Current Events > BattleBots: World Championship Tournament part 2 discussion topic *spoilers*

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://iili.io/HgoDYmB.jpg

After some electric first round fights over the past two weeks, tonight we have the second round of the postseason tournament. Who will survive to make it to next week's season finale and keep their hopes of winning the Giant Nut alive? Find out tonight! As a reminder, please put any discussion of match results under spoiler tags until 24 hours after the episode airs out of consideration for people who can't watch the episode live, especially if you decide to watch the episode early on Discovery+ before it airs on TV. Showtime is about an hour away.

Minotaur! Minotaur! Minotaur!

Ray Billings posted an interesting video today about power switches.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSP60aZTPWQ

God damn that's a stacked lineup. Also my body is ready for the "hugepoon"

So, how many are going to be cheering for Hypershock to obliterate its opponent tonight?

Other than going with Minotaur and Witch Doctor for their fights I can see the others ending in possible upsets. I mean, you might expect Huge to win, but how will it handle the 'poon? It wouldn't be the first time for Huge to lose to attachments...

DuneMan posted...

So, how many are going to be cheering for Hypershock to obliterate its opponent tonight?

I'll be cheering for it, but I'm not sure it'll happen. I think End Game or Minotaur are the most likely to slay the evil.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/9/3/AAKYEFAAEfU9.jpg

This was posted on reddit and supposedly this is the order for tonight.

Calwings posted...

I'll be cheering for it, but I'm not sure it'll happen. I think End Game or Minotaur are the most likely to slay the evil.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/9/4/AAKYEFAAEfU-.jpg

I can't see Sawblaze beating Riptide.

IT'S ROBOT FIGHTIN' TIME! Black Dragon vs. Ribbot starts off the show tonight

Sawblaze weathers the storm and beat Monsoon, Hydra disposes of Whiplash, and Madcatter's Hugepoon isn't enough to take down the mighty Huge. The main event is up next, fuck Riptide.

Great matches tonight.

Honestly, this night went about how I expected it to. Ribbot is heavily slept on (did pick Black Dragon, but it wasn't a total upset in my mind). Same for Copperhead, as it feels like even BattleBots sleeps on them, so them beating Endgame was not a shocker either. Additionally, I feel like the Hydra vs Whiplash match was probably a lot scarier for Hydra than people were thinking in their head. They did lose to them before, and honestly, I could see Whiplash easily just taking control like in the previous bout. A part of me thought Hydra was going to lose that match honestly.

Speaking of Hydra, I now have them as my favorite to win it, as I think they have a pretty good favorable outcome against every single bot left except for HUGE, in which that would be the only fight where I think Hydra has an unfavorable matchup for obvious reasons.

HUGE is my 2nd pick, for the same reason, as I think they have good matchups. Witch Doctor is one tough bot, and I personally think they are the 2nd hardest matchup for HUGE (first being Sawblaze), but any fight against HUGE just feels like a weird matchup. For one, very few bots can actually hit them beyond their wheels that are made to be hit. Two, HUGE is able to attack the top of these bots in a way most bots don't really design around. Obviously, a really powerful hit from a Minotaur against that blade of HUGE is not desirable, but it feels like HUGE has the ability to control most of these bots.

MInotaur is my 3rd pick. I think Sawblaze actually has pretty good fighting odds against them, and it's going to come down to if Minotaur can pluck away at those forks fast enough (which they can definitely do but still). They do seem a little off in the tournament, as I personally feel they have been losing a lot of exchanges, but they are durable, and the weapon itself is durable which poses a big problem for any of these bots. Hydra and HUGE are both questionable opponents, though.

Sawblaze is my 4th pick. As mentioned, they aren't hopeless against Minotaur as good forks have proven to be a problem, and I feel they have a good chance to scoop Minotaur up, pin them against the wall, and hack away at some juicy parts before Minotaur can fully destroy the forks. Despite their loss against Hydra, I also think they can create an alternative strategy, as they have a weapon that Hydra really doesn't want to have to face since it can hit them from the top and there's multiple ways to get at Hydra. As for the other side, I think it can definitely hold its own against Witch Doctor and HUGE.

