Picking alliances

[Bill Moore]

Originally Posted by EricH

"Schmoozing" (selling yourself to anybody in the top 8) can pay off. However, bad times to do this are: a) they are swarming their robot like crazy, b) they are about to play a match, or c) when the judges or a bunch of other teams are there. Start on Friday and step it up as you get closer. Don't be too agressive about it though; that gets the "pushy salesman" reaction. (On the other hand, don't ignore the top 8. That could be suicide.)

By the way, reason d) that this team didn't get picked is: they didn't draw the attention of enough scouts. Reason e) is: alliance strategy may not have had a place for the robot type. (eg. a ringer robot when the next few picks want a ramp bot) I say, let it fly, sell yourself next time around, and hope it works. (Giveaways help too.)

Schmoozing isn't only done by teams out of the top eight seeds, there is a lot of "testing the waters" within that group as well. Teams discussing possible matchups with each other and striking deals for end game strategies.

For teams that have significant scouting, you cannot wait until the competition is over to begin talking with them. They have collected all the data, and have taken notes about the decisions made by your competition team. You need to catch them early on Saturday morning, and give them some time to focus on your robot during its matches. Many robots improve from Friday to Saturday, and some begin having more difficulties. Scouts are familiar with these trends, so give them time to re-evaluate your robot during the Saturday morning matches.