I think this year the "elite" thing to do was the multi-purpose appendage. The teams who made their appendage do everything from ball collection, bridge manipulation, and aid in balancing. The ones like HOT, Bomb Squad, Titanium, Greyhounds, and countless others that get the job done, and done well.
Year to year, I think that what defines a powerhouse team would be, as stated before, the ability to receive a game and be able to sense what the key factors are, and rapidly prototype to prove that what you're about to spend the next 5 weeks refining is the absolute best idea for that game.
It also doesn't hurt that they have dozens of Blue Banners as moral boosters
