[JAlpert]

In my opinion, balls dont matter in the eliminations, unless a goal controlling team breaks. At GLR, the winning alliance had two ball bots and one goal bot. The ball bots never once picked up a ball. They did, however, do a great job integrating high-torque capabilities, enabling them to control a goal well. In short, balls dont matter in the eliminations. Imagine a red team with a 2-goal grabber and a ball bot, and a blue team with two ball bots. The only way to win in the eliminations with balls is to let the red 2-goal grabber sit alone with its goals in scoring position, and have blue try to fill up the third free goal with over 20 balls. In order to do this, blue would pretty much have to have the goal to themselves. However, the red ball bot would simply harass them. The one red ball bot could easily keep two other blue ball bots from putting many balls into the goal. Also, in order to win at the end, the two blue ball bots would have to abandon their (possibly) filled up goal to retreat to their endzone. Not only will the red 2-goal bot most likely block at least one team from getting back to their endzone, but the red alliance will have a free robot ALONE with the goal. All it would have to do is pull the goal into its own endzone, or into neuteral territory and the match is over. So, in the end, balls are a distraction in this competition. However, ball bots score high in qualifications and inevitably end up in eliminations. If those ball bots have some torque (like team 65 and 67), however, they can do a great job helping to control the third goal.

Best of luck with your strategizing!

Jeff Alpert
Team 469

This message is a product of the "How is Joe Johnson going to beat us" brainstorming session.