[thefro526]

From what I've seen, and I've watched quite a few matches, most of the Robot Scoring is done within 2 feet of the trailer. Essentially, all Robots whether they're "Shooters" or "Dumpers" are all playing the same game. Pin or impede your target and score on it.

I'd have to say that Powered Dumping is still the way to go. A Power Dumper has the ideal cross between Range and Qaunitity of Balls Delivered and that makes them deadly effective. Power Dumpers have shown that they don't have to rely on pinning as Much as An "Gravity" or "All or Nothing" Dumper because of the range that they have.

As far as Shooters go, they're all playing the Power Dumper game. I've yet to see a shooter that constantly scores from long range into a trailer. It seems like most of the get within a few feet of a robot or pin and robot and score. This has been very effective for teams that chose to adapt to this strategy but even then most Shooters (Robots like 1114 being the exception) just can't keep up with the raw amount of balls that a Powered Dumper or Gravity Dumper can deliver.

Then there are "Gravity" and "All Or Nothing" Dumpers. They're still holding their own but no one knows how much longer they can do it. Many teams are now getting to their second regional time and have all of the bugs worked out of their systems. The thing that saved many Gravity Dumpers in earlier weeks was the fact that they were more simple and easier to drive than a Shooter or Powered Dumper. Don't get me wrong, Gravity Dumpers will still have a very important role in this game, it just may change. On a final note, we've seen one "All or Nothing" Dumper do some amazing things, Check out 179 and 1345.. Those robots are possibly the epitome of the Unpowered Dumper.

So as we sit in Heading into Week Four, I'd Have to say Powered Dumpers are the most effective, Shooters are Working their way into the Game, and Gravity Dumpers are doing what they've always been doing - Being Reliable.

Then again, this is all just my opinion and what do I know?