Move over INsight, NEForecast, and PCH Informer. Watch out CHS Platter, Mountain Man, and Looking Forward. And as always, stay classy WCBC. Because as much as we try to forget it, MAR is a thing too! So here is the debut of The MARtian, featuring MARginally accurate weekly predictions of the 2017 season.
Hatboro-Horsham:
The 2017 MAR season will begin with a bang at the Hatboro-Horsham District Event with the world of FIRST watching. With a number of local powerhouse and two Hall of Fame teams debuting, we expect that the tone for the MAR region will be set in Horsham, Pennsylvania. We will see scores rise as the competition intensifies and teams begin to master traversing the field to place gears and understand the flow of the game. Teams will try to prioritize scoring gears to a point before trying to steam ahead toward the 40 kPa bonus. It remains to be seen if the amount of fuel dumped into the boilers will be enough to tip the balance for that extra ranking point. Seconds will be left on the clock as teams are still unsure of how long it takes to climb aboard and take flight.
Top teams:
- As two of MAR’s perennial top teams, 2590
and 341 total 26 event wins, earning three of them together, including Hatboro-Horsham in 2013 and 2014. With both teams revealing impressive robots, a successful reunion appears well within the realm of possibility. - After winning both district events last year and the year before, 2590
appears to bring a dominant robot to the table once again, featuring not one, not two, but three hooded shooters in addition to a fast climber. Winning an event is no easy feat, but as the winners of the past four Hatboro-Horsham events, Nemesis is a favorite to make a deep run in playoffs. - In 2012, 341
showed the world what shooting with computer vision can do. Miss Daisy returns with a camera-guided fuel turret, sliding gear dropper, and a quick climber. While Daisy had a slow start last season, failing to take home a banner until the District Championship, they managed to become one of MAR’s strongest robots. They will need to transform their robot’s potential into results earlier this season if they wish to earn their third Hatboro-Horsham win. - Last season, 5895
was the rookie who took MAR by storm with their consistent batter shot and autonomous high goal, winning them a District Event as an alliance captain and earning them a trip to the Carson Subdivision finals as a captain. They may be a young team, but their seasoned mentors and impressive engineering make them a force to be reckoned with. -
1218
is another top contender, winning Hatboro-Horsham with 341 in 2012 and with 2590 in 2016, along with a small handful of other MAR events. However, Vulcan Robotics peaked early last season, advancing no further than semifinals at their later events. Like the springs they’re named after, they hope to bounce back with a great start to the 2017 season. - While sometimes flying under the radar, 2607
, The Fighting RoboVikings, come to pillage. They won Hatboro in 2015 with 2590 and were finalists last season as the first pick of the second alliance. Although they won the Industrial Design, Innovation in Control, and Excellence in Engineering awards last year, their robot went unpicked at the District Championship. Their reveal video showed off their quick four-ball-wide intake, but any shooting ability has yet to be seen.
Up-and-Comers:
- Hats off to this weekend’s hosts, 708
, who decided to utilize the tall robot configuration this season. Hatters Robotics is armed with an active floor gear pickup and a two-ball wide shooter. They are looking for their first ever event win after making it to finals twice last year, including at the Newton Subdivision last year with the legendary team 254. - Unlike their mascot, 1257
has been moving up fast since winning the MAR Clifton District as a second pick in 2014. After a finalist finish 2015, Parallel Universe made it to finals at three 2016 MAR events, winning the Mount Olive District as the 7th alliance captain and taking home a District Championship Winner banner with 341. Their bot this season focuses purely on gears and climbing and raises an interesting question: how well can a team do at this event without fuel? - Last season, 4454
made their first playoff appearance since their rookie year of 2013. The Artisan Rockets played smart early season, running fast low goal cycles to ensure the capture. This strategy took them to the semifinals as a captain and a first pick at their district events but left them unpicked at the District Championship. We will see if they can capitalize on their newfound success and blast off to another solid season.
Sleepers:
-
5404
had an impressive second season last year, taking home two robot awards and making it to at least quarterfinals at their events. But, they faltered in St. Louis, ranking second to last in Archimedes. This young team has demonstrated the ability to field an effective robot but has yet to make a deep playoffs run. -
1647
has made it to the finals twice since 2014 and are looking for their first gold. They were the second pick of the #7 alliance at Hatboro last year, and went on to captain the #7 alliance at Seneca. -
423
earned their first ever blue banner last year as a second pick playing defense. With their history of building simple machines that function as effective role-players, they could be the puzzle piece second pick again for a winning alliance. - Last year’s Hatboro finalists, 2559
, has tasted gold before. They won the Lenape-Seneca District in 2014 and the Chestnut Hill District in 2012, but fell to the second-to-last-pick at both districts they attended in 2016. - After quietly winning Mount Olive in 2015 as the #6 alliance captain, 1143
surprised everyone were the first pick of the #2 alliance at least year’s MAR Championship, but an unfortunate red card on their alliance prevented them from advancing past the quarterfinals.
