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Posted by mike aubry.   [PICTURE: SAME | NEW | HELP]


Engineer on team #47, Chiefs, from Pontiac Central.

Posted on 1/18/2000 9:20 PM MST


In Reply to: Prediction posted by Dodd Stacy on 1/18/2000 12:09 PM MST:



: I'm going to predict that we will see a general shift in strategy after the first 2 or 3 rounds of Qualifiers. I agree that the Teams controlling the flow of the match will probably err on the side of winning for sure. The alliances then looking clearly at a third or fourth good drubbing will ask themselves how to play out the last 30 seconds of the match. They've lost the first 2 or 3 with 15 - 20 points each, and it's coming clear that they are not going to seed into the Eliminations.

: So do they play diligently to get the max points that their overwhelming opponents allow in this match? This curries favor with that particular opponent, showing what a good Beta team player they are, and helps that opponent to get seeded.

: Or do they say, ok, we're not getting seeded this way ourselves and we're just getting beaten up, so let's show everybody what we're capable of defensively starting now? Let the seeding sort itself out, and we'll be visible and desirable as a killer defensive partner for the winner-take-all Elimination match strategies. And by the way, if none of the teams that cross our path get seeded because of that, then tough. They just didn't figure out the strategic options and machine offense capabilities well enough.

: I think the people worried about wussification of the game may be surprised.

: Dodd

Sounds reasonable to believe that, that may happen. The only thing is the winning alliances in the later rounds may also have to change strategy to keep a reasonabaly high score. Upon recoginition that this was happening, they would have to work harder to score enough points to win - yet avoid any serious interaction with the opponent. The last thing one must remember is that defending against a ghost doesn't really show anyone any real capability now does it? So once the winning team is far enough ahead, they would just simply go to a neutral corner and wait to be declared the winner, as the losing defender was too busy showcasing their defensive capability against no one.