[Raul]

We create a ranking list on Friday night and come prepared to tweak it on Saturday morning. We use the last matches on Saturday to see if our ranking may need adjusting.

The issue with schmoozing is that all the talk in the world does not help if you cannot prove it on the field. My advice to teams is to:
1) Approach teams that you wish would consider you as a partner either after all matches are done on Friday or early on Saturday morning before your first match that day. Explain to them your strengths and ask them to watch you perform in your next match and give them your match number. This makes #2 below important:
2) Do not try to show off your abilities at the cost of causing your alliance to lose. Some rookie teams (and some veterans) do not follow or agree to do the best strategy because they want to do their own thing to show off. You must get agreement from your alliance that the role you will play (ramp, score, defense) is what is going to contribute the most to the alliance.

Raul