Best Teams Not at Champs-2013

[Travis Hoffman]

I would have liked to have seen 340.

[stoutman777]

Originally Posted by Woolly

3928- Team Neutrino

• 7 Disk Autonomous, Fast Cycle
• Finalist #2 At Greater Kansas City
• Seeded 1st at North Star, and were finalists.
• Innovation in control at North Star

I was incredibly disappointed when I heard they lost at North Star. After watching their performance first hand at GKC, I figured they would absolutely rock the competition at their 2nd regional.

I'll add that I felt absolutely terrible standing 10 feet from their robot while the sub was put on the field for Finals 1-2 at GKC, but kudos to them for handling that situation so well.

We were the ones to beat them at North Star, and although we were happy that we won, we were disappointed that such a great team was being deprived of a trip to Championships because they clearly deserved to go. They are some great people and when our cRIO broke during semis they tried to call a time out for us because we had already used ours. They weren't in that match or anything, they just wanted us to have a fair chance at going on. Also, their alliance partners, 2574, are pretty good as well. Team 2574 did amazing at North Star and they were a great alliance. Both teams were great and their teams are full of some really awesome people. Nationals would be better if both of them were there.

[Grim Tuesday]

Originally Posted by smistthegreat

I'll second 1153, they really improved a lot as the season went on and barely missed qualifying. Also, I know this shows a little bit of bias but 1507 deserves a mention here. At Buckeye, they didn't lose a single match until finals match 1, during which something went wrong with their shooter. They weren't able to find the problem in time, were replaced, and their alliance lost the next match. Floor pick up, 4+ disc auto, quick cycles, 10 point hang, Buckeye finalist and quality award, FLR quarterfinalist and creativity award.

Absolutely second 1507. I could definitely see them captaining an alliance in Divisional elims.

340 would have been nice to see as well, not just because their climber is so cool but because they are an incredibly deserving team to win Chairman's or EI. It was definitely some bad luck that at both events they submitted/competed at they were up against some really stiff competition for those awards.


OH and how can we forget 3173! Excellent full court shooter, the original laser beams.

[sgreco]

I definitely agree about 2791, and it wasn't just this year, but last year too. The past two years combined they may very well be the best team in the country without a regional victory.

[hiyou102]

Two fellow Canadian 2nd year teams I think deserved to go would be 4343 and 4089 who both did quite well in their regionals. Another team I would recommend would be 3663 who was a great full court I saw in Seattle.

[Lightfoot26]

I'm sad to see 3928 not make it.... really great bot! Also sad to see 1625 not make it... for obvious reasons.... haha

[NotaJoke]

2767, the Stryke Force out of Kalamazoo Michigan, had an unbelievably great bot, and a fantastic drive team. In their best match, they made more than 25 disks in the 3 point goal during teleop alone. A fantastic robot with a slow start, and an early end to what should have been an equally fantastic season.

I can't wait to see what they bring to the FiM scene in the next few years.

[Kevin Leonard]

Originally Posted by sgreco

I definitely agree about 2791, and it wasn't just this year, but last year too. The past two years combined they may very well be the best team in the country without a regional victory.

As much as I agree, they had an incredible robot this year and absolutely deserve to be a champs, there are some other deserving teams from the past two years. For example: Team 177, Bobcat Robotics.
Do I need to say more? After 6 years on Einstein in a row, they don't go to champs in 2012 after being an alliance captain at two events, then again in 2013 with another great robot.

That being said, Shaker's robot was pretty fantastic this year.

[Boe]

Originally Posted by Woolly

3928- Team Neutrino

• 7 Disk Autonomous, Fast Cycle
• Finalist #2 At Greater Kansas City
• Seeded 1st at North Star, and were finalists.
• Innovation in control at North Star

I was incredibly disappointed when I heard they lost at North Star. After watching their performance first hand at GKC, I figured they would absolutely rock the competition at their 2nd regional.

I'll add that I felt absolutely terrible standing 10 feet from their robot while the sub was put on the field for Finals 1-2 at GKC, but kudos to them for handling that situation so well.

I agree with this 100% 3928 was amazing at north star seeded first, were finalists. And were one of the most fun robots to watch compete with there 7 disk auton. They are for sure a great young team to watch in future years, and i hope they decide to attend north star in the future as well . I also thought i heard they were working on a 20 climb but i never saw it or know what became of it.

[Lil' Lavery]

Another vote for 612. Definitely their best robot yet. Were scoring 4-5 cycles with ease at DC, but ultimately fell victim to some rotten luck in SF2-3 when their partner's battery came unplugged.

[Damiaen_Florian]

One of the better teams that I've had the fortune of meeting this year and am very disappointed that is not going to nationals this year would have to be 3015, they had a solid robot, a great drivetrain, were one of the best cyclers at the Virginia regional, and were one of the nicest and helpful people at the regional, it's truly a shame that they're not attending nationals and I look forward to seeing their further endeavors in FIRST.

[Aidan S.]

I'll add a few more to the list (since I came up with the first 4, right Gregor ). I'll speak about some underrated great Canadian robots from this season, all of whom could be an asset to any alliance at champs:

772 - Speedy cycler (4 to 5 per match) with a 10 point hang and 3 in auto. They ran into some really bad luck in elims at all their events, never making it past the quarters.

2013 - quick 30 point climber (25-30 seconds), who is also good for 3 cycles a match and 3 in auto. They attended three events, played really strong in the qualifying matches, but was unable to connect and make it out of the semis in elims.

2702 - Great cycler (4 to 5 per match), quick 10 point hang, 3 in auto. They took the 610-1310-3756 alliance to three close matches.

2852 - They were 2702's partner in Waterloo. Their capabilities are very similar to 2702's (and they made a great combo together).

3683 - Team Dave has produced top-notch robots every season they have played, this year was no exception. Their robot had a great floor pickup, good for 5 in auto, as well as cleaning their side of the field of missed discs.

4343 - The breakout star of GTR East. Easily the third best robot there, they captained the second seed to the finals, where they fell to 1114 and 2056.

(and of course there's 188, but unfortunately they're not attending for a whole different set of reasons. I really want to see them back and be able to compete at the level they did before this season. 188-A is competing at Vex champs this week, and I wish them the best of luck there)

[ice.berg]

Originally Posted by indubitably

I definitely think 2451 (Pwnage) and 1625 (Winnovation) had great showings this year at Midwest. 2451 had very fast cycles and 1625 had a dangerous ground collector.

100% agree Both teams were top notch and and I really wish we could play with them at worlds since they both had such high quality robots.

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

Another vote for 612. Definitely their best robot yet. Were scoring 4-5 cycles with ease at DC, but ultimately fell victim to some rotten luck in SF2-3 when their partner's battery came unplugged.

Yeah, I was sad to hear Shan and 612 weren't going to DC.

I'll jump on the 2791 bandwagon. But I've been a huge fan of theirs for years...

[PayneTrain]

There are 12 Virginia robots going to Champs this year, and the best one, 612, is not one of those teams. I don't know if they can get off the waitlist at this point.

As a state that has an uphill battle in developing top-notch teams, not being able to send your best robot really stinks.