Aerial Assist and Ill Will

[Jared Russell]

Football teams have a designated running back. Not everyone carries the ball for touchdowns. The same thing applies in other sports (soccer, basketball, etc.), and in Aerial Assault.

What I find very interesting is that the last time the NFL regular season rushing leader won the Superbowl was 15 years ago. Football is a team sport, and line play and special teams that never make it to SportsCenter decide more games than running backs.

This is the most team-oriented game FIRST has given us in the three-robot alliance era. Each robot must contribute to maximize the score. And the scoring system spells this out explicitly.

Assists are worth more than goals. Goals involve acquiring and depositing a ball into one of several very large, stationary openings. Assists require acquiring and relinquishing a ball to/from another teammate that is moving and may have vastly different ball possession capabilities than your own machine.

Which is a more difficult task to perform quickly and reliably?

How many scorers will make the playoffs? How many assisters?

What is the first tiebreaker?

If you are partnered with a robot that has an amazing scoring function, recognize that just because you don't get to use a mechanism in a given match doesn't mean that you aren't contributing to the alliance. The smart alliance captains will see you and reward your play. (And having a backup shooter for passing or in case of an emergency is never a bad thing).

And lastly, a prediction. I think some top-level teams will recognize that the math doesn't add up the same way it does in other shooting games. I predict that in 2014, you will see teams who have captained alliances on Einstein in the past forgo 10-point shooters in order to excel at other roles.