Welcome back to the Beat! Last time out I did a dumb and thought HiJinx would upset Uppercut, and was rewarded with about a ten-second fight. How about the bracket this week? Well, the title might give things away. So, onto the fights!

14. Lock-Jaw vs. 19. Shatter!
Lock-Jaw: 2-1 (W, KO 2:20 vs. Captain Shrederator; W, JD 3-0 vs. Big Dill; L, KO 2:30 vs. JackPot)
Shatter!: 2-1 (W, KO 2:12 vs. Ghost Raptor; L, JD 2-1 vs. Malice; W, JD 3-0 vs. Captain Shrederator)
This is an interesting fight to look through. I have Lock-Jaw winning due to the pushing power and the wily veteran advantage, but I have no real idea where it’s going to go.

Shatter! once again has the vinyl shatter-ness all over the bot, so stealth mode was a one-time thing. Honestly, didn’t look too bad but if you’re gonna do that we’re gonna need a Black 2.0/3.0/whatever setting. Because that would actually be pretty hilarious, paint so dark that it just absorbs all of the lighting.

Lock-Jaw, as the more agile robot could avoid any potential box rush, so they were able to spin up and actually drive to the opposite corner and get in and out before Shatter!’s first hammer strike could come down. In terms of damage it wasn’t much more than bits of vinyl but it’s a start. Well, at least until the hammer landed true and sent pieces of Lock-Jaw’s armor flying. Lock-Jaw got away enough to avoid more damage as each looked for an angle. The two actually went weapon to weapon as the hammer came down right on Lock-Jaw’s vertical bar, drawing sparks from something. But Lock-Jaw moved to its right and had the opportunity, grinding away at Shatter!’s side, pushing it to a more advantageous spot for leverage.

Or it would have continued doing so if not for, say it with me, the forks getting caught in a killsaw slot (take a drink). It meant Shatter! could get away, turn, fire, and break through some more armor, though I’m wondering if it was extra polycarbonate above the usual Lock-Jaw armor. Either way, between Shatter! and the killsaws the blows were coming in, and as Lock-Jaw retreated, the force actually tipped the robot over. So Lock-Jaw was now inverted and presumably there wouldn’t be any extra armor on the underbelly, plus something was smoking, probably from the inversion which looked to hit weapon-first. (That one’s according to Donald Hutson courtesy of the Bots FC write-up.)

Shatter! came in to check, and deliver one extra hit, but it wasn’t needed because from the camera angle you could see a small fire somewhere in Lock-Jaw. That would be it, as Shatter! wins by KO in 1:59 and moves onto the round of 16.

Though according to the after-fight video, an F in chat to Old Rusty, the AR500 hammer head. The weapon to weapon shots bent it, and even if you could bend inch thick AR500, it has been plasticly deformed.

11. JackPot vs. 22. Rotator
JackPot: 3-0 (W, KO 1:47 vs. SubZero; W, KO 0:58 vs. Ghost Raptor; W, KO 2:30 vs. Lock-Jaw)
Rotator: 1-2 (L, JD 2-1 vs. Beta; L, JD 3-0 vs. Valkyrie; W, KO 2:45 vs. Big Dill)
Your 2020 Rookie of the Year so far would be JackPot, the bot on a budget that went 3-0 in the regular season including knocking off Lock-Jaw. And not only that, they were the only 3-0 squad to do it with 3 KOs. And now sporting a new rear plow!

This is of course opposed to now longtime bot Rotator, always in the mix but now seemingly perfecting the modularity game in its own way. So, forks, wedges, overcutter vs. undercutter, that kind of stuff. For this fight it was the undercutter and forks.

Actually both bots looked to be leading with their defensive sides, as Rotator turned from weapon side to fork side. Jackpot’s wedge started off with the pushing advantage due to Rotator turning around and could get the first heave into the wall, but you’re going to need to chuck Rotator into the wall pretty hard to keep it running. It did mean Rotator wasn’t up to speed when it turned around and stuck the front of JackPot, but we’ll see about the long game as both bots responded with nibbles into each other before JackPot passed the first wedge test, scooping Rotator which went head-first into the wall and then got sent back a bit from JackPot’s dual bars.

