NationStates

I thought that was a pretty good episode.
- I'm glad to see HUGE get a win. I'm slightly concerned by the (lack of) torque on that weapon though, it seems to spin up much slower than previous seasons. Good to see them do more damage to Kraken than BD and WD did though.
- Ribbot was pretty impressive, though against low tier opposition, so I doubt they'll get a high seeding in the round of 32.
- RotatoR really seems to have pretty low power compared to other horizontal spinners. It makes them more durable but I'm always wishing for a big hit that never comes.
- Jackpot keeps getting more impressive with every fight. Lockjaw looked pretty unspectacular in its opening two wins, and was found out here. I predict a low seeding for them.
- Bloodsport vs Chronos was a dull match. I guess that's what happens when a spinner knows its done enough to win and doesn't want further damage. This does however open the door for Uppercut to take that top seed.
- A fairly straightforward win for Fusion but I'm still concerned about its inability to drive... pretty much anywhere when those weapons are spinning.
- Great main event. Skorpios straight up beat Tombstone and not only survived the weapon on weapon impacts, but seemed to come out the better. Going 2-1 with their schedule will give them a high seeding. Tombstone will be in the top 32, but will have an unprecedented low seeding.

Pencil Sharpeners 2 wrote:I thought that was a pretty good episode.
- I'm glad to see HUGE get a win. I'm slightly concerned by the (lack of) torque on that weapon though, it seems to spin up much slower than previous seasons. Good to see them do more damage to Kraken than BD and WD did though.
- Ribbot was pretty impressive, though against low tier opposition, so I doubt they'll get a high seeding in the round of 32.
- RotatoR really seems to have pretty low power compared to other horizontal spinners. It makes them more durable but I'm always wishing for a big hit that never comes.
- Jackpot keeps getting more impressive with every fight. Lockjaw looked pretty unspectacular in its opening two wins, and was found out here. I predict a low seeding for them.
- Bloodsport vs Chronos was a dull match. I guess that's what happens when a spinner knows its done enough to win and doesn't want further damage. This does however open the door for Uppercut to take that top seed.
- A fairly straightforward win for Fusion but I'm still concerned about its inability to drive... pretty much anywhere when those weapons are spinning.
- Great main event. Skorpios straight up beat Tombstone and not only survived the weapon on weapon impacts, but seemed to come out the better. Going 2-1 with their schedule will give them a high seeding. Tombstone will be in the top 32, but will have an unprecedented low seeding.

I do have to concede that I am impressed by Jackpot at this point. Beating Lock-Jaw isn't something that everyone can do. That being said, I think Lock-Jaw will end up in the 8-16 range of seeding just because of their reputation from previous seasons.

What's the normal way to view these? I live in the UK and Robot Wars series are few and far between.

SD_Film Artists wrote:What's the normal way to view these? I live in the UK and Robot Wars series are few and far between.

Look on YouTube on Fridays. There are a lot of fake uploads, so try to find ones of about 1 hour 20 minutes or longer, as these are likely to be the real thing. Accounts uploading this stuff tend to get nuked pretty quick, so you'll have to do a new search each week.

This fight card is a lot more balanced and harder to predict than some of the recent ones, I think.

-Shrederator has honestly looked a lot better this year than it has in previous years. Do I think they'll beat Shatter? Probably not, but it wouldn't be a super surprising upset.
-Hijinx vs Chomp is an interesting one to call. From what I've seen, you can beat Chomp if you have enough pushing power to bully it around the arena. I don't know if Hijix has that kind of power, but I think they win a judge's decision off of damage. Chomp's only real shot is to break their weapon. So I see Hijix winning, but again, it's close.
- I want to see Claw Viper win this fight, but more realistically, I envision them eventually whiffing on a frontal attack on Gigabyte, exposing its sides. I don't think Claw Viper will survive a few side-on collisions with the shell spinner.
-Witch Doctor won't have its hands full with Slammow. I think Craig's going to have a hard time attacking, so he's basically a sitting target.
-Gruff will get to lift Extinguisher at will in the most lopsided fight on the docket.
-Atom 94 has proven to be a weaker competitor, so I think Perfect Phoenix is able to kill it as long as its weapon is in good shape.
-From what we've seen this year of the two robots in the main event, Copperhead seems to be the more dialed in. I think it wins the initial spinner-on-spinner exchanges and finishes Black Dragon off from there.

I pretty much agree with that. This is going to be a real test for Claw Viper - it easily dealt with the fairly weak spinner of Hijinx, but got ripped apart by Black Dragon. Gigabyte is arguably even more powerful, but is weak to wedges.