Dark horse:
- While Hall of Fame team103
has six event wins, most notably with team 25, their last was at the 2008 New Jersey Regional, which was their third in a row. The Cybersonics’ reveal video debuted their new swerve drive, which while uncommon in MAR outside of 1640, this new drivetrain could be a huge asset going into Sunday afternoon, when MAR defense will rear its ugly head.
Rookies
- We would like to welcome 6667
, the STEM Clippers, to MAR and wish them good luck at their first ever competition!
Chairman’s Award
-
1218
is a fan favorite for Chairman’s at Hatboro, winning the award there in 2012, 2013, and 2014. In the 2015 and 2016 seasons, they won both a DCA and DEI, and have qualified for St. Louis by winning Chairman’s or EI at MAR Champs every year since 2013. With an outreach program as decorated as that, they’re pretty much a lock. - Last year’s Hatboro-Horsham Chairman’s winners 708
won Chairman’s for the first time at the 2015 Springside Chestnut Hill District before immediately earning it again at the District Championship. -
2590
won Chairman’s three times from 2012 to 2014, but the closest they’ve come since then was Engineering Inspiration at last year’s Seneca District. -
1647
won Chairman’s at Hatboro-Horsham back in 2015 and beat out 2590 for Chairman’s at Seneca last season, but as they say, the devil’s in the details.
**CHS District - Southwest Virginia **
Four MAR teams (223, 1676, 3314, and 4653) are venturing down to dish it out at Southwest Virginia this weekend. All four of these teams have worked closely together in the past, with 1676 partnering with each of the other three to earn their respective first and only wins. But how well will they mesh with a new platter of Chesapeake teams, notably 1086, 836, and 1629, along with 2015 World Semifinalists 900 from North Carolina joining the fray?
MAR Teams Attending:
-
223
hopes to turn up the heat down in Virginia with their first visit since 2003, hot off their wins at last year’s Bridgewater-Raritan District and Brunswick Eruption offseason events. However, with the resurrection of beta team 265 this season, do they have enough spark left in them to make a fire? - After winning both the 2016 Mt. Olive and Bridgewater-Raritan Districts last season, 1676
is traveling below the Mason-Dixon line to compete in Virginia once again. They came home victorious the past two times they competed in the Old Dominion state, going undefeated in 2010 when they partnered with last year’s World Champions 1086. A win this weekend would be their tenth since 2010, but a first for their new drive team. -
3314
is no stranger to out-of-district events, having attended NE’s Waterbury District in both 2015 and 2016. Although they lost the MAR Championship finals last year after pushing it to three matches, their performance earned them a spot at IRI and they are eager to show off their horsepower early on this season. -
4653
hasn’t reached the finals in an event since 2015, when they won the Bridgewater-Raritan district and were finalists at the MAR DCMP. However, they captained the #4 alliance at last year’s Westtown District and were the second pick of the #3 alliance at Mt. Olive. This will be their first trip out of MAR other than attending World Champs in 2015, and the Ironmen are ready to rock.
Palmetto Regional
It’s no surprise that MORT loves the sun, the surf, and the sand, having competed at Palmetto from 2004-2006 and 2011-2013, the Hawaii Regional in 2014 and 2015, and the South Florida Regional in 2016. This year, it’s back to South Carolina they go with the Tin Mints in tow. But they’ll be met with some stiff competition including last year’s World Champions 120, the always formidable 359, four-time Palmetto finalists and one-time winner 343, and West Virginia’s 2614, who were Palmetto finalists in 2014 and 2016. It should be noted that district teams can no longer win the Chairman’s or Engineering Inspiration Awards at regionals, so the only way these two teams can punch their ticket to the World Championship is by winning on the field this weekend.
MAR Teams Attending:
- Of the six previous times 11
has attended Palmetto, they won it thrice, most recently in 2013. Last season, they captained the #1 alliance to a win at the Springside Chestnut Hill District, but failed to get picked at both the MAR District Championship and the South Florida Regional. An all-star MAR team-up of 225, 2590, and 11 (along with Connecticut’s 2067) seemed intimidating on the Carson Division last year, but they lost their two quarterfinal matches by just 6 and 5 points, respectively. -
4575
followed MORT to Florida in 2016, and like the cookie, are playing “tag-along” again this year, too. These girl scouts won the Queen City Regional back in 2015, and were finalists at two events this past offseason.