JackPot showed its rear again, but this time Rotator was more centered, and that meant Rotator’s forks won the ground game, and though JackPot escaped, it meant Rotator could get that spin-up time and get to send JackPot back with its weapon, drawing sparks to both sides and the front. JackPot led with its wedge again, but Rotator’s forks repelled it and Rotator switched from defense to attack for another hit and run assault.

JackPot looked rocked, and Rotator responded by going weapon to weapon. Rotator went flying, but had most of the Box behind it so had no problems. JackPot slowly tipped over by its wall.

So the way JackPot made up the weight of the wedge was by forgoing its srimech. Which it needed about now. That’s BattleBots, Suzyn.

Rotator wins by KO in 1:28.

6. End Game vs. 27. Perfect Phoenix
End Game: 2-1 (W, KO 0:39 vs. Tombstone; L, KO 1:10 vs. Bloodsport; W, KO 0:53 vs. HyperShock)
Perfect Phoenix: 2-1 (W, KO 0:59 vs. Extinguisher; L, KO 1:59 vs. Skorpios; W, JD 3-0 vs. Atom #94)
This could be interesting as a big vert takes on a somewhat big horizontal. Tyler Nguyen and Perfect Phoenix got a feature in the Washington Post this past week, which is always neat. We’ll see if he can do what Ray couldn’t and knock off End Game.

As for End Game, they’re looking to become the second robot this season to defeat both Perfect Phoenix and Tombstone, after Skorpios. But they’ve fought an overhead spinner this year in Bloodsport and lost, so we’ll see what happens.

Both bots got to spinning up and from the early juncture it looked like Perfect Phoenix’s wedge actually had the advantage which meant that the horizontal bar was scoring sparks on that End Game wedge. But they weren’t much. End Game backed enough and it became a pushing match with the Kiwi bot pushing Perfect Phoenix back, and once the vert landed, whether on the wedge or the weapon, Perfect Phoenix popped up into that outer wall above Chris and Kenny. Landed fine, still spinning, but seriously OYES Robotics, can we try to not kill the commentators?

It was definitely the bar because after the second and third hits, on the bar, you could see the whole thing bent upwards. First of all, that’s impressive because that’s gotta be at least a half-inch of whatever steel it it, whether AR400 or S7 or whatever.

Second, after the second hit Perfect Phoenix was inverted on the screws, which actually elicited a “Hell yeah” from young Tyler Nguyen because presumably they’d be able to flip Perfect Phoenix back over. But they couldn’t as Perfect Phoenix remained flipped and leaning on the screws as a count-out ensued. End Game moves onto the round of 16 to face Rotator thanks to the win in 57 seconds. (Hey, Perfect Phoenix had a longer fight against End Game than Tombstone.)

Calling it now, by the way. Assuming BattleBots stays operational through the next decade, Tyler Nguyen will win a Giant Nut, possibly (for THE NARRATIVE’S sake) beating Ray and/or Paul to get there. Though, probably with his own bot and not a refurbished one. Pedigree or not, it was a 12-year-old robot that was designed to fight at 220 lbs. (and due to electronics advancements was apparently at 206 this year). Imagine what this kid’ll do building his own bot.

3. Copperhead vs. 30. Mammoth
Copperhead: 3-0 (W, KO 1:12 vs. Gigabyte; W, KO 0:38 vs. P1; W, JD 3-0 vs. Black Dragon)
Mammoth: 2-1 (W, KO 2:17 vs. HUGE; L, KO 1:36 vs. HyperShock; W, JD 3-0 vs. Deadlift)
It’s the largest robot against the smallest (or one of them)! So that sounds like a fun fight just for that reason.

As much as Uppercut impressed everyone this year, I feel like Copperhead did with me. I know de-shelling Gigabyte was done before, but 1) Gigabyte sucked less this year, making the top 32 seeds and winning the 16-17 matchup to get to the round of 16 and 2) after it happened the first time they switched metal suppliers because they realized they had gotten cast metal instead of forged, and you’d presume that that got fixed in the last couple years.

As for Mammoth, they were right on the bubble, considering their third fight was highlighted rather than shown. I thought it had a decent chance of costing them, but then Gruff and HyperShock did not have good last fights, both losing, and though P1’s last fight was solid, they were ultimately the team left out. So with that bit of life, we’ll see what Mammoth can do with it. HyperShock wrecked their metallic spinner/flipper though, so they have to go with the plastic one from here on out. So expect maximum floppy for added fun. (Yes, I know that’s normally not the case.)

