Battlebots is Back

[tomandtish]

The new season starts this Thursday at 8pm (eastern).

You can see all the bots here.

Plenty of the old favorites are there: Tombstone, Bronco, Huge, etc.

Some of the ones who keep hanging on despite lack of success are there, especially CHOMP which apparently has a major design change.

And there's at least one surprising absence: Paul Ventimiglia apparently announced on Facebook that he would not be competing this year due to COVID, and also that he's selling Bite Force to make either an upgraded Bite Force or a new bot entirely. That means we'll have a new champion for sure and also that the longest Battlebot undefeated streak will be adding no more wins. Minotaur is also missing.

[Traab]

Everybody knocks chomp but I like him. Yeah he isnt the most stable of bots, but he doesnt really need to be as he can self right easily enough and has enough power to actually cause some damage with that weapon of his. As well as the durability to take a lot of hits and keep going. He isnt my favorite but at least he is fun tow atch.

[tomandtish]

Everybody knocks chomp but I like him. Yeah he isnt the most stable of bots, but he doesnt really need to be as he can self right easily enough and has enough power to actually cause some damage with that weapon of his. As well as the durability to take a lot of hits and keep going. He isnt my favorite but at least he is fun tow atch.

Except you never really see him cause any damage with that weapon of his (except in one notable case). Also, he spends most of his time self-righting because he gets knocked over so easily.

Record is 4 wins/8 losses. Let's review the wins...

CHOMP/Kraken: Kraken pushes CHOMP around for most of the match, then gets greedy and flips itself over while grappling. When they try and self-right, cable comes loose and they can't. Bilders indicate after the match that the cable had been poorly attached.

CHOMP/The Disk o' Inferno: DoI knocks CHOMP around a bit, then loses it's weapon hitting CHOMP. They then both push each oher around. CHOMP spends more time on its side, but also gets hits that don't do damage but do look impressive. it goes to judges and CHOMP gets the decision.

Chomp/Captain Shrederator: The bash each other around a bit. Then CHOMP hits CS and CS stops, then hits it again and CS starts. Repeat twice. Then it finally goes down for good. I'd call this the closest CHOMP comes to a second legitimate win, except this is a consistent build flaw with Captain Shederator. All 9 of his losses were by KO, and 7 of them he just stopped spinning and moving. His motors have always been incredibly vulnerable to shock.

Edit: Actually, two notable cases for the weapon doing damage if you count the time it bent almost 180 degrees. Does damage to self count?

CHOMP/Bite Force: Yes, CHOMP has a win over the winningest Bot in Battlebots (at least as of the reboot). And this is actually the one legitimate win I'd say they have. They get a lucky hit on Bite Force right at the beginning and disable the weapon. The bots push each other around and CHOMP gets the decision.

So 4 wins that give it a 3% win record. Except two of those wins weren't really CHOMP winning. They were the other team losing. Meanwhile CHOMP spends a large percentage of time on its side, including being put there from firing their own weapon.

I understand the fan appeal, but objectively this is* a poorly designed bot. I also include Blacksmith, Wrex, and Captain Shederator in that group.

*The redesign they've done for 2020 is significant, so let's see if there's any substantial improvement. The base is much wider so it shouldn't be spending as much time on its side. So the "is" could become a "was".

[Traab]

You mean 33% win rate I presume. I never said he was an amazing champ bot, but at least he isnt mecha fricking tentamushi! That thing is the william hung of battlebots. Its objectively terrible but the audience finds it so hilarious it keeps getting to not only come back but keeps getting first round byes. And honestly, he is pretty much the only bot with a pick type weapon who has ever really accomplished anything with it so i give him respect for taking an inferior weapon and actually making it sorta work.

[pendell]

The new season starts this Thursday at 8pm (eastern).

You can see all the bots here.

Plenty of the old favorites are there: Tombstone, Bronco, Huge, etc.

Some of the ones who keep hanging on despite lack of success are there, especially CHOMP which apparently has a major design change.

And there's at least one surprising absence: Paul Ventimiglia apparently announced on Facebook that he would not be competing this year due to COVID, and also that he's selling Bite Force to make either an upgraded Bite Force or a new bot entirely. That means we'll have a new champion for sure and also that the longest Battlebot undefeated streak will be adding no more wins. Minotaur is also missing.

Very sad about Paul; he is a great competitor, and his bot is outstanding. All the same, I'm delighted the show is back!

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[tomandtish]

I'll be curious to see the format in these COVID days. I assume no live audience, and possibly no standing in the ring together to announce the winner.

[Arcane_Secrets]

The new season starts this Thursday at 8pm (eastern).

You can see all the bots here.

Plenty of the old favorites are there: Tombstone, Bronco, Huge, etc.

Some of the ones who keep hanging on despite lack of success are there, especially CHOMP which apparently has a major design change.

And there's at least one surprising absence: Paul Ventimiglia apparently announced on Facebook that he would not be competing this year due to COVID, and also that he's selling Bite Force to make either an upgraded Bite Force or a new bot entirely. That means we'll have a new champion for sure and also that the longest Battlebot undefeated streak will be adding no more wins. Minotaur is also missing.

Minotaur's my favorite but I guess I can't really see how it'd beat Tombstone unless Tombstone had another fluke loss.

[tomandtish]

Minotaur's my favorite but I guess I can't really see how it'd beat Tombstone unless Tombstone had another fluke loss.

Actually, when they fought in 2018 it looked like Minotaur was going to be the winner. Tombstone hadn't inflicted too much damage and Minotaur had bent Tombstones blade. But Minotaur got hung up on a broken piece of the floor and was counted out. I do believe Tombstone would have lost that one if it had gone to a decision.

[Traab]

Actually, when they fought in 2018 it looked like Minotaur was going to be the winner. Tombstone hadn't inflicted too much damage and Minotaur had bent Tombstones blade. But Minotaur got hung up on a broken piece of the floor and was counted out. I do believe Tombstone would have lost that one if it had gone to a decision.

I have to admit, the drum spinners really shocked me with how destructive they were when they first showed up. A high speed drum can really knock an enemy bot flying and it seems like it puts less strain on the drum than it does on a blade. Which really helps last in a battle that doesnt end in a single destructive hit. A lot of blade bots seemed to burn out when they got stuck in a fight that was going the distance.

[MikelaC1]

i just checked and it doesnt appear to be on Discovery Channel. Even did a search for Battlebots and all I turned up is repeats of previous years on GameShow network.

[pendell]

I can find it . Season 5 of battle bots. I don't subscribe to discovery so it may be some time before I can see the actual shows.

UPDATE: Seems I can. I'll try to give a breakdown.

ROBOTS ACTIVATE.

Spoiler: Sawblaze versus Whiplash

Show

The bots appear identical with saws on the back, but with a slightly different color scheme. They attack each other aggressively, and for a minute I'm worried because Sawblaze is visibly on fire, perhaps being pushed too hard, but it pays off. Sawblaze starts landing hits, finally backs whiplash into the screws, and hits whiplash in just the right spot to disable the vehicle.

WINNER: Sawblaze by KO.

Spoiler: Fusion versus Madcatter

Show

Fusion has two weapons, which to my mind sounds like twice the complexity and additional control challenge. Mad Catter looks ... goofy. What is this bot even supposed to do? Let's find out.

Okay, now I see.. it has a vertical spinner, a plow, and a lifting arm , and it's a lot lower to the ground than I expected. A worthy combatant, then.

The buzzer kicks off, and Mad Catter charges right in! It gets a good initial shot, and keeps the momentum for the rest of the match. About 1:30 in both bots have lost their spinners, leaving Mad Catter with a lifting arm (useless, since Fusion runs just fine inverted) and Fusion has nothing. The great hits trigger off a massive fire inside fusion which, after about 30 seconds, burns out the control wires and disables the bot.

WINNER: Mad Catter by KO.

Spoiler: Malice Vs. Axe Backward

Show

Malice brings a 65 pound horizontal spinner to the dance, while axe backward's whole body is a drum, with axes on the top. Seems an awkward design.

Axe's team captain says he wants to box rush the other team, but as the buzzer goes off it's Malice that charges in! They touch... and ...

WOW.

A HUGE ball of flame in the box from Axe Backwards! When the flames die down a bit the Axe bot burns merrily like a log on a yule fire, as bits of its drive belt hang off of it.

Gamely, the bot still tries to move, but Malice isn't having it.

The Captain of Malice turns to the Axe team and says "one more hit".

It's three more hits, but at the end of it Axe is disabled.

As the countdown starts Captain Malice looks again at Team Axe and says one word: "Knockout".

Is she secretly Fujin from Final Fantasy 8.

As the countdown finishes, she shouts "YEEAAH! SUCK IT! "

Some bad blood between these teams? That could be a problem, eventually. But yes, Team Malice takes this one in dramatic fashion.

In the after fight interview, she tells us that she'd been getting a lot of grief from people telling her she couldn't do it, and her team worked hard for this dramatic, obvious victory.

WINNER: Malice by KO.

