Welcome back to the Beat! First off, a Robogames update: Here’s highlights from this year’s champion, Manta. They were not admitted to BattleBots for WC VII, but this should get them in for VIII. Yes, that’s a whole bunch of legally-not BattleBots competitors, in that they’re the same robots with different names to differentiate between the competitions. (This is especially true because Robogames is also running at the 250 lb. limit, not the longtime heavyweight pre-reboot standard of 220 lb./100 kg.)

On the other hand, there were two breaches thanks to Manta. So I have no idea what their tip speed was but that’s gonna get checked out. Fun fact: Their one loss (where they caught on fire) was to Hexadecimator, which has been competing since 2001. Hexy D’s fight against Phrizbee is the first BattleBots fight I remember watching. So yeah, that’s BattleBots, Suzyn. Beat a whole bunch of current robots (Terrortops, Big Dill [Banana Runt], Malice [White Rabbit], MadCatter [Cataclysm]), lose to the Comedy Central-era bot.

Anyway, to the fights!

Emulsifier vs. Quantum
Emulsifier: 1-2 (L, JD 3-0 vs. Fusion; L, KO 1:52 vs. Malice; W, KO 1:50 vs. Banshee)
Quantum: 3-0 (W, KO 2:38 vs. Captain Shrederator; W, KO 2:52 vs. Gruff; W, JD* 3-0 vs. Black Dragon)

With a win, Quantum, the crusher, not one of the many verts in the world, becomes the first bot on the year to finish 4-0. Maybe that nets them a top 4 seed, certainly a top 8.

Meanwhile Emulsifier needs a win for it to get in. There’s not a lot of space for 1-3 bots that won’t already get filled by marquee names, and the win was arguably their worst showing of the three fights they’ve had. Regardless, they’re Bots FC’s last hope, since an 0-3 Shatter! is regrettably not making it.

Anyway, Quantum’s got on the giant fucking plow, while Emulsifier had no plow, going for maximum reach. Quantum charged ahead and immediately got one of its two teeth ripped out thanks to a big shot from Emulsifier’s disk. But that’s why it’s got the two-teeth configuration, and the other tooth bit into the tread, or right behind it. So Quantum could still bite, still control, still do damage.

Well, maybe not that last part, as Quantum bit down on one of the framey bits on Emulsifier and the other tooth fell out. Or maybe still that last part, as it still chomped down and just yanked a piece of something off and pushed Emulsifier around into the rails, where the vertical disk slammed in, doing damage (to the arena). When Quantum let go, the left tread (the bitten one) wasn’t doing so hot. Quantum continued the control game, looking to see where to take Emulsifier next, such as the Upper Deck, but had to let go. And Emulsifier wasn’t moving. The count-out was imminent… and then it wasn’t because Emulsifier twitched back to life!

Quantum came back in, bit down, dragged it around some more, and the bots were entangled until Quantum let go, and Emulsifier was again not moving, and a count-out was imminent… except it wasn’t because it survived the bell!

To lose by decision instead. Quantum wins by unanimous decision and becomes the first bot to go 4-0.

Gigabyte vs. End Game
Gigabyte: 1-2 (L, KO 2:01 vs. Free Shipping; L, KO 2:02 vs. Bloodsport; W, JD 3-0 vs. Starchild) 
End Game: 2-1 (W, JD 3-0 vs. Blip; L, KO 1:37 vs. Ripperoni; W, KO 2:37 vs. HyperShock)

Man, if you’re Gigabyte this is not the 4th fight you want. Needing a win against End Game. Good luck.

Meanwhile, the former champs are in, yes, but they’re probably fighting for a top 8 seed here. Top 4 might be beyond them thanks to the whole fork in the toaster, but the best seeding for 3-1 is up for grabs. And we finally get to see the wedge instead of the fuck-ton of forks, because it is still the nicest look in the B-roll.