Copperhead took the time to spin up and you could see the power from the drum even not at speed because Mammoth got lifted up from its first charge. But even as it spun we weren’t getting that death hum just yet. It was grinding against the UHMW forks but not ripping just yet. Mammoth landed a shot with its weapon (as Copperhead came to a stop) and it pushed them into the wall, though the forks prevented the drum from being stopped. It looked like some driving issues for the snake, as it gyro danced to try and face Mammoth, brushed into one of Mammoth’s forks, and flipped over, slowly but surely, well, before immediately getting tilted right-side up by Mammoth’s spinner. Out of the two weapons it was the one working, though taking some damage when going weapon to weapon, and the forks were definitely bent up enough to look a whole lot less stable.

Copperhead finally spun up while driving and ran headlong into Mammoth, getting under and driving Mammoth backwards and into the walls. And then the weapon stopped again, so after some pushing the diminutive drumbot retreated. Copperhead was winning the pushing game but Mammoth was able to push back and repel Copperhead, which was looking for an angle, or something. It circled to try and find it, moved forwards but was met with Mammoth’s weapon flipping it back over as Copperhead retreated to try and figure things out.

With under a minute left the drum sprung back to life and was able to re-right Copperhead. But maybe too much because it gyroed and was a target for another Mammoth push. It was under 30 before Copperhead got its bearings back and made another push, bending one of Mammoth’s plows, but got flipped back over in the last couple seconds. It would go to the judges with an uncertain winner.

Damage: All of Copperhead’s issues were reliability based, so I don’t know if Mammoth did a ton in the way of damage. But their flips had to have done a little. On the other hand, yes, Copperhead damaged some things and bent some forks. Nothing massive, but there were bits of plastic around the arena. It’s either 3-2 or 4-1 in damage, I think I’d end up going 4-1 in deference to Copperhead’s issues being its own deficiencies (you don’t get damage points for that).
Control: Definitely goes to Mammoth, the question being whether Copperhead can steal a point. It really only had a couple moments where it attacked, and even so Mammoth shut it down fairly quickly. So I go 3-0.
Aggression: Mammoth wins this as well. Copperhead did a lot of retreating (to try and get things fixed). Mammoth could have been more aggressive to try and press the advantage so I think I go 2-1 Mammoth rather than the full 3-0.

So I have it 6-5 Mammoth… and I was with the judges. Well, the majority (Derek Young and Jason Bardis). Mammoth scores the mammoth upset (sorry) with the split decision win.

Fun fact: The two times BattleBots has had a 32-bot tournament, the 30 seed has beaten the 3 seed in the first round. The other time was when Red Devil cut through the top and batteries of Witch Doctor.

So Upset of the Year? MAYBE. Also my bracket’s fucked. Nice of it to last three-quarters of the way into the first round before I lose my champ.

7. SawBlaze vs. 26. Kraken
SawBlaze: 2-1 (W, KO 2:30 vs. Whiplash; L, KO 1:08 vs. Uppercut; W, JD 3-0 vs. Rusty)
Kraken: 1-2 (L, JD 2-1 vs. Black Dragon; W, JD 3-0 vs. Witch Doctor; L, JD 3-0 vs. HUGE)
A pair of overhead attackers square off in this one. It’s going to be interesting, but I’d say the answer becomes “whose wedge is better?” Or in the case of SawBlaze, prongs, but you know. Also worth checking which saw SawBlaze went to, and yes, it was back to the saw-hammer.

SawBlaze won the first exchange due to getting around Kraken’s wedge, pushing Kraken to the screws as it weebled and wobbled to get back up and SawBlaze hit the right wheel guard. Kraken was able to get free and SawBlaze showed its arm to the jaws and Kraken bit. With that Kraken had control but it showed good power by SawBlaze, even wheelieing, to prevent Kraken from giving SawBlaze a taste of the hazards. Kraken had to release, even getting a first warning from the ref before doing so, so great showing by SawBlaze to defend.

The two bots finally went wedge to wedge and Kraken’s wedge actually beat SawBlaze’s front forks. But the saw also smashed Kraken in the face, so advantage SawBlaze from that exchange. The two locked in a circle until SawBlaze was able to get the scoop, drive Kraken to the wall, and smash with the saw again, this time a perfect shot severing Kraken’s left wheel.

