BattleBots Beat: Bubble Something or Other (Also Your Thursday Evening Thread)

Welcome back to the Beat, now/once again with actually watching the fights! Hey, we got a BattleBots Update vote of confidence last week, so that counts for something. Anyway, I was going through my personal “win and in” bubble scenarios and it’s pretty tight and I’m gonna have to reformat it below. Onto the fights!

Gruff vs. Cobalt
Gruff: 1-1 (W, KO 1:56 vs. Switchback; L, KO 1:58 vs. Hydra)
Cobalt: 1-1 (L, KO 1:15 vs. Fusion; W, KO 1:08 vs. Ghost Raptor)

Cue the countless Cobalt vs. Ghost Raptor shots! That’s going to be there for all eternity and all that. But yes, Cobalt might be in just the strength of that. But you want to really be feared? Gruff has probably taken up the tank mantle from DUCK! so try knocking that out. Gruff did lose by KO this year, but that was by getting flipped out of the arena by a still half-power Hydra.

Gruff went for the rush, but Cobalt came to meet it and Gruff went right up the wedge and over. Gruff needed time to get over, getting a fork stuck in the killsaws, and being lucky that Cobalt drew sparks only instead of taking the whole fork off. The lifter went for a pin, but again went right up the wedge into the weapon and went 12 feet in the air by the drivers’ booth, coming down and getting another hit to send them spinning. One of the forks was already bent up, and Cobalt continued to punt away Gruff.

The wedgelets were winning and with every sizable shot Gruff was at the least making a somersault. Gruff was having drivetrain issues, while Cobalt tried to readjust, getting under from the side and damaging bits of one of the flamethrowers. After pushing into the wall, it wasn’t the nozzle, but the line and maybe the tank from below, and Gruff came aflame.

Luckily it was a quick burn and everything came off, but the left side was all locked up and the count was in.

Cobalt wins by KO and is a lock after breaking one robot in three and lighting another. Gruff, at 1-2, is hanging on by a thread at best.

DUCK! vs. Riptide
DUCK!: 0-2 (L, JD 3-0 vs. Witch Doctor; L, JD 3-0 vs. Dragon Slayer)
Riptide: 1-1 (W, KO 0:59 vs. HUGE; L, JD 3-0 vs. Defender)

DUCK! at 0-2 has not showed much. The new lifter has been more hindrance than useful, and we know that Hal Rucker’s retiring the fan favorite at season’s end. Riptide’s 1-1 and beat HUGE, but lost to Defender. And the HUGE fight they had a false start, so even that was maybe a mixed bag. They’re definitely not getting in with a loss here for instance.

DUCK! came in from the rear, and it started okay. But DUCK! just kept getting air. Turned around and we saw why since they lost the beak again. And then they lost the front right tire as Riptide continued to just tear into DUCK!, including right into Hannah Rucker’s view point.

Still mobile, though they were right into the pulverizer. And then Riptide hit them off the glass by the pulverizer. Riptide kept pushing DUCK! into the hammer as DUCK! started to smoke and got counted out.

Riptide by KO. DUCK! Is 0-3 and unfortunately rides into the sunset with a sad quack. Riptide at 2-1 is likely in, in part thanks to the HUGE win.

Valkyrie vs. Pardon My French
Valkyrie: 1-1 (L, JD 3-0 vs. P1; W, KO 0:42 vs. Triple Crown)
Pardon My French: (L, KO 1:44 vs. Claw Viper)

Valkyrie is 1-1, and the win was fairly soft. So they may need a win, possibly a KO win. Pardon My French is 0-1 and definitely needs a win here to stay in it. With a win over Valkyrie they’re back in it.

Valkyrie looked to go with the rear plow fitted for this fight, but Pardon My French gave a big hit spinning the undercutter bot around. But that killed the giant drum, while Valkyrie’s weapon remained spinning. Unconcerned with being hit back, they went for the wheels in the back. And then for Zut! which went spinning and smoking.

Valkyrie wins by a quick KO. And driver Fred Moore joked this was for 1812. Well, Boston and Quebec always duke it out but the Nordiques aren’t coming back to Quebec City unless the Coyotes move there. Valkyrie is in, but they won’t be the 9th seed. Pardon My French is out.

Lock-Jaw vs. Blip
Lock-Jaw: 0-2 (L, JD 2-1 vs. Copperhead; L, KO 1:32 vs. HyperShock)
Blip: 2-0 (W, KO 1:14 vs. Rusty; W, KO 2:19 vs. Overhaul)

Lock-Jaw is 0-2 and needs a win here. A 1-2 Lock-Jaw probably gets in, considering the split decision against a top bot in Copperhead and an action-packed fight against HyperShock. Blip is probably in regardless, but it’s been softer wins thus far so a win here locks up an upper seed. Maybe even a top 16.

