Alliance Request

[evanperryg]

Various thoughts on everything being discussed here:
-I've been in a situation where a team that we didn't want to be picked by came to us and talked about alliances. We were honest, telling them that we believed that there were teams we would benefit from being with more. Honesty is both the most gracious and the most professional thing you can give someone, just know how to deliver it nicely.

-I've noticed teams that are particularly rude or disrespectful. Many of those teams have gone on our "don't pick" list event after event simply because they've gained a reputation for being toxic. These teams don't know how to act professionally, so they don't belong on our alliance.

-We've had tough schedules, it happens. Every team eventually has that match with that team that came in with a kitbot in pieces and asked "what do we do." Speaking from experience, the best thing to do is to get them up and running, and just make sure they know the fundamentals of the game. If you give them simple tasks and a bit of support, you will win matches you didn't think you could possibly win.

-Teams that come to the pit to haggle their way onto picklists are annoying. Don't be that team, you aren't doing yourself any favors. Your strength as an alliance partner is decided by how you perform on the field, how well your drive team works with ours, and how professionally your team as a whole conducts itself.

-In match, don't do things you wouldn't normally do just because you think it'll capture the eye of elite teams' scouters. With the limited depth of analysis that most teams do, that match will just show up as a blip in the data and you'll be written off as inconsistent. Play in a way that is advantageous to your alliance. The only exception I can think of is defense... sometimes. Good scouts can spot a team that consistently plays with good strategy, and those are the kinds of teams that will be picked.

[IronicDeadBird]

Instead of building a team dependent robot building a robot that can carry the team solves the "horrible matchup" situation.

[XaulZan11]

Originally Posted by evanperryg

-In match, don't do things you wouldn't normally do just because you think it'll capture the eye of elite teams' scouters. With the limited depth of analysis that most teams do, that match will just show up as a blip in the data and you'll be written off as inconsistent. Play in a way that is advantageous to your alliance. The only exception I can think of is defense... sometimes. Good scouts can spot a team that consistently plays with good strategy, and those are the kinds of teams that will be picked.

I think it is important to understand what type of robots the top seeds will want to pick and showcase those abilities opposed to trying to win a qualification match with a strategy that won't get you picked*. At nearly every event there are a handful of bubble teams that would be better off switching to a support role (defense, feeding, low goal scoring, inbounding (2014)) than showcasing their sup-par scorer. If the top teams are looking for a robot to fill a specific support role and see you do it successfully in a few matches, they will likely forget that went went 1 for 15 shooting in your first 5 matches.

*Obviously follow your alliance's agreed upon strategy...

[Mr. Tatorscout]

Originally Posted by Edxu

Approach high-seeding teams. Questions that you'll mainly want to ask them run along the lines of "What are you looking for in a second pick alliance partner?". Another great way to communicate teams is to ask them if they want to see anything performance-wise out of your robot in matches.

There is a danger here in fishing for information. We've been to events where clearly someone was fishing for another high seeded team that was their friend (We sort of have do a lot of regionals away from our area, so we are often on the outside looking in). They were then overheard by another of our students saying "sorry, that didn't work. They wouldn't bite." to the aforementioned high seeded team. You run the risk of raising peoples' suspicions if you ask too pointed of a question about their picking strategy.

Know that if you are ranked low and the game requires defense, you should show defense Saturday morning without getting fouls. If you have cheesecaked blockers to add, add them Saturday morning. The high ranked teams will come talk to you if they need you to do something.

Definitely agree with others who have said not to talk to the high ranked teams Saturday before alliance picks. They have more important things to do than satisfy your curiosity. If you are trying to talk to them while they are finalizing their list, you are keeping them from doing what they need to do and making it extremely challenging to be graciously professional. If they are worth anything scoutingwise, they will have been watching pretty closely. I know it's maddening. We have been on both ends of the rankings over the years.