The main event looks very difficult to call. Copperhead has looked better this season, but has defeated its opponents very quickly. BD proved against Minotaur that it can take hits early on and come back to win, so we'll see if they are in as good a shape as last year.

I knew they were gonna throw Witch Doctor a cupcake fight so it didn't go 0-3.

That Gruff loss might be the biggest upset of the year.

Ameriganastan wrote:I knew they were gonna throw Witch Doctor a cupcake fight so it didn't go 0-3.

Gotta make them feel at least a little good about themselves.

Speaking of making people feel good about themselves, they gave that child a pair of pretty easy fights in order to get him a tournament spot.

Kohr wrote:That Gruff loss might be the biggest upset of the year.

I feel like they definitely could've won if they were less aggressive, there was a moment there where it looked like Extinguisher was in the same situation as Malice in its Madcatter fight.

Necroghastia wrote:

Kohr wrote:That Gruff loss might be the biggest upset of the year.

I feel like they definitely could've won if they were less aggressive, there was a moment there where it looked like Extinguisher was in the same situation as Malice in its Madcatter fight.

Completely agree. He could have had that knockout if he wanted it (or recognized it, not sure which). That's why it makes me angry when people don't back off when they have the KO. Fight smart, and fight to win.

A few thoughts
- Just when Shred seemed to be getting back on its feet, it breaks again. Shatters soft front armour is very clever and effective, and given that their only loss was by a close decision to another 2-1 bot, they should have a high ranking
- I wondered if Chomp would struggle against a spinner; the answer is yes. Hijinx is an unimpressive 1-2, so I don't think we'll see either of these robots again this season
- Claw Viper could actually be pretty decent if they learn how to drive it. With live events hopefully restarting this year, we'll likely see that the new teams next season (or in 2022) have better reliability and driving, having already tested themselves in other events. Glad to see Gigabyte go 2-1, they'll be in the tournament
- Witch Doctor is back, and I wouldn't count against them making a deep run, even with a low seeding. Personally I think they deserved an easy fight, given that Tombstone got Slapbox, Bloodsport got Chronos, Uppercut got Gemini, Beta got Rusty, etc... Slammow joins Sub Zero and Perfect Phoenix as 2-1 robots who lost to a decent opponent and had two easy wins. How will these 3 be ranked?
- Gruff looked so good in their first fight, but have gone significantly downhill since then. They'll be batting with other 1-2 bots like WD, Shred, HUGE, and Tombstone to make the tournament. Good to see Extinguisher get a win - the first robot to KO Gruff by my count.
- This is the best performance we've seen from Perfect Phoenix, though I'm not sure why the kids are being touted as geniuses when they didn't build it. Good drivers for sure though.
- Copperhead has fired itself to the top 5 seeds in my book with that performance. They won't face many opponents as tough as BD. Once again, BD's wedge choice confounds me. Everyone else learned years ago that the battle for low ground was won by thin forks and wedgelets, not wide scoops, and BD are an experienced team... I don't understand it.

Time to make some predictions.

-Hydra vs Uppercut is going to be a big test for both bots. Hydra barely beat Witch Doctor, so can they stick it to another super deadly spinner and secure an easy fight to kick off the tournament? My best guess is probably, since I think in a head on collision, Hydra's flipper touches Uppercut before Uppercut's spinner touches Hydra. Uppercut will probably come out with some modifications for that, but I still have to go with Hydra, although it is with great uncertainty that I do so.
-Poor Rusty is being fed to another opponent that is way too high in skill level. I do believe in scheduling mismatches, but probably not this extreme of one.
-This fight is pretty straightforward. Tantrum should dispatch Gamma 9 in short order, completing their transition from the goofy bot that flipped a burger two seasons ago into a worthy tournament competitor.
-The battle between the unreliable vertical spinners. Everyone seemed to be really high on End Game after they beat Tombstone, but I'm not seeing any super convincing signs that they've improved from who they've been for the last couple seasons. Same with Hypershock. They struggled against Gruff, and they somehow even struggled against Sporkinok. It's really a toss-up for me, but my gut says Hypershock.
-Smeeeeeee has been really underwhelming this season, and P1 has remarkably been not too bad now that it's not being captained by that guy from Parallax. It has proven that it can stick lesser opponents to the side of the arena. P1 wins this fight, and might be a surprise tournament entry.
-Beta has gotten way too easy of a schedule, but I think it's actually because John Reid is a genius. The matchmakers have realized that he's not going to fire the hammer very often against scary opponents, so they've had to give him opponents that can't hurt him before the tournament so that he does give us some good hits. Brilliant!
-Whiplash is actually going to be challenged against Valkyrie, whose undercutter may disrupt Whiplash's ability to lift. They could try running into the weapon until it slows down, but Whiplash is susceptible to damage while Valkyrie just showed remarkable improvement in their reliability. Still, as long as Whiplash gets one lift in at some point, Valkyrie's in trouble. So I pick Whiplash, but I can see an upset here.

