[Joel J]

This is a different year, and a different game. Ramp bots will be useful, especially if they are driven by a good driver, capable of playing excellent defense. I am willing to bet that a ramp bot will be in 90% of the regional winning alliances.

Of course, defense is defense. Even against defenders. That is, you could easily send two of your alliance robots to the end zone for 30 bonus points, and have the third partner block the ramp bot from the opposing alliance from getting to their home zone. FIRST's rule limits access to an opponents end zone, but it doesn't prevent a complete lock out. Oh, and the pinning rule comes into effect after 10 seconds (dirty defense-- just a thought, I'm not recommending it).

The more I think about how a match will play out, the more I see the importance of making good strategic decisions. Moreso than in other years.

I think ramp bots will reign this year, especially if they can cap (even the bottom row only is still a cap), and definitely if they are good at playing defense. If they aren't apt to seeding, then they'll be selected.

I agree with someone who posted above that a capper (that handles all three rows) that can also play the end game for a 60 point bonus will probably be a force, especially if not very common. But a do-all hybrid with two cappers isn't much different from a capper with two defensive ramp bots.. why? Because of the defense. Shut down the most threatening cappers, and leave your one capper to do some work. You have two ramp bots on your alliance, did you pick well?

Maybe I'm making a strong case. But one point I'm hoping to get across is to not count out the ramp bots. Another point is that while it may be good to cap, you may not be able to come out on top, at a regional with good ramp bots, if you don't have the capability to get the 30-60 point end game bonus.

I think autonomous is important this year, but only if an alliance is good at it. Being able to place three tubes before the start of the match would be a devasting advantage. I mean, think of it, you could have a row of 5-6 within 10 seconds of the match. However, I'm not going to pay much attention to autonomous, because I have a feeling that most teams won't be able to do it, and even if there is an alliance on which all teams can cap in autonomous, how will they ensure that their robots do not crash into each other, by locking on to the same light?

Woah, and that's just a warmup.

I'm glad there are scrimmages before the season gets under way. This game is a BEAST to think about sometimes. I'm hoping the reality will be alot simpler.