Lets start off this annual thread with a reminder about how tragically bad the Regional Qualification system is.
1836 is undoubtedly one of the worst teams to qualify for Champs. They went 4-6, ranked 21st, and subbed into a deep playoff run at their first event. They were 5th in the alternate queue, 2 robots called in before, and 2 left early. They were quickly disabled in their only Finals apperance, which was the result of untimely electrical failures completely within their control. They had an average RP of 1.66 during their 10 qual matches, and received the fourth wildcard generated at the event.
1836 would undoubtedly not have qualified via the District system and they were truly carried to champs.
Iād love to know who else will be carried to the World Championships.
(disclaimer i am from 1836 this post is not meant to disparage other teams were truly excited to go to champs no matter how we get there)
When I saw that other thread pop up, I had a very similar idea for this thread and then I thought ānah, Iām too old for that nonsense.ā Iām glad you did it, Jack. Youāre an excellent troll.
Last year we (599) were graciously chosen by 3476 Code Orange and 696 Circuit Breakers at the 2022 LA Regional to be apart of the 1st seeded alliance. Although we threw down as hard as we could for defense with our everybot, we did not partake in scoring. We won the regional and were carried to a wildcard qualification to champs, but the reason for this comment is different.
This year, we ranked #2 at San Diego regional, went 7-2 in quals and formed our own alliance and had a super deep run in playoffs. Thanks to 973 Greybots and 1538 Holy Cows, two wildcards were generated. We made it to finals and qualified for worlds, this time on our own accord rather than āa carryā. Iām extremely proud of my whole team and all the hours we put in to make this season happen.
How common is it that the # 1 alliance chooses the last ranked team for their second pick? I remember it was a big deal when I saw it happen in-person during the 2015 Arizona West Regional but I canāt remember if there was any cheesecake involved. 5059 went on to do decently at Carson.
In a similar vein, back in 2010, 294 at their first regional ranked 33rd with a 9-8-1 record, was the 2nd pick of the 3rd seed, and won the event, thereby qualifying for champs. At their second regional, they were the 3rd seed, but lost in a 4-match finals (this was pre-wildcard-era, so it was not qualifying).
At champs? They were the 1st seed in their division and ended up winning the championship against an alliance comprised of the āgame breakerā 469 and the (up until the finals) undefeated 1114. How did they do it? Upgrades and lots of practice over the course of the season certainly helped (with of course not a small amount of luck).
Long story short: donāt count out 2nd picks, backup robots, teams who wildcardāed in as finalists, or teams who were otherwise ācarriedā to championships. A lot can happen between the qualifying event and championships (particularly in a post-bag-day world).
Technically true, but that was an intentional loss for ranking purposes (essentially the match was played 6 vs 0 to maximize RP). In other words, 1114 in that match was scoring against themselves to run up the opposing allianceās score as much as possible. Ranking points in 2010 were weird.
With 5030 we barely edged out 2nd to last, and weāre picked by the 1 seed. (We had a rough schedule being a vault switch bot) and then had some can wire issues during semis and unfortunately were subbed out. But buckeye being picked by the 4 seed we did work for that win instead of being a back pack rideš
Also in 2017 I picked the 3rd to last bot. Sometimes people have unfortunate schedules or robot breaks. Where scouting can come in handy.
While i wasnt on the team yet, 1665 in 2016 was lucky to be backup. Got the ticket by wildcard.
Never saw the robot operate (in person) but was told there were a number of flaws, including climbing where the robot didnt have backdrive prevention so it slid down when power is out. Being a low scorer, the intake wasnt great either.
All teams on the winning ALLIANCE will receive a number of seeding points equal to the penalized score (the score with any assessed penalties) of the winning ALLIANCE plus 5 additional points for winning the match.
All teams on the losing ALLIANCE will receive a number of seeding points equal to un-penalized score (the score without any assessed penalties) of the winning ALLIANCE
So by running up the score they got 29 seeding points as the losing alliance, versus playing normally and maybe getting 10-15 seeding points (regardless of win or loss). The winning alliance got 34 seeding points.
It was worse at kickoff, the original rule didnāt have the 5 point bonus to the winning alliance. That was added in a team update.
There were several 6-vs-0ās in 2010, Curie Q100 was one of the most well-known though since it very strategically secured 1114 the first seed spot in their division, putting them in a position to pick 469.
