Well, the Beat returns! The Beaties’ll come eventually (can I finish Banner Madness first, we’re almost done after all), but as an added bonus comes the Bounty Hunters vehicle.

It’s a new format for this year, but one that according to the BattleBots execs they had been kicking about for a bit. The way it works: There are six eight-bot tournaments. The winner of said eight-bot tournament takes on the bounty bot. And there’s a $25,000 purse, so win the bounty and you get the bulk of it. (No idea how it’s split between the nine bots.)

The first bounty tournament (the one being covered now) was for the right to take on the most recent evolution of the forerunner of pneumatics, the current horse in the Inertia Labs stable, descended from champions, Bronco.

Team Whyachi’s Hydra may be the current king of flippers, but when you think of throwing robots around over and over again, you think of Bronco and more notably Inertia Labs (formerly Team Rhino). Zander Rose and Reason Bradley pretty much invented the pneumatic flipper when they decided to retire their first robot, spike-bot Rhino, after competing in Season 1.0 of BattleBots. Rhino itself was fairly successful, taking 3rd at the initial Long Beach tournament and being eliminated in the semis at the Las Vegas tourney before its Super Rhino variant got kicked upstairs to the super heavyweights for Season 1.0 (with less success). For Season 2.0 they took the pneumatic spike on Rhino and decided to re-orient it to see what happened if they tried to flip robots rather than punch through the armor. And that gave the world Toro, and combat robotics was never the same.

Toro was an instant fan favorite, winning a pair of royal rumbles and culminating in the Season 4.0 super heavyweight championship. Inertia Labs built a smaller two-wheeled version that fought in the middleweights named T-Minus, which also won a royal rumble but also won the Season 5.0 middleweight championship, especially notable because in the semifinals they toppled the previously undefeated three-time middleweight champion, Tony Buchignani’s Hazard. They also had a heavyweight variant, The Matador, which became the design predecessor for Bronco and competed in Seasons 4.0 and 5.0, but it was eliminated by M.O.E. and Warhead respectively in the Round of 16.

As for Bronco, we’ve seen it in action these first four seasons, making it as far as the semifinals in Season 1 and the quarters in Seasons 2 and 3, losing only to Tombstone, Minotaur, and Whiplash those years. Things went a bit south in Season 4 though, as due to tough matchups (Bite Force, HUGE, Hydra) and the flipper failing (Free Shipping) Bronco shockingly went 0-4. It got revenge in the re:MARS tournament (remember, as a live tournament it was filmed after Season 4) against Free Shipping, but lost to Witch Doctor in the final. It didn’t compete this season, and with a redesign all but confirmed after last year (and especially after the loss and seemingly passing of the torch to Hydra) the bounty fight’ll be Bronco’s last ride. At least like this. It’s a bit of a boat at this point, especially against more compact but hard-hitting spinners. Flippers don’t like spinners, for the most part.

So, let’s get to the bounty tournament. To the fights!

Atom #94 vs. MadCatter
Knowing that these were filmed concurrently with the tournament, we can have our ideas of where bots may slot, and I’ll give how they did. Also worth nothing once again that no bot that made the quarterfinals competed in any of the bounties. So with that:

Atom #94 had a tough rookie season. The Indian-Canadian squad looks to have a bot with a fairly powerful double vertical disk, but it was plagued with drive issues and went winless as a result. They made some adjustments to the gearbox for this fight, so hopefully those gremlins have been solved. On the other hand, MadCatter had a strong follow-up season, being one of the bots to go 3-0 in the qualifiers, crowned by a win over Ribbot (which made the quarters). The modular bot has primarily gone with its various vertical spinner attachments (I think they used the hammer once?) as seen here. It didn’t work against Tombstone, but it may work here against Yash Deshmukh and co., who asked Ray Billings for advice. Rookie vs. vet and all. (MadCatter is also sporting Gassy Cat, a flamethrowing minibot, for this fight.)

Atom #94 showed those gearbox improvements right away charging towards MadCatter but the box rush wasn’t enough as MadCatter got enough out of the way, pushing both bots towards the wall. MadCatter was drawing sparks and looked like they had the advantage in leverage (and we all know how that’s important). Gassy Cat was able to get under Atom #94 just enough for MadCatter to come in and send a piece of side armor flying and flip Atom #94 over. MadCatter came in again with another hit and send Atom #94 into the screws, then again to punt a still-mobile Atom #94 onto the rail. It was nice to let them off (albeit weapon first), but Atom #94 had stuff hanging out of it, this one was over. MadCatter wins with a KO in a minute. And more of Martin Mason pulling off his best promo cut. Which is always worth it.

Chomp vs. Bale Spear
What haven’t we mentioned about Chomp? Now a walker, the six-legged bot weighs 500 lbs., the hammer is on a turret, there’s fire… Zoe Stephenson and The Machine Corps have just gone mad with technology. It doesn’t always work practically, as Chomp went 1-2 on the year, but it’s really cool. The Beaties haven’t gone up yet, but yes, they won the Best Engineering Award.

