Quote:
Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz
I know there have been other threads about picking teams you know will decline so they cannot ask another team in the top eight. My $0.02 on this subject is Shame On You!
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I have to disagree wholeheartedly on this one. Picking teams you know will decline is NOT simply a last-ditch, "mess everyone else up" endeavour. It is a VERY real and effective way to build a regional winning alliance, even for very "so-so" robots.
Consider this hypothetical situation where one mediocre team is ranked #1 overall, followed by several excellent robots:
1. 9999
2. 1114
3. 39
4. 103
5. 968
6. 1625
7. 3000
8. 4000
Let's also assume 9999 is marginally better than teams 3000 and 4000.
9999 should start picking at 39 (NOT 1114)
39 declines
103 declines
968 declines
1625 declines
now 9999 picks 1114.
Consider 1114's position: What is the BEST POSSIBLE ALLIANCE that can be formed at the regional now?
That's right, it ACTUALLY is 9999 and 1114, because the rest of the field is now forced to pick robots 3000, 4000 and below.
1114 should DEFINITELY accept, and they WILL form the strongest alliance at the regional.
The strategic power of the 1st rank seed as a "so-so" robot should not be trifled with. Unfortunately, we RARELY ever see it used to its maximum potential.
The truth is, some (actually MOST) teams can only build okay robots. Some of these teams are consistently higher performers by just finding a way to win (in a GP way of course). Can they really be faulted for this? To me, this process is easily just as inspiring...