Over the bump or under the tower

[ThirteenOfTwo]

OK. #1: Bump is clearly a better idea, because it presents less mechanical limitations and you can't get blocked. Also, if you're building a striker bot, you actually have to go over the bump during the finale period if you want to hang, because if you so much as touch the tunnel walls you get a penalty. In any event, blocking the tunnel is as easy as moving about ten feet, whereas blocking the bumps is both dangerous and nearly impossible. If you build your robot carefully and have a good driver, you should not flip.

Second, I disagree with the idea that having one robot in all zones is always the best. In the qualifying rounds, playing defense and winning 10-0 is worse than not playing it and losing 11-10. Defense is totally out of the question in quals, because you want matches to be as high scoring as possible. As falconmaster said, having a good midfield is important. I predict that in the qualifiers, having two bots in midfield and one striker will be a better strategy than 1-1-1. Elimination is a totally different game, though, and in there you want to play defense.

Also, falconmaster, keep in mind that your blocking strategy won't work because A) intentional flipping is illegal B) there's always a faster, holonomic bot C) like you said, a bot on defense in midfield isn't doing its job and D) even if you do block them, and they flip, they land on you, probably incapacitating you as much as them.