[Ari423]

<long story> So this year at Midknight Mayhem we surprised ourselves and ended in 7th seed, which meant we would be an alliance captain. This was my first competition experience as team captain, and our team's first time being an alliance captain at any competition in many years. I realized while I was standing waiting for my turn to make our first pick that it is possible for us to be picked by a higher seed alliance, and I would have to choose whether or not to accept. We are a small program, so I wasn't in contact with any kind of scouting group in the stands to make decisions for me. And any team there who did scouting or knew us from the regular season knew that we could really help an alliance if and only if we had strong alliance partners, so getting picked by those strong possible alliance partners wasn't out of the question. What I decided in the moment while I was standing there was that I would accept if we were picked by another alliance captain. Sure being an alliance captain would be cool, but winning the event would be even cooler, so we should do whatever it takes to try to win the event, even if it means not being an alliance captain. We worked under/with some great teams this year and contributed to every alliance we were in, even as a 2nd pick, let alone a 1st pick. In the end we didn't get picked, and we got out in quarter finals as 5th alliance captains. It was still a great experience, but I think I would have been happier if we would have been picked by a top alliance captain and won the event. Blue banners aren't everything, but they definitely help a small team that is struggling with sponsorship, membership, and recognition. Now this is different than either scenario presented in the OP because it was an off-season event, but the principles still stand (it's probably closer to CMP than a regional because winning doesn't qualify you for anything else). </long story>

That was my experience with this decision. I hope to be lucky enough to have to make it again in a regular season competition.