[Joon Park]

Stealing pieces that are already on the rack seems like a difficult idea to pull of, and one that probably will not be worth the effort. And the pieces on the ground are fair game to both alliances, unless of course, they are in the scoring zones of the opposite alliance.

In terms of defense, If the robot is agile and maneuverable enough, I think it could be very effective in preventing other robots from getting in a good position to hang the game pieces. I remember last year there were a few teams that had an insanely fast robot, and they could literally defend both goals all by themselves. If a similar robot is build this year, it could probably defend the scoring area all by itself, even without entering the area (an getting a penalty).