[Don Wright]

I just want to throw the other side of the coin to most of the posts in this thread. I know that this might seem like I'm trying to sway people to play differently than most of the posts above, but I just wanted to air it...

There are a lot of good teams in this division. Maybe it doesn't have the "star power" of the other divisions, but it's still very strong. Also, with the number of teams, and number of matches, the chance of getting in a qualification match with a top scoring team (either for or against) is low.

Remember, there are no wins and losses in qualification matches, only points. The only difference is that the alliance that scores more points gets two bonuses: 2x their opponent score and the 5 pt bonus.

If you want to seed well, you need to score as many points in every match you play as you possibly can. By scoring points, and seeding high, you can even control your own destiny by being in the top eight.

So, if that is your mindset, you might want to think about using your match with or against a top team to get a huge score and boost your seeding place. No, I'm not saying 6v0...although that is an option. I'm just saying that if you are lucky to get in 2 or 3 matches with a good scoring robot, those 30, 40, or 50 point matches will do a lot to getting you high into the rankings.

Furthermore, I believe that the third robot as a good striker is very important. We had a great striker in MSC and it won it for us. I will more likely take notice of the robots that go out every match and even just push in 6-8 balls per match than the robot that went out and (IMHO) didn't play the game very smart for qualifications and played defense the whole time. This causes both alliances to get a low score, which in qualification matches IS against the spirit of the game due to how the GDC has the scoring system this year... So even if you "win", you drop in rankings.

I know I'm going to have to put my flame suit on because a lot of you are going to take this as me trying to change how everyone plays against us so we can pair up with so-and-so...that's why I rarely (never) post in threads like this...

But, I honestly believe that if all of you focus so much on a few teams, and how to stop them, you are just going to hurt your chances to do well at the World Championships. It takes 24 robots and 8 alliances and 8 captains to play Saturday afternoon. Be one of those captains!