[Al Skierkiewicz]

Put yourself in the place of a team that has a nearly dead or limited function robot. (maybe a rookie team with just a few students and adults) Wouldn't you like the random chance to play with a robot that would run up your qualifying points, or complement your strategy and function? Of course, and that idea doesn't beat down teams or make it hard for new teams to get excited about the competition. Knowing that any team can make it into the finals really makes it exciting for the competitors. I was here when it was 1 vs. 1 vs. 1 and it wasn't that much more exciting but it was demoralizing for some teams when their perception was they couldn't possibly win. After all the hard work they had put in on the robot, they still had no chance to come close to the finals. It is easy to learn when you are excited and pumped, but you don't want to do anything when you are depressed.
I am still undecided on whether to announce all alliances ahead of time or just give teams 2 minutes to figure out strategies and then play. Their is an advantage for large teams to have many students scouting and planning in either case, but it seemed more exciting for me not knowing who we were playing with until right before the match. Any other ideas on this one?