[DougHogg]

Originally posted by JAlpert
If both alliances have stacks of the same height, and one of those alliances cannot take the ramp, it is still in their best interest to leave the opponent's stack up. If they knock down the opponent's stack, the opponent will simply counter this move by knocking the final stack to the ground.

...

A team should only knock down a stack of equal height if the other team knocks theirs down first. If both teams play with everybody's best interests in mind, no equal stack should ever be knocked down. Stack knocking is a last resort counter-attack to poor strategy.

Jeff Alpert
Team 469

I think that is true most of the time. However consider these scenarios:

Scenario #1:Both teams have 4 stacks and about 15 bins. 3 robots are on top but your robot can't get up, so you go under the bar and come around the back to go up the ramp. You still can't make it up the ramp, so you keep pushing until the last few seconds, and then you suddenly turn and clobber their stack, leaving them without enough time to nail your stack, and your team is now the winner. You go from having about 85 QP points to their 280 QP, to you getting 215 QP to their 65 QP.

And if they come off the ramp to stop you when you first come around the back, you have equalized the situation just by threatening their stack.

Scenario #2: All the robots are on the ramp but the other alliance is ahead in bins. You can wait until the last few seconds and then wip off the ramp and nail their stack to win.

This game has offence and defense (stopping the other team from scoring) and from my viewpoint, defense still has relevance.

(Anyway, I still want to get rid of this scoring system, so we don't have to leave opponents stacks up to boost our score. I picture my aunt watching, and she just wouldn't get it.)