Championship Gameplay

[Tyler_Kaplan]

During our qualifying matches this year, there wasn't a whole lot of defense played against us. The only defense that was implemented was later in the day. So my question to the CD community is: when we get to the championship level, is there going to be heavy defense right away in qualifying? And also, do teams use scouting information from other events, and if so what information and to what extent is that information utilized?

[Bryce Paputa]

IDK about your team, but always play to win every match, and this always includes defense. You can't have 2/3rds of your robots sitting idle at a time and expect to win. In the past two years, it played much like a normal competition stylistically, but I expect a lot of defense early this year.

[Caleb Sykes]

is there going to be heavy defense right away in qualifying?

Yes.

And also, do teams use scouting information from other events, and if so what information and to what extent is that information utilized?

Yes, the teams with good scouting teams pre-scout. Watch any video you can get a hold of. The Blue Alliance is a good starting point. Also, some of the statistics from 2834's scouting database are useful.

You can use this data as a basis for your scouting at championships, but if you want to be competitive, scout just as hard (or harder) at champs than you did at the lower levels of competition.

[brennonbrimhall]

Originally Posted by Tyler_Kaplan

During our qualifying matches this year, there wasn't a whole lot of defense played against us. The only defense that was implemented was later in the day. So my question to the CD community is: when we get to the championship level, is there going to be heavy defense right away in qualifying?

I expect divisional qualifications to be similar to qualification rounds at Week 7 events. While I don't expect the level of defense to be quite like this right off the bat, I do expect defense like this before eliminations -- probably by Friday.

Originally Posted by Tyler_Kaplan

And also, do teams use scouting information from other events, and if so what information and to what extent is that information utilized?

It depends. Most teams will have improvements, some of which will be slight, while others could be major overhauls. 'Pre-scouting' on our teams typically consists of the obtaining of match videos, pictures, and OPR, CCWM, and standing information found in Ed Law's database to paint a good idea of what we can expect from a team.

Pre-scout, with the caveat of expecting some amount of change in robots you're scouting.

[jaykris284]

Originally Posted by Tyler_Kaplan

During our qualifying matches this year, there wasn't a whole lot of defense played against us. The only defense that was implemented was later in the day. So my question to the CD community is: when we get to the championship level, is there going to be heavy defense right away in qualifying? And also, do teams use scouting information from other events, and if so what information and to what extent is that information utilized?

For our team we definitely always play to win, most teams will play defense unless they're afraid of their robot getting damaged before eliminations or their drive train is too slow to run sprints across the field in time for their turn at the cycle.

For pre scouting 1261 takes our division and cross checks which teams we attended regionals with and pulls the data from our stand scouts and compile it for them. For teams that we have not attended a regional with we reach out to our sister teams and see if they have any data on these teams. Once initial data compilation is complete we pull videos, blue alliance data, and a little bit of OPR to gauge how well we should be able to compete and what to expect. More specifically we watch matches of these teams and try to find an overall strategy so we get an idea when we have a qualification match with them.

[bduddy]

Given the number of very good scorers that will obviously be at championships, I expect that everyone else will learn (or be told) very quickly that their best contribution to an alliance will probably be to play defense.

[MooreteP]

Defense of high goal shots will predominate, so 3 assists and a low goal will prevail.

Keeping missed autonomous balls from being cleared will make the difference.

Consistent trussing will be fun to watch, a catch even more so.

[Gdeaver]

As we have all found out the hard way, this years game is very defined by the refs. I think it is very important that teams early on monitor and observe how the refs on each field will call this game. Once the bounds become defined, It would be best for all to make a best effort to play with in the bounds as the refs call it. I've watched allot of match video and each event has a different feel. Allot of this seems to result from what the refs define as a penalty and what is not. The world champs refs will have a major effect on how this game will be played. Just wish we could Know before the games begin. Unfortunately, the penalties and techs will have to be called before the bounds are known.

[rich2202]

Originally Posted by Gdeaver

. Just wish we could Know before the games begin. Unfortunately, the penalties and techs will have to be called before the bounds are known.

You should be able to get a good feel from the practice matches, and the first set of qualification matches. By then, the Ref's will be settled into their routine.

[Samwaldo]

Game play at Week 7 New England District Champs was RIDICULOUS!!! I would go so far as to say, they were better than eliminations. Every round had tough defense (more than anybody thought there would be), and alot of the time, the winner wasn't decided until the last 5 seconds, due the score being so close. Scores were always close even in the case of a powerhouse alliance against weaker teams. Play to win, but just remember, It may look like the chances are against you, so that just means you have to fight harder

[magnets]

Be prepared to see teams that you have scouted as being "good" totally shut down by defense. There are a lot of robots that are just slightly below the powerhouse teams this year in terms of shooting accuracy and ball control, but can get shut down by good defensive teams.

By elimination round, I expect to see 6 robots in the same zone quite often, and lots of traffic jams. Once a few teams realize that extreme super defense is a good strategy, it becomes really hard to score.

The other strategy that I've seen played only once in this game (at a practice match over a webcast) is the strategy where two robots park against the side of the field, have a human player load one, which spits it into the robot in front of it, which fires it over the truss to the human player, who throws it to the third robot, who is parked in front of the goal. No robot movement, 3 assists, and a truss. Another team at this practice match tried to stop this strategy by playing aggressive defense, but they never could. I'm not sure if this is a viable strategy, but it's cool to watch.

[swootton]

Any team that wants to win is going to need to strategize with the other two teams to have a game plan and follow the plan. Watch the NE Championship eliminations and you will see some matches where the alliance follows a plan and even goes to backup plan flawlessly with out wasting time. It's all about the number of cycle your alliance complete!

[Rangel]

I'm not quite sold as to whether super tough defense is the way to go in eliminations. A strategy I didn't see quite as common as MSC was defense on the defense. All the robot with the ball really needs is a few seconds of freedom to score and so the truss shot robot can cut off the defender from your offense. Of course your inbounding robot can also do the same and then go back to super tough defense during the offensive portion too.

[Tyler_Kaplan]

So I've done a lot of pre scouting, and at this point i don't have much at all to ask people for pit scouting... I'm going to ask about anything i missed for the pre scouting, a picture of their robot, and the lead strategist phone number (I'm asking for the phone number to make it easier to coordinate for match strategies) what else can i add to the pit scouting?

[Jay O'Donnell]

Originally Posted by Tyler_Kaplan

So I've done a lot of pre scouting, and at this point i don't have much at all to ask people for pit scouting... I'm going to ask about anything i missed for the pre scouting, a picture of their robot, and the lead strategist phone number (I'm asking for the phone number to make it easier to coordinate for match strategies) what else can i add to the pit scouting?

Assuming you've done some good scouting on their strategies and their strengths and weaknesses, it might be good to get information like what their drivetrain is for defensive capabilities. Good Luck!