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).

[ehochstein]

I agree with you I personally think the best alliance will be one that has two really good dumper/shooter robots and one that is really good at blocking the other team.

[ErikEdhlund]

Honestly I think this year will take a team where you will need 3 really strong scorers.

[Brad Voracek]

And when will the division predictions be posted? Wednesday like usual?

[ATannahill]

Although the supercells could make a big difference during elimination, I think the strategy will not make a difference on Einstein. Also by my logic there will be more than 12 locks per division.

[DBiehl]

There would be 12 locks per division if there were only 12 robots that had a chance of being division finalists or better. There are 6 spots, so 600% to spread the percentage around to 87 bots, and by LF's standards only a few are going to be above 50% chance to make it, in contrast to the teams that are likely to be at 1-2% chance of making it.

That aside, I am looking forward to seeing the prediction threads. Hopefully these threads come out before Wednesday as many teams are leaving Tuesday and Wednesday and the audience for the threads would drop dramatically as not everyone will have a laptop or internet access.

[Rick]

Originally Posted by Brad Voracek

And when will the division predictions be posted? Wednesday like usual?

I would hope that they would be out on Tuesday (or Monday) since most teams will be traveling on all day Wednesday.

[cpeister]

I expect a successful alliance to have all 3 robots with very good shooters/dumpers.

[Katie_UPS]

Originally Posted by cpeister

I expect a successful alliance to have all 3 robots with very good shooters/dumpers.

Originally Posted by Cheermaster111

Honestly I think this year will take a team where you will need 3 really strong scorers.

No offense.

But those aren't really predicitions. I mean, they are INCREDIBLY broad... Seeing as every robot that is competitive is a shooter or dumper on some accord.

[Danny McC]

Noooo I won't be able to get on for the division predictions. Someone in Curie will have to let me know what has been said.

[BrendanB]

Over the years, it seems as though a good alliance should be composed of three robots that are quick on offense and can play mean defense.

But behind the robots are the drivers that also need to be good and be willing to play offense and defense well and be very quick to react to unexpected plays on the field.

[R.C.]

As the season has progressed, shooters and dumpers have both done equally well. Some being better than others. My prediction is all 3 shooters, the third pick should be able to run super cells and be able to play defense while scoring.

-RC

[DustinWyke]

I am waiting to see what teams have gotten their crap together sense their last regional and are going to do alot better than expected.

Having 3 able dumpers with one or two really capable defensive robots seems to be working well. Great example that i can think of is 330. They scored well and then pinned amazingly well. to bad they wernt able to make it to champs..

thats my input. dont have much experience on these things though..

[Justin Montois]

I think two good scorers and a SuperCell specialist with some scoring ability will get it done. So many people are overlooking SuperCells.

[Taylor]

Originally Posted by Brad Voracek

And when will the division predictions be posted? Wednesday like usual?

I hope to get my predictions out by Sunday afternoon.