Look Back: Week 1

[Looking Forward]

In addition to the prediction threads, the Looking Forward team will also be putting out weekly "Look Backs" into the main story-lines of the previous weekend. How did things go down in that regional you missed? Who were the big winner and losers? Missed anything big? Well, check here!

Week 1 played out pretty much as everyone expected, with lots of penalties, field malfunctions (sagging overpass), and many teams struggling with barely finished robots. One tipster summed it all up pretty well:

Prepare for most qualification matches to be dull this year. Qualifiers are plagued with traffic, miscommunication, and slow execution. This year scouts will have a hard time choosing the cream of the crop to include in their alliances, but will also have a very important role in creating winning alliances. Teamwork is more important than ever before, as witnessed in both hybrid and teleop modes.

With that being said, some of the upper level teams most certainly rose to the challenge and performed extremely well. A vast majority (all) of these teams will be back in future weeks, and it will be very interesting to see if they can continue to stand as some of the best machines in FIRST.

While most of FIRST was focused on Trenton and Chicago, St. Louis quietly had what may have been the most interesting and exciting event of the weekend to watch. There were three matches where both alliances scored 90+, and four matches where an alliance broke 100. Just like last year, 148 and 1444 finished qualifications undefeated. Just like last year, 148 selected 217 first, and 1444 responded by selecting 45. Just like last year, the top two alliance clashed in the finals. Unlike last year, the Robowranglers and Thunderchickens enlisted the help of the Rat Pack (830), and managed to close the deal, going home with gold medals. Best two out of three?
148's 16-0 record in Missouri proved that lapbots can have not only an impact on this game, but a major one. The 148/217/830 actually essentially had two, with 830 removing their gripper for the elims, leaving 217 as the only hurdler. The Rat Pack didn't purely run laps, they actually played some defense as well, making this one of the most interesting and dynamic alliances of the weekend (three scores over 100, but rarely winning in dominant fashion). 148's alliances were rarely outgunned on the hurdling aspect though, so it'll be interesting to see how much ground they can make up against excellent hurdlers if the situation ever arises. Despite the undefeated elimination record, the #1 alliance did have to work for their championship, especially in the semi-finals against a very talented alliance led by 525.

217-The number two team I have seen this year. The Chickens had far and away the best robot at STL. Averaging about 5 hurdles a match, they could score with any other team in the country. If you ask me they benefitted from STL not being webcasted, they are still a darkhorse team (As much as 217 could be).

This informant hit it right on the money. While I'm not sure if 217 is really the 2nd best team of the weekend (that honor belongs to 16, more on them later), they are among the top few. If I were attending Detroit or Great Lakes, I'd be very afraid right now. 217 could be the best team in Michigan this year, which is nothing to be scoffed at.


Manchester meant the debut of many traditional New England powers. 175, 40, 121, 126, and 1519 all had strong opening weekends. A couple others, such as our reigning FIRST champs, didn't.

Team 121 made a great comeback at the GSR. After a 2 year hiatus from Manchester, the Rhode Warriors were able to defend their gold and take home the big prize once again. Their practice time seemed to pay off immensely. Keep your eyes on them for ATL.

The kings of the roller claw rolled up another gold. The Rhode Warriors extra practice time certainly set them ahead of other similar designs.
Despite 121's returning to NH to win and Trinity (40) picking up their first ever regional win, the big story out of BAE NH is 1519. 1519's "twin configuration" design being disallowed sparked a huge controversy here on CD. Regardless of whichever opinion is correct, 1519 has logged their own chapter in the annals of FIRST design history.


Oregon was the lowest scoring regional of the weekend. 368 picked up another regional championship to adorn their already full trophy rack. 1540 had an amazing weekend, scoring the #1 seed, regional championship, and chairman's awards. Somehow 1280 fell to the last pick, but luckily for them that meant a regional championship. 488 and 100 also had pretty strong outings, and paired up to make the Semis. Most shooters struggled in Portland, such as 1425 and 8, and some didn't even get to see the elimination rounds.