Spoiler: Bloodsport vs. Skorpios

Show

Bloodsport has a large horizontal spinner while skorpios has a smaller vertical spinner. Bloodsport's plan is to get underneath scorpios, while scorpios intends to control Bloodsport with its wedge and hit from the top.

Within seconds, bits of bloodsport are flying across the battle box, but they are unimportant; the wedges bloodsport had hoped to get underneath scorpios. Things are all going scorpio's way until its vertical saw gets bent and wobbly. Thus weakened, it is powerless to prevent bloodsport backing up, spinning its blade to full speed, and start pounding away . Skorpio's right side is critically damaged, and it eventually stops moving.

WINNER: Bloodsport by KO.

Spoiler: Lockjaw vs. Captain Shredderator

Show

Vertical spinner in lockjaw versus horizontal Captain S, which has been greatly simplified for reliability.

The fight starts the Captains' way, as he spins up and rips off a piece of lockjaw's wedge at the very start. But he can't keep it up; in a collision his own energy works against him, sending the bot flying across the box where it starts smoking. It remains movable, but now both bots have lost their primary weapons. This gives lockjaw the advantage, because it can still push and control Captain S, but S has been changed into a simple moving frisbee. Lockjaw chases the Captain, catches up, and jams the bot into the screws. Captain S is unable to escape and the countdown begins. Lockjaw's primary comes back online but it is not needed, the captain is counted out.

WINNER: Lockjaw by KO.

Spoiler: Sporkenok vs. Rusty

Show

Sporkenok is a hammer and lifter, while Rusty carries a Hammer. Two rookies. Let's see how they do!

Sporkenok seems a better, more elegant design.

Sporkenok is definitely the better driver. Rusty takes himself into the screws without assistance, and Sporkenok hits him, but doesn't seem to be able to do any real damage.

Rusty's weapon is awkward, but Sporkenok doesn't really seem to be doing much. It looks like Sporkenok LETS Rusty hit them, but Rusty misses and Sporkenok just drives away. But Sporkenok still can't do any damage! Finally, Rusty gets in a hit and it looks like Sporkenok is disabled; one wheel is in the air and the wheel on the ground is not moving. Rusty gets the win!

Spoiler: SMEE vs. Sharkoprion

Show

A moving platform versus a mechanical shark?
Okay, smee has two small spinners guided by a strip.

Shark can't bite through the tape, and it appears that smee chews up the tires, but for the most part they simply bump against each other for three minutes before it goes to the judges.

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

Spoiler: Tombstone Vs. Endgame

Show

Tombstone is the meanest horizontal spinner in the game, and the heavy favorite. Endgame has a vertical spinner and a wedge.

I think I don't even have to watch.

I am dead wrong.

Fifteen seconds after the match starts it's over. In the first collision Tombstone's vaunted spinner bar, the Stormbringer blade of battlebots, stops spinning. Thus discommoded, Endgame follows up with a good solid hit that knocks Tombstone clean out of the box and pins it vertically on the other side of the screws! The bot is completely immobilized, and its vaunted durability is useless in this situation. Endgame gets the win in a surprising upset!

WINNER: Endgame, by KO.

Interestingly, Tombstone's crew are the only ones wearing masks. Ironic, that evil Captain Ray should set the best example.

That's the downside; The real winner of this event is COVID; looking around , it seems like the arena is packed with people, very few of whom are wearing masks. I see some crew in the pits masking up, but it doesn't look like anyone in the audience or the announcers did so. A bad sign. I hope these competitors will be back next year :(.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[tyckspoon]

Spoiler: SMEE vs. Sharkoprion

Show

A moving platform versus a mechanical shark?
Okay, smee has two small spinners guided by a strip.

Shark can't bite through the tape, and it appears that smee chews up the tires, but for the most part they simply bump against each other for three minutes before it goes to the judges.

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

Spoiler

Show

Weird, weird bot here. Concept is cute, but it looks like they may have given up too much weapon size/power to really do much damage against bigger units; maybe if they come up against people who have the smaller drive wheels or are mounted with weapons that don't tolerate being banged up well? On the other hand that flexible tape section has basically no means of really damaging it short of cutting it apart or shattering it and the give in it could absorb a lot of what would be damaging blows, so this may be an unexpectedly hard bot to put down.

I think the aesthetics on Sharkoprion really worked against it here - that 'nose' section prevented it from getting close enough to try to wedge under Smeeeeeeeeeeeee and mostly left it swatting ineffectually at the flexible bar, although it also largely stopped Smeeeeeeeeeeeeee from completing its 'wrap around and pincer between both spinners' plan. Will be interesting to see if that pinning maneuver works on anything and can make up for the individually weaker strikes.

[Traab]

Im guessing team malice is probably been encouraged to fill the "bad guy" role that tombstone used to fill. They need a destructive bot that tears up opponents for some "drama" Also axe backward, wow its been awhile since I heard that name. He really isnt a very good bot.

[Arcane_Secrets]

Im guessing team malice is probably been encouraged to fill the "bad guy" role that tombstone used to fill. They need a destructive bot that tears up opponents for some "drama" Also axe backward, wow its been awhile since I heard that name. He really isnt a very good bot.

No, it is not a good bot at all. Invader SMEE was hilarious, but I'm a little baffled by how its supposed to win against any bot that's really destructive although lifters could have some trouble with it. It'll be interesting to see how it does against Bronco if they ever match up.

The sheer amount of fire in the first episodes was a good start and I'm looking forward to the rest of the season.

[Traab]

I remember watching this when I was a kid, glad to see it's making a comeback.

Its been on pretty much every year I think. To me part of the fun is seeing how they tweak the rules each time to try and make a more spectacular or at least different tournament. The inclusion of drones for example. Turns out they werent very useful, but they made for some hilarious moments like when one bot strapped a plastic garden rake to its arm and swatted a flamethrower drone out of the sky. Also the mini bot thing where some teams took a few pounds from their main bot to create tiny wedge bots or mini flamethrowers, they actually did manage to sometimes be interesting in a fight for more than exploding (mainly for exploding)

[tomandtish]

Sorry for the delay in replying. I'm not allowed to watch it without my wife, and she was getting over a serious illness. So we didn't get to watch it until Monday night, and by then i was sick.

Pendell did a good job of breaking down the fights, so I'll only ass comments as needed.

Spoiler: Sawblaze v Whiplash

Show

This is a classic case of neither bot selling me on the design. The saws don't do damage AS saws. They are both hammer saws, and any damage done by the weapon is from force of impact. But usually both bots usually end up winning through control.

Spoiler: Fusion v MadCatter

Show

Fusion's two weapon design (and both apparently run at the same time) seems like it costs power. Since you're devoting power to both weapons at the same time, presumably each has only half the power it could.

Spoiler: Malice v Axe Backward

Show

Axe Backward is one of those concepts that seems neat on paper but just doesn't work in reality. They've only one one fight so far, and honestly Ultimo Destructo took itself out of the fight.

Spoiler: Lockjaw vs. Captain Shredderator

Show

Captain Shrederator has done nothing to change my opinion. By the nature of it's design, it HAS to be able to survive big energy transferring hits. And it can't. After the battle they pointed out that they gone back to the original design, but that one pin broke, costing them control. Again, if your bot can be taken out that easily, you have a poor design. Again, they are 2 and 10 since the reboot. That doesn't say anything good.

Spoiler: Sporkenok vs. Rusty

Show

What Pendell left out is that Rusty is the classic example of a true junk yard build. Parts include a mailbox and a salad bowl (yes Nick, that is a salad bowl on top. We have one like it.). Honestly, the body cost maybe $30 bucks. if you are ranking any bot an underdog based on appearance, this is it.

Spoiler: SMEE vs. Sharkoprion

Show

The rules on this are interesting. A bot must be able to start the fight completely in the box (which Smeee doesn't), but officials can make an exception. So I'm assuming one was made. Not sure I see the point of having an exception, but there you go.

Spoiler: Tombstone Vs. Endgame

Show

Pendell summed it up right. WOW! That's one of the quickest victories I've seen in the reboot. 15 seconds plus a mandatory 10 count. End Game was helped byu the fact that Tombstone seemed to have gotten hung up a boit by the screws, allowing that last hit to be unopposed. But it's an impressive win, made more so because3 it is against Tombstone.

[url=https://go.discovery.com/tv-shows/battlebots/] ...The real winner of this event is COVID; looking around , it seems like the arena is packed with people, very few of whom are wearing masks. I see some crew in the pits masking up, but it doesn't look like anyone in the audience or the announcers did so. A bad sign. I hope these competitors will be back next year :(.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

Actually, the audience is all other teams, They built the platforms around the ring and teams can watch the matches from there. As they said, it allows an "unprecedented opportunity to study the opposition". Now, how well are the teams isolating? Who knows.

[pendell]

Episode 2!


Ghost Raptor Vs. Shatter!

Spoiler

Show

Looks like a spinner in Ghost Raptor vs.
Shatter, a bot with a hammer on top.

Hammers don't usually do very well, I remember all the problems
Blacksmith had. Will Shatter show me something different?

Before the match even starts, shatter swings its hammer and knocks some of its own armor off during the spin off. Not a good omen.