Witch Doctor is my 5th pick. HUGE and Riptide/Copperhead will be a tough road, but they have plenty of experience, both regular and tournament. I think Riptide will personally beat them if they have to face them, but I think they have a decent chance against every bot except for Hydra. Obviously, they came up short against Minotaur, but it's not out of the question for them to win this fight. They are ranked low as I don't feel they have a definitive win against any bot (except for Ribbot which I strongly doubt they would get to face anyways), but they can hold their own against many of the bots here.

Riptide is my 6th pick. I don't want to be caught sleeping on Copperhead, but I gotta go with what I'm seeing here. My big issue with Riptide is that, as it was mentioned tonight, their durability hasn't been really tested. I do have this big feeling that Riptide is going to be more affected by the first big hit it takes (which could easily be against Copperhead) than people are thinking. I don't like its chances against HUGE personally, and I think many bots on the left side of the bracket can take it on. I think Minotaur will outdo it in the game they play; and Hydra won't even give them a chance.

Copperhead is my 7th pick. Definitely could win, but I just feel they are the weakest out of Riptide/Minotaur/itself. Not to mention, I think it has the same matchup mishaps the other ones have.

Ribbot is my the last pick. Fun bot, love it to death, and I always believe that it's 10x better than what the average person thinks. Problem is, it's not really a strategic bot, and I think that's going to hurt them against most of the bots that are going to beat it in that 1-on-1 exchange. Plus, it's going against Hydra in the first match, and I don't think the fight is going to be all that different.

Should be noted 1-7 are all close in rankings to me, so Copperhead winning is still a likely possibility to me. Ribbot is the only bot I don't really believe has a shot.

Hypershock:

I don't think they would have won on a fair fight. I'm mostly disappointed that driving error cost us a good slugfest.

Some extra cool context from the Sawblaze interview from Reddit:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/0/5/AAGiTSAAEfc9.jpg

I'm just saying, out of everyone, and I mean all the bot builders in and out of the tournament, I always wanted Team Sawblaze and Witch Doctor to win the most. The teams represent everything I like about the sport.

Witch Doctor is a solid platform this season. Probably the logical conclusion to classic vertical spinner design.

Another proving ground battle next weekend.

https://twitter.com/BattleBots/status/1659386307075014658?cxt=HHwWhIDUpb7DqYcuAAAA

Me watching Copperhead obliterating Endgame and wishing it was Riptide

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/2/0/AAKYEFAAEfh4.jpg

Are any promising bots coming out of the live shows?

My impressions on the remaining 8.

Minotaur: Lots of alternative mobility options.

Sawblaze: The best control bot and frequently wins the ground war.

Hydra: Maybe too low at times but those flips are a lot to deal with.

Ribbot: The odd one out but that vertical spinner configuration is good.

Riptide: Delivers bots to the ceiling. Favorite to win.

Copperhead: The drum that won't stop.

Witch Doctor: The most complete package of a robot.

Huge: Looks more durable and harder to solve for this season.

Hope we get a 3rd place match.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/2/8/AAYdjcAAEgHg.jpg
Shamelessly taken from reddit since this topic was gonna purge soon

Message from Team Duck

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/3/3/AAKYEFAAEgHl.jpg

Possible spoiler: https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/13oxyhb/looks_like_ribbots_going_with_their_vert_config/

ANort175 posted...

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/2/8/AAYdjcAAEgHg.jpg
Shamelessly taken from reddit since this topic was gonna purge soon

Blessed image

Oh? Team Duck is trying to do a new take on the Chomp walker from a few seasons ago? With how destructive the the bots are getting, I'd love to see a bunch of miniaturized battlemechs stomping around and hitting each other. Maybe for the Battlebots 2050 season we'll get that.

Speaking of Chomp, what happened to that team. Their baby should be a toddler by now, giving them their sleep back, yeah? Or did they choose to not compete any more?