I personally feel that defense is very vital to the game this year, especially compared to last year. Last year, although there were alliances, it was a lot more "you do your thing and we'll do ours." This year, I like how there's a much larger teamwork aspect, but I digress.
Andy, our team did something very similar at WPI. We had a very strong defense. And, although it landed us a low ranking, it got us noticed for sure. I really feel like, if you're a really good defense robot, being in the top eight is almost hurting you. That's not to say that D bots are going to have to be submissive to the powerhouse scorers. I just personally feel that, unless you really really have something amazing to boast about, it's much more beneficial to be picked. Many teams feel like the
need to be in the top eight, and will either compromise the ability to play well and look good to other teams to do so, or end up making the top eight in a lower seed, which could provide people with a strong disadvantage.
@bman, couldn't agree more. If you're a really good defense bot playing the far range against one other robot, that robot should not be able to score. I saw so many games where this happened simply because the robot would puppy guard the goals- and it worked. I know many people (on my team included) have this notion of pinning and shutting down the other robot based on previous games. But, as my friend Chris (Chris Is Me) told me the other day, the best defense in this game is an almost basketball-like strategy. Ie, keeping the ball away from their end and making possession difficult.
The strong alliances this year will only have one real super amazing scorer, as opposed to previous years. I feel like they'll have that scorer, a mid-field bot to get balls to your zone fast and keep them away from the other end (possibly crossing over to score if needed), and then that really good defense robot. And yes, Andy, I do think that most of those defense robots will be low in the rankings, just due to the fact that it's harder for them to control how many points are earned. I highly suggest teams looked at the bottom almost as much as the top. Kind of like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade- you don't always want the super beautiful goblet.