The battle starts. Shatter knocks off its own armor but succeeds in disabling Ghost's primary weapon. Ghost is obviously the better driver, but without the primary there
is nothing they can do to damage Shatter. Ghost attempts to push
shatter over the edge of the battle box but lacks the power to do so. Perhaps it is earlier damage or perhaps the exertion is more than the machine can take, but Ghost Raptor catches on fire and is disabled. For a few seconds it appears that both robots are immobilized, but Shatter manages to extricate itself and show movement, while Ghost is permanently immobile.

Even though Shatter won this, I wasn't impressed by a bot that left pieces of itself all over the box. They're going to have a lot more trouble down the road.

WINNER: Shatter! by KO.

Tracer vs. Ribbot

Spoiler

Show

Tracer is a rookie with a vertical spinner, and a minibot
with a small horizontal spinner.
The team captain is confident it's one of the most durable
bots in the tournament.

Ribbot, run by a team of university students from WPI, has an undercutting vertical spinner, and the foam is missing. It looks like a lot more slimmed down compared to earlier entries.

They charge each other. First touch knocks off ribbots right front wheel, but the SECOND hit knocks Tracer on its back. Tracer has no self-righting mechanism and can't move. Ribbot busies itself destroying the minibot, then Tracer is counted out.

I guess that's a rookie for you. He didn't allow for the possibility that his bot could be flipped, and he'll have to take that lesson home to consider.

WINNER: Ribbot by KO.

Black Dragon vs. Kraken

Spoiler

Show

Black Dragon is a Brazilian team
They have the shortest intro I've heard.
"From Etujuba Brazil it's Black Dragon!"

They have a wedge to get underneath BD,
a vertical spinner and additional top armor.

Kraken is a 3 year veteran with what appears to be a grappler with teeth. It's intended for control more than direct damage. It also has a flamethrower, probably cosmetic.

Kraken also has a minibot, don't have any idea what it does. Probably don't care, either, when has a minibot ever been useful?

The battle starts. BD drives right into Kraken's mouth and kraken bites down, to no apparent effect. It flames as well, again to no effect. It drags BD around for 30 seconds before releasing, at which point BD rams into the mouth again, breaking its tooth. Black Dragon begins a comeback, knocking Kraken over twice, but Kraken self-rights and continues the fight. Some minor Kraken pieces are knocked off. Kraken picks up BD and takes it over to the sledgehammer, which whacks Black Dragon repeatedly, again to no effect. Then the buzzer sounds.

A very tough fight!

I think I have to give this one to Black Dragon based on damage, but we'll see what the judges say.

They agree, although it is a split decision.

WINNER: Black Dragon, by Decision (2-1)

Mammoth vs. Huge

Spoiler

Show

The two largest bots in the field this year,
a vertical spinner in huge and Mammoth is apparently designed
to launch the other bot out of the Arena.

For the early part of the fight it's Mammoth that goes flying all over the box, not Huge, but Huge has trouble damaging Mammoth because Huge is itself so large and unwieldy. Then Mammoth successfully controls the fight, traps huge in SledgeHammer corner, then successfully flips Huge halfway out of the battle box with one wheel in and one wheel out. Unable to extricate itself or move, Huge is immobilized and counted out.

WINNER: Mammoth, by KO.

Claw Viber vs. Hijinx

Spoiler

Show

Two rookie teams. Claw viper has , indeed, a claw on front.
It is supposed to have a lifter as well, and can accelarete from 0 to 20 in a half second. If true, it is the fastest bot in battlebots. Does this mean a box rush is coming up?

Hijinx has a very low horizontal spinner. This is
apparently an experimental bot.
It has a 3 second spinup on the primary so we're almost certainly going to see a box rush first.

Fight starts. Sure enough, claw viper charges but misses.
Hijinx gets in some hits but, oddly, the blade seems to take more damage than Claw Viper does.

They say "speed is life". This is very true in this fight; Claw Viper's incredible speed allows it to dominate the match, first trapping Hijinx in a corner but failing to actually flip it out. Even so, Claw Viper takes Hijinx for a ride around the battle box and when the ride is over, Hijinx is not moving.

WINNER: Claw Viper by KO.

Perfect Phoenix vs. Extinguisher

Spoiler

Show

PP is led by Tyler Win, 11 years old,
a MENSA student (IQ 156) who's been following Ray Billings,
apparently Tyler's mom is dating Ray, the captain of Tombstone.

And. like tombstone, it's a horizontal spinner
low to the ground with a cute little mascot on top.

The team of two 11 year olds have trouble pushing the
bot onto the floor, but they get it done unassisted.

John Flack, at 18, leads the other bot which has a
giant hammer.

And yes, there is Ray Billings in the corner,
watching the young man spin pilot the machine. Always two there are, a master and an apprentice....

The Dark Side is with him. Extinguisher box rushes, PP evades and deals a counter-blow. It doesn't even seem that visibly damaged, but apparently PP hit it in just the right spot to turn Extinguisher off, which is counted out. After the fight, Tyler says the shock of the collision probably went into Extinguisher and hit a critical component like a speed controller or a battery, shutting Extinguisher down.

WINNER: Perfect Phoenix, by KO.

Hydra vs. Witch Doctor

Spoiler

Show

Last year's #2 comes in with a vertical spinner.

Hydra is a flipper but has
very little armor.

This is a beautiful fight. Hydra gets in and starts flipping Witch Doctor every which way but WD is one tough bot. Again and again it is flipped, again and again it self rights, but about a minute into the match it starts wobbling and doesn't seem to be able to track properly. Hydra flips it some more but WD comes right back at him again and again. Then WD starts smoking. Finally Hydra succeeds in flipping it half out of the box, hooked on the bar, but like a zombie from a horror movie WD refuses to die! It gets off the bar and now Hydra can't move! The count down starts but is aborted half way as hydra gradually begins to move. As the battle crawls to a decision WD drives around the box, smoke billowing from it like a steam engine, while Hydra limps slowly around. Neither bot can engage as the battle finally ends.

After the fight, Hydra tells us they had lost movement because their speed controllers overheated. They had to wait a few seconds for those to cool down, then they could resume movement and avert the countdown.

Very tough one to call, but I'd give it to Hydra on the basis not only of significant damage but on control as well.

The judges agree, and give it to Hydra in a split decision.

WINNER: Hydra, by decision (2-1)

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Traab]

Upon reading the first description I had to eyeroll in exasperation. Its like, are they dousing every bot in kerosene before they enter the arena? It seems like half the bots that have lost so far have caught fire. Then none of the rest ended in fireballs and I was disappointed my theory seems unlikely. :p

On a related note, im so bored with the battlebox itself. It might as well not bother having anything but the screws as thats the only feature that ever accomplishes anything. I wish they would bring back the fun part of robot wars, having two overpowered arena bots in their corners waiting on the fool that dares come too close. It doesnt have to go full scale where they would manually toss the bots into a pit or whatever, but just being an ACTUAL hazard that can and will damage your bot because they are twice the size and have twice as nasty of weapons.

[tomandtish]

Pendell does another excellent job, so I'll only comment for some specifics.

Spoiler: Ghost Raptor Vs. Shatter!

Show

Chuck was a semifinalist in the first season of the reboot, but did horribly in season 2 and is just returning. Needless to say, this is not the return he hoped for. The armor on Shatter is designed to break off, so it's not really damaging itself. Still looks bad though.

Spoiler: Tracer vs. Ribbot

Show

Ribbot is my wife's favorite (she loves frogs!) so she's happy for the win.

Spoiler: Black Dragon vs. Kraken

Show

This was a tough call. I don't think anyone would have been surprised if it was called the other way. And at least some of the audience (remember, they are other teams this year) thought the same, as there were some actual boos when the decision was announced.

Spoiler: Mammoth vs. Huge

Show

Pendell's reviews are good, but he understated this one a bit. For the first half of the fight Huge is literally sending Mammoth flying. Suplexes, reverse suplexs, even what might have been a DDT. Huge iand Mammoth look like the finale of a WWE match. And after the match we see that Huge came within 1/2 inch of hitting Mammoth's drive chain. Honestly, this was probably the most visually entertaining fight of the reboot.

Spoiler: Claw Viber vs. Hijinx

Show

Before the match you can tell the announcers are a little dubious about the speed claims for Claw Viper. Lots of "He says" and "If it's as fast as he says" comments. After the match the doubts are over. Claw Viper is the fastest bot we've seen during the reboot. If anything, it might be a bit too fast, as there were a few times he overshot his target.

Spoiler: Perfect Phoenix vs. Extinguisher

Show

OK, it's official. Tyler Winn and Perfect Phoenix are the team I'm rooting for. Watching Tyler and his fellow 11yo push the bot to the arena, you suddenly realize that the bot almost certainly weighs more than the two of them combined. Incidentally the body of the robot used to be Paul Ventimiglia's bot Brutality. And the body of the bot itself is older than the driver. So you have a bot built partailly off of the body created by one of the winningest drivers in the reboot, and a driver trained by one of the most brutal drivers in the game. He is the chosen one!

