TV Battlebots (and Battlebots Bounty Hunters reruns) returns Thursday, 1/6/22! [Archive]

pendell

2022-01-07, 08:37 PM

No SMEEEE This year, I think.

So we have an upper deck this time around. What does it do for us?

Sawblaze vs. Minotaur

Ah, Minotaur. The monster with the overpowered horizontal drum spinner, which is
taking on the team from MIT. Minotaur has a new team captain. Will it make a difference?

Pre-fight talk tells us Sawblaze is going to make a box rush; they don't have much chance otherwise once that spinner warms up.

Fight's on! Sawblaze misses the rush and for a few seconds Minotaur has the fight all its own way.
Then, unaccountably, Minotaur's saw stops spinning at speed.
Sawblaze closes and lands a critical hit, setting Minotaur in a blaze of fire which continues for the rest of the match. But Minotaur is tough! It refuses to stop moving.

The next two minutes is all Sawblaze, as it repeatedly punctures Minotaur until Sawblaze loses its own weapon chain. Neither bot is functional, but it appears that Minotaur had by far the worst of it as time expires and we go to the judge's decision.

The announcers call this an "instant classic", and I think they're right.

The Judges agree , and give it to Sawblaze.

WINNER: Sawblaze, by decision (3-0)

Uppercut vs. Gigabyte

Gigabyte has brought two minibots. Why? Minibots never do anything.

The fight starts and is over in a minute. There is tremendous energy in the ring and both bots are
bounced around , but at the end of the day gigabyte loses the durability contest; that , and I think its weapon takes too long to spin up compared to uppercut's. Uppercut knocks it head over heels, and the
now-depowered Gigabyte cannot self-right. End of match.

WINNER: Uppercut , by KO.

Switchback vs. Gruff

Switchback is a newcomer this year, from Texas. Variable drum spinner on an articulating
arm, so they say. It looks like it got ideas from both sawblaze and uppercut. We'll see how it works.

Gruff has added gearboxes to gain reliability, which was a problem last season. The announcers point out Gruff is heavily armored. Gruff's captain says the plan is to "hit them together until something breaks -- hopefully the other guy". Or words to that effect.

Fight's on!

This battle is decided by Gruff's superior driving. While on paper switchback looks pretty good,
Gruff outmaneuvers him easily. Switchback manages a few hits, but in the end sabotages its own chances of victory. A solid hit on Gruff inverts Switchback and it has neither self-righting mechanism nor any way to drive inverted. Switchback knocked itself out. Rookie mistake. Hope
they learn from this and come back stronger in their next match!

WINNER: Gruff, by KO.

Captain Shrederator vs. Tombstone

It's hard for me to imagine this is even a match; The Tombstone bot heavily outclasses Shrederator, and Ray Billings is one of the best drivers in the game. I expect a massacre.

Tombstone has been considerably upgraded with new weapon motors.

Everyone expects Tombstone to win "We are the rock to his scissors"

Ray has a nasty laugh.

Fight's on!

And I am surprised! Pleasantly!

Both bots spin up and go in for weapon to weapon contact . Tombstone has by far the worst of it!

The collisions set of first sparks and then a blazing fire in tombstone as the 'bot is wreathed
in flame like the Human Torch from Marvel! By the 1:30 mark both bots have lost their primary weapons and the only remaining question will be if Tombstone will be able to keep running long enough
to go to the judges, who will undoubtedly give it to Captain Shrederator.

It doesn't. About five seconds later Tombstone stops moving, and ten seconds later the match is over.

Wow!

WINNER: Captain Shrederator, by KO.

Free Shipping vs. BlackSmith

I've never really "got" Blacksmith.
That hammer hardly ever causes damage.
Though the announcers call it one of the
"most entertaining" teams in the game.

Still, they seem to have switched out the hammer
for a vertical saw, in the hopes of doing more visible
damage and coming out on top of a judge's decision.
They still have the fire, though.

Fight's on!

Free shipping comes out of the gate and SLAMS into Blacksmith. There is a blaze of fire!
Undaunted, Blacksmith smashes back with its own vertical weapon, the so-called "power hammer"!

The fight continues. Free Shipping controls the fight, but Blacksmith, very aggressive, severs both
Free Shipping's weapon chains. Fire is visible inside blacksmith but both bots remain fully operational to the ending bell and the judges decision.

I have to give this one to Blacksmith, based on the damage to Free Shipping's primary weapon.

The judges agree.

WINNER: Blacksmith, by decision (3-0)

Pain Train vs. Deep Six

Deep Six has taken some weight off their primary weapon -- perhaps it was too powerful to control in previous fights? I wondered where they were last year.

Announcers say they were off balance and out of control last season,
which perhaps explains the lightening of the weapon.

Apparently the crew has been changed out as well --
instead of US navy friends, these are veteran
robotics engineers.

Fight's on!

Pain Train tries the box rush but misses wildly, shooting into the corner. Deep Six, however, is having trouble maneuvering. Slowly and gingerly the two bots maneuver until FINALLY, about twenty seconds into the fight, they first make contact.

Deep Six hits HARD, once again taking a chunk out of the floor as well as stripping off one of Pain Train's wheels. Pain Train is limping, allowing Deep Six to set itself up and hit Pain Train Solidly with the weapon.

DEATH.

Paintrain is flipped over, into the screws, on fire, an inert chunk of metal. Count out follows.

Deep Six is definitely for real but it is experiencing rookie driver and reliability issues. I think they would have a hard time going all the way, but hopefully they will go far!

WINNER: Deep Six, by KO.

MAIN EVENT: Hydra vs. Endgame

Endgame was the champion last year, and Hydra, of course, is the king of flippers.

A short show beforehand to show Ray Billings handing over the "villain" title to Jake Ewert,
Hydra's Team Captain.

Fight's on!

End Game has long forks to try to prevent being flipped.

Nope! Fight starts and Endgame is already several meters in the air.

But after that first flip, Hydra's flipper gets stuck. Now it's all Endgame's fight.

Demonstrating the skill that made them champion's Endgames maneuvers up and gets hit with the vertical saw. Then, seconds later, Hydra is immobile. Match ends.

WINNER: Endgame, by KO.

Some great fights tonight! Although I still don't know what this upper deck is supposed to do for us.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

tomandtish

2022-01-09, 03:54 PM

Well, the season is underway. Interestingly, I notice they moved to Vegas for the show. I will say that while the live audience is back, everyone I saw in the audience appeared to be masked. This opening episode is also 3 hours long instead of the previous 2*. Unknown if that will be the norm for the rest of the season.

*See at the bottom of the post.

Incidentally, SMEEEEE is listed as competing this season… sigh…

The battlebox has been changed. There are still screws, etc., but they are further in the arena and there are raised flat spaces behind them. This also makes corners harder to escape.

Sawblaze vs. Minotaur: It’s good to see Minotaur back. Hopefully they resolved the issues they had last time out. Sawblaze tends to do not much damage but usually outdrives his opponents. They’ve made design changes to increase durability. And away we go…
Sawblaze tries a box rush but no joy. They circle, then Minotaur goes in for some hits that are solid, but not overwhelming. Then Sawblaze ends up under Minotaur and takes them for a spin into the corner. Minotaur is upside down and Sawblaze’ s hammer saw penetrates something on the underside (presumably a battery) and Minotaur is now on fire, and it’s a pretty big fire. Sawblaze continues to try and get Minotaur disabled, but Minotaur keeps moving AND their weapon is still working. After a few more hits Sawblaze loses their weapon chain. And it appears Minotaur finally lost their spinner. Sawblaze pushes Sawblaze around some more, but it goes to the judges.

Amazingly Minotaur was on fire for more than 2/3 of the fight. And I’m trying to think what in there could burn that long that wasn’t weapon or drive related. It apparently took a while to put the fire out. I suspect the decision will go to Sawblaze since other than the weapon chain they didn’t take any real damage. And… yeah, it’s not a surprise. Sawblaze wins. But props to Minotaur. They have shown they are a tough bot.

Upper Cut vs. Gigabyte: This should be Upper Cut all the way. Gigabyte has never impressed that much and is the bot that had its shell removed TWICE. OTOH, they are trying the minibot route (3 of them).

They crash and Gigabyte gets knocked back. Upper Cut quickly gets Gigabyte cornered and delivers successful hits (Because of the box changes the corner is much tighter and harder to get out of). There’s a moment of hope for Gigabyte when the recoil from one of Upper Cut’s hits sends Uppercut flying, but Gigabyte fails to use the opportunity to get out of the corner. Upper Cut lands a few more hits and Gigabyte is upside down and not moving. They are counted out. This went abut as expected.

Switchback vs. Gruff: Gruff is one of the toughest bots in the league. They had drivetrain issues last year so have completely redesigned it. Switchback is a new bot, wielding an 80lb drum spinner on a moveable arm (so it can attach from the front or the back of the bot). I see some potential here, but let’s see how it plays out…. And almost immediately I see a problem with Switchback. It’s too slow. Gruff is pretty much able to attack at will and Switchblade never really does anything but respond. They also need to work on driving skills because several times they moved into a position where Gruff could easily slam into their side. It also looks like the arm is broken as it isn’t moving. Therefore, they get counted out when they are knocked upside down by Gruff. This was an easy victory for Gruff.

I’m going to disagree with Chris and Kenny. While the spinner may be a legitimate weapon by itself, it didn’t seem that the arm was used effectively (or much) at all, and they need to work on speed and driving.

Tombstone vs. Captain Shrederator (CS): I’ll put my money on Tombstone. CS has never been that good a bot, and consistently has reliability issues. I suspect that hasn’t changed, although they’ve added a second weapon motor. Tombstone has also powered up their weapon motor and have a “weldless” body that they think will absorb impact better. I suspect this will be over quickly one way or the other…

Well, I can admit when I’m wrong. There are a few hits, then CS loses a tooth* but Tombstone is wobbling, and the bursts into flames. Neither bot’s weapon is working, but after pushing each other around a bit more Tombstone stops moving and is counting out.

CS gets the win, but I suspect this was more Tombstone losing. This fire appears to have been backlash and not caused directly from CS. CS still has some reliability issues as they stopped spinning yet again, but Ray has some things to work out with Tombstone.

*Turns out it was a piece of Tombstone’s blade that went flying off, which is probably what started the wobble.

Free Shipping vs. Blacksmith: A fight between two bots I’m not that impressed with. Blacksmith has probably been the most overrated bot on the show, although they have replaced the mallet with a hamper saw type blade. Free Shipping gets a lot of props for the driver but has not been an effective bot.

While there are blows from Blacksmith’s hammer, this is primarily a pushing game. Blacksmith is more aggressive but Free Shipping appears to be winning the control match. Free Shipping loses weapon chains, but Blacksmith is smoking heavily… and it goes to the judges. I’d give it to Free Shipping, but it is close. Free Shipping has more obvious damage, but smoking implies more serious damage. But Blacksmith gets the win.

Pain Train vs. Deep Six: Both bots have had maneuverability issues in the past, and that hasn’t changed. Pain Train’s seemed to be driver issues while Deep Six’s appear to be based on design. After about 20 seconds of jerky movement, they finally make contact. Deep Six lands a few solid hits, including one that sends themselves flying from backlash. But Pain Train loses a tire, then after getting knocked in the air bursts into flame. A quick count-out and Deep Six gets the victory.

There’s some space between match 6 and the main event, which is Hydra vs. Endgame. Hydra is certainly the best flipper in the league (so far) but quite frankly Jake Ewert is a (donkey). While Ray Billings has fun playing the bad guy Jake actually is annoying, rude, and generally unpleasant to listen to. Huh… after I typed this, they actually had a passing of the villain moment between Ray and Jake. I still argue that Jay isn’t playing the villain though.

Hydra vs. Endgame: Endgame was last year’s champion, and well deserved. As said, Hydra is a devastating flipper. Should be an interesting rematch… Both bots come out a bit slow. Unclear if it is caution or driving issues. After circling for a few seconds, Hydra gets a solid flip on Endgame (fortunately EG lands upright). But Hydra appears to be smoking already. And their flipper is stuck in the up position, so I suspect a weapon battery went. There’s a little more pushing, and Hydra stops moving. Endgame gets the victory and is 2-0 against Hydra. I suspect there’s a flaw in Hydra. They upgraded flipper power, and something had to give. Props to Endgame who are gracious in victory and clearly state that they beat a malfunctioning Hydra. Jake indicates a pump burned out after the first flip.

As Pendell said, some excellent fights. And I agree that I’m not sure what the upper decks bring to it (other than making some tighter corners).

So apparently it’s a three-hour show because Battlebots: Bounty Hunters shows immediately after, and Hulu recorded it all as one episode. For those not familiar, in each episode 8 bots will battle in single elimination until one remains. That one will face the “Champion” bot. So, a total of 8 matches per episode. Unfortunately, this appears to be reruns from last season, so I won’t comment.

pendell

2022-01-10, 09:28 AM

So, Tombstone versus Captain S again.

I have to wonder whether Tombstone's upgraded weapon batteries are turning to its undoing. I grant that the new batteries are powerful but perhaps they are TOO powerful, allowing these kind of fires. I don't recall Tombstone having anything like these reliability problems before. This seemed more of an own-goal by Tombstone than a clear verdict of Captain S.' superiority.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

Olffandad

2022-01-10, 10:48 PM

Ah, Tombstone. I love Ray and his bot, but his time seems to be over!

In the current BattleBot meta, just about every competitive bot has killing power. Tombstone can't control, even the newest one doesn't seem to take damage well, it can only kill or be killed - compare to a contender like Lockjaw, which can drive, control, take hits, and has a potent weapon. Ray really needs a new concept, the age of Tombstone is done. :(

I was surprised that Hydra was such a dud, Jake is usually very consistent and prepared. I like him as the new Big Bad of BattleBots! I'm sure he will figure things out and deliver an amazing beating to the next bot he faces.

I like seeing Minotaur back - did they say the captain Marco passed away? He seemed like a dude who loved his art 110%.

The other matches weren't too memorable, so far.

tomandtish

2022-01-13, 11:06 PM

Episode 2 aired tonight.

Yeti vs. Mad Catter: Disclaimer (which anyone who was in last season’s thread know) – I HATE Mad Catter. The wrestling personality annoys the crap out of me, and I’m hoping they don’t make the playoffs. The Bot Whisperer is predicting a deep run for Yeti. Let’s see if he’s right.

Unfortunately, I don’t think I’m going to get my wish this fight. After circling for a few seconds to get weapons up to speed, there are several crashes. Yeti is coming out worse on these. After about the 3rd hit Yeti’s weapon stops working and the lose a wheel a few seconds later. A few seconds after that Mad Catter gets a solid hit and disembowels yeti, who is counted out. Give MC some credit, they were tough enough to “out Yeti Yeti” as our commentators say.

Defender vs. Ribbot: Defender is a new bot and is a grappler/lifter (with a flamethrower for entertainment). Ribbot is the little frog that could* and is using a vertical spinner (they alternate between vertical and horizontal depending on the match). Disclaimer: Since my wife LOVES Ribbot, I am contractually obligated to route for them.
*Ribbot gets props for being the most destroyed bot I’ve seen that was still swinging at the end of a match. Zombie Ribbot is a real term in our house.
They rush each quickly. Defender is the better driver and is able to push Ribbot against a wall, but when they part Ribbot gets two hits that send a piece of defender flying and bends up one of their forks. A third hit flips Defender upside down, and Ribbot gets them up on a rail. Defender isn’t moving and is counted out. Solid performance by Ribbot, esp. when you consider Jason Vasquez is Matt Vasquez’s brother, and therefore has worked with one of the best drivers in the league.

Hijinx vs. Mammoth: Hijinx is a very colorful horizontal spinner. I’m not a fan of their design because the body blocks a lot of it. Mammoth is 6 feet tall and is really a flipper (with a LOT of leverage). They circle for a bit, and Mammoth pushes Hijinx into a corner. Hijinx seems to have trouble getting up to speed. A further flip sends Hijink end over end, and I see something I haven’t seen before: They blur out a mouth that was apparently cursing. Hijinx apparently loses a wheel. So, they are now spinning fast, but can’t move and are counted out. Decent victory for Mammoth and Hijinx needs to do something about spinning up faster.

Kraken vs. Rotator: Kraken is a gripper who can do some damage with the fangs and has a flamethrower for entertainment. Rotator can have dual spinners front and rear and can use one or both as needed (they are only going with one spinner tonight, so they have extra armor). They also beat Tombstone handily back in 2019.

Match begins and there are few attempts by Kraken to grab Rotator, with Rotator hitting the inside of Kraken’s mouth with each attempt. Kraken finally gets a grip on Rotator… and bursts into flame! My money is that Rotator knocked something loose in Kraken’s flamethrower. Despite that Kraken is still moving with Rotator grabbed. They continue moving around, and it appears Rotator is stuck in Kraken’s jaws. At just over a minute refs call a timeout to see if they can safely separate them. After a commercial break the bots are separated and the match restarts. A little circling and Rotator knocks out Kraken’s fangs. Pieces of Kraken are all over the ring, and after another hit Kraken also loses a wheel. Further hits and Kraken is now a contender for most damage while still running. But Kraken hangs on and manages to go the distance.

I suspect this will go to Rotator. Our commentators were gushing about Kraken’s control at the beginning, but that completely vanished after the separation. This should unanimously be Rotator… and it is. Props to Kraken for showing it can still move with extensive damage.

Rusty vs. Blip: Blip is a flipper and is new to the show. Rusty is Battlebots on a budget, with a mailbox and mixing bowl body. Last year the total cost was 4k to build, which is what most bots spend on batteries alone. Rusty is a fan favorite but isn’t that effective a bot. it is 2-3, and both losses were a result of their opponent breaking.

The fight begins… and Blip quickly shows that it is a dangerous flipper, send Rusty flying twice. The second flip puts Rusty on their side. Blip flips them twice more (possibly trying to make the match longer) and the mailbox cover comes off. Rusty isn’t moving other than their spike and is counted out.

I’m not surprised Rusty lost. I am surprised at how effective Blip seems. For many years there was one flipper that did well (Bronco). Other bots did poorly. Hydra came along 2 seasons ago and showed it was deadly just as Bronco began having serious issues (losing all matches). But Blip may be a serious contender. It seems to have a powerful flipper and is definitely maneuverable.

Tantrum vs. Malice: Tantrum has a small drum spinner on a puncher. This design struggled for a few seasons, but they dialed in last season and won 5 matches. Malice is an interesting design in that it is a horizontal drum spinner. These are two bots that do well, but always seem to crap out at the end.

When the match begins both bots rush out and slam into each other, and Tantrum seems to get the best of it as Malice goes flying. Tantrum begins pushing Malice around the box, with occasional hits from their puncher. Malice’s weapon appears to have not survived the initial crash. Some more pushing with intermittent blows and Malice is hung up in a corner. But Tantrum doesn’t want the fight to end and knocks Tantrum free. I’m not sure I see the point as Malice can’t really fight and is losing the ground game. My feeling is confirmed when Tantrum’s weapon stops working. They go around, with Tantrum winning any collision until the buzzer. This goes to the judges.

It should be Tantrum… and it is. No surprise there. Again, I don’t get why they freed Malice, since they ended up taking weapon damage as a result. And since Malice’s weapon wasn’t working it isn’t like we were going to have a spectacular fight.

Bloodsport vs. Whiplash: Bloodsport is a horizontal spinner that is surprisingly durable. Whiplash is a lifter driven by one of the best drivers in the sport. It can also add a vertical spinner but isn’t using it in this fight. I’d put my money on Whiplash.

Incidentally, as they announced the main event, they had spark showers coming out of the kill saws. This looks cool, but also gave me a thought they probably don’t want me to have: How do you convince me now that when I see sparks from a kill saw it isn’t just them triggering the sparks again. Poor move IMHO.

The fight begins and Whiplash clearly establishes ground dominance. They push Bloodsport around the ring, and the few hits Bloodsport lands do no real damage. Bloodsport also loses a wheel. Some more pushing and Whiplash gets Bloodsport onto the upper deck. Bloodsport is upside down and their self-righter doesn’t appear to be working. They are counted out with one second remaining. There’s no real surprise here. Bloodsport never really got anything going. They did some armor damage, but nothing significant and certainly lost the aggression and control battles.

pendell

2022-01-14, 07:03 PM

Great writeup, Tomandtish! I've got my own independent observations as well. I've tried to address your comments but there's only one or two lines; we saw the same fight and we agree on almost every point.

battlebots

Episode 2: I Like Big Bots

Yeti Vs. MadCatter

Two vertical spinners.

Yeti has major power upgrades in a more compact frame.

Our bot expert predicts a deep run for Yeti this season. SWe'll see.
It certainly looks impressive.

Fight starts. The two bots are repeatedly smashed into
each other but madcatter is able to win the low ground.
It appears yeti is getting the worst of it, and has been
bounced into the air at least once. Meanwhile,
it seems to be having trouble bringing it's own spinner
into contact with madcatter.

Yeti's weapon is now disabled and it has lost a wheel
but it is still
mobile as Madcatter presses the attack.

Twenty seconds later, Yeti is immobile and surrounded
by it's own pieces. A decisive showing by Madcatter!

Tish saw the same fight I did. At the beginning Madcatter
said they were going to be more EVERYTHING than Yeti,
and that's exactly what they did.

Martin Mason is doing a Large Ham impression for his after-fight
walkdown. The fan's love it, and I suppose it's cool, but I'm tempted
to turn down my volume when he's talking.
WINNER: Madcatter (KO)

Defender Vs. Ribbot

Defender is a new bot this season, facing off with a vertical spinner.
It's captain is a former crewmember of whiplash, last year's runner up,
and the new machine is a defensively-oriented control bot.

It has grippers and a lifter. I don't see how it can win on damage, so it
had better win by KO.

Ribbot has upgraded with more powerful but less reliable motors, so a bit of a gamble.

Fight's on!

At the start, defender succeeds in controlling the match but can't seem to do anything
to Ribbot other than hold it. Defenders actions bring it in close contact with
Defender's forks, shearing some away. As the defenses are sheared off Ribbot starts to
go to town on the new bot, knocking it head over heels and trapping it in the corner.

And that's it. Defender has a self-righting mechanism but it is not apparently working.
It is counted out.

Well, definitely a learning experience for the new guy. Time to learn and re-think!

WINNER: Ribbot, by KO.

Hijinx Vs. Mammoth

Mammoth is the largets robot in the competition,
and is a vertical spiner.

Hijinx is an 80s-themed bot, apparently. I dont't remember
those colors from the 80s, although the punk hairstyle of one of the
crew I definitely do.

Mammoth is a few centimeters shorter this season
and has two weapon chains this time around for greater reliability.

Let the games begin.

Mammoth chargees hijinx to prevent H spinning up. It is successful
but isn't causing any damage either.

They both find a way to spin up and Mammoth hits Hijinx into the screws. It removes
one of H's wheels and Hijinx only has two. It can only spin in place, and that
doesn't count as motion in battlebots, so that's the end of the fight.

A bit of an unsatisfactory performance from Hijinx. Again, much learning
to be done here!

Gotta agree with Tomandtish about the design of Hijinx; it clearly had flaws
in this matchup; insufficient reliability to stand up to repeated hits.

Kraken Vs. Rotator

Kraken is a grabber bot with a mean reputation versus a horizontal spinner.

Fight's on!
Rotator gets some shots but the last one puts it in Kraken's mouth.
Kraken grips him tightly ... I think to myself "light the fire".

And it does. But instead of lighting up the flamethrower, the entire
BOT of kraken bursts into flames, while Rotator is still trapped in its mouth!

Kraken can't release rotator so the match is stopped while the crews
go out to separate the two bots.

The bots are separated and the match resumes.

Rotator takes off both of Kraken's teeth and one wheel.

Rotator continues on Kraken, delivering unopposed damage but Kraken is still mobile at the end of the match.

I'd give it to Kraken on damage.

The Judges agree.

WINNER: Rotator, by decision (3-0)

Rusty Vs Blip

Rusty is the "little engine that could", built cheaply
and with a very different design philosophy than the rest of the field,
having some kind of pneumatic piercer while everyone else loves their spinners.
Although this time they're bringing a hammer of some kind.

Blip is a rookie flipper bot whose captain was part of Tantrum's crew.

The announcers seem to think Blip is the favorite. Which makes sense,
Rusty has character but that bot has a lot of trouble damaging anything.

Fight's on and this is barely a context. Rusty can't hit Blip at all but Blip has no
problems outmaneuvering Rusty, then repeatedly flipping him.

Three flips in and Rusty can't move. That's it. Rusty's a cute design but it needs to be
improved if it's going to be competitive. It's supposed to be a very tough bot, but
the flips it was put through were more than enough to finish it.

TomandTish says "
I’m not surprised Rusty lost. I am surprised at how effective Blip seems.". And this
is a sentiment I agree with completely.

WINNER: Blip, by KO.

I now see the point of the "upper deck". It makes corner much tighter and harder to escape
from than previously, allowing more destruction and more carnage in those tight corners,
which of course is what the fans are paying to see.

Tantrum vs. Malice

Vertical spinner semi-finalist versus horizontal spinner. Malice is pretty tough.

Tantrum and Blip, which we just saw, actually share a 16-person crew in the pits.

Fight's on!

Tantrum aggresively tackles Malice which can't seem to activate its own weapon.
Tantrum lands repeated hits and Malice looks to be in trouble.

Malice's weapon is inoperative.

Malice is jammed under the rails in the corner and the fight should be over, but
Tantrum generously dislodges them and the fight resume. Although the outcome
at this point seems a foregone conclusion.

Tantrum's weapon is now inoperable as well. The fight devolves into a pushing match,
but with all the damage scored already Tantrum should easily win the decision.

The timer grinds down and the judges, as expected, give it to Tantrum.

WINNER: Tantrum, by KO.

Main Event: Bloodspot Vs Whiplash

Whiplash was #2 last year. Vertical
spinner vs. horizontal spinner blood sport.

Whiplash immediately charges bloodsport and inflicts some damage
but is unable to prevent bloodsport from spinning up.

The fight continues neck and neck. Bloodsport loses a tire. It hits
Whiplash but doesn't appear to be doing much damage thanks to Whiplash's wedge.

The announcers give Bloodsport most of the damage points. I don't agree.
Bloodsport's damage has been done to the armour, and that doesn't count.

At last whiplash succeeds in grabbing Bloodsport and forcing it
over the screws onto the upper deck. Can it get back down to fight again?

Bloodsport cannot self-right and is counted out with just two seconds left.

A good fight! Really impressive work by the two teams and well deserving
of the phrase "main event".

Respectfully,

Brian P.

Olffandad

2022-01-14, 07:41 PM

Yup, I agree with the learned posters.

Just my 2 cps...

Yeti is usually a solid performer but didn't show much, MadCatter exceeded my expectations with their striking power and durability, wow.

For some reason, I think of Ribbot as an amateur bot, but they have a 8-5 lifetime record. Defender was pretty good in its first showing.

Hjinxs has a major flaw, which are the tiny exposed wheels at the ends of the chassis. Just a tiny hit will send the wheels flying!

Mammoth exceeds expectations, but I would expect it to be killed by a decent driver easily - Lockjaw or Whiplash would drive circles around it and tear off chunks until Mammoth died.

I have no idea Kraken how wins, but they can sure take abuse. Rotator appeared solid, "meets expectations."

Blip was surprising! I didn't catch how their flipper works other than some kind of trebuchet-leverage, but they have some serious flipping POP! They should have a hell of a duel versus Hydra.

Bloodsport is scary, they took plenty of slams and kept spinning and has insane destructive power.

Whiplash is even scarier, Matty Vasquez really is the best driver anywhere. Who could avoid being shredded by Bloodsport and push it around almost at will?

One thing that seems kind of good is they don't seem to have sacrificial first-time teams, like heels that are there purely to be expended.

pendell

2022-01-15, 04:24 PM

I've been reading on the battlebots reddit page and I now have more insight into the point of the 'upper deck'. The critical point of it is that it is considered "out of the arena". If a bot is put on the upper deck, it gets a countdown to KO. If it can't get off before the countdown expires, it loses.

The reason they have it now is because they removed the previous out of the arena spaces surrounding the field so you can't be thrown out that way any longer. This is done for safety reasons; not only is it a bad idea to throw 100kg objects at velocity at the paying audience, but if someone does get thrown there it can make life hazardous for the pit crew sent to get them back out. Sometimes a robot can't be shut down due to damage to the control system, so everyone has to wait until the dead robot's batteries run down.

So they took all the out of the arena space and concentrated it as this one "upper deck" region, so that control bots who live by ejecting other bots out of the arena can still win by putting the opposing bots on the upper deck. To compensate for the missing space, the arena itself has been made somewhat larger. So this way control bots are still viable , thus pushing back the day we see nothing but spinners in the game. Also, neither the crowd nor the employees have to worry about having hundred kilogram flamethrower-carrying objects sparking electricity being thrown at them.

Here's a nice diagram which lays it all out from this link (https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/s04hff/valkyrie_infographic_upper_deck_impact/)

https://i.redd.it/qlmmzbgzvqa81.jpg

I think it's a step in the right direction , but I think we can definitely improve on it. The upper deck is apparently receiving, to put it charitably, "mixed" reviews from the battlebots teams. The biggest problem is that , as shown in the diagram, the useable area IS somewhat less than it had been, and those corners are very easy to get trapped in. Spinners and anything else which needs time to spin up their weapon are going to have problems. While it's supposed to make things easier for control 'bots, it does have one feature that makes it harder: To wit, a 'bot thrown out of the arena previously was done, instant ko. On the upper deck, it is possible for a bot to self-right and escape before a countdown expires. So unless the bot is already pretty much destroyed, putting a bot on the upper deck does nothing but buy the opposing team a few seconds. It means, from my perspective, control bots are pretty much hopeless. If they can damage a bot sufficiently that it can't get off the upper deck, they can destroy it on the main arena floor just as well. If they can't inflict that much damage on the main floor, a bot thrown on the upper deck will just self-right and get back into the game. So a control bot would work against a team foolish enough not to have a self-righting mechanism, and none of the top-tier teams would do such a thing.

How to improve on this...?

Why not a pit instead of a deck, possibly with decorative flames coming out? Maybe give it a fence of some kind so that it won't make the control bots job TOO easy. High enough that bots won't just drive into it, inescapable once dropped in. This would give the control bots the same instant win ability that they had in the previous arena while still protecting the audience and crew.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

tomandtish

2022-01-20, 11:18 PM

Episode 3 aired tonight. We get to see the return of Icewave and DUCK!!!

Hypershock vs. Slammo: Hypershock is another of those bots that is “almost” there. They have a decent regular season, then lose fairly early in the playoffs. They are often plagued with reliability issues. They seem longer and skinnier than I remember. Despite the name Slammo is a grappler with a 2-3 history. They did win both their fights last season by knockout.

Fight starts and Hypershock quickly goes to work. Multiple hits force Slammo into the tight corner. Slammo is being completely outdriven. Another hit or two and Slammo stops moving and is counted out. Not much to chew over here. It was Hypershock all the way.

Side note: Does it feel to anyone else like countdowns are starting quicker? Feels like they waited longer in previous seasons. Also, Will agrees to dye his hair green if they get a top 10 seed in the round of 32.

Valkyrie vs. P1: Valkyrie is a horizontal spinner. They’ve changed their paint scheme and my first thought was the Imperial March. They have had some issues with hanging up on the floor in the past, so let’s see if they’ve fixed that. P1 is a lifter who had a decent but not terribly impressive season last year. Seems to be a fan favorite though with a lot of the crowd as they chant “P1” over and over.

P1 box rushes Valkyrie and is easily getting under them. However, they can’t seem to do much. Valkyrie has knocked a few pieces off P1 including a tire, but it’s still moving fine. Then suddenly after P1 goes under Valkyrie once again Valkyrie catches fire. It spins out of control and when it stops their weapon isn’t working and they are upside down. P1 is also not moving well. Valkyrie tries to knock itself back over with the pulverizer which is an …. Interesting choice. It doesn’t work, but Valkyrie hangs on with just enough movement to go to the judges.

If we were just going by damage, I’d give it to Valkyrie since p1 is pretty banged up and Valkyrie’s major issue (the fire and weapon loss) appears to be an internal issue and not caused by P1. But P1 dominated the control and aggression categories so it should go to them…and it does. I would call this Valkyrie losing more than p1 winning. Valkyrie was winning the damage game until the motor burned out.

Huge vs. Riptide: Huge is probably the most interesting vertical spinner out there. The design is much more effective than you’d suspect, but they can’t quite nail down the victories to go all the way. Riptide is a rookie with a vertical egg-beater spinner. It appears they’ll have the classic problem bots do when facing Huge: can their weapon make effective contact? We’ll see how they do.

Fight begins and Riptide successfully box rushes Huge. Then another hit and Huge goes into the air. Well, that appears to answer the question about whether they can be effective or not. A push and Huge looks stuck in the screws. The countdown starts and the screws reverse. Can Huge get out? …. No. Huge is counted out. This was an upset but a solid victory by a rookie team. Not just some solid hits but some excellent control. In the interview the team indicated that what helped was Huge spinning up instead of spinning down. I’m looking forward to seeing what they do.

