Welcome back to the Beat, now back at its regular time assuming I get this done in time! Eh, I should be fine. Anyway, last week we watched Chomp walk, which made it the second robot of the week to have no wheels because Tombstone sliced Slap Box’s off. This week, oh, hold onto thy butts, and buckle the fuck up, because this is gonna be interesting. Eventually.

Onto the fights!

Claw Viper vs. Black Dragon
Claw Viper: 1-0 (W, KO 2:07 vs. HiJinx)
Black Dragon: 1-0 (W, JD 2-1 vs. Kraken)
The apparent new speed king won their first fight because said speed killed; the lifter crapped out early but strictly their attacks on HiJinx burned the undercutter out. Black Dragon had the first of the severals of questionable/controversial decisions, but at least with their split decision victory over Kraken I could see how it could’ve gone either way.

Black Dragon wisely avoided the box rush as Claw Viper slammed into the wall between the screws, forks high. Forks remained high, probably to avoid punishment, as Black Dragon got Claw Viper airborne with its first weapon strike. Not massively so, but enough. Claw Viper brought its forks down, and brought the claw down to try and get a clamp, but Black Dragon’s wedgelets were enough to keep the apparatus at bay, so it was only a push until a killsaw port freed the two. That was useful for Black Dragon which could buzz away at Claw Viper’s side, shaving some sparks off and continuing to push the rookie around until the Brazilians could send Claw Viper to the screws and give a lick of flame. From that, Claw Viper was smoking, and they weren’t moving. The count began and it was all… wait, Claw Viper started moving as the countdown was at 2. Still smoking, but still mobile.

Well, until Black Dragon rammed it weapon-first one more time. And then Claw Viper was on fire rather than just smoking. Black Dragon wins by KO in 1:33 and moves to 2-0.

JackPot vs. Ghost Raptor
JackPot: 1-0 (W, KO 1:47 vs. SubZero)
Ghost Raptor: 0-1 (L, KO 2:12 vs. Shatter!)
They’re going to mention that JackPot cost (“only”) $4,000 a couple bajillion more times, I assume. To be honest, it didn’t look amazing in its first fight against SubZero, but considering how late in the game it was when they got the call I guess it could have been the usual first fight gremlins? But yeah, they were losing pretty handily until they ended up rolling a 7. The new and improved Ghost Raptor was new, but the weapon didn’t get a chance to really show the improvement since the first Shatter! shot killed it. 2015 was a looong time ago.

Both bots spun up, but rather than go weapon to weapon, Ghost Raptor turned its back to take JackPot’s first shot. Fair enough idea, it gives you a chance to spin up and then go weapon to weapon, which is exactly what happened.

It did not work, as seen by Ghost Raptor’s bar helicoptering 5 feet away. That would be considered “bad.” The lifter portion of the weapon was still extant though, so Ghost Raptor tried to come in for a Hail Mary lift. Good idea in theory, less good when it’s toward the front of the giant vertical bars, which can slightly back up meaning it’s lifter to spinner. So it ripped the left side wheels, not entirely off, but to the point of making drive difficult. JackPot hit that side again and it didn’t take the wheels totally out but it definitely made it worse, and lined up in case Ghost Raptor survived. There was movement, but not translational movement, so there was a merciful count-out. JackPot wins by KO in 58 seconds, and at 2-0 can all but punch its ticket into the top 32.

SubZero vs. Grabot
SubZero: 0-1 (L, KO 1:47 vs. JackPot)
Grabot: 0-0
And yet another lifter-clamper makes its debut! It’s interesting that that’s the robot type apart from verts that seem to be making the most rounds this season. Probably because you can’t make a wedge due to active weapon rules, so it might be the next simplest thing? That’s my logic at least. But unlike those, the grabbing part is in the back, on the other side of the wedge. Or maybe it’s the front and the wedge is the rear. Regardless it was a sitting duck for SubZero from the word “go” as SubZero got a very nice flip. Maybe not your 15-foot Hydra flip, but considering there was over a second of hangtime, that’s 5 feet? It’s still not good for a robot. Grabot was upended and SubZero went for another flip, missing, flipping itself, but self-righting. I’m pretty sure they could have probably stopped there, but they tried to either get Grabot over or get Grabot out, because the rookie was spinning its wheels but not really getting any traction. But SubZero got another couple of flips in, and nearly took out everyone’s favorite drone Spitfire. Another flip, at this point to Grabot’s chagrin, a shot off the Lexan wall (and ricocheting back in), onto the screws… I’m pretty sure Grabot was out after the first flip and the last eight didn’t change anything, but just in case it was back right side up and still being counted out. SubZero wins by KO in 1:13.

