BattleBots Beat: Gibson’s Law

Welcome back to the Beat! Well, last week we got the fight that I’m pencilling in as Letdown of the Year. May we get the true hammer-saw battle someday soon. We get something entirely different to start here. To the fights!

Riptide vs. Captain Shrederator
Riptide: 2-0 (W, KO 0:47 vs. Glitch; W, KO 1:01 vs. MadCatter)
Captain Shrederator: (L, KO 2:38 vs. Quantum; W, KO 2:22 vs. HiJinx)

Riptide’s been on an absolute tear, and no reason why this should stop against the often mercurial Captain Shrederator. A win here and Riptide goes to 3-0 and in line with a top-4 seed. A win for Shrederator here probably locks them in as well regardless of a fight against Jackpot which could just be gravy/seeding.

You better watch this, because the robot-watching community is up in arms:

So, why is everyone pissed? That’s some brilliant damage that cracked Shrederator’s shell. Because those are a cavalcade of late hits. Ethan Kurtz said, on camera, that they knew that Captain Shrederator cannot self-right if inverted. It’s not like Gigabyte, where there’s a srimech pipe. Shrederator gets flipped, fight over. Yes, it was spinning, but that’s not translational movement. Fight was over. You can hear Nicholas Nave say that that was a lot of unnecessary damage, and the ref, who’s John Remar, the head ref and one of the VPs, said they’d already gotten a warning, presumably from ripping off a wedgelet from an already defeated MadCatter. (Fun fact, production has asked the roboteers to not go after pieces/shrapnel of robot because of safety, I imagine especially for high-kinetic weapons. You know, like wedgelets.) So there’s a precedent of habitual line-stepping.

There’s no on-the-books rule against wailing on an incapacitated opponent, but to quote one Greg Gibson of Yeti, “Don’t be a dick!” Or to quote Ian Lewis of Warhead and Razer, “Some of us are gentlemen, some of us hold back. Now, if you’re out of control… you don’t just go for it, do you? It’s a gentlemen’s agreement.” It’s generally highly frowned upon on account that nobody’s making money here, so the extra repairs are coming out of someone’s pocket. From what Brian Nave said, to the tune of 10 grand. The seemingly impossible and admittedly probably about time is going to happen: they’re going to ground-up redesign Shrederator in the offseason. I mean, it is a 20-year-old design even if it’s been tweaked so that part’s the about time portion.

Riptide wins by KO and everyone and their mother will be rooting for Black Dragon in their last fight. Captain Shrederator, at 1-2, will need to beat Jackpot.

Mammoth vs. Death Roll
Mammoth: 1-1 (L, KO 1:45 vs. Valkyrie; W, JD 3-0 vs. Starchild)
Death Roll: 1-1 (L, KO 1:27 vs. Cobalt; W, KO 1:44 vs. Switchback)

Mammoth was having chain and armor issues, so who knows if they’ll be at 100%? They made it in the box though, with a half Tegris, half UHMW weapon. I don’t think it’s due to dire straits but to try and get the best of both worlds. They were running their interior forks to try and get under the very bouncy Death Roll.

Death Roll had a much better fight against Switchback than its getting dominated by Cobalt’s ground game, but Switchback’s not a bot that everyone was rushing to put in the tournament. Mammoth, on the other hand is in that mix, so this is an important fight for Death Roll to show that yes, they’re still legit.

Death Roll came to rush and get in under the lifter of Mammoth, and slowly got to the struts. They pushed Mammoth’s back under the screws, then worked on the left wheel. A few hits and the wheel was gone, and Mammoth was not going to move.

Death Roll by KO. It’s what the doctor ordered and with a fight against Monsoon to end it, they could be okay as long as it’s a good fight. Mammoth at 1-2 definitely needs a win over Kraken to avoid being on the outside.

Banshee vs. Emulsifier
Banshee: 1-1 (L, JD 3-0 vs. Switchback; W, JD 3-0 vs. Valkyrie)
Emulsifier: 0-2 (L, JD 3-0 vs. Fusion; L, KO 1:52 vs. Malice)

Both needs need a good performance. Banshee’s 1-1, with an upset win over Valkyrie, but has a total of like 1 flip. Emulsifier’s hit hard as Malice can attest to, but is 0-2, with nothing to show for it.