Fusion vs. Cobalt: Fusion is a dual vertical/horizontal spinner combo. They were 3 and 3 last season but all 3 wins were knockouts. Cobalt is a vertical spinner with the spinner more on top of the bot. The idea is that a bot will ride up their wedge onto the spinner. It can do some brutal damage. It’s also had an owner change and a driver change, apparently going through half the people in the sport… Anyway, it’s a solid fighter but we’ll see how it does as part of a new team.

They come out slowly then crash together (Fusion’s vertical spinner leading), and Cobalt is rocked back. A second hit and Cobalt goes airborne. This continues, with the only time Fusion has an issue is when it runs the horizontal spinner into the screw and goes flying back. A few more hits and Cobalt is upside down, in shreds, and counted out.

This was Fusion all the way. Cobalt never even had a chance to go on the offensive. Fusion appears to have fixed issues they had last year. Be curious to see how far they go. The commentators note that Cobalt started with a head to head strategy and never seemed to change it. Must agree with that.

Black Dragon vs. Icewave: It’s the return of Icewave!! Gone since 2018 this is the gasoline powered horizontal spinner that sounds like a lawnmower. It has inflicted some massive damage, but in its last fight in 2018 it was almost completely destroyed. Black Dragon (BD) is a brutal drum spinner that has been impressive since their debut in 2019. They are also very tough, surviving a 2+ minute fire last year. Should be an interesting match.

As we begin BD does a successful box rush, knocking Icewave back and preventing the blade from fully spinning up. Some pushing and a few more hits and Icewave’s blade appear to be inoperative. They continue pushing Icewave around the ring, and after a few pulverizer hits Icewave is counted out. This was quick and brutal, and all in BD’s favor. Icewave never had a chance. On a replay you can see that a cable is dangling from bottom of Icewave, undoubtedly part of the weapon system.

Witch Doctor (WD) vs. DUCK: Duck is back! I’ve always loved Duck, esp. their “break your fist with our face” strategy. They appear to have redesigned the beak, so it is more of a lifter, and added forks at the front. Let’s see how it works. I will say it looks a bit flimsy when they test it before the match starts. WD has had good years and bad but is consistently a contender. They have had some reliability issues in the past, and we’ll have to see whether those rear their head again.

As the fight begins WD slams into Duck and knocks off one of the forks. A few more hits push Duck around the ring. Duck doesn’t seem to be moving as fast as I remember, and the driving doesn’t seem as smooth. There are a few more hits… and WD’s weapon stops working. This has always been Duck’s goal, to cause the opponent to destroy itself through hits. They push each other around and then Duck gets WD into the screws. They then push around some more and WD gets Duck twice into the screw as time runs out.

This was almost a boring fight. Once WD’s weapon was broken it was a lot of pushing. I’d give aggression to WD. I’m not sure Duck did well enough on control, and again their primary weapon (the lifter) did almost nothing. I love Duck but I’d give this to WD….and they get it by unanimous decision. I agree with this. Duck seemed sluggish, and they are always going to have the problem that they don’t inflict damage. So, fights that go the distance are not good for Duck. In the after-interview it turns out WD started having weapon motor issues, so they turned it off.

Copperhead (CH) vs. Lockjaw (LJ): Copperhead is a drum spinner that is tougher than it looks but has had drive issues. Lockjaw is driven by a veteran who is an excellent driver. But LJ has had reliability issues, and they usually keep LJ from getting the nut.

When the fight starts LJ heads towards CH, but instead of impact they ride right on top of CH. A little more pushing and they lock weapon to weapon, the have a weapon on weapon hit. They continue hitting each other but CH is winning the battle for low ground, consistently getting under LJ. LJ start taking damage, with some bent forks and a loose wheel. Some more circling… and the usual happens. LJ catches fire and the weapon stops. CH slams into them and they are now upside down. I’d say this should be over, but CH is having maneuvering issues. LJ does do some pushing around but gets airborne every time CH gets their weapon in front. Time runs out and it goes to the judges.

I’d give this to Copperhead. Aggression and control were about equal (aggression maybe slightly in LJ’s advantage), but Copperhead clearly wins the damage battle…. But the judges go with a split decision! The winner by split decision is… Copperhead. I certainly feel this is the correct choice and am surprised it was a split decision.

pendell

2022-01-22, 12:06 AM

So I've seen the fights and added my own impressions, including some responses to TomandTish
in the spoiler block.

Episode 3: Ducks, Dragons, and Killer Snakes!

Hypershock vs. Slammo!

Hypershock is an extremely well known contender.
I'd be surprised if it didn't clobber Slammo. It is a vertical spinner.

Still, Slammo is from Raleigh, my adopted hometown, so I
suppose I should root for them. It'sa lifter, thrower, and it is intended
to throw hypershock onto the upper deck and keep it there.

The fight starts! While both bots are good drivers, Hypershock is relentlessly
aggressive and Slammo! never has a chance. Again and again, Hypershock batters
Slammo, until it seems that Hypershock is really a better lifter. Slammo goes into the air and
begins leaving pieces on the ground. Hypershock traps it in a corner and ruthlessly presses the attack.

1 minute into the fight, Slammo stops moving and the fight mercifully comes to an end. The captain of Hypershock said he didn't want a "one and done" fight but that's exactly what they got.

Tomandtish asks: Side note: Does it feel to anyone else like countdowns are starting quicker? Feels like they waited longer in previous seasons. Also, Will agrees to dye his hair green if they get a top 10 seed in the round of 32.

In the postfight wrapup, Hypershock's crew notes that their primary weapon had become disabled at the end of the fight, so they have some re-thinking to do themselves, but even so there is no question who the winner of this bout was.

Response: No, the countdowns seem at the same time; it was just blatantly obvious in this case that Slammo was done. The show is already clocking in at 1 hour 20 minutes, I wouldn't mind them speeding things up if they could. At any rate, there was absolutely no point in continuing this fight any longer. Slammo simply wasn't fast enough to NOT go head to head with hypershock and in that matchup with a vertical spinner Slammo was obviously outclassed.

WINNER: Hypershock, by KO.

Valkyrie vs. P1

Valkyrie is another great team against a team that is still building its reputation.

P1 appears to be a lifter while Valkyrie has a horizontal spinner. Valkyrie
is bringing a new bladed named "Dr. Acula"

Fight's on! P1 charges and is very aggressive, but is only able to get in one good flip and that aggressiveness merely means running itself smack into valkyrie's blade. P1 loses a tire. Then Valkyrie catches on fire! It quickly burns out , and it's blade stops spinning. The weapon motor is disabled. P1 pushes Valkyrie under Valkyrie's own pulverizer, and Valkyrie is
hit twice with its own hammer! Some shouting on the team at that.

Now Valkyrie is disarmed but P1 is having motion problems. It is just capable of translational movement but is quite close to crab-walking, which would trigger a countdown. It doesn't look like Valkyrie can do anything to P1, but P1 may be able to flip Valkyrie some more IF they can line up properly.

Time expires and it goes to the judges.

This is going to be hard for the judges. I think I have to give it to P1 ; it earned all the aggression points and I'd give it the edge on control as well. Damage is a tossup.

The announcers agree.

The judges think so too. P1 is the winner!

I disagree with TomandTish's assessment that Valkyrie lost this more than P1 won it. They earned those aggression and control points with skillful play. Still, that is the weakness of any dedicated spinner including Tombstone; once the blade is gone they've got nothing left.
Tombstone had a weapon battery fire also; I wonder if they're both using the same battery?

WINNER: P1, by decision (3-0)

Huge vs. Riptide

Two vertical spinners, and Huge, of course, is a very large machine.
Riptide plans a box rush.

And that's exactly what they do. They charge in before Huge can spin up its weapon, hit them two or three times, then wedge them into the screws. Huge's gigantic wheel proves a vulnerability as it cannot extricate itself even when the screws reverse. Riptide, after describing Huge in the prefight match as
"their counter", isn't about to give them a helping shove. Huge is counted out.

So far the fights tonight have been very disappointing. Only Valkyrie v. P1 showed any real fight; the others seemed like we were setting up chumps , tomatoes, to be quickly demolished by the veteran teams. That's not what Vegas
crowds pay to see!

WINNER: Riptide, by KO.

Fusion vs. Cobalt

Fusion is from the Ewart family, which
brought us both Son of Whyachi and Hydra. It is a relatively complex bot with both a
horizontal and veritical spinner. This complexity has made it somewhat less reliable,
and had fire issues
last season.

The primary weapon seems to be a spinner, however.

Cobolt was sold to the Gigabyte team, as the original
manufacturers are on parentla leave. It has a really vicious vertical spinner.

Fight's on!

Well, Fusion really tears Cobalt into bits. It wins every exchange. As Cobolt's team said,
you can prepare for a horizontal spinner or a vertical spinner but it's very hard to prepare
for both at the same time. Fusion has been crippled by reliability in the past but none of that is in evidence in this fight. It comes out aggressive, lands repeated hits while
Cobalt misses, the sole damage seems to be when Fusion runs its own horizontal spinner into the screws.

In less than a minute , Cobalt is vertical , immobile, and with massive physical damage.

Very impressive win by Fusion! I think they are well positioned for a deep run this year.

The captain of fusion has a perfect deadpan comedy delivery, suggesting some sort of awared for his brother Jake for being the most hated man on television, when certain other personalities were also on television.

WINNER: Fusion, by KO.

Black Dragon vs. Icewave

Ah, black dragon. No one ever went broke betting on Black Dragon. It has a wedge and an
eggbeater drum. Icewave is an older bot which did not participate in main battlebots last year. The announcer call this a 'dated ' design which the sport has passed by. It is nevertheless a very powerful horizontal spinner.

Unusually for a competitor, Icewave has a combustion engine rather than battery power. It sounds like a lawnmower starting.

Fight's on!

At the start, Black Dragon's design gives it a significant advantage. The wedge allows it to get under icewave's blade and bring icewave's main body in contact with the drum spinner. Several solid hits later Icewave's blade is nonfunctional and they have no other means of causing damage.

Ten seconds and several hits later, Icewave is immobile and counted out. A "bot from another era" indeed. It's time to retire this bot and build something new; it's not competitive in the modern environment, at least not against a top-tier team such as Black Dragon.

Witch Doctor vs. Duck!

This incarnation of Witchdoctor is a vertical spinner while Duck! is... a lifter I guess?
It has forks to defend against the spinner and a lifter, but the lifter seems rather small against a bot as big as WD.

Witch Doctor is a really tough competitor who's been almost all the way before, and they have
one of the best drivers in the sport. My money's on them.

Farouk does his best to play up Duck! with the copy the team wrote for him, but I'm not feeling it.

Please kill them quickly, Witch Doctor.

Fight's on!

Some careful maneuverability out of the box. Witch Doctor makes first hit and tears off one of Duck!'s forks. WD presses its advantage to aggressively charge in for more hits.

Duck! isn't dead, though. It counters with a hit and a bit of Witch Doctor's metal goes flying. Duck! Has disabled Witch Doctor's primary weapon!

Undaunted, Witch Doctor closes in to push. Duck pins them against the screws but doesn't really look like they can do anything with the primary weapon aside from that one brilliant hit. Witch Doctor begins to shove Duck! around the box.

2 seconds before the end, Witch Doctor pins Duck! in the screws, trapping it beyond hope of escape with its own primary weapon, but too late to prevent a Judge's decision.

I think I have to give the Damage category marginally to Duck! , since they disabled Witch Doctor's primary weapon in exchange for a fork. Nonetheless, Witch Doctor would take control and aggression points while also having a damage score little less than Duck's, so I give it to Witch Doctor.

The judges agree.

TomandTish says: "So, fights that go the distance are not good for Duck."

But ... but that's the only kind of fight Duck can fight! It's not going to be scoring any quick KOs with that small lifter in its current incarnation. It's essentially a punching bag for other 'bots to rack up damage points on until the clock expires. That was a BRILLIANT hit to WD's weapon, but you can't win by expecting to roll natural 20s. The next bot won't be so careless. I think this is a failed design and should be retired in favor of something more aggressive.

WINNER: Witch Doctor, by decision (3-0)

MAIN EVENT: Copperhead vs. Lock-Jaw

Copperhead is a vicious vertical spinner.
Lock-jaw is also a vertical spinner, but has the addition of foks to win the
ground game.

Both of these bots are top-tier contenders, so this
oughta be good.

Fight's on!

Lockjaw backs in to Copperhead to give it a taste of its wedge, but
Copperhead gets underneath Lockjaw and lands some solid damage.
The two bots then reverse and go weapon to weapon! No clear advantage yet, though
it looks like Lockjaw's wheels are a little bit askew.

Lockjaw flips copperhead but it drives just as well inverted. Copperhead
in turn sends Lockjaw into a 360 and lands right side up.

Lockjaw is now definitely losing, with a badly bent fork and the left front tire
nearly off.

Lockjaw bursts into flame! There goes his weapon motor. In the next instant, Copperhead
knocks Lockjaw flat on its back.

Lockjaw is still mobile inverted but its primary weapon is down while Copperhead's is still fully functional. Copperhead is showing signs of damage and trouble driving as well but nowhere near as bad as Lockjaw's. The conclusion of the fight at this point seems foregone.

Lockjaw's not giving up! Using it's superior drive train, it pushes Copperhead into the screws!

Next Lockjaw pushes copperhead into the corner face first, trying to break the blade.
No go, however, Copperhead immediately gets under Lockjaw after the collision and begins inflicting damage.

Time expires with the bots locked together, like two exhausted boxers having fought each other to a standstill.

In terms of damage , I have to give it to Copperhead. I also think Lockjaw didn't rack up enough aggression and control to overcome that deficit. So this one's Copperhead, in my view.

What a terrific fight by two highly skilled teams! This was truly worthy of the title
"main event"!

A split decision! But sure enough, Copperhead takes it.

TomandTish says: ". I certainly feel this is the correct choice and am surprised it was a split decision."

I'm not. I also thought it was copperhead but it was a brutal, brutal battle which ended with the two bots together in one heap. I imagine the dissenting judge called the damage a wash and gave it to Lockjaw on the basis of control. Certainly both bots deserved all the aggression points.

WINNER: Copperhead, by decision (2-1)

Respectfully,

Brian P.

tomandtish

2022-01-24, 03:20 PM

So I've seen the fights and added my own impressions, including some responses to TomandTish
in the spoiler block.

Episode 3: Ducks, Dragons, and Killer Snakes!

Hypershock vs. Slammo!

Hypershock is an extremely well known contender.
I'd be surprised if it didn't clobber Slammo. It is a vertical spinner.

Still, Slammo is from Raleigh, my adopted hometown, so I
suppose I should root for them. It'sa lifter, thrower, and it is intended
to throw hypershock onto the upper deck and keep it there.

The fight starts! While both bots are good drivers, Hypershock is relentlessly
aggressive and Slammo! never has a chance. Again and again, Hypershock batters
Slammo, until it seems that Hypershock is really a better lifter. Slammo goes into the air and
begins leaving pieces on the ground. Hypershock traps it in a corner and ruthlessly presses the attack.

1 minute into the fight, Slammo stops moving and the fight mercifully comes to an end. The captain of Hypershock said he didn't want a "one and done" fight but that's exactly what they got.

Tomandtish asks: Side note: Does it feel to anyone else like countdowns are starting quicker? Feels like they waited longer in previous seasons. Also, Will agrees to dye his hair green if they get a top 10 seed in the round of 32.

In the postfight wrapup, Hypershock's crew notes that their primary weapon had become disabled at the end of the fight, so they have some re-thinking to do themselves, but even so there is no question who the winner of this bout was.

Response: No, the countdowns seem at the same time; it was just blatantly obvious in this case that Slammo was done. The show is already clocking in at 1 hour 20 minutes, I wouldn't mind them speeding things up if they could. At any rate, there was absolutely no point in continuing this fight any longer. Slammo simply wasn't fast enough to NOT go head to head with hypershock and in that matchup with a vertical spinner Slammo was obviously outclassed.

WINNER: Hypershock, by KO.

I did some looking over 6 fights from previous seasons with a stop watch. While there's definitely a subjective factor on when the bot is disabled enough to start counting, it looks like they've started counting about 4 -5 seconds earlier than they used to.

Valkyrie vs. P1

Valkyrie is another great team against a team that is still building its reputation.

P1 appears to be a lifter while Valkyrie has a horizontal spinner. Valkyrie
is bringing a new bladed named "Dr. Acula"

Fight's on! P1 charges and is very aggressive, but is only able to get in one good flip and that aggressiveness merely means running itself smack into valkyrie's blade. P1 loses a tire. Then Valkyrie catches on fire! It quickly burns out , and it's blade stops spinning. The weapon motor is disabled. P1 pushes Valkyrie under Valkyrie's own pulverizer, and Valkyrie is
hit twice with its own hammer! Some shouting on the team at that.

Now Valkyrie is disarmed but P1 is having motion problems. It is just capable of translational movement but is quite close to crab-walking, which would trigger a countdown. It doesn't look like Valkyrie can do anything to P1, but P1 may be able to flip Valkyrie some more IF they can line up properly.

Time expires and it goes to the judges.

This is going to be hard for the judges. I think I have to give it to P1 ; it earned all the aggression points and I'd give it the edge on control as well. Damage is a tossup.

The announcers agree.

The judges think so too. P1 is the winner!

I disagree with TomandTish's assessment that Valkyrie lost this more than P1 won it. They earned those aggression and control points with skillful play. Still, that is the weakness of any dedicated spinner including Tombstone; once the blade is gone they've got nothing left.
Tombstone had a weapon battery fire also; I wonder if they're both using the same battery?

WINNER: P1, by decision (3-0)

Sorry, should clarify. I feel Valkyrie lost because their motor burned out, and it appeared to do that as a result of their hits against P1. P1 didn't disable them they disabled themselves. I generally call that one bot losing instead of the other winning, esp. if the other bot can't get a knockout.

Huge vs. Riptide

Two vertical spinners, and Huge, of course, is a very large machine.
Riptide plans a box rush.

And that's exactly what they do. They charge in before Huge can spin up its weapon, hit them two or three times, then wedge them into the screws. Huge's gigantic wheel proves a vulnerability as it cannot extricate itself even when the screws reverse. Riptide, after describing Huge in the prefight match as
"their counter", isn't about to give them a helping shove. Huge is counted out.

So far the fights tonight have been very disappointing. Only Valkyrie v. P1 showed any real fight; the others seemed like we were setting up chumps , tomatoes, to be quickly demolished by the veteran teams. That's not what Vegas
crowds pay to see!

WINNER: Huge, by KO.

Might want to check whom you said won the fight. Think you wrote the wrong bot.

Witch Doctor vs. Duck!

This incarnation of Witchdoctor is a vertical spinner while Duck! is... a lifter I guess?
It has forks to defend against the spinner and a lifter, but the lifter seems rather small against a bot as big as WD.

Witch Doctor is a really tough competitor who's been almost all the way before, and they have
one of the best drivers in the sport. My money's on them.

Farouk does his best to play up Duck! with the copy the team wrote for him, but I'm not feeling it.

Please kill them quickly, Witch Doctor.

Fight's on!

Some careful maneuverability out of the box. Witch Doctor makes first hit and tears off one of Duck!'s forks. WD presses its advantage to aggressively charge in for more hits.

Duck! isn't dead, though. It counters with a hit and a bit of Witch Doctor's metal goes flying. Duck! Has disabled Witch Doctor's primary weapon!

Undaunted, Witch Doctor closes in to push. Duck pins them against the screws but doesn't really look like they can do anything with the primary weapon aside from that one brilliant hit. Witch Doctor begins to shove Duck! around the box.

2 seconds before the end, Witch Doctor pins Duck! in the screws, trapping it beyond hope of escape with its own primary weapon, but too late to prevent a Judge's decision.

I think I have to give the Damage category marginally to Duck! , since they disabled Witch Doctor's primary weapon in exchange for a fork. Nonetheless, Witch Doctor would take control and aggression points while also having a damage score little less than Duck's, so I give it to Witch Doctor.

The judges agree.

TomandTish says: "So, fights that go the distance are not good for Duck."

But ... but that's the only kind of fight Duck can fight! It's not going to be scoring any quick KOs with that small lifter in its current incarnation. It's essentially a punching bag for other 'bots to rack up damage points on until the clock expires. That was a BRILLIANT hit to WD's weapon, but you can't win by expecting to roll natural 20s. The next bot won't be so careless. I think this is a failed design and should be retired in favor of something more aggressive.

WINNER: Witch Doctor, by decision (3-0)

Uh actually, have to disagree, and their fight results support this. Of the 5 fights DUCK has won in their career, 4 were knockouts. The one exception was the three-way between them, Mecharampage, and Free Shipping. One opponent was disabled and the other would have been counted out if the fight went longer. Likewise of their 6 losses, 4 were judges decisions (and the two KOs were Bronco and Tombstone). Duck wins when their opponent damages themselves enough that they are knocked out. Duck loses when it goes to judges' decision and their opponent is still running. The fight going the full 3 minutes is bad for Duck. Incidentally, I'd also apply my comments to Valkyrie above to Duck. Duck's opponents lose by taking themselves out. .

pendell

2022-01-24, 06:17 PM

You're right. I got huge vs. Riptide winner wrong. It has been corrected in my post.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

Olffandad

2022-01-24, 08:11 PM

Hypershock may have figured its stuff out, or it might continue to do okay but fail in the crunch.

Valkyrie underperformed, it didn't seem as durable as last season.

I think the newness of Huge has worn off - it has a unique attack angle and height, but other builders have plenty of video to watch about what it can do.

Riptide looked good, especially for a rookie.

Witch Doctor looked like they were in fighting form. Duck is a good sport, but ultimately can't win reliably by relying on the other guy to break down (which probably won't happen versus quality teams).

Fusion looked good, or at least much better than last season.

Copperhead looks like a top 16 contender with endurance, good driving, and killing power. Donald Hudson drove masterfully, but Copperhead took Lockjaw's hits and inflicted more damage.

Lockjaw probably beats or competes everyone but a top team - End Game, Sawblaze, Black Dragon, Whiplash, Uppercut, and Jackpot, to start building a Top 8 bracket :D)

tomandtish

2022-01-27, 11:59 PM

Episode 4

Malice vs Jackpot: Vertical disk spinner versus a horizontal disk spinner. Malice lost their first match, and first time we’ve seen Jackpot this season.

Jackpot tries a box rush but no contact. After a few seconds they slam into each other 3-4 times. Malice is moving much quicker than last time but seems to be getting the worst of the hits. A few more shots and Malice goes flying. And it appears their weapon has slowed down. Another huge shot and a piece of Malice takes out a light. Jackpot then knock Malice on the screws, and Malice’s weapon is disabled. Soon after Malice stops moving and is counted out, which is good news because Jackpot started smoking. But this was a solid performance by Jackpot. Definitely hitting hard. Malice drops to 0-2.

Ribbot vs. Overhaul: Overhaul is a grappler that hasn’t participated since season 3. Their lifetime is 2-8, so they haven’t had the best luck. Ribbot can run a vertical or horizontal spinner and is going horizontal this match. Ribbot is looking to go 2-0 while this is the first match we’ve seen Overhaul in this season.

Well, this was short. Ribbot hits Overhaul 3 times and Overhaul loses a tire and isn’t moving. Note: I think the not moving is more than the loss of a tire as they aren’t showing any movement at all. Overhaul is counted out 40 seconds into the match. Not much to say here. Ribbot got some solid hits and I assume something broke inside Overhaul, since they showed no movement at all after the third hit. Ribbot advances to 2-0 (both knockouts) and is looking like a solid contender.

Blade vs Skorpios: Blade is a rookie to Battlebots and is coming from South Korea. They are a horizontal spinner that is apparently popular overseas. They are using the thick blade like Tombstone does, but they also have a solid rear wedge. Skorpios is using a hammer saw configuration. My memory is that they had a decent season last year.

Skorpios pulls off a box rush and quickly corners Blade. Their hammer saw is also doing some significant damage to Blade. Blade is not moving well, and I’m not sure if it is a bot issue or driving issue. Blade begins smoking as Skorpios gets their blade into their skull. But both bots start smoking. Skorpios goes for one more hit, then goes for another one. I suspect Blade would have been counted out by now but Skorpios is apparently making sure they get a full workout. Skorpios takes friendly fire from their pulverizer and some more from kill saws as it goes to the judges.

Let’s be clear, this match was Skorpios all the way and Blade never did anything. Even at the beginning Blade seemed to have maneuverability issues. Not sure I agree with Skorpios not backing off and getting the knockout which would 1) help more with judges down the road and 2) avoid further damage. It’s a solid victory (they get the decision of course), but to me it would be better to get the knockout.

Tombstone vs Mammoth: There’s a nice bit with Ray before everything begins. Mammoth is a weird flipper/lifter that is the biggest bot in the tournament. They are looking to go 2-0. Tombstone is 0-1 and looking for their first win. Normally I’d say this would be all Tombstone since I don’t think Mammoth’s frame can hold up to that blade. But the question is which Tombstone show up? Reliability issues seem to be an issue and people are figuring out how to deal with him while still being overall competitive.

Mammoth rushes Tombstone. This does not appear to be a good idea as Mammoth goes flying. However, another hit or 2 and both bots stop showing movement. While there are pieces of Mammoth on the floor, neither is moving and both are counted out. This is extremely rare, and the judges get to decide. It was too short for control or aggression to play a role, so damage should decide it in favor of Tombstone… and that’s how the judges score it.

Note: Tombstone gets the victory, but this is only a technical win. Tombstone clearly has reliability issues this season and better work them out if they want to be a serious contender.

Lucky vs. Tantrum: Lucky is a flipper from Canada that hasn’t had much luck (3-8 lifetime). Tantrum picked up a lot last season and is 1-0 this season. Their punch spinner has come along nicely.

And again, this starts against expectations. Lucky gets in three quick flips and Tantrum is on a rail. It should be lights out, but Lucky knocks them off the rail…. which is a big mistake. Tantrum begins slamming into Lucky, sending them flying and knocking off wheels. Lucky can’t move and is counted out.

I’m all for sportsmanship, but when your opponent is pinned up, LEAVE THEM ALONE! I notice that the commentary doesn’t acknowledge that Lucky lost the fight by not backing off.

Ghost Raptor (GR) vs. Glitch: Ghost Raptor uses an angled horizontal spinner and a lifter. They had a great season 1, but seasons 2 and 5 did not go so well. Glitch is a rookie bot using an eggbeater spinner. We will have to see how they do.

As we start Glitch gets a solid first hit on GR. However, after a second hit I notice Glitch is not moving well. GR gets them up against the screws. However, after GR hits with their spinner, their spinner stops working. So, Glitch isn’t moving well, and GR’s primary weapon isn’t working. GR gets Glitch into a corner and they appear to have wedged themselves under the wall. GR decides to knock them free. They circle, with nothing really happening. Glitch is still moving poorly. But GR tries to move in under them and gets slammed upside down. Glitch “stops” moving and as GR goes in Glitch slams into them, taking them into a rail and parts go flying. Time runs out and this goes to the judges.

I’m honestly not sure how to call this. Glitch obviously had movement issues but won on damage. But they only survived because GR freed them. It’s a unanimous decision for … Glitch. I could see this going wither way but I’m ok with the call. And again, the lesson: don’t help a stuck opponent unless you are OK giving away the win.

Sawblaze vs. MadCatter: Anyone who has read my past posts know how I feel about MadCatter. Admittedly it is a solid bot, but the captain annoys me so very much. Sawblaze is certainly the better driver, but MadCatter has shown it can inflict lots of damage. They are using a fast spin up vertical spinner and their minibot.

Madcatter tries a box rush but misses. Sawblaze immediately capitalizes with a solid hit and pushes Catter into the screws. They then take Catter for a ride around the ring, landing blows. A push under the pulverizer and Catter is getting hit from two sides. Catter is taking a pounding and their minibot is pouring out huge amounts of smoke. Sawblaze continues pushing them around and hitting them, and pieces of Catter are all over. After another rush under a pulverizer Catter stops moving and was counted out.

No ifs, ands, or buts, this was Sawblaze start to finish. I’m not sure Catter ever landed a real blow, and they were never able to maneuver away from Sawblaze. Sawblaze is certainly a serious contender to go all the way.

pendell

2022-01-28, 08:16 PM

So it's my turn to review! As before, I will try to respond
to tomandtish in the spoilers, though realistically we're probably
going to agree on many things.

Episode 4: Out with the Old

5 of the 7 matchups are going for a 2-0 record tonight. We also
have some newer teams looking to take on the veterans. I wonder if the
episode title will prove to be a spoiler?

Malice Vs. Jackpot

Malice seems to have a chip on her shoulder about being a
female bot-builder. I wonder how much of that is
warranted; both she and Witch Doctor have
more than proven there's no gender advantage when
it comes to mechanical engineering. I don't really
know what goes on in the pits, of course.

Jackpot comes into the fight 1-0 after an unaired victory.
Jackpot brings a vertical spinner, while
Malice brings a horizontal.

Fight's on!

Jackpot misses the box rush and both bots go for aggressive weapon-on-weapon contact.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Both bots disdain artistry in the hopes of disabling the other's weapon while their own is still up. Malice seems to be getting the worst of it slightly and is bounced into the air a few times, but the difference is very minor.

Okay, now Jackpot Definitely has the advantage as it sends Malice clear across the battlebox, up into the ceiling where Malice knocks down a light.
Malice's spinner has definitely slowed and seems to be crab-walking somewhat.

Malice's weapon is disabled and sparking a bit. For a second it seems the match will turn as
Jackpot smokes; their weapon motor has burned out so both bots are disarmed, but Jackpot remains mobile while Malice can only crab-walk. She is counted out.

That was a streetfight! Nicely done and very entertaining, both teams. However, this is Malice's second loss and I think it's time for her to do some re-thinking.

WINNER: Jackpot, by KO.

Ribbot Vs. Overhaul

Ribbot has a blue paint scheme in homage
to something and an undercutting spinner.

Overhaul is a lifter and has entirely redesigned their
drive train.

Fight's on!

Overhaul goes right in to lift but can't Whenever they come into contact Ribbot
successfully undercuts Overhaul and deals damage with the spinner. I don't think Overhaul
has a path to victory at this point, and Ribbot has all the advantages.

I have barely finished typing this when Overhaul isn't moving any more. That was fast.
Now it's overhaul's turn to re-think.

WINNER: Ribbot, by KO.

Blade vs. Skorpios

Blade is a rookie horizontal spinner from South Korea,
taking on Tombstone-killing Skorpios, which also did a great
job in the bounty tournament last year.

Skorpios brings a wedge and a hammer saw which spins twice as fast as last year.
Their pre-fight poem includes "Get Over here!" which warms my heart
from Mortal Kombat , though I don't see a claw.

Both teams are husband-and-wife duos. Juu Sang Yu of blade is a
professional violinist when she's not wrecking bots.

Fight's on!

Skorpios shows brilliant driving, quickly closing on blade before Blade
can fully spin up it's weapon, pins it in a corner, and starts s hitting
with its own hammer saw. A lovely move, but it starts smoking almost
immediately. Too much strain on the weapon motor, perhaps?

Skorpios continues to dominate the fight, hitting Blade at will,
Blade's own weapon hitting Skorpio's heavy frontal armor.
But! Skorpio's hammersaw gets stuck inside Blade's bow!

No problem. Skorpios rams Blade into the screws to dislodge,
then rams it into the corner where Blade is subjected to a
one-two whammy from Skorpio's hammersaw and the Pulverizer.
Skorpios takes an inadvertent hit from the Pulverizer as well,
but shrugs it off.

Skorpios gets stuck again, scrapes Blade off again, takes it into the
now-active kill saws but, again, take friendly fire from over-exuberance.

The announcers question why Skorpios doesn't simply back off and
let Blade be counted out. The answer is that Skorpios believes they have a
championship bot this year, and want every second they can
get inside the box to put their bot through their paces.

Time expires and it goes to the judges, but there is absolutely
no doubt of the winner of this match.

On the other side, Blade is an absolutely beautiful bot. I hope
it can do better in succeeding matches.

Skorpios is very proud of their effort, but I didn't like that smoke
I saw from the 'bot. Their weapon may be TOO Powerful, putting strain
on the weapon motor which will cause it to burn out.

WINNER: Skorpios, by decision (3-0)

Tombstone vs. Mammoth

Ray Billings has some proving to do; it's been five years since his
championship and he lost his last fight.

He's coming with his trademark murderous horizontal spinner versus
the gigantic mammoth with its vertical spinner.

Fight's on! Show us you've still got it, Ray!

BAM! Massive hit from Tombstone and bits of Mammoth fly everywhere!

Tombstone hits Mammoth hard -- TOO hard -- it bounces back fro mthe hit and
within thirty seconds both bots are crabwalking, immobile.

Both are counted out, simultaneous knock out.

The judges will rule on a winner, apparently.
Tombstone should get the damage and aggression points, and get the win.

The judges agree, and give it to Tombstone.
Even if this is a "win", The disappointment radiating from Ray is palpable ; this will do nothing to
dispel the rumors of Tombstone's obsolescence.

