[Chris is me]

Winning in both instances. Why? Winning Champs is obvious; the third robot still has to be pretty good, you get to win the World Championship, you get to go next year, etc. etc. So I'm going to discuss why I'd rather win a regional as a last pick than go out in the quarters

Firstly for personal reasons; I haven't been on a team the year they've won a regional since 2009. Kinda tired of playing "1,000 Ways To Lose A Regional".

More important than that, winning is inspiring. Not so much the act of getting a trophy but the act of playing with the best teams at the event, getting a taste of high level play, and learning unique ways for your robot to contribute. A bid to Championships can give a team the second wind they need in order to pursue a major rebuild to become more competitive - it's motivating. Playing with the best teams gives students hands-on access to the drive teams, strategy, pit crews, and design details of the best teams at their event.

One of the biggest turning points for my former team (2791) was when we had the good fortune to be selected by 2168 and 118 at the CT Regional in 2012. While we didn't win the event (see: Einstein that year for more information), we got to play with one of the best teams on the east coast and one of the best teams in the entire world. We got to see how the best teams operated. We had a shining example of a stunningly simple but effective robot in 2168, as well as a beautifully engineered masterpiece in 118. Two amazing drive teams that played well under pressure served as role models for future student drivers on the team. The pit crews of both teams worked hard not only to upgrade their own robots, but also ours, leaving improvements that stuck for the rest of the season. We wouldn't trade that experience for anything.

It's very possible that coming close to winning, but not quite reaching that point is more inspiring in the long run - 2791 is currently a team that is packed full of students and mentors whom are hungry for a regional win and willing to work hard for long hours to get there. Perhaps if a win was as "easy" as being the last pick that wouldn't happen. I guess I can't say for sure.