Stats from GSR (comprehensive match scouting): 30/50 teams scored in hybrid
18 teams scored in the top, 28 in the middle, and 9 in the low
Teams who shot a considerable number of balls, accuracy ranged from 0 to 83%
28 teams balanced at some point
some inbounders are really really bad...
Fender scoring dominates quals because few ranged shooters can keep up. And no one played defense consistently, which made for a very very boring game.
I hated Rebound Rumble, until I saw teams 1519, 885, and 2791 play in eliminations. It was boring; no defense, and all the matches were the same. They played the best defense as an alliance I have ever seen in an FRC game. If 2791 kept working, they win the regional in DOMINANT fashion. Their gameplay showed how STRATEGY aligned with good robots that fit a strategy can win matches against teams they are "overpowered" against. Hybrid is super important, both scoring and getting balls from the bridge as fast as possible.
Defensive robot is the most valuable robot on the field, which makes the ability to shoot from the key AND the fender important. If you can't access one, go to the other. Exclusively fender scorers may get a false sense of dominance if there continues to be a lack of defense in the quals.
Also balls that are worn down go much shorter than competition quality balls. The bane of Team 20....turned a 60% shooter into a 3-basket-the-entire-tournament atrocity. It was repeatably about 3-4 feet high, but we have plans for easy adjustment at future events, and also to shoot from the fender
. Bridges are much harder to push down than FIRST's battery test implies.