[Mr. Lim]

There is at least one situation where a team could say "no thanks" to me, and I would definitely still consider them for an alliance pick list:

If a team came up to me, and told me to my face that:

1) their own win/loss/ranking made little difference towards alliance selections
2) were trying to manipulate the top 8 standings to give themselves the best chance to win, by denying us 2 qualifying points

(i.e. helping a really weak team maintain the #1 spot, so that powerhouses at the top will be broken up)

I would say they're playing smart, and really understand the game. Teams that put this much thought into the process are extremely rare, and if they're the best team available, I'd say this is MORE of a reason to pick them.

I've seen some of the best teams in the world do this by playing defense-only late in quals against powerhouse teams gunning for the #1 spot. It denied the powerhouse team precious ranking points, and kept a weak #1 seed in place that ultimately was declined by the other top powerhouses, thus breaking them up.

Honestly, a team that has the forethought to do this moves up on my list CONSIDERABLY.

Now how many teams do I expect to say "no thanks" for these types of reasons?

not many... and that's too bad.