Hydra vs. HUGE
Hydra: 1-0 (W, JD 2-1 vs. Witch Doctor)
HUGE: 0-1 (L, KO 2:17 vs. Mammoth)
All right, everyone settled in? Good.

I could’ve seen this as an 0-1 vs. 1-0 match-up, but reversed. Hydra and Witch Doctor put on a show and nearly cooked ESCs cost Hydra the unanimous decision. HUGE put on a spectacle against Mammoth where I’m still not sure what exactly happened, but it looked cool. On paper, this seems like a bad matchup for Hydra. Which is why Jake Ewert went for a “cow catcher.” Essentially they put a giant piece of piping to try and catch HUGE. Basically, make it so wide that it corrals HUGE. I have no idea how that will make the flipper work.

It worked to corral and to push, so mission accomplished. Peter Abrahamson even said it didn’t look like the flipper was going to be the primary weapon, and that would mean it probably wouldn’t score well, but on the other hand, it looked like HUGE couldn’t get its bar to actually get to Hydra because the wheels were making contact with the cow catcher first. Hydra could push, and due to the softness of the plastic HUGE was getting flipped over, but again, not with the flipper. It seemed like this was going to be three minutes of this. Which is why the active weapon rule exists in the first place.

Around the halfway point the bar finally hit the catcher and got some sparks, due to HUGE bringing its forks up. For next year they might want to go with a thicker attachment, because if that can support 250 lbs. and be a proper wedgelet, I think HUGE would be able to counteract this piping. Hydra responded by pushing HUGE towards the pulverizer—the first shot missed but the second hit the bar and sent HUGE jarring forward, which could have been the point to “officially” use the flipper, maybe.

With that Hydra had HUGE in the corner, as Jake Ewert noted that “that’s endgame.” The ref said that Hydra needed to release, but in perfect sibling warfare, Hydra noted that they weren’t touching HUGE and therefore it couldn’t be a pin. This led to some back and forth and a warning. Hydra slightly backed up, and you could see there was space for HUGE to back up, so by letter of the law it wasn’t a pin. They did back up so there was just enough space for HUGE to go right back into Hydra’s apparatus and repeat the process. Lather, rinse, repeat, pulverizer shot with 12 seconds left, end of fight.

This was the slippery slope of BETA vs. Rotator, though apparently, this episode was filmed first. This is also the line in the sand mark that will make it even harder for control bots next year because BattleBots stated they will make the penalties harsher for not using one’s primary weapon. However as opposed to BETA using speed and the wedge in an offensive way where it was actually interesting, this was not that. It’s gonna be a weird scoring, because, I mean HUGE didn’t do all that much either, so technically Hydra has to come out on top? I mean, it worked and they controlled the match, even if there was a rule that the ref could have radioed a 1 point penalty or something (a la boxing).

Damage: HUGE did hit the bar once, but the pulverizer did more and might have hampered HUGE’s bar in the last 10 seconds. So, 3-2, maybe even 4-1 Hydra. Even if it loses a bit due to not being via the primary weapon.
Aggression: We know it can’t be 3-0 Hydra due to the rules, so is it 2-1 Hydra or does HUGE take it? I mean, HUGE did try even if it was beaten back each time. So I guess that counts for aggression. 2-1 HUGE?
Control: This is the easy one, since it almost has to be 3-0 Hydra.

