paper: MARC 2011 Rule Changes

[GaryVoshol]

The backup bot will need to play at least once in the Elimination round. Yes, that means if you lose your first match, it must play in your second match to ensure that the backup bot has played. So choose wisely, don't pick a backup that isn't running. But at least you've got a choice; you aren't assigned a backup based only on the rankings.

The serpentine draft (1-8, 8-1) tends to balance the levels of the alliances. However in some tournaments, the 8th alliance gets a big advantage, because picking two nearly-top tier partners in a row is such a benefit.

IRI has had 1-8, 1-8 draft and pick your own backup for years. We decided to give it a try at MARC this year.

Assigning penalties is the mechanism for reducing the Minibot Race bonuses - we knew it would work without having to mess with the scoring software.