Lovin' This Game

[logank013]

Originally Posted by Zebra_Fact_Man

Sounds like a "pro" to me. Last year was so boring, TV stations weren't interested in broadcasting the game. Now, good strategy might help you overthrow a powerhouuse alliance.



Not true. I know of two Week 1 alliances that won a playoff round using an Alliance Captain or first pick for defense. I also know of alliances that won by playing no defense; 3 offense bots.

I can definitely see it as a pro for many reasons, but the main reason I listed it as a con is because it sort of stinks for small district events. There are a few district events that only have 25 teams. Having a game where the third robot is important can really stink for a first alliance where their third pick may be broke or have little functionality. I know that the teams that rank low at competitions are definitely happy about this because it makes them important. That is a good thing and a pro for sure. But at our most recent event in NC, there were 30 teams. 29 could go to alliance selection (5188 broke and declined at alliance selection). Our alliance had the 12th pick or the 20th overall robot and we only had two robots to choose from before we got to our "bottom tier" list. If we were the first alliance captain, it would have been hard to choose which robot we wanted. Like I was saying, it isn't to be mean to teams. Last year, everyone did the same task where this year, a good third pick can swing the whole thing. I think we'll be seeing a lot of alliances 3-6 winning district events (not regionals). It sort of can discourage being #1 or 2 in my opinion if that makes sense?

[catmanjake]

Our third pick was a low robot that only shot low goals. They were a rookie team but had their robot perfectly timed to go under low bar and score a low goal in autonomous They only missed twice in 14 matches. One other miss was due to our robot getting in their pathway. This was a perfect example of what a rookie team should have worked on - pick out one plan and do it consistently. While a defense robot was trying to stop our two high shooters in QF and SF, this robot kept making fast cycle times so that in the end we could capture the tower. 3rd robots are definitely going to be difference maker this year.