The most helpful/critical hint I can give is to repeat, emphasize and expand upon the instructions:
"you need to detail your strategy, your setup and your planned tactics. Note that the last is extremely likely to be very relevant to your results."
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If anything, your exact card selection is likely the least important and possibly easiest part of this challenge and should be done last. Choosing your strategy is first and should determine the tactics that you will consider employing to support that strategy. Choosing a strategy that does not match up well against most other strategies is a sure recipe for disaster. Not choosing a strategy and just deciding which personnel will perform which functions in a totally unscripted battle is an auto-loss according to scoring rubrics -- unless, of course, your opponent is similarly unprepared.
Speaking of which, as with the Baldie challenge, there are pretty comprehensive rubrics to ensure that multiple judges can score in a similar fashion (and have fun debating the rubrics as necessary). In the rubrics, there are many strategies that are guaranteed auto-wins against certain other strategies while other match-ups come down to tactics and then personnel and equipment. Indeed, one of the keeper strategies that I will add to the gauntlet is likely to trump almost any grabber strategy that doesn't anticipate it or something very similar (and there will be special prizes for people who anticipate/defeat it or use it).
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Tactics will be judged first against counter-measures and only then against the personnel/equipment on each side. Not expecting and/or having counter-measures against a given tactic will likely lead to that tactic's success and an improved chance of the strategy behind it prevailing. While the personnel and equipment implementing or defending against a tactic can dictate what is possible and/or it's speed and effectiveness against resistance/counter-measures, good tactics often outweigh both personnel and equipment. Even excellent personnel and equipment with bad or no tactics are unlikely to carry the day except against the simplest and most obvious tactics.
The best way to win the Federal Database challenge is to outline your strategy, describe your tactics and how they will implement that strategy and only then list personnel and equipment supporting each tactic. Do not forget to describe anticipated enemy strategies, tactics and countermeasures -- and your methods of defeating them. Given no such descriptions, we will assume that you use the most obvious choices -- but with reduced coordination and effectiveness since your team obviously hasn't prepared beforehand (and your team will also likely fall for feints).
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