Banshee made some compression upgrades, hopefully to get some more flips in. Emulsifier was with a new forks setup, but with only one fork—there was a problem with two apparently, whether weight or purchase.

Banshee didn’t really rush, and Emulsifier after spinning around was able to get to the side armor. Banshee got under Emulsifier but couldn’t get enough leverage to get a flip going, because Banshee kind of had to try and hit and run. Emulsifier was gyroing, but this scared Banshee off more than anything. The flipper was still not flipping but finally the wheels stopped.

Emulsifier wins by KO and saves its season, for now. They get Quantum next though, so a win there absolutely gets them in. Banshee, at 1-2, is still in the hunt, but definitely needs a win over Blip in another flipper battle.

Copperhead vs. Kraken
Copperhead: 2-0 (W, KO 0:35 vs. Bloodsport; W, JD* 3-0 vs. Triton)
Kraken: 0-2 (L, JD 3-0 vs. Beta; L, JD 3-0 vs. Lucky)

Copperhead is 2-0 with two quick KOs (one being a double KO so I guess three KOs), continuing the same frame because it’s an absolute brick. In this case, also a little extra top armor. Kraken’s had brushless motor teething pains, in addition to being a new design, which is why they’re 2-0. But so far, it’s still made the bell.

Kraken rushed, but spun itself out. Well, the drive works, but maybe too much as Copperhead was able to shred away at the squirrelly Kraken, and put it under the pulverizer. And then Kraken kinda spun itself out. The weapon was okay, as it tried to get itself up, and Copperhead helped it get up. By putting it in the screws. Kraken got up but you could see the frame a bit askew. One wheel if anything was spinning, and that just wasn’t enough traction.

Copperhead wins by KO, but hey, Kraken lasted 1:26. Copperhead (3-0) gets Ripperoni, not Riptide. Damn, that could have been a battle for the 2-seed. Kraken (0-3) gets to play spoiler against Mammoth.

Horizon vs. Shatter!
Horizon: 0-2 (L, JD 3-0 vs. Shreddit Bro; L, KO 0:51 vs. Monsoon)
Shatter!: 0-2 (L, KO 2:00 vs. HUGE; L, JD 3-0 vs. Beta)

Both bots are winless. Horizon’s been a cool idea, but has not worked. Shatter!’s had a tough schedule, so this is absolutely a must-win, because on paper this should be their gimme fight. Horizon’s team say that the innovative spinning arm should work now, which is crucial, or they might not get accepted next year. They’ve got Tegris armor on top of everything to prevent Shatter! from getting in. Shatter! doesn’t have anything fancier than usual, no Mary Special, just plans to poiund.

Sunrise the minibot (formerly Chronos’s Timeline) was okay to try and thwart Shatter! except they went around and had no effect. But Horizon had the first bite as Shatter! missed at first, and kept missing, just a little late on the hammer strike leading to more and more fancy recoil movements, including spinning itself onto the Deck. Horizon getting its arm working also was enough to repel the attack, because it was slicing into the ablative armor.

Shatter! finally landed a big shot, but it was mostly glancing given that the recoil flipped them over the protective taco on Horizon. The power was there for the Brooklyn hammerbot, but the drive was having issues. They did add power, but at what cost?

Finally in the last 45, one of the disks stopped and Shatter! finally started going on a prolonged offensive, including one final flurry as time expired and it would go to the judges.

Damage: Cuts to the ablative armor, vs. disk damage. Ablative is more than just cosmetic, but that’s only half, so that’s diminished not eliminated. The Tegris on Horizon held up enough as well. For me the drive being a little wonky goes 3-2 Horizon.
Aggression: Even to me, could go either way. I’d say Horizon was running away in the latter stages, which Eric Wrigley yelled out. I’d go 2-1 Shatter!, mainly because Shatter! didn’t have enough prolonged aggression (due to their kickback issues)
Control: Shatter! had the last 45-60 seconds, but not much control elsewhere. I go 2-1 Horizon.

It was a split decision. Fon for Horizon, Derek for Shatter!, Lisa for Horizon.

Horizon wins by split. Eric Wrigley was not happy because they kept running away, and Shatter! appeals. They can’t go 0-3. And for the first time, the decision was upheld. All three judges had control 2-1 Horizon, though they were split in damage and aggression. So I had it scored similarly to the judges.

