[Lil' Lavery]

Racer26, did you forsee 2056 falling to the 7th seed last year? 2056 also declined the #2 selection last year. Granted, there's no coopertition bridge this year, but it only takes 2-3 losses to fall down into the 5-10 range. Even the best teams can suffer a few "fluke" matches over the course of an event thanks to uneven match-ups, technical failures, or loads of foul points.

The two teams will be very aware that they're likely on a collision course. They'll do everything in their power to ensure they have the ideal alliance to beat the other. If they don't feel the #1 (or #2) seed is the proper partner, they will decline. Especially knowing that they can get an earlier 2nd round selection from a later captain position.

What would be really intersting is whether or not the #1 seed attempts to "scorch the Earth" before picking 1114 and/or 2056, in order to encourage them to accept if they know they can't pick other alliance captains.