Strate-ma-gizing
Phew, that was quite the weekend up at Rockland Community College in Suffern. The G-House Pirates took part in the Hudson Valley Regional for the 2nd time, and like last season, it was tons of fun. We got to catch up with old friends, make new ones, and somehow manage to squeeze in time for a robotics competition.
We had a little bit of a rough start on the first day of qualification matches, winning 3 out of our 7 matches on Day 1. However, we did manage to show that we were a strong contender on the field, even though our lack of ranking points made for a dismal-ish showing on the scoreboard. Additionally, we also had a couple of extremely fun matches both strategically and tactically, including a full-on defense push-fest, courtesy of our friends 2601 - The Steel Hawks. Unfortunately, our final match of Day 1 also included a loose battery connector, which then let us admire the match from the comfort of a dead robot.
Day 2 was a much better affair, with our first match of the day being the highly anticipated alliance of us, the Steel Hawks and another of our NYC friends, 1796 - The RoboTigers. That was definitely a fun match to play, and gave us a whopping 4 ranking points at the end of it. ALL. THE. POINTS. We finished qualifications with a record of 5-7-0 and in 22nd place.
Somehow during alliance selection, our old alliance mates (we last played in a playoff alliance together in 2014, where we made it to the finals) 1156 - Under Control decided that we were cool enough to sail with them, and together with 6806 - Mineola Wild Reds, we formed the #7 alliance. It was a touch quarter final matchup against the #2 alliance, and though we did not prevail (this time), we had a fantastic experience, and thoroughly enjoyed our playoff journey.
One of our Quarter Final matches
All in all, this was a great first tournament of our season, and we’re now on our way home, and getting ready to take on the fierce competition at the NYC Regional in April. Also, massive shoutout to 1156, who took home the prestigious Chairman’s Award, and will be heading to Detroit to compete at Championships. We seem to have a knack for getting our alliance members to championships, and hopefully one day, we’ll get ourselves there! [Ed: ZQ really wants a Blue Banner… that doesn’t say “I tried my best” on it]
Remember kids, always zip tie your battery connectors in competition!