[EricH]

Originally Posted by SuperNerd256

If another alliance before the 1st alliance chose them, and they declined, the 1st alliance may think their robot is still broken, and therefore don't invite them to join the alliance because of that.

If you decline, you can't get picked. That's the rules, not someone thinking the team is broken.

In this case, I don't know all the facts. Two different versions of events are being presented that are wildly different. So I'm not going to make any call.

What I am going to say is that if you have an issue with your robot, and you might be picked for eliminations, it's fair to mention that you have an issue to pickers. They'll help you to get your robot together, or will decide not to select you based on that--and if you're picked, it's to be expected that you'll get help with the issue and show up functional.

However, if you say that your robot will not run, or is otherwise completely unable to play in eliminations, and then turn up for eliminations with a fully-functional robot, you can expect some strange looks, some pointed questions, and/or some long memories in later years from teams that would have picked you and that you told that to. Hopefully, it's just that you thought the problem was worse than it actually was. If you deliberately lie to get on the alliance you want... well, you are the one that will have to live with that decision.