WINNER: Tombstone, by decision (3-0).

Lucky vs. Tantrum

Tantrum has a vertical spinner versus Lucky's pneumatic flipper,
first time we've seen it this season. My money's on Tantrum.

Lucky has a new driver , apparently one of the best drivers on the remote
control car circuit, with great fine motor skills. Let's see how he does!

Fight's on!

Lucky starts flipping tantrum hard right out of the gate and for a minute
the match looks like it's over, as Tantrum is caught on something and can't
get off. Lucky flips it off the obstacle, but this is a mistake --
it's own flipper seems a bit damage and now Tantrum starts
scoring damage on Lucky, taking the initiative as well as one of
Lucky's wheels.

I think Lucky has lost this one; you can't cede the initiative to a top-tier
team even once. You've got to take the wins you're given. Leave
chivalry for the veteran teams facing off with rookies.

Yup. Five second's later Lucky is immobile and done. Tantrum
continues to build its reputation while Lucky has some learning to do.

Tomandtish: "I’m all for sportsmanship, but when your opponent is pinned up, LEAVE THEM ALONE! I notice that the commentary doesn’t acknowledge that Lucky lost the fight by not backing off"

Actually, they did in the post-fight wrapuup.
Chris brought it up and Kenny agreed. Chris
gave the team props for continuing the match even though
it cost them the victory; I am not
so sanguine.

WINNER: Tantrum, by KO.

Ghost Raptor vs. Glitch

GR is one of the earliest bots in the game.
It looks like a combination lifter and spinner.

Glitch brings a vertical spinner, an
omniwheel drive , and a ground-hugging design.

The Glitch team almost missed the fight due to a
problem with a screw when preparing for the match, b
but the Ghost Raptor team captain stepped in and helped
his opponent fix the problem and get thier bot ready!

Like Blade, Glitch is a beautiful bot.

Fight's on!

Glitch does some great maneuvering and gets in the first punch.

GR comes back, has Glitch in the optimum position for its attack,
but mis-times the lift and eats Glitch's eggbeater spinner instead.
GR's blade is inoperative. This doesn't look good for GH.

For the second time tonight there is chivalry; Glitch is so low to the ground
it gets wedged against a wall and stuck. It would be counted out
but GR moves them out of the spot and the fight continues!

Glitch appears to be having drive issues but its primary weapon is still
very operable.

The match continues. Glitch is having a hard time maneuvering and making contact
but GR is now a pushbot. In a neat stratagem, Glitch plays dead for a second, and when
GR gets close to probe him, promptly smashes GR into the screws nad
hits him with the eggbeater for good measure! Brilliant!

Time expires. I have to give this one to Glitch on damage.

The judges agree. Congrats to the Rookie! Though their bot definitely
has teething problems which will need to be worked out.

Tomandtish: "And again, the lesson: don’t help a stuck opponent unless you are OK giving away the win."

Agreed. In this case GR KNEW they had a disabled primary weapon and they
KNEW freeing Glitch would almost certainly cost them the match,
yet they did it anyway. That's not a rookie error, but a deliberqate t
decision. I respect that, though it is not a choice I would have made.

Maybe there should be a "good sport" award?

WINNER: Glitch, by decision (3-0)

MAIN EVENT: Sawblaze vs. Madcatter

Ah, Madcatter's pro-wrestler Captain again. I know he
makes Tomandtish grits his teeth.

Apparently hes a professor of engineering zoom-teaching his calss
remotely while working in the pits. I gotta say, he's almost certainly
a memorable teacher.

This is the second outing for both bots this season, and this match is
highly anticipated match.

Sawblaze (Hammer saw) versus Madcatter (disc spinner). This is Madcatter's smallest and
lightest weapon but it's still very dangerous. They brought it because it
spins up faster than any other weapon they have, and they need a fast spinup
against the agile Sawblaze.

Sawblaze has 4 hp more in the drive train than Madcatter, but Madcatter
has a more powerful weapon.

And here we go!

Madcatter misses the box rush, tries to get at Sawblaze's forks and bend them.
This doesn't work. Instead, Sawblaze scoops up Madcatter and takes it on a tour
of the battlebox, landing hits with the hammer saw all the while. At the moment,
this is definitely Sawblaze's fight.

In another cunning move, Sawblaze pushes madcatter under the pulverizer which is actually useful for a change, as the hammer goes right into Madcatter's primary weapon.
Nonetheless, it remains operational. Madcatter breaks free and the fight is neutralized.
Sawblaze has scored some both hits but both bots seem fully operational.

The announcers, however, think that Sawblaze has disabled Madcatter's lifter.

Madcatter's minibot lets loos massive smoke as Sawblaze rams madcatter into the screws,
then hits repeatedly with the hammer saw which gets momentarily stuck. Undaunted,
Sawblaze rams Madcatter's saw into the screws. The blade is powered down, but starts up again a few seconds later.
The bots break apart and neutralize again. Again Sawblaze hits with the saw
and drags madcatter to the pulverizer, flipping it over and Madcatter is at last insert.
This match is over. A strong showing and a decisive victory for Sawblaze!

WINNER: Sawblaze, by KO.

Definitely some great fights.

The title of the episode was at least partially correct
Tombstone and Ghost Rider seem like they are showing their age
against the newer bots, although the driving skills of the rookie
contenders , for the most part , still keep them from the top tier.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

tomandtish

2022-01-30, 01:04 PM

So it's my turn to review! As before, I will try to respond
to tomandtish in the spoilers, though realistically we're probably
going to agree on many things.

Definitely some great fights.

The title of the episode was at least partially correct
Tombstone and Ghost Rider seem like they are showing their age
against the newer bots, although the driving skills of the rookie
contenders , for the most part , still keep them from the top tier.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

I certainly agree Tombstone is not up to snuff. but I wonder how much is because of the changes Ray made. He has a new body that is supposed to minimize impact damage. Instead he seems to disable himself much more easily. Don't get me wrong, enough people have figured out how to deal with him that he's not the automatic top contender he used to be, but I wonder how he'd be doing if he hadn't made the changes.

Ghost Raptor had one good season (season 1). They've done abysmally every season since that they participated (2, 5, and now this season so far). Looking back, I'd classify them as a one hit wonder. They apparently do well in other competitions, but show me you can consistently make the playoffs.

pendell

2022-02-04, 09:40 PM

Episode 5: Let's Uppercut to the chase!
Tagline: "Desperate bots take desperate measures as rookie bots enter the fray."

So I take it some of the older bots who have losing records are going to get serious about
proving they belong in the elimination part of the tournament, and they're going to try to
annihilate the rookies to prove it.

We'll see if that proves to be true.

Those entries below marked with an asterisk are those
considered 'at risk' in this episode.

Free Shipping* vs. Uppercut

We are warned that Uppercut, a vertical spinner,
took significant damage in the match against Gigabyte, so
there is some question how effective the
repairs have been.

Free Shipping is a lifter.

Fight's on!

The two bots rush each other! Uppercut misses and spins head over heels twice!
Then the bots re-engage, launching a brutal frontal attack.
Uppercut ignites Free Shipping's flamethrower, and there is a
massive burst of flame which illuminates the battle box
like a firework for an instant.

Again collision. Uppercut tears off Free Shipping's wedges and
FS is now driving sideways on two wheels!

It drives to the side of the battlebox and tries to use its
lifter to self-right...

... a mistake. It's not strong enough. It falls back on the rail and is stuck, immobile.

Uppercut backs off and waits while Free Shipping is counted out, in a fight that lasted about
60 seconds!

That looked a little lucky; Uppercut looks like it was crabwalking a bit at the end there;
I think the damage is still crippling it to some extent.

WINNER: Uppercut (KO)

Blacksmith vs. Shatter!

For this fight Shatter! is bringing new top panels and a new hammer arm , an
all -new configuration to meet the newer, tougher, Blacksmith.

They have forks to keep blacksmith at bay while they swing with their longer hammer.
Also, the new hammer arm with points which they
hope will break Blacksmith's weapon chain.

Let's see if it works. Fight's on!

The two bots smash into each other and start hammering away. The flame of blacksmith is impressive but decorative. Meanwhile, Shatter! lands a hit to blacksmith's weapon chain as
planned, and Blacksmith's vertical saw stops spinning. Definite advantage to Shatter but I don't see either team scoring a mobility kill at this point; most likely a judge's decision
which will go to Shatter!

So it proves. Blacksmith's weapon chain is visibly broken and the weapon cannot swing. Time expires. And the judges give it to Shatter!. Shatter! executed its plan against Blacksmith
to perfection, although it was closer than it looked. Blacksmith did manage to hit Shatter's weapon early in the match and if things had gone differently Blacksmith would have carried it
Some really good driving by Blacksmith but, without a primary weapon, it's not enough.

WINNER: Shatter! (KO)

Jager vs. P1

Jager is a rookie bot from Germany. This is a multi-bot; two half-size bots and a mini with
a vertical spinner, a horizontal spinner, and a planed surface respectively.

We'll see how this works, but normally multi-bots are defeated in detail as the heavier main
bot demolishes them one at a time.

Fight's on!

P1 tries to pawn-grab by attacking the minibot, but the minibot is brilliantly used to high-center P1 so it is immobile and helpless. This gives the two other bots a chance to move in and inflict a free hit each. A perfect attack strategy but they don't seem to inflict much damage on P1. P1 gets off the mini -- or is perhaps released, then in an absolutely brilliant display of driving first knocks the vertical spinner over. It cannot self-right. it is out of the fight. Next P1 lifts the horizontal on to the upper deck! It is trapped and spinning its saw!

While the countdown commences, P1 attacks and traps the minibot. The countdown gets down to 2
before the Jager bot finally gets off the upper deck and resumes the fight!

To no avail. P1 shows its tremendous advantage in mass, and the next 60 seconds involve it continually charging as it tries to lift the Jager back onto the upper deck. Eventually, it succeeds in trapping the bot midway off the upper deck and this time it cannot escape. The countdown resumes and this time completes. Truly spectacular driving by P1!

WINNER: P1 (KO)

Hydra* vs. Gruff

Hydra is the sport's strongest flipper taking on
the sport's toughest lifter.

Let's get it on!

Hydra and Gruff go right at each there. After some preliminary maneuvering
and a small piece of Hydra being taken out,
Hydra begins flipping Gruff, and the flips continue for about the next two minutes.
Hydra's flipper doesn't seem nearly as powerful as it did in earlier
matches, or perhaps that's just Gruff. The flips take their toll and
Gruff's fire comes out of the flamethrower compartment and now the bot
is really on fire, but Gruff gamely hangs in there. Many more
flips and one trip into the screw laters, Hydra at last flips Gruff
OUT of the arena into a space alongside the stage. Trapped and with no
way back, Gruff is counted out.

Hey, wasn't the whole point of the upper deck to PREVENT bots from
being flipped into those out of the arena spaces? Maybe so, but the
design clearly has some exploitable flaws. Flaws which the series
villain, Hydra, is quick to exploit.

Hydra moves up to 1-1 and escapes elimination. The announcers agree,
though, that Hydra's weapon power is lacking compared to previous seasons.
Clearly, there is still room for improvement, even in one of the sport's
most formidable bots.

WINNER: Hydra (KO)

Gigabyte vs. Captain Shrederator

Both of these are full body spinners, Shrederator is 1-0
with a surprise victory over Tombstone. Gigabyte is 0-1,
with the simple strategy of hitting Captain S until it stops moving,
counting on Gigabyte's greater reliability. Let's see if it works.

Let the games begin!

Both bots take time to spin up to full speed. Shrederator chooses
to spin in the opposite direction of Gigabyte, the more conservative,
less flashy, but safer strategy. Quite reasonable from the more fragile
bot.

Three or four collisions, then Shrederators stops spinning and stops moving.
Shrederator's team throw down their controllers in disgust. It's over.
Gigabyte bet on their greater reliability, and that bet has paid off.
The announcers comments "two hits and he's done". This shows that the victory
over Tombstone was a fluke, and both bots are 1-1.

We see a shot of the Shrederator compartment as the Captain is angry.
"That's the worst thing that can happen, another unexplainable death,
just like everyone expects".

I would offer condolences, but they would probably not be well received.

He tells us in the post fight interview that it was electronics --
the radio went out, telemetry lost, and in the absence of control signal
Shrederator spun down. A very disappointing loss. I hope they fix it and come back better!

WINNER: Gigabyte (KO)

Dragon slayer versus Duck!*

Dragon slayer is a rookie and a vertical spinner taking on duck who ...
actually I'm not sure HOW Duck! is supposed to damage an opposing bot.
A flipper, maybe?

Apparently it doesn't have a primary weapon as such and is built as
a defensive bot. It wins by going to decisions and letting the
enemy break itself trying to destroy Duck! Duck!'s plan is to use
DS's energy against itself, then either cause them to gyroscope or
ram them into the arena hazards.

Dragon Slayer has been mentored by members of the huge! team and has been
three years in the making.

I hate defensive bots. Slay 'em, Dragon Slayer!

BEGIN!

The two charge in and right at the start Dragon Slayer cut's Duck!'s
beak in half. For the next few seconds everything goes DS's way as
it methodically cuts more bits off of Duck!

Duck! manages to push DS under a pulverizer once but it is ineffective and it's
not the primary weapon. The match continues as Dragon Slayer continues to land
shots for superficial damage while Duck! is ineffectual. DS manages to control
Duck! once or twice but it is still a close pushing match.

Time expires.

Superficial damage versus no damage should make this a win for Dragon Slayer.

The judges agree. PLEASE, team Duck! , take that monstrosity away and come back
with a real combat robot!

WINNER: Dragon Slayer, by decision (3-0)

MAIN EVENT: End Game vs. Witch Doctor.

Witch doctor tells us they fought the last weapon match on one
weapon motor -- the other one had shut down for some reason. They
believe they've fixed it this time and will be coming to take on the
defending champion at full power.

Two of the biggest hitters in the sport, both vertical spinners. This is a highly anticipated
match.

BEGIN!

The two bots approach circuitously, letting their weapons spin up. Witch Doctor
tries two approach strategically but it eventually comes to head to head contact.
At first, the bots are evenly matched, but Endgame gets the better of it, flipping
witch doctor repeatedly and knocking a panel off of it. Witch Doctor is knocked over,
self rights, loses the aforementioned panel and is knocked over again.

Losing that panel did it. Witch Doctor is on its back and cannot self right.
It is counted out; a decisive win for End Game which shows it may once again be championship material this year!

Respectfully,

Brian P.

Olffandad

2022-02-05, 11:46 PM

Wow, this year is shaping up to best the best tournament ever!

Endgame and Sawblaze are on fire, with the other rookies in their class like Whiplash, Copperhead, Black Dragon, Uppercut etc. dominating the old guard.

They are setting up amazing Main Events that are relevant and exciting. The feature on low ground was also groundbreaking by showing in action how the bots are evolving (with the risk of lower sharper wedges catching in obstacles).

tomandtish

2022-02-07, 02:18 PM

Didn't get to watch until last night. Pendell, your usual excellent job.

That explosion was massive. Battlebots was saying on Twitter it was the largest one ever.

It may be time for Gary to reconsider Free Shipping. He's 3/10 in the current incarnation of Battlebots.

Not much to add here. Nice execution of Shatter's strategy.

Yeah, multibots just do not have a good record in this event. The two main ones prior to this year were Gemini and The Four Horsemen (which I don't think ever used more than 3 bots...). And they went a combined 3/18 in their fights. Some good driving by P1.

Yeah, it was obvious almost immediately that Hydra was having power issues. They got a good number of flips (13), but nothing that was really impressive. I honestly have Hydra in the Tombstone category now. Whatever is going on they need to fix or they won't make the playoffs, or will be eliminated early on.

Pendell, the upper deck is a new hazard, and not specifically designed to replace being out of the ring. If you are on the deck for 20 seconds you are out, regardless of whether you are mobile. The "out of the ring spaces are fewer, but they do still exist.

I wish I could say I was surprised at how this turned out, but I'm not. This has been a consistent problem for Captain Shrederator, and I think it is time to go back to the drawing board. They are 5/13 in the current incarnation, and have never had a winning season. And the Tombstone fight was more Tombstone losing than CS winning.

Yeah, this was not an impressive match. Dragon Slayer seemed to have issues making solid weapon contact with Duck. We never saw any of the solid hits that vertical spinners are known for.

And the one area where I disagree with Pendell, Duck lost the decision as I figured they would even before the match started. Duck doesn't win decisions, he wins when the opponent knocks himself out. Duck only has 5 total wins and four were knockouts. And honestly the new beak lifter seems even less effective than the previous one (which is saying a lot).

Yeah, I have End Game at the top of my bracket right now. Two wins, both against bots that are considered serious contenders (although Hydra may be losing that distinction). I'd bet money on them making the round of 4 at least.

tomandtish

2022-02-10, 11:11 PM

New episode tonight!

Side comment: I get plenty of commercials for Blacklight during this. Is Liam Neeson playing any other type of character these days?

Both bots are 1-0, so trying to get that crucial second win. Horizontal spinner vs. vertical spinner. Historically I’d say Rotator inflicts more damage, but Black Dragon can take more damage. Let’s see how this plays out.

Right out of the box it seems Rotator wins the ground game, twice getting under Black Dragon. A little more circling and Rotator lands the first hit. However, Black Dragon begins pushing Rotator around the ring. Unfortunately, despite driving them into the side Black Dragon has yet to land a significant hit. There’s a little more pushing, then Dragon’s flame thrower appears to be on fire (and not in a good way). There’s a lot of smoke coming, but they manage to land a solid hit against Rotator. A little more pushing and they both hit each other, with Dragon coming out the worst as their weapon stops. However, Rotator can’t seem to land any solid hits. As time ends, I THINK Dragon stopped moving, but irrelevant and we go to a decision.

Not sure how to score this. Dragon came off worse on damage, but I think they had aggression the last half of the match. Control kind of bounces back and forth. I can honestly see this going either way. And… the winner by unanimous decision is Rotator. I can agree with that. Rotator goes 2-0 and has probably guaranteed a seed. Black Dragon will now be searching for the second win.

Canada’s flipper vs. South Korea’s horizontal spinner. Both are 0-1, so a win here is critical. For both these bots, 2 losses would almost certainly take them out of contention (I say almost certainly only because 1-2 bots have made it in the past, but usually for reasons that I don’t think are present with these two bots).

We start and both rush out. Blade goes in for a hit…and goes flying into the side of the arena then bounces out. They clearly came off worse as they are wobbling and shaking, and their blade is missing a piece and powering down. Lucky wastes no time, flipping them onside, then actually flipping them on top of the rail (haven’t seen that before). If Blade was working it would easily be able to drive off, but they are motionless and counted out.

This is another case of a bot taking itself out. Props to Lucky getting them on the rail, but they had already stopped moving. Clearly the damage from that first impact took them out. Lucky is 1-1 now, but I suspect they’ll need a spectacular win over a serious opponent to make it. Afterwards, Kenny is holding a large piece of Blade’s blade. Blade is almost certainly out of contention at this point, and clearly has durability issues.

Prior to the fight they are doing an interview with Daniel Freitas, driver of Minotaur. Turns out two weeks ago his mother and grandmother both died from COVID, and he was just a bit late getting to the hospital in time to see them. A sad reminder that COVID is everywhere and still a significant issue. His mother loved watching him fight with bots, and this season is obviously for her.

Interesting situation here. Minotaur lost a hard-fought solid first match, while Dragon Slayer won a rather bland first match. Minotaur needs the win here. Dragon Slayer needs to show the weapon can be effective. They went with a smaller disk, increased reach, and more battery power. (Note: My opinion is that the reach was most critical. Their weapon never really made solid contact with Duck.)

The fight begins and Slayer tries a box rush which fails. Both bots go head to head a few times. Slayer gets the worst, being knocked upside down but flips back. I will say that none of the hits so far are solid. Another hit by Minotaur and Slayer’s weapon stops working. Minotaur continues hitting Slayer and knocks them upside down again, then a solid hit to the bottom and Slayer stops moving. Minotaur gets a much-needed win. But I’m not seeing the truly spectacular hits we used to see from Minotaur. Slayer never really went flying. I’ll be curious to see what happens in their next match. And again, Slayer’s weapon never really made solid contact with Minotaur. This seems to be a design flaw. There’s a very emotional post-fight chat with Daniel.

And again, two 0-1 bots are trying to secure their first win. Both were knocked out by their round 1 opponents (Yeti to Madcatter and Pain Train to Deep 6), so let’s see which drum spinner can come out on top. Loser is probably out of contention. Incidentally, Pain Train’s drum spinner outweighs Yeti’s by 30 pounds. Team Yeti figures they’ll lose if they go weapon to weapon.

The fight starts and Pain Train … tries a box rush? I say tries because they are nowhere near Yeti and run into the rails. However, the come back in and land a few soft shots against Yeti. Yeti comes back with some shots to the side, then runs weapon to weapon and gets flung back a bit. However, Yeti comes back and hits Pain Train, which goes into the air and loses a panel when they land. Yeti begins landing more hits and pieces of Pain Train are spread out. It now appears Pain Train can’t move, but Yeti keeps slamming into them. Pain Train can’t even really crabwalk and is counted out. Solid win by Yeti, but as with Minotaur we still didn’t see many of the devastating hits they were known for. Meanwhile Pain Train needs to work on driving.

There seems to be a theme tonight. O-1 bots going up against each other has been 3 of the 5 matches so far. Kraken the crusher lost to Rotator (badly enough that they are using a new frame), while horizontal spinner Hijinx lost to Mammoth. As noted in previous matches tonight, both are desperately seeking the first win to avoid elimination.

Before the fight started, Hijinx indicated they wanted to move and stay out of Kraken’s mouth. Not sure what happened, but Kraken box rushes them and knocks them back into the rail. Hijinx is now upside down and not moving well at all. Their blade is still working, and this is one of the few times that might actually be more effective. Kraken asks for a countdown but Hijinx seems to be moving just enough. So, Kraken takes Hijinx into the screws and onto the deck. But somehow Hijinx manages to get off. Meanwhile Kraken isn’t moving well either. And then it stops altogether for a few seconds. It then moves again before countdown starts, but I’m not sure either bot is showing controlled movement as time end and we go to the judges.

Damage goes to Hijinx since Kraken has visible panel damage. But Kraken was probably more aggressive and had better control. It’s a unanimous decision for… Hijinx? Interesting, and that’s not how I would call it, but it shows that damage is king. In the post talk we learn that Hijinx added slippery material to the top of the bot so they could move better inverted or missing one wheel. Judges’ score cards are shown, and while Kraken overall won control and aggression, they didn’t win by enough to counter the massive lead Hijinx had in damage. Hijinx is still alive but Kraken will probably need a solid win against a top opponent to avoid elimination.

Two rookie bots, each bot’s first match was against a solid bot. Riptide is the 1-0 eggbeater who defeated Huge earlier. Defender is a grappler who lost to Rotator. Riptide is looking to go 2-0 and work for a seed, while Defender is trying to avoid what would almost certainly be elimination. As a sidenote, the ages of the two captains combined is still less than 80% of my age….

They come rushing out and slam together a few times and Riptide seems to be getting the worst of the hits. On the third hit Defender is up on its butt while Defender is upside down (but can drive that way). Riptide tries to use the rails to get right-side up and ends up on its side. Meanwhile Defender finally gets back on the ground, heads over to Riptide, and after a few seconds of flame knocks them back upside down again. Defender tries to push Riptide around, but they seem to be on fire from their flamethrower and they don’t seem able to get a solid grip on Riptide. Meanwhile Riptide tries to self-right again by slamming into the rail surrounding the deck…. And we get the best “hit” of the night as Riptide goes a full 15 feet into the air and lands right-side up on the deck. They quickly drive off, but Defender is all over them and Riptide’s spinner does not seem able to get up to speed and is also having maneuvering issues. Riptide then begins smoking, but time ends, and we go to judges’ decision.

Interesting match. To me damage doesn’t seem to be much in play as the only obvious damage was self-inflicted (Defender’s flame issues from their flamethrower and Riptide’s spinner from trying to self-right). This comes down to control and aggression, and I’d say Defender won both of those. And by unanimous decision… I am correct. The more interesting thing I’ll take out of this match is that Defender was able to push Riptide around, but not actually do a good job of grappling them. That bodes poorly as they continue. And I’m not sure Defender getting a decision helps as much as a knockout. Let your opponent be counted out.

Interesting trivia – Will Bales was 4 when Donald Hutson started competing. It is also the first time the two have fought each other. During a bit earlier in the show, we learn that Hypershock is going without a lifter. Lockjaw doesn’t have a self-righter either but can drive inverted. Donald has won two championships, but not in the current incarnation of the show. Hypershock is 1-0 while Lockjaw is 0-1, but this is a closer match than that. Hypershock beat Slammo, which doesn’t have a great record while Lockjaw lost a judges’ decision to Copperhead, who is a serious contender. Both bots have had reliability issues in the past, so we will see if that plays a factor tonight. The Bot Whisperer goes on record saying Hypershock is the favorite.

As the fight starts both circle for a few seconds. Hypershock seems to be trying to get to the side of Lockjaw, but Lockjaw scores first blood with two hits, one of which does significant damage to Hypershock’ s left front tire. But Hypershock counters with a solid hit that knocks Lockjaw inverted. Hypershock continues to try and push Lockjaw around, but a mistimed strike allows Lockjaw to make a solid connection and completely remove Hypershock’s right front tire. However, Hypershock is still moving well and pushing Lockjaw around the arena. Hypershock lands one solid blow, then another one … which knocks Lockjaw out of the arena. Will Bales moves to 2-0, and Lockjaw is now in trouble of making a seed.

The sad thing for Lockjaw is that they were winning the damage battle, but unfortunately lost the collision war. Hypershock’s ability to not just drive but drive well with two and a half tires is a big advantage. In the post talk Will is obviously proud to have beaten not just a legend, but one of his personal heroes. Hypershock is looking like a serious contender.

pendell

2022-02-11, 07:51 PM

Battlebots

Episode 6: Bigger than Bots
Subtitle: A legend has to overcome not only their opponent, but perrrsonal tragedy.

Rotator vs. Black Dragon

Both bots are 1-0. Rotator is reputed to be a very tough bot
with a horizontal spinner and wedglets versus Black Dragon,
the highly destructive drum spinner which has a wedge specifically designed
for fighting Rotator.

Begin!

Rotator starts off by winning the ground war, getting undedrneath
BD and pushing it under the pulverizer. That wedge of BDs doesn't seem
like it's enough to turn the fight in their favor.

Some great driving by both teams and some contact. BD starts making hits
but they are the ones suffering as their flamethrower tank puncutres,
spraying fuel mist over the battle bots and lots of sparks.

BD knocks Rotator sideways. R quickly self-rights and now BD is
visibly smoking quite a bit; I think they now have an internal fire to contend with.

Solid hits by Rotator, BD's drum is nonfunctional.

A trip to the corner. Rotator pins BD and tail-whips it, but BD
counters ,taking off a bit of Rotator although R is still fully operational.

Time expires. I think I have to give this one to Rotator
since BD took a great deal more damage. Although the teams
congratulate each other afterwards: "Good fight!" Which it most certainly was.

The judges agree. Rotator gets it, but Black Dragon showed that it was
very well built, surviving for approximately two minutes while on fire. Not bad!

WINNER: Rotator (Decision, 3-0)

Lucky vs. Blade

Lucky is a flipper taking on the new
Tombstone-like Blade.

Blade brings it's longest bar, hoping the extra reach will give them a solid shot
to start the match.

Both bots are 0-1.

They subtitle the Koran captain of Blade, which I think
is an insult; his English is perfectly intelligible.

Fight's on!

Blade retreats and spins up to full, but comes off worse in that first hit
as half of the blade is snapped off and goes flying acrosss the battlebox!

It doesn't get much better after that for Blade. Lucky
begins flipping them.

Two flips and Blade is immobile. That's it. A pity.
It's a beautiful bot and I like the team, but it's clear
he's not going to the round of 32 this year.

Winner: Lucky (KO)

Minotaur vs. Dragon Slayer

A quick vignette informs us that Daniel Freitas,
the captain of Minotaur, had lost his mother and grandmother to COVID :(.

His mother had raised him as a single parent, and they had been very close.
Freitas starts to break down talking about it, and this match will be for her.
"We fight as one!"

Dragon is 1-0 versus Duck, while Minotaur is 0-1. Dragon Slayer had scored mostly
superficial damage against Duck, and now they are up against a really serious contender.
Minotaur boasts a 25 kilogram drum that sounds like an aircraft engine when spinning at full speed. DS, meanwhile, has a vertical spinner and a wedge. They are using a smaller disc tonight than the one against duck and has
boosted the battery power of their weapon.

Fight's on!

The fights begin and Minotaur's trademark growl fills the arena. First weapon-to-weapon
contact renders Dragon Slayer's primary inactive. I don't see things getting better for them .

Dragon Slayer's wedge resists Minotaur's drum, but Minotaur knocks Dragon Slayer inverted.
DS can only crab-walk upside down so it must self-right for the fight to continue.

One more hit. Dragon Slayer is immobile and pinned. Clearly the additional build wasn't enough to compete with something as well-built and powerful as Minotaur.

WINNER: Minotaur (KO)

Yeti vs. Pain Train

Both teams are 0-1. Yeti brings a drum.
Pain Train is hall of fame in lightweight bots,
but has struggled in the battlebots competition.
It also brings a drum.

Yeti is convinced they cannot win this one head-to-head;
PT has a heavier drum. So Yeti has to attack from the sides and nibble them down.

So this will come down to driver skill.

Begin!

Pain train charges but misses the Box Rush.

Some sparring . Yeti is not doing very well at the sides, there is
plenty of weapon-to-weapon contact but Pain Train seems to be taking the worst of it.

Then Yeti strips off Pain Train's Panels and some other parts as well.
Pain Train is definitely at a disadvantage at this point.

Some more hits by Yeti and Pain Train is crabwalking. He is unable to recover and Yeti
takes the match. These two bots were very similar to each other; I credit
this to the veteran's greater skill at driving and the ability to build a tougher
bot. While Pain Train had the heavier weapon, the rest of the bot wasn't
nearly as able to take a hit as Yeti was.

Winner: Yeti (KO)

Kraken vs. Hijinx

Kraken is a biter facing off with the horizontal spinner of Hijinx.
Hijinx is going to struggle to damage Kraken, which is extremely tough
although it, in turn, struggles with damage.

Kraken is behind the 8-ball, as they had to scrap the frame from the firs tfight
and the one they bring tonight, a spare, is designed for use against vertical spinnres,
not Horizontals.

Hijinx has added teeth to their bar to make it cut more viciously, it
will be needed against Kraken's armour.

Begin!

Kraken easily controls the early fight. Hijinx's blade is dangerous, but it fails to tkake off
Kraken's teeth. Hijinx is inverted and is forced to fight the match upside down.
Neither Hijinx' blade nor the bot itself are moving very well,
as Kraken racks up the control and aggression points.

Kraken demands a countout, but no, Hijinx is still moving. Kraken comes in and Hijinx hits them pretty hard, sending sparks over the arena, but Kraken is still leading in contol and aggression.

Kraken forces Hijinx over the screws and onto the upper deck.

Hijinx has trouble getting down, but in an absolutely brilliant move, it spins
its blade at maximum , using it as a helicopter rotor to give itself just that little bit of lift which gets it over and off the upper deck. Really excellent driving there!

Now Hijinx' blade is fully spun up and it begins landing hits. Kraken's mouth is bent towards the side slightly.

And there goes Kraken's right tooth!

Kraken is now barely escaping being counted out for crabwalking, but both bots are technically still mobile right up to the ending bell.

What a fight!

I'm giving it to Hijinx. Kraken dominated the early part of the fight but
Hijinx had that terrific helicopter escape move and from that point on the battle was all
Hijinx, wracking up serious damage to Kraken as well as winning control
and aggression as well.

I predict a split decision. This was a well-fought fight and will be tough to judge.

I'm wrong. It's unanimous for Hijinx! And well-deserved it was too!

As an aside, I notice Judge Derek doodled pictures of both robots on his score card.
Cute!

WINNER: Hijinx (Decision, 3-0)

Defender vs. Riptide

Defender is a control bot versus the drum spinner Riptide.

The fight starts! After the first collision both bots look like they are in trouble.
Riptide is inverted while Defender is also in trouble.

While defender rights itself Riptide rams itself into an obstacle to try to flip
itself back over but is instead perfectly caught on its side, immobile!

This SHOULD be the end of the bout but the Riptide team begs the Defender team to flip
them back over, and in a gesture of chivalry Defender does exactly that.
That's a very gracious gesture from one rookie team to another; it doesn't
look like either is going to go the distance in the post-season, so why not
show some charity?

Still trying to right itself, Riptide RAMS itself full tilt into the upper deck and flips
itself some 3 meters into the air before slamming down on the upper deck, in the correct orientation! From there it drives off to continue the fight!

Riptide's blade is spinning slowly while Defender continues to shove Riptide around and blast it with flames, racking up control and aggression.

Defender is starting to crab walk while Riptide begins to smoke. I hear a shout from Riptide:
"Get on 'em! Get on 'em! He's running out of battery!"