As for Bale Spear we didn’t see them much (just the loss to Tracer), but they were there on the year, going 0-2 with an unaired loss to Deadlift. The New Jersey puncher’s got more power and the tractor wheels might give it a leg up to try and get above Chomp’s hoop skirt protecting the legs. And of course, extra top armor. Chomp hits hard, as we’ve seen.

And it’s a good thing because as Bale Spear came forward Chomp dropped the hammer and definitely landed a hit on Bale Spear, but the wheeled bot was undaunted, backing away after a miss and driving Chomp into the corner and the pulverizer.

And something must have leaked or broke in the fuel line, because then Chomp burst into flames. It could still fire and still walk, as seen by it doing just that momentarily. But some more pushing and Chomp was out of there. Bale Spear unleashes Farmaggedon and wins by KO in 58 seconds.

Rotator vs. Axolotl
Well, we’d have a favorite in this matchup, given that we know Rotator, it made the round of 16, went to a split decision with End Game that ended up winning the whole thing. If Rotator wins a Giant Nut in 2021 I wouldn’t be super-surprised, outside of the fact that it isn’t a wedged/wedgeleted/forked vert. Although it has the rear forks on for this fight.

Axolotl is, though! But it also had traction issues throughout and went 0-2 with losses to WAR? EZ! and Ribbot. I’m hoping it’s just rookie blues for the team in pink. Well, the robot is pink. And for this fight have a very low wedge instead of the forks. Honestly, the wedge might be too skinny.

Well, it worked more in the dustpan way as it started by scooping Rotator’s forks. Though it worked Rotator spun off and scraped the sides and probably a wheel. Axolotl was having traction issues, and as it came right to Rotator’s weapon, was going to be having weapon issues because it got hit right in the belt, and that got broken off. So just like that the rookie bot was in some peril.

Rotator used it forks and pinned Axolotl into the wall, and under the pulverizer, and did some more damage. Axolotl got away, got space, and went for a death or glory charge to try and break Rotator’s weapon.

It was death. Rotator wins by KO in 1:19.

Sharkoprion vs. Captain Shrederator
Edward Robinson’s had a tough year. His robot building partner passed away and I believe his RV or trailer died, and the robot community banded together to get him a new one. But it comes at a cost. He sold Sharko pre-event under the stipulation that he would teach the new owner how to drive and maintain the robot, and then after the event it would be theirs. So this is it for Ed with his shark, through three years of adventures and a redesign of the head from vertical spinner to flipper/clamper.

Meanwhile Captain Shrederator’s continued their string of bad luck, though admittedly it was a stronger, more robust showing from the full-body spinner. Spin to Win, maybe, but at least spin regularly.

Also I’d like to note the “Fin to Win” from the HyperShock squad as a take on Spin to Win.

Sharko with the slight false start but it would be minimal since the bot was still in the starting square. It wasn’t a true box rush because Shrederator was already out of there, but the shark came in looking to chomp Shrederator. The shell spinner hit it in the mouth and it looked okay. The shot to the side of Sharko, less so.

Sharko went for its thwack-bot tail slap. This was problematic as seen by losing a section of tail, then some sort of mesh. Shrederator came in for a look and took another piece of shark tail and a nudge to see if it was mobile. It was not, since losing half your tail’ll do that. Captain Shrederator wins by KO in 48 seconds and closes the book on the fish tale.

Good news though, Edward Robinson is working on a future bot for BattleBots. He withdrew his 2021 application the other day, so we may not see it until 2022.

Which takes us to the semifinals.

Captain Shrederator vs. Rotator
The question would be what Rotator would be going with. I’d imagine the wedge but it got destroyed by Valkyrie, so Victor Soto put on a big slab of metal to act as a bumper. Or as Peter Abrahamson called it, the “big bootay.” But with Captain Shrederator being what it has been in terms of reliability it makes sense.

The bad news is this is the one fight I can’t find to rewatch and analyze in full detail (and I still don’t have Discovery+). But this was surprisingly a lot of weapon on weapon, and Shrederator’s hits were getting the better of the action early on, sending Rotator around the box. Had Rotator flipped over, and the undercutter became an overcutter, it would have hit too high and Shrederator would have the advantage. But somehow, someway, Rotator kept itself right-side up, and the bots kept at it.

Until 45 seconds left. Then Shrederator’s weapon stopped, to (again, all on memory) some smoke. Rotator kept going. I mean, we know by now Rotator is a tough bot, though this fight actually finished off this frame officially.

Scorecard:
Damage: 3-2 Rotator. Shrederator took pieces off, yes, but Rotator taking down the weapon was the most meaningful damage
Control: 2-1 Rotator. Even for the first 2:15, but those last 45 seconds made the difference.
Aggression: 2-1 Rotator. See control.

And yes, Rotator wins by unanimous decision. Sorry, my strategy of “watch fight for general gist and scorecard and first reactions, then watch fight again when I can pause and scrutinize” didn’t quite work out!

MadCatter vs. Bale Spear
Well, this is a bit of a step up this year for Bale Spear, considering Chomp was their first win and MadCatter was a top 32 bot. The cat’s still running the vertical spinner, but without the front wedge to get extra bite, and that results in what looks like a bigger disk as opposed to the lighter bar because they have the weight for it.

