Battlebots Champions 2022

[Prepuce of Doom 21,286]

Almost just added this to the existing 2022 season thread, but decided against it because I would prefer to forget about how shitfully it all ended. 

Apparently there's a new limited series starting on August 4th. 

https://battlebots.com/

 

[Prepuce of Doom 21,286]

Fyi, @Captainant @NoName @Chewbacca @Nolacycling @BrickHorn @bernorange @TexLonghorn @smuggs @Nuge

[bernorange 8,385]

So this is taking the Bounty Hunters concept and adding a championship round.  I'm in.

[Captainant 28,539]

This may be the thing I saw at re:MARS a month ago! At least the trophy was also a giant bolt for that too. Tbh I kinda hope it isn't because the crowd was pretty weak lol. Good reactions to big hits, but there was no "FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT" chant during the countdown

Edited July 26, 2022 by Captainant

[bernorange 8,385]

It starts Thursday.  My DVR is set and I'm looking forward to some new robot fighting times.

I just re-read that description and it's not clear if the final episode is a championship tournament bracket or a multi-bot free for all.  My mind boggles at the thought of 8 bots in the arena at once going ham.

[TexLonghorn 5,737]

Thanks for the heads up, Doom!  I hadn't heard about it - scheduling it now.

(🤞Please please please, let there be no Witch Doctor! 🤞)

[Prepuce of Doom 21,286]

If only... 

 

[Captainant 28,539]

3 hours ago, Prepuce of Doom said:

If only... 

 

Goddamn, dalle 2 is getting pretty good

[Bevo&Pevo 5,518]

I had forgotten all about BB's.  Gotta get back in the groove with this.

[Prepuce of Doom 21,286]

Tonight's the night. 

Double check your DVRs - my Dish setup has been picking up all the reruns all day today, but for some inexplicable reason, determined that the new episode tonight didn't need to be recorded. I guess some robots deserve to be mangled... 

[bernorange 8,385]

Skynet covering it's tracks.

[bernorange 8,385]

Once I saw the bracket, I predicted the winner of every fight to the semifinal.  Two fights were very entertaining (extreme destruction), but none were particularly competitive.

Looks like Ribbot going to win next week.

[Prepuce of Doom 21,286]

Holy shit, did Hypershock ever put on a clinic. 

[bernorange 8,385]

I don't know if Hypershock really improved that much, or if their opponents were just really Pain Train levels of inept.  Maybe some of both but the Madcatter fight makes me think Hypershock may have finally got their shit together.

[Prepuce of Doom 21,286]

I think Hypershock got really lucky managing to get right side up on a few separate occasions despite not having any kind of self-righting mechanism. 

And that team has always had a huge delta between its floor and ceiling. 

[Prepuce of Doom 21,286]

Tonight's fight card. 

Looks like it's Ribbot's opportunity to lose. 

I wish we got a Double Jeopardy vs. Pain Train match. Talk about underwhelming... 

Huge and Deep Six will be either entertaining or stupid, perhaps both. 

 

Edited August 11, 2022 by Prepuce of Doom

[Captainant 28,539]

BattleBots uploaded the Hypershock v Gigabyte fight

https://v.redd.it/9ptirk4ri5h91

Goddamn Hypershock is awesome. 

Also, I'm pretty sure this was filmed before the event I saw in late June - Hypershock's driver retired and his Alex, his now wife, ran the table an won the bolt in a final against Hydra

[Prepuce of Doom 21,286]

I sure hope you didn't just spoil the outcome of this tournament. 

[Captainant 28,539]

1 hour ago, Prepuce of Doom said:

I sure hope you didn't just spoil the outcome of this tournament. 

Definitely not - the thing I saw was just 8 bots and it was a silver bolt trophy. Everyone was running some new hardware, it all felt very preseason with everyone trying new stuff. Whiplash had a bad mod with some low clearance "toes" that stuck him to the floor

Edited August 12, 2022 by Captainant

[AUS-97HORN 12,051]

I dont pay that much attention to the shows until I happen to see them playing.  

I was really surprised at how surprised the announcing team were that Deep 6  was able to take out Huge.     