Time expires and it goes to the judges.

That was an entertaining fight! However, neither bot looks like a top-tier contender to me.
I'm giving it to Defender on control and aggression since Riptide never got anything really going and did the most damage to itself.

And I was wrong. Riptide did not launch itself 3 meters into the air to right itself. It was 4.5 meters into the air to right itself.

The judges agree, and give it to Defender.

TomandTish says:

" And I’m not sure Defender getting a decision helps as much as a knockout. Let your opponent be counted out."

I disagree. It's as much about HOW you get a knockout as actually achieving one. In this case, if Defender had left Riptide on its side they'd have shown a lack of aggression, as if they weren't confident of beating Riptide if Riptide didn't beat itself. If all you want is the win, yeah, leave 'em on their side. That's what I'd do in any elimination match. But in this one the goal is not just about winning; it's about impressing the selection committee.
Throwing Riptide around the box for three minutes weighs much more heavily on that scale then passively taking a win ten seconds in.

Besides, righting a bot which has beaten itself is a clear demonstration of control , which is all to the good when you're driving a bot whose whole design purpose is control.
WINNER: Defender (Decision, 3-0)

MAIN EVENT: Hypershock vs. Lock-jaw

Two very mean vertical spinners. Hypershock anticipates lock-jaw oversteering, so they
will drift to hit from the side.

The bot whisperer favors hypershock in this fight.

Fight's on!

They tear into each other like Junkyard dogs! Hypershock looks a bit wobbly, but
Lockjaw loses a wheel!

Now Hypershock is down a wheel too!

So much for elegant strategies and planning; they're just smashing into each other as if this were a hitting game where each boxer takes turns landing an unopposed shot on the other until
someone can't stand.

Hypershock gets a good angle and knocks Lockjaw out of the arena! That's it! The announcers
scream "That's gonna be it!" nearly coming out of their chairs in excitement.

What a truly great fight!

WINNER: Hypershock (KO).

Respectfully,

Brian P.

tomandtish

2022-02-13, 03:24 PM

Pendell, that's a good point you made in the Defender/Riptide fight.

pendell

2022-02-18, 08:49 PM

Edges, Wedges and Wheels
Subtitle: There's fire, ice, and even robot dancing in this week's amazing Clashfest.

Bloodsport vs. Subzero

Bloodsport brings a horizontal spinner , their tribar spinner from last season
Subzero is 0-1 against shatter. They haver a wdge to
deflect Bloodsport's weapon and a filipper

Fight's on!

Subzero box rushes but Bloodsport evades and spins up. For the next several seconds bloodsport chips away, getting underneath zsubzero and inflicting
cosmetic damage. Driving skill is really making a difference as subzero keeps missing the flips, while bloodsport evades subzero and hits with its own bar.

Finally subzero makes a flip which tosses bloodsport about a third of a meter into tthe air,
it comes back down seemingly undamaged.

Subzero is slowing down and Bloodsport is able to flank them, landing more and more damaging hits.

Subzero is having a lot of trouble remaining mobile as one wheel is out and the back left wheel is having great diffculty making contact with the ground. Now bloodsport moves in for the big hits!

Subzero's tire ambles away across the box, all on its own. The announcers say another tire
went right at Chris' head.

And the countdown starts. Ten seconds later, it's over.

Bloodsport flat outdrove subzero as subzero failed to make contact with its weapon.

WINNER: Bloodsport (KO)

Cobalt vs. Ghost Raptor

0-1 Ghost Raptor brings an angled spinner
It has a more powerful blade this time to give it a better chance agasinst cobolt.

Cobalt brings a 20 KG disc intended specifically for horizontal spinner.

Fight's on!

Cobalt sits in the box as SubZero comes across and smashes into them. There iare a few
wild seconds as each bot both gives and receives damage.

Cobalt is driven into the screws and is temporarily stuck, but pulls out and goes to work.
It's all Cobalt at this point as Ghost Raptor's blade powers down. Cobalt begins
smacking Ghost Raptor into the wall hard.

One more ram into the wall, and Ghost Raptor is bisected! That's it!

Another terrific match! It was all Cobalt after the first few seconds. It simply
out-powered and out-drove ghost raptor. I haven't seen a robot destroyed like that in quite some time. Evidently it was broken it four or five separate pieces.

Icewave vs. Deadlift

Icewave has taken out the new motor which doesn't seem to have worked in the last match,
so they've gone back to their old one from last season.

Deadlift has wedge to break the spinner and brings a grappler to flip
Icewave on its back.

Both are 0-1, both struggling to get out of that hole.

Fight's on!

When Icewave starts up, it sounds like there is a WWII bomber in the box!

Deadlift box-rushes Icewave, which easily evades and lands a counter-blow.

A second hit, and Deadlift is immobile! It is rapidly counted out to end the match.
This was a pure driving victory; Icewave successfully evaded the box rush, spun its blade up to full, then moved into land the crippling blow in what was almost a fight clinic. Well done, Icewave!

WINNER: Icewave (KO)

Blip vs. Overhaul

Blip is a flipper bot run by the former captain of Tantrum, who still is chief of the pit crew for both bots.

Overhaul brings a grappler with which to put Blip up on the upper deck. Blip has added top armour to compensate for this.

Begin!

Overhaul gets a glancing hit on blip, but it self rights easily. Next Blip maneuvers and gets under overhaul, flips him, and takes off a tire! He flips him again onto the other deck, doing some three revolutions in midair before coming down on the upper deck upside down!
Nonetheless, overhauls momentum takes it one more half circle off the upper deck into the battle box right side up and the fight resumes.

Blip has taken control of the fight and a fire is now visible inside Overhaul as Blip
drives Overhaul into the screws.

Blip scores an own goal when it flips Overhaul onto itself. It is knocked upside down . Blip
tries to use its flipper to self right and it eventually succeeds, but the flips are so violent it does damage to its own bot in the process. It returns to the fray. One more flip
and Overhaul, on its side is immobile! It's over!

This is yet another match decided by superior driving ability. Blip certainly looks like a real contender for the round of 32 this year!

The announcers about the superfluous flips and the captain says "There might have been a broken controller in there." So it goes! Repairs will be necessary.

WINNER: Blip (KO)

Huge vs. Retrograde

Huge is the biggest vertical spinner in the competition facing off with a
rookie bot. They've got rid of their horizontal spinner in favor of a grappler and added top armour to defend against the vertical spinner.

Let the games begin!

Retrograde tries but can't seem to find an angle to get at Huge, whose spinner reaches full speed and spins upward to foil Retrograde's top armour.

At last Retro dashes in to make a frontal assault. Sparks and it is knocked over, losing a short bar in the process! It nonetheless rights and the battle continues, but so far Huge has all the advantage.

Second shot from huge takes off the top armor. The crowd goes wild! Retrograde is on fire!

Third shot renders Retrograde smoking and immobile. The countdown brings this fight mercifully to an end.

Command performance by Huge! I'm not convinced they are a title-worthy bot, but they definitely showed us they are a force to reckon with tonight!

The team takes their bot for an end zone victory dance on the upper deck and the sense of relief is palpable in the postfight interview as the captain of Huge tells us "I'm so glad it finally works", almost sobbing from elation and relief. They've taken a long time to get t this bot to this position, but at last it is working as it is supposed to!

WINNER: Huge (KO)

Copperhead vs. Fusion

Fusion showed a command performance against Cobalt, which was quite effective tonight.
Copperhead is a very dangerous bot with a vertical drum.

Fusion has both a vertical and horizontal spinner from the famous clan that brings us
Son of Whyachi and Bronco.

Begin!

Copperhead charge in and their first attack disables Fusion's
vertical spinner. A second shot and the horizontal isn't looking very goiod either, though still spinning slowly.

Copperhead continues to outmaneuver Fusion and hit it on the back where it no longer has a weapon. The hits start to rack up and the damage shows, though Fusion
does manage to get one hit in on Copperhead.

Fusion's horizontal spinner is down and it is smoking. Showing no mercy,
Copperhead moves in to punish it severely, no longer fearing anything that Fusion can bring to bear.

Fusion is immobile. It is over. A command performance by copperhead!
A simpler design and superior driving allowed them to easily overcome
the dual-weapon bot.

WINNER: Copperhead(KO)

MAIN EVENT:
Whiplash vs. Skorpios

Skorpios is a vertical saw on an arm, and its weapon is almost a kilogram heavier this time.

Whiplash is a control bot. Both of these are extremely effective, and one of them was a finalist last year! Should be a worthy main event!

Skorpios has added forks in the hope of getting underneath Whiplash, then applying the
hammersaw for maximum damage.

Fight's on!

Skorpios rushes whiplash. Their forks collide but Skorpios can't make contact with it's weapon! Whiplash pushes them into the screws and they may be temporarily stuck!

Skorpios finally gets off the screws and the battle neutralizes. Whiplash tries to flip them but can't quite make contact. Skorpios, meanwhile, isn't able to catch Whiplash to deliver its deadly sting.

Skorpios pushes Whiplash into the screws but still can't make contact with the saw.

Skorpios at last has a chance but the blade stops spinning when it comes into contact. Smoke is observed from Skorpios; they appear to be somewhat damaged. Some control points scored by Skorpios at the end but it never actually hits with its weapon.

Time expires. Time to wake up the judges from their nap and put them to work. I'm giving it to Whiplash on the basis of control and aggression.

The judges split down the middle. Judge Lisa (whom I never agree with), scores it for Skorpios. The other two give it to Whiplash and that's it.

Some great driving , but I want to see some excitement in a main event. Maybe next time!

WINNER: Whiplash (Decision, 2-1)

Respectfully,

Brian P.

tomandtish

2022-02-20, 01:38 PM

Pendell's usual excellent job.

Subzero is one of those bots that just seems to have a hard time getting it together. They are 7 and 11 lifetime and only had one winning season (last season). And I definitely agree with both Pendell and the commentators that they have to get timing down. I counted at least 4 times where they should have gotten a flip but didn't. Bloodsport (OTOH) is a solid bot who has winning seasons but bad luck in the bracket.

Chris and Kenny summed it up well before the match began: They'll never knock sportsmanship, but in the end this is a fight and the goal is to win. Ghost Raptor gave up a win last match, and things didn't improve here. He had a clear shot at Cobalt when they were stuck and didn't take it. Would it have made a difference? Who knows, but we know what happened when they didn't take it.

That was the best kill of the season so far, and probably a top 5 overall. Incidentally, my wife and I were debating how many pieces it was in. There's an argument to be made that it was technically 1, since wiring was still connected throughout the shattered bot. Either way, you can tell how excited Matt (formerly of Stinger) was to finally break something.

But this simply confirms in my mind that Ghost Raptor isn't a top tier bot, but a one hit wonder. And a large portion of that is on Chuck.

Yeah, Deadlift went down quickly. It was good to see Icewave back in fighting form. Sometimes it's best to stick to what you know works.

Blip was extremely effective against Overhaul. They are my current favorite and I hope they go far. I will disagree with Kenny and Chris that Overhaul was a next level challenge however. Overhaul's lifetime record is 2 and 10 after this last match, and they don't really seem to ever be able to do the grappling they want. Blip definitely needs to fix whatever was causing those extra flips however, as all the damage they took in that fight was self-inflicted.

I agree with Pendell that Huge is a good bot, but not title worthy. It's a bit too inconsistent, and their first match of the season showed that it is possibly EASIER for them to get stuck on/behind a rail than other bots. It was a solid win, but I'll need to see a lot more to impress me.

Copperhead is a brutal bot. They had a good season last year, and are 2 and 0 this year. I suspect they'll go far into the bracket. As for Fusion, looks like they haven't fixed all their issues yet.

Yeah, this was one of the more boring main events we've seen. Not really much to say. Whiplash was able to control more of the match.

This match made me realize that I don't really like the aggression category. Too many bots get aggression points for desperation moves. "My spinner stopped so I'll ram them as many times as I can" may be aggressive, but it's a last gasp maneuver. I'd almost rather see strategy. Every driver talks about what they want to do during the match, so award based on how well they did it. (I suspect I'm in a minority here).

pendell

2022-02-20, 06:21 PM

Pendell's usual excellent job.

Chris and Kenny summed it up well before the match began: They'll never knock sportsmanship, but in the end this is a fight and the goal is to win. Ghost Raptor gave up a win last match, and things didn't improve here. He had a clear shot at Cobalt when they were stuck and didn't take it. Would it have made a difference? Who knows, but we know what happened when they didn't take it.

I'm not convinced that was sportsmanship so much as bad driving. GR has to know they don't have any quarters left so they MUST get a win here, no matter how ugly. I think he was trying to win, but he just wasn't able to make it happen. It's more a fault of driving than of the bot, I think. Perhaps they should find a younger, more aggressive driver?

Speaking of drivers, something I notice is that it's almost always a male controlling the bot, even on the teams captained by females. I wonder why that is? There's absolutely nothing in human biology that makes a male inherently better at bot-driving, and I'm especially surprised at the phenomenon in the case of Malice, whose captain seems determined to prove she's got a bot as good as or better than anyone else in the sport. She's got nothing to prove , though. Witch Doctor has already shown just how awesome women can be in the battle box.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

tomandtish

2022-02-20, 09:12 PM

Might want to check your editing there. A spoiler tag seems to be missing.

I went back and rewatched. To me it didn't appear that he even tried to make a move on Cobalt while it was stuck. Not sure if that counts as bad driving or bad strategy. But either way it shows that Ghost Raptor just isn't a top tier bot. Whether it's the bot, the driver, or both, they just aren't getting it done. They are 5 and 8 lifetime, but if you take out season one they are 2 and 7. And neither of those 2 wins are against great bots. They beat Chomp in 2020 in an unaired match, and Deadlift during the Bounty series.

pendell

2022-02-20, 11:12 PM

You're right. I've fixed it. Thanks for the catch!

Respectfully,

Brian P.

Traab

2022-02-21, 07:45 AM

Its possible they didnt attack while he was stuck on the screws because they were hoping for a count out victory. How many times have we seen a robot snatch defeat from the jaws of victory because they continued fighting when they had already won? Hitting an immobilized opponent only to knock them back on their wheels, or destroying your own weapon for a final shot, etc. Especially spinner bots, they seem to be extra vulnerable to crippling themselves because they wanted to "finish the job" since their weapons are put under immense strain every time they make contact. Im pretty sure its the main reason tombstone stopped doing his customary countdown bot murders after he ruined his blade, busted his batteries, and other self inflicted damages over the seasons that cost him big time.

pendell

2022-02-21, 08:03 AM

tomandtish

2022-02-24, 11:59 PM

Agreed. It is a good point.

New episode tonight...

This is do or die for Blacksmith, as a loss will almost certainly count them out. I doubt even a win would save Malice unless they get a lot of sympathy. Neither of these bots have been particularly impressive this season.

Malice comes out aggressive. Hits Blacksmith once, then twice. The third hit sends both bots flying, and Blacksmith ends up upside down (but self-rights) while Malice is now inverted (but can run that way). Another hit or two and then Malice knocks off Blacksmith’s hammer head (a regular problem in previous seasons). Blacksmith now also appears to be on fire (probably flame thrower fuel). Blacksmith is trying the desperation move of ramming malice’s weapon but seems to be coming out second best in these exchanges. Malice continues the attack.

They continue ramming into each other. Blacksmith is now on fire in multiple places and more and more small pieces are coming off with each hit. However, I’ll give Blacksmith points for durability. The fight goes the distance, and Blacksmith was on fire over 2 minutes. It goes to the judges.

This seems pretty solid Malice. Blacksmith never had any significant hammer hits, and Malice was just as aggressive as them in the end. Should be unanimous for Malice … and unsurprisingly it is. I suspect both bots won’t make the bracket. Both are now 1-2, and their wins weren’t spectacular. While Malice wins this one, it going to the judges means they couldn’t close the deal despite Blacksmith having no weapon. We’ll see how much the impressiveness of this fight counts.

Black Dragon has shown incredible durability so far, so a win should cinch a spot. Claw Viper hasn’t been seen much since their 1 fight so far was unaired, but apparently it was not a great fight. Let’s see how they do against a top tier bot. Black Dragon has disabled their flame thrower to keep from catching fire (hopefully).

Fight starts and Claw Viper does a nice box rush, getting under Dragon quickly and running them into the side. Dragon gets in a hit, Viper responds with another lift but adds a slam onto the end. However, they get pinned against the side of the ring and Dragon gets a solid hit on Viper’s belly. When they separate Viper appears to be having driving issues.

Dragon capitalizes on this with a few hits, then backs off as it becomes apparent Viper has no movement. Countdown starts and Viper is counted out (and it started smoking during the countdown). This is a solid victory for Black Dragon, and given how tough they’ve shown themselves to be, I suspect they have a bracket slot.

There’s a nice bit on the arena changes at this point. And they note that knockouts are actually down this series.

Smee’s win was against Deep Six, so not a top tier bot. Gigabyte beat Captain Shredderator and lost to Uppercut, and I’d say the loss was more impressive than the win. Feels like each bot needs a solid win here to advance. Smee has changed their wedge so it is more rigid, and they hope to slam Gigabyte into the wall. Gigabyte feels that they are basically fighting 2 100 pound bots and this should be a piece of cake.

Fight starts and both bots take a few seconds to spin up. Gigabyte then starts smashing into the center of Smee, slamming them back. Smee seems to be trying to corner them but it isn’t working, and they’ve already lost one spinner. Gigabyte’s attacks increase and pieces of Smee are coming off. Gigabyte then lands an impressive hit that flips Smee over. Smee can drive inverted, but Gigabyte continues to slam the middle of Smee, until one mistimed shot sends Gigabyte flying. But Gigabyte recovers and more pieces come off Smee. Smee stops moving and is counted out. It’s a solid enough victory for Gigabyte that I suspect they’ll make the bracket.

Hydra probably needs a win here to advance. While their loss was to Upper Cut (so tough matchup), their win against Gruff was extremely meh, especially since they weren’t getting any real air on their flips. And while Glitch will still have a match to go after this, their win was a JD against Ghost Raptor, which is not an impressive bot this season (even Kenny and Chris agree with that). Hydra acknowledges that they need the win to ensure they advance.

The fight starts and Hydra box rushes Glitch. A few seconds later, we can answer the question of whether or not the flipper is working…. YES. There’s actually discussion on whether Glitch hit the ceiling. (Replay later shows at least 18 feet). We have a full power flipper…. On an apparently hurt bot. Hydra appear stuck on the floor and is smoking.

Glitch takes quick advantage, slamming Hydra and inverting them. When Hydra tries to flip back over Glitch times their hit perfectly and send Hydra across the floor (possibly as much horizontal distance as Hydra’s flip had vertical). Hydra slams into the wall and when they come down their flipper appears to be broken and they are having movement issues. Glitch seems hurt as well but is more mobile. Glitch goes in for one more hit, then backs off and Hydra is counted out.

This was a solid performance by Glitch. Hydra clearly still has issues as the act of flipping apparently caused a few problems, and when Glitch timed that perfect hit while Hydra tried to self-right that was the death blow. At 2-0 and with an impressive win like this I suspect Glitch makes the bracket unless things go horribly wrong in match 3. And honestly I would count Hydra out at this point.

I honestly feel bad for both bots here. Free Shipping is probably out unless they not only beat Tombstone but win spectacularly. Likewise, Tombstone is having a horrid season so far, and a win over Free shipping wouldn’t impress me that much. Their victory over Mammoth was arguably the weakest victory we’ve seen this season. Tombstone will probably get a bracket with a win, but a loss should eliminate them (rightfully so). Incidentally, Ray says he’s lost more matches to David then he has won.

Fight begins. After some circling, Shipping runs into Tombstone, who starts using the pivot attack. It works as they knock a tire off Shipping. A little more circling and Tombstone gets a second and third tire, but Shipping is still moving with only one tire. This should be an easy victory at this point, but Tombstone’s weapon appears to not be spinning at speed. We now have a pushing match. Tombstone has better control but less power, while Shipping has more power but less control because of the missing tires. After a bit of pushing each other Tombstone manages to push Shipping into the screws. They then circle as the clock counts down.

I suspect this goes to Tombstone, but it’s a disappointing match. Free shipping isn’t an impressive bot but Tombstone has to go to a decision because his weapon isn’t working again. It’s a unanimous decision for Tombstone, which is no surprise, but honestly, if there’s a 2-1 bot that should NOT be in the bracket, it’s Tombstone at this point. They’ve had significant issues with the bot this season, and neither of the wins have impressed me. I suspect they will advance because they are Tombstone, but I’, not sure they deserve it.

This is a nice change. Both bots have had perfect seasons so far, including one win against a respected bot. A loss for either bot shouldn’t keep either out of the bracket unless someone screws up massively.

During the activation P1 bumps into Ribbot and a spoiler comes off. Hopefully it was decorative only. As the fight starts it is interesting that P1 didn’t try a box rush. There’s some circling and then Ribbot gives P1 a love tap. There’s quite a bit of circling since p1 is faster, but Ribbot finally corners and lands some punches. But P1 rallies and drives Ribbot into a corner, where the pulverizer lands several blows. P1 finally releases and after a short chase Ribbot lands a solid blow that rips the front wedge. Some more pushing and the Ribbot sends P1 flying. A second hit knocks P1 onto the deck. Unfortunately, P1 is crab-walking and it doesn’t appear they can move. They are counted out with 1 second on the clock. This was another solid victory for Ribbot. They are 3-0, have certainly earned a bracket spot, and might be a top 5 seed.

Again, another nice fight between two perfect bots that probably have bracket spots already. Sawblaze drives better but End Game hits harder. Sawblaze has added plastic armor on corners that are supposed to reduce damage while End Game is using an older configuration that protects their weapon belt a bit more. This should be good. Can Sawblaze avoid getting hit and corner End Game? Let’s find out.

Wow! OK, that was quick! They move to the center of the box. A few seconds of circling and then End Game pushes Sawblaze into the corner. When End Game’s weapon makes contact Sawblaze is knocked out of the box behind a rail. Match over. It is literally 9 seconds from the buzzer to Sawblaze leaving the ring, and another 20 for the countdown to start and complete. It looks like they gave Sawblaze a few seconds to see if their saw could somehow pull them out then started counting.

Interesting… On one hand this is a prime example of how deadly End game can be. OTOH I’m a bit disappointed we didn’t get a longer fight. There’s really no room for commentary. Sawblaze turned the wrong way at the wrong time, exposed their back to End Game, and paid for it. Bang Boom Done. And I suspect End Game just clinched the number 1 seed again.

Let me know your thoughts.

pendell

2022-02-25, 09:40 PM

Thank you, TomandTish! I'll put my responses to you in my own, independent review.

Episode 8: Flip the Script

"As the world championship approaches, it's do or die for many teams"

Looking at YOU, 1-1 Tombstone.

Chris Rose and Kenny Florion, are announcers, introduce this as "Battlebots, Friendship edition" but they can't keep a straight face doing it.

Brings this to mind (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCMZf80HWxA)

On with the fights!

Blacksmith vs. Malice

Blacksmith (1-1) is noted as being tough, but both have been decisions.
Kenny says they want a knockout tonight with a heavy horizontal plow
and an overhead fiery spinning saw. Good luck with that.

Malice (0-2) brings their lighter weapon which allows them to add additional
titanium armour. They've done a lot of testing to ensure it is fireproof,
protecting somewhat against that saw.

Fight's on!

The two bots engage. Blacksmith can't seem to line up with its weapon. Malice
hits repeatedly, and one monster hit bounces both bots to opposite sides of the arena.
Blacksmith is inverted and takes a few seconds, but it is able to self-right and the fight resumes. So far, advantage Malice in all three categories.

Two more very high energy shots from Malice. Each one bouncing the bots across the box.
Blacksmith's frontal armour is successfully resisting Malice's attack and it's possible Malice is hurting itself more going against the armour then it's hurting Blacksmith. But
Blacksmith still hasn't lined up a shot.

But ... on that second hit Blacksmith's vertical saw goes flying! It is disarmed!

I'm going to call it there. Unless Malice disables itself, they cannot lose this fight if it goes to decision.

Another hit. One of Blacksmith's chain is on the floor, and now it is on fire! Fire spreads from its aperture and it appears there is now a blazing internal fire in the bot itself!

Dang, Blacksmith looks like a Guy Fawkes bonfire, but it's still gamely swinging its stump of a weapon at Malice as it zooms around the box like the Human Torch from Marvel's Fantastic Four.

Al Kindle, Captain of Blacksmith, shouts from the sideline: "Come on! Is that all ya got?"

These two aren't giving up. Blacksmith is attempting to break Malice's weapon with the wedge. Malice continues to take bits off of Blacksmith but like the monster from a horror movie
Blacksmith refuses to lay down and die! It's not doing anything to Malice's weapon, though, which steadfastly resists breaking.

Time expires. Knock it off.

At the very end of the match it looks like Malice's weapon was slowing down just a little. Gotta give Blacksmith points for a really courageous showing -- which should translate as maximum aggression -- but all the other points should go to Malice and give them the decision.

The judges agree.

The two captains give each other a friendly fist bump after the decision is announced. They both know they fought well.

WINNER: Malice (Decision, 3-0)

TomandTish

I suspect both bots won’t make the bracket. Both are now 1-2, and their wins weren’t spectacular. While Malice wins this one, it going to the judges means they couldn’t close the deal despite Blacksmith having no weapon. We’ll see how much the impressiveness of this fight counts.

No argument here. These are two 1-2 bots and I don't see why there should be room in the top 32 for either of them. They nonetheless gave us one HECK of a fight to end their season with. Go out with your heads held high, Malice and Blacksmith!

Black Dragon vs. Claw Viper

Black Dragon 1-1 has a horizontal spinner and prongs on the back. They have new forks and a new edge specifically designed against Claw Viper.

Claw Viper 1-0
has an overhead claw grappler which defeated its opponent in an unaired fight. They have
twice as many motors and intend to use the geometry of the arena, as well as the terrain hazards, to ko black dragon. They can't do it alone, they need to use the hazards.

This sounds like it should be an easy win for Black Dragon. We'll see.

Fight's on!

WOW, Claw Viper's fast. That was amazing! It tries to grab onto black dragon but misses. Black Dragon escapes. That kind of speed is going to make this a real contest.

Black dragon counters but can't get close enough to hit CV through the forks. CV body slams them once. Black Dragon tries to counter, eventually gets under Claw Viper, hitting for
minor damage and forcing it into the screws, where its primary weapon gets stuck!

Claw Viper's real wheel guard is damaged and it is having trouble moving. The announcers tell us it looks like a sitting duck. BD turns up its engine and it, like Minotaur before it, it sounds like an airplane propeller engine in the arena. It makes some hits, gets hit by the pulverizer in return once, then backs off to regroup and neutralize the fight.

Claw Viper is crab walking and the ref demands controlled motion.

He doesn't get it. Claw Viper spins to a stop in the middle of the arena and smoke begins to seep out of it as it is counted out.

As predicted, an easy win for Black Dragon. A 'bot that has the ability to inflict a KO versus a bot that doesn't, which needs to depend on the arena hazards to have a hope of victory? How did this design even make it into the competition? Though I suppose it, like
Duck! is able to win victories so I guess it belongs here, but these kind of bots nearly
devoid of offensive potential don't excite me. Claw Viper has really great speed which makes it interesting, but it didn't have nearly enough durability to make it deep run bot.

WINNER: Black Dragon (KO)

TomandTish:

No argument from me, Black Dragon has earned its bracket slot with exciting, impressive victories.

Discussion of the arena; The upper arena has changed the geometry of the arena, adding more edges making it easier to for horizontals to become trapped and damage themselves. This has increased the strikes and attack frequency compared to last fight. Even so, fight times are up and knockouts are down, making loss by arena ejection far less likely.

Smeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! (abbreviated Smee from now on) versus Gigabyte

Good gravy, Smee (1-0) ? I HATE that bot. It has two small spinner joined by a long belt. 2.44 meters wide with wedges added specifically for this fight. I didn't see it's first fight, which was unaired, probably because while it is unique and has its fans its hard to see it inflicting the kind of shattering damage a Tombstone or a Hydra is. The intro video shows it had fought Deep Six and had won because Deep Six caught itself in an arena hazard and was unable to extricate itself. That kind of "victory" won't impress a selection committee.

Gigabyte (1-1) has a powerful spinner and is a more conventional bot. I will swallow my distaste and give Smee a chance to prove itself. It's a very unconventional bot taking on
a bog-standard whole body spinner, so it should at least have a chance to show off its unique battle style. They intend to keep the fight in the center of the arena, avoid being trapped , get around the edge and destroy the horizontal bots. Smee, meanwhile, intends to knock Gigabyte into the wall where it can destroy itself, which is something full body spinners frequently do. Gigabyte thinks this is a bad matchup for Smee, as if Gigabyte manages to come into contact with either small bot it's going to reaaally hurt. They seem confident in getting that hit.

Fight's on!

The two spin up in their respective squares before moving in. Gigabyte starts landing hits, both to the belt which resists damage, and also on the horizontal spinners. Smee's left spinner appears to be inoperative.

Gigabyte is controlling the fight, staying in the center of the box where they want it to be. How a bot with 2 45 kilogram small bots is supposed to 'corral' a 108 kg bot is beyond me, belt or no. It continues to hit the belt, and the bots. One solid shot inverts smee, but Smee can drive inverted. Even so, it's Gigabyte that's making the sparks fly and sending little bits flying over the box.

More hits and Smee's other spinner is disabled. Even so , it lands the hit it was looking for, knocking Gigabyte into the wall and it bounces back HARD. That hurt, but Gigabyte is still mobile while Smee's own weapons are inactive. Even so, it still has a chance to win if it can use Gigabyte's own energy against it to knock Gigabyte into the wall.

Seems a low-probability hope, however.

Smee is having mobility issues, a sitting duck .Gigabyte seizes its chance and goes for one of the component bots. BOOM! That's what we pay to see! Pieces all over the battle box! Tires go one way, the spinner goes another, that little minibot is DISASSEMBLED!

Now do it again to the other one.

Nope, Smee's not moving. It is counted out. FINALLY. Now take that pile of junk away and come back with a real combat robot!

Maybe I'm being a little harsh, but it's just another variation on the two-minibots theme which has been tried again and again in the battlebox, yet has failed every single time. It always fails the same way. The small bots aren't strong enough to compete with the single large bot, and the single large bot smashes them both in detail. It has happened before, and so it happens again. Smee's long belt/wedge doesn't seem to be enough of an innovation to counter this basic truth.

The announcers give Gigabyte grief for spending so much time on the belt (which never did break) when Gigabyte could have just been smashing the minibots. Gigabyte seems to have realized this and started on the other bots towards the end of the match, and this won the match for them. Still, Gigabyte must have had a reason for doing it this way. Perhaps they were concerned about the potential for being knocked into the wall?

That's all for Smee in this tournament, I think. Will we see Gigabyte again? I'm thinking a big MAYBE.

Winner: Gigabyte (KO)

Hydra vs. Glitch

Hydra (1-1) was a powerful bot in past seasons but has not shown the power of flipping it used to have. Jake Ewert claims that this time the bot is FINALLY at full power.

Glitch (1-0) has an eggbeater vertical spinner. He's trimmed back the edges in order to resolve ground clearance issues which caused problems in their last fight.
It has been in exactly one fight so far, which it won. Still, this seems like an opponent designed for Hydra to destroy. Glitch's team are concerned about this as well.
"This is our nightmare matchup, we have weak wheels and we don't have a dedicated self
righter. Hopefully we'll do well. "

Yeahhhh, don't count on it. I'm betting on Hydra. In addition to being destructive, Jake Ewert is a veteran driver. I expect that greater skill alone will give him the victory tonight.

Fight's on!

Hydra box rushes Glitch and, after a few seconds of fumbling around, finally gets underneath Glitch and flips it.
Okay, Hydra's DEFINITELY on point tonight. That first flip looks like a moonshot! The announcers argue whether or not it hit the ceiling or not but it was definitely a launch,
even if it didn't!

Hydra's hung on the floor! It can't move! Glitch moves in and starts delivering punishing shots! Hydra is inverted! It uses its own flipper to self-right. This own-flip could really damage it, but it is made far worse by glitch which gets right under it as it come down and tags it with the eggbeater! Sparks all over the place and Hydra goes flying! It's top panel is knocked off! Glitch takes it into the corner and delivers even more punishing shots!

Hydra is crab-walking. Glitch gets in one more hit. Then the countdown starts.. and concludes! Hydra is knocked out!

Unbelievable!

Amazing performance by Glitch! A command performance, especially the way they cleverly used Hydra's own power against itself. This team's for real and if the selection committee DOESN'T put this rookie phenomenon into the round of 32 , their idea of great robot combat is NOT mine.

Jake Ewart is fuming.

The announcers themselves acknowledged they also expected this to be an easy win for Hydra, but are glad to eat crow and acknowledge they have seen history here tonight!

WINNER: Glitch (KO)

TomandTish

This was a solid performance by Glitch. Hydra clearly still has issues as the act of flipping apparently caused a few problems, and when Glitch timed that perfect hit while Hydra tried to self-right that was the death blow. At 2-0 and with an impressive win like this I suspect Glitch makes the bracket unless things go horribly wrong in match 3. And honestly I would count Hydra out at this point.