Spoiler: Hydra vs. Witch Doctor

Show

I used to give Wtch Doctor problems for reliability (it was smoking by the end of most of its matches last year), but after the beating it suffered I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. There were 7-8 flips where they were 8 feet or more above the floor, but they kept coming. Their mobility problems happened because the right front wedge got bent up against the wheel, acting as kind of a break. As for Hydra, it simply cemented it's place as the flip bot to beat this season.

[pendell]

Agree. The sight of Perfect Phoenix's 11-year-old team gamely pushing their bot into the arena unassisted won them major points with me. That was guts and courage.

Although we all know about chosen ones .

Actually, he DID learn something from Billings' experiences.

Spoiler

Show

Once he'd won, you'll notice he kept his distance rather than going in to inflict additional unnecessary damage. Ray delighted in destroying other people's bots in the early years of the reboot, but that all stopped once he had that one fight where he damaged his own bot going for gratuitous hits, and that cost him a championship.

After that, while he still pummeled seven kinds of stuffing out of the opposing bots during the match itself, once the bot was obviously beaten he backed up and kept his distance.

Tyler did the same. You'll notice he commented that the 'bot came out of the fight in pretty much the condition it went in. That saves him some repair work, which is all the more important when you have an early bed time to go to school next day.

Witch Doctor -- they impress me. I don't know if they'll win the championship, but I expect them to get at least to the quarter finals. The reason is I've seen a lot of teams in my day. I've seen losers and winners. And the difference I've found is that winners don't give up, no matter how far they're down. And losers? As a fan of a baseball team in the 80s, I've seen that losers always find a way to throw away their lead. No matter how far up they are, they always find some way to throw it away. Winners? they always keep coming back no matter how far down they are.

And witch doctor did that. I won't give out the winner of their bout, but they evidenced a strong, fierce, determination not to give up when things looked bad for them in that match. That's what winners do. Even if they don't win every match, it means that more often than not they find ways to turn losses into wins.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[pendell]

Battlebots 3

Copperhead vs. Gigabyte

Spoiler: TRIGGER WARNING: Bot Decapitation

Show

Gigabyte is a horizontal spinner taking
Copperhead, which has a drum on the front similar to
Minotaur. Supposedly Copperhead has doubled its spinup speed.

Match starts: Copperhead rolls right over and hits Gigabyte hard, knocking the vertical stick on top off. evidently this served both as a self-mechanism and a directional indicator, so
now the bot is in trouble if its overturned and the driver can't tell which direction it's supposed to be moving in.

Both bots seem to be skidding around. Is there ice on the floor or something?

Copperhead backs up, works for a minute to line up...

And then CUTS GIGABYTE IN TWO. The knock is so hard the entire upper half of gigabyte goes flying off, and the shell that's left is immobile. And there's debris all over the battlebox.

WOW. Name that Bot Muramasa, after the legendary swordsmith who reputedly created cursed blades.

WINNER: Copperhead, by KO.

Jackpot Vs. Subzero

Spoiler

Show

Jackbot was built in 30 days for $4000, very cheap
for a battlebot. Looks like it has a vertical spinner? Also
looks kind of awkward.

Subzero is a veteran with a new team captain. It
has a pneumatic driver to flip enemy bots.
Arms, armor, and drive train have all been upgraded.

Match starts! Jackpot is having serious mobility problems
from the very beginning, almost immobile. Subzero tries to scoop it up but gets hit by that huge saw on Jackpot. Sparks.
Jackpot gets flipped but lands right side up and comes back for action. Subzero rams it into the corner. All it has to do is flip to end the fight... but the flip never comes.

First the flipper won't work , so instead SZ rams Jackpot repeatedly. Then Subzero just shuts down. It's not moving any longer.

I suppose the cumulative damage from that huge saw eventually
took its toll? The announcers think it's reliability issues
on Subzero.

WINNER: Jackpot, by KO.

Uppercut vs. Gemini

Spoiler

Show

Gemini has two robots, each with a horizontal spinner.
I'm not convinced of the soundness of this strategy; Neither is durable as one alone. The phrase "defeat in detail" springs to mind.

Uppercut is a team from MIT, led by the yo-yo champion of the world. It has a new motor and a vertical spinner that generates
a tremendous amount of energy.

Match starts:

BAM! Uppercut takes on one of Gemini's bots and knocks it straight out of the arena! That's half the team. Now we've
got one half size bot versus a full sized bot; doesn't look good for Gemini.

Next, Uppercut turns around and hits the other bot. POW! It doesn't take it out of the arena, but bits fly all over the battle box and the second bot is out . The entire fight took fourteen seconds, not counting the countdown. Uppercust just smacked the one bot cold, then hit the other. The announcers said Uppercut will be throwing "Haymakers" this season. They weren't wrong.

WINNER: Uppercut, by KO.

Beta vs. Rotator

Spoiler

Show

Beta brings us a pneumatic hammer, three times more powerful than the previous electric version, which was already the most powerful hammerbot in the team.

Rotator is a spinner which has been working hard on his reliability; they upset Tombstone in a previous season, so they are a dangerous contender.

Match starts: Beta has a lighter hammer than they did previously, investing in frontal armor and a huge wedge. Their plan appears to be to push rotator around until it's blade stops or slows , then pound them with the hammer.

But they never do get a chance to swing the hammer. They keep waiting and waiting for Rotator's blade to slow, but it never does. That bot is very durable!

Then, Rotator gets a glancing hit and takes the hammer off anyway.

For the rest of the match, Beta pushes Rotator around but neither can inflict more damage, and time expires.

I expect the judge's decision to be for Rotator. While Beta did more damage by shoving, the criteria is damage with the primary weapon, and on that level Rotator was well in advance. Plus, I can't possibly give you a win if you don't use your primary weapon even once in the course of the match! Damage plus aggression give the match to Rotator, I think.

Still, some excellent driving by the Beta team.

The judges disagree: They call it for Beta , deciding that
aggression plus control counterbalance the damage done by Rotator.

There's a lot of grumbling in the pits from Hypershock and Rotator about the decision, but I think the judges called it best they could; Still, I'd have called it differently. If you never use your primary weapon, you can't win aggression.

WINNER: Beta, by decision (2-1)

Valkyrie vs. Tantrum

Spoiler

Show

Valkyrie brings a horizontal spinner and has been studying
for the last year.

Tantrum has a vertical spinner.

Neither team invested in Farouk's announcment. It's just the city they're from and name.

The match starts: They rush either other. It's hard to tell who's doing more damage at first. Valkyrie's primary stops spinning, but Tantrum is still operational.

Tantrum now dominates the fight but isn't able to do much with the primary weapon; they simply can't get a grip on Valkyrie to bring it into contact.

It looks like Tantrum is dominant, all the way up to the point it suddenly stops moving.

I guess the fight was simply too stressful for the machine; it is counted out.

WINNER: Valkyrie, by KO.

Atom #94 vs. Big Dill

Spoiler

Show

Atom 94 is
Another team discipled by Ray Billings, this one from India,
our first ever Indian team. They bring a vertical spinner ot the fight. 94 is the atomic number of plutonium, we are informed.


Big Dill's captain has only one arm due to a birth defect,
but that won't stop him tonight! He brings a lifter.
They also have a minibot to get beneath Atom 94.

Match starts: Atom 94 immediately has problems and start spinning in circles on the floor. Out of control , they cede control of the match to Big Dill, which repeatedly lifts, flips, and takes them for a ride around the box. Adam #94 is smoking, now. Eventually, the two get entangled and cannot be separated, so the call goes to the judges, but there's no doubt as to the outcome this time.

WINNER: Big Dill, by decision (3-0)

Gruff Vs. Hypershock

Spoiler

Show

Gruff is a lifter/grappler with a torch , a lot of durability,
and a terrific driver.

Hypershock is a vigorous contender bringing a vertical spinner.

The match starts; the get into it and Gruff feeds it its flame.
Hypershock's vertical stops and this time Gruff takes it for ride and breathes fire again . Hypershock stops dead. Has flame finally succeeded in taking out a bot?

WINNER: Gruff by KO.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[tomandtish]

Pendell has done the usual excellent job. A few comments...

Spoiler: Copperhead vs. Gigabyte

Show

This is the second time that Giga has been decapitated that way. Tombstone has done it previously. Looks like a design flaw.

Spoiler: Jackpot Vs. Subzero

Show

Subzero has had consistent reliability issues. I'd actually bet my wife the last tamale that Subzero would break down. Victory is pork flavored.

Spoiler: Uppercut vs. Gemini

Show

They actually commented before the match that Gemini's builder was going to use this decision to decide whether or not to continue with this design. Safe to say I suspect they'll go in a different direction. The problem is that two 125 pounds aren't each half as effective as a 250 pound bot. There's too much duplication of components.

Spoiler: Beta vs. Rotator

Show

Totally agree with Pendell on this one. If you never even fire your primary weapon, what's the point? I'd have given it to Rotator.

