Defense is Back in a Big (Good) Way

[Ginger Power]

I'm creating this thread in response to this thread which was made during build season. I'll ask the same question that was asked then, now that we have seen a full week of Stronghold: Is anybody worried about defense ruining the game? I for one am not.

I just got done volunteering at the Duluth double regional. There wasn't a single robot out of the 123 robots at the 2 events that was built specifically to play defense. There wasn't more than a hand-full of quals matches where defense was played on the Lake Superior side. Defense most definitely didn't ruin the matches; it made them so much more exciting.

Here is a video from Qual 78 on Lake Superior. Team 359, arguably the best offensive team at the event, and 6175, the 3rd robot on the winning alliance with 359, went up against 4607 playing defense. It could be that I'm biased, but I thought a team running interference made things so much more exciting.

Here is another example in Qual 61 with 4607 against 4009, the number 1 alliance captain, and 1816 a second round pick. A defensive team can't prevent breaching effectively, only boulders scored. So quals essentially go uninterrupted because Captures are so rare anyways. Defense really only comes into play when you get to the playoffs and everybody is breaching, and everybody has the potential to capture.

Defense is also the best way for a lower ranked alliance to beat the top alliances. On Lake Superior the 2 Seed vs. 7 Seed matches were incredibly close. Barring a cable snap, the 7 seed walks away with the win. They weakened the tower twice but didn't capture which would've won it. There's no way a lower seeded alliance can out-cycle the top teams at an event with similar depth. The only way to win is with defense.

So is defense a good or a bad thing for Stronghold? Post videos of great defensive performances along with your opinion.