Is Defense key to this game?

[ALIBI]

The name of the game is strategy. There will be exceptional robots that can score over a defender or when a defender is pushing them around. You will need to know the strengths and weaknesses of yourself, your alliance partners and your opposing alliance partners more than ever before. While watching the VCU and seeing how this years game unfolds on day one the following was observed: When the day started, every team that had any chance at all of scoring a ringer tried to do so. As the day progressed, the good scorers were identified and teams began to defend against them, most defended very well, few robots could score with another robot pushing them around. Towards the end of the day, if you could score, the opposing alliance knew about it and defended you, then the next step in the progression happened, you had one of your alliance partners defend against the defender so that you could score. Any chance that tommorrow we will see defenders defending defenders defending a scorer? Did anyone observe any teams using the spoilers anywhere today??

[Andrew Blair]

Originally Posted by ALIBI

Did anyone observe any teams using the spoilers anywhere today??

At VCU this morning, a human player threw a spoiler onto the rack. Granted, there were only ~ two tubes on the rack, and neither one was remotely close to the spoiler, but I bet that human player felt pretty smug...

[Arille]

Originally Posted by Andrew Blair

At VCU this morning, a human player threw a spoiler onto the rack. Granted, there were only ~ two tubes on the rack, and neither one was remotely close to the spoiler, but I bet that human player felt pretty smug...

That is utterly amazing. It would be even more awesome if someone was able to catch it on video.. anyone know where you can possibly find it??

I salute to that human player.

[Wayne C.]

Originally Posted by Arille

That is utterly amazing. It would be even more awesome if someone was able to catch it on video.. anyone know where you can possibly find it??

I salute to that human player.

It happened several times in NJ. We also had robots ringed on their flags-including us!. 103 was ringed with 2 tubes at one point.

[Wayne C.]

Defense really helped the fast placers by taking the pressure off the bots as they tried to settle tubes into place on the swaying rack.

In one round our alliance nearly lost (4-4 tie) because of defensive robots bullying us all over the place.
The last second drop of a tube tied it up and preserved our lead in the field. But when the rack starts swaying you start praying!

WC