Spoiler: Valkyrie vs. Tantrum

Show

Tantrum is still trying to make that punch spinner work. The idea is that the spinner is protected by the robot until they fire it forward (think the inner mouth of an "Alien" alien).But it never fired in this match, and seems too small to do real damage anyway. It's amazing that they have 3 wins through 3 seasons, even though those wins are against bots with even worse records.

Spoiler: Atom #94 vs. Big Dill

Show

Yeah, this is a hard fight to judge. Big Dill was definitely dominant, but how much of that was Atom having problems right from the beginning? This falls into the category of "Atom lost" rather than Big Dill won.

Spoiler: Gruff Vs. Hypershock

Show

Gruff is a tough bot (it went the distance with Tombstone last year). Hypershock tends to have reliability issues, and in fact has never made the playoffs. But Gruff clearly controls this fight. Hypershock never really gets moving, and loses the weapon pretty early.

[pendell]

Episode 4 : Blood , sweat, and gears

Tombstone vs. Slap Box

Spoiler

Show

Ray has to come back after being stuffed out of the ring
by End Game in the last fight. Anyone can lose once... but twice?

A family team, 14 year old driver and 11 year old sister driving minibot. They bring wedges and armor on the front. Looks like the intent is to flip Tombstone on its side. But it has exposed tires on the side, meat for Tombstone's blade?

The 'bot whisperer' analyst note that the armour on slap box isn't really put on strongly, so he expects to see pieces of Slap Box all over the arena. Not exactly a ringing endorsement. Tombstone is the heavy favorite.

The kid charges in and hits tombstone pretty hard. He knocks tombstone on its side and the blade digs into the floor! Unfortunately for him, Tombstone is tough. It rights itself and the blade starts back up again, while Slap Box's wedges have been sheared off. Then carefully, surgically, Ray in Tombstone chops off the exposed wheels of Slap Box, just as promised. With only one wheel left, it is left to crab walk and Tombstone stands back as the countdown begins. Instead, he goes after the mini bot and the little 11 year old drivers squeals "Please no!"

Ray backs off in an uncharacteristic gesture of chivalry, but the countdown continues and Tombstone cruises to an easy victory.

Gotta give the rookie props for charging out there, but this wasn't a fair matchup at all. Tombstone is simply too durable, and Ray is simply too good a driver. He gives them a thumbs up afterwards, saying "it was a good match", and it was. The rookie team did as well as could reasonably be expected against Death himself.

WINNER: Tombstone, by KO.

Pain Train vs. Slammow!

Spoiler

Show

Pain Train is a rookie while Slammow! is a new bot, incorporating lessons from two failed designs.

Pain train is a vertical spinner and intends to aggressively charge in, which suits the former marine driver to a T.

Slammow! is a grappler /lifter which is designed to lift a half ton, four times the weight of a tournament bot. His intent is to push Pain Train into the corner flip him over, and then suplex Pain Train. The builder says he HAS to win this year. This is his third time and it must not be winless.

As we prep for the fight we hear Pain Train's driver mutter,
"I'm takin' those wheels, baby."

Fight starts. Pain train has a lot of trouble driving, giving Slammow! plenty of time to line up for his signature attack. Once he slams pain train. Then again. He takes some damage from the spinner, but it doesn't seem to really be able to bite. Then Slammow! hits again and fully suplexes Pain Train. PT's weapon belt is on the floor of the box and the main weapon is no longer functional. PT is immobile and the countdown starts, but it finds movement again. Slammow! is missing one of its arms now but it is still able to get a hit in, and this time PT is permanently immobile.

WINNER: Slammow! by KO.

Perfect Phoenix vs. Skorpios

Spoiler

Show

I've been anticipating this fight for awhile ever since they won their first fight with one good hit. Plus, I admire the guts of these two 11-year-old kids, Tyler and Sawyer. Will they be able to pull it off a second time?

Skorpios is a vertical spinner plus wedge which is 1 down already against Bloodsport. The wedge will be used to neutralize PPs' blade and then Skorpio's own weapon will come from above.

That's the plan, anyway.

PP plans to attack when he does a wheelie and take out Skorpio's tires.

Skorpios charges right in and misses, much like PP's first match but Tyler misses the counterblow this time. The wedge and the blade collide in sparks. After a few hits PP's blade stops spinning.

Uh-oh.

Skorpios executes its attack to perfection, bringing the blade down from above and making repeated hits on PP, which is now smoking. Then, finally, Skorpios hits him again and shoves him into the screws, where PP is a twisted wreck and immobile. Heartbreaker for the kids, but Skorpios came in seriously and fought aggressively all through the fight. That's the difference between a veteran driver and PP's last rookie opponent. Better luck next time!

WINNER: Skorpios by KO.

Ribbot vs. Madcatter

Spoiler

Show

Ribbot brings a vertical spinner and wedgelets to take on Madcatter which has vertical spinner, a plow, a lifting arm, and a minibot with a horizontal spinner called "Toebiter." Both are 1-0 coming into this fight, both determined to impress the
selection committee a second time. I guess I have to root for community college Madcatter vs. the well-known WPI team.

At first, Ribbot outdrives Madcatter but then is distracted by the minibot. While chaising it Madcatter roars back, lands a tremendous shot and rips off the metal off the top of Ribbot! Ribbot is knocked over, missing its top skin, and smoking. Their primary weapon is disabled. Madcatter's weapon is down as well. The minibot actually proves useful and gets underneath Ribbot to make it a sitting duck as Madcatter's weapon spins back up. It makes some more hits but both bots are mobile as the clock ticks down to the end of the match.

The judges HAVE to give this one to madcatter by unanimous decision.

Yup, they agree. This wasn't a hard one to judge.

WINNER: Madcatter by Decision (3-0)

Chomp vs. Gamma 9!

Spoiler

Show

CHOMP has been re-engineered as a walker to take advantage of the greater weight limit allocated to walkers, so it weighs 500 pounds, twice the weight of a standard competitor. It also brings a hammer and a
flamethrower. It will be taking on Gamma 9, which is a
lifter bot. I suspect it will have great trouble against the huge Chomp. Chomp looks like a sit-down lawnmower when it's brought into the battle box.

Fight starts. Gamma 9 succeeds in outmaneuvering and lifting chomp but, once it has, it can't do anything with it. Chomp retaliates with the hammer and damages the lifting arm. It lands repeated hits which, though not enough to disable Gamma, still knocks pieces off. As the clock winds down it lands a solid blow into the guts of Gamma 9 but the clock expires before any countdown can start.

My guess is unanimous decision for Chomp.

They agree.

WINNER: Chomp, by decision (3-0)

Malice vs. Shatter!

Spoiler

Show

Malice has some things to prove; evidently the female captain got a lot of grief from her male colleagues, which doesn't make sense to me given how skilled Witch Doctor is. Even so, she's here and she's here for blood. In fact, she was a member of team Shatter! last year. She's gone with a lighter weapon in order to put more armor on top against Shatter!


Shatter! knocked off some of its own armor in the previous match which it nonetheless won; let's see if they've got any better since then.

The fight starts , and in the first weapon-on-weapon contact BOTH primaries are disabled; Malice's belt lies on the floor while the head of Shatter!'s hammer is clean off; it is left with a little stub that flails ineffectually at Malice. The two bots shove each other for the next two minutes thirty seconds until the clock counts down and its' time for the judges to earn their pay.

I think I have to give this one to Malice on control but this is definitely going to be a split decision and a tight call.

But that is the way it unfolds.

WINNER: Malice by Decision (2-1)

End Game vs. Bloodsport

Spoiler

Show

Ah, the match we've been waiting for. End Game clobbered Tombstone in its first and we want to see if the Tombstone-killer can repeat itself.

Bloodsport has a horizontal spinner and a wedge , so it is a very Tombstone-like bot. Will the same thing work a second time?

End Game has a LOT of armor on the front to go with its vertical spinner and Bloodsport has a very heavy bar today, 77 pounds compared to the maximum of 80. Looks like they brought their biggest weapon for this fight.

They collide in some really vicious hits but once they're over End Game has dropped a belt. It is crab walking. Bloodsport loops around but holds off as endgame smokes in the center of the ring, burning out its motors. Less than a minute into the match, it is counted out.

Well, those were some entertaining fights but I have to give the prize for most innovative to CHOMP. Their walker robot was like something out of a star wars movie. I have a hard time imagining it as the finalist, but it is still one scary monstrosity.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Arcane_Secrets]

I'm not going to post a full review, but

Huge v. Hydra

Spoiler

Show

That was certainly....something. I hated that Hydra got the win last night because they totally didn't deserve it on all possible levels. They were on the verge of getting disqualified for just holding for a long time. They redesigned their bot so that it was fundamentally incapable of even using its weapon meaningfully and did nothing but block. I think that's vastly worse than Beta not even using its weapon, because at least it still had the option. Hydra just went in there not even trying to have anything that even resembled weapon use when they're supposed to be a flipper. The rules shouldn't have allowed that and they shouldn't have been rewarded for it.

[Traab]

I disagree.

