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Execute your strategy on the field. Master quals, playoffs, alliance selection, and continuous improvement between events.
Competition season runs from March through April, culminating in the FIRST Championship. Most teams attend 1-2 Regional competitions or District events.
🏆 The Goal
Win matches, earn Ranking Points, seed high for playoffs, form a strong alliance, and advance to Championships. But remember: your robot will keep evolving throughout the season.
Before your first event, watch other regionals to see how the game is actually played. Theory meets reality on the competition field.
Watch live matches on FIRST's official Twitch channels. See strategies in real-time.
Access match videos, scores, and statistics from every event worldwide.
Read event threads for insights, robot reveals, and strategy discussions.
🔍 What to Look For
Pay attention to: effective defensive strategies, common robot failures, successful autonomous routines, and which mechanisms are dominating. "Steal from the best!"
Your robot will still change in-between regionals and even during regionals. Expect to make repairs, adjustments, and improvements on the fly.
After each match (and each day), ask:
Keep in mind the changing level of play at different events. Week 1 regionals are less competitive than Week 6. Championship-level play is significantly more intense.
📈 Adapt Your Strategy
What works at Week 1 might not work at Championships. Be prepared to adjust your strategy, practice new skills, and even modify your robot between events.
Defense is a critical strategy where a team protects or stops opponents from scoring. It's often used by "lower-tier" robots to help stronger teammates and disorganize opposing alliances.
Block choke points, narrow passages, or high-traffic zones to slow opponent cycles and force them to take longer routes.
Follow opponents and impede their movement. Even a few extra seconds per cycle adds up over a 2.5-minute match.
Position yourself between shooters and goals. Gentle bumps (within rules) can disrupt aiming and timing.
Collect game pieces and hold them (or move them away from opponents) to deny scoring opportunities.
⚠️ Play Clean
Defense is legal and strategic, but know the rules. Avoid penalties for pinning (holding an opponent in place too long), ramming, or damaging other robots. Good defense is persistent but fair.
After qualification matches, the top 8 seeds become alliance captains and draft their alliance partners in a serpentine format.
Choose robots that fill gaps in your capabilities. If you're a high-goal specialist, pick a low-goal scorer or defender.
High-level strategic moves to gain an edge:
🎯 Locking First
The 1st seed's goal is often to "lock first"—secure the #1 ranking early to make an informed pick decision before other captains. This provides maximum flexibility in alliance selection.
Before each match, create a playbook—a simple plan for what each robot will do during autonomous and teleop.
Communicate with your alliance partners before the match. A coordinated alliance beats three individual robots every time.