[Alpha Beta]

I definitely agree with your first two points.

1. Build robust, easy to maintain machines.
Defense is taken to a whole new level during elimination matches, and their is very little time to put things back together. If we don't think your machine will hold up, we can't pick you to join our alliance.

2. Practice Driving.
Driving practice is a huge advantage, especially at earlier tournaments where even the best machines are in their first event. A well driven machine also makes an attractive defender for someone's pick-list (even if you've not taken the opportunity to play any defense during qualification rounds.) The chemistry on your drive team also leaves an impression.

On point 3...

3. Don't worry about ranking, just win.
If you're just trying to impress scouts maybe that works. As a potential captain you've got to play the raking system given. Intentionally ignoring it, especially when discussing pre-match strategy, makes the team seem uneducated. Negotiate a tolerance threshold with your alliance that balances the priority for winning with maximizing your seeding. Even better if you can incorporate scouting data from previous matches into how that threshold is calculated.

Additional Points...

4. As you eluded in your article, be prepared to be a captain. There are surprises in the top 8 every year. If a team is absolutely too small to scout then here are a couple of ways to get some data...
a. Set up a camera to record a full field view of the matches and then review at least the most recent 2 matches for each robot Friday night. It can make for a long evening, but some people really enjoy that kind of film study.
b. Tour every pit before the end of Friday and get to know what is available to you on the pick-list.
c. At least come to the tournament with a pre-list where you predict how good each team will do. At the World Championship that is fairly easy considering how much data is available to you.

5. Luck... "Chance favors only the prepared mind."
No one wins a regional by being lucky, but great teams can lose regionals by being unlucky. The qualification schedule can be a cruel thing. As long as you can guarantee that you have a great robot the odds will always favor your alliance having more great robots than the randomly assembled opposition. Sometimes the match-ups just don't work out. Sometimes a poorly driven robot on your qualification alliance goes on a penalty fest. Sometimes a weaker robot winds up as one of the top alliance captains and you can't say no to their invitation. And sometimes no matter how bad you think your situation is, the other side has worse luck and you still win. No point in giving up too early.