Spoiler

Show

While the battle was lame, hydra basically completely shut down huge in all ways. Huge managed to land ONE glancing blow but was driven all over the place by hydra, who was in complete and total control of the match from first moment to last. i didnt like the "I dont feel like letting him go" part as that felt petty and lame, but he still perfectly countered huge 100%. Huge was rendered totally helpless for the entire match and that earned hydra an easy win. Superior driving, superior battle control, and superior damage as even those two pulverizer hits were more than huge managed to land. Aside from a potential dq for refusing to release the pin, hydra earned that win in all categories. But yeah, boring fight to watch, and it felt cheap that hydra designed itself specifically to counter a single bot, but then is that very different from the blade bots changing the height or angle of their blades to target specific opponents? That gets done all the time, they know their opponent has a much lower and longer wedge for example, so they drop the blade to compensate, or they raise it to target exposed machinery gears and drive belts. Is it better because it makes for a much more violent fight?

[pendell]

Claw Viper vs. Black Dragon

Spoiler

Show

Claw viper is one of the fastest bots on the field
and speed has shown to be a definite advantage
in the box.

Black Dragon won its first match by decision, and
brings a vertical spinner .

Claw viper charges and misses, Black dragon counters nad lands a solid counter hit. Black dragon hits from the side
and rips into claw viper with its spinner.

Claw Viper smokes and is immobilized. It finally
gets moving again, and black dragon hits it again. That does it. A very convincing win! This was all BD, which they won
by superior driving skill.

WINNER: Black Dragon, by KO.

Jackpot vs. Ghost Raptor

Spoiler

Show

Jackpot is the cheapest battlebot on the file,d, and won
by outlasting the vveteran subzero. It brings a vertical spinner. They've modified, added top armor, removed the force and done other things to prevent to catch on the floor.

Ghost Raptor, a spinner, lost to Shatter and is facing elimination. I think this is going to be difficult for him;
he had trouble damaging Shatter! , and Jackpot is a very tough bot.

Whelp, that was quick. In their first contact Ghost Raptor's spinner goes flying off! Completely disarmed, it has no chance unless some mechanical failure disables Jackpot.

Nothing doing. Ghost Raptor is reduced to crab walking , then to not moving at all. Counted out.

Jackpot is one amazingly tough bot. The maker is definitely proving that you don't need an expensive bot to win in battle bots -- the 'bot whisperer' mentioned that you could spend $4000 (the cost of Jackpot) in batteries ALONE.

Well, he's certainly proving his thesis tonight.

Post fight, he tells how they learned so much from their first battle and pretty much rebuilt the bot from the lessons learned against SubZero; I guess that's part of the luxury cheap gives you; easier to rebuild!

Really well done!

WINNER: Jackpot, by KO.

Subzero vs.Grabot

Spoiler

Show

Subzero, a flipper lost to Jackpot when a malfunction disabled their system. They can't afford to lose again.

The newcomer, Grabot, is a grappler to lift up subzero. Looks like a tough bot.

The bot whisperer is worried about the complexity of Grabot.

Flip, flip, flip. It's all Subzero. I'm not even sure Grabot is moving any more but Subzero keeps hitting it.

At last, mercifully, the countdown begins. That was brutal.
Grabot accomplished absolutely nothing.

WINNER: Subzero, by KO.

Hydra vs. Huge

Spoiler

Show

Hydra, the flipper, KOd witch doctor in its first match.

Huge is its usual big but otherwise unimpressive self. I can't recall the last time this bot won, but here it is.

Hydra comes in -- what the heck is that? A cowcatcher, they
called it?

The bot whisperer is nervous. He thinks they're too large and fragile. Huge may even be able to flip him by spinning upward against that cowcatcher.

Okay, neither can do anything to either. The cowcatcher keeps huge away but bronco can't do anything either. Now we see some sparks as huge hits the primary. Bronco pushes him into the corner, where he is hit by the pulverizer. Gets into an argument with the ref. The ref demands he back up while Bronco argues he doesn't have to -- he's not actually touching Huge. The ref is forced to actually warn Hydra, who finally backs up.

This one is going to the judges , isn't it?

It sure does. Nothing changes.

The call for huge would be:
1) Huge did damage with it's primary weapon, which Bronco never did. Sure , Bronco pushed it into the corner and got the pulverizer to do something, but the criteria for damage is with the PRIMARY WEAPON.

2) I don't want to see any more of this sumo-bot stuff in the battle box.

I can see a case to be made for Hydra, though, in that it
definitely should get all the control points and I would give it points on aggression too.

Thinking this through, I think I have to give it to Hydra.
Aggression+control versus extremely minimal damage on Huge's side of the balance sheet.

The judges agree, unanimously.

Even so, I think we need a rule change. And there is booing from the crowd. He won by the rules, but if the rules allow this sort of thing, the rules need fixing.

WINNER: Hydra, by KO.

Fusion vs. Aegis

Spoiler

Show

Aegis is a brand new box. This is a flipper. They intend to slow down fusion and flip them. It has a great deal of kevlar armor, so it should be very tough.


Fusion has two weapons, failed against Madcatter. They've replaced the weapon controllers in the hope they won't burn out this time.

Both systems have trouble.

Fusion freezed up. It takes a few seconds to
fire up, but when it does, it backs up
into Aegis, UNDER the kevlar armor, and utterly destroys it. Very clever!

One more hit for violence's sake, and that's it. Wow, that was fast.

Even so, fusion has work to do if it wants to win. A ten second pause before the primary weapon fires up would be a death sentence against a veteran.

WINNER: Fusion, by KO.

Lock-jaw vs. Big Dill

Spoiler

Show

Lockjaw , vertical spinner, destroyed Captain Shredderator in their first bout but it lost a belt in the process. The team has adjusted to try to prevent that mistake a second time.

Big Dill is a lifter which won its last bout against atom 94 by decision.

Fight's on. Lock-jaw out-drives Big dill and takes off pieces. Big Dill tries to square up but can't find an angle of attack. Lock-jaw takes off his right fork, ruining his primary weapon.

Then Lock-Jaw's spinner shuts down and both bots have reverted to pusher bots.

Lock-jaw pushes Big Dill into a corner and it is almost counted, but it recovers just in time to avoid being counted out. It goes to the judges, but there's not much doubt how this one will play out.

WINNER: Lock-Jaw, by decision (3-0)

Witch Doctor vs. Kraken

Spoiler

Show

Witch doctor was last year's #2, comes this year with a vertical spinner. It lost to Hydra in a tremendously tough and entertaining fight. Let's see if they can do better this time.

Kraken is a grappler with a minibot, and lost its last match against Black Dragon in a close decision. What will they show us this time?

The announcers clearly expect Witch Doctor to be the favorite here.

Fight's on. Kraken gets a bit in. Witch doctor is jiggling up and down and its weapon is spinning at about fast speed. The battle is all Kraken's, as they control, bite, hold, release, bite again. WD still took off a strip of armour
off of Kraken. Both bots are operational as it goes to a judge's decision.

I would give it to Kraken.

The judges agree.

WINNER: Kraken , by decision (3-0)

What did other people say? I see arcane_secrets and Traab are discussing.

Spoiler

Show

I agree with Traab. This was a lousy fight but Hydra won within the rules. This is the same thing as with Beta's fight -- in both that fight and Hydra's, both went to a control strategy and never even bothered to fire the primary weapon. The rules allow this. Let's change the rules such that you must at least FIRE the primary weapon .
Say -- in a judge's decision, you automatically lose if your damage score is zero. If you want to win with a push bot, you've got to destroy the other bot, throw it out of the ring or such. Be entertaining.

Change the rules, don't punish Hydra or Beta for playing within them.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Traab]

I would like to change one part of my argument about hydra. I think the real problem there is utterly changing your bots type. Like, you enter as a drum bot, then remove the drum and turn into a flipper, thats kinda screwed up. Its one thing to adjust your main weapon so it will be more effective against an opponent, but something else entirely to try to be a swiss army bot with attachments that totally change your bots style like that. I even understand WHY they did it. A flipper would have been less than effective against huge, It would be really hard to get the perfect placement to flip in the first place, and the thing has no issues with being flipped anyways. But that doesnt mean you get to say, "I wont play a flip bot, I will play a push bot/hammer bot/saw bot/flamethrower bot." You entered with a flip bot, thats the bot you should be using. The whole point of picking a weapon type is that they arent all equally effective against every type of opponent.

[Arcane_Secrets]

I disagree.

Spoiler

Show

While the battle was lame, hydra basically completely shut down huge in all ways. Huge managed to land ONE glancing blow but was driven all over the place by hydra, who was in complete and total control of the match from first moment to last. i didnt like the "I dont feel like letting him go" part as that felt petty and lame, but he still perfectly countered huge 100%. Huge was rendered totally helpless for the entire match and that earned hydra an easy win. Superior driving, superior battle control, and superior damage as even those two pulverizer hits were more than huge managed to land. Aside from a potential dq for refusing to release the pin, hydra earned that win in all categories. But yeah, boring fight to watch, and it felt cheap that hydra designed itself specifically to counter a single bot, but then is that very different from the blade bots changing the height or angle of their blades to target specific opponents? That gets done all the time, they know their opponent has a much lower and longer wedge for example, so they drop the blade to compensate, or they raise it to target exposed machinery gears and drive belts. Is it better because it makes for a much more violent fight?

