The regional season ended in week six, and gave some teams the opportunity to put an exclamation mark on their season headed into Atlanta. And that’s exactly what some teams did, stepping up to the plate, and crushing the opportunity out of the park.
Dramatic improvement was the name of the game at 10,000 Lakes. 2574 overhauled their bot, and improved from missing the eliminations in Milwaukee to reaching the semi-finals. 1714 also missed the dance in Wisconsin, but they were selected first over-all by another quality 2009 rookie bot (2826). 2826, who was eliminated in quarters last time, showed improvement as well. 2826 and 1714 picked up 2470 with the final pick. They then went on to win the regional, in fairly convincing fashion. Their biggest trial came in the semis, when the blue alliance snuck out the first victory by four points, but the #1 alliance ultimately prevailed.
A pair of teams that were denied gold in the finals in their previous outings paired up at North Star. 79 (Florida finalist) seeded #2, picked 2970 (Wisconsin finalist) and 2549 (missed Wisconsin elims). Aside of a quick scare in the first match of the finals (against a very much improved 1816), when they only won by 2 points, the #2 alliance dominated the elimination matched. They punctuated it with a resounding 117-50 victory in the final match of the regional.
When’s the last time you went to an event where 27, 47, and 494 missed the eliminations? Need any more proof that the Michigan State Championship was good? How about that only six teams had RSs below 50?
Ypsilanti’s quality of play was higher than any other event this season by leaps and bounds. The quality of play here even outclassed the old Great Lakes Regionals, and could potentially rival a shallow division at Championship. How would all that talent play out? With a whole lot of excitement.
All eight of these alliances would have been able to make a deep run at most regional events, and a 9th alliance could have probably been constructed that would be capable of winning a couple of them.
217 seeded first for the second straight week (which should tell you how good their bot is, considering the Thunderchickens rarely seed that high), as the only undefeated team. Predictably they picked 67, who had already won two events with them (and a third with 68 and 858). 217 then stole 65, who should have been picked a few picks before that, with the last pick of the draft. The Huskie brigade provided that alliance with more than a very capable third scorer, it gave them strategic flexibility and added Chris Hibner and Ken Patton to a “huddle” that already included Paul Copioli, Adam Freeman, Tom Nader, JVN, and Karthik.
But even for an alliance of three former champions, each led by a WFA, victory would not come easily. They escaped the quarter-finals by a combined total of 10 points, against a valiant effort on the part of Truck Town (who shouldn’t have lasted to the 9th pick).
910, 469, and 703 (each of which were among the top scoring bots at the tournament) were a trendy pick as the #4 alliance to eliminate the big dogs in the semis. But a grouping of two relative unknowns (1250 and 280) and a former champion (503) eliminated them, convincingly, in the quarter-finals. They then challenged the #1 in the semis, and managed to beat them in the first match… by 38 points. 217, 67, and 65 would rebound and pull it out in the end, but the #5 alliance clearly showed how deep and powerful this field was, and how important proper strategy can be.
At first glance, a big, physical alliance that can pin and hamper the other alliances scorers, while scoring themselves, would be the ideal fit to knock off the 217/67/65. And that’s exactly what 1918, 247, and 904 was, and that’s how they had played to reach the finals. But that’s where the #1 alliance really shown, with great strategy and huge scores put up by the Huskies to compliment solid efforts by the “big two.” Blue kept it to a respectable margin the first match, but the Hot Wing Brigade blew the doors open in the second match, winning 115-66.
HOT became the second team ever to win four official events (1114 2008), and has a chance for five. 217 joined the elite “3 win club,” although they’re the first to do it with a regional loss also on the resume. 217 and 67 became the second pair (1114 and 1503 2006) to win three event together in one season. Both 67 and 217 are the first teams to have 50 wins in a season before the championship event (both teams have also played many more matches than anyone else in FIRST history). HOT’s 63 wins have already eclipsed the Simbot’s 59 wins last year. It’s truly an epic season for both teams.
Only one more stop this season. Championship coverage to start soon.
“Well, it beats work” - Dave Beck