That was a total matchup nightmare for Huge. with both being tall vertical spinners, the one with the largest diameter weapon should win. 

as soon as I saw how big Deep6 was and how tall its spinner was, I assumed Huge had no fucking chance because no matter what, with the way Huge sits with that high center of gravity I instantly recognized that anytime Deep6 got close it was absolutely going to get full contact with either Huge's center bar or wheels, both of which are pretty vulnerable. The only way Huge could have won was if it somehow was able to cross the T and flanked D6. 

After that the next Deep6 opponent was a fucking idiot. their driver literally kept throwing their arm into D6's weapon,  trying to break it I guess, but it was a terrible strategy. they basically took themselves out. 

Lockjaw got its wheels fucked up in like 10 seconds and never recovered. 

 

[bernorange 8,385]

I was shocked, surprised and impressed that Pain Train lasted the full 3 minutes.

Ribbot still looking very strong.  The final round is going to be some fun fights I think.

[Prepuce of Doom 21,286]

Why do they keep allowing Double Jeopardy to participate? I'm curious about the rules for projectiles - seems like something that could quickly get out of hand if a bunch of teams all went in that direction together. Could even fuck up the arena and endanger spectators. 

I was impressed with how much damage Deep Six was doling out. I felt like Ribbot's driver was being too timid and should have lost just for being a wimp if it had gone to the judges. 

Wasn't impressed with the sportsmanship of the Shatter team after their loss - talked all kinds of shit after beating up the weakling in Pain Train (who lasted the whole three minutes, which should have disqualified Shatter from the right to brag about anything), but then acted all indignant and aggrieved at getting counted out. 

I haven't seen any of the others coming up later, but next week's card looks like the Group of Death. 

[bernorange 8,385]

Quote

Projectile weapons are allowed, as long as they do not create an arena-fouling problem. 
Projectile weapons must not use explosives. Springs, catapults and gas-pressure powered 
guns may be acceptable. You may be required to show that your projectile weapon will not 
damage the Lexan exterior of the arena

page 7:

https://battlebots.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/BattleBots-Design-Rules-Rev.2020.0.pdf

[Prepuce of Doom 21,286]

Tonight's bracket. 

I predict Uppercut over Gruff but losing to Rotator. 

[Captainant 28,539]

ICEwave is going to be chaotic as always, and I'd be Mammoth takes Retrograde.

No real clear "best" bot in the bracket though IMO

[bernorange 8,385]

Glitch isn't a slouch.  Glitch/Gruff could be an awesome match.

[Prepuce of Doom 21,286]

8 minutes ago, bernorange said:

Glitch isn't a slouch.  Glitch/Gruff could be an awesome match.

Same goes for Free Shipping (who I generally view as being better than their record typically indicates) and Ice Wave. 

[Prepuce of Doom 21,286]

Is anyone else's DVR just completely shitting the bed when attempting to distinguish between a new episode and a rerun? 

My Dish DVR is a mess when it comes to this seemingly simple task. Same thing occasionally happens with other season passes, but it's ALWAYS a problem with Battlebots. 

[bernorange 8,385]

Yes.  Xfinity is very confused by Battlebots.

[AUS-97HORN 12,051]

if these glitch guys can figure out their floor clearance issues, they may have a good shot to win.

but man, they kept bottoming out on everything, including the floor titles, the saws and the sides of the arena.

[bernorange 8,385]

They seemed to get things sorted in their last fight of the night.  At least with getting stuck on the floor.

Not sure why teams try to configure bots with forks.  Forks rarely serve any purpose except to get stuck on the arena and give their opponent an easy piece to damage.

[Prepuce of Doom 21,286]

Yeah, Glitch was far more mobile in the final match than ever previously. 

Pretty remarkable destruction to end a weird night. 

[bernorange 8,385]

Double KO was wild.

Lots of judges decisions and I think they got them all correct.

[bernorange 8,385]

Oh, the line-up for next week looks weak.  Also ran city.

[Prepuce of Doom 21,286]

5 hours ago, bernorange said:

Lots of judges decisions and I think they got them all correct.

Putting it another way, in your view, a judge was frequently incorrect. (edit - disregard this, as I thought you were talking about split decisions, not judges decisions). 