Spoiler

Show

"But yeah, boring fight to watch, and it felt cheap that hydra designed itself specifically to counter a single bot, but then is that very different from the blade bots changing the height or angle of their blades to target specific opponents?"

Well...yes. Changing a weapon, even to the point of switching out weapons entirely which Warhead has done from time to time is different. Its still actually using a weapon. Even choosing *not* to use a weapon (which Beta did) is still having that as an option. Would you prefer if all of the fights were just like this?

It doesn't have to be violent. An effective liftbot (not a flipper) really isn't that violent but its still actually using its weapon and its better than this.

[Arcane_Secrets]

By the way, I'd definitely agree that a rule change about weapon usage (and the necessity of such) would solve issues like this as far as I'm concerned.

[tomandtish]

Episode 4 : Blood , sweat, and gears

Tombstone vs. Slap Box

Spoiler

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Ray has to come back after being stuffed out of the ring
by End Game in the last fight. Anyone can lose once... but twice?

A family team, 14 year old driver and 11 year old sister driving minibot. They bring wedges and armor on the front. Looks like the intent is to flip Tombstone on its side. But it has exposed tires on the side, meat for Tombstone's blade?

The 'bot whisperer' analyst note that the armour on slap box isn't really put on strongly, so he expects to see pieces of Slap Box all over the arena. Not exactly a ringing endorsement. Tombstone is the heavy favorite.

The kid charges in and hits tombstone pretty hard. He knocks tombstone on its side and the blade digs into the floor! Unfortunately for him, Tombstone is tough. It rights itself and the blade starts back up again, while Slap Box's wedges have been sheared off. Then carefully, surgically, Ray in Tombstone chops off the exposed wheels of Slap Box, just as promised. With only one wheel left, it is left to crab walk and Tombstone stands back as the countdown begins. Instead, he goes after the mini bot and the little 11 year old drivers squeals "Please no!"

Ray backs off in an uncharacteristic gesture of chivalry, but the countdown continues and Tombstone cruises to an easy victory.

Gotta give the rookie props for charging out there, but this wasn't a fair matchup at all. Tombstone is simply too durable, and Ray is simply too good a driver. He gives them a thumbs up afterwards, saying "it was a good match", and it was. The rookie team did as well as could reasonably be expected against Death himself.

WINNER: Tombstone, by KO.

Pain Train vs. Slammow!

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Pain Train is a rookie while Slammow! is a new bot, incorporating lessons from two failed designs.

Pain train is a vertical spinner and intends to aggressively charge in, which suits the former marine driver to a T.

Slammow! is a grappler /lifter which is designed to lift a half ton, four times the weight of a tournament bot. His intent is to push Pain Train into the corner flip him over, and then suplex Pain Train. The builder says he HAS to win this year. This is his third time and it must not be winless.

As we prep for the fight we hear Pain Train's driver mutter,
"I'm takin' those wheels, baby."

Fight starts. Pain train has a lot of trouble driving, giving Slammow! plenty of time to line up for his signature attack. Once he slams pain train. Then again. He takes some damage from the spinner, but it doesn't seem to really be able to bite. Then Slammow! hits again and fully suplexes Pain Train. PT's weapon belt is on the floor of the box and the main weapon is no longer functional. PT is immobile and the countdown starts, but it finds movement again. Slammow! is missing one of its arms now but it is still able to get a hit in, and this time PT is permanently immobile.

WINNER: Slammow! by KO.

Perfect Phoenix vs. Skorpios

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I've been anticipating this fight for awhile ever since they won their first fight with one good hit. Plus, I admire the guts of these two 11-year-old kids, Tyler and Sawyer. Will they be able to pull it off a second time?

Skorpios is a vertical spinner plus wedge which is 1 down already against Bloodsport. The wedge will be used to neutralize PPs' blade and then Skorpio's own weapon will come from above.

That's the plan, anyway.

PP plans to attack when he does a wheelie and take out Skorpio's tires.

Skorpios charges right in and misses, much like PP's first match but Tyler misses the counterblow this time. The wedge and the blade collide in sparks. After a few hits PP's blade stops spinning.

Uh-oh.

Skorpios executes its attack to perfection, bringing the blade down from above and making repeated hits on PP, which is now smoking. Then, finally, Skorpios hits him again and shoves him into the screws, where PP is a twisted wreck and immobile. Heartbreaker for the kids, but Skorpios came in seriously and fought aggressively all through the fight. That's the difference between a veteran driver and PP's last rookie opponent. Better luck next time!

WINNER: Skorpios by KO.

Ribbot vs. Madcatter

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Ribbot brings a vertical spinner and wedgelets to take on Madcatter which has vertical spinner, a plow, a lifting arm, and a minibot with a horizontal spinner called "Toebiter." Both are 1-0 coming into this fight, both determined to impress the
selection committee a second time. I guess I have to root for community college Madcatter vs. the well-known WPI team.

At first, Ribbot outdrives Madcatter but then is distracted by the minibot. While chaising it Madcatter roars back, lands a tremendous shot and rips off the metal off the top of Ribbot! Ribbot is knocked over, missing its top skin, and smoking. Their primary weapon is disabled. Madcatter's weapon is down as well. The minibot actually proves useful and gets underneath Ribbot to make it a sitting duck as Madcatter's weapon spins back up. It makes some more hits but both bots are mobile as the clock ticks down to the end of the match.

The judges HAVE to give this one to madcatter by unanimous decision.

Yup, they agree. This wasn't a hard one to judge.

WINNER: Madcatter by Decision (3-0)

Chomp vs. Gamma 9!

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CHOMP has been re-engineered as a walker to take advantage of the greater weight limit allocated to walkers, so it weighs 500 pounds, twice the weight of a standard competitor. It also brings a hammer and a
flamethrower. It will be taking on Gamma 9, which is a
lifter bot. I suspect it will have great trouble against the huge Chomp. Chomp looks like a sit-down lawnmower when it's brought into the battle box.

Fight starts. Gamma 9 succeeds in outmaneuvering and lifting chomp but, once it has, it can't do anything with it. Chomp retaliates with the hammer and damages the lifting arm. It lands repeated hits which, though not enough to disable Gamma, still knocks pieces off. As the clock winds down it lands a solid blow into the guts of Gamma 9 but the clock expires before any countdown can start.

My guess is unanimous decision for Chomp.

They agree.

WINNER: Chomp, by decision (3-0)

Malice vs. Shatter!

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Malice has some things to prove; evidently the female captain got a lot of grief from her male colleagues, which doesn't make sense to me given how skilled Witch Doctor is. Even so, she's here and she's here for blood. In fact, she was a member of team Shatter! last year. She's gone with a lighter weapon in order to put more armor on top against Shatter!


Shatter! knocked off some of its own armor in the previous match which it nonetheless won; let's see if they've got any better since then.

The fight starts , and in the first weapon-on-weapon contact BOTH primaries are disabled; Malice's belt lies on the floor while the head of Shatter!'s hammer is clean off; it is left with a little stub that flails ineffectually at Malice. The two bots shove each other for the next two minutes thirty seconds until the clock counts down and its' time for the judges to earn their pay.

I think I have to give this one to Malice on control but this is definitely going to be a split decision and a tight call.

But that is the way it unfolds.

WINNER: Malice by Decision (2-1)

End Game vs. Bloodsport

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Ah, the match we've been waiting for. End Game clobbered Tombstone in its first and we want to see if the Tombstone-killer can repeat itself.

Bloodsport has a horizontal spinner and a wedge , so it is a very Tombstone-like bot. Will the same thing work a second time?

End Game has a LOT of armor on the front to go with its vertical spinner and Bloodsport has a very heavy bar today, 77 pounds compared to the maximum of 80. Looks like they brought their biggest weapon for this fight.

They collide in some really vicious hits but once they're over End Game has dropped a belt. It is crab walking. Bloodsport loops around but holds off as endgame smokes in the center of the ring, burning out its motors. Less than a minute into the match, it is counted out.

Well, those were some entertaining fights but I have to give the prize for most innovative to CHOMP. Their walker robot was like something out of a star wars movie. I have a hard time imagining it as the finalist, but it is still one scary monstrosity.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

Pendell did his usual excellent job here. No need for additional comment.

Claw Viper vs. Black Dragon

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Claw viper is one of the fastest bots on the field
and speed has shown to be a definite advantage
in the box.

Black Dragon won its first match by decision, and
brings a vertical spinner .

Claw viper charges and misses, Black dragon counters nad lands a solid counter hit. Black dragon hits from the side
and rips into claw viper with its spinner.

Claw Viper smokes and is immobilized. It finally
gets moving again, and black dragon hits it again. That does it. A very convincing win! This was all BD, which they won
by superior driving skill.

WINNER: Black Dragon, by KO.

Jackpot vs. Ghost Raptor

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Jackpot is the cheapest battlebot on the file,d, and won
by outlasting the vveteran subzero. It brings a vertical spinner. They've modified, added top armor, removed the force and done other things to prevent to catch on the floor.