Glitch has won compelling victories including a victory over the #1 seed from last year, and
that was a truly command performance. Yeah, they definitely belong in the 32.

Hydra .. I dunno. That last flip was pretty impressive and anyone can get lucky. I'd still say he has a chance but it is definitely a long uphill climb to get in at this point. Even so, that was an EXTREMELY good flip he got in and he was #1 seed last year. I think he still
has a chance. If I was on the committee, I'd want to see more of those flips so I'd put them in if I could find an excuse to do so. Even so, 1-2 is pretty abysmal.

Free Shipping vs. Tombstone

Free Shipping (0-2) has a lifter, a wedge, and a flamethrower, That wedge gives it a chance against Tombstone's vicious spinner.

Their prefight poem, which Farouk does his best with, seems silly. Well, he's got a chance to show his fight is better than his banter. It's got a new wedge and a lot more armour for additional protection against Tombstone.

Okay, Tombstone (1-1), Make or break time. You've had one loss and one unconvincing victory. You've got to not just win, but win decisively enough to prove you belong. Tombstone is what it always is: Two wheels, a box, a giant Stormbringer of a horizontal spinning blade.
Ray respects his opponent, who has beaten him twice out of three times. Even so, there's a fireball tank on the side of FS that he hopes to hit and make a nice pretty fireball.

The two captains wish each other good luck before the fight.

Fight's on!

A few seconds of sizing each other up , Tombstone spins up its blade, and contact!
There goes Free Shipping's front right wheel!

Tombstone pivots widdershins and brings the blade to bear again. Scratch tire #2, the left front.

I didn't see the third wheel go but it's gone. Free Shipping is on one wheel, still mobile, and is trying to run away. Free Shipping's captain makes a little "oh". He knows he's in
deep trouble.

But Tombstone's weapon is powered down! It is now a push bot!

Ray Billings continues to push around, but he cannot inflict damage. Is this a chance for
Free Shipping to turn the tables?

Free Shipping gets under Tombstone, but Tombstone escapes.

The announcers are now discussion judge's categories. They can see as well as I can that
this match is going to go the distance. FS can't maneuver well enough to take the fight to
Tombstone, and Tombstone is once again showing it's greatest weakness: Without that massive blade, it has nothing else to bring to the fight.

Tombstone shoves Free Shipping into the screws, from which it easily escapes.

Time expires , knock it off.

It goes to the judges, whom I expect it give it to Tombstone in all three categories:
Damage( 3 wheels versus a broken primary weapon), control (shoving FS into the screws)
and aggression.

Tombstone takes it, all right. I'm not convinced FS caused the damage to the blade to power it down; it may be Ray's motor burned out. Ray doesn't know what went wrong but he thinks
its a mechanical defect which he and his team will have to find before the next match.

I guess with Tombstone at 2-1, it has earned its bracket slot. It has the wins under its belt, albeit not the spectacular hits of seasons past, that blade DOES promise entertainment, , and that move when he out-controlled the control bot to push it into the screws shows he's a great driver in the box. So yeah, I'd put him in.

Free Shipping? At 0-3 it isn't even a question. They're done.

WINNER: Tombstone (Decision, 3-0)

Ribbot vs. P1

Ribbot (2-0) A horizontal spinner with a frog foam suit on the outside to provide both decoration and protection. Except in this one they've switched to a vertical spinner and
added forks to the front to prevent P1 getting under them. They've also ditched the frog foam.

P-1 (2-0) is a flipper. They have redesigned a wedge in order to keep spinners like Ribbots at a distance.

I don't know which way this is going to go, but it's a bad idea to bet idea against the spinner. Even so, P1 has an excellent chance.

Fight's on!

The bots approach circuitously, both striving for an angle. Ribbot gets in a minor shot.
The bots continue to circle for several seconds. P1 looking for an angle, easily
keeping away from Ribbot, while Ribbot runs it spinner up to full and squares off,
content with keeping its bow towards P1.

Ribbot manages to bite at the tire, then swing around and hit the front.
Then P1 takes control and pushes Ribbot under a pulverizer, which hits repeatedly, cauinsg
damage to Ribbot's back right quarter. P1 releases and the fight neutralizes.

Both bots are having trouble connecting. Ribbot's forks keep P1 from closing and flipping,
while the forks of both prevent Ribbot's vertical spinner from coming into contact.
The battle of maneuverability continues. I stifle a yawn.

FINALLY Ribbot gets a solid shot and begins chewing into P1. P1's right front
armour is hanging off.

Killsaws come out. A minute to go.

Ribbot runs back and BOOM! Hits Ribbot a solid hit! P1 goes onto the upper
deck and is crabwalking! Can he get off the ledge?

NO! P1 is counted out , stuck on the upper deck and crab-walking, with one second left in the match!

P1's driver swears and smashes his fist into the front of the driving compartment.
That's the most visible anger I've seen from a driver at this tournament.

Great driving by Ribbot! The match was mostly even but Ribbot finally wore P1 down.
This is why spinners are so popular in the sport; it's normally a bad idea to
bet against them. They cause lots of damage which can not only KO a bot but
can be very, very helpful in a judge's decisoin.

I think we'll see both of these bots again. Ribbot is 3-0 and is practically
a shoe-in to the 32 at this point, while P1 has had an impressive season and
also deserves a spot.

WINNER: Ribbot (KO)

Main Event: Sawblaze vs. End Game

End Game (2-0) is certainly looking like a champion this year, winning all their bouts.
It brings forks and a vertical spinner. They have reconfigured their blade to make the weapon belt less exposed; they apparently fear Sawblaze cutting into those belts and disarming End Game.

Sawblaze (2-0) is also undefeated, and is looking as good as it ever has.
They also bring forks and an overhead saw which is brought down on top of the enemy.
They also have a flamethrower for bonus points. They have added something called 'cheeks'
as protection against spinners.

I think Endgame has a slight advantage due to the geometry; it should be easier to land hits with the spinner than with the vertical saw arm, but this promises to be
a great fight.

Fight starts ... robots head into the center -- End Game bullies Sawblaze into the corner and BOINK! Outta the arena! That's it!

Sawblaze was heard to psyche each other up pre-fight: "Gotta beat the best to be the best."
Well, looks like you're gonna have to do more if you wanna be the best. Oh, well. At least they aren't going to have an extensive post-battle rebuilding job.

Endgame is 3-0 and will almost certainly be the #1 seed in the 32. Sawblaze will probably also get in at 2-1. In fact, Endgame is looking suspiciously like Champion material again this year. If they lose, some bot is going to earn MAJOR rep for beating them out.
They are the bot to beat in 2022.

WINNER: Endgame (KO)

TomandTish

. And I suspect End Game just clinched the number 1 seed again.

No argument here. Not only are they the #1 seed, I'm having a hard time seeing
ANY other bot on the field as a legitimate contender at this point. Let's hope someone
figures it out so there can be some drama in the finals. Right now this feels more like
watching a blitzball league tournament when you know Tidus is playing for the Aurochs this year.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

tomandtish

2022-03-06, 06:33 PM

UPDATE:

So before we start on the show,I saw this snippet from Paul VentiMiglia (https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/t4hlne/paul_ventimiglia_elaborates_on_biteforces_absence/) of BiteForce. They've been absent from the tournament because Paul
has been demanding a different contract -- the ability to own image to his bots, the right
to compete in other tournaments, more leeway in choosing sponsors -- because building a
champion bot is reaally expensive. We're talking >$100K. The sponsors help offset the cost
with parts but the way things are set up, there's no way to break even, let alone make a profit, even if you bring home the Giant Nut.

I can see his point. Nonetheless, while there are rumors that the other bot builders are
also putting similar pressure behind the scenes, he's the only one to actively put it
on the line and tell Discovery "give me a new contract or I walk". Discovery seemed
to have called his bluff; "Fine, there are a lot of other vertical spinners in the game
as well as a number of people just begging to break into the sport. Buh-bye."

The other problem they might have is that Discovery isn't exactly Must-See TV.
He's not a superbowl quarterback on whose shoulders lies potentially billions of dollars
in revenue. The Ratings (https://showbuzzdaily.com/articles/showbuzzdailys-thursday-3-3-2022-top-150-cable-originals-network-finals.html) put the show at #56, four steps below "House Hunters" on the Home and Garden Network.

Some people can bring up better ratings, but it looks to me as if Discovery would consider
Battlebots a 'solid' show, but not the centerpiece of their lineup. It's quite possible, if the bot builders make things more expensive, Discovery will just fold its tent and say
"Fine. Go broadcast the show yourselves. It's not worth it to us to keep you on the air
at that price. You're in this because you're passionate about the hobby, but WE'RE here for
the Benjamins."

My read is that Battlebots is going to have to become much more successful as a sport before
the bot owners can really push for something better. Although if they try, of course, I'll
be 100% in their corner.

Pendell has done his usual excellent job with the commentary (he's better at it than I am). Only a few scattered thoughts for me. Thought I might be more delayed doing this, but work died way down all of a sudden. Also, sorry for any delay but Tish and I put one of our dogs to rest Friday. It was expected, as he was at least 15 and could have been 18, but we still miss the little guy.

Yeah, money talks. There's a reason why ABC stopped showing it after Season 2, and presumably money was the issue. I greatly enjoy the show (as does my wife), but something significant will have to happen to bring more money into it. Maybe a new version where everyone builds 2500 pound bots and they slug it out in a deserted quarey!

Now, on with the show!

Battlebots, Episode 9: Put up Or Shut Up
Fourteen bots compete in their last bouts of the qualifying round!

Gruff vs. Cobalt

Gruff(1-1) easily defeated Switchback but had the misfortune to go up against Hydra.
It's a lifter with cosmetic flamethrower and very, very tough.

Cobalt (1-1) brings a vertical spinner, destroying Ghost Raptor to get here.

It's important for them not just to win, but to win decisively
enough to impress the judges.

Fight's on!

The two charge into each other. Cobalt is powerful enough to knock
Gruff vertical and it gets stuck in the killsaws! Cobalt knocks it free, and a second later
launches Gruff 4+ meters into the air! At the moment the advantage is all
Cobalt as they bully Gruff all over the box.
Wait, I thought Gruff was the lifter in this fight? No matter. It's the one sailing through the air. Cobalt hits them again and again, then a white mist issues from Gfruff.

Kenny Florian the announcer says: "Watch out Chris, I think they got the propane tank
better watch out..."

And BAWHOOM! He's right. The propane ignites and Gruff is aflame, burning merrily!
The fire goes out but Gruff is not moving -- then it starts but is only crabwalking.
The ref demands controlled motion, doesn't get it. Gruff is counted out.

What a spectacular first fight!

WINNER: Cobalt (KO)

I agree it was a solid victory by Cobalt. When it works, that bot does a lot of damage. I'm not sure if Gruff will make the bracket at 1-2. Have to see how next week plays out.

Duck! vs Riptide

Riptide is 1-1 so this will define their season tonight. They're bringing a vertical spiner.
They still don't have a self-righter, which cost them the match against a Defender.
It may cost them again. These are their third match ever, I believe. Their strategy?
"Hit 'em really hard."

Duck is 0-2, including losing to a rookie. They MUST win here, using the beak to
break Riptide's weapon. Duck! has added a back wedge but to make the weight limit they had
to remove one of the drive motors; which is risky against a spinner like Riptide.
Duck is determined to be aggressive -- ram, break their weapon, then lift Riptide.

Fight's on!

As expected, they charge each other but Riptide out-drives duck and starts biting in from behind, nibbling at the backs and sides. Flips duck once. Duck manages to stick
the beak in and it does nothing. Again Riptide comes in and this time Duck's beak
is sliced in two!

Riptide's blade is still spinning. Duck goes into the air again, and comes down missing a tire.

Duck is barely moving while Riptide is fully spun up and still doing damage. Duck waddles
under the Pulverizer and takes a solid hit!

Duck moves from under and Riptide hits it 2.5 meters into the air! Duck
is smoking and goes under the pulverizer again! Duck slooowly crabwalks out from underneath it but can't exit the corner!

The ref has seen enough. He counts Duck! out.

Good. With all respect to the builder, I've never seen the point of Duck! Now that the
design is 0-3, he's going to have to come back with either an improved Duck! or an
all-new solution next season.

Congrats to the rookie Riptide, which has made it into the round of 32 after convincing wins
over two veterans!
WINNER: Riptide (KO)

DUCK actually seemed more effective in previous seasons. He made it a bit bigger, but it didn't seem to be as tough, and the flipper was worse. Did we ever actually see it used successfully? And it certainly broke way too easy. But totally agree it is time to go back to the drawing board.

Valkyrie vs. Pardon My French

Valkyrie (1-1) horizontal spinner vs. Pardon My French, which I've never heard of.
Pardon my French (0-1) is from Quebec. toting a 33-kg Drum Spinner.

The announcers don't bother with any pre-fight discussion. It's obvious they don't
think much of this fight.

Fight's on!

BOOM! The two bots make weapon-to-weapon contact! But bot building experience tells
as French's weapon is inoperable while Valkyrie gradually spins up again. An armed spinner
against an unarmed pushbot, the outcome is not in doubt.

Five more seconds and it's over. French is immobile and is counted out. Alas, their
rookie season probably ends here, while Valkyrie has a chance to move on, being 2-1.

WINNER: Valkyrie (KO)

One thing I noticed right off the bat: PMF had one of the longest start times I've seen for a spinner. By my count it was 5 seconds before it got up to speed, and the speed didn't look all that impressive.

Don't get me wrong, that team is probably still ahead of 99% of this forum (myself included), but they definitely have some work to do. And while Valkyre is 2-1, at least one of those wins is not at all impressive. I'd say they re on the cusp.

Lock-Jaw vs. Blip

Lock-Jaw 0-2 went up against Copperhead and Hypershock, losing both times. He still
has a chance to get in IF he can beat the rookie phenom with his vertical spinner. He's bringing a new bot they haven't even practiced with in the hopes of throwing Blip off it's game. I don't find that reassuring.

Blip 2-0 is a rookie with two terrific victories, looking to go for an undefeated 3-0. It is a flipper and has been more of a hydra than hydra has been, this year. Hope that doesn't
jinx him. He's bringing additional armour in the hopes of protecting against the spinner as Blip gets under him.

Fight's on!

Lockjaw immediately gets caught on a killsaw. Not a good sign.

Blip succeeds in the game plan -- frontal attack, armour defeats the spinner gives a flip -- but it's tiny, barely lifting lockjaw 0.3 meters into the air before it comes down easily.
Even so Lockjaw is having problems, and a few seconds later spontaneously bursts into flames!

Lockjaw's weapon is powered down; evidently the fire took a toll. Blip still hasn't been able
to get in a really solid hit.

Blip finally flips Lockjaw onto the upper deck but it isn't an impressive flip at all;
Donald Hudson easily drives off. He seems to be struggling against his own bot more than
against Blip.

Lockjaw is on fire inside. Blip finally gets a decent flip in, sending Lockjaw two meters into the air. There isn't much time left and a decision is looking more and more likely.

THERE we go! Blip next gets Lockjaw 3 meters into the air alongside the battle box! Now it's getting interesting!

For the first time that I've been watching, a minibot proves useful. Lockjaw's mini gets under and high-centers Blip,setting it up for a strike. Lockjaw's weapon momentarily spins up, but powers down again.

Time expires. I give it to Blip on Damage, although Lockjaw really did come around in the aggression and control categories in the later phases of the match. Even so, I can't put it over the top in either category, and the damage was decidedly Blip.

The judges agree, and give it to Blip, who at 3-0 will
definitely in the tournament. Lockjaw, at 0-3, will not,
the legendary status of its captain notwithstanding.

WINNER: Blip, Decision (3-0)

Unfortunately, this has been the story of Hudson's career in the current incarnation. At some point his bot develops problems. When I saw Lockjaw burst into flames I was perplexed, because I didn't think it was anything caused by Blip. Turns out I was right. After the fight it was stated that Lockjaw's weapon caught in the floor, and the back force blew out the weapon. I'll give him props, he did a good job taking it the distance, but i never doubted it was Blip. Lockjaw is out and Blip at 3-0 has certainly secured a slot in the top 10. Now for Tantrum....

Minotaur vs. Deep Six

Oh, I've been looking forward to this.

Minotaur 1-1 is a legend in the sport with a mean, mean drum spinner. Remember that
Daniel Freitas lost his mother and grandmother to covid, to whom he has dedicated
this season. They've brought a heavier drum this time around.

Deep Six 1-1 is a really, really big vertical spinner,
practically a glass cannon in the sport. It always does incredible damge,
but is often undone by it's own fragility or control issues.

How will it go this time?

I'm rooting for Deep Six. I've liked them from the first moment I've seen them;
I'd like them to make the 32 this year.

As Deep Six lights up, announcer Chris says "My Gosh, does this mean they're turning this
thing on again? We need a medic on standby!"

Fight's on!

The two bots spin up in their squares, then zip out for weapon to weapon contact. BOOM!
The lower, more compact Minotaur wins the exchange easily and Deep Six goes flying!
Another hit and Deep Six is stuck on the side! The captain of Deep Six tells Minotaur to hit
him and knock him off, but no such luck. Daniel Freitas is here to win. Minotaur sits back
and watches as Deep Six tries, and fails, to get off the rails. The ref counts them out.

A bit of a disappointing fight and Deep Six is eliminated. Still, I'm glad to see that
Minotaur's season continues and we will almost certainly see them in the 32!

Daniel Freitas can we have your reac--

YEAAAHHH! YEAAAAHHH! YEAAHHH!

As the crowd chants "MIN-O-TAUR! MIN-O-TAUR!"

Yep, definitely moving into the tournament.
WINNER: Minotaur (KO)

Yeah, that was a very solid victory by Minotaur, including sending a giant bot like Deep Six into the air. And Freitas is always a joy to watch with his energy and obvious love of the sport. Minotaur should have a spot and I suspect Deep Six is done.

Subzero vs. Hijinx

Hijinx is 1-1 horizontal spinner.

Subzero is an 0-2 flipper. They don't look like
they're in contention, but they can still spoil
Hijinx' chances.

Subzero is concerned that he doesn't have the armour to win this fight,
so his one chance is to get in before the weapon spins up and
get them upside down, preferably on the upper deck.

Fight's on!

A few seconds of contact , a really good flip from Subzero,
and both bots are ihn trouble. Unfortunately for Subzero,
Hijinx lands right side up and is lethal.
Subzero's flipper is stuck in the upright posion
while Hijinx' own weapon is powered down. Subzero
has a minibot spraying flame but this is not decisive.

Uh-oh. Hijinx' blade has spun up again, and that will probably
be all she wrote for Subzero.

The fight lasts about 20 more seconds before Subzero is immobile.

WINNER: Hijinx (2-1)

Unfortunately this fight didn't impress me much. Subzero has never been a great bot, and has had losing seasons in the main event (their 5/3 in 2020 incudes 3 Bounty victories). Hijinx is 2-1, but hasn't really been spectacular. Of 2-1 bots that might be on the cusp, i suspect they are one of them.

MAIN EVENT: Skorpios vs Yeti

Both bots are 1-1, both convinced a win here will guarantee a berth,
while a loss means elimination.

Yeti brings a vertical spinner. While Scorpio brings a hammersaw.
Yeti is more intuitive so I give them the advantage, but superb driving
could still give it to Skorpios.

Fight's on! Skorpios dashes away to a corner to spin up, then the two bots
approach for that first critical hit.

Skorpios gets a hit in and takes one of Yeti's belts, but Yeti rams Scorpios into
the wall HARD, knocking down the battlebots sign!

Yeti continues to ram Scorpios, knocking them into the air as if Yeti was a
flipper!

Skorpios isn't done, though. It comes back and hits repeatedly with the hammersaw,
shredding one of Yeti's tires!

Yeti continues to ram Skorpios, which is DEFINITELY smoking now.

A few more hits and Skorpios is bounced into the screws, where it is momentarily stuck!

It gets off although its primary weapon doesn't seem able to deliver a convincing hit
any longer. Yeti's weapon also seems to have slowed or stopped. The two bots go at it
anyway!

Skorpios blade is still active while Yeti's is not. But the fight is by no means over!

Time expires with the two bots still smashing at each other!

What a fight! Chris Rose says "And THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is what battlebots is all about!" The pit crews are saying the same. "That was a good one!" "That was unbelieveable!"

The judges are going to earn their pay on this one. I'd give it to Yeti on
the basis of control and aggression, but there is a definite strong case for
Skorpios to win on damage. I predict a split decision, and I won't feel bad
if the judges go the other way.

Looks like it took awhile for the judges to make their decision.

Yep. Split decision.

Judge Lisa agrees with me, amazingly.

In the end it goes to Yeti. Well-deserved all roung!

WINNER: Yeti (Decision, 2-1)

Respectfully,

Brian P.

Agreed. That fight was spectacular. It shows the difference when two top tier bots go at it vs. two low tier bots. Yeti certainly has a spot, and if they are admitting any 1-2 bots then I'd certainly back Skorpios. And my wife and I totally agreed that if the fight had been called the other way we'd have been fine with it. I would have loved to seen the actual score cards.

And this coming episode is the last one before the bracket starts. By Thursday 9pm (CST) we should know who is and isn't eliminated.

pendell

2022-03-07, 10:32 AM

Thanks to TomandTish so I can post my own review properly without double posting!

So before we start on the show,I saw this snippet from Paul VentiMiglia (https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/t4hlne/paul_ventimiglia_elaborates_on_biteforces_absence/) of BiteForce. They've been absent from the tournament because Paul
has been demanding a different contract -- the ability to own image to his bots, the right
to compete in other tournaments, more leeway in choosing sponsors -- because building a
champion bot is reaally expensive. We're talking >$100K. The sponsors help offset the cost
with parts but the way things are set up, there's no way to break even, let alone make a profit, even if you bring home the Giant Nut.

I can see his point. Nonetheless, while there are rumors that the other bot builders are
also putting similar pressure behind the scenes, he's the only one to actively put it
on the line and tell Discovery "give me a new contract or I walk". Discovery seemed
to have called his bluff; "Fine, there are a lot of other vertical spinners in the game
as well as a number of people just begging to break into the sport. Buh-bye."

The other problem they might have is that Discovery isn't exactly Must-See TV.
He's not a superbowl quarterback on whose shoulders lies potentially billions of dollars
in revenue. The Ratings (https://showbuzzdaily.com/articles/showbuzzdailys-thursday-3-3-2022-top-150-cable-originals-network-finals.html) put the show at #56, four steps below "House Hunters" on the Home and Garden Network.

Some people can bring up better ratings, but it looks to me as if Discovery would consider
Battlebots a 'solid' show, but not the centerpiece of their lineup. It's quite possible, if the bot builders make things more expensive, Discovery will just fold its tent and say
"Fine. Go broadcast the show yourselves. It's not worth it to us to keep you on the air
at that price. You're in this because you're passionate about the hobby, but WE'RE here for
the Benjamins."

My read is that Battlebots is going to have to become much more successful as a sport before
the bot owners can really push for something better. Although if they try, of course, I'll
be 100% in their corner.

Now, on with the show!

Battlebots, Episode 9: Put up Or Shut Up
Fourteen bots compete in their last bouts of the qualifying round!

Gruff vs. Cobalt

Gruff(1-1) easily defeated Switchback but had the misfortune to go up against Hydra.
It's a lifter with cosmetic flamethrower and very, very tough.

Cobalt (1-1) brings a vertical spinner, destroying Ghost Raptor to get here.

It's important for them not just to win, but to win decisively
enough to impress the judges.

Fight's on!

The two charge into each other. Cobalt is powerful enough to knock
Gruff vertical and it gets stuck in the killsaws! Cobalt knocks it free, and a second later
launches Gruff 4+ meters into the air! At the moment the advantage is all
Cobalt as they bully Gruff all over the box.
Wait, I thought Gruff was the lifter in this fight? No matter. It's the one sailing through the air. Cobalt hits them again and again, then a white mist issues from Gfruff.

Kenny Florian the announcer says: "Watch out Chris, I think they got the propane tank
better watch out..."

And BAWHOOM! He's right. The propane ignites and Gruff is aflame, burning merrily!
The fire goes out but Gruff is not moving -- then it starts but is only crabwalking.
The ref demands controlled motion, doesn't get it. Gruff is counted out.

What a spectacular first fight!

WINNER: Cobalt (KO)

Duck! vs Riptide

Riptide is 1-1 so this will define their season tonight. They're bringing a vertical spiner.
They still don't have a self-righter, which cost them the match against a Defender.
It may cost them again. These are their third match ever, I believe. Their strategy?
"Hit 'em really hard."

Duck is 0-2, including losing to a rookie. They MUST win here, using the beak to
break Riptide's weapon. Duck! has added a back wedge but to make the weight limit they had
to remove one of the drive motors; which is risky against a spinner like Riptide.
Duck is determined to be aggressive -- ram, break their weapon, then lift Riptide.

Fight's on!

As expected, they charge each other but Riptide out-drives duck and starts biting in from behind, nibbling at the backs and sides. Flips duck once. Duck manages to stick
the beak in and it does nothing. Again Riptide comes in and this time Duck's beak
is sliced in two!

Riptide's blade is still spinning. Duck goes into the air again, and comes down missing a tire.

Duck is barely moving while Riptide is fully spun up and still doing damage. Duck waddles
under the Pulverizer and takes a solid hit!

Duck moves from under and Riptide hits it 2.5 meters into the air! Duck
is smoking and goes under the pulverizer again! Duck slooowly crabwalks out from underneath it but can't exit the corner!

The ref has seen enough. He counts Duck! out.

Good. With all respect to the builder, I've never seen the point of Duck! Now that the
design is 0-3, he's going to have to come back with either an improved Duck! or an
all-new solution next season.

Congrats to the rookie Riptide, which has made it into the round of 32 after convincing wins
over two veterans!
WINNER: Riptide (KO)

Valkyrie vs. Pardon My French

Valkyrie (1-1) horizontal spinner vs. Pardon My French, which I've never heard of.
Pardon my French (0-1) is from Quebec. toting a 33-kg Drum Spinner.

The announcers don't bother with any pre-fight discussion. It's obvious they don't
think much of this fight.

Fight's on!

BOOM! The two bots make weapon-to-weapon contact! But bot building experience tells
as French's weapon is inoperable while Valkyrie gradually spins up again. An armed spinner
against an unarmed pushbot, the outcome is not in doubt.

Five more seconds and it's over. French is immobile and is counted out. Alas, their
rookie season probably ends here, while Valkyrie has a chance to move on, being 2-1.

WINNER: Valkyrie (KO)

Lock-Jaw vs. Blip

Lock-Jaw 0-2 went up against Copperhead and Hypershock, losing both times. He still
has a chance to get in IF he can beat the rookie phenom with his vertical spinner. He's bringing a new bot they haven't even practiced with in the hopes of throwing Blip off it's game. I don't find that reassuring.

Blip 2-0 is a rookie with two terrific victories, looking to go for an undefeated 3-0. It is a flipper and has been more of a hydra than hydra has been, this year. Hope that doesn't
jinx him. He's bringing additional armour in the hopes of protecting against the spinner as Blip gets under him.

Fight's on!

Lockjaw immediately gets caught on a killsaw. Not a good sign.

Blip succeeds in the game plan -- frontal attack, armour defeats the spinner gives a flip -- but it's tiny, barely lifting lockjaw 0.3 meters into the air before it comes down easily.
Even so Lockjaw is having problems, and a few seconds later spontaneously bursts into flames!

Lockjaw's weapon is powered down; evidently the fire took a toll. Blip still hasn't been able
to get in a really solid hit.

Blip finally flips Lockjaw onto the upper deck but it isn't an impressive flip at all;
Donald Hudson easily drives off. He seems to be struggling against his own bot more than
against Blip.

Lockjaw is on fire inside. Blip finally gets a decent flip in, sending Lockjaw two meters into the air. There isn't much time left and a decision is looking more and more likely.

THERE we go! Blip next gets Lockjaw 3 meters into the air alongside the battle box! Now it's getting interesting!

For the first time that I've been watching, a minibot proves useful. Lockjaw's mini gets under and high-centers Blip,setting it up for a strike. Lockjaw's weapon momentarily spins up, but powers down again.

Time expires. I give it to Blip on Damage, although Lockjaw really did come around in the aggression and control categories in the later phases of the match. Even so, I can't put it over the top in either category, and the damage was decidedly Blip.

The judges agree, and give it to Blip, who at 3-0 will
definitely in the tournament. Lockjaw, at 0-3, will not,
the legendary status of its captain notwithstanding.

WINNER: Blip, Decision (3-0)

Minotaur vs. Deep Six

Oh, I've been looking forward to this.

Minotaur 1-1 is a legend in the sport with a mean, mean drum spinner. Remember that
Daniel Freitas lost his mother and grandmother to covid, to whom he has dedicated
this season. They've brought a heavier drum this time around.

Deep Six 1-1 is a really, really big vertical spinner,
practically a glass cannon in the sport. It always does incredible damge,
but is often undone by it's own fragility or control issues.

How will it go this time?

I'm rooting for Deep Six. I've liked them from the first moment I've seen them;
I'd like them to make the 32 this year.

As Deep Six lights up, announcer Chris says "My Gosh, does this mean they're turning this
thing on again? We need a medic on standby!"

Fight's on!

The two bots spin up in their squares, then zip out for weapon to weapon contact. BOOM!
The lower, more compact Minotaur wins the exchange easily and Deep Six goes flying!
Another hit and Deep Six is stuck on the side! The captain of Deep Six tells Minotaur to hit
him and knock him off, but no such luck. Daniel Freitas is here to win. Minotaur sits back
and watches as Deep Six tries, and fails, to get off the rails. The ref counts them out.

A bit of a disappointing fight and Deep Six is eliminated. Still, I'm glad to see that
Minotaur's season continues and we will almost certainly see them in the 32!

Daniel Freitas can we have your reac--

YEAAAHHH! YEAAAAHHH! YEAAHHH!

As the crowd chants "MIN-O-TAUR! MIN-O-TAUR!"

Yep, definitely moving into the tournament.
WINNER: Minotaur (KO)

Subzero vs. Hijinx

Hijinx is 1-1 horizontal spinner.

Subzero is an 0-2 flipper. They don't look like
they're in contention, but they can still spoil
Hijinx' chances.

Subzero is concerned that he doesn't have the armour to win this fight,
so his one chance is to get in before the weapon spins up and
get them upside down, preferably on the upper deck.

Fight's on!

A few seconds of contact , a really good flip from Subzero,
and both bots are ihn trouble. Unfortunately for Subzero,
Hijinx lands right side up and is lethal.
Subzero's flipper is stuck in the upright posion
while Hijinx' own weapon is powered down. Subzero
has a minibot spraying flame but this is not decisive.

Uh-oh. Hijinx' blade has spun up again, and that will probably
be all she wrote for Subzero.

The fight lasts about 20 more seconds before Subzero is immobile.

WINNER: Hijinx (2-1)

MAIN EVENT: Skorpios vs Yeti

Both bots are 1-1, both convinced a win here will guarantee a berth,
while a loss means elimination.

Yeti brings a vertical spinner. While Scorpio brings a hammersaw.
Yeti is more intuitive so I give them the advantage, but superb driving
could still give it to Skorpios.

Fight's on! Skorpios dashes away to a corner to spin up, then the two bots
approach for that first critical hit.

Skorpios gets a hit in and takes one of Yeti's belts, but Yeti rams Scorpios into
the wall HARD, knocking down the battlebots sign!

Yeti continues to ram Scorpios, knocking them into the air as if Yeti was a
flipper!

Skorpios isn't done, though. It comes back and hits repeatedly with the hammersaw,
shredding one of Yeti's tires!

Yeti continues to ram Skorpios, which is DEFINITELY smoking now.

A few more hits and Skorpios is bounced into the screws, where it is momentarily stuck!

It gets off although its primary weapon doesn't seem able to deliver a convincing hit
any longer. Yeti's weapon also seems to have slowed or stopped. The two bots go at it
anyway!

Skorpios blade is still active while Yeti's is not. But the fight is by no means over!

Time expires with the two bots still smashing at each other!

What a fight! Chris Rose says "And THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is what battlebots is all about!" The pit crews are saying the same. "That was a good one!" "That was unbelieveable!"

The judges are going to earn their pay on this one. I'd give it to Yeti on
the basis of control and aggression, but there is a definite strong case for
Skorpios to win on damage. I predict a split decision, and I won't feel bad
if the judges go the other way.

Looks like it took awhile for the judges to make their decision.

Yep. Split decision.

Judge Lisa agrees with me, amazingly.

In the end it goes to Yeti. Well-deserved all roung!

WINNER: Yeti (Decision, 2-1)

Respectfully,

Brian P.

Arcane_Secrets

2022-03-07, 07:54 PM

And this coming episode is the last one before the bracket starts. By Thursday 9pm (CST) we should know who is and isn't eliminated.