I give it to Hydra, at the least 7-4. Even if it made for a dull fight, it did work. John Remar was not happy either. Anyway, Hydra wins by unanimous decision. Mixed reaction by the peanut gallery, and I have to imagine that that won’t win many points with the selection committee. Even after beating HUGE, who wanted “to fight robots, not bike racks.” I think the way they won it might actually cost them a seed or two (refer to Senor’s Sixteen later on to see it in action). HUGE at 0-2 is still in it, though I think not in the top half of the seedings—a win almost definitely keeps HUGE in the 32-bot bracket. 0-3, maybe not so much.

For further controversy, watch the Robot Wars Sixth Wars championship and European Championship (or Intercontinental, I forget) fights between Razer and Tornado.

Fusion vs. Aegis
Fusion: 0-1 (L, KO 2:05 vs. MadCatter)
Aegis: 0-0
Look at that, the other Whyachi bot gets to fight next! Fusion was spectacular in its first fight, in that it spectacularly caught fire. Aegis is a new bot, a flipper. Considering one of the sponsors is called Fibreglast I have a feeling that it has a fiberglass shell, which seems a terrifying prospect against a powerful spinner.

Also, letting Fusion spin up rather than box rush, with said fiberglass shell. Not that Fusion was having an easy time as since the double spinner was leading with their vert, the wedgelets were getting stuck on the floor. “Let him come to you.” Famous last words for a flipper? Especially since getting the horizontal going got Fusion right again.

Aegis mistimed their flip to right before Fusion was over them. They paid dearly for it, losing shards of their front and bottom, and then for good measure the entire right side. Fusion lined up for a shot and obliterated the left side, for good measure. And in trying to sweep up, got a little to close and hit the front too. Kevlar and fiberglass did not work. Fusion wins by KO in 53 seconds.

Lock Jaw vs. Big Dill
Lock Jaw: 1-0 (W, KO 2:20 vs. Captain Shrederator)
Big Dill: 1-0 (W, JD 3-0 vs. Atom #94)
Honestly neither of these bots had what I think was their best performance in their first fight. Lock Jaw just played Pong with Captain Shrederator until the sadly inevitable happened, and though Big Dill was dominant they never got that big suplex we were all hoping for. And I still can’t believe they couldn’t unstick the two bots. What will this fight bring?

Interestingly enough, not a box rush. Big Dill backed up against the rails and let Lock Jaw come to it. It looked good because a puff of smoke came out of Lock Jaw after the first hit, but I’m wondering if that was just the belt slipping. Because it looked fine for a second shot, bending one of the forks, and then coming to the side to do some damage there. They finally went front to front and though Lock Jaw delivered sparks it went right up Big Dill and flipped itself over. Lock Jaw can of course fight inverted but it meant that Donald Hutson was a little warier of coming weapon to weapon, as the two bots tried to find purchase to push. Lock Jaw had the advantage and got another shot in, able to get Big Dill on its side to deliver extra strikes and eventually bend one of the forks enough to render it useless. Big Dill also looked like it had diminished mobility, as Lock Jaw either stopped its weapon or had it stopped. I didn’t see a belt or smoke though, so I’m tempted to say preventative. But it meant the forks were on display as Lock Jaw could push Big Dill into the rails, where it looked stuck. The countdown stopped, but Big Dill got free and mobile enough to prevent it. Lock Jaw went back to its square for the last few seconds and celebrated as the buzzer went. Lock Jaw wins by unanimous decision and methodically moves to 2-0. (I had it 4-1, 3-0, 3-0, if anyone cares.)

Witch Doctor vs. Kraken
Witch Doctor: 0-1 (L, JD 2-1 vs. Hydra)
Kraken: 0-1 (L, JD 2-1 vs. Black Dragon)
Man, out of the frying pan for Kraken, huh? From a classic push and shove against the Desperado winner to a main event against the defending runner-up and re:MARS winner. Meanwhile Witch Doctor got knocked off its initial/way-too-early top seed perch by Hydra in a split decision that in my opinion wasn’t really that close. The runner-up curse has hit most (though not Tombstone, so is it just a Discovery Channel vehicle?) but it would be really surprising on Witch Doctor’s end.