Gigabyte has a little attachment to the bottom of the robot to try and act as a fork, since End Game’s got its wedge out. This did not work, as End Game quickly sheared it off. What also didn’t work, about five seconds later, was one of the clocks that show the time left in the fight. And that’s because End Game hit Gigabyte into it! Well, let me rephrase that. It hit the wall, and the clock, which is behind the wall, got knocked over. This is a possible Hit of the Year thing, and thankfully the good folk behind Mallet Media are on it! (That would be Sarah Malyan, best known for Nelly the Ellybot and Bugglebots. Hey Sarah, WEN BUGGLEBOTS?)

The fight somehow did not end after this, in part because Gigabyte was still right-side up for the time being. Another uppercut over a corner of the Upper Deck changed that, and the fight was over.

End Game wins by KO in 43 seconds.

Shreddit Bro vs. Overhaul
Shreddit Bro: 1-2 (W, JD 3-0 vs. Horizon; L, JD 3-0 vs. Ominous; L, KO 1:15 vs. Lucky)
Overhaul: 1-2 (W, JD 3-0 vs. Starchild; L, JD 3-0 vs. Claw Viper; L, KO 2:26 vs. Cobalt)

Winner is on the bubble… probably. Let’s be real, they might still get left off because neither of these robots have had, let’s say, convincing bodies of work. Overhaul’s win over Starchild was nice and all, but nothing doing since. Shreddit Bro’s win was arguably a bit of a snoozefest, and the fight against Ominous was ignominious, at best.

Anyways, Shreddit Bro spun up and charged forward, making it a net win due to the traction issues that have plagued this bot and this team over the years. However, Overhaul was able to bit it up by the wheel, and then by the drum to get the clamp and lift it up and run it into the rails. Was it a ton of damage? No, the screws would have been infinitely better for that. But it also got an honest-to-goodness flip at the end, as Overhaul had to let go of course.

Shreddit Bro spun back up, though Overhaul continued to harass and control the action. Overhaul got grips again and took Shreddit Bro towards the Upper Deck… to bonk it on the sidewall. When in doubt, BONK. Remember, according to the Overhaul page: “Charles is okay with Overhaul having the worst win-loss record in BattleBots history as long as the matches are all funny.” So yes, this is on brand for Charles Guan.

Sure, this could have swung the fight, and later on, Shreddit Bro got to spin up, and once Charles got a fork stuck in a killsaw slot things went downhill, but it’s the aesthetic, man! Anyway, the spin-up flipped Overhaul over, and Shreddit Bro could actually start trying to get the points back, toppling Overhaul a second and third time… and after the third, it wasn’t moving.

This went to the judges who turned a split decision. And though Overhaul controlled the bulk of the fight, not moving at the end means you’re losing damage 5-0 probably. Shreddit Bro wins by split decision.

Rotator vs. Fusion
Rotator: 1-2 (L, KO 1:24 vs. Hydra; W, KO 2:49 vs. Jackpot; L, KO 1:47 vs. Bloodsport)
Fusion: 1-2 (W, JD 3-0 vs. Emulsifier; L, JD 2-1 vs. Witch Doctor; L, KO 0:44 vs. HUGE)

Winner’s in, loser’s gonna have to sweat it out on the bubble. I would argue Fusion’s had the tougher schedule and that split decision loss to Witch Doctor looms large, but getting fed to HUGE also hurts, a lot. For Rotator it’s a matter of things finally working out and getting in gear, hopefully just in the nick of time.

Fusion’s the faster spin-up of the two, so Rotator backed in rather than went for the headlong strike, using its forks against the vertical end. Fusion went to spin around, caught an edge on Rotator, and went flying. Yeah, that might not have worked out totally right.

After ending up upside-down off the Upper Deck wall, Fusion re-oriented itself. Or tried to, but there’s a lot of physics going on, and it’s hard to gyro dance back over when you also have a big horizontal weapon. Rotator came into try and make it a little harder with a hit that brought Fusion back towards the middle of the arena.

Rotator tried to fork back into Fusion, but Reese Ewert’s bot whipped around and hit the wheel guard instead. And Rotator was holding on, but Fusion was no longer spinning its horizontal weapon. And there was some slight smoke coming out.