I hope Uppercut gets one more match before the final rounds. I've really enjoyed them the last two years because they've had a lot of really dramatic wins. They remind me of the early years of Minotaur.

tomandtish

2022-03-09, 01:18 PM

I hope Uppercut gets one more match before the final rounds. I've really enjoyed them the last two years because they've had a lot of really dramatic wins. They remind me of the early years of Minotaur.

Given their record so far I suspect they are in even if they lose their third match, unless something horrible happens.

I debated trying to pick which bots make the bracket, but after a few attempts I gave up. There's just too much up in the air.

Quite a few bots haven't had their third match yet, which can dramatically change things.

I don't have a real feel for how much strength of schedule counts.

Based on the commentators own statements, there's way too many intangibles that are also considered.

tomandtish

2022-03-10, 11:19 PM

The final episode of the qualifiers!!! 4 of tonight’s matches are between 1-1 teams, so a lot of bracket deciding tonight.

Bloodsport the horizontal spinner is coming up with their biggest blade (I’m not sure we’ve seen it before). Claw Viper is a grappler/lifter. Winner gets a bracket slot and loser probably goes home. Claw Viper is also using a minibot they hope will get under Bloodsport and lift them up.

As the fight starts, they circle for a few seconds then collide. The minibot gets caught up in the mix and knocked into the screws (but still works). On the next hit Claw Viper loses their grappler. The grappler and lifter are made of plastic, and each time Bloodsport hits them a piece goes flying off. 30 seconds into it and Claw Viper has no working weapon and the minibot is smoking.

But never count a bot out until the end. Claw Viper manages to push Bloodsport into the wall, and a few seconds later there’s a huge collision that sends Bloodsport flying into the wall. Bloodsport manages to stay upright but seems to be having some issues. Claw Viper stays aggressive, pushing Bloodsport against the wall, then backing up and letting Bloodsport spin up, then hitting again hoping for the big rebound. Bloodsport manages to hang on and this goes the distance.

Props to Claw Viper. They did an incredible job of staying alive when they were functionally weaponless for ¾ of the fight. Bloodsport ins damage (and the minibot should count for that). But Claw Viper may win control and aggression. I still think damage is key, so I’m going Bloodsport… and I’m right. Unanimous for Bloodsport. This should guarantee a bracket slot, but Claw Viper can leave this one with head held high.

Rampage is a vertical spinner that has never gotten anything going. Madcatter is an aggressive vertical spinner with the world’s most annoying driver. I’m rooting for Rampage but realistically don’t expect them to win. Incidentally, how do you rank a 1-1 team (only 2 fights) for the bracket when most bots fought 3?

Well, it appears to be a moot point. As soon as we start Madcatter rams Rampage and part of a wedge comes loose. They hit again almost immediately, and Rampage is knocked on to the deck with even more wedge loose, but they manage to slip off. A third hit, and the wedge is gone, and Rampage is upside down on the deck. The countdown starts and Rampage is counted out.

This was a brutally quick fight. As much as I dislike Madcatter, this is a crash course in how to destroy your opponent. Madcatter will certainly be in the bracket.

Switchback is the weird vertical spinner on an arm that didn’t seem to work very well. They apparently beat Slammo in an untelevised fight, but that’s not saying much. Huge lost to a rookie and then had a solid win. A win here presumably sends either to the bracket. Huge’s captain says that if they lose this then it’s probably time to reconsider.

Fight begins with Switchback trying a box rush and missing horribly. I then see that (like before0 they seem to be having maneuvering issues. Huge gets one relatively minor hit and Switchback’s problems increased. Huge then begins just slamming into Switchback, knocking them over once. It seems like this will be all Huge.

But again, don’t count your bots before they break. Switchback manages to keep going, and after hitting Huge a few times Huge seems to have maneuverability problems. Switchback’s weapon is still working, and they just keep on running under Huge o go weapon to weapon. And suddenly one of Huge’s wheels seems to not be moving. However, one hit under Huge breaks their weapon. Interestingly, I’m not sure Huge had controlled movement, but after one more hit Switchback isn’t moving. Countdown starts and Switchback gets counted out.

I’m up in the air on this one. It feels like Huge got a bit of leeway on the movement because of size. Either way they are 2-1 and presumably tournament bound. But given the trouble they had with this bot I don’t expect a deep run.

Kraken has had a bad season, and I’m not sure that a victory here gives them a shot. Glitch (otoh) has had two solid wins, including a beautiful win against Hydra. They certainly have a bracket slot, so this fight is primarily for position. I’m rooting for Glitch. Their fight against Hydra was arguably the most perfect fight we’ve seen.

Fight starts. Kraken surprisingly doesn’t box rush. They circle for a few seconds and then Glitch gets a soft hit followed by a big hit that sends Kraken flying onto its side then onto the upper deck. Kraken struggles to upright but manages to do so, then struggles more to get off the deck. They are obviously having issues with the right wheel. They crabwalk for a bit and then Glitch hits them and sends them flying into the screws. Kraken is hung up and gets counted out. Glitch goes to 3-0 and is a serious contender to go all the way. I mean, if at the beginning of the season you said Glitch (and Blip for that matter) would be 3-0, I would have been a doubter. But no doubts anymore.

Mammoth is in an interesting situation. They beat Hijinx which is not a top tier bot. And they lost to Tombstone in a “which bot sucks more” decision. They really need a solid win. Same for Lucky. I will say that the one thing about Mammoth that annoys me the most is present here: They are almost entirely out of the starting box.

As the fight starts Lucky rushes out and fires the flipper a second too soon. However, their second flip sends Mammoth flying almost onto the deck. Instead they appear hung up on the screws. Lucky lines up another shot and knocks a wheel off. Another flip and Mammoth is on their side again. Lucky continues to flip Mammoth back and forth until they lose their flipper. But they continue driving Mammoth into the sides (disabling Mammoth’s blade) until Mammoth is prone and can’t self-right. Mammoth is counted out. Decent victory for Lucky, and Mammoth should be out.

This touches another sore point for me. Mammoth had no controlled movement (unless you count trying to flip yourself up with the arm as control) for 30 seconds (I timed it). We’ve certainly seen bots counted out much quicker. This has been an inconsistent area this season (IMHO).

Look, I won’t deny Rusty is cute, but this is not a contender. Witch Doctor often has reliability issues, but if they lose this, they will have to wear the cone of shame. Rusty has forgone the spike in favor of a lifting plow, which is apparently the back plow of Lockjaw. Let’s see if it makes a difference…. And oh lord, there’s what appears to be a Rusty plushie.

Fight starts and they circle. Kenny comments that it looks like Rusty is trying to get Witch Doctor to play with him. Yeah, reminds me when my 13yo lab wanted to play with my 2yo Yorkie. They finally meet and Witch Doctor sends Rusty flying, although he self-rights. A second hit sends Rusty in a complete barrel roll (so they land right side up). Third hit sends shrapnel everywhere and Rusty is on his side. That plow is split in half and Rusty is counted out. There’s no real surprise here. Rusty isn’t durable enough to last with the big boys. Witch Doctor is 2-1 and has probably clenched a birth.

Both bots have had reliability issues this season. Icewave corrected by reverting to an earlier edition. Fusion needs to avoid bursting into flame. Again, it’s win or (probably) go home).

Both bots take a few seconds to spin up, then Icewave crashes into Fusion with a hit that sends both bots flying back. And it looks both caught the worst of it as none of the weapons appear to be spinning. However, a few seconds later Fusion’s vertical spinner powers up. They push into Icewave and knock them into the screws, where you can see pieces coming off. Icewave seems stuck on the screws but I notice Fusion isn’t moving either. They appear stuck under a rail. However, when the screws reverse Icewave comes off. Fusion is still stuck and is now smoking (so business as usual). Icewave pushes Fusion a few times but they are obviously not moving. Fusion gets counted out.

Another case of gremlins defeating you. Fusion started smoking for no apparent reason, and that’s been a common problem with them both seasons they have competed. Icewave should advance. When they speak with Reese, he trash talks Jake (Hydra) a bit, but both are having to wait and see if they make it at 1-2.

I’m not going to list the entire bracket here. It will be online tomorrow. I’ll just throw out some thoughts.

31 teams finished with at least two wins. However, they say there will be TWO playoff matches to determine seed 31 and 32. That sounds to me like one 2-win team isn’t in and four 1-win teams are getting a shot to be in the bracket.

There’s nothing I feel strongly about in Bracket 4. I might think Sawblaze is a little high, but I don’t feel strongly enough about it to argue.

I’m a little more disappointed with Whiplash in the #3 slot. They are a good bot, but there are several 3-0 bots out there. Whiplash only has 2 fights. Cobalt seems a bit low to me.

Ribbot in the #2 slot makes my wife extremely happy. They had solid wins. Hydra and Defender will battle for the 31 seed. I’m too tired to see which two-win bot was excluded, but unless they just can’t continue, they should be there. I’m sorry to see Hydra at all. They did not impress. Blip is definitely low in my opinion, and Tombstone feels high.

End Game is the #1 seed and I can’t argue that at all. Skorpios and Malice will compete for the 32 seed. Glitch seems low to me.

Honestly, I’d be happier overall if everyone 1) fought 3 matches and 2) ranking was based on win/loss record with strength of schedule as a tiebreaker. If they kept a 2-hour show and showed 8 matches an episode (remember they used to do 4 in an hour), you could do the preliminaries in 12 episodes if you had 64 bots.

Do we want to see who can guess the bracket the best? I’d be game. Figure out a scoring plan and let’s see what happens.

pendell

2022-03-11, 02:52 PM

Episode 10: To the Victor, Go The Spoils

Tag: It's do-or-die, as qualifying fights wrap up & the
Round of 32 is revealed.

25 teams have at least 2 wins, so there are
about 7 spots left open.
10 of the 14 teams here competignt
tonight are 1-1, so the stakes are
high for them!

Bloodsport vs. Claw Viper

Bloodsport has a horizontal spinner,
bringing their longest bar -- 122 cm --
in order to keep Claw Viper at a distance

This match is "made" for Claw Viper (1-1),
a claw lifter, which is fast enough to control Bloodsport.
The downside is that their arms are plastic, so Bloodsport could
slice them off. They have mounted shock armor . They know they need
to take a hit, but hopefully the armor will shed off and prevent damage
to anything important while they reach out to grab Bloodsport.

Fight's on!

The minibot gets slapped into the screws. next
the main bots come into contact and one of Claw Viper's
arms goes flying! It's just a pushbot now but
Bloodsport still has a mean, mean spinner.

More hits, more bits of claw viper scattered over the botx
Oh, the humanity!

The minibot is smoking horribly in the middle of the box
while Claw Viper determinedly presses on, slamming Bloodsport
into the side of the battlebox. The pulverizer there misses,howe er,
hitting Claw Viper instead.

Another solid hit! Bloodsport is knocked on its head and nearly out of the arena!

But it rights, and goes back into it, that blade still humming.

Claw viper isn't giving up! It first rams Bloodsport into the battle box and
then into the screws. Even so, the top armour is gone and its electronics are exposed.

Time expires. A great fight! Gotta give Claw Viper the aggression points and control as well,
but that's not to overcome the immense damage Bloodsport has inflicted even if
CV was still mobile at the end of the match.

No argument from the judges.

WINNER: Bloodsport (Decision, 3-0)

Madcatter vs. Rampage

Oh, yes. Martin Mason of Madcatter. This guy. His picture is in the
tag slot on Amazon.
Clearly he's a fan favorite, even if TomandTish can't
stand his wrestler schtick.

Madcatter(1-1) is heavily favored against Rampage, but
that's not guaranteed. They still need to perform well to
achieve a high seed. They have a lifter arm
which intends to feed Rampage into a vertical spinner.

Rampage (0-1) has a vertical disc spinner coupled with a plow. Their captain is 16
and the bot is a family affair.

The announcers call this a "David vs. Goliath"
match, with Rampage as the underdog.

The round of 32 ain't no place for tourists. My money's on Madcatter.

Fight's on!

Madcatter charges out and promptly smacks Rampage onto the upper deck!

Rampage gets off but is in trouble as Madcatter, very aggressive, charges
in and starts chewing Rampage to bits!

BOOM! Madcatter sends Rampage tumbling end-to-end into the air,
at least 4 meters, knocking its plow away! It lands upside down on
the upper deck! Can it recover?

NO! Rampage is immobile and cannot self right! That's all she wrote!

That shot knocking rampage into the stratosphere should go on a highlight reel
somewhere. That was a thing of beauty. Sorry, Tomandtish, Madcatter makes
the tournament with that hit, and if this fight makes a difference to their
seeding it's definitely going up.

Martin Mason is gracious to Rampage, saying nice things about them in
the victory speech. He promises more upper deck action in fight after fight.

WINNER: Madcatter (KO)

Huge vs. Switchback

Huge (1-1) is a tremendous vertical spinner
and it looks like things are finally coming to geterh for them
after multiple disappointing seasons.

Switchback (1-1) is a vertical windmill taht
looks like its on a lifter. Seems a bit of a
strange design; perhaps they'll show us
how good it is tonight!

I don't see how they are going to pull it off.
They have to get in contact with Huge's weapon
to fight, and Huge's blade showed it was for real in the last fight.

Fight's on!

Switchback misses the box rush, and Huge
gets the first shot in. Switchback is having control issues,
allowing Huge a free hit to knock it over. It slowly
uses the arm to self right but it's not moving well,
technical issues right out of the gate
which Huge will only make worse.

Now Huge is having some control issues
and Switchback brings its blade into
contact with Huge's wheels. Is Huge
crab-walking?

Some more weapon-on-weapon contact.
A bit of Switchback's arm comes off and
their weapon powers down. Huge goes to
work with the cutting bar.

Huge is having a LOT of problems getting traction on the floor, but it still manages
to get a big hit in and that's it for Switchback, it is immobile.

Both fights seemed crippled. Huge won, no question, but he's going to have to bring
more to the table if he wants to go deep in the round of 32. A top-tier bot would
have used their wheel issues to destroy them.

WINNER: Huge (KO)

Kraken vs. Glitch

Glitch (2-0) vertical spinner, rookie, very impressive.
They beat Hydra. They're guaranteed in the tournament,
so this fight is for seeding.

Kraken (0-2) is a biter. It DOES have a chance even at 0-2 IF it can win here because it puts up a great fight and hasn't been knocked out in the last 13 matches.
They've had to cannibalize parts to get ready for this
match, but they are still ready.

Get 'em, Glitch.

Fight's on!

Glitch spins up, uses its omniwheels to evade Kraken, then
lands a BEAUTIFUL shot to send Kraken onto the upperdeck.
It takes perhaps 20 seconds for Kraken to self-right, using
some very impressive driving skill to use the battlebox as a
lever to right and get off the upper deck. It's not looking
good for Kraken.

BOOM! Glitch hits him twice in the back. BOOM! And that's
it! Kraken is knocked into the screws and is immobile!

That's it! Kraken is out of the tournament. It hasn't been knocked out in
13 matches but Glitch showed how to kill the unkillable. This
will do great things for their seeding; perhaps a top ten slot?

Glitch is in shock: "We were expecting to , uh, lose one fight
and not continue?" He's very quiet, not used to the attention.
Glitch has exceeded everyone's expectations.
WINNER: Glitch (KO)

Mammoth vs. Lucky

Mammoth (1-1) is a gigantic vertical spinner.They're weapon is
Tegris, stiffer material than their usual bread, which is better for
lifting and launching.

Lucky (1-1) is a flipper and an effective one.
Their driver is a renowned RC car driver but
these bots are bigger. They have taken off their rear armour
in order to get better control and have a better chance to get to
the parts of Mammoth that is vulnerable.

This promises to be an interesting match. Both bots pose
significant problems for the other.

Kenny Florian, announcer, thinks Mammoth has the edge here but don't
count Lucky out just yet.

Let the game begin!

Lucky charges, misses the flip, but still knocks Mammoth upside down and into the screws!
While Mammoth is trapped there, Lucky carefully lines up and flips off Mammoths' right tire!
Mammoth definitely at a disadvantage now, off the screws with Lucky pursuingl.

Lucky has lots the front part of its lifter but has enough of it left
to still be active. Mammoth is flipped over and take 30 seconds to self-right
before finally doing so. This is still anyone's fight. Mammoth still
has its spinner but is crippled against Lucky. Lucky, in turn, is going
to have great trouble inflicting damage with only half its flipper.

Mammoth has lost a weapon chain and is having mobility issues while
Lucky is having a hard time using the flipper for anything.

Mammoth's drive motor starts to smoke as it burns out and Lucky flips
them again. There is no recovery this time as the Mammoth team puts down
their controllers while the referee counts them out.

So Lucky's in, Mammoth is PROBABLY out. That really wasn't an interesting
enough fight to think about including a 1-2 bot.
WINNER: Lucky (KO)

Rusty vs. Witch Doctor

Rusty (0-1) is the little bot that could, except it hasn't done much. Even so it is a delightful
hobbyist project with a penetrator weapon against Witch Doctor (-10, one of
the sports' great veteran teams and a vertical spinner.

Rusty has forgone the hammer in exchange for a wedge with the hope
of flipping witch doctor and letting WD damage itself.

Witch Doctor brings an entirely new frame after End Game destroyed them
in the last match; they're taking no chances in this match. Rusty
has confused the game because WD prepared for a hammer bot and this
time Rusty is a lifting wedge. Lockjaw's former back plow, specficially.
It is welded on and will be hopefully used to lift Witch Doctor in

Everyone loves Rusty, but everyone also knows the conclusion is all but
foregone.

As the fight preps, Andrea, Witch Doctor's captain, says "We love you rusty"/
She knows what she must do, but she's not happy about it.

Fight's on!

Some prelimary dancing as each bot looks for a decent angle.

Finally, Witch Doctor charges in and hits Rusty frontally.
A second shot and that lifting wedge is snapped in two.
A third hit strips the tread off Rusty and knocks it on its
side. Even if he gets up he can't move.

That'll be it for this little bot. You're a great addition to the
sport, Rusty, but now it's time for serious competition.

WINNER: Witch Doctor (KO)

Also, the little stuffed Rusty doll , apparently created by a
fan, is incredibly cute.

Main Event: Fusion vs. Icewave

Fusion (1-1) has a vertical and a horizontal spinner. It's from the
Ewert clan just as Hydra is. It fights
Icewave (1-1) , the gasoline-powered horizontal spinner.

Fight's on!

Both bots spin up , then make their first calamitous weapon-to-weapon hit!
After wards, icewave's spinner is inactive. Fusion's vertical drum, which was
the other party in the collision, appears to still be working.

Icewave is knocked onto the screws but Fusion is suddenly immobile.
As Icewave works its way off, Fusion starts to billow out smoke, still immobile.

Perhaps they are stuck? Icewave tries to knock them loose, but even loose they're not moving.

"It's all about reliability", Kenny Florian comments, as the countdown starts.
During the pre-fight discussion, he said Fusion's strategy was simple:
"Don't burn up". They weren't able to execute on that, the 'bot is
simply too small , too complex, and combines both of those to make
a bot which is simply too vulnerable. Apparently that first big
hit from Icewave did the job.

As the fight ends we hear from Fusion's team: What in the **** could cause that?" "

A very disappointing fight. Having the winning bot just burst into flames
and shut down is not what I want to see in battle bots. I don't think
we're going to see the Fusion design again.

WINNER: Icewave (KO)

Note: The 31 and 32 seeds are still undecided. Apparently there are a
number of 2-1 bots so there will be two "play-in matches" to decide who
will be the #31 and #32 seeds respectively.

Round of 32

Q1:
1 Endgame vs the winner of
32 Skorpios vs Malice

16 Minotaur vs
17 Bloodsport

8 Copperhead vs
25 Lucky

9 Glitch vs
24 Witchdoctor.

Q2:
2 Ribbot vs the winner of
31 : Hydra vs Defender

15 Madcatter vs
18 Black Dragon

7 Blip vs
26 Valkyrie

10 Jackpot vs
23 Tombstone

Q3:
3 Whiplash vs
30 Icewave

14 Cobalt vs
19 Yeti

6 Rotator vs
27 Captain Shrederator

11 Tantrum vs
22 Gigabyte
Q4:
4: Sawblaze vs
29 Hijinx

13 Hypershock vs
20 P1

5 Uppercut vs
28 Huge

12 Shatter! vs 21 Riptide

That's it for the qualifiers. I hope they show the play-in matches live.
See you next week!

Respectfully,

Brian P.

tomandtish

2022-03-13, 01:18 PM

FYI I'm out of town the next two Thursdays, so my comments won't come until the following Mondays at the earliest.

pendell

2022-03-18, 06:03 PM

I wish Tomandtish well on his time off; I didn't respond
earlier because I was afraid of the double -post rule and I wanted to get this watch in.

Also if two episodes are pushed out before Tom returns, I will likewise add it to the end of this
post, again to avoid double-post.

Have a great time , TomandTish!

On with the show!

Episode 11: Let the Tournament Begin!

Quadrant 1 and Quadrant 4 will compete tonight:
16 bots and 8 matches

BRACKET UPDATE: Glitch (#9) has been forced to withdraw from the tournament.
Apparently the bot was so severely damaged they were not able to prepare for
their upcoming match against Witchdoctor. They have been forced to withdraw
from the tournament and will be replaced by Mammoth. Truly a heartbreaker for the
undefeated rookie team which had done so well.

UPDATE: Team Glitch Explains (https://www.crberkeley.org/blog/fight-ro32-dropout) in detail what went wrong. In brief, shipping delays and challenges. "Glitch" was so named for a reason.

There's more , but here's their summary for those who don't have time for the full article:

If you haven’t gotten the memo yet, we were hanging on by a thread for the entire BattleBots regular season. We’d been working extremely hard to even just get Glitch moving, barely making matches and barely getting sleep. this is why we were so surprised every time we won. And also why we weren’t surprised when we had to withdraw.

The bulk of our delays stemmed from the following issues:

Our billet frames (that literally every part was based on) had massive shipping delays - AKA we didn’t give ourselves enough time for shipping delays. Coupled with not having a workspace or garage to test in, our build as a whole was massively delayed, meaning we showed up to BattleBots with 2.5 frames, no electronics in them, and tons of problems to weed out.

The way our armor was designed, we had to take literally every single piece off every time we wanted to access the internals, sucking up time with a 40+ minute process.

We mounted our armor and forks with a bunch of threaded bolts that frequently jammed when the threads were damaged. It’s what you saw Chuck try to take out with a screw extractor in Ep4, but we ended up having to take the entire bot to the spark polluted grinding area to dremel the head off each time it happened.

The one thing we had going for us at this point was extremely minimal damage from our previous fights (1 wheel roller & forks from Hydra). We could reuse the weapon, drive and armor all without a problem.

ETA: Interestingly enough, it wasn't just team Glitch working to get the bot working! Many of the builders pitched in to try to get Glitch ready to rock.

Tons of teams helped us out during this time, which we were really grateful for. Huge, Ryan from MadCatter, Orion from Hijinx, and Big Dill helped us by loaning us a bunch with tools, and Brian from Tantrum (who helped us get our weapon spinning in the first place) helped us on the speed controller settings.

Everybody wanted to see Glitch fight again, but it just wasn't enough. It seems 90% of the battle in battlebots is fought in the pits during prep; and this is the area that took out the gallant 3-0 rookie team. Such a pity!

#12 Shatter! vs. #21 Riptide

Riptide, a rookie team, brings a drum spinner.

Shatter! brings a hammer which has been redesigned
in order to improve their ability to make shots, and ablative armour
which is designed to peel off during the fight, protecting the core bot.

The energy from the crowd is palpable; these aren't he
qualifiers anymore, this time it's serious.

Let the battle begin!

The teams approach slowly, allowing Riptide to spin up to maximum. The first
hit bounces Shatter! and takes off some of the ablative armour; Shatter! immediately
retaliates with its hammer and lands a hit.

Shatter! is turned around and Riptide bounces it over the screws and onto the upper deck.
Shatter! is still functional and quickly drives down for more.

BOONK! The two charge frontally. The hammer misses and Riptide nearly knocks
Shatter! out of the arena! A second hit spins it through a 360 and Shatter!
appears hapless, though still fully functional!

A fourth hit from Riptide square in the kisser; Shatter is immobile and starting to smoke.

That's it. Shatter! Can't move. It falls under the pulverizer which adds insult to injury with two more hits before the referee counts them out.

That seemed like a bit of a hurried match. Shatter! was plainly outclassed from the
beginning. It was unable to attack Riptide from anywhere save head-on and the
drum spinner made contact before the hammer could strike; this is a common weakness
of hammer bots versus spinners, and why there are so many spinners in the field.
Even so, a good show by Shatter!. Farewell, and see you next year!

WINNER: Riptide (KO)

#20 P1 vs. #13 Hypershock

Hypershock is a vertical spinner with forks and is very impressive
this year.

P1 is a flipper which will have to rely heavily on driving skills.
The plan is to get behind him, flip Hypershock into the wall, break
H's weapon.

Crowd is cheering for Hypershock, who is evidently the favorite tonight.

Fight's on!

This is a rapid fight; they charge in. P1 tries to flip twice and hypershock
lands two solid hits. Hypershock drive at P1 and slaloms off of P1's lifter,
flipping itself over! Hypershock is inverted, just where P1 wanted them,
can P1 capitalize?

They aren't really able to do much, fearful to flip hypershock back over, but Hypershock
achieves this 2 minutes into the match. 1 minute to go!

BOOM! Hypershock hits P1 and knocks it spinning, 4 meters into the air!

Hypershock has burned out its weapon motor and is reduced to a pushbot; The two bots continue
pressing for advantage until time expires. At the last Hypershock traps P1 against the side of the
battlebox and holds it there in a clear display of aggression and control.

I give it to Hypershock; that one hit which sent P1 for a loop was the money shot even if it
wasn't the kill shot, at least in my book.

The judges ... give it to P1? What?

I guess the 2 minutes spent inverted plus the burning out of the primary weapon plus putting
hypershock on the upper deck is what did it. I disagree with the decision, but the judges are
paid for this , not me.

The judges scored the damage 4-1 in favor of P1 , highlight shot notwithstanding, and that is
probably due to Hypershock's weapon going out, which was a result of running up on P1 and getting
flipped. So: Defensible.

WINNER: P1 (Decision, 3-0)

PLAY-IN FOR SPOT #32: Skorpios vs. Malice

Skorpios has an overhead spinner on a bar like a hammer plus a giant wedge, where Malice has a horizontal floor spinner.

The video wastes no time and just takes us right to the fight.

BEGIN!

Skorpios box rushes right into Malice and the heavy armour on the front holds up brilliantly,
disabling Malice's primary weapon! Skorpios presses the attack, landing shot after overhead
shot on the now-defenseless malice!

Another two minutes of Skorpios just bullying Malice all over the box, landing shot after shot
unimpeded. However, Skorpios starts to smoke!

Skorpios finishes by jamming Malice into the screws with ten seconds left as time expires.

There's no question Skorpios dominated this match in all three categories; they broke Malice's
primary weapon and unquestionably won the damage and aggression categories.

The judges agree. Skorpios will have the dubious privilege of facing the #1 ranked End Game
in their next fight.

WINNER: Skorpios (Decision, 3-0)

#16 Minotaur vs. #17 Bloodsport

Minotaur, ah, the drum spinner from He-, erm Brazil.

Bloodsport is a horizontal spinner with wedglets on the front. They have a longer,
more reliable blade which they will attempt to use to chip at Minotaur's edges.
The announcers seem to think Minotaur has the edge in this matchup.

The crowd is definitely on Minotaur's side, chanting the team's name.

Let the fight begin!

Both bots spin up, and the drum spinner of Minotaur makes its treadmark whine
like a Stuka in its dive.

First contact. Bloodsport goes flying! The tips of its weapon shear off and the
weapon appears inoperable.

It is starting to spin up, fitfully, but Minotaur is the one in control of the
match.

Several more shots from Minotaur, and Bloodsport cartwheels across the arena!

Minotaur's drum spinner has stopped ; is it inoperable while Bloodsport
is still functional?

Yes, it is. It spins up and lands another hit on bloodsport, though less impressive
than some we've seen.

Time expires. Minotaur controlled this fight and sent pieces of bloodsport everywhere;
I think Minotaur has this one.

The judges agree. Minotaur takes it!

WINNER: Minotaur (decision, 3-0)

Sawblaze (#4) vs. Hijinx (#29)

Sawblaze, the team from MIT, has a hammer-saw which has proven very effective and their
captain is intense; they've added a plow to counter hijinx' horizontal spinner.

Hijinx brings a horizontal spinner in the undercutter configuration. They bring a
new blade intended to cut into the plough and bite right in. She's been saving this
blade for a big fight and this is the one she chooses to deploy it in.

Fight's on!

Sawblaze box rushes and pins Hijinx's blade, refusing to let it spin up.

Sawblaze runs Hijinx under the pulverizer, then the weapon goes to work, trying to
take off Hijinx' right wheel. Three hits, and Hijinx' right armour comes off, exposing
the internals!

Hijinx spins up but the plough allows Sawblaze not to care. Next Sawblaze chops
off Hijinx' tail!

More bullying of Hijinx which nonetheless remains mobile. In the last ten seconds Sawblaze
gets them on the upper deck, and they only barely find their way back off it before time expires.

No question in my mind Sawblaze won this fight; the durability of the tournament
bots seem greatly increased from last year; Sawblaze, Minotaur are all very destructive
bots but so far we've only seen one knockout.

WINNER: Sawblaze (decision, 3-0)

Mammoth (#9) vs Witch Doctor (#24)

Mammoth is a huge vertical spinner which went 1-2 in the regular season, here only
because Glitch was unable to compete. We'll see how they fair against Witch Doctor,
another vicious vertical spinner captained by an impressive driver.

Frankly, I don't think Mammoth belongs here. Let's see if I'm proven wrong!
Fight's on!

Witch doctor spins up, outmaneuvers Mammoth and with one shot knocks Mammoth inverted!
Then they knock Mammoth right side up again!

Chains on the floor, tire looking ripped up, Mammoth's in trouble.

There goes the right wheel and Mammoth is immobile. It is counted out.

Hate to say it, but Mammoth might have been what boxing calls a "tomato".
It was destroyed rapidly by Witch Doctor while inflicting zero damage in return;
this gives WD good positioning for a deep run.

WINNER: Witch Doctor (KO)

Unaired Fight: Copperhead vs. Lucky

Copperhead all but destroyed Lucky, which nonetheless remained mobile enough
to force a judge's decision in favor of Copperhead.

WINNER: Copperhead (decision, 3-0)

Unaired fight: Huge vs. Uppercut

Both bots went into it aggressively with Uppercut having the advantage until
the bots were stuck together, immobile, resulting in a simultaneous KO, which
went to Uppercut.

WINNER: Uppercut (Double KO, Decision, 3-0)

Endgame vs. Skorpios

There doesn't seem to be much doubt how this will play out; has Endgame ever lost
a bout? Besides, Skorpios was in a fight earlier tonight and is ow
facing a fresh End Game. They bring a hammersaw and frontal amrour. Surprise us!

Endgame carries a vertical drum spinner which has knocked more than one
bot outta the arena.

Fight's on!

Skorpios gets the first shot but endgame swiftly counters.

Skorpios back is to End Game and you can't give the champ that kind of chance, ever.
It's over.

End Game shoves Skorpios half way on to the upper deck where it is stuck,
half on, half off, neither wheel in contact with the ground.
That's a neat bit of driving and control by Endgame, and that shold
end the match.

It does.

WINNER: Endgame (KO)

Respectfully,

Brian P.

tomandtish

2022-03-20, 11:04 AM

Pendell’s usual excellent commentary. Thanks for the wishes. The great time is hopefully this week. Last week was a funeral (sad, but not unexpected).

You summed the Glitch situation up well, so I won’t talk about why they had to withdraw. I do have some other comments later on. But I am extremely disappointed they couldn't go on. They were one of my favorites this season.

Pendell, you might want to check your names in this one. I think you refer to Riptide as Shatter at one point.

Given how fast Shatter is I’m surprised they didn’t try a box rush to keep Riptide from getting up to speed. But yeah, this was all Riptide from the very beginning.

I think Will didn’t figure out the speed issue quickly enough. When Hypershock approached P1 slowly he was able to get under P1. When he went in fast, he went above P1 and onto that ramp effect, causing the flip. Removing their self-righter also hurt (since while Hypershock can drive inverted they lose weapon effectiveness).

But this match shows the difference between the rules and reality when it comes to damage. Hypershock lost their weapon after that huge hit just after they got right-side up. This wasn’t P1 ramming then to break a weapon. This was Hypershock coming in for a hit. Damage is supposed to be based on damage done by primary weapon. And while the commentators say there must have been damage from Hypershock trying to self-right, there’s nothing visible that supports that. The weapon was working and then it wasn’t. So, I don’t think P1 broke Hypershock’s weapon, I think HYPERSHOCK broke their own weapon.

I think this confirms to me that regardless of what the rules say damage is king. And it doesn’t matter how the damage occurs. Because I agree with Pendell. I'd have given it to Hypershock. To me, the things Chris and Kenny talked about (broken weapon and the "judo flip") were things Hypershock did to itself. In fact, P1 never used their lifter against Hypershock except the flip. And since the flipper is P1's self righter and they were JUST finishing righting, i don't think it was a controlled move so much as bad timing by Hypershock.

