Predictions: A cynical view of reality

[Lil' Lavery]

I have my reasons, that I'd rather not share publicly at this time, to say that, shooters will not dominate at all levels. Ultimately, at the championship level, it will require a well-oiled ALLIANCE (with shooters or arms, depending on the individual match-ups, alliance captains, and structures) to win Atlanta.
Ultimately each individual design aspect dictates certain aspects of play for each robot, and not to pick on the robots mentioned (which I do love their designs), they have some major flaws. 1629 cannot remove the ball from the overpass, which means that their alliance partners will have to do it for them, and in scenarios with only one other "hurdling" partner it may be entirely possible that that team has to do double the work, and invest double the time, removing balls. Additionally, compare this pick-up to that of a roller claw. There is a noticeable time difference, and namely, field element difference between the two (ie, niether 1625 nor 401 used the aid of the wall). This can be especially critical under real field conditions where teams will rarely get clean, unchallenged attempts to acquire the ball.
There are certain advantages to the position, height, geometry, and factors of hurdling with an arm/elevator that will become clear as the game evolves, especially in well thought-out machines. There are also disadvantages to the positions, heights, geometry, and factors of hurdling with a shooter.
That being said, I see many shooters being very competitive, but ultimately both designs will be very viable, and in the right alliances could win Atlanta very easily.