For the third consecutive year, 103 and 25 both left Trenton with banners that read regional champion. The Cybersonics packed up early on Galileo last year, but with this machine there's no doubt that they'll be selected this year. 103 was a level above everyone else in Jersey, and would not be denied their fourth consecutive title (watch out poofs). They scored approximately 2/3 of their alliance's hurdles (SOAP/TBA videos don't always give the full picture, but give a rough approximation) in the eliminations, and will likely be better once their drivers get a little less "trigger happy" (several miscues with firing led to missed hurdle opportunities). They selected 25 first overall, solidifying their alliance as by far the best hybrid in the regional (103 and 25 could both knock off the balls during hybrid, and 25 would usually get 3-4 lines). They then added 381, one of the better lapbots, to round out the alliance and formed a fearsome combo that was the instant favorite after lunch. They didn't coast to the championship though, losing once in the QFs, and facing some strong competition from an inspired 1279 in the SFs. Ultimately they won the event the same way most FIRST events are won, survival. During at least one match of each round, one of their opponents broke on the field, leaving them disabled for the rest of the match. It would have been interesting to see how these robots faired in other events (in either the more defensive PNW or BAE, or the deeper St. Louis or Midwest).


Midwest was by far the deepest regional of week 1, and many of the elite came to Chicago to play. The Simbots shocked absolutely nobody when they came out with an excellent machine, and as a result, they added their 7th championship in their last 8 regionals. 1024 and newcomer 2041 aided the 1114 during the eliminations, and without their help they wouldn't have been able to notch up another win. I'll let some of my informants fill you in here:

1114-The best robot to be displayed so far. They have once again hit a homerun in their design. While not unbeatable, they have once again topped their design from the year before. Their hybrid is their strongest point, 4 lines/2 balls is one of those things that 95% of teams deemed impossible and never even thought about Also, they have the best drive team in FIRST, being calm, unflappable and smart they will be a serious force to be reckoned with this season.

1114 has risen to the top, once again. Their robot and strategy was a picture perfect demonstration of simplicity and dominance. They will be played by many, beaten by few, but feared by all. Will this be the season the Simbots take their game to Einstein? Will they finally be able to bask in the Championship gold they have shown they deserve for years?

1024 - This teams was ridiculously fast with a superior hybrid mode. They could have hurdled more if they want to, but many matches the strategy only called for running laps. They played very smart. Many teams ignored them, but 1114 and their always on the money scouts smartly snapped them up.

This alliance was the best alliance of week 1 in almost every aspect of the game. They could streak around the field in hybrid, lap, herd, and hurdle with ease. About the only thing they didn't do well was place at the end, but they racked up enough points elsewhere to overcome that. 2041's quick 111-inspired roller made them a great compliment for this alliance, and allowed them to "feed" balls to 1114 in a few situations (including this alliance's 146 point high score), as well as run laps and play small doses of defense when called upon. This exact alliance could have made an impact at any competition it was entered, including championship (and to avoid the inevitable remarks, IRI as well).
And don't worry, Wildstang was in the finals. It wouldn't have been midwest without either them or Beatty (who won Chairman's) taking home medals. 111 had a little bit of a rough start, and definitely needs to work out some problems, but they had problems during their first event in 2003 as well (and that turned out pretty good for 'em I think). 71 created another fabulous machine, and ended up (more on this in a sec) in the #1 alliance. Best part is, 71 built their shooter on Thursday, and didn't get to test it until Friday morning. Look out for the Beast in Atlanta, it will be a forced to be reckoned with.
The #2 alliance is also very worthy of mention. Look out, the Bomb Squad is back. Somehow the only real attention 16 seems to be getting is that they blocked 1114 and 1024 in hybrid, but these guys were pretty clearly the second best hurdlers not only in Midwest, but in FIRST during week 1. When 1625 was on, they were great, unfortunately they had many problems, seeming to breakdown every other match. This team peaked on Thursday and went downhill from there. Look for them to get things ironed out before Wisconsin, and if they can avoid the problems there, they will easily be a favorite for gold. The pick of 648 by the #2 alliance was a strange one. 648 was averaging less than 2 laps per match, and was a penalty machine. There's no other way of putting this, they looked terrible. But, when it came to the elims they looked like a new team. They abandoned hurdling with their less than good arm, and became a lap machine with their swerve drive. Either 1625's scouts got really lucky, or possibly had some inside information.

Team 1755 showed up on Thursday with a half robot. Team 1114 worked with them on Thursday afternoon, helping the team pass inspection, even providing them with code for a 2 line autonomous mode. This coupled with some good luck helped them nab the #1 seed. They then smartly picked all the top teams in the top 8, in an effort to break up powerhouse alliances. Unfortunately their Cindarella run ended in the QFs.

And one more interesting tidbit for you to chew on until Week 2:

Father vs. Son: The finals featured a father son matchup between the widely known Raul Olivera, drive coach for 111 and his son Rich Olivera, drive coach for 2041.

Good luck everyone, and see with the Week 2 predictions!