Everyone knew the box rush was coming (and the Bale Spear team even said it), but MadCatter was quicker on their feet and got away. Which means they did get to spin up and send their weapon at Bale Spear.

Who needs a wedge anyway, since Bale Spear ramped right up MadCatter and then right back down. Though flipped over. That’s a bit of a problem since they can’t self-right.

But again, last fight of the year, probably okay to tear it up. And MadCatter came in for some more grinding (and cannibalizing their own minibot, whoops). A diagonal run with Bale Spear on top and then one more punt to have the farm bot do a roll (and start to smoke) ended it officially. MadCatter wins by KO in 54 seconds.

Bounty Hunter Final: MadCatter vs. Rotator
It’s been the offensive juggernaut and the defensive mastermind taking this tournament, and now they meet in the finals. In fairness, this is probably how we expected it to go, with the only upset possibly being Bale Spear over Chomp. Sure, there’s no seeds but this is probably chalk. We know how they ended up doing in the tournament, so take that as you will. For MadCatter, wedge returns. For Rotator, only two forks.

MadCatter’s minibot came in to annoy Rotator, but Victor Soto hit ’em with the spin move. No, seriously. Rotator spun, the weapon hit the minibot, minibot goes flying. Rotator then got some air itself, the undercutter hitting MadCatter’s wedge. MadCatter could get the pin, but the weapon couldn’t land any good hits on Rotator, so they let go.

That gave MadCatter time to actually spin up and get some sparks and shards on Rotator, which responded by sending Gassy Cat even farther out with its weapon and I think over the Lexan, so you won’t see him no more as the two main bots circled each other. MadCatter hit a spike port which showed the side, and Rotator got a hit in on it. It did some damage to the side, but worse, MadCatter’s weapon wasn’t moving. And then the robot wasn’t moving much as Rotator could come in to do some damage. Which had the weapon on MadCatter working again. Not sure if radio issues or what, but something was definitely problematic as a wisp of smoke came out of MadCatter and it came to a standstill more or less. After some time to check, it was deemed that rolling on one wheel wasn’t enough, and though the count paused as Rotator hit it some more, MadCatter was deemed immobilized. Rotator wins by KO in 2:05 and has the honor of being Bronco’s bounty hunter.

Bounty: Rotator vs. Bronco
Victor Soto actually takes a great deal of inspiration from Inertia Labs and Bronco in his armor configurations. It was Bronco that had, uh, interesting armor configurations before Rotator. Who doesn’t remember the pwangers? (Even if they didn’t work.) But that’s how Rotator came up with the configurations. Though how do you armor up for a flipper? Take off weight?

Well, just like against the Big Dill fight the wheel guards come off to prevent Bronco having extra surface area to flip, and I imagine that would lead to the heavier bar with the undercutter, and the forks in the back. For Bronco it’s the big rear wedge, but with bigger, wider wheel guards to prevent them from getting bent into the wheels.

And Bronco would lead with the wedge, which Rotator took to try and get through and instead got sent upwards and do the horizontal spinner gravity gyro. But knowing that Bronco was coming it wedge first Rotator charged with the forks, spun around and hit the flipper and then the wedge. Riding up the wedge Rotator got a hit on the arm and narrowly escaped being flipped. But the part they hit was perfect. It damaged one of the bolts on the actuator, which meant Bronco’s flipping arm couldn’t pop back into place. Lucky shot sure, but the flipper was out of commission.

This relegated Bronco to that wedge for the rest of the fight. Bronco used its wedge well, but Rotator veered off to the side. It was tanking the blows well, but we’ve seen bots relegated to pushing, they have to come in over and over to break the weapon. It was kind of neutral in terms of who was charging, and that’s advantage Rotator, even as it caught an edge, got some height, and had a pulverizer shot for their troubles.

But Rotator kept at it and was rewarded for the effort as it had damaged the left wheel guard, now only attached at one side. Bronco kept the wedge in front, but the carom off it meant Rotator landed right off it, taking the guard off. But also sending Rotator flying. Somehow that didn’t kill the weapon and Rotator continued to spin up. Bronco pushed again and Rotator kicked off next to the pulverizer, then driving under the pulverizer, which pinned Rotator momentarily. Rotator was leading with the forks for the spin move, and it was working, but it went to the judges.

My card:
Damage: 5-0 Rotator. It didn’t have any ill effects from being kicked around and pinned, while the damage to the flipping arm changed the fight, with a bonus of the wheel guard.
Control: Mostly even, so I’ll go 2-1 Bronco.
Aggression: Mostly even, but Rotator has the advantage of the primary weapon aggression. Bronco needed to be balls to the wall and they weren’t quite that. 2-1 Rotator.

BOUNTY CLAIMED, Rotator by unanimous decision. We’ll see Inertia Labs again. We may even see Bronco again. But it won’t be this version of Bronco.

Next week’s (so tonight’s) bounty: the muscle car of BattleBots, Icewave. See you next week!