State Power Alliances 2015

[cjl2625]

Here are my thoughts for CT:

195 CyberKnights
As the king of stacking for New England, its impossible to leave the CyberKnights out of this alliance. 3 six stacks, all capped and noodled.
Furthermore, they undoubtedly have the fastest canburglar in CT.

2067 Apple Pi
I'll try not to be biased toward my own team
In the landfill, 2067 can do two capped six stacks. It's not 100%, but I think its good enough to be the choice for the landfiller.
Additionally, 2067 can grab cans in auto. Its fairly quick, though not nearly as fast as 195.

Third robot is trickier; there are multiple contenders. I'll give three candidates:

2836 Team Beta
Consistent two six stacks from the human player. Their consistency in what they do has paid off, helping them to earn the #1 seed in Galileo and #1 at CT champs.

2170 Titanium Tomahawks
Another human player robot capable of two six stacks. The Titanium Tomahawks have really had a good season with this nicely performing machine. Since they do the same thing as Beta, I guess it comes down to which one performs more consistently.

228 GUS
GUS started off with a rough season, but has gotten really good recently. They are capable of at least two six stacks, though they sometimes drop them, probably more frequently than 2836/2170. However, in a good match, they can really shine. In 2836/3647's battlecry match with their 10 stacks, you can see 228 quietly working on the other side of the field. That match, they put up three capped six stacks. I havent seen enough matches to know how often 228 can do two, or how often they can do three, but I'd say they're definitely a contender for this power alliance.

[jSchnitz]

Originally Posted by BariSaxGuy

For Missouri:

1730: 2-3 6-stacks With RC from HP station
1986: 2-3 6 stacks with RC from Landfill
1987: Puts out a wall of stacks of 4-6 totes from HP station, but needs to be capped.

As great as 1987 is, I'm not sure they fit on that alliance. There's nobody to cap them, and only 12 totes left in the HP station for their wall of stacks after 1730 makes 3 six stacks. Having the R-7 Alliance on an alliance would be awesome, though.

My opinion for Missouri:

1730: 3 six stacks with noodles from human station, 20 point auto

1986: 2 six stacks from landfill, steal 2 cans in auto

4522: 2 four stacks from human station, steal 2 cans in auto

IRI / CC rule change: Switch 1806 or 1658 for 4522. They could make 3 noodled six stacks from the HP station without competing with 1730 for cans and totes.

[CalTran]

Originally Posted by BariSaxGuy

For Missouri:

1730: 2-3 6-stacks With RC from HP station
1986: 2-3 6 stacks with RC from Landfill
1987: Puts out a wall of stacks of 4-6 totes from HP station, but needs to be capped.

Not that I'm from Missouri (Does being from Kansas count? ), nor do I have something against 1987's amazing robot, but I would say that 1658 fits better with 1730 and 1986, since 1658 is almost identical to 1730. Both of them can take the HP stations while 1986 clears out the Landfill and grab some cans during Auto.

[carpedav000]

I'll take a shot at IN.

234 - 2 capped 6-stacks from HP station

1024 - see strategy below

1720/1741/71- all would be good for the strategy below, although 71 and 1741 stack slightly faster

Strategy:

234 does their thing and makes their HP stacks, 1024 makes capped and noodled stacks of 2. During this, the alliance landfill bot makes stacks of 4 for 1024 to make 6-stacks out of (1024 already does stack 4 and place 2 and a container on top)

[Bennett548]

I didn't watch much of 67 in St. Louis. If they were able to get reliability up then I would do 1023-548-67.

I might also consider 503 in the third position depending on the landscape of the event. They are the fastest canburglars in MI as far as I know, and if a choke hold strategy is viable then I would pick 1023-548-503.

[Hgree56]

Originally Posted by carpedav000

I'll take a shot at IN.

234 - 2 capped 6-stacks from HP station

1024 - see strategy below

1720/1741/71- all would be good for the strategy below, although 71 and 1741 stack slightly faster

Strategy:

234 does their thing and makes their HP stacks, 1024 makes capped and noodled stacks of 2. During this, the alliance landfill bot makes stacks of 4 for 1024 to make 6-stacks out of (1024 already does stack 4 and place 2 and a container on top)

I would like to add team 829 to the list of third pick bots. They did rather at all four events in the state.

[GKrotkov]

Here's my thinking about MAR:

If feel that any MAR alliance without 1640 isn't really doing as best it can. They bring a pretty quick canburgular and an upside of 3 stacks from the human player station.

There are only really two dominant landfill robots from MAR: Vulcan Robotics and TechFire. As far as I (and my scouting data) can tell; Vulcan comes out ahead in pure points scored, but TechFire has the advantage when it comes to being a great 3rd partner, facilitating high scores by human player stackers on their alliance and having a slightly faster canburgular. I think that 225 would edge out 1218 for the landfill spot on a MAR alliance.