Horizon gets Triton in their finale, and would in my eyes need a win to get on the bubble. Shatter!’s 0-3, and with only Ominous left, even with a win they’re probably on the outside looking in. Speaking of Ominous…

Ominous vs. Shreddit Bro
Ominous: 0-1 (L, KO 2:46 vs. Claw Viper)
Shreddit Bro: 1-0 (W, JD 3-0 vs. Horizon)

Well, one of the NYC bots has a win, and it’s the 1-0 Shreddit Bro. (Over Horizon, so again a point for the Staten Island team.) They’ve swapped the wheels so they’ll hopefully have better traction. Well, they’d be hard-pressed to have worse. Meanwhile, we haven’t seen much of Ominous, because it’s 0-1 and got bodied by Claw Viper.

New wheels or not, Shreddit Bro’s traction still wasn’t great. But it delivered a big hit as it turned around across to meet Ominous, flipped it over, and then it kicked off the wall and back up. Hey, it’s a nice hit.

However, this killed Shreddit Bro’s weapon. So it tried to push and Ominous tried to evade, as its weapon worked intermittently. And then Shreddit Bro’s left side got caught, and I guess briefly high-centered as they spun around and then were okay. And then, it was less okay, or it was still high-centered. It was still trying to push but again, no real traction. It would go to the judges, which would be a differently tough fight.

Let’s put it this way, they did a plug for the next fight, during this fight.

Damage: I guess 3-2 Ominous since its weapon still was spinning?
Aggression: I’d go 2-1 Shreddit Bro, as it… attempted to be aggressive? Ominous was mostly running around.
Control: 2-1… Ominous, I guess.

Ominous wins by unanimous decision. According to the BattleBots Twitter, Shreddit Bro appealed the decision. As it wasn’t mentioned, the decision was upheld.

Ominous is 1-1 and gets Switchback next. Shreddit Bro, also 1-1, fights Lucky next.

Main Event: Whiplash vs. Monsoon
Whiplash: 0-2 (L, KO 1:57 vs. MadCatter; L, KO 1:48 vs. HyperShock)
Monsoon: 1-1 (L, KO 2:05 vs. Black Dragon; W, KO 0:51 vs. Horizon)

That would be tough, Whiplash going 0-3 and then having to go up against Tantrum. They’d be up against that with a loss to Monsoon. But hey, Jason Vasquez is back to help! So they’re full staffed! (This is still not saying much relative to others, as it’s the four members of the Vasquez family, as opposed to the severals if not tens of people some crews have.) Monsoon’s 1-1, the loss to Black Dragon because Tom Brewster drove over a bolt, the win over Horizon pretty cut and dry. Yeah, that bolt hurts, because they were winning that fight. A win here and they’re back on track for an upper seed in my eyes.

Whiplash rushed and pushed Monsoon into the corner. It was getting its forks under and getting flips on Monsoon. But Monsoon got its own flip with its big disk, though Whiplash was of course able to self-right. But their disk had stopped. Sure, the lifter’s the money-maker but that’s still effectiveness. But Whiplash was still getting into it, going nose to nose, though Monsoon was making showers of sparks on Whiplash’s plot. But undeterred, Whiplash kept pushing. But their forks were bent up.

This didn’t matter as they pushed Monsoon to the pulverizer. In the last 30 or so the disk was spinning again, showing much needed functionality and potentially stealing points back and continued to push, but the drive was looking a little worse for wear by the end of the fight. This would go to the judges.

Damage: Minimal damage to Monsoon, but Whiplash with fork damage and diminished drive. I go 3-2 Monsoon. You could argue 4-1.
Aggression: Definitely won by Whiplash, I’d say 2-1
Control: Whiplash, either 2-1 or 3-0.

It was a split decision. Lisa for Monsoon, Fon for Whiplash, Derek for Whiplash.

Whiplash wins by split decision. I think I’m with it too, but yeah, it’s close. Whiplash now gets Tantrum, while Monsoon gets Death Roll. But hold on! As BattleBots mentioned, Monsoon appealed the decision, so that makes three appeals!

And they’d go 0/3, as the decision was upheld, and what’s worse, changed to unanimous decision.

So, we’re on break for the next couple weeks thanks to Smarch Smadness, but we’ll do… something. For one, there’s a bubble to watch! So with that, we’ll still see you next week!