Listen, I didn’t have a clever title.

Welcome back to the Beat! Where, like other sports in February, the bots and teams punching in tournament tickets early could be the ones to watch. Once again, we come in with another set of fights from last week, and minor controversies. Onto the fights!

Rotator vs. Black Dragon
Rotator: 1-0 (W, JD 3-0 vs. Kraken)
Black Dragon: 1-0 (W, KO 1:10 vs. Icewave)

We start with pair of 1-0 bots that are very hard to kill by reputation. I expect this to go the distance.

First off, good news: Rotator’s got new battery packs, instead of the ones they needed to borrow/buy from Malice in their first fight. For this fight, Victor Soto and crew are going with the forks in the back, which means very little difference because the two-wheeled Rotator has become extremely mobile over the years. Black Dragon has one of their smaller looking eggbeaters because they have their biggest anti-horizontal wedge for this fight.

Both bots spun up but as expected, Rotator led with the forks and got right under Black Dragon and to the hammer. Finally went weapon to weapon but both undaunted at first. Rotator continued to lead with the forks, which were getting under.

Both bots were staying cautious, but a miscue by Black Dragon meant they hit the side, and then their flamethrower went, or in more likeliness the whole weapon, since the bot was smoking. Again, this means very little for Black Dragon, which won a fight last year after spending half of it on fire, but they’d have to do that again, against a very strong Rotator.

Rotator was able to get a hit in on the side, but Black Dragon remained undaunted. The Brazilian bot continued to push, getting under Rotator’s disk. But Rotator was able to use its forks to pin, release, and then tail whip with the weapon. And regardless, Black Dragon was getting under the weapon, but taking hits from Rotator’s undercutter each time.

The fight was going to the judges, that was certain, but in the dying seconds Black Dragon looked like it wasn’t moving. Doesn’t matter, it had survived to the bell under heavy smoke, but that’s probably not a good look.

Damage: Either 4-1 or 5-0 Rotator. I go 5-0, especially because Black Dragon was dead in the last few seconds.
Aggression: Neither robot stopped attacking, so I say 2-1. Tiebreaker goes to the one with the weapon, so Rotator.
Control: Again, points were fairly even, but that pin and tail whip move went a long way though. I go 2-1 Rotator.

And it was indeed Rotator by unanimous decision. They’re 2-0, and definitely in the tourney.

Lucky vs. Blade
Lucky: 0-1 (L, KO 1:44 vs. Tantrum)
Blade: 0-1 (L, JD 3-0 vs. Skorpios)

Both bots are 0-1, but once again not all 0-1s are the same. Lucky looked the stronger of the two since they had that early jump on Tantrum where the little orange bot was stuck between the wall and the floor. Since we have no idea what counts as a stick, that could have been a count-out and they could very well be 1-0 against a bit that made the semis last year. Meanwhile, Blade got jumped from the jump by Skorpios in one of the worst matchups they could have had, considering Skorpios is the spinner-killer.

Lucky going back to the wedge and puncher combo from earlier seasons, which is its anti-horizontal setup. It’s arguably been their best setup too. Blade with their longest bar, measuring 42” in diameter and 60 lbs.. But it’s also aluminum. Yes, there’s an S7 tooth for the bite, but will the bar hold up?

Lucky came in with the rush and went right at Blade, which tore a hole in Lucky’s wedge, ricocheted off two walls, broke the blade off in the wall, and started doing the Tombstone vibration. First off, that’s efficiency. Second off, I guess there’s the answer about the aluminum bar.

Blade got pushed into the screws, then flipped to inverted, then a perfect flip on top of the wall. And that was it. Since BattleBots Update didn’t make a joke about it: I haven’t seen something parked like this against an Ottawa institution since… well, it’s finally coming to an end, but the trucker convoy. Should’ve had Lucky take on the trucks.

Lucky by KO in 46 seconds and Kenny gets to hold Blade’s shard of blade! Er, bar. Until it inevitably gets given to Lucky, as is tradition. Lucky is 1-1 and should be 2-0. They might be in, win or lose, if their third fight isn’t a catastrophe. At the least they’ll be on the bubble. Blade will not be. Call it bad luck, call it terrible scheduling, but they’re probably all but out of it.

Minotaur vs. Dragon Slayer
Minotaur: 0-1 (L, JD 3-0 vs. SawBlaze)
Dragon Slayer: 1-0 (W, JD 3-0 vs. DUCK!)

