Quote:
Originally Posted by BJC
Isaac Rife "IKE" usually posts up a thread like this once a year or so. I think its a pretty interesting thought exercise.
...snip...
Cheers, Bryan
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I am often amazed at what one might assume as boring that ends up being insightful. Thanks for reviving this one. The previous years, there are usually a few examples of a couple teams having success with an MCC type concept, but most not having success with a jack of all trades.
I specifically did not do one this year, as to me, it seemed very driver centric/referee centric on what an MCC would be for a particular event. Why I mention refs is, what costitues a possession this year ranged wildly between events (though it was usually pretty consistent at any one particular event). Because of that, I would prefer an MCC there was no room for interpretation, they "possessed" that ball. This year did remind me a lot of 2009 in that it was another year that driving wasn't only important, but often a game changer.
The neat thing is, there were a lot of great examples of it this year, and a lot of teams that did well with it.
I also noticed a trend (at least in my opinion) for the "almost any year MCC".
If you have a decent base chassis (4 cim minimum though I prefer 4 CIM with shifting to get a bit more speed/torque like the Kitbot on Steroids concept), and you have a roller collector to manipulate the game piece, and 1 face that is max competition height, I think you can play elims at most any district.
I added the 1 tall face as this was a very beneficial defense item in:
2014, 2013, 2012 (blocking inbound, not shooters), 2007, 2006, 2005... the rest is before my time.
This year, a tall wall on a well driven base often shut down shooters that weren't ready for defense. It also was used very well towards the end of season as a way to block inbounding students. IE, go ahead and truss shot to HP, I am going to put a 60" wall in your face so you have a hard time inbounding...
And an active roller collector to manipulate the game piece was great for:
2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010-ish, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006...
Ignore fancy arms, and shooters and catapults and.... If you had something that could collect, move around the field, and release a game piece... I would likely want you within the top 24 at most events in any of those years.
This year, that skill was lethal as you were essentially worth 20 points for being the 3rd inbounder. Also, dumping to the 1pt. with a bunch of "passes" under your belt woften defeated good two team combos in elims (not the majority, but there were a lot of "upsets" this year).
My personal favorite MCC this year though was "Fridgebot". They actually picked a poor strategy (catching only), but executed it so well that they had a good deal of success throughout the season.
http://www.thebluealliance.com/team/5084/2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgza-vzG2Fs