That should have been it, but believe it or not Kraken could still sometimes drive straight! Yes, there was a bit of circling, but not always. SawBlaze pushing might not have hurt it but for now the fight was still on, as SawBlaze could pin and drop another hit on the Kraken head.

SawBlaze pushed Kraken some more into a corner, and now this had to be it. Kraken was struggling to get out of the corner, though still technically mobile, and SawBlaze rammed again. The saw might have been out at this point, but SawBlaze pushed Kraken into another wall, not really needed it. It actually went to the judges.
Damage: The potential saw mishap makes it 4-1 instead of 5-0 SawBlaze.
Control: Kraken had those 30 seconds or so of clamp, but after that it was all SawBlaze. 3-0.
Aggression: Losing a wheel kinda makes it tough to be aggressive. 3-0 SawBlaze.

Props to Matt Spurk, as Kraken did not get KOed once this season, an extremely durable bot even while taking on Black Dragon, Witch Doctor, HUGE, and SawBlaze. But SawBlaze gets the win and advances via unanimous decision.

2. Bloodsport vs. 31. Gruff
Bloodsport: 3-0 (W, KO 2:12 vs. Skorpios; W, KO 1:10 vs. End Game; W, JD 3-0 vs. Chronos)
Gruff: 1-2 (W, KO 1:41 vs. HyperShock; L, JD 3-0 vs. Whiplash; L, KO 2:55 vs. Extinguisher)
Gruff’s been an absolute brick, especially last year. Less so this year, where they’ve been working on a new drive system and it’s had its share of issues such as in both of its losses. Hell, Gruff was dominating the Extinguisher fight and on its way to a higher seed until it un-Gruff-ly crapped out. But it’ll need to rediscover its prior form against Bloodsport, the highest-seeded spinner of the season. It got there with a pair of KOs against top-10 seeded bots, and if it had gotten the quick KO as expected against Chronos might’ve warranted the 1-seed. It’ll look to get back on track.

In a “hey is this legal at this point?” note, Gruff is now down to one fork on the lifter. Which means it’s not much of a lifter at this point and I don’t know if there’s enough force to clamp. But coming out it looked like Gruff was going for the clamp strategy as Bloodsport spun up.

Tank strategy worked though, as first hit, there goes a prong on Bloodsport’s tri-bar weapon. You could see the imbalance when it spun up, as it continued to do so, and the robot seemed to oscillate. Gruff got a clamp and sent the flamethrower to do its thing, taking out a BattleBots sign with its prong (which cost $5.99 according to Chris in which case I’LL TAKE THREE!) From there it looked like all Bloodsport could do was push because the bars wouldn’t spin up too much, and they were already behind the eight ball. Gruff wedged and torched, and it seemed that Bloodsport could spin up as they scored a minor scratch on Gruff to free themselves from the flames. Meanwhile it was Gruff having the drive issues as they struggled to find traction, but almost got a lucky flip in on Bloodsport which considering the diminished spin capability could have proved to be a fight-ender, pipe or no pipe. But Bloodsport spun away and began to push Gruff into the wall. Staying away from the front as best as possible, they got a pulverizer shot in on Gruff, so there was some damage being done, while on the other pulverizer both bots took a shot, Bloodsport getting the worse of it. (I would love for next year the return of the pulverizer mark except with the controlling team’s colors being shown.) Gruff hit a killsaw and Bloodsport continued to shove it around. Gruff wasn’t in great shape, though it was getting the luck, as the lifter knocked one of Bloodsport’s wedgelets off. And then the second came off as Bloodsport ran into Gruff for once last push as the buzzer sounded. As it went to the judges it was going to be a tough call.

Damage: This is tough, because is Bloodsport’s weapon breaking self-inflicted? I say no, it had to hit Gruff, so Gruff should get some credit for it. Not full credit because the weapon was still functional, but partial because it was greatly, greatly diminished. Meanwhile though Gruff’s had drive problems throughout the season, the couple box-length runs Bloodsport definitely helped speed things along. I think I have to call it… 3-2 Bloodsport?
Control: Gruff had a couple moments early on, but as soon as the drive problems reared Bloodsport pounced. Bloodsport takes control 2-1.
Aggression: Bloodsport’s weapon was out but it kept attacking. I give them aggression 2-1.

