Current Events > BattleBots: Championship Tournament discussion topic *spoilers*

(+) Yeah! (+)

Wow, Minotaur was in peak form for that fight. Hydra's unknown durability is now known, and isn't that great.

With Hydra out I have to think Biteforce has a clear shot at victory. Maybe only Deathroll's ridiculously large spinner has a chance to topple Biteforce, IMO.

The only fight I'm confident in calling next week is Biteforce over Lockjaw. No disrespect to Hutson, but Biteforce is a similar concept with better execution. It might not have the large wheels of Lockjaw, but it's proven that it can pinpoint weak spots with relative ease.

Tombstone and Whiplash can go either way. If Ray picks the right blade and gets a single good shot in the fight can be over. But if Whiplash keeps Ray off balance, and they've had a lot more practice in the fights compared to the last bout with Tombstone, they might be able to pull off the upset.

Sawblaze and Witch Doctor should be a 3 minute brawl. Both bots are in a good place in terms of durability, and both have weapons capable of dealing respectable damage. Whoever makes the first serious mistake may decide the match.

Minotaur and Deathroll is a fight I think will come down to positioning. Minotaur just proved that they can still maneuver with precision. They'll need that in the fight with Deathroll. No bot wants to go head to head with that weapon, save maybe Tombstone. So it'll be essential to find an unprotected area and strike that.
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Tombstone vs Whiplash: if whiplash gets to him he can control, but that weapon isn't taking anybody out. Tombstone also gets up to speed frighteningly quickly.

Saw vs witch doctor: Witch has a nasty weapon and they're dialed in this year, saw is always a threat. Good fight there

Minotaur has an amazing driver and a lot of power, death roll is freakishly deadly weapon to weapon so driving will be key

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I'm just going to keep this topic bumped until the finale airs. I'll reminder tag you guys again on Friday.


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It's going to be a long 5 days until I make it to that Friday. 3 exams, 4 interviews, 2 pre-interview receptions, case quiz.

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I feel bad cuz I genuinely like Bite Force and Paul, and I generally always root for them. But I really want someone fresh and new to win.

Also I'm surprised we didn't really get ANY upsets in the first round. Everything was pretty by-the-books.

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Well, according to the seeding Hydra at 3rd seed was defeated by Minotaur at 14th seed. But that was mostly due to the W-L record up to that point; and Hydra was still untested in terms of durability.
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Another quick bump to mention that the Apollo boys are still teasing coming to BattleBots next season...

https://twitter.com/apollorobot/status/1176069363134341120?s=20

...god, I really hope they do. They're such a good team and they have some bright personalities. They'd be right at home in the BattleBox.
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In related news, Megabots went bankrupt and is selling their giant mech Eagle Prime on eBay :(

Hopefully someday that can take off the way BattleBots did.

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They're the ones with the 'launch ramp' design, right? I remember watching them launch all the Robot Wars 'House Robots' around like they were made out of styrofoam.

But in all honesty, they'd need a far more durable bot to compete in BattleBots. Otherwise they'll end up shredded, like Subzero.
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DuneMan posted...

They're the ones with the 'launch ramp' design, right? I remember watching them launch all the Robot Wars 'House Robots' around like they were made out of styrofoam.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrWyUmGYU2k" data-time="

Yep, that was Apollo. Even the lightest house robots like Shunt and Matilda are nearly twice the weight limit of the normal competitors, and Apollo flipped those two and the even bigger and more awkwardly-shaped Dead Metal

DuneMan posted...

But in all honesty, they'd need a far more durable bot to compete in BattleBots. Otherwise they'll end up shredded, like Subzero.

Apollo was very durable by Robot Wars standards (only Carbide and Aftershock were ever able to KO it) but it would definitely have to beef up for BattleBots. Luckily, the BattleBots weight limit is actually 30lbs heavier than in Robot Wars, so they have extra weight to work with to add more armor.
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One last anti-purge bump to get us to Friday for the season finale
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Bump.
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We are close to robot-fighting-time-o'clock.

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It's too bad they canceled Robot Wars, I loved the commentator.
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One hour until showtime for the final episode of the season. Tonight, we crown our 2019 BattleBots champion! Reminder tags:

@MJOLNRVII @Purple_Cheetah @El_Mexicano_Texano @DuneMan @powerman1426 @PiOverlord @monkeysRfunny @Typhon @unclekoolaid73 @MasterGakke
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Reminder tags part 2:
@MI4_REAL @LostForest @Compsognathus @Gheb @Krow_Incarnate
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Tombstone and Witch Doctor to the finals?