I can't remember which match it was but I was astonished that one of the first split decisions wasn't unanimous. Whatever the final outcome was, I agreed with the winner, but it made me question the judgment of whichever judge saw it differently. 

But most of the other split decisions seemed to be reasonable to me, and I agreed with all outcomes. 

Edited August 19, 2022 by Prepuce of Doom

[Prepuce of Doom 21,286]

Tonight's fight card. 

I predict the winner of Bloodsport and Kraken will win the event. 

 

[bernorange 8,385]

Skorpios isn't a great bot, but this field is very weak.  I think Skorpios becomes the first "legend" to win it's bracket.

[Prepuce of Doom 21,286]

Everyone in our household had their worst night picking so far in this tournament - we all went 4-4, with unanimous losses on Lucky, Kraken, and Bloodsport in the final. 

I don't really like that Skorpios was rewarded for employing a strategy that was essentially "prevent the fight from occurring," but I get the strategic basis on their part, and I don't necessarily disagree with the judges' result, though I think it could have just as easily gone to Bloodsport by the same 1 point margin. 

That bit with Kraken after the match sure was unexpected. 

[bernorange 8,385]

Finally watched last night.  So many cripple fights.  It was quite the display of ineptitude.  

Blade actually went one match without breaking and looked like it might have improved.  Then they had their second match and shit the bed in true Blade style.

Bloodsport was clearly the most worthy challenger in the bracket, but they were never able to land a good hit on Skorpios.  Skorpios armor plating is legit.  Very durable bot.

[Captainant 28,539]

IDK if Skorpios "beat" Bloodsport, or if BS was just beat to hell and back. They mentioned during the talking head bit before the fight that they were running out of spares for the final. Id bet if Skorpios had to run that gauntlet we'd see a similar soft victory for BS. 

Either way, bit of a low key bracket this week, I'm excited to see who will round out the tournament bracket

[Prepuce of Doom 21,286]

Tonight's fight card. 

I'm hoping that the winner of Black Dragon vs. Whiplash beats the brakes off of Witch Doctor. 

[bernorange 8,385]

Recording on the dvr.  Will watch later.  Expecting Whiplash v Witch Dr.

[bernorange 8,385]

Watched late last night.  Whiplash didn't use their vertical spinner weapon on the lifter arm in any fight.  It's the only 'control bot' that ever actually wins its matches.

Black Dragon managed not to go Fahrenheit 451 on itself for once and looked good until it's last fight.

Bracket winner was losing the match until a skilled/lucky hit at the end of the match flipped the tables.

Not a lot of destruction last night.  Lot's of boring matches going to judges decisions that were obvious.

[Prepuce of Doom 21,286]

Yeah, we just watched it last night. Not much else to say, but I agree that Whiplash benefits from having something that can inflict targeted damage rather than being strictly a control bot. 

[Prepuce of Doom 21,286]

Endgame over Tantrum; Hypershock over Glitch; Endgame is my prediction. 

[bernorange 8,385]

Haven't watched yet - it's recorded on the DVR.  

Team Ribbot has been so good/smart with reconfiguring Ribbot to attack their opponent.  I'm looking forward to see how they strategize for Endgame.

Tombstone use to be the bot everybody feared but hasn't lived up to it's reputation in several years.  It's easy to overlook.

Glitch limped in to this bracket with a lot of luck, but if they have fixed the issues they had in the previous round, they could be a surprise winner.  They haven't lost a Battlebots match yet (ever).

This finale looks like its loaded with good fights.  Should be fun to watch.

[Prepuce of Doom 21,286]

Playing with fire checking the thread before watching! 

Yeah, it was a lot of fun. Some fights were better than others, but I'm glad that it wasn't marred by random interference and bewildering judges' decisions. 

[Captainant 28,539]

Awesome final bracket! Crazy how it's 3 rapid fire fights, teams are out of spares and down to hacking shit together by the late rounds, it's a brutal slugfest! Really cool format, and it makes avoiding damage even more important

[bernorange 8,385]

Really good finale.  Hypershock made a mistake going with the forks instead of the wedge in their last match.

 

[Captainant 28,539]

Happened to check the site...

https://battlebots.com/tickets/

Tickets go on sale Sept 12 I think? Oct 19-31!