Where's the defense this year?

[Karthik]

I feel the need to toss in my two cents here.

First off, I'm going to limit my discussion to the elimination rounds, because that's where defense really becomes a factor. (Although, with the consistency that FIRST has given us this year between the qualifiers and eliminations, it should extend to the qualifying rounds as well.) I think the main reason that there hasn't been much defense played is because teams are reluctant to admit that another team is going to outscore them. Most teams have designed their robots to play offense, so that's what they do. Unfortunately this is not the best option when playing against a team with superior scoring capabilities. It's not an easy thing to admit that another team is most likely going to outscore you. But doing so is the first step to employing a successful defensive strategy.

We would not have won the Long Island regional without the superior defensive play of team 229. Period. We never lost a match in which they played. Everytime they were on the field, they neutralized our most offensive opponent. This paved the way to victory.

This strategy was no fluke, one of the biggest reasons we picked 229 was because we knew how powerful their drive train and arm were. i.e. We picked them for their defensive abilities. It didn't matter that they weren't seeded high. (On a side note, Clarkson does have more than a few offensive moves, on another side note, Clarkson was the number 3 seed going into Friday night)

There are a lot of offensive juggernauts this year, teams 45, 60, 67 and 254 are a few that stand out. Instead of fighting an uphill battle of trying to outscore them, I think playing some carefully planned defense is a much easier solution. What's easier outscoring them or getting in their way? This is the question that needs to be answered when planning a match strategy.

That being said, just remember, for every strategy there is a counter-strategy. I know I'm planning for them, and I know most other teams are as well. The high scoring teams are going to be expecting that teams are going to try and play defense on them. They will be ready and armed with their own counter-moves.

This is why I love this game. It's like high speed chess with flashing lights and lots of noise.