[Nemo]

Autonomous scoring is hugely important. Not only are the points an important boost, but autonomous scoring is again the first tiebreaker for seeding.

Also, I think the extra autonomous points available by picking up extra game pieces and scoring them is easier this year than it was in 2011 or 2012. Last year it was hard because the balls varied, and since you didn't know where they were going to start on the bridge, you didn't know just where they'd roll to as you tipped the bridge. This year the game pieces shouldn't vary as much and they start in known locations. Plus you don't have to race your opponent to get them. I think a bunch of teams who already have floor pickup and basic autonomous scoring are going to upgrade their auto routines as the season progresses. It will be pretty tough to seed higher than a team that can consistently score 3+ discs in the autonomous period, assuming they have a good tele-op plan as well.