So I have it 6-5 Bloodsport, and… I’m with the majority (Jason Bardis and Lisa Winter), as Bloodsport wins by split decision.

15. Fusion vs. 18. Tantrum
Fusion: 2-1 (L, KO 2:05 vs. MadCatter; W, KO 0:53 vs. Aegis; W, KO 0:54 vs. WAR? EZ!)
Tantrum: 2-1 (L, KO 2:44 vs. Valkyrie; W, KO 1:13 vs. Atom #94; W, KO 2:59 vs. Gamma 9)
Winner gets Bloodsport! Fusion was my pre-season dark horse pick because it looked interesting and could counter any defenses by simply throwing the other weapon at you. What I hadn’t counted on was it being on the cusp of causing its own damn fusion every time. Aegis it didn’t get a chance because the fiberglass shell fell apart very easy. But WAR? EZ!? That was an angry ball of physics.

Anyway Tantrum went with the forks to have some kind of chance in the ground game. Fusion’s forks on the vert side aren’t superb so they can be out-wedged, and Tantrum’s tanky enough to take the horizontal if need be.

Tantrum didn’t go full box rush, but enough to feint it and get to the side at first as Fusion’s horizontal weapon hummed. Or maybe it was Tantrum’s puncher, since they had already thrown that horizontal into a wall and the sound was still going. It would be that because they nailed a punch, sending Fusion back and taking bits off the wedge. Fusion charged for a hit but missed and, turning back, started to gyro dance, with the bonus of the horizontal bar keeping it up. Cool trick, but wheels on the ground are preferable. Tantrum charged, but a bit too late and went weapon to weapon with Fusion’s horizontal, and that’s not a fight they’d win with the track and everything, and you could see it was off-track and unusable, but they could pin.

Or not. The weapon could still spin though it was off-axis, and somehow Fusion could spin up as well. Fusion landed a hit on Tantrum, and it looked like Tantrum was in peril with a potential drive issue. At the least they weren’t as fast, but could still run into that bar to try and break it and pop Fusion up, which they did from the power of the horizontal, but Fusion would respond and it looked like the drive was having more issues on Fusion.

Tantrum moved forward and Fusion’s vert side went right up the forks to become a Tantrum hat. And then its internals exploded. Tantrum tried to get Fusion off, because, y’know, fire on its head, but with that not working but Tantrum moving and Fusion clearly not, the hat was counted out. Tantrum wins by KO in X:XX and will face Bloodsport.

10. Skorpios vs. 23. Witch Doctor
Skorpios: 2-1 (L, KO 2:12 vs. Bloodsport; W, KO 1:59 vs. Perfect Phoenix; W, KO 1:58 vs. Tombstone)
Witch Doctor: 1-2 (L, JD 2-1 vs. Hydra; L, JD 3-0 vs. Kraken; W, KO 2:40 vs. SlamMow!)
This could be any subsequent round of the tournament and I wouldn’t be too surprised. Skorpios is a tried and tested tank, able to withstand fights against the heaviest hitters—Tombstone and Icewave, to name a few. Witch Doctor followed up its runner-up performance with the Giant Bolt from the re:MARS event, which was shown before but as it was live filmed after Season 4. This fight could potentially be a coin flip, coming down to who gets the first nice bite.

The two bots drifted around each other to get that first bite and Witch Doctor started off and went right up Skorpios’s wedge, but right into the weapon arm, so a good strategy, getting the recoil hit afterwards into the side. But Skorpios could still scoop and push, and the hammer-saw was looking to get in there. Witch Doctor got off the wedge pushing in and the two were back to drifting.

It seemed that Witch Doctor’s strategy of first contact was to try and launch up the wedge, because they did it again, this time flipping themselves over but the saw immediately stopped spinning and wasn’t getting spinning back up at all. This didn’t stop Skorpios from keeping at it, cornering Witch Doctor, and now using their weapon to pin. If they had the saw spinning they probably would’ve broken through Witch Doctor’s weapon stuff instead, but again, that’s BattleBots Suzyn. But sticking the saw in there was a good strategy and probably the best available. After letting Witch Doctor go it was a lot of the same but both bots were more aggressive (Witch Doctor because there’s less to worry about in damage, Skorpios because dominating aggression and control would be the only way back in the fight). And so it went, a push here, a shove there, and Witch Doctor drawing sparks from Skorpios’s wedge. Skorpios overcorrected a spin and Witch Doctor punted it sideways, trying to get all 5 damage points rather than leaving 4-1. Plus maybe getting the wheel. The two bots went head to head and both popped up, Witch Doctor flipping over but using its ribcage srimech to quickly get back up.

