The winning move is not to play

[leafy]

Originally Posted by kirtar

Already replied in a different thread. With respect to all possibilities this is probably the worst thing you can do. Not only is it a malicious strategy with essentially no effect but to hurt the other alliance, but it's not even a good move for your team. I thought of this at one point but there is a major flaw which is this: [u]There are other matches going on at the same time[/b]. This will probably net both you and your opponent fewer points than if you did not do this. Odds are, for the most part, you will be behind every other team that wins a match if you use this strategy, but only possibly ahead of those who lose, and probably behind any ties as well.

The only plausible reason that I might consider this is if I know that victory is impossible (e.g. robot breaks). Even then I probably wouldn't because it's not in the spirit of the competition.

It doesn't hurt the opponent's score; in fact, if you pick this strategy, then you increase the possible score of the other team by not taking any balls. You should, if you pick this strategy, push as many balls into their goals or zones as possible to increase *their* score. This also makes up for the fact that there is no coopertition bonus.

As for not being in the spirit of the competition, it's actually *more* in the spirit of FIRST as in winning, you are helping the other team win. It's a symbiotic relationship. Both teams scoring on one team's goals is the purest form of cooperation.