Minotaur’s 0-1 after getting manhandled by SawBlaze, but considering that it was SawBlaze that loss may not hurt a lot in the grand scheme of things. This, on the other hand, they need this one. In more ways that one.

Driver Daniel Freitas had a rough time two weeks before filming. While RioBotz was quarantining in Mexico, his mom contracted covid. He went back to Brazil and his mom and grandmother unfortunately passed the same day. (Which was perfectly timed with a Discovery+ banner! That’s how you know the sport’s made it, terribly inopportune moments for ads.)

After their win over DUCK!, Dragon Slayer gets a Brazilian mythical animal to fight… but it’s the wrong Brazilian bot. (Come on, Black Dragon’s even in this episode!) Dragon Slayer’s disk wasn’t working right against DUCK!, so they have a smaller disk and an upgraded battery to spin up faster. Dragon Slayer’s wedge is visibly a little flat at the bottom to try and get under Minotaur.

Dragon Slayer came in with the rush but the bull oléd, as the bots then went weapon to weapon and Dragon Slayer’s immediately died. DS flipped but the drive got it back up. M could go to work without worrying about the weapon and bend up the wedge, continuing to upend DS, and then right into the wall where it couldn’t get back up.

Minotaur by KO in 1:23. And hopefully a moment of catharsis for the team and Daniel Freitas. I hope he’s doing as well as he possibly could be, these months later.

Yeti vs. Pain Train
Yeti: 0-1 (L, KO 2:01 vs. MadCatter)
Pain Train: 0-1 (L, KO 1:18 vs. Deep Six)

Yeti got out-Yetied in its first fight by MadCatter, and the two vets at the helm, Greg Gibson and Christian Carlberg, know this is do or die for the no-longer-Alaskan Assassin. Meanwhile, Staten Island bot Pain Train had traction issues and got Deep Sixed. We get to see another image of Shreddit Bro, which is one of the top beetleweights in the country, but unlike other top beetleweight builders Jamison Go and Calvin Iba, Evan Arias hasn’t been able to have much success with the heavies. Hopefully here.

Oddly enough, Greg Gibson says he can’t just go full send and weapon to weapon. After all, Pain Train’s drum is heavier, a full 75 lbs. compared to Yeti’s 48-pounder. But this is Yeti we’re talking about here. And those best-laid plans last about one hit.

Pain Train came in with the rush, showing better traction than against Deep Six. And it was the one getting to the sides early and being the aggressor, but Yeti followed and briefly got under. The bots started going weapon to weapon as Greg Gibson’s strategy lasted severals of seconds, but it was working because Yeti used its drum to flip over Pain Train and remove its top plate, which was now on the bottom. That’s 2/2 getting the top plate knocked out, and that’s not a good thing.

A couple more hits flipped Pain Train back over, as it was still moving, somehow and for some reason. Another hit from Yeti knocked some guts out, looking like some batteries, but Pain Train was still moving, though yes, gingerly. So one more hit and some more things flew out. Pain Train was still mobile on one side, but that didn’t count as controlled movement. There could have been a count-out earlier as they got ref warnings, but they kept moving, just barely. Which is why Yeti smashed.

Yeti by KO. At 1-1 they are still in it, but an 0-2 Pain Train will arrive at elimination station when all is said and done.

Kraken vs. HiJinx
Kraken: 0-1 (L, JD 3-0 vs. Rotator)
HiJinx: 0-1 (L, KO 1:44 vs. Mammoth)

Both bots are 0-1 and in desperate need for a win. I’d say between the two HiJinx needs it more because Kraken lost to Rotator by judges’ decision, while HiJinx lost to Mammoth by KO. Sure, you can’t kill the Kraken, but that combination of judges’ decision plus Rotator being a generally better bot tells me that.

Poor Kraken. They get another horizontal, even after Rotator mangled their horizontal frame. Which then had to be rebuilt. Also rebuilt, everyone favorite’s narwhal, Wally! On the other side, HiJinx now has S7 teeth on the edge of the bar to try and cut through Kraken’s wedge. There’s also a little piece of plastic on the top.

Kraken came in to rush, and HiJinx was immediately stunned and slowed. Kraken was able to push the undercutter into the screws and flip it over.

