[Kevin Leonard]

Let's make some new predictions, shall we?

1) 1114-2056-1640-217
2) 118-624-1619-1625
3) 2338-1023-1806-3130
4) 2826-33-548-67
5) 1310-195-2590-125
6) 330-16-234-1024
7) 469-1756-3824-233
8) 225-1730-2122-1218

2826 rejects 2338

The infamous 1114-2056 combination is your #1 seed, as the hours 1114 and 2056 have played this game together overpower all other considerations for a selection. 1114 grabs cans and clears the landfill, 2056 hits a 3 tote autonomous and uses a tethered ramp, and 1640 makes stacks from the feeder station.

118 selects their friends on 624, and then picks up 624's Utah alliance partner 1619 in the second round for a killer alliance with every robot doing exactly what they like to be doing. 118 grabs cans and makes landfill stacks, 624 hits the 3 tote autonomous and makes feeder stacks of their own, and 1619 makes stacks from the feeder as well.

2338 reunites with their championship alliance partners, 1023, as well as 1806. The consistency of all three robots is top-notch, with 2338 in the landfill, and 1023 and 1806 making feeder stacks with their respective ramps.

2826 managed to form quite the alliance from the #4 seed, with 33 and 548 having chemistry from their run in Hopper together. What sets them apart is their ability to grab missed cans in teleoperated mode immediately due to 33's claw. They use this to take advantage of a few low seeded alliances to move on to semifinals.

Alliances 5-8 have consistency issues in their quarterfinals matches that keeps them out of the top 4 moving on to semis. Perhaps the closest to moving on was the 8 seed alliance, with 225 sitting out, instead playing 1730-2122-1218. They fail to move on by slim margins since 1218 was only building stacks of 5.

Going into semifinals, the alliances are ranked 4-1-2-3, with alliance 4's extra cans setting them apart in quarterfinals.
In semifinals, team don't miss cans, but they do mess up in other ways. 2056 accidentally hits their ramp and it becomes misaligned with the feeder station. They spend nearly half the match fixing it carefully, and as a result, post a low score in their second semifinal, causing them to be eliminated.
Similarly, 2338 drops a can off a stack when a haphazard piece of litter gets caught between their wheel and the scoring platform. They too, are eliminated.

Moving on to finals are the #2 seed (118-624-1619-1625) and #4 seed (2826-33-548-67)

Finals #1 has 548 miss a can in autonomous. 118 and 33 race to get the can before the other, and 33 prevails. 1619 drops a stack for the first time in eliminations, and the #4 seed prevails.

Finals #2 sees both alliances get two cans in auto, a tote stack, a container set, and even a robot set for an even 32-32 split after auto. Both alliances play at maximum capacity, and the 2 seed prevails since 548 was making stacks of 5.

Finals #3 has the 4 seed bring 67 on the field in place of 548 in hopes of making up that difference between stacks of 5 and stacks of 6. Unfortunately for them, 67 misses a can in autonomous. 33 and 118 again race to grab the can before the other. This time, 118's rake mechanism gets caught on 33's claw, and the two robots get caught on each other, rendering both useless for the entire match.
1619 makes 2 capped, 1 uncapped stack, and 624 makes 3 capped stacks from the feeder before heading to the landfill to place as many additional totes as they can. 2826 also makes three capped, one uncapped stack, while 67 makes two capped stacks.

The match is extremely close looking out on the field. 118's alliance placed a few more totes, while 2826's alliance threw more noodles. It turns out one of 67's stacks is supported partially by 118's robot according to the ruling on the field, and that difference is enough to give 118-624-1619-1625 the win.

118 becomes the second ever world champion to win IRI in the same year, and 1625 wins IRI two years in a row.

IRI finals continues to be insane, and the 2015 IRI Champions are crowned:
The Up-a-Win CRyptoNauts
(118-624-1619-1625)

(I'm not sure if these were crazy enough. Not a single quarterfinals upset!)