I'M NOT READY FOR RUSTY TO DIE

This is what you miss out on by making Hydra go against Huge. This was well deserved.

Hypershock's not going to make the tournament this year. Nor do they deserve to.

EDIT: Never mind. 32 seed. Good luck against Hydra.

Necroghastia wrote:I'M NOT READY FOR RUSTY TO DIE

That was worse than the Beta fight. I felt like I was watching a snuff film.
My boy lived though!

Kohr wrote:Time to make some predictions.

-Hydra vs Uppercut is going to be a big test for both bots. Hydra barely beat Witch Doctor, so can they stick it to another super deadly spinner and secure an easy fight to kick off the tournament? My best guess is probably, since I think in a head on collision, Hydra's flipper touches Uppercut before Uppercut's spinner touches Hydra. Uppercut will probably come out with some modifications for that, but I still have to go with Hydra, although it is with great uncertainty that I do so.
-Poor Rusty is being fed to another opponent that is way too high in skill level. I do believe in scheduling mismatches, but probably not this extreme of one.
-This fight is pretty straightforward. Tantrum should dispatch Gamma 9 in short order, completing their transition from the goofy bot that flipped a burger two seasons ago into a worthy tournament competitor.
-The battle between the unreliable vertical spinners. Everyone seemed to be really high on End Game after they beat Tombstone, but I'm not seeing any super convincing signs that they've improved from who they've been for the last couple seasons. Same with Hypershock. They struggled against Gruff, and they somehow even struggled against Sporkinok. It's really a toss-up for me, but my gut says Hypershock.
-Smeeeeeee has been really underwhelming this season, and P1 has remarkably been not too bad now that it's not being captained by that guy from Parallax. It has proven that it can stick lesser opponents to the side of the arena. P1 wins this fight, and might be a surprise tournament entry.
-Beta has gotten way too easy of a schedule, but I think it's actually because John Reid is a genius. The matchmakers have realized that he's not going to fire the hammer very often against scary opponents, so they've had to give him opponents that can't hurt him before the tournament so that he does give us some good hits. Brilliant!
-Whiplash is actually going to be challenged against Valkyrie, whose undercutter may disrupt Whiplash's ability to lift. They could try running into the weapon until it slows down, but Whiplash is susceptible to damage while Valkyrie just showed remarkable improvement in their reliability. Still, as long as Whiplash gets one lift in at some point, Valkyrie's in trouble. So I pick Whiplash, but I can see an upset here.

So you don't call it Smeeeetc.?

I feel lonely now.

A few thoughts on the fight, and then I'll post thoughts on the brackets and a prediction.
- I continue to be surprised by robots going for wedge battles which they won't win. I expected Uppercut to take off their front forks, which would have affected stability but would have guaranteed a good hit on the front of Hydra, rather than just being outwedged. Uppercut actually looked at its most dangerous when it was on its side. Very impressive from Hydra though, now they just need to beat a top horizontal to show that they're the full package. Looking at the bracket, they will have that opportunity very soon.
- Sawblaze deserved an easy fight after their tough strength of schedule so far, and they got it. Looking objectively at its opponents, Rusty arguably had one of the toughest strength of schedules of the 2-1 bots...
- After a good first two fights, I'm disappointed they didn't give Tantrum the opportunity to fight a top bot and get a top seed. This was a very impressive performance, but there's only so much you can do against Gamma 9.
- Really good fight from EndGame. They had the single toughest schedule of any bot IMO, and are looking really dialed in this year. Hypershock tends to struggle against other verts; its weapon is too small.
- P1 and Smeeetc. (yes, I call it that too) was a very fun fight, and a good way to end their seasons. P1 deserved to be in the tournament more than Hijinx IMO.
- Another easy win for Beta. For those who don't know, their fight against RotatoR was actually their third, but they were aired out of order for narrative reasons (easy to see why, tbh). Beta's wedge design is not very good at getting robots stopped in front of the hammer (contrast to Sawblaze), I think Beta is pretty overrated this season.
- Kinda cheap tactic for Whiplash to go for the defensive lifter. These weapon types are very effective but pretty dull, which is why Battlebots doesn't accept many pure lifters. Still, they did what they needed to do. Valkyrie proving that it still has inconsistent weapon reliability. Was their fight against RotatoR a fluke?