Lock-Jaw has a minibot. Man, Donald Hutson keeps bringing something out of the bag. It’s called Screwjob. Meanwhile, Blip’s sporting new “piano key style” wedgelets.

Lock-Jaw immediately hit a killsaw slot. Blip had a mini flip, but they nearly got flipped too. But on the bounce Lock-Jaw caught on fire. The weapon hit the floor, stopped, and the shock did it. So Lock-Jaw was down a weapon and the lighter armor made LJ look twitchy and unable to really keep control together. Blip was able to corner and corral and flip onto the Upper Deck.

With the weapon out of the way, Blip launched a bigger flip, inverting Lock-Jaw, then another one sending the bot right over the driver’s booth. There was another flip, as the two bots locked horns, but now Lock-Jaw starting to win the pushing match.

Lock-Jaw’s forks were winning, and right into Screwjob as Blip gave a small puff and it went to the judges as Blip got one more flip.

Damage: The big thing was the internal (weapon?) fire in Lock-Jaw. There was a puff from Blip late but much less than from the weapon collision. 3-2 Blip
Aggression: Even, tiebreaker goes to the weapon. 2-1 Blip.
Control: Definitely a 2-1. Blip I’d say had the first 2:00 or so, so 2-1 Blip.

I have it 7-4 Blip but I could see a 6-5 or even a split.

Blip by unanimous decision. It’s a crazy year when Donald Hutson’s bot goes 0-3. But Blip is In and definitely with a top 16 seed. For Lock-Jaw, what needs to be retooled, other than maybe the madman that is Donald Hutson doesn’t have to overclock everything (which is why all the fire)?

Minotaur vs. Deep Six
Minotaur: 1-1 (L, JD 3-0 vs. SawBlaze; W, KO 1:23 vs. Dragon Slayer)
Deep Six: 1-1 (W, KO 1:18 vs. Pain Train; L, KO 1:29 vs. SMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE)

Deep Six finally gets a test against a robot that can move around it. They need a win here after a soft schedule. Minotaur could probably get in with 1-2, but why leave that up to chance?

Minotaur spun up and they got up to speed first and sent Deep Six flying. Though actually they got enough of a bump to rock Deep Six, which caught itself on the floor. Deep Six got up but Minotaur pushed and used its drum to knock the big vert over, getting Deep Six’s weapon stuck behind the rails in the weird flipper. from another hit. Dustin Esswein wanted a hit so Minotaur could try and knock them free, but Daniel Freitas took out a fork (because there’s very little to actually hit from that angle) as Deep Six got counted out.

Minotaur by KO. 2-1, the only loss being to SawBlaze? They’re in.

SubZero vs. HiJinx
SubZero: 0-2 (L, JD 3-0 vs. Shatter!; L, KO 2:10 vs. Bloodsport)
HiJinx: 1-1 (L, KO 1:44 vs. Mammoth; W, JD 3-0 vs. Kraken)

SubZero’s probably playing spoiler in this one as they’re 0-2. But in fairness, it was Shatter! and Bloodsport. That’s a killer schedule, so a win could at least get them on the bubble. HiJinx at 1-1 needs a win to get in.

SubZero went to rush and was trying to keep HiJinx’s long bar at bay, but was losing bits of flipper, even after getting a couple flips. And then after missing a flip, the flipper wasn’t even closing.

SubZero had to use the flipper as a clamp now, but this left the wedge open and HiJinx took the left side panel off. HiJinx spun around SubZero and took the whole back panel off. HiJinx basically could work around like a shark in the water, and after a CO2 purge, the count was all that was left.

HiJinx by KO. They’re in, as a tough season for SubZero ends at 0-3.

YouTube Exclusive: Defender vs. Retrograde
Defender: 1-1 (L, KO 1:50 vs. Ribbot; W, JD 3-0 vs. Riptide)
Retrograde: 1-1 (W, KO 2:17 vs. Rampage; L, KO 1:06 vs. HUGE)

Well, we got Whiplash vs. Bloodsport early on, now we get their seconds, Defender and Retrograde. Neither bot’s had a great showing, even in their wins, and the winner’s still going to need to have a good showing in this one.

This… was not the fight either bot needed. Zero suplexes, Retrograde’s undercutter didn’t work, no particularly hard shunts into the walls… winner is at best on the bubble. I have it 5-0, 2-1, 2-1 for Defender, but that’s a relative term. It was close to 3-0 in control too, but the last 30 seconds or so salvaged a point.

