Best Atlanta Alliances

[burkechrs1]

I think three offensive robots can win. I don't think they all need to be "great" scoring robots though. AS long as they can put up 3 or 4 tubes in a match they are a threat. Put 2 robots that score 3 or 4 tubes plus one that can score 5-7 tubes and you have yourself a killer alliance. It's very hard to defend 1v1. It's easy for the offensive robot to pull away and run then score elsewhere. Another benefit to that strategy is if one robot is being hit are they can back off from scoring and defend the other two offensive robots. There is no way to shut down an alliance that is all offense. It is possible to keep them from scoring a row of 7 or 8 but still. All they need is a row of 6 and ramps are useless against them. And you cant say well the other alliance can score too and then it will be 64-4 or 64-8 and ramps can work again because then that leaves the match 3v2 and the offensive alliance's score will be even higher. I think if an offensive alliance is put together and strategizes wight they could very well be an unstoppable force, as long as they can score 6 tubes total in a match.

Just my .02

[MFennig8]

All you guys are syaing that u need 3 scorers or two scorers.....no all u need is an alliance that works together and are good communicators....us, 123 and 903 won detroit because we communicated well.....only 1 of us could socre on the rack and that was 123, us and 903 just played defense and we were ramp bot....all u need in conisitency and a good defender to win

[Marion]

Our team (1583) has a ramp bot onto which we can lift 2 bots. Come check us out in Atlanta... those 60 points REALLY help!!!

[themagic8ball]

537 was seeded 7th and we were able to pick both martians (I consider amazing scorers). It is a High Risk/high reward strategy. The problem we ran into is that we ran out of tubes at the end of the match. What you really need to make it work is 3 scorers that can pick up from the other side of the field very fast.

[hayakuneko]

realistically, the best alliance at atlanta will consist of one hybrid, one awesome scoring machine, and a bot that can score with experienced drivers to play mostly defense.

i feel somewhat bad for saying this, but the winning alliance at atlanta won't have a defensive/ramp bot as the #1 or #2 bot in the alliance. Don't bag on me for this, it's just my opinion based on what i've seen from the two regionals i've been to this year.

for example: 1070 was a great defensive/ramp bot at LA and they seeded #1; however they lost in I think it was semis or quarters? I don't know, but they lost and their first pick was 968. 330 on the other hand (a hybrid) was chosen by 254 who is an awesome scoring machine. Right from that moment, they were destined to win LA cuz there was no other alliance that could match them in pure scoring power.

on to what i was going to say. either the #1 bot in the winning alliance will be a hybrid bot (such as 330), then the #2 bot will be the pure scorer or it will be the other way around. The reason I put down defensive bots is because defense cannot win a game. Not, at least, without scoring going on in the background. I had a qualifying against 330 in SD where the coach decided to have us play with a defensive strategy. We were lucky to hold them to 16 pts and if we had another scoring robot on our alliance we could have won that match.

And the #3 bot on the winning alliance will have an experienced driver with a robot that can score, but not necessarily score well.

so there, defense can't really win on its own and I figure defense requires an experienced driver as opposed to "designing" a robot around a defensive strategy. Sure you can design the drivetrain around it, but a lot of the robots i've seen have shifting trannys anyways with a low-defensive-gear and a high-speed-gear. I think someone else out there can agree with me, or at least I hope so.

ok recap:
The seeded bot - a) scoring hybrid or b) pure scorer
First pick - a) pure scorer or b) scoring hybrid
Second pick - scoring bot w/ experienced drivers

[Chris Fultz]

I'm with Paul (I think).

Three good or great scoring robots can beat out 2 scorers with a ramp -
why, i saw it time and time again -

at 1:30, the ramp bot retreats to the home zone, 1 opposing robot is now 'free to score'
at 1:40, the other two bots retreat to the home zone, 2 more opposing robots now 'free to score'.

during ramp time - the three scorers put up another 6 - 9 tubes or spoilers and create more than the 60 points from the ramps.

[BBnum3]

Originally Posted by Chris Fultz

I'm with Paul (I think).

Three good or great scoring robots can beat out 2 scorers with a ramp -
why, i saw it time and time again -

at 1:30, the ramp bot retreats to the home zone, 1 opposing robot is now 'free to score'
at 1:40, the other two bots retreat to the home zone, 2 more opposing robots now 'free to score'.

during ramp time - the three scorers put up another 6 - 9 tubes or spoilers and create more than the 60 points from the ramps.

I think what you describe will happen--most of the time. With the right strategy and execution the ramp alliance has a good shot at the win. Defense is the key to the ramp alliance's success. That alliance needs to place tubes defensively to limit big rows, and the ramp needs to defend the opposing alliance's best scorer. Assuming all of the tube scoring bots are all of similar caliber this is a viable strategy. If the ramp alliance prevents any rows of more than 4 then the max score of the opposing alliance is 88. Not a bad score, but it assumes the rest of the rack is full.

Also the idea that 6-9 tubes could be put up during ramp time is not realistic. By this point in the match the 3 scorers alliance has most likely used up all of the alliance station ringers, and can't go to the other side to pick them up because of the endgame. I could see 4 or so in the last 30 seconds, but not much more. However, it's still enough to swing the outcome of the match.

What we're not taking into account here is the placing of keepers. Expect some of the top alliances to have two, if not three robots that can place keepers. If that alliance happens (and I think we'll see one) watch out.

[Joel J]

Originally Posted by Chris Fultz

I'm with Paul (I think).

Three good or great scoring robots can beat out 2 scorers with a ramp -
why, i saw it time and time again -

at 1:30, the ramp bot retreats to the home zone, 1 opposing robot is now 'free to score'
at 1:40, the other two bots retreat to the home zone, 2 more opposing robots now 'free to score'.

during ramp time - the three scorers put up another 6 - 9 tubes or spoilers and create more than the 60 points from the ramps.

You also aren't factoring in being blocked from making long rows by the opposing alliance.. whether on purpose, or simply from them playing the game and scoring.

When these matches heat up I say each alliance will have ramps, and the bonus points from those ramps will usually cancel each other out (the alliances without ramps won't make it to the "heat of the competition," IMO).. also, I think the rack will be close to neutral-- that is, each alliance will have a similar score on the rack. The alliance that comes out on top in these matches will be the ones capable of scoring the larger quantity of tubes in the most optimum locations on the rack. I'm seeing scores like 60+38 to 30+52, or something like that, when the competition begins to heat up.

[JackN]

3 Hangers/Ramp Hybrids
1 Swerve Drive
2 Of the best 6WDs ever
1 Canadian
1 Californian
1 Michiganian

Take a guess who I am talking about.

This alliance can change their game plan, each match and can out hang all other alliances. This is the "Best" Atlanta Alliance.

[BRAVESaj25bd8]

One pretty good tube scorer with a 60 point bonus capability.
One pretty good tube scorer that can get the bonus points using the mechanism from the previous robot.
One defensive bot who can handle a spoiler and get the other 30 bonus points.

I think this alliance would be awesome and would definitely have a tough time formulating a strategy to beat these 3 teams.

[Lil' Lavery]

Originally Posted by 1derboy

3 Hangers/Ramp Hybrids
1 Swerve Drive
2 Of the best 6WDs ever
1 Canadian
1 Californian
1 Michiganian

Take a guess who I am talking about.

This alliance can change their game plan, each match and can out hang all other alliances. This is the "Best" Atlanta Alliance.

Something tells me that 330, 469, and 1114 will all be gone before the 2nd round, making this a little bit unlikely....