Rotator came back in for another hit, and now Fusion’s drive was also pretty much out of it. In addition to the horizontal not moving, and the never-seen thermal cam showing, yup, fire. Rotator came in for one more hit and knocked the vertical out of its slot. Well, Rotator’s in.

Rotator wins by KO in 1:53.

Skorpios vs. Ribbot
Skorpios: 2-1 (W, KO 0:55 vs. Jackpot; W, KO 1:26 vs. Big Dill; L, KO 0:49 vs. SawBlaze)
Ribbot: 0-3 (L, KO 1:15 vs. Ribbot; L, JD 3-0 vs. Claw Viper; L, JD 3-0 vs. Jackpot)

Well let’s start with the easy part. If Ribbot loses, then last year’s 2nd seed misses the tournament entirely this year. That’s pretty surprising. Meanwhile, Skorpios could use a win after the SawBlaze strategy did not work. Dropping to 2-2 means they should be in but will not get the seeding they’d like, or that we expected after the first two fights. And it’s our fight of the week!

Huh. Well, that’s unfortunate. Ribbot wins by KO in 2:15, and at least is on the bubble, I guess. Skorpios is probably still in it, but might be a bottom-8 seed now.

Dragon King vs. Terrortops
Dragon King: 1-0 (W, JD 3-0 vs. Doomba)
Terrortops: 1-0 (W, KO 1:06 vs. Slammo!)

Alternates get another chance to shine! In Dragon King’s case they get a fight against a non-joke robot, because let’s be honest, Doomba’s a bit for yuks. Terrortops is looking at a main field entry for WC VIII, and so far I’d give them one. Fun fact, BattleBots was their first event. Ever. For all of them. So, beginner’s luck against the Danby Curse, that was a fait accompli.

Dragon King got the first bite, thanks to TerrorTops hitting a seam. The dino got away, and tried to use its lifter to drop Dragon King’s treads onto its weapon. Though Dragon King was getting bites on TerrorTops’s ribs, it was a matter of time before the tread drop hit, and yes, it snapped. Which is bad. Also because the jaw wasn’t working on Dragon King. However, TerrorTops’s weapon was no longer spinning, so it was lifter vs. non-working saw.

Obviously, lifter wins, and TerrorTops was hitting the suplexes, which was damaging the actuators on Dragon King. It went to the judges, and it was fairly cut and dry at this point.

TerrorTops wins by unanimous decision. Yeah, they should be in next year.

Main Event: Copperhead vs. Ripperoni
Copperhead: 3-0 (W, KO 0:35 vs. Bloodsport; W, JD* 3-0 vs. Triton; W, KO 1:26 vs. Kraken)
Ripperoni: 2-1 (L, JD 3-0 vs. Gruff; W, KO 1:37 vs. End Game; W, KO 1:41 vs. HiJinx)

First off, both these bots are going to be in. With a win, Copperhead can join Quantum in going 4-0, and they could make a strong top-4 argument. The drum bot’s been as sturdy as ever, with 4 KOs in 3 fights, including one of themselves thanks to getting themselves stuck on Triton’s battery as they had just forcefully removed it from the robot.

Ripperoni might not get a top-4, but, and I cannot believe I am saying this, especially after the Gruff fight, but a top-8 seed is in play and a case can be made for being the top-seeded 3-1 bot considering they beat End Game. (It would likely be between those two, Hydra on account of beating SawBlaze, and the loser of Minotaur/Witch Doctor.)

Both bots swung to the left, but Ripperoni was narrower while Copperhead swung wide. Ripperoni took the better angle and put Copperhead in the wall. Ripperoni tried to capitalize and hit the underside from this, but instead caught the drum. This sent Ripperoni back, but Copperhead was driving a bit woozy. With that, Ripperoni could get right to Copperhead’s back and hit Copperhead there. That’s the weak point because the rest of the robot’s a brick. That locked everything up, fight over.

Ripperoni wins by KO in 41 seconds. I can’t believe I’m saying this but that is, indeed, a spicy pizza. Top-8 seed, now almost no doubt.

And with that, there should be two episodes left before the tournament begins. Hopefully by next week we’ll have some sort of look of where everything stands! Until then, we’ll see you next week.