Ghost Raptor, a spinner, lost to Shatter and is facing elimination. I think this is going to be difficult for him;
he had trouble damaging Shatter! , and Jackpot is a very tough bot.

Whelp, that was quick. In their first contact Ghost Raptor's spinner goes flying off! Completely disarmed, it has no chance unless some mechanical failure disables Jackpot.

Nothing doing. Ghost Raptor is reduced to crab walking , then to not moving at all. Counted out.

Jackpot is one amazingly tough bot. The maker is definitely proving that you don't need an expensive bot to win in battle bots -- the 'bot whisperer' mentioned that you could spend $4000 (the cost of Jackpot) in batteries ALONE.

Well, he's certainly proving his thesis tonight.

Post fight, he tells how they learned so much from their first battle and pretty much rebuilt the bot from the lessons learned against SubZero; I guess that's part of the luxury cheap gives you; easier to rebuild!

Really well done!

WINNER: Jackpot, by KO.

Subzero vs.Grabot

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Subzero, a flipper lost to Jackpot when a malfunction disabled their system. They can't afford to lose again.

The newcomer, Grabot, is a grappler to lift up subzero. Looks like a tough bot.

The bot whisperer is worried about the complexity of Grabot.

Flip, flip, flip. It's all Subzero. I'm not even sure Grabot is moving any more but Subzero keeps hitting it.

At last, mercifully, the countdown begins. That was brutal.
Grabot accomplished absolutely nothing.

WINNER: Subzero, by KO.

Hydra vs. Huge

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Hydra, the flipper, KOd witch doctor in its first match.

Huge is its usual big but otherwise unimpressive self. I can't recall the last time this bot won, but here it is.

Hydra comes in -- what the heck is that? A cowcatcher, they
called it?

The bot whisperer is nervous. He thinks they're too large and fragile. Huge may even be able to flip him by spinning upward against that cowcatcher.

Okay, neither can do anything to either. The cowcatcher keeps huge away but bronco can't do anything either. Now we see some sparks as huge hits the primary. Bronco pushes him into the corner, where he is hit by the pulverizer. Gets into an argument with the ref. The ref demands he back up while Bronco argues he doesn't have to -- he's not actually touching Huge. The ref is forced to actually warn Hydra, who finally backs up.

This one is going to the judges , isn't it?

It sure does. Nothing changes.

The call for huge would be:
1) Huge did damage with it's primary weapon, which Bronco never did. Sure , Bronco pushed it into the corner and got the pulverizer to do something, but the criteria for damage is with the PRIMARY WEAPON.

2) I don't want to see any more of this sumo-bot stuff in the battle box.

I can see a case to be made for Hydra, though, in that it
definitely should get all the control points and I would give it points on aggression too.

Thinking this through, I think I have to give it to Hydra.
Aggression+control versus extremely minimal damage on Huge's side of the balance sheet.

The judges agree, unanimously.

Even so, I think we need a rule change. And there is booing from the crowd. He won by the rules, but if the rules allow this sort of thing, the rules need fixing.

WINNER: Hydra, by KO.

Fusion vs. Aegis

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Aegis is a brand new box. This is a flipper. They intend to slow down fusion and flip them. It has a great deal of kevlar armor, so it should be very tough.


Fusion has two weapons, failed against Madcatter. They've replaced the weapon controllers in the hope they won't burn out this time.

Both systems have trouble.

Fusion freezed up. It takes a few seconds to
fire up, but when it does, it backs up
into Aegis, UNDER the kevlar armor, and utterly destroys it. Very clever!

One more hit for violence's sake, and that's it. Wow, that was fast.

Even so, fusion has work to do if it wants to win. A ten second pause before the primary weapon fires up would be a death sentence against a veteran.

WINNER: Fusion, by KO.

Lock-jaw vs. Big Dill

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Lockjaw , vertical spinner, destroyed Captain Shredderator in their first bout but it lost a belt in the process. The team has adjusted to try to prevent that mistake a second time.

Big Dill is a lifter which won its last bout against atom 94 by decision.

Fight's on. Lock-jaw out-drives Big dill and takes off pieces. Big Dill tries to square up but can't find an angle of attack. Lock-jaw takes off his right fork, ruining his primary weapon.

Then Lock-Jaw's spinner shuts down and both bots have reverted to pusher bots.

Lock-jaw pushes Big Dill into a corner and it is almost counted, but it recovers just in time to avoid being counted out. It goes to the judges, but there's not much doubt how this one will play out.

WINNER: Lock-Jaw, by decision (3-0)

Witch Doctor vs. Kraken

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Witch doctor was last year's #2, comes this year with a vertical spinner. It lost to Hydra in a tremendously tough and entertaining fight. Let's see if they can do better this time.

Kraken is a grappler with a minibot, and lost its last match against Black Dragon in a close decision. What will they show us this time?

The announcers clearly expect Witch Doctor to be the favorite here.

Fight's on. Kraken gets a bit in. Witch doctor is jiggling up and down and its weapon is spinning at about fast speed. The battle is all Kraken's, as they control, bite, hold, release, bite again. WD still took off a strip of armour
off of Kraken. Both bots are operational as it goes to a judge's decision.

I would give it to Kraken.

The judges agree.

WINNER: Kraken , by decision (3-0)

What did other people say? I see arcane_secrets and Traab are discussing.

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I agree with Traab. This was a lousy fight but Hydra won within the rules. This is the same thing as with Beta's fight -- in both that fight and Hydra's, both went to a control strategy and never even bothered to fire the primary weapon. The rules allow this. Let's change the rules such that you must at least FIRE the primary weapon .
Say -- in a judge's decision, you automatically lose if your damage score is zero. If you want to win with a push bot, you've got to destroy the other bot, throw it out of the ring or such. Be entertaining.

Change the rules, don't punish Hydra or Beta for playing within them.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

More good commentary from Pendell.

Spoiler: Claw Viper vs. Black Dragon

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I will say, if Black Dragon hadn't continued pushing Claw Viper as much as it did, I wonder if they would have gotten the count out earlier. I noticed that CV wasn't moving about 1/3rd of the way through the ride Black Dragon took them on. I'll also say, speed is good, but only if you can do something with it. Black Dragon is definitely a serious contender this year.

Spoiler: Jackpot vs. Ghost Raptor

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Let me be clear: I'm rooting for Jackpot to go far (I always like the underdog). But I do want to see what happens up against a top tier bot. Ghost Raptor was top tier in season 1, but wasn't in 2 and isn't showing any indication of it this season. Sunzero has never been a significant competitor. I want to see them against an End Game, a Witch Doctor, or a Lockjaw.

Having said that, they did make very short work of Ghost Raptor. And you can see the dismay on Chuck's face. He came back after 4 years, and is getting his butt handed to him.

Spoiler: Subzero vs. Grabot

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So having said Subzero is not a competitor, they win solidly against Grabot. it's a solid victory, but I'm not terribly impressed given Grabot seems so unimpressive. The Grabot design seemed poor and they never really even got moving. Subzero still has a lot to prove to me.

Spoiler: Hydra vs. Huge

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Pendell, minor detail. You refer to Hydra as Bronco a few times. But otherwise I have to agree with you. Guidelines say damage is based on primary weapon. But judges don't seem to be paying attention to that. I'd have called it for Huge myself. Huge was just as aggressive as Hydra (it kept trying to make contact). And Hydra tries to pin Huge while claiming that they aren't touching him. This was a disappointing fight to watch. And the audience boos show how they feel as well.

Spoiler: Fusion vs. Aegis

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Have to agree with Pendell. This is another win that doesn't really impress. If you can't get your weapon going quickly, you're toast against some of the veterans. And again, if Fusion has both weapons running at the same time, then there's got to be power issues. No way you can have both weapons hitting as powerfully as one would alone. I also fault Aegis. "Let them come to you" is what they said when Fusion has having problems at the beginning. No, that's when you go in for the easy hit!

I will say that the difference between Ray Billings and Jake Ewer is that Ray enjoys playing the "villain" in a wrestling kind of way. Jake OTOH is an a#$%^&e. He admits he's the villain, but he isn't in a fun way like Ray is.

Spoiler: Lock-jaw vs. Big Dill

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Lockjaw is one of two "almost" bots. They almost make the finals. They almost go the distance. But they consistently have durability issues. A rough look at the last 5 seasons shows that Donald has finished more fights without the weapon working at the end of the match than they have with it working. We had smoke at the beginning of the match, and i suspect a motor overheat caused the weapon to stop working.

Don't get me wrong, they deserved the victory. But reliability issues lead me to believe he isn't going far into the finals.

Spoiler: Witch Doctor vs. Kraken

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Speaking of "Almost" bots, Witch Doctor is the other one. They've had an "almost" moment in each of the 4 seasons. And like Lockjaw they historically have durability problems. I won't fault them for the fight with Hydra given how much time they spent in the air, but in the previous four seasons most of their matches resulted in technical issues. That first hit unbalances them by splitting the weapon disc, and they never really get back in control. Kraken gets the control and aggression points. And team Witch Doctor knows they lost if you look at their faces at the end of the match.