The next big moment came as Skorpios pushed Witch Doctor back, and Witch Doctor spun away, but it was a Skorpios-controlled pulverizer and they still paid with a couple pulverizer strikes. Witch Doctor got away and Skorpios continued to chase, but Skorpios hit a seam or something, popping the wedge enough for Witch Doctor’s disks to hit it, turn the bot up, and land a hit on the underside. It could be because Skorpios’s right wheel was clearly damaged as you could see a limp right before Witch Doctor sent it into a backflip before looking for the next angle. Or as Zachary Lytle put it, “Get back here! And stop running away!” Witch Doctor got back there for Skorpios to give it one last push to the screws. Witch Doctor got one more hit itself riding up the wedge one last time and it would go to the judges.

Damage: With the hits to both the saw (disabling it spinning) and the wheel Witch Doctor obviously takes this. I didn’t see much done to Witch Doctor from the pulverizer or the few wall shots it took, so I think it’s 5-0 (rather than 4-1).
Control: Definitely 2-1 rather than 3-0, but fairly neutral. Most of the pushing was Skorpios, most of the chasing was Skorpios, so I guess 2-1 Skorpios?
Aggression: Also a 2-1 rather than a 3-0. Witch Doctor had the active weapon (plus points) but Skorpios did more of the pushing and hunting, so I say 2-1 Skorpios.

So I have it 7-4 Witch Doctor. And the judges agree with me, Witch Doctor by unanimous decision. A rematch with SawBlaze awaits, as the two faced off in last year’s quarterfinals.

Okay, so with that the round of 16 is set, even if my bracket is fucked. Let’s go down the list. My winners in bold:

Hydra vs. Gigabyte: It would be a bit foolish to say “this is a bad matchup for the top seeded Hydra.” But this is a bad matchup, giant plow or not. Because if Gigabyte is spinning up Hydra can’t flip it. In the rock-paper-scissors of combat robotics, flippers are paper and spinners like this would be scissors.

Whiplash vs. Valkyrie: There will definitely a different strategy on Valkyrie’s part, but how much could Frederick Moore of Valkyrie (the guy with the cowboy hat) have done differently on the sticks the first time around?

Uppercut vs. Ribbot: Ribbot will likely double up with the undercutter. This is gonna be interesting, and Ribbot’s definitely more reliable this year than they were last (and talked about their monitors to prevent burning themselves out). But shit, all Uppercut seems to need is one good hit. I’ll keep it simple.

Black Dragon vs. Tombstone: Honestly, I think Black Dragon’s robust enough to tank Tombstone. We know they’ve done it against drums, even if we haven’t seen them in action against horizontals. I think they’ll slap on the biggest wedge they have and just outlast.

Bloodsport vs. Tantrum: Bloodsport lucked out. As long as they don’t snap another bar things will be fine. Meanwhile it looks like S7 could be on its way out after this year considering Bloodsport, Witch Doctor, and any other weapons that have broke in favor for AR400. Unless you’re SawBlaze in which case it’s AR550. (No, I have no idea what the difference is in hardness. Yes, I am a metallurgy poseUr. Hey, that one actually works!)

SawBlaze vs. Witch Doctor: It’s a rematch, and one I had on my bracket. SawBlaze has improved this year and will dominate the ground game, but let’s be real Witch Doctor ain’t care, see its previous fight.

Shatter! vs. Mammoth: Yes, these two have fought before at Maker Faire Orlando, and Shatter! (okay, Blue) won. But that’s a much smaller arena where Mammoth barely fits in it and I expect Mammoth to use that to its advantage to at least force Shatter! to drive. Also, they’ve put the battery pack and control panel higher up apparently, so Shatter! can’t hit it the way Blue did. I just think it’s too awkward and this year’s meta-breaker keeps going.

End Game vs. Rotator: End Game’s fights are all short, Rotator won’t die. Something’s gotta give. When in doubt I go with it being a longer fight. But End Game still wins.

How wrong will I be? Find out next week!