[toddhans]

Yep, 3018 tried to get into a Minneapolis regional, but they were completely filled up after we registered for Duluth that day. Since we wanted to give our robot a better chance at nationals (we were very fortunate to beat a great alliance headed by 3313 in Duluth), we signed up for Milwaukee once we found out we had very little chance of getting into either 10,000 Lakes or North Star. We took the last spot in Milwaukee, but only half of our team actually made it due to saving cash up for St. Louis. We ended up with a runner-up finish there, so hopefully that bodes well for us in Championships. Good luck to all the MN teams up at both Mariucci and Williams! Hope to see you in St. Louis in April and Minneapolis in May!

Originally Posted by MrBydlon

I was just thinking about doing a post like this Evan! Thanks for starting it!

That "all MN teams" stat is pretty crazy!

My biggest advice? Bring spare parts.

Other random notes:

No 525 Swartdogs is a pretty big change. They're dominated competition at 10K for quite a few years in a row. I mean, they've made the finals every year the event has been around and won the Regional the past 3 years. Last year, they also won Chairman's.

Another big absence will be 3018 Nordic Storm. They won Engineering Inspiration last year and kicked butt at Duluth already this year (we would know, haha).

It'll be interesting to see how teams who have been to a competition already this season will adjust to the hard hitting battles (2052, 2470, 2502, 2750, 3081, 3184, 3313, any others?). We definitely learned a lot at Duluth and by watching more Regionals the past couple weeks.

My biggest concern is consistent foul calls throughout qualifying and elimination rounds. Watching Wisconsin and how the refs really focused on calling "high speed ramming" fouls only in Elims has me a little worried. But I hope with a week to let the new rule stew, the calls are made consistently. It is what it is; I just want to go into each match with a general idea of what is allowed and what is not.

But yeah! We are super excited! I've been to 10K for 4 years now and it's so awesome to get to know so many of the teams throughout the years.

Cannot wait to see everyone and play Aerial Assault... I mean Aerial Assist!

Is it Thursday yet?