As for the last robot, it would have to feed from the human player, and preferably either have a 20 pt autonomous or canburgulars (this allows this alliance to fight over all 4 cans and go for a 20pt auto). Efficiency with cans is desirable as usual, with extra importance because of the likely ability of this alliance to use all 7 cans. Also, there are only 5 stacks of totes behind the alliance wall, so a robot capable of >2 stacks isn't better than one capable of exactly 2 stacks (given 1640 running 3 stacks). Of the high tier HP loaders in MAR, I can only think of 3 robots that fulfill these requirements pretty reasonably. 303 (incredibly consistent 2 stacks from HP station), 2607 (3 tote auto?), 219 (Center canburgulars). 303 would make the alliance incredibly consistent, but the highest upside for the alliance would come with 2607, for whom my data says 2 stacks of 6 is a stretch, but doable.

Final decision: 1640, 225, 303

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by Rachel Lim

2. I still cannot figure out if 973 counts as northern or southern CA--they're basically right between San Jose and LA.

It's okay, neither can we.

[tindleroot]

Originally Posted by Hgree56

I would like to add team 829 to the list of third pick bots. They did rather at all four events in the state.

829 was an HP bot though, so they wouldn't mesh well with a 234-1024 alliance.

[John Weissman]

Thank you for putting 1640 on your MAR alliance. Just a afterthought add on a 20 pt. autonomous.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

It's okay, neither can we.

All right then...

Which side of the Grapevine (just to pick a dividing point) do you attend the most events in? We'll just toss ya in that group until you attend more on the other side.

[Clayton Summerall]

4587 has been wanting to see if it would be possible to run with 148 all season. Maybe this summer?

[The other Gabe]

Originally Posted by MikLast

for the PNW (its a state, don't argue.):
1983
2930
955

OR just 1983 and 1318.

why have 3 feeder station robots when you could have 1318 or 2471? I'd pick Mean Machine over IRS just because they can cap if needed, and I think their canburglar's a bit faster
also 4488 is a bit better than 955, and could get the 4th can (i'd keep skunks around to manage the downed containers)

the thing about the PNW is that we didnt have an over powered landfill bot (a 1114, 1717, 118 type robot), and the robot you pick there determines a lot of your other strategy. I would prefer a PNW alliance completely different from yours, although both could be quite strong

Left feeder: 4488. best robot in the PNW, fast canburglar too. their need for upright containers is their only real flaw
Landfill: 4911. by Champs, they had a 2 can burglar that was faster than 2471's, and can get 2 uncapped stacks of 6 from the landfill and still have some capping time. their noodle thrower is also quite talented
Right Feeder: 948. yes, 955 can pump out more stacks. but this alliance doesnt need that. with 3 cans used by 4488 and 1 for 4911, to optimize point values, having the 3 point auto makes more sense- 92 points for two noodled stacks of 5 and an auto stack, compared to 84 points for 2 stacks of 6.

with all 3 cans that they go for burgled, this alliance could score 272 points before noodles

[Dunngeon]

Originally Posted by The other Gabe

Left feeder: 4488. best robot in the PNW, fast canburglar too. their need for upright containers is their only real flaw
Landfill: 4911. by Champs, they had a 2 can burglar that was faster than 2471's, and can get 2 uncapped stacks of 6 from the landfill and still have some capping time. their noodle thrower is also quite talented
Right Feeder: 948. yes, 955 can pump out more stacks. but this alliance doesnt need that. with 3 cans used by 4488 and 1 for 4911, to optimize point values, having the 3 point auto makes more sense- 92 points for two noodled stacks of 5 and an auto stack, compared to 84 points for 2 stacks of 6.

with all 3 cans that they go for burgled, this alliance could score 272 points before noodles

I agree with your first pick, although 4488 performs much better on the right feeder for obvious reasons.

I don't agree with your landfill pick for 2 reasons, the first is that 4911 doesn't produce 2 capped stacks consistently, and second is that 2471 is at least 200ms faster into the cans than 4911 was. 4911 wasn't even close to Mean Machine in terms of speed. Also, 4911 was a single can grabber, whereas 2471 was a 2 can grabber.

948 will provide the auto, but little else the alliance needs. This third bot would preferably be able to play with tipped over cans, and create 2 of their own capped stacks. 948 doesn't do tipped over bins and rarely (ever?) did 2 full stacks. 1983 would be my pick here. They consistently do 2 stacks, capped and noodled, provide decently quick can grabbing ability, and are extremely reliable.

Left: 1983
Mid: 2471
Right: 4488

[Brian Maher]

Originally Posted by GKrotkov

Final decision: 1640, 225, 303

I agree. We attended two district events and DCMP with 303, and I can count on one hand the number of times the number of times they didn't score at their peak ability (2 capped 6-stacks at DCMP).

2590 deserves an honorable mention. At North Brunswick, they consistently scored 2-3 capped six stacks from the HP station. However, after North Brunswick they became less consistent. Both 303 and 2590 have phenomenonal machines, and on the same alliance at North Brunswick they emptied their Human Player stations.

Now for some state alliances.

Based on what I said right there, my NJ alliance would be 303, 2590 (making ~5 capped 6-stacks between them), and 1923 (because wicked fast canburglaring, with some landfill stacking ability).
My Eastern PA alliance would be 1640 (best human player stacker in MAR, stacked tote auto, canburglars), 225 (amazing landfill stacker, stacked tote auto, canburglars), and 2607 (strong HP bot).

My Delaware alliance would comprise 365, 1370, and 4954. Mainly because I don't know anything about the fourth Delaware team