[Mike o.]

I will agree with all the discussion that YES, the 6v0 strategy does not break any rules. Although, the ultimate thing to look at is that it does not lie with the spirit of the game and does not induce a fair and fun competition.

Many of pointed out that 1114 worked with 469 in the match so that they could boost up in the rankings and ultimately ended up the #1 seed. Also, many of us knew that put into the position, 1114's first pick would undoubtedly be 469. With all that said, if we are going to have teams know what teams they are already going to pick AND these teams are going to game to system to ensure that they are put in the positions that give them that power, then why have the qualifications matches. Also, I spent my whole time at Champs up till Einstein volunteering on Curie, and I can tell you that this was the only time that a match like this happened.

I know that on Galileo my team was playing their hearts out and were rewarded with being the #1 seed. We also talked several nights about who we would like to pick, but always kept in mind that at any moment we could be knocked out of our comfortable position.

I feel that teams just need to let the game play out the way it is intended to and let those rise to the top that work hard. Gaming the system just shows that you are willing to do anything and everything to ensure that you get what you want and to not let the situation play out. It also in my opinion isn't very gracious or professional.

I was on the floor watching the finals, and it was really interesting seeing how many teams were cheering against the Curie alliance, from all the other divisions, not just those from Archimedes. It was clear that a lot of teams felt the same about this powerful alliance and did not really agree with the ways on which they went about handling it.

Again, these are just my observations, thoughts, and comments. I just would have liked to see a little more class and sportsmanship from these teams in how they handled the game and let the games play out and not have gamed the match. Overall though, I would have to say I really liked the game, the seeding system, and the quality of play that was a result of many hard working teams.