Divisions 2012

Newton looks strong with the West Coast power. 330, 488, 1540, 1622, 1662, 1717, and the likes. Along with teams like Wildstang, Robonauts, etc., I think we're going to see a Newton dominance. (My guess: 1717, 111, 118)

[SamMullen]

Originally Posted by SuperNerd256

Newton looks strong with the West Coast power. 330, 1622, 1662, 1717, and the likes. Along with teams like Wildstang, Robonauts, etc., I think we're going to see a Newton dominance. (My guess: 1717, 111, 118)

If you are going to mention West Coast power, don't forget there is more to the West Coast than California. 1983, 488, and 1540 are all representing the North West, and all of them are in the top twelve OPR wise for Newton.

Originally Posted by SamMullen

If you are going to mention West Coast power, don't forget there is more to the West Coast than California. 1983, 488, and 1540 are all representing the North West, and all of them are in the top twelve OPR wise for Newton.

Sorry, I'm geographically dumb. :\ Yeah, we got got a ton of power from Washington and Oregon! Just more power to the west coast! Newton is getting better and better by the minute.

[xSAWxBLADEx]

If you are going to mention West Coast power, don't forget there is more to the West Coast than California. 1983, 488, and 1540 are all representing the North West, and all of them are in the top twelve OPR wise for Newton.

There's also 2 of the best teams from michigan, 469, and 548. Along with them there's 68, 2009 World Finalist. Newton is going to be a great division! I'm hoping for an all michigan alliance again. (just like 2009) Archimedes vs. Newton for Einstein???

New list:

1. 469, 1717, ???
2. 111, 118, ???
3. 488, 330, ???


I'm not good at predicting yet, but this is my pick.

469 and 1717 are the two best shooters in the game, so one of them will be seeding first, and picking the other. Then, most likely a feeder bot that can play a little defense (256 would fit in perfectly here...) will be a 3rd pick. Most matches will be the same: 1717 and 469 score immensely high in teleop. The third robot will be on the opponent's side by the 115 second mark, and will feed balls over until the 40 second mark. Then, I see a triple balance coming. The second alliance will have 111 on it, and most likely 118 will have worked on their shooting enough to get a faster and more accurate shot, so 111 will choose 118. Their 3rd team will either be a pure-offensive bot, or a bot that does a little bit of offense, and feeds balls to them, though the former is more likely than the latter. It's a bit of a tossup here. Both 111 and 118 are great offensive machines in teleop and hybrid, but when it comes to the bridge will they be able to pull off a triple? If they can, they are definitely getting to the finals of Newton, but if they can't it looks like the third alliance will. The third alliance will have either 330 or 488 as captains, choosing the other. Both are very accurate scorers, and I think they'll both see that as an advantage in each other when they get on the field together. Both 330 and 488 have had a lot of practice playing great defense, so though they'll be doing offense, they'll want a partner who can play a near equally well offense, and can control their alliance bridge. Balance it, tip it to a side, anything, as long as they have control of a bridge, they're good. 330 can play awesome defense, and feed well, too, so in teleop we can expect to see them crossing over a few times and messing up any fender shooters. When it comes down to finale time, 488 has experience with bridge defense, so I think it'll be stalling out the opponents. 330 will mess with them too, but at the last second go do a double balance with the third alliance partner.


@O'Sancheski: It's the dream alliance. Very unlikely, but in the rare chance it does...

[CalTran]

Originally Posted by xSAWxBLADEx

Archimedes vs. Newton for Einstein???

I'm thinking so as well. My prediction? 469+1717 vs. 67+2056.

[xSAWxBLADEx]

469, 548, 68 vs. 67, 2056, idk maybe 247

Originally Posted by CalTran

I'm thinking so as well. My prediction? 469+1717 vs. 67+2056.

Agreed. And Newton's gonna win.

[xSAWxBLADEx]

Originally Posted by SuperNerd256

Agreed. And Newton's gonna win.

NOOOOO...67+2056 is an unstoppable alliance

Originally Posted by xSAWxBLADEx

NOOOOO...67+2056 is an unstoppable alliance

Unstoppable until Einstein. Unfortunately, while I love those teams, looking around there are very few things unique about them. As the championships come closer, I think we'll be seeing a lot more of the 5/6 ball autons, the extremely high scores, everything. What's going to stand out is any obvious advantage over the other team, and what's going to win is an unobvious advantage over the other team. 67 and 469 know each other well. I think with the two of them against each other, we're going to see massive strategies unfold, and it will rely on their alliance partners to unbalance the equal skill between the two. I'd go as far as to say 1717 equals 2056 in scoring, and bridge balancing, so it's up to the third partner.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by SuperNerd256

Agreed. And Newton's gonna win.

They aren't. Not because 67/2056 is unstoppable (remember, 469 and 1114 was unstoppable in 2010), but because the odds of the stacked division winning are low.

It happens every year: The division lists come out, some division is quickly pegged as stacked, and predicted to win it all. Sometime on Einstein, that alliance loses two, and they don't win it all. This may be due to the epic battles royale in the divisional eliminations, or the breakup of really, really top teams, or something else entirely.

The only thing more predictable is Curie not winning it all.

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by EricH

They aren't. Not because 67/2056 is unstoppable (remember, 469 and 1114 was unstoppable in 2010), but because the odds of the stacked division winning are low.

It happens every year: The division lists come out, some division is quickly pegged as stacked, and predicted to win it all. Sometime on Einstein, that alliance loses two, and they don't win it all. This may be due to the epic battles royale in the divisional eliminations, or the breakup of really, really top teams, or something else entirely.

The only thing more predictable is Curie not winning it all.

The "stacked" division won both in 2008, 2009, 2011.... That's 3 of 4 recent years.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

The "stacked" division won both in 2008, 2009, 2011.... That's 3 of 4 recent years.

After not winning in a BUNCH of other years. 2007, Curie. 2005, Archimedes, IIRC (might be another, but not Newton). I want to say it was Galileo in 2004--Archimedes won. I don't remember the stacked division in 2006, but it might have been Newton with the 254/968 twins. (I don't remember which division won.)

2004, 2005, 2007, 2010, stacked didn't win.
2008, 2009, 2011, stacked won.
2006 needs more research.

I think that's a bit more odds against the stacked division winning than 25%...

[jwfoss]

Originally Posted by EricH

2006 needs more research.

Newton 2006 was IMHO the most stacked division I can remember in my 10 years in FIRST.

Newton ended up being finalists...

[Kim Masi]

Originally Posted by jwfoss

Newton 2006 was IMHO the most stacked division I can remember in my 10 years in FIRST.

Newton ended up being finalists...

Yup, I agree. And 176's strategic alliance-breaking alliance selection was one of the more brilliant moves I've seen in my FIRST memory.