1vs3 What would you do?

[Alex Cormier]

Please try to keep this thread on topic and not wander to the specifics.

Visiting the Greater Toronto Regional for my 4th consecutive year, i witnessed something for the first time ever in all of my years in first.

At the start of Semi 2-1, the blue alliance called a time out. After the time out was extinguished, there was only one team on the field. The red alliance was all ready before the timeout and had all three robots on the field. The ruling from the Head Referee was that the blue alliance could only play the match with the one robot.

So, I come to the community of vast knowledge, opinions, and excellent ideas.

1) What would you do if you were on the alliance with only 1 robot?
2) What would you do if you were on the alliance with all 3 robots?

[Travis Hoffman]

Funny but not appropriate - drive clockwise the entire match. Random pirouettes for effect.

Appropriate but not very entertaining - do what 1503 did - their best.

....and then win the next 2 matches with their alliance at full strength.

As for the full strength alliance - they were obligated to play just as passionately as they would have if they were facing 3 robots. Actually, one might think it's TOUGHER to perform when there's only one bot facing you, because everyone and their uncle EXPECTS you to win the match.

[Lil' Lavery]

1) Do whatever my bot does best, preferably score like a beast (especially in hyrbid). Pray for opposing penalties. Avoid penalties.
2)Play it conservatively, but play my game. Don't commit penalties. Win.

[65_Xero_Huskie]

1.) Show off the skills my robot has (Our would do our full auto, and lap like crazy )
2.) Not play defense on the 1 robot and try to score as much as possible as well

[smurfgirl]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

1) Do whatever my bot does best, preferably score like a beast (especially in hyrbid). Pray for opposing penalties. Avoid penalties.
2)Play it conservatively, but play my game. Don't commit penalties. Win.

I'd do the same thing; there really isn't much else that you can do in that situation. If I were the single robot, I might show any cool tricks that I could do.

[vivek16]

I would do my best in both situations. It would be cruel and unGP to not give your best if you were the 3 team alliance.

If I was the 1 team alliance, I would pray for opposing penalties, avoid penalties and keep them from getting bonus points.

-Vivek

[Billfred]

In either situation:

Steal the show.

[Herodotus]

1.) Play to the very best of my ability. I think one good tactic would be to grab an alliance trackball, and hurdle like crazy, while randomly knocking around the opposite trackballs to just try to keep them bouncing around as much as possible.

2.) Play to the best of my ability. It is insulting to the other alliance to "take it easy." I know if I were on the handicapped alliance I would rather lose fighting then win through pity.

[lingomaniac88]

If you win a 1 vs. 3 match when you're on the "3" alliance, it's a hollow victory. If you win and you're the "1," it's living proof that God exists.

I wouldn't want to see the "3" alliance ganging up on the "1" in a mocking way. Cruel? Yes. GP? No.

[Uberbots]

If i were in the situation 1503 was in, i wouldn't move my robot at all. Id find an isolated corner and stay there- there are 2 possible matches after this one, so why risk breaking the robot?

[Vikesrock]

If there were any chance to coordinate, an immediate 4 robot e-stop would probably catapult to the top of the list of the most GP things FIRST has ever seen.

Besides that, I would go with what most of the others have said, both alliances have to stick with what they do best. Anything less is unfair to both the spectators and the teams.

[arhajder]

I hate this situation with a passion. Last year it happened to us so many times. Teams feel like there not going to playoffs and decide to quit. I think its Un-Gracious Professionalism on their part. But you gotta do what you gotta do.

[Liz Smith]

Originally Posted by arhajder

I hate this situation with a passion. Last year it happened to us so many times. Teams feel like there not going to playoffs and decide to quit. I think its Un-Gracious Professionalism on their part. But you gotta do what you gotta do.

I think the situation Alex is describing is a bit different than the one you're describing. None of the teams "quit" and ended up hurting their own alliance. In this case it was the elimination rounds and the referees only allowed one team to play on the blue alliance for that particular match. It was due to the rules about timeouts this year and teams being required to be on the field by the end of their timeout. The GP discussion comes in with whether the one team alliance and/or the 3 team alliance should play to their full potential in this particular situation.

[EricH]

Either side--full bore, take-no-prisoners, it-ain't-over-till-the-last-buzzer playing. Any year.

[Alex Cormier]

Alright, with a few ideas down already. I'll give out my thoughts.

If I was on the alliance with only one team, I agree with everyone here. Try my hardest, show off some tricks, and do not get one penalty. Just imagine if this team was a mid ranked team. They would have everyones attention on them, this is good for some teams and bad for others. Hopefully if my team ever have this situation we will not buckle under the pressure. If my team had won, just imagine what those top 8 teams would think? For this game, I would have kept one ball on top (unless the opposing alliance knocked it off), while the robot had a dream day and hurdled as much as possible.

Now, if I was part of the three team alliance, it would be totally different. My first thought was to keep both balls on top and do laps only. Another one would be act like it is an ordinary match and try your hardest and do not change the strategy that was brought to the table before the match. In this case, there was a little time to talk to the other alliance. With it being after a timeout called, I would have watched that clock and watch if the robots were making their way to the field. If the other two robots were not, I would go up to the single team and have a conversation and get their opinions on a few ideas.