This is a great bit of control for Kraken, but it could pose a problem, as Kraken would have a tough time biting against the overhead spinner now, but HiJinx was also barely moving. Matt Spurk was asking for a count-out, but HiJinx was still mobile enough.

So Kraken kept getting bits of scales off every time she would bite HiJinx, but was able to push it into the screws, then into the Upper Deck. HiJinx had to pull a Toe Kicker, suspended on the Upper Deck and having to use the weapon to get off, and was able to do so.

And now it looked like Kraken was having mobility issues as the now-overhead spinner was taking its toll on the crusher. The two came together and HiJinx took out a tooth, and Kraken slowed, looking like they were either stuck on the killsaws or something. Because it was Kraken that was barely mobile as it went to the judges, and it was too close to call.

First of all, props to Orion Beach for having to drive HiJinx inverted, with controls inverted, for about 2:30.

Damage: The flip was a kind of damage, but a lot of damage was done to Kraken in the second half. HiJinx definitely wins the category, and I go 4-1.
Aggression: Kraken 2-1 or 3-0. I’d say 2-1. HiJinx did go after Kraken at the end.
Control: Kraken 2-1 or 3-0. Kraken dominated until the last 30 seconds where they were almost out. That may be enough to go 2-1.

It’s HiJinx by unanimous. At first I expected Kraken because I was going to go 3-0 and 3-0, then I thought about it… you can’t give Kraken 3-0 in either, it wasn’t quite lopsided enough and also that last minute it was Kraken on its last legs.

We get to see scorecards! Lisa Winter had 2-1 HiJinx in aggression and 3-2 in damage. The others had 4-1, 1-2, 1-2.

So it’s 6-5 scores all around. I’m actually surprised it wasn’t a split decision with one of the judges going 3-0 in control. Regardless, I think all the judges made the right call. HiJinx is still alive at 1-1. Kraken is obviously in must-win mode, but unlike last year where they got a win over Witch Doctor, I don’t know if their win will be against stiff competition. So I could easily see Kraken on the outside.

Defender vs. Riptide
Defender: 0-1 (L, KO 1:50 vs. Ribbot)
Riptide: 1-0 (W, KO X:XX vs. HUGE)

It’s technically a battle of rookie teams! Jason Vasquez’s Defender needs a win here at 0-1 after his new bot got fed to Ribbot. Meanwhile, upstart Riptide got a quick upset win over HUGE.

Defender has a bulkier wedge instead of all the forks it sported from the Ribbot fight. Those forks got mangled and ended up doing much more harm than good. Well, it wasn’t very much good as the fight was over far quicker than anyone would have liked. But regardless, a little bit more tankiness.

Defender came in with the box rush, but was quickly shedding pieces, and then somehow it was doing the thing, where it was on its back without any wheels touching. But simultaneously Riptide was inverted and tried to flip itself over (no srimech so it had to drive into the wall) and landed on its side and did its version of the thing. Defender was able to quickly self-right, which led to a choice. Either keep Riptide on its side and take an unimpressive win, or flip Riptide over and fight on, where anything can happen.

And Defender did the latter, nudging Riptide over, but keeping it inverted. This would have been time for a clamp and a suplex, but the grabber wasn’t grabbing (presumably from when Riptide hit it way at the beginning), so Riptide used the wall to flip itself 10 feet into the air, make several flips, and land onto the Upper Deck, where it got a 2.9 from the Russian judge. Sorry, the ROC judge. Riptide looked otherwise fine and drove off.

Defender continued to stick on them, and push into the corner, but the pulverizer had some friendly fire and hit both bots. Riptide’s weapon was turning, but it wasn’t spinning anymore, probably thanks to running into the wall at full bore. Defender was able to run Riptide in the wall,  but it was having slight drive issues. Riptide was smoking, while Defender’s clamper still wasn’t clamping. Defender pinned and released as the fight went to the judges.

Damage: Some pieces off of Defender, while both lost their weapons. 3-2 Riptide
Aggression: Both weapons died, I think I go 2-1 Defender
Control: Either 2-1 or 3-0 Defender clearly. I’ll say 3-0, considering Riptide mostly used its weapon on the arena walls. Which is not control.

Defender wins by unanimous decision.

YouTube Exclusive: SMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE vs. Deep Six
SMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE: EEEEEEEEEEE
Deep Six: 1-0 (W, KO 1:18 vs. Pain Train)

The last time we saw Deep Six, it was lifting Pain Train and taking its top plate off while putting it on the screws. So now let’s give it a challenge. Can Deep Six break SMEEEEEEEEE in half?

