[Jon Stratis]

Based on my team's experience (inside climber + 20pt dumper), climbing was definitely a great strategy... for getting into eliminations. Being able to climb to the top effectively was something everyone saw as extremely impressive, and it makes a team attractive to alliance members. However, with the "point cap" on climbing, it wasn't all that effective a strategy to win a competition (unless you could also shoot). When events are won by alliances with 150+ scores, even contributing 50 to the alliance with a climb+dump isn't in and of itself enough to win. I am surprised we didn't see more alliances at Champs with 2 good shooters and a climber as a third pick. That seems to be a natural combination to rack up a huge amount of points.