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Let's go Witch Doctor!

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I'm rolling with Death Roll.
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Biteforce over Lockjaw
Tombstone over Whiplash
Sawblaze over Witch Doctor
Death Roll over Minotaur

Tombstone over Bite Force
Death Roll over Saw Blaze

DEATH ROLL OVER TOMBSTONE

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I enjoyed watching these with y'all. Thanks for including me!

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Who I think will win = Bite Force
Who I want to win = literally anyone besides Bite Force

But anything can happen in the BattleBox... IT'S ROBOT FIGHTIN' TIME!
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Ah yeah, here we go

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Well, I like the bot that just lost... But the rest of the quarterfinals should be just as brutal.
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Goddamn, that was a brutal knucklegrinder.

Taking on Minotaur's weapon head-to-head like that is nuts.

A little worried about the damage their team captain said they sustained in the earlier fight. This one couldn't have done it any favors.
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I guess Minotaur just couldn't take the hits. I was expecting otherwise when it started looking like Death Roll was getting unbalanced, and then started flying for a bit <_<
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Good grief.... also that weird tumble flip dance Death Roll did was oddly beautiful.

That was a great fight, and Death Roll is fucking legit. It's powerful, durable, and reliable, and while it may not be the very top of any of those categories, it's near the top in all three of them.
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I noticed that Death Roll is awkwardly hard to keep on the ground in a similar way that Huge is. I get that it's blade acts as a pseudo-self righting mech, but I don't think I've ever seen it overturned for more than a couple seconds without self-righting in some shape or form. It's never pretty, but it seems effective enough.
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MJOLNRVII posted...

I guess Minotaur just couldn't take the hits.

It just seems like Minotaur has a weakness to vertical spinners. Five of its seven career losses are to verts (Bombshell, Bite Force, Whiplash, Black Dragon, now Death Roll) and the verts it actually beat (Monsoon, pre-S4 Witch Doctor, End Game, and Cobalt) had reliability issues.

Tombstone vs. Whiplash next, a re-match of last year!
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That wasn't a fight. That was an execution.
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As the announcers said, it's always a gamble when you go straight into Tombstone's weapon...

I was hoping for some technical fighting on this one, but it wasn't meant to be.
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Krow_Incarnate posted...

I noticed that Death Roll is awkwardly hard to keep on the ground in a similar way that Huge is. I get that it's blade acts as a pseudo-self righting mech, but I don't think I've ever seen it overturned for more than a couple seconds without self-righting in some shape or form. It's never pretty, but it seems effective enough.

It also has the arm on the back just in case

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Whiplash got obliterated. It was almost sad to see how it long it kept going when you already knew the result.
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That was hilarious. Appreciate the cajones on team Whiplash.
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powerman1426 posted...

It also has the arm on the back just in case

Yeah, a self-righting mechanism like that always helps, especially in this era when vertical spinners are just as much of a threat to flip bots as actual flippers. Back in the day, you only needed a SRIMECH to deal with flippers like Biohazard and Chaos 2, but this is a new era.
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Oh, shit. I thought the arm was purely cosmetic lol

Nice touch
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Another smashy-smashy fight.

I have to say that new, more powerful weapon motor seems to be worth its weight in robot fighting gold.
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I feel like Sawblaze had some opportunities to get a bit of offense with the saw in, but didn't. Don't know how effective it would've been, but I don't think they capitalized when they should've.
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What a great bunch of fights so far. And damn, witch doctor and death roll are having an incredible season. What an improvement for on both accounts

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I really want to see Death Roll and Tombstone go head-to-head with their weapons.
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Lockjaw's fucked.
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Probably. Lockjaw isn't as dialed in from an engineering point as Biteforce.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcZzlPGnKdU" data-time="
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Bah, was worried Lockjaw would have reliablity issues and soon as I saw the shorting I knew it wasn't gonna go well. Nevermind the gymnastics it did.

Calwings posted...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcZzlPGnKdU" data-time="

Yeah, pretty much damn. I sometimes forget just how nasty Bite Force can be

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