Quote:
Originally Posted by DampRobot
You're totally right. At an already crazy regional, were going to get even more crazy play. There's even a chance that 254 might not win!
I wonder if any of the middle level teams (for SVR anyway) that we "shouldn't forget" will go for a defensive strategy to try to get with a winning alliance. SVR tends to be very offensive, and I'm interested to see if and how having so many powerhouse teams will change qualifications and eliminations play.
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One thing I've noticed is that people seem to forget that there are a good number of teams which consistently produce quality offensive robots, but get overlooked because they're not making waves on the national level. I really don't like categorizing teams into tiers like this, but for the sake of discussion, we're talking about teams like 1868, 1280*, 192, 604, 846, etc. Just because they haven't been on the winning alliance in a while doesn't mean they haven't come close. They're still title contenders every year, and at every event they attend, and I doubt any of them would go defense just because a few more national powerhouses are joining the fray:
1) Trying to get on the winning alliance as a defensive robot for these teams is going to be a bigger gamble than just trying to build the best robot they can. They build quality robots, drive well and have good game sense, they would get snatched up before they make it back around. We're assuming that without their solid offensive play in qualifiers, the powerhouses will easily get to the top of the rankings. This also leaves the entire offensive field shallower, which means that the top few alliances will have all the offense, and leave the lower half picking up as much defense as possible...and they'll take these guys first.
2) With the addition of at least 118 and 148, things get a little tougher to guarantee in the rankings. Like a stacked Championship division, the top contenders often beat each other up in qualifiers. That opens up a lot of possibilities for the 1868's, 192's and others that are consistently reaching the 2nd-5th seeds to leapfrog over a few. Maybe one of them gets a chance to pick up 118 or 148...or 254. Now it's a whole new ballgame. But they probably don't get that chance if they go defensive
3) Most of these teams attend multiple events, and they're usually considered favorites for the medal at those, because they are quite good. Would you sacrifice your chances at your other events to try and get on the winning alliance at SVR as defense?
4) Let's say, hypothetically, one or more of the teams in question does choose to go defensive, and manages to sneak by and get themselves on the winning alliance. They make it to champs...and then what? Very few purely defensive robots ever make CMP eliminations. The defensive robots we see at champs are almost always** robots that have some offensive capability and are just really well driven with good drivetrains. These teams build good drivetrains every year, and drive it well every year, so they're only more likely to get picked at champs if they design a healthy amount of offense in.
*1280 is not currently signed up for SVR, but hopefully they get in via waitlist...
**Yes, of course there are exceptions, or robots which are specialized in a part of the game that's not considered primary offense, but they are few and far between. There's upwards of 350 teams at champs, the odds are not in their favor.