Defender wins by unanimous decision, but that’s not a barn-burning 2-1. We’ll see if they’re in. Points to Jason Vasquez for driving it, but the lifting mechanism needs something. No idea what, I don’t build robots.

Skorpios vs. Yeti
Skorpios: 1-1 (W, JD 3-0 vs. Blade; L, JD 2-1 vs. Whiplash)
Yeti: 1-1 (L, KO 2:01 vs. MadCatter; W, KO 2:05 vs. Pain Train)

I think Skorpios returns with the “T-rex blade” that was so effective against Blade, tearing into that armor. Yeti has a variable speed drum now, not just on and off. So slightly less smash!

Skorpios went to the corner, which let Yeti spin up and get its forks under. Yeti was able to push Skorpios and deal big hits with the drum, because Yeti’s forks were winning the ground game every time. Skorpios dealt with the hits and actually took out Yeti’s front right, but Yeti was dealing multiple hits as the hammer saw looked damaged and unbalanced. And somewhere a light got taken out from up top.

Yeti pushed Skorpios into the corner, dropping the pulverizer on them, then launching Skorpios into the pulverizer, which night have saved them from going over and out.

Yeti was ramping up the big hits, with a punt saw-first into the screws, Skorpios struggling but able to get out. On the other hand, this cost Yeti down its drum, but still pushing throughout. Yeti nearly got caught on the rails in the Upper Deck but got up as the fight went to the judges.

Damage: Yeti’s drum going helps Skorpios, as did a tire. Yeti did damage to Skorpios’s weapon but somehow Skorpios kept it all together. Believe it or not, could this be Skorpios 3-2? It doesn’t seem dominant enough to be 4-1, so I’d go 3-2.
Aggression: I’d go Yeti 2-1.
Control: Yeti’s forks beat Skorpios’s every time. I think I go 3-0 Yeti.

Greg Gibson and Christian Carlberg think it’s split. I don’t know, but I’m just one person. And not a judge. I think Yeti won the fight, and I have it 7-4 but I can definitely see a 6-5.

And it was indeed split.

Derek Young: Skorpios
Lisa Winter: Yeti
Jason Bardis: Yeti

Yeti wins by split decision. That gets Yeti in, no doubt. And with TWO split decision losses, Skorpios is a pretty safe bet out of the 1-2 bots. I’ll have to check the bubble though. Let’s have a look, knowing that coming up is the final fight card:

TOP SEED: End Game (3-0)

LOCKS: SawBlaze (2-1), Ribbot (3-0), Jackpot (2-0), Uppercut (2-0), Rotator (2-0), HyperShock (2-0), Copperhead (2-0), Whiplash (2-0), P1 (2-1), Black Dragon (2-1), Blip (3-0), Cobalt (2-1), Minotaur (2-1), Yeti (2-1), Shatter! (2-0)

WIN & LOCKS: Witch Doctor (1-1)

SHOULD BE IN: Gigabyte (2-1), Captain Shrederator (2-1), HiJinx (2-1), Valkyrie (2-1), Tombstone (2-1), Tantrum (2-0)

WIN & SHOULD BE IN: MadCatter (1-1), Fusion (1-1), Bloodsport (1-1), HUGE (1-1), Icewave (1-1), Claw Viper (1-1), Mammoth (1-1), Lucky (1-1)

On the bubble: Riptide (2-1), Skorpios (1-2), Hydra (1-2), Malice (1-2), Gruff (1-2), Blacksmith (1-2), Defender (2-1)

Work left to do: Switchback (1-1), Dragon Slayer (1-1), Kraken (0-2)

Yes, I realize that there are 32 robots on the “Win & should be in” line or above. It’s going to be a small bubble. There are a lot of good robots. The fights tonight should clear out things after all, as we’ll have:

Bloodsport vs. Claw Viper
MadCatter vs. Rampage
HUGE vs. Switchback
Kraken vs. Glitch
Mammoth vs. Lucky
Rusty vs. Witch Doctor
YouTube Exclusive: Blade vs. Dragon Slayer
Main Event: Fusion vs. Icewave

If this is the last Fight Night, we’re missing relevant fights from:

Jackpot
Uppercut
Rotator
HyperShock
Copperhead
Whiplash
Shatter!
Tantrum
SMEEEEEEEEEEEE

Some of them, according to the HyperShock Facebook page, are done without a third fight. They’re 2-0 and they are in regardless. Might this hurt their seeding in some cases? No idea. SMEEEEEEEE, at 1-1, and partially due to arriving late and having to rush fights in, is probably off the board tourney-wise, which has been updated as such.

As for the rest of the field, we’ll have the full bracket, well, tonight. Which leads to the open thread. If there’s any breaking news, you’ll hear about it!