SMEEEEEEEEEEEE, the third of the three NYC-based bots, is the widest robot in the competition, as it’s two smaller robots with a giant wedge between them. Its job is to envelop the robot and let the undercutters on each side do whatever. But will it get a chance against such a big bot? Let’s find out!

Well, yes, it did! That’s a surprise. And it managed to take a tire!

One of the big problems has been the new unstick rule. According to Dustin Esswein (captain of Deep Six), by the letter of the rules Deep Six should have been unstuck, but things are still a bit ambiguous, it seems.

A second problem, however, has been the killsaw ports. They’re now slightly wider than they were to make room for the pyrotechnics at the beginning of Main Events, and as a result, more bots are getting stuck in them. Oddly enough this means that the BattleBox might counter the fork meta that the new floor started.

In either case, SMEEEEEEEEEE makes it so New York bots are now 1-1 against Deep Six this year. But I don’t think it’ll get to fight Shatter!

It’s SMEEEEEEEEEEEE! by KO in 1:29.

Main Event: HyperShock vs. Lock-Jaw
HyperShock: 1-0 (W, KO 1:11 vs. Slammo!)
Lock-Jaw: 0-1 (L, JD 2-1 vs. Copperhead)

We got a Diesector reference from Chris in the preview! Donald Hutson never won a heavyweight Nut with Tazbot, maybe one of the best robots that never won a Giant Nut, along with Overkill and Deadblow. Root Canal was runner-up in 2009, and Karcas 2 won the heavyweight championship at the 2004 NPC Charity Open, which was basically a BattleBots event, but he didn’t win a Giant Nut. BattleBots led him to his job where he runs a company that builds drones. So, BattleBots has been Donald Hutson’s life. And he’s grateful for it, and so have we.

Meanwhile, when Donald started fighting robots in 1996… Will Bales was 4. Donald is one of his idols. He had a Diesector (not Lock-Jaw) McDonald’s toy and the RC toy. (No confirmation on whether he still has them, though I asked.)

HyperShock does not have a srimech anymore. They put that into the weapon (which would act as the srimech, similar to Riptide). The plan is to outdrift Lock-Jaw, because they found that Donald has the tendency to oversteer, or as written on the HyperShock blog, “the robot can’t keep up with Donald.” See, there are those little things that shape fights too. There’s tape to watch and scouting reports in robot combat too!

HyperShock did not rush but was the aggressor as the two went weapon to weapon, or at least front to front. Lock-Jaw hit the front left tire on HyperShock and shredded it. But HyperShock followed by flipping Lock-Jaw and took them to the wall. The two remained toe to toe as HyperShock lost the front right wheel altogether, but Lock-Jaw lost a wheel as well (their front right when upright, so front left due to inversion). Both bots were shedding wheels, but HyperShock delivered a big hit to get Lock-Jaw on its side, then managed to come in from behind and OOTA Lock-Jaw.

Count-out, fight over, and Will Bales can’t believe it. He just beat his idol.

That’s a slight lie. This fight was filmed before Hydra–Gruff, and therefore this was the first OOTA this season. And with the rule change… Will thought they were about to be DQed. So, the exact opposite. But there was a count-out, because what is deliberate?

HyperShock wins by KO in an action-packed 1:32. Holy shit, HyperShock is 2-0, and in, and the top-10 seed is entirely in play. On the opposite end, Lock-Jaw is 0-2, and though out of the 0-2 bots they and Malice have the best shot, it’s a must-win.

As for next week, we’ve still got some doozies as teams continue with their second fights.

Bloodsport takes on SubZero as both bots try to get to 1-1.
Another pair looking to stay on the bubble and get their first win, Cobalt takes on Ghost Raptor.
It’s our third pair of 0-1 bots as Icewave takes on Deadlift.
Finally a robot with a win, the 1-0 Blip takes on the 0-1 Overhaul.
HUGE looks for a win to right itself against Retrograde as both Bots ‘n’ Stuff bots fight.
Two 1-0 powerhouses look to lock themselves in as Copperhead takes on Fusion.
In the YouTube exclusive, rookie Switchback and their articulated drum takes on Slammo!
Main Event: Two control bots that dominated in their first fights, Whiplash takes on Skorpios.

See you next week!