Pencil Sharpeners 2 wrote:- Really good fight from EndGame. They had the single toughest schedule of any bot IMO, and are looking really dialed in this year. Hypershock tends to struggle against other verts; its weapon is too small.

I thought Hydra and Kraken had slightly tougher draws, mostly because Hypershock is honestly a pretty mid tier opponent.

Pencil Sharpeners 2 wrote:- P1 and Smeeetc. (yes, I call it that too) was a very fun fight, and a good way to end their seasons. P1 deserved to be in the tournament more than Hijinx IMO.

Agreed.

Pencil Sharpeners 2 wrote:- Another easy win for Beta. For those who don't know, their fight against RotatoR was actually their third, but they were aired out of order for narrative reasons (easy to see why, tbh). Beta's wedge design is not very good at getting robots stopped in front of the hammer (contrast to Sawblaze), I think Beta is pretty overrated this season.

Well, the matchmakers did give it the lowest seed of the 3-0 teams. What's really making it hard for me to fill out my bracket is that Beta is an unknown against vertical spinners, and those are very prevalent on its side of the bracket.

Thoughts on the bracket
- The only big issue I have with it is that Black Dragon is seeded #5. In what World!?!? They were dominated by Copperhead, got lucky with the judges against Kraken, and their only really impressive performance was against a robot that didn't make it anywhere near the top 32. I have no idea how the selection committee thought this was a better record than End Game, Whiplash, or Sawblaze. I like Black Dragon, but I'd put them at 12 and move everyone else up.
- MaDCaTter went 3-0 against bots ranked 15th, 16th, and 20th, yet only gets 12th? I'd definitely put them ahead of BD, Valkyrie, Skorpios, and Jackpot.
- I actually think HiJinx is the weakest bot in the top 32, despite it being seeded 29th. I think Captain Shred and P1 probably merited that position more, but I guess it doesn't really matter who gets fed to Uppercut.
- regardless of the seeding order, MaDCaTter, Jackpot, Kraken, and Skorpios all got totally screwed with their first round draws. I know some of the top robots are going to be low seeded, but I think all 4 of these robots merited better first round draws, potentially even against each other. I have all of them losing in my bracket, which kinda sucks.

I filled my bracket in Excel, because of course I did.

Not gonna explain everything, but here are a couple of highlights.
- It would have been easy to just pick with the seedings, but I decided I wanted at least one bracket buster, like Bombshell 2018 or Minotaur 2019. Tantrum is that bracket buster as I have them beating Bloodsport. I'm not convinced they will do it, or that they can even get past Fusion, but their performance against Valkyrie suggests they can deflect horizontals and then cut the underside of the robot, which may cause problems for Bloodsport
- Witch Doctor Vs SawBlaze is a total toss-up. I went WD because they've won this matchup before, but I wouldn't be surprised if SB won, and even ended up getting to the final
- I have Tombstone beating MaDCaTter (vert with wedge) and then losing to Black Dragon (vert with wedge). Either of these results could be wrong, but I think BD is more durable than MC, so has a better chance of taking down Tombstone
- I think End Game will beat Copperhead, just because disks tend to come out better than drums in weapon-on weapon hits. I picked EG to beat WD for the same reason, though I may be putting way to much faith in the reliability of the Kiwis here
- Despite me saying Hydra is overhyped for the last couple of seasons, I have it winning this one. I think that the matchups it gets under my predictions are very favourable, and it never fights any of the robots I think could beat it. It has possibly the most effective wedgelets of any bot in history, and the only robot which could be a spanner in the works is Gigabyte. However, I expect Hydra to have brought some sort of anti-horizontal wedge, and Gigabyte is unlikely to last longer than a minute against a good flipper.

Not much differences between ours, honestly. The biggest one I see is the progress of Mad Catter.

My thoughts on the seeding:

Mad Catter was done dirty. 3-0 and not only do they not make the top 4, they don't even make the top 10. And now they get thrown to Tombstone.
I'm glad Tombstone squeaked in, but I'm not expecting much. He's way off his game this season.
Hydra does not deserve that #1 seed at all. Especially after that BS win he got against Huge.
And of course, Bitch Doctor gets in despite only 1 win against a nothing bot like Slammow.

Feh.