 3 hurdling robots are the way to go that have decent speed and great autonomous.
1024 has proven that they can take on an average team (or an alliance with no auto) by themselves during auto period.

Re: 2008 Ultimate Alliance
 

For GTR: I would think Woburn (188), ThunderChickens (217) and Simbotics (1114).