[PayneTrain]

Originally Posted by JABot67

I think MAR definitely beats out the PNW in terms of competitiveness, although the PNW has a lot of good teams. Out here in the Northwest there is a whole lot of parity. The very very high resource teams, like 1983 and 4488, have run into problems this year and thus the race was wide open.

I wasn't trying to say the PNW had a higher level of play than PCH, CHS, and NC. However, that argument actually could be made. The PNW seems to be better than the other three in terms of metrics such as average match score, breach rate, capture rate, etc.

Who would win in the hypothetical matchup between the CHS #1 alliance (1418-836-5804) and the PNW #5 alliance (360-4469-3238)? To me, the PNW alliance has a very good chance of pulling off the win. Arguably, that #5 alliance doesn't include the best robots in the PNW - 1983, 1318, and 1540 were all better in my opinion.

To further the argument that the PNW has depth, I can say that 3238 (the #5 alliance's second pick) had the capability to shoot 6 high goals in a match, as did 3663 (the #1 alliance's second pick). Even 2471, the district's best outer works shooter, was a second pick. They could scale too! Would these teams fall that low in selections in PCH, CHS, and NC?

Events that lack depth are ones that end up with very obvious champion alliances with pairings that pair up and are heavy favorites in eliminations. District Championships can have alliances that exist because they see a strategic angle that supersedes raw robot quality. There are plenty of robots that have the capacity to shoot x balls a match when left alone in a qualifier at a district event, but they can miss making half that mark at the dcmp elims.