Yeah, Malice never had a chance to use their weapon. Honestly, they deserve some credit for making it the distance, since horizontal spinner bots like that are usually worthless once the weapon stops. But weapon reliability has been an issue for them before. Hopefully they’ll work out the kinks for next season.

Credit to both bots here. Minotaur did an excellent job of controlling the fight and landing the big hits. Playing possum allowed them to get another decent one in as well. Bloodsport deserves credit in the toughness category. Even after several big hits their weapon still kept working for the fight. It was missing pieces and bent, but it was spinning at a speed that might have done some damage (if it wasn’t bent up and range shortened). But this was Minotaur’s fight all the way).

This continues a trend I’m noticing in these fights. One robot gets a clear advantage early on but can’t close the deal. Sawblaze effectively nullified Hijinx’s weapon from the beginning but couldn’t get the knockout. And unlike Bloodsport and Malice, Hijinx isn’t normally considered a “tough” bot. They may have gotten the victory, but I wonder if deep down Team Sawblaze isn’t a little disappointed in how this ended. Jameson does admit during the interview that he was taking out some frustration as a result of the End Game loss.

This was a slaughter pure and simple. And I have to agree that Mammoth doesn’t belong here. This is what annoys me: You have 2 bracket seeds that are being fought for (31 and 32) because you allegedly have 4 bots on the cusp. So, if someone drops out of the bracket, why not put one of them in the empty spot. The fact that they were in those 31-32 slots means (allegedly) the committee felt they were better than Mammoth. So why do they still have to do battle while Mammoth gets and upgrade (and bracket wise a decent sized one). This is one of those times where I start to wonder if they just like throwing in controversial matches to keep things going. I’m not only disappointed in the quality of the fight, I’m disappointed we saw it at all.

We can’t really comment on a fight we didn’t see. But this ties in to the annoyance I feel with the decisions they are making on what to show.

Copperhead apparently bashed Lucky up and down the box with numerous massive hits, but Lucky held on despite missing wheels and forced a decision. Huge and Uppercut had some huge hits and BOTH bots were counted out, forcing a judges’ decision. So, what sounds like 2 of the more interesting fights were not shown because they chose to show us the Mammoth/WD fight instead (which is the most disappointing fight of the night so far)? Look, you can fit 8 fights in a 2-hour period. You do it in the round of 16. So, show us 8 fights. And if you’re doing the play in (which I don’t like) pick the worst fight of the night to highlight.

This was End Game from start to finish. Skorpios got off one shot right at the beginning and didn’t do squat. Smart money is for End game to go all the way. At this point I think the only bot that can beat End game is End Game.

pendell

2022-03-20, 02:37 PM

I'll probably wind up adding my next watch to this post if there is no others between now and Thursday, to avoid double-post.

Pendell, you might want to check your names in this one. I think you refer to Riptide as Shatter at one point.

Noted and fixed, thank you.

As towards Glitch's replacment, my understanding is that at the time of the problem the 31 and 32 seed play-in fights had already been fought; the winners had already won their spot, the losers had already been eliminated. But when Glitch wasn't ready to show up, they brought in a replacement. The bones of contention with the producers would be as follows:
1) Of all the 1-2 bots they had to choose from, why Mammoth?
2) Given the episode was probably cut together months after the original tournament and all the outcomes were known, why did they not choose to air one of the unaired fights? Without giving away too many spoilers, I think it's fair to say that my view of the entertainment value of the unaired fights vis-a-vis what actually went into the episode is .. probably not what the showrunners were thinking. I'd much rather have seen Huge's fight, which was apparently pretty impressive.

At the end of the day, though, Glitch fell prey to the same problems many other rookie bots have: They tend to have great weapons and ideas, but they don't have the durability, the reliability, or the driving skill to go the distance. That did in Glitch this time. I hope for the next iteration, they redesign it for greater maintainability and ease of repair; If they had been able to make the armour changes a ten minute affair rather than a 40 minute affair, the outcome might have been way different.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

tomandtish

2022-03-20, 07:30 PM

Yeah, I think we're on the same page about both selecting Mammoth AND why they chose to televise THAT fight.

pendell

2022-03-25, 08:36 PM

Episode 12: 8 down, 8 to go
The first Elimination Round reaches its climax -- who will survive?

They always asked that at the end of Mobile Suit Gundam, too. Which was also
about robots fighting.

Q2 and Q3 will be fighting tonight.

PLAY-IN: Hydra vs. Defender

Hydra was the most powerful flipper in thre sport in
previous incarnations, but it hasn't
been nearly as impressive this time around;
hasn't got the altitude on the flips
we're used to. This is make-or-break for him.
He's completely rebuilt the robot for this fight.

Defender is bringing the same fork configuration that
beat Hydra last year. It has some sort of claw arm which can reach down and
grab once it's got under Hydra. Is it a lifter?

Fight's on!

Defender gets stuck on the battle box floor. Hydra tries to flip, misses,
loses one of its own forks in the process.

Hydra gets two 2-meters flips. Solid damage, but it's not what he used to do.
Also, Hydra's mobility seems to be somewhat compromised.

Okay, THAT'S what we paid to see. Hydra gets a solid 4 meter flip of defender
against the wall of the battlebox. It comes down on top of the pulverizer!

Flip #5 puts Defender on its back. it is able to self right, but it has
lost its grappler and has no offensive power. Unless Hydra self-destructs
in the next minute or so, Hydra is going to win.

Flip 6,7, 8! That's it! Defender is put onto the upper deck upside down
and can't self-right, because the arm is disabled! That is it, and Hydra
advances to claim the #31 seed in the tournament!

Now this is the Hydra we wanted to see; but I want more altitude from
those flips!

Jake Ewert decides to add some editorial commentary: "And that's why the
shelf sucks, because I can't play with my toy any more." Not a fan of the upper
deck? Or just sarcasm? Anyways, he takes the W.

Post interview: "Hi guys! That's the way it's supposed to work."

WINNER: Hydra (KO)

Cobalt vs Yeti

Cobalt is a vertical spinner versus
Yeti, a drum spinner.

These are two very destructive bots. The announcers
joke that the judges might as well sit this one out. One
of these bots, maybe both, are going out of the arena in
pieces.

The pre-fight interview says this will be a driver's competition,
each attempting to avoid the destructive weapon of the other
while landing hits of its own.

The bot whisperer is jumping out of his seat
with excitement.

Let the games begin!

They very carefully approach each other,
each trying to avoid the other's main weapon,
both struggling a bit with the arena floor,
but Yeti draws first blood, hitting Cobalt
twice and knocking it end over end.

Some more careful dancing, Yeti
piroutting gracefully out of the way of a strike
with an impressive move, but even so Cobalt
lands the second shot, knocking Yeti upside down.

Yeti self rights, neutralizing the fight, and re-engages.

BOOM! Cobalt lands the next hit and Yeti
almost kisses the ceiling!

More hits! Yeti is upside down, has losta fork,
and can no longer self-right! The countdown starts...

and ends. yeti is knocked out.

Some really, really great driving by both bots, championship
caliber and worthy of the tournament in which they are competing.
Cobalt takes the win, but Yeti has nothing to be ashamed of!

WINNER: Cobalt (KO)

Tombstone vs. Jackpot

Tombstone is a legendary horizontal spinner and a classic design,
but it has been showing its age, struggling to make it into this tournament.
Lost one fight, won two battles but neither was especially brilliant.

Ray thinks this will be a quick match one way or the other -- they'll
both spin up, they'll hit each other, and the more reliable bot
will still be moving at the end.

Jackpot is a heavy vertical spinner. I think he has a chance
but it is going to be an uphill battle for Jackpot.

Fight's on!

They go right into it. BOOM!
And then they get back out and try again.
KRA-KA_KOOM!

Both bots fly from the center to opposite ends of the box!

Jackpot's internals are hanging out but it is still mobile
while Tombstone's weapon is spun down and it is crab-walking!
Is this it for the legendary champion?

It is! With only one wheel active Tombstone can only go in cirlces!
It is counted out!

So I guess that this confirms the whispers: Tombstone is past its prime.
If Ray wants the top slot again, he's going to need a new bot
with a new strategy.

HOWEVER, in the postfight wrap up we look at what Tombstone did
to Jackpot. HO-LEEE --! Ray messed them up big-time. They've got a
major rebuilding job before they're ready for their next match.

WINNER: Jackbot (KO)

Madcatter vs. Black Dragon

Ah, Martin Mason of Madcatter. I can already hear TomandTish gritting his teeth.

Madcatter is a vertical spinner
with a lifting arm; the intent being to use the small amr
to lift them up so the spinner can hit the bottom panels.

Black Dragon is a Brazilian team with a vertical
drum spinner, very destructive bot. Should be a good fight
between two very similar bots.

Oh, oh, oh. Trash talk Ahoy. Martin Mason says "We're up against
Black Dragon, and it's a good thing they're named that,
because that's the color of the trash bag they're leaving the
arena in!"

Oh, oh, OH. Suddenly I have a rooting interest in this fight. I'm
going to enjoy watching Black Dragon smash Madcatter into
a million pieces.

Fight's on!

They charge in! Black Dragon gets two solid shots in,
upending madcatter once but knocking mc right side up again,
and the fight is neutralized. Madcatter's long arm keeps
Black Dragon's spinner at bay but neither can it
close with its own weapon; Black Dragon stays on the far
side from the lifting arm, so that isn't helpful either,
at least, not yet.

Black Dragon pushes Madcatter into the screw, but Madcatter
takes off one of BD's forks!

The two bots continue to push. Slowly, steadily,
Black Dragon is starting to bully Mad catter but Madcatter
is inflicting damage; Black Dragon has lost its other fork.
Even so, the aggression and control definitely go to
BD.

Madcatter lands a solid shot and knocks BD into the air!

Black Dragon is slower now and the two bots continue to land hits
on each other. I think this one is going to go the distance.

Black Dragon lands a hit and pushes Madcatter into the screws, but
I think this is going to go to a decision.

Black Dragon uses it's flamethrower and sets themselves on fire!
Madcatter knocks the Brazilian upside down just as time expires!

I give this one to Madcatter; they inflicted more damage
and, while the Brazilians showed aggression and contorl,
they weren't so dominant in these categories as to overcome
the loss of their forks or the final flip that Madcatter
delivered to them.

Split Decision.
Jason scores Black Dragon.
Lisa gives it to Madcatter (wut? She and I agree?)
Derek gives it to Black Dragon.

Black Dragon wins, and Martin Mason was outta there!

That's defensible. Black Dragon was aggressive and in
control for much of this fight, and the announcers observed that
Madcatter was having drive trouble at the end of the fight,
so it may be that Black Dragon was actually in better shape and
won on damage after all.

Either way, Martin Mason gets one last interview,
and exits the tournament for the year.

UPDATE: He has something to say about this fight (https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/tnsc0s/madcatter_vs_black_dragon_fight_recap/)

Black Dragon totally deserved the win. They were all over us and hit us quite a few times. We came out fast but after the first self right, we just couldn’t drive right.

In the Yeti fight, our old and clapped out drive motors were breaking left and right. We figured that was the issue again. Unfortunately, it wasn’t caused by any damage, it was simply our lifter arm pushing our front wheels off the ground. All we had to do was lift the arm up a bit, but we didn’t know in the heat of the moment. We knew the arm could lift the front up, but we never tried driving with it like that, so we didn’t know what to look for. In fact, we hardly did any driving with the pontoon wedges and arm down because they left gouges and big craters in the concrete at home or peel up the floor in the test boxes. These bots have a lot of heft and horse power behind them.

We added 50% more drive power to MadCatter this year, but only to the front wheels where most of the bot’s weight sits. There are two motors for each front wheel and one motor for each rear wheel. Since the arm was lifting the front wheels off the ground, the entire bot was being driven by the 2 drive motors in the back and two motors is simply not enough. Since only 2 out of 6 drive motors were actually putting power down, it made it hard to drive forwards and backwards and even harder to turn.

Right after the fight we threw MadCatter in the test box and it drove perfectly. All of our drive motors were still working great. We slammed the arm into the ground and it drove like crap, just like in the fight. That was the ah-ha moment. The rear two motors struggled to move the whole bot while most of the weight was focused on the tip of the arm digging into the floor.

Checking out the damage after the fight was crazy. We completely ripped off their front two hinged wedges, which were not only bolted on, but had these really cool mortise and tenon style joints that supported the mounts in shear. We also tore a giant hole in the front of their wedge. I’ve never seen black dragon so mangled before. In addition to all that, we completely cracked their weapon. Luckily they had plenty of spare armor and weapons. Even after taking all that damage, black dragon continued to drive amazingly and dominated the control and aggression categories.

On MadCatter, we got a few dings on the side armor, but the sloped sides shrugged off the hits great. They hit the plastic ablative armor on the back but the frame underneath was untouched. The thin aluminum top panel got bent up but it didn’t make any difference. Our aluminum bunny ears got a little bent in but it didn’t hinder the function of the bot at all. Our drive, weapon, and lifter arm were all working perfectly. It’s really disappointing to loose a fight because of a simple mistake. We won’t make that mistake again in the bounties though!

WINNER: Black Dragon (Decision, 2-1)

Blip vs. Valkyrie

Valkyrie is an undercutter
vs. Blip, a flipper.

Valkyrie, rated the most destructive bot in 2020,
beat a flipper -- subzero -- to
get into the round of 16 last year, but Blip is much
faster.

Fight's on!

Blip charges in, misses, and goes right at Valkyrie!
Valkrie gets some hits in, but the armour of Blip
holds, and the blade stops spinning.

Now it's Blip's turn to see if it can get a flip in.

One gentle flip onto the screws, then a second flip
while Valkyrie is caught to send it into the air anto the upper deck!
It is upside down! It'll get off of course, but command performance
so far by Blip!

Blip is in full control of this match, flipping
Valkyrie three times, almost at will.

4..5...6 flips including 1 3-meter flip next to the
Pulverizer which almost, but not quite, gets Valkyrie
out of the arena. This is now a flipping clinic put on
by Blip.

More flips, some QUITE high, 4 meters or so, and
sparks from Valkyrie.

Another flip , Valkyrie is crabwalking. Blip flips them twice more , and
Valkryie stops moving. Counted out just before the closing bell.

The announcers tell us Blip's plan was first to
break Valkyrie's blade with its frontal armour, then
go to work with the flipper, and that is exactly
what happened in this fight. Perfect planning and
execution by team Blip!

The announcers also tell us that Blip uses flywheel technology so it can reset
and flip again almost instantly, contra the flippers of the past (such as
Hydra) who depend on gas for the flip and so can only perform the action a limited
number of times. Blip, which doesn't need gas, has no such limitations and got
in 18 flips in this match. Truly
a dangerous bot , well designed and well driven, perfectly positioned for a deep
run right up to the point End Game destroys them.

WINNER: Blip (KO)

UNAIRED FIGHT: Rotator vs. Captain Shrederator

Rotator ate Captain Shred. Enough said.

WINNER : Rotator (KO)

UNAIRED FIGHT: Whiplash vs. Icewave

Icewave was brilliant in this fight, landing hard hits on Whiplash, but
Whiplash is tough and eventually turned the tables, flipping Icewave over.
Icewave doesn't have a self-righting mechanism, so that was the end of the fight.

WINNER: Whiplash (KO)

Tantrum vs. Gigabyte

Tantrum has am adjustable vertical spinner and arms to help bring it into contact, while
Gigabyte is a full-body spinner. Very destructive, very hard to control. Gigabytes
rarely go deep; we'll see if Gigabyte proves to be an exception.

Gigabyte has added wedgelets in order to feed Tantrum into the blade;
let's see if it works.

Kenny Florian says that gigabyte is hurt by the boxes' new geometry, because it is
easier to be caught in a corner with this bot.

Fight's on!

Tantrum charges, misses, smashes into the rails and bounces back as Gigabyte spins up.

They dance about a bit, then BOOM! Both bots go flying and Gigabyte goes end over end,
pieces of it falling off. Advantage: Tantrum.

These short corners are really causing Gigabyte to suffer.

I'm not sure Tantrum's primary weapon is working. It shoves
Gigabyte onto the upper deck, and hits Gigabyte again as it comes down. BOOM!
Gigabyte goes up into the sky and comes down hard!

Tantrum has lost a wheel and has lost some mobility, but still functional.

Another big shot as both bots go flying!

Tantrum is starting to smoke but Gigabyte has stopped spinning.

Okay, Tantrum's weapon IS still working. They land a solid shot to Gigabyte with it
but it looks like this fight is winding down.

Tantrum looks like its crabwalking but time expires before anything can be made of this.

To the judges!

Very close, but I think Tantrum wins this one. Gigabyte's primary weapon was disabled,
and it looked like it had control as well.

The judges agree, Tantrum takes it.

WINNER: Tantrum (Decision, 3-0)

Ribbot vs. Play-in Winner

It's Hydra, the flipper which needs no introduction, taking on the
#2 rated Ribbot, vertical spinner with forks. It's a very difficult
draw for Ribbot. Still, Hydra has been in a fight earlier tonight,
so there may be battle damage or wear.

In this case Ribbot has an undercutter this time.

BEGIN!

They charge right in and Hydra gets a flip right way,
which strips off big chunks of metal from Ribbot!

And another! And another!

Hydra has lost its nose but it is still flipping!

And Ribbot is crab-walking! They are counted out!

Ribbot is incensed. "That's not controlled movement?"

No, no it isn't. I can see it, the ref sees it too. That's the end of Ribbot's
season. Hydra is BACK, baby!

Bracket status: BUSTED. No one saw this coming.

The announcers ask Jake Ewert of Hydra about the catcalls from the audience. He says : "I'm the villain , baby. You gotta hate me."

WINNER: Hydra (KO)

I have a theory on aired versus unaired fights: Maybe part of the decision process
isn't just about the entertainment value, but also about the merch? Maybe those
bots they think will generate more sales get more face time? And of course
Martin Mason is entertaining (to quite a few people) so his fights always get aired.

And that's it for this week!

Respectfully,

Brian P.

Traab

2022-03-26, 02:24 PM

pendell

2022-03-27, 05:44 PM

Is it just me or is captain shred kind of a jobber? It seems like most of his matches are him getting nailed by his opponent. Iirc didnt CHOMP bust shredder up in one of their fights? Chomp, the dude built like an oversized mail box that flings himself all over the arena whenever his own weapon fires?

Hey, Captain S beat Tombstone this year. That's not a jobber, and that's why they were in the tournament, and not as an alternate; they were a 2-1 bot.

The problem I see with it is that , reading up on it's history it's been around since 2001 (https://battlebots.fandom.com/wiki/Captain_Shrederator) and hasn't changed much in all that time. Like Tombstone, like Icewave, it's an older design that has never been updated to resolve its flaws ; as a full body spinner, it is unstable and relatively easy to damage. It is also hard to control. But the team keeps pushing on with this old design. It isn't a bad design; it reliably eliminates rookies without too much difficulty. But it's a middle of the pack veteran, not the top-tier, not a Giant Nut contender.

Why does Captain Shrederator continues with the design when it has been proven unable to advance far into the tournament? It's the same with Blacksmith; the same teams keep bringing the same designs year after year after year, and year after year they get trashed.

I can't say about Blacksmith, but reading up on reddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/l2dnze/brian_nave/) it appears that Captain S used to be an incredibly dominant bot -- in 2001. Back when the world trade center was standing , ALL YOUR BASE was the meme of the moment, and most of the people on this forum were just getting started on solids. The design's fallen off in the generation since then, but rather than admit defeat and start over he continues doubling down on the same design, going for evolutionary improvements rather than starting over with a new design that would need to be shaken down from scratch. I think they believe they've got a winner if only it can be dialled in and improved just a bit more. it used to be good; why can't it be good again?

Frankly, I think they're mistaken. Full body spinners are simply too fragile to survive in the modern battle box. Gigabyte has the same problem; they hit very hard but they're hard to control and their very design means they are very , very easy to destabilize or break to bits. they can't have a tombstone-like blade, so they are very vulnerable to any combination that includes a wedge to break and destabilize them. I'm not sure you need ANY weapon against Captain S besides a wedge; just let them break their fist on your face, destabilize, and go hurtling around the battlebox until their electronics burn out from the abuse.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

Traab

2022-03-27, 06:24 PM

tomandtish

2022-03-28, 07:18 PM

I mean, too be fair, beating tombstone is no longer the legendary feat it once was. You talk about bots not updating, i swear its like he doesnt even get fully repaired or busted internals replaced from season to season and so he keeps breaking easier. You know who I miss? Ziggo! That was a brutally efficient full body spinner that could tear apart anyone and also was fairly tough. Blacksmith has always been a joke bot in my eyes, even back at the start, he just never really had any visible power behind him.

I only have a few minutes and ipad typing is hard, so I'll add more commentary later.

In rewatching Tombstone fights, i do suspect that the changes he made to the body that were supposed to minimize the damage when they have the big hits.. didn't work at all. Tombstone went down much more easily this season, usually after the second big hit. I totally agree that they are no longer the dragon at the gateway, but I suspect at least part of the issue is this new body.

Tvtyrant

2022-03-28, 07:53 PM

I consider Copperhead one of the three top bots, why are they getting no air time this season? Hydra and Endgame get to be front row viewing but Copperhead is all unaired?

tomandtish

2022-03-29, 06:32 PM

Pendell did his usual excellent job. My thoughts...

Yeah, this is (mostly) the Hydra we were supposed to see. Solid (if not terribly high) flips and Defender never seemed to stand a chance. Regarding mobility, both bots seemed to be hanging up on the floor. That's the downside of the battle for low ground. Too low and you have maneuvering issues.

Cobalt is arguably one of the hardest hitting bots this season. They look poised for a deep run.

This fight confirms in my mind that Tombstone isn't surviving their big hits anymore. In past seasons Ray could land big hits like these all match. But this season Tombstone isn't bouncing back from them. I'll be curious to see what he does. That was definitely a sigh of resignation from Ray at the end.

I have to agree this was a tough one to call. I honestly wasn't sure. Props to Catter, they went toe to toe with one of the best and went the distance.

I agree with Pendell. Blip is on track to win their quarter of the bracket, and I suspect End Game is their only serious competition.

No real comment on the unaired fights. Nothing there surprised me.

If the fight had been 20 seconds longer I suspect Tantrum would have lost. Surprisingly strong performance by Gigabyte.

The only question for this fight was which Hydra showed up. And that question got answered pretty easily. Yeah, rotating isn't movement. Multiple flips and Ribbot never really got anything going. Even losing the nose didn't slow Hydra down.

I will say that there weren't really any surprises in this episode. The only matches that had questions going into it were the Hydra fights, and that strictly depended on whether we got the powerful flipping Hydra or the buggy can't get it done Hydra. Once we knew that answer, all the fights went pretty much as expected.

pendell

2022-04-01, 08:00 PM

So this is the Round of 16; I think it may be the second-to-last episode this year.
There should be 8 fights, one of which will probably be unaired. After that we have
4 quarter final fights, 2 semi final fights, and one final fight, for a total of 7 more
fights, easily doable in a single episode.

Round of 16

It's a fight to the death as only 16 bots remain in the World Championship.

Uppercut vs. Riptide

These are both former "most destructive" bots, aren't they? This should be fun.

Riptide's entry poem is a lot of animal screams which
Farouk delivers with panache. Describe as
"insane", Riptide brings a drum spinner tonight. They are a rookie
team. They've added foam around their wires to keep from
shorting out. They also have a lot of ability to ift
robots into their with their large weapon.

Uppercut is also a vertical speinner,
and this is their third time in the round of 16.

The announcers expect a lot of
weapon-to-weapon contact, which should favor Uppercut.

BEGIN!

Good gosh, Riptide is aggressive, it comes out swinging,
beats Uppercut around and tosses it over the screws! For a minute
we're wondering if that's the end of the match, but the
screws reverse and Uppercut is back in the box. Ripdie
doesn't let up and starts smashing away. WOW!

Riptide falls over, spewing some kind of powder over the bots,
eating the floor with its weapon, and a cylinder comes off.

Uppercut's tires appear to be struggling; looks like
crab-walking. I think we're ready to count them out.

We are. The Uppercut team laughs as the countdown starts;
there's no way out of this for them, and the rookie team
advances to the quarterfinals.

Nicely done, Riptide! Absolutely beautiful fight! Riptide
came out swinging, then got on Uppercut's six like a fighter chasing
a bandit and tore them apart. I don't remember many performances this
aggressive, even from Tombstone.

WINNER: Riptide (KO)

Rotator vs. Tantrum
SPOILER ALERT: This is one of the best fights in the history of the sport.
Watch this one if you skip all the others.

Tantrum is a vertical retractable
drum spinner, under new captains
Alex Grant and Ginger Schmidt. They have
needed a lot of repairs after their last win
against Gigabyte, so they are at a disadvantage in this fight.
They're confident; they've beaten horizontal
spinners before this year, so they're confident
in their bot being able to handle these particular angles.

Rotator is an undercutting drum spinner captained
by Victor De Soto.

Kenny and Chris expect the fight to go to the judges, as both
bots are very hard to kill.

Tantrum tells us this will be a driving match; Rotator will
try to hit them on the wheels. Tantrum will try to dodge this
and land a bunch with their spinner.

Fight's on!

Tantrum evades Rotator and lands a hit. Then Tantrum takes
Rotator into the wall once, then twice.

Rotator lands a pair of hits, then Tantrum pops them, pushes them
over the screw onto the upper deck. Rotator makes it off the upper
deck but is now inverted, at a disadvantage. That undercutter can't
really hit Tantrum any longer; it's too low to the ground.

Tantrum knocks rotator across the box, but now they are struggling to move.
At first they are merely spinning, allowing Rotator to land a solid hit.

They move a little but Tantrum is really struggling to move now.

Rotator lands some free hits and strips off Tantrum's self-righting
system, but they've managed to free Tantrum and now it's Tantrum's turn to start
delivering the hits!

30 seconds left. Tantrum presses.. presses .. and knocks Rotator
outta the arena! It's over!

What a great fight! Both teams came out swinging and neither let up!
This would have been a tough call for the judges, but the rookies
got a last shot at the end and got it done, Rotator counted out with
just one second left on the clock! Great, great job by Tantrum!

Y'know what though, Rotator ALMOST won this one. There was a point in the fight
when Tantrum was stuck on a piece of debris and was immobile. All Rotator had to do
was step back and allow the ref to count them out. Instead, they went in to inflict
damage , which they did, but it allowed Tantrum to free itself and come back in style.
Really, hard fight. As the Duke of Wellington might say, "a d*mn close-run thing".

Kenny and Chris agree: "Instant classic". "One of the best fights I've ever seen."
WINNER: Tantrum (KO)

Jackpot vs. Blip

Blip is a brilliant rookie flipper against Jackpot, the very durable vertical
spinner which is a Tombstone-killer.

Announcers tell us "driving will be key".

Jackpot must avoid the flipper and bring it's own
weapon to bear to score damage points. They've brought
a minibot in the hope of hi-centering Blip, which
has happened to it earlier with some effect.

Blip is using the same configuration he used againts Lockjaw --
wedgelets to get under Jackpot and knock it out of the
tournament.

Fight's on!

Blip tries to get under Jackpot, misses, Jackpot hits
for some damage but not much yet. Blip continues to
engage cautiously, looking for just the right angle .. and gets it.
Blip forces Jackpot to the side of the arean and does its lflip!
Jackpot stays in the arena but is vertical , wheels in the air.
It's stuck and can't self-right. The little minibot,
Ace, zips in to try to push Jackpot back over but can't..
it simply isn't big enough. Jackpot is out of the tournament!

This is a good win , not as exciting as the one's we've seen
but it's the right call by Blip. The round of 16 isn't
the place for charitable gestures which may mean
getting your own bot wrecked. Blip left Jackpot
to try to get out of its own mess, and could not.
So it goes. Blip is for real, and Blip advances.

WINNER: Blip (KO)

Hydra vs Black Dragon

Oh, this is gonna be good.

Hydra is this season's "villain", a lethal flipper
which has been on-again, off-again this year but seems to
have finally dialed in.

Jake Ewert thinks there's a 90% chance he'll win this fight
IF the bot is fully functional, but there's only a 60% chance of that.
So which Hydra will show up?
He's booed when he comes out, but he eats it all up.
Your anger is as meat and drink to him!
He expects a wedge battle, which gives him something to
flip on. He's confident.

Black Dragon is a tough vertical spinner with a
flamethrower. This is their first fight with a
flipper in battlebots ever. Their plan is to outmaneuver
Hydra, hit him from the sides and back.

Black Dragon also brings a minibot, but I'm not sure what i'ts going
to contribute to this fight.

So advantage: Hydra. But nowhere near enough
to give it high odds.

Let the game begin!

Hydra approaches, carefully, strategically, and draws
first blood with a 3-meter flip of Black Dragon! It spins
gracefully through the air before coming down hard!

And again!

Now Black Dragon starts taking advantage; comes around to the side
of Hydra, but he can't bring his drum spinner into contact! It's the ideal
position but it does nothing! Hydra pivots and sends him flying again!

That's probably the best Black Dragon has to show us. He came in through the front
and got flipped. He came from the side, couldn't hit,
got flipped again. This match is all Hydra at the moment.
Black Dragon needs more to win this fight, and right now
I don't think they have it.

Hydra playing very defensively. The minibot gets behind
Black Dragon but can't seem to get purchase; it does nothing.

Hydra continues to flip Black Dragon but with decreasing
altitude. Black Dragon is inverted and its weapon is slowing ubit
is still very, very much in this fight.

Okay, Hydra still has gas pressure. Black Dragon goes
4 meters into the air and comes back right side up. Can it
capitalize?

Kill saws come out; 1 minute to go. Hydra continues to
give Black Dragon small flips; Black Dragon is now on fire
but that is meaningless with this bot.

Time expires; the battle goes to the judges.

Black Dragon wins the aggression category; Hydra fought
a very defensive battle so should get 0 points in this category.
Nonetheless, it scores heavily in the damage and control
categories, flipping Black Dragon 17 times, so they should win.

Kenny Florian says: "Experience matters; Jake Ewert has faced a lot
of vertical spinners inside the battle box. This is Black
Dragon's first fight against a flipper, and to be honesst, it showwed. "

I may have got the quote slightly wrong, but that is definitely
the gist of it.

The judges agree.

Jake tells us his bot was not on point in this fight; their
drive was broken within ten seconds of start. But they planned for hydra,
knew they were super-aggressive, let Black Dragon feed themselves
into the flipper and go for a ride. Jake calls this
"Hydra syndrome". For whatever reason once people are flipped
they keep feeding themselves to his flipper, all the time.

Strong come-from-behind work by the villain, overcoming
malfunctions in his own bot to post the W. He earned it.

WINNER: Hydra (Decision, 3-0)

Witch Doctor vs. Copperhead

Witch Doctor is a vertical spinner.

Copperhead is a vertical drum spinner.

Both of these bots are very destructive; the annoucners
predict a "double date of disaster".

The plan seems to be to go weapon-to-weapon, strong
bot wins. The WD team is impressed with Copperhead;
they are one of the smallest bots on the field and built like a brrick.
No one's ever been able to knock them out. WD will
try to get the hits in , damage the frame, see what shakes loos.e
Copperhead's plan is similar.

Copperhead also has two minibots; I don't think they'll be
much use in this matchup.

Let the games begin!

The two bots spin up, maneuver but come down to a weapon-on-weapon hit.
BOOMP! Witch Doctor bounces backwards, doing a complete flip before
landing right side up, landing on one of the minis which
is shattered to pieces. Copperhead is unfazed.

At this moment, I think the he tone has been set.

But we're not done yet! Witch Doctor comes back wit ha
a pair of hits, one after another, and inverts Copperhead!
This won't seriously handicap Copperhead which can drive
inverted, but Witch Doctor is very much still in this fight!

Witch Doctor is now bullying Copperhead around the box
and now Copperhead's ... not moving?

That's it! Copperhead is knocked out! Great performance
by Witch Doctor to adjust and find a way to kill the unkillable!
Copperhead's impressive season comes to an end as
Witch Doctor advances to the quarterfinals like the
world-class team they are.

WINNER: Witch Doctor (KO)

P1 Vs. Sawblaze

P1 is a speedy lifter while Sawblaze is the
ever-aggressive overhead vertical spinner on an arm.
It has a very intense Captain, Jameson.

I think this is Sawblaze's fight. P1 doesn't have a
a lot of offensive potential and has to win a judge's
decision by out-driving Sawblaze. I just flat don't see
that happening, not against Sawblaze. But P1 IS
one of the fastest bots in the tournament, so they've got
a chance.

Sawblaze plans to win by control, dial back the weapon,
not destroy themselves. They are coming out ,even so, with
their highest-energy highest-damage configuration.
But P1 is very, very, VERY durable.

P1 hopes to lift Sawblaze, for S to self-right with their own
weapon, hopefully something will break in the process.

Fight's on!

Sawblaze draws first blood, getting around P1's side,
hitting it twice and taking it under the Pulverizer.

