Predictions Championship 2009: Lunacy for Lunacy

[Looking Forward]

Six weeks of blood, sweat, of tears.
Six weeks of intense competition.
It all boils down to a 60 hour period between Thursday at 7 AM to Saturday at 7PM.
Welcome to the big show, the grand finale. Welcome to Championship.

                   Arc Cur Gal New
Regional Winners:  24  36  25  33
2x Winners:        2   1   2   1
3x Winners:        0   1   0   0
4x Winners:        0   0   1   0
Regional Wins:     26  39  30  34

The divisions are roughly as balanced as they are most years, and will each be more than capable of forming an alliance that could take it all. It's also possible that the powerhouses might be broken up, and the alliance that emerges from one division could be clearly outclassed by the others.

Each division will have it's own prediction thread, but here's a lay-out of how they will work. "Tips", "locks", "dark horses", and "sleepers" will be named for each division. In this context a tip is a team to watch, with a solid chance of going deep. A lock is a team that's guaranteed to do well, with a 50% chance or better of making the divisional finals. A dark horse is a team that has played very well all year but hasn't generated a lot of attention and stands a strong chance to surprise a lot of people. Sleepers are teams that have shown flashes of brilliance but haven't been able to put it all together yet, but has some potential to shine in Atlanta if they can play well.

Each division will also have a slightly unique style of play, and that will definitely impact the winners of each. Expect most alliances to consist of three teams capable of scoring moon rocks, but their roles during matches may vary. Most captains will pick within their comfort zone, and rely on strategies that they have tried and have worked in the past. Archimedes will have lots of close matches, with heavy focus on smart driving and moon rock scoring. Super cells and defense will likely play a more prominent role in Curie than any other division, as even many of the best moon rock scoring machines have placed significant value on the super cells in the past here. Galileo is a feast of famine division, with a very loaded top tier, but the weakest bottom of the field as well. That will result in many top machines having a loss of two due to bad qualification pairings, as well as open the door for a chance at a new high score. Even more than any other division, Galileo will be won during alliance selections. Newton is likely the most balanced division, head-to-toe, and will have a lot in common with events like MSC, Philadelphia, and UTC (just with more top level scoring machines than any of them).