[EricH]

Originally Posted by Kathysmith

You may already know this, but in Curie what happened was that the first seed invited all the other seven seeds. They didn't seem to upset when they all declined so I'm assuming they did this so that the other top seeds couldn't partner up with each other. Our team thought that it was a clever plan, but there may be unforeseen down sides to this option other than the obvious possibility that someone they were not particularly fond of might accept.

The "scorched earth" strategy. There are some downsides, depending on implementation.

Usually, it's applied to specific teams that the first seed does not want to team up, or to force one of those teams onto their alliance. Say, asking the #3 and the #5, when you really want the #2 on your side and not facing #3 and #5 together, and you know that #2 wants one of those two. Very rarely is it applied to the entire top 8.

Sometimes, it's done accidentally--a team may just be picking off the ranking list (protip, don't do this), or may just be a team that nobody really wants to ally with, due to a number of factors. In this case, you'll see a lot of confusion.

The primary downside is that someone accepts when you weren't expecting them to. This is easily avoided by asking the top 8 if they would accept if you pick them, and hoping that someone isn't trying to call your bluff.

However, it also breaks up ALL the powerhouse alliances from the top 8, which at Championship weakens your division. Enter the Curie Curse, in this case.