Sawblaze is in control, easily outmaneuvering P1 and inflicting
mutiple direct hits with its weapon. P1 has visible
damage but is still fully functional.

More hits, another trip under the pulverizer for P1.

One of P1's belts falls out, onto the floor. That can't be good.

1 minute left. Sawblaze hasn't been using its upper arm
despite multiple opportunities; is their arm broken?

Okay, now they bring it out and land a hit. P1 experiencing
mobility issues but it looks like they'll go the distance.

Time expires, and the fight goes to the judges. Still,
even the announcers acknowledge there's only one way this fight can go.
Sawblaze did unto others as they would like to do unto
Sawblaze, but P1 did unto Sawblaze absolutely nothing.
Aggression, Control , and Damage categories all go to Sawblaze.

The judges agree.

Jameson remains focused and intense. They made a mistake
by driving over a killsaw and lost a tooth. They need to
repair and they need more practice.

Winner: Sawblaze (decision, 3-0)

UNAIRED FIGHT: Whiplash vs. Cobalt

Cobalt starts the fight strong but one minute in,
both bots are stuck.

Cobalt's weapon would not spin down, so the bots could
not be safely unstuck. The match was called at this point, and
went to the judges, who rendered a split decision in
favor of Cobalt.

It's easy to see why this fight was unaired; one minute
of action resulting in a judge's decision? BORING.

At least, that's what the announcers tell us and what I saw. Reddit is Seething, Seething I tell you (https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/ttluol/who_did_matt_vasquez_piss_off/) over this matchup. They argue that Cobalt's weapon was disabled and the bots could have been safely unstuck, continuing the fight.

WINNER: Cobalt (Decision, 2-1)

Minotaur vs. Endgame

Minotaur is a lethal vertical spinner but its season
this year has been lackluster; Endgame is a vertical
spinner plus forks who is the undefeated returning champion.
All the smart money's on Endgame, but I have hopes for
Minotaur. Endgame is just so dominant I think of them
as more the villain than Hydra can dream of being.
Apparently Minotaur has defeated Endgame once before,
so they've got a chance.

Also, don't forget Daniel Freitas is fighting this in memory
of his mother and grandmother, who were taken from us by
COVID.

Endgame has specifically designed their inner forks for
Minotaur; the idea is the drum will roll up the forks
right into Endgame's main attack. We'll see if it works.

Fight's on!

The forks on Endgame work, pushing Minotaur up into their weapon, b
but this time it is Endgame that gets knocked for a loop,
tumbling across the box! And hear comes Minotaur, charging
after them like a mad bull!

Endgame loses a fork.

Both bots power down their weapons, push against each other
to test their strength. Then Minotaur backs up, powers up
its monster weapon, and comes in for another hit!
And Endgame isn't moving!

Endgame is stuck on the killsaws! They turn around and land some punishing hits back!
Minotaur escapes and the fight is neutralized.

Endgame bends a fork.

The two bots meet in the center, and push against each other.
Minotaur fires up its drum spinner, and launches Endgame backwards! More
damage to the forks in front!

Another pushing match, Minotaur wins it,
pushing Endgame under the screws, makes some sparking
hits. Endgame is pushed under the pulverizer which slams
down, but stays down, pinning Endgame for the next shot!

The Pulverizer releases and Minotaur slams
into Endgame, holding it while the Drum Spinner
attempts to dig into Endgame's underside, but
it doesn't look like it's making contact.

Release. Endgame lands a glancing shot on Minotaur.
Minotaur sends Endgame tumbling which lands on top of
Minotaur as both bots go under the pulverizer.

Looks to me as if Daniel Freitas is trying to drag this
out; he knows that he's going to win a judge's decision
if its called now, and he knows Endgame is always dangerous,
so he's trying to run out the clock.

Time expires with Minotaur wants again pinning Endgame
against the wall while trying to hit its underside.

It goes to the judges but I think this has to go to
Minotaur ; they caused more damage, they controlled the
match, and they were pretty aggressive for all of it.

So that means I can root for Endgame again. For awhile
there I was afraid they were another BiteForce, and rumor
says they were very deep-pocketed, able to rebuild
their bot a dozen times over if need be. But the
seemingly unstoppable #1 seed ends its tournament
run here. Just as well; I didn't want another tournament
where something like Biteforce just steamrolled everyone
unopposed. Now ANYTHING can happen.

But the judges could still go the other way and render
that last paragraph so many wasted electrons.

Minotaur starts dancing around and screaming ,
trash-talking Endgame who looks rather glum.

The announcers tell us there's "no love lost"
between these teams. I don't know why that is,
but I'm sad two competitors have to be like that.

Kenny observes that the deciding moment may have been
when Minotaur succeeding in bending Endgame's forks which
limited the ability of Endgame to feed Minotaur into its own
weapon, which never stopped functioning at any point in the
fight. After that , Minotaur heavily dominated the fight
although they remained very, very cautious to the end.
Endgame is not to be underestimated at any point.
Endgame is Final Boss material , even if it isn't
always the champion.

The judges saw the same fight I did. They give it ot
Minotaur. And suddenly it's anyone's tournament again!

WINNER: Minotaur (Decision 3-0)

Is there some kind of bad blood between Minotaur and Endgame? It looked to me like there was a little more tension between the two teams than their normally is between battlebots competitors.

Anyways, we had some great fights. Next week should be the finale!

ETA: Apparently Farouk leaving at the end of the season was an April Fool's joke; he's sticking around.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

tomandtish

2022-04-03, 12:32 PM

Pendell's usual excellent job. My thoughts below.

This match was a lesson in brutality. Riptide came out swinging and never let up, and Uppercut never had a chance to get anything going.

Incidentally, the “powder” is actually shredded foam. Apparently Uppercut uses foam tires. Maybe to save weight? But it seems like a dubious choice as Riptide so clearly demonstrated

This was the best fight of the season so far, and arguably a top 5 fight for the series (in this incarnation at least). Both bots gave it everything, and if it had gone to the judges I’m not sure who would have won. I agree with Pendell that Rotator should have backed off. Apparently one of Tantrum’s breaks had gotten stuck, and while Rotator’s hit didn’t entirely fix the problem it gave Tantrum enough slack to maneuver.

Thank you!! Finally, someone does the smart thing instead of the noble thing. Blip’s driver even says out loud that he’s not going to touch Jackpot. For a rookie bot (if not a rookie driver) Blip is the underdog that could in this series.

Black Dragon’s biggest problem was their inability to do anything but a frontal attack. While Hydra’s maneuverability was compromised they apparently maintained enough that Dragon was never able to get around to the sides. And as time ticked on they HAD to start doing more frontal attacks and hope they got lucky. But this was Hydra’s fight from start to finish.

Incidentally, this means that next episode will be a matchup between Hydra and Blip.

It took me a bit to figure out what all the pieces on the arena floor were. Wasn’t until the replay that I realized it was Copperhead’s mini. Yeah, Witch Doctor landed straight on it and blew it to pieces. I think experience wins out in this fight. Witch Doctor adapted quickly and were able to get the later hits without taking them in return.

Like the Riptide fight earlier this was another lesson in domination. P1 never got anything going, and Sawblaze walked all over them. Not really much else to say, other than I’m surprised P1 made the distance.

OK, I watched the fight on YouTube and read some of the comments on Reddit. First the fight.

Both bots came out strong. Whiplash got an early grapple or two, and then Cobalt started landing hits. At one point Whiplash is stuck under a rail, but Cobalt knocks them loose. At this point Whiplash is obviously circling. I’m surprised Cobalt didn’t back off and see if they could get a countdown. But Cobalt goes in for another hit sends Whiplash flying, and Whiplash comes down on Cobalt. A few seconds later Whiplash is agin stuck, and Cobalt isn’t moving (apparently high centered). Refs stop the fight to see if they can be unstuck, but Cobalt’s weapon won’t shut down. Safety crew calls the fight. It goes to the judges who give it to Cobalt in a split decision. (I think part of the reason for the split is Cobalt’s weapon not being able to be shut down. That’s probably considered a damage issue).

I don’t know what to make of the Reddit comments. I never saw Cobalt say their weapon could be successfully disabled. Unless/until Reddit starts throwing up sources, I’m OK with how this played out as far as the decision to stop the fight.

This was another great fight. And Pendell is right: the bent fork kept End Game from landing a significant blow from then on since they couldn’t get close enough for a hit. But more importantly Minotaur flat outdrove End game. They controlled the pace and (for the most part) when/where the bot would hit.

I have to admit, it’s scary commentary on how well this round of 16 is balanced that Minotaur beating End Game was probably the biggest upset of the night.

Regarding feelings between the two team (End Game and Minotaur), there were apparently some harsh words said by End Game after they lost to Minotaur in 2019. But I think there was just too much excitement after this match and some just got a little out of control for a minute.

Olffandad

2022-04-06, 04:49 PM

tomandtish

2022-04-06, 10:14 PM

I'm looking forward to Hydra vs. Blip, Jake has pulled himself from the brink of defeat, it could be time for him to run the table... but everyone else is so strong that who really knows who's going to take the Giant Nut? There aren't any chumps left, everyone is a contender. The last episode should be the greatest robot combat show of all time!

Honestly, if Hydra is working to spec i suspect it will win the low ground battle. And for flippers that is everything. Blip is a unique design, and personally I'd love to see them win, but they rely on their opponent actually riding up on them. Hydra just has to get a bit of the nose under a bot.

pendell

2022-04-08, 08:51 PM

So here we are in the final episode!

Episode 14: BattleBots: The Finals

A new champion is crowned tonight.

I should also note that there are rumors of

Controversy! Dispute! SCANDAL! in this episode.

Let's see if there's anything to it, or if Discovery deliberately
planted those rumors to gin up the ratings. Here we go!

Quarterfinals

Sawblaze vs. Riptide

Sawblaze, an overarm weapon with
a saw at the end, under Jameson versus Riptide, the
rookie drum spinner which has done so well so far.

Sawblaze intends to take advantage of the fact that
Riptide has no top armour, precisely where
Sawblaze's weapon hits them. First hit wins.

Fight's on!

Sawblaze allows riptide to spin up, but it is
Sawblaze which delivers the first shot! It's forks
bounce Riptide into the air, and now it is upside down
in the box!

Riptide is in trouble; it can't bring its weapon into contact from this angle.
Sawblaze sweeps in and lands a hit. Riptide is flipped back over and re-engages, but
again can't get past the forks. Another hit, it's flipped over and
pushed into the corner, and this time it is immobile, tipped on its side! They can't self-right;
they are counted out. The vengeful and focused Sawblaze moves to the semifinals while
Riptide, the gallant rookie, ends its season here.

WINNER: Sawblaze (KO)

Cobalt vs. Tantrum

Cobalt is a vertical spinner while Tantrum is a retractable spinner which is rammed
into the opponent. Supposedly showing Cobalt having difficulty with its weapon was
"foreshadowing". We'll see if that proves true. Cobalt seems to have a lot of trouble
getting stuck on the ground.

The announcers speak of this as the invincible force (Cobalt) versus the immovable,
indestructible object (Tantrum).

Cobalt has long forks to get under Tantrum, but I'm worried aobu tthem
getting stuck in a killsaw component.

Let the battle begin!

Tantrum easily outmaneuvers Cobalt and literally drives circles around it.
Cobalt continually pivots to keep its weapon pointed at Tantrum.
But at last Tantrum gets the angle and pushes Cobalt into the wall, landing a hit in the process!

Then they are by the upper deck, Cobalt on the defensive but not
having suffered any real damage yet.

Tantrum tries to break Cobalt's forks with its weapon but no progress yet.

Disengage. Tantrum is extremely fast, outmaneuvering Tantrum
and comes in from the side to land a hit from another angle!

Tantrum continues to land minor hits, avoiding Cobalt's weapon, but this is still anyon'es fight.
Like Mike Tyson, Cobalt can destroy Tantrum with one hit if they can land it.

It seems Cobalt's forks aren't working any more. Seizng the advantage, Tantrum
attacks from the front, pushes Cobalt into the corner and into the air at a 45 degree angle!
Tantrum brings its drum to bear and starts tearing into Cobalt's underside!

BOINK! And Cobalt's outta the arena! That's it!

What a fight! Master-class driving by Tantrum in that fight, they
completely outmaneuvered Cobalt, never gave them an opening, took all the best shots.
It was like watching a fighter aircraft zipping around the Goodyear Blimp.
Cobalt never got into this fight. .. although it was always close. If they had
ever managed that one good hit, Cobalt could still have won at any point right
up to the second they were ejected.

Cobalt's Captain slams his hand into the wall and visibly swears; he's not happy but he's
got nothing to be ashamed of ; that was absolutely command performance by Tantrum.

And now we know why Cobalt's fight was highlighted; they weren't going much further
than the round of 16.

WINNER: Tantrum (KO)

Hydra vs. Blip

Two flippers enter, one flipper leaves. If Hydra is on form, we can expect Hydra to win; Jake
Ewert is very, very experienced. But if it suffers a mechanical fault ... well, anything can happen.

Blip's flipper can reset more quickly, but is that enough of an advantage?

Hydra is using the longest tongue in its arsenal, in the hope of getting under and flipping
Blip before Blip can return the favor.

BEGIN!

The two bots circle, approach, Hydra gets the angle, it's long tongue giving it the advantage it needs.
It flips Blip twice, both times painfully!

Blip is flipped over. It attempts to self-right with the flipper but can't quite do it.
Jake flips them right side up onto the upper deck where they are stuck!

They struggle, but they appear to be stuck -- their long forks are trapped and all Blips
flips can't get it off. They finally get off that part but they are still stuck on the upper duck and can't move off. They are counted out! Jake Ewert and Hydra advance to the Semis!

Well, that was what I expected. If Hydra was on form, we expected them to win, and that is what
Hydra was. So the #31 "villain" moves on while Blip ends a phenomenal rookie season here.

After the match, we get a close-up look at Blip on the upper deck; the left wheel was damaged. That
and the magnets they use to keep them stuck on the ground worked against them this time,
trapping them on the upper deck and ending their season.

WINNER: Hydra (KO)

Minotaur vs. Witch Doctor

Oh, I love both bots here.
Minotaur the drum spinner against Witch Doctor the vertical spinner plus forks.
After his show against End Game in the last match, Daniel Freitas of Minotaur may be the best driving
team in the sport.

Witch Doctor was defeated the last time these bots clashed in 2018, but the Galletly
team is confident this time; their bot is a lot tougher now than it was then.

From a technology perspective I think Minotaur has an advantage; fast, powerful,
easier to land hits with. Kenny Florian suggest WD emulate the matadors in bullfighting;
evade the initial charge, land a counter blow. We'll see if they take his advice.

Andrea Galletly says that Minotaur's weakness is it has no armour; they'll try
to make it a driving match, hit them somewhere other than the weapon, break them that way.

The Bot Whisperer notes Minotaur added some long forks in hopes of getting under the front of
Witchdoctor. He also notes Daniel of Minotaur's ability to drive on one wheel. Sounds like he likes Minotaur.

Fight's on!

The two bots spin up. WD Tries to outdrive Minotaur but it's Minotaur htat gets the first hit in the
side. Witch Doctor counters, and the two trade blows until they collide directly, weapon-on-weapon, and it's Witch Doctor that gets popped into the air! Minotaur follows up, hitting them again, and one of
Witch Doctor's chains come off! I think Minotaur has the match at this point; I don't think WD's weapon
is really effective at this point.

Minotaur spins around and puts itself onto the screws! For a minute there it looks like it can't get off. Minotaur makes it off and Witch Doctor charge in and misses, gets caught underneath the upperdeck!
It's wedged and Minotaur, which has lost a wheel, is crab-walking. Looks like a double KO which is going to go to the judges.

The refs call a timeout. Daniel Freitas says "what?"

They're going to unstick Witch Doctor and restart the fight. Let's see.

90 seconds into the fight -- I think this actually breaks the battlebots rules. The rules, as I recall,
state that an unstick will happen if the match has gone for less than a minute , but it's been 90 seconds at this point. It oughta go to the judges.

Oh, I'm wrong. On two counts. First, the clock in the corner says 1:32, so the match is only 88 seconds in. Second, here's the rules From 2021 (https://battlebots.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/BattleBots-Tournament-Rules.Rev_.2021.0.pdf) but I don't think they've changed much since then:

7.5.13 Stuck Robot Procedures When a Robot or Multi-Bot Segment becomes Stuck on the Arena floor:
a. Each Robot’s Team needs to tell the Referee if their Robot is Stuck.
b. At the Referee’s discretion, a Timeout will be declared.
c. If a Robot is Stuck against or under an Arena hazard, BattleBots officials may make a reasonable attempt to unstick the Robot by manipulating the operation of the hazard.
d. If necessary, CrewBots will enter the Arena and attempt to free the Stuck Robot(s).
e. If safe to do so, the CrewBots will turn upright any inverted Robots. They will also attempt to locate and orient the Robots such that they cannot immediately make contact on restart without first maneuvering.
f. The Referees will verbally restart the Match.
g. The Match will be continued for the remaining Match time During the Timeout and restart, Teams must follow all instructions from BattleBots officials. BattleBots Inc. will not be responsible for any inadvertent damage done to Robots when attempting to unstick them.

7.5.14 Failure to Unstick Under some circumstances, it may not be possible to attempt to quickly unstick Robots without damaging the Robots or endangering the CrewBots. In such circumstances:
a. If more than 90 seconds have elapsed in the Match, the Judges will decide the Match winner.
b. If less than 90 seconds have elapsed in the Match, a Rematch will be scheduled. If a Rematch is not possible, the Judges will decide the Match winner.
c. In the case of a Judge’s decision, the winner will not be declared to have won by a Knock-Out.

7.5.15 Robot Not Stuck If the CrewBots or other BattleBots officials determine that a Team was pretending that their Robot was Stuck, that Team may face Disqualification.

So ; WD declared the bot stuck, the ref called a time out. They tried to unstick the bot, they were able to. The match resumes but with Minotaur missing a wheel the rest of the fight is all but decided.

I expect loud cries from Minotaur of "We wuz robbed!" if it plays out this way; I suspect they think the
judges should not have un-stuck WD and allowed the fight to continue. It would have gone to the judges, who probably would have given it to Minotaur since they were dominating the match to this point.

Let's see if it plays out.

The fight resumes. Witch Doctor drives off while Minotaur goes in circles. The ref demands controlled
movement; Minotaur insists they are under control.

Repeatedly Mike Galletly of Witch Doctor asks "are they going to count him out"? Andrea Galletly says
"don't engage". They expect Minotaur to be counted out for crabwalking but after a minute it's clear that
isn't going to happen. 38 seconds left.

It gets down to 8 seconds. The referees never count them out. It's going to the judges. WD rushes in for one belated pop as time expires. It goes to the judges.

My guess is they give it to Minotaur; they dominated the match until the Stick, and afterwards WD did absolutely nothing with the time remaining. Minotaur wins the aggression category at any rate.

But yeah, I can just see Witch Doctor FUMING about this if they lose.
Just as I can see Minotaur fuming if the call goes the other way.

Mike Galletly, Team Minotaur, takes his hands off the controls "What the He***! Come on, man!"

Freitas insists "I have total control of my bot. YEAAAH! "

CONTROVERSY.

Here come the judges.

Betcha it's a split decision. My money's on Minotaur, but the online community will FUME over this one.
Hopefully Discovery can calm them down.

One way or the other, the refs and the judges earn their pay tonight.

I'm wrong on both counts. The judges are unanimous, and they give it to Witch Doctor!

What? Really?

I expect to see the Brazilians explode in fury.

But no, they are calm and dejected, none of their usual pep is there now. I am sad for them.

Although I can see grounds for the decision: Witch Doctor won the damage fight by taking off
Minotaur's wheel, and in the last half of the fight you could say they had "control"
because they could engage at will while Minotaur barely had a semblance of controlled movement.

Still, I think Minotaur will have its revenge; Witch Doctor has been banged up enough it should have
real trouble in the semi-finals.

Yeah, Daniel Freitas is fuming. And there are boos from some of the crowd. There are
some very unhappy people here tonight.

Yeah, post-fight interview. Mike Galletly (Team Witch Doctor's driver) insists that Minotaur
was gyrating uncontrollably and should have been counted out. I know Daniel Freitas doesn't
believe that and is visibly scowling as Mike says what he does. If these two bots
ever meet again, expect them to need a broom and dustpan to take Witch Doctor out of the box.

We interview Minotaur. They are upset at the decision. We saw a different fight out there.
Daniel Freitas: The judges are a joke . [expletive]
As we move on , Daniel is still heard muttering angrily.

I expect the internet to EXPLODE after this.

CONTROVERSY.

WINNER: Witch Doctor (Decision , 3-0)

Semifinals

Winner of HydraxBlip vs. winner of TantrumXCobalt

It's Hydra vs. Tantrum. We've introduced them before. I think Tantrum
might have a little advantage here, especially if they can outmaneuver Hydra
the way they did Cobalt. But Hydra only has to be lucky once, and Jake Ewert is
a very, very good driver.

Tantrum brings a minibot for this match. What will it do, I wonder?

Tantrum tells us they are going to drive around Hydra in circles until
Hydra makes a mistake, at which point Tantrum will go for the drive train.

I think they've got a pretty good chance to make it work.

Fight's on!

Tantrum gets his fork cut in a killsaw slot and hydra punishes with a flip,
but it's not a very high bounce and the fight resumes immediately. Tantrum starts driving around Hydra.

Tantrum approaches and gets a little bit under Hydra, then bounces back.
But then Jake Ewert gets his rhythm and flips Tantrum once, twice,
three times.

Tantrum is completely unphased; that's a tough bot! It gets underneath
Hydra and hits the underside, but gets a small flip in return for its pains. Hydra
is winning the match, but Tantrum can still win if it can hit that drive
train like they said.

Hydra flips Tantrum again! Tantrum doesn't care. It rams Hydra into the corner but can't
bring its spinner into contact! Back out into the open, another flip.

Tantrum rams up underneath hydra's weapon and chews into it!
Backs off, gets flipped again. Tantrum charges in again, still
chewing into Hydra's tongue, which looks cut in half!

IN the last ten seconds Hydra lands another massive flip, as time expires.

I think we have to give this one to Hydra. It definitely landed all the flips.
Although I can see a case for Tantrum since it did more visible damage and was
definitely far more aggressive than Hydra. So I suppose we could call this one
for Tantrum based on the fact it inflicted more damage than it took; notwithstanding
all those flips , they had no visible impact on the bot at all, but their spinner
definitely gave Hydra trouble.

Even so, Hydra flipped them a lot and showed a great deal more skill. And, now that
I think of it, Tantrum was smoking a bit at the end.

So I'm calling for Hydra, but I won't be surprised if it goes the other way.

Goes to the judges. A split decision! And they give us the scorecards!
Jason - Tantrum
Damage: Tantrum 3 / Hydra 2
Aggression: Tantrum 2/ Hydra 1
Control: Hydra 2 / Tantrum 1

Lisa - Hydra
Damage: Tantrum 3/ Hydra 2
Control: Hydra 2 / Tantrum 1
Aggression: Hydra 2/ Tantrum 1.

Derek - Tantrum!
Damage: Tantrum 3 / Hydra 2
Aggression: Tantrum 2/ Hydra 1
Control: Hydra 2 / Tantrum 1

Whoa!

So I guess Jason and Derek saw the same fight I did; despite the fact that Jake Ewert
controlled the fight, Tantrum did a fair amount of damage and won all the aggression points;
I consider this Hydra's punishment for having such a defensive style; Jake must have known
it would come back to bite him one day, and today it costs him a championship.

That's the last flipper out.

I'm not sorry at all. I like team Tantrum.

Jake: "They get it wrong, sometimes. That's okay. They hit my nose, but that's armor.
It's supposed to get hit. I thought I clipped 'em enough to do enough damage but I guess not.
There's always next year."

CONTROVERSY.

Looking at the judge's score cards, it looks like they agreed on everything
except Aggression; Lisa gives it to Hydra and I don't see that. The way
Tantrum drove right up into Hydra's mouth to hit it with the drum spiiner?
Yeah, Tantrum definitely won the aggression category. They alls cored the same damage,
dismissing Jake's contention that the damage to the flipper
was to armour only; while Jake flipped Tantrum repeatedly he might as well
have been flipping a solid cube for all the damage it did, while
the end of Jake's flipper WAS gnawed off by Tantrum. So I guess
I have to say I agree with the judges on this one. Kenny and
many of the fans think this should have gone to Hydra, but on balance
I have to say I agree with the judge's call. It was defensible. The only
real counterargument was the sheer optics of Hydra flipping Tantrum
over and over again.

WINNER: Tantrum (Decision, 2-1)

Winner of MinotaurxWitch Doctor vs. Winner of SawblazexRiptide

Sawblaze vs. Witch Doctor.

Come on, it's gotta be Sawblaze. Witch Doctor got pretty beat up in that
fight with Minotaur and Captain Jameson of Sawblaze is on fire.

Even so, WD apparently fabricated some new parts and gave their bot a full
inspection, so maybe. Deep pockets are helpful.

They've ditched their twin vertical spinners for one 18-kg vertical which they
think will line up better against Sawblaze.

Fights on!

Witch Doctor outmaneuvers Sawblaze, comes from the side, and whoops! There
goes one of Sawblaze's tires!

This ain't lookin' good for Team Sawblaze.

Witch Doctor goes for the other wheel, takes a bite out of it, Shoves Sawblaze hard and
Sawblaze goes 4 meters into the air! I thought all the flippers were out of this fight!

I also think Sawblaze's primary may be inoperable. Witch Doctor was lined up for an
easy shot in that sequence and Sawblaze didn't take it. I can only imagine damage being the reason.

It swings; okay, the weapon is still working , but WD knocks them into somersault.
When Sawblaze comes down it is on fire and immobile!

It's done. Well done, you might say. Witch Doctor gets a standing ovation as Sawblaze gets counted out.

What a great fight! Definitely worth re-watching! If that last fight was a bit questaionable,
this time there is no denying Witch Doctor is a world-class bot. Also, they did a great
job repairing the bot for this fight. They also shout out to their sponsors who overnighted them
parts to make this happen. Truly a well-deserved win!

WINNER: Witch Doctor (KO)

FINALS

Tantrum vs. Witch Doctor. After that last fight, I don't think Witch Doctor is stoppable.
But then, I thought Sawblaze would take them and I was wrong there. Perhaps I'll be wrong again.

I love Tantrum, but this is the second time Witch Doctor has competed in the finals;
I hope they take it this time.

Witch Doctor retains their powerful single spinner from last match, but Tantrum has
40hp under the hood vs 9 hp for Witch Doctor. Tantrum is also very heavily armoured compared to Witch Doctor. That's a lot to overcome, but Mike
Galletly of Witch Doctor IS a very, very good driver.

Since Ginger is Co-captain of Tantrum while Andrea is Captain of Witch Doctor,
this will be a history-making first championship by a bot run by a female captain, whichever team wins.

The bot whisperer: WD is worried about the floor which has taken a beating and
so have not fit forks. The word from Tantrum, meanwhile, is : Consistency, consistency,
and consistency.

LET THE FINAL MATCH BEGIN!

Some very careful circling, both teams being very careful. The faster Tantrum gets the first blow,
getting underneath Witch Doctor and raking the underside with its spinner.

Hey, Witch Doctor is crabwalking! That first drive underneath may have sealed this fight! Tantrum
lands more hits!

Witch Doctor is capable of controlled movement but only barely, at a clearly obvious disadvantage.
Tantrum gets under them again and takes them into the screws, landing more hits.

More hits. Tantrum patiently stalks the wounded Witch Doctor, waiting for their openings, then darting
in to make their hits again and again, chewing at Witch Doctor's tires. They flip Witch Doctor over, and
then back again.

And there's the countdown. The ref is no longer buying that Witch Doctor's actions are "controlled movement". Witch Doctor is counted out with eight seconds left.

And that's it ! We have a new champion! Well deserved, some awesome driving by Tantrum against Cobalt,,
Hydra, and now Witch Doctor! They earned this champion, and I think they deserve to be in the pantheon
of greatest drivers; Tantrum is certainly an amazing bot! It's maneuverability is fantastic, the crew
can handle it to perfection, and it is built like a tank. Only its damage capacity is a wee bit lacking.

WINNER, AND WORLD CHAMPION: Tantrum!

TEH CONTROVERSY

It looks like the big controversy was Witch Doctor vs. Minotaur; apparently there are some very salty
Minotaur fans out there. Hydra vs. Tantrum doesn't seem to hae provoked
nearly the same level of ire.
Andrea Galletly (https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/tzesyr/team_witch_dr_explanation_behind_the_controversy/) explains the match from her side:

Each team has their own referee during the macth. The countdown ccan only be started
by that team's ref. Multiple times throughout the last 90 seconds of the match, we heard
our ref advise the other ref to start the countdown. The other ref was surrounded by members
of Team Minotaur in his countdown pose; we thought we just couldn't hear it.

She further notes that a countdown can only start when the other bot is not engaging, which is
why they held off waiting for a countdown that never came.

Team Minotaur's response (https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/tz736d/minotaurs_team_captains_take_on_the_controversy/)

For next season, we hope battlebots recognizes and addresses important issues in its tournament rules and procedures. Some of them are still subjective and inconsistent, such as the decision whether to unstick a robot, the knock-out due to engagement avoidance rule, the definition of crabwalking, the fail-safe requirements during a match. Some others were simply ignored, such as the 20 second wait before an unstick timeout, or the rematch due to failure-to-unstick in less than 90 seconds [he's talking about Cobalt vs. Whiplash ] . It is up to BB to minimize builder and fan frustration by agreeing upon clear rules and procedures and,
most importantly, consistently sticking to them. We have no hard feelings at all towards other builders, we are all in the same
boat trying to win under the rules we are given.

Thank you for the show.

On balance, I think they have a point: There is supposed to be a 20 second wait before an unstick timeout, during which time Minotaur might have landed additional hits -- and might not. When I saw them at that point in the match, it looked like Minotaur was crab-walking, unable to capitalize, while Witch Doctor was stuck under the floor.

So this is how I think it went down: The Witch Doctor ref thought this fight was over and Minotaur wouldn't be able to do anything to the stuck WD, so called for the unstick. The other ref of Minotaur, however, still saw controlled movement and allowed the fight to continue for another minute and a half. So the fight dragged down to its weary end. Witch Doctor got the W, which is defensible, but I don't think anyone is really happy about this outcome.

UPDATE: John Remar, referee of battlebots, weighs in (https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/tzn4sq/every_season_of_battlebots_referee_john_remars/)

As refs, our goal is always to be as consistent as possible and follow the rules. Of course, we are not perfect and the referees themselves don't always agree. Some of what we do is subjective but we believe that we follow the rules to the best of our abilities. We understand that being a referee is not easy and that we need to be able to take criticism. We are completely open to that, are always listening and learning. But no, the fights are not manipulated by the referees in anyway. The most challenging part of BattleBots is dealing with controlled movement. As I read through many of the social media post, I see lots of different opinions/viewpoints on who won last nights fight between Minotaur and Witch Doctor. I (ref John) believe Minotaur should've been counted out. Obviously, the other ref did not. Looking back at the fight, I think Dave (the other referee) made the right call to let it go. I was also the one that called the time out to unstick. Unfortunately, the numerous and sticks that have happened both in this season and many of the seasons past have never been shown on TV and have always been edited out. So I don't blame fans one bit for feeling like the rules have been manipulated because they had never seen that before. But there have been many times we've called timeouts to unstick. And let's remember, the rule state that the unstick timeouts can be called in specific situations and not in others. So I believe we've been consistent with that but from a fan standpoint it may not look that way. And that is totally fair criticism. During the Minotaur v. Witch Doctor fight, an edit was made to shorten the time (I guess for TV) that it looked like the timeout was called immediately. It was not called immediately however, I probably could've given it another two or three seconds. Always learning lessons. If you read the rules you will clearly see that certain places in the arena allow for a referee to call a time out and to unstick. There are also times when the BattleBots officials feel that it is not safe to unstick and therefore send it to the judges. Sometimes this makes television and sometimes it doesn't. But in no way does it change the outcome of any of the fights. Maybe you agree with the decisions of the referees or maybe you don't. Certainly we welcome any and all feedback. We have thick skin and we've been doing this for a long time.

Comment of interest:

In all fairness, they did an amazing job editing out just how bad the crowd was after the match. You could still hear the occasional boo, but it didn't sound like the deafening boos that have been reported.

Final thoughts

Despite the problem, I think this was the best season we've had!

Other bots have Tombstone's number, we had some exciting rookie
teams in the final season, we had a brand new giant nut, we had
some great teams and some great moments both on and off the field --
Ghost Raptor fixing the other team's bot before the match was
not helpful in the short run for them, but in the long run it set
a tone of sportsmanship which is nothing but good for the competitiont.
If only Glitch had been able to make it in, this season would havbeen
almost perfect! As it is, I think this is one of our best seasons
ever, with a wide and varied field, a true pleasure to watch.

I just hope they lose the upper deck next season. I'd also love to see the judge's scorecards after every match they decide; it would give me more insight into their thought processes.

That was fun! Until next year!

Respectfully,

Brian P.