IT'S ROBOT FIGHTING TIME!!!!!! Battlebots 2019

[Prepuce of Doom 21,260]

The new season of Battlebots starts tomorrow. Pasting the info from the email below, so fuck off if the formatting sucks.     Starting THIS FRIDAY, June 7th the ALL NEW season of BattleBots will kick off on Discovery! Tune in at 8pm* to enjoy the 2-hour premiere entitled: That's what you call a KO!  BattleBots Fight Night is back with the largest, hungriest, and deadliest field ever assembled! The 2019 regular season kicks off as 69 teams representing 9 different countries begin their quest for the ultimate world championship. Friday's premiere will feature the most feared robot in the world, Tombstone and builder Ray Billings, facing off against the most decorated builder in the sport, Donald Hutson and Lock-Jaw. Sparks will fly, metal will fly, and a whole lot of robots will die   » Check out the trailers here   Please try and watch the show live, but if you must DVR, please watch within the first 3-days of airing (we get better ratings credit if you do -- many thanks).   Note on streaming: Last season Discovery made arrangements to stream the 2018 series from digital platforms such as: Amazon Prime, Hulu, YouTubeTV, AppleTV and GooglePlay (not to mention DiscoveryGo and SciGo). We're hoping similar arrangements will be made for the 2019 season.   Note on International airings: Our distribution partner SKY has begun selling the 2019 season internationally, and the series should start rolling out worldwide in the coming months (Season 1-3 can now be seen in over 150 countries!). To keep track of where you can watch BattleBots in your country click to battlebots.com/local. We're told that Discovery Canada will carry the 2019 premiere episode on June 10th!   *Please check local listings for exact times

PreSeason Fights LIVE on Twitch!

BattleBots will be the highlight of the Amazon re:MARS party taking place in Las Vegas on June 6th. The re:MARS all:STARS BattleBots Challenge, co-hosted by Discovery and Amazon, will be a one-of-a-kind live experience with 10 of our ALL STAR Bots fighting it out in this pre-season head-to-head matchup. The event will include Chris Rose, Kenny Florian, and Faruq Tauheed, and stream live to Twitch just 24 hours before the launch of the new BattleBots season on Discovery. Be sure to follow us on Twitch.tv/battlebots to watch the stream. The stream will begin on Twitch at approximately 8:45pm on June 6th (PDT).

Follow us on Twitch

Extended coverage on Science Channel

Extended coverage of the 2019 season will air Wednesdays starting June 12th on Science Channel. For the first 8-week run, Science Channel will feature bonus footage that cannot be seen on other networks, including an amazing rumble on June 12th!   Tune in June 12th at 8pm* on Science Channel. Please try and watch the show live, but if you must DVR, please watch within the first 3-days of airing (we get better ratings credit if you do -- many thanks).   *Please check local listings for exact times

Become a BattleBots Facebook Supporter for exclusive 2019 season perks.

Become one of our Supporters on Facebook and you will receive special perks and exclusives not available to other fans. Each week we will give our supporters an early reveal at each episode's Main Event and Fight Card, plus exclusive footage we could not fit into the episode. Supporters will also receive discounts on BattleBots merchandise, and early access to any unseen fights from the 2019 season. And when 2020 rolls around, Supporters will be the first to have access to tickets for the taping of our 2020 season! Please consider becoming a Supporter. It's only $5/month.

Become a Supporter

2019 Merchandise in stock!

Start your summer shopping! All the incredible merchandise from our April 2019 live event is now up on the BattleBots Store: T-shirts, caps, toys, and more (while supplies last). And keep an eagle eye out for the coffee mugs Chris and Kenny are drinking from in the new 2019 TV season. We have a feeling these will be the must-have items for every BattleBots household.

Visit the BattleBots Store

[Prepuce of Doom 21,260]

We went to see a live taping this spring and had a fucking blast.

Here is a list of the robots that we saw fight, the view of the arena, and the Doomlet in front of Nightmare, and in front of the stage. You can see Kenny walking up in the background - we talked to him and Chris for a couple minutes and they were very friendly and approachable.

[Prepuce of Doom 21,260]

Tonight's fight card (click to embiggen). 

 

[BabaYaga 15,532]

[Prepuce of Doom 21,260]

Man, Cobalt is vicious. I've long thought that a burlier saw blade like that would be a better weapon than the thin one that Sawblaze uses. 

That Endgame vs. Deathroll match was outstanding. 

The bit with the new vertical spