[Alex Golec]

Advertising your team not only helps you when the alliance selection occurs, it also helps to boost your image and make you more recognizable to other people, judges, etc. There's something magical about the conciseness of flyers and buttons that can sell your team name.

While you probably should mention yourselves to the top seeded teams, I strongly recommend that you focus on seeking a complementary robot to play with (for example, being a double ramp marketing to a strong arm robot). Marketing yourself to those teams will not only make a compelling case to get picked, it also creates one of those "hidden gem" situations that ultimately benefits you in the eliminations.

Getting picked is not the key to elimination matches. Working with and advertising to robots that will build a strong alliance with you is.

Also, keep in mind that rankings are not the only representation of status or skill. You should go out to every match you play in seeking to become better, to try something new, to compete fiercely and fairly. Performing well despite any unfortunate situations generates attention and causes teams to notice you.

However, do take all this advice with a grain of salt: the spirit of the competition is not to get picked just for the prestige of it nor to do everything possible to sell yourselves - what you gain from the competition is more than just a medal. You gain experience and the will to go out into the world and constantly make improvements.

_Alex