It was a big hit delivered by Witch Doctor but that fluorescent green on the floor and bouncing robot means that for the second straight fight (and third in four fights, again, remember re:MARS was after the 2019 season) Witch Doctor’s weapon took some damage. Also for some reason Kraken had their minibot Wally (the narwhal) in their mouths. So when the two bots came front to front, poor Wally got all the brunt. But he died a hero, because even more damage was done to Witch Doctor’s weapon. Which meant Kraken could bite in there and push and send to the screws.

Witch Doctor wobbled but still spun up after being let go, but a damaged weapon is very rarely a damaging weapon. They went up the wedge and Kraken got a tooth caught in Witch Doctor’s ribcage, even though it meant they were imbalanced and the pushing was neutral. Witch Doctor could still deal some cosmetic damage, but this fight was turning in Kraken’s control. Unless…

Witch Doctor did hit a tooth, but it stayed in. They did knock some of the upper jaw armor off though, so I guess they were still doing some damage with a damaged weapon to get back into the fight. But Kraken could get another bite down while looking for a killsaw that didn’t want to come up. They had to let go and the two bots evaded each other for some time, just dodging and feinting and avoiding, but Kraken got the last bite, and could take Witch Doctor to the pulverizer right before time ran out. It would be another judges’ decision, but looking at my card I was pretty sure it wouldn’t be another split decision.

Damage: Both bots did damage. The big damage on Kraken’s end was of course Witch Doctor breaking its weapon from the first hit, but that weapon did do some damage to Kraken’s armor. According to Robogames’ categorizing of damage it’s considered “significant” to Witch Doctor, and the loss of armor, which didn’t hinder Kraken’s biting, would also be considered “significant.” Due to Witch Doctor’s damage impairing itself, I’d give it 3-2 to Kraken… narrowly.
Aggression: Even a damaged Witch Doctor showed aggression and kept attacking Kraken, which got in there as well. It’s definitely a 2-1 split, which I’ll give to… Kraken I guess. Flip a coin on this one.
Control: Kraken definitely controlled this fight for large portions of it. It’s either 2-1 or 3-0 Kraken. Witch Doctor had moments, but it was never really able to have that lengthy moment, so I think 3-0 is in order.

So I have it 8-3 Kraken. Granted, it’s a close 8-3, where I can see 7-4 or 6-5 depending on points swinging. But Kraken won the fight. And the judges agreed, Kraken wins by unanimous decision.

Witch Doctor at 0-2 is definitely not out. Hell, Witch Doctor at 0-2 isn’t out of a top half seed if it wins its final fight by a convincing KO. I am curious about why the weapon keeps breaking though. (Andrea Gellatly said that the disks might be too hard now, so they become brittle as a result, and that would make sense.)

And with that, it takes us to Senor’s Sixteen.

1. SawBlaze (1-0)
2. Bloodsport (2-0)
3. Hydra (2-0)
4. End Game (1-1)
5. Tombstone (1-1)
6. Lock Jaw (2-0)
7. Black Dragon (2-0)
8. Skorpios (1-1)
9. Whiplash (0-1)
10. Uppercut (1-0)
11. Copperhead (1-0)
12. Malice (2-0)
13. BETA (1-0)
14. Rotator (0-1)
15. Gruff (1-0)
16. Kraken (1-1)

Also considered: MadCatter (2-0), Valkyrie (1-0), HyperShock (0-1), Perfect Phoenix (1-1), Shatter! (1-1), JackPot (2-0)
Dropped out: Witch Doctor (0-2), HUGE (0-2)

As I said, Hydra’s performance in this fight knocks it down a peg on account of it being the definition of “terrible win.” Kraken beating Witch Doctor’s enough to get it in the top 16 for now (obviously a loss would drop it out of there). Obviously still very open for debate as things gel—SawBlaze vs. Bloodsport at the top, obviously. And tonight’s fight card is top-heavy enough to answer as well. Rotator and Valkyrie square off and has been hyped up as enough fireworks to light up the darkest of nights. MadCatter and Malice fight in a battle of surprising 2-0 bots, where the winner, at 3-0, may be a top 8 seed. And UpperCut and SawBlaze square off in an MIT battle of past vs. present. So with that, we’ll see you next week!

The BattleBots Beat would like to take this time to congratulate Zoe Stephenson and Jascha Little on the birth of their second child. Even more babysitting duty for Chomp!