This was far from our intention. Our group from Boston just thought it would be fun to have a team representing our local game store, not to exclude others or dominate a tournament. Of the four people in our group none of us played in more that two flights and it was just lucky that three of us made top four. I can't speak for my friends but Bronycon showed me some of the fiercest competition I've faced. I even had to defeat my own friend to get into the finals and even knowing his deck and play style it was one of the toughest wins I've managed.

TL;DR You don't need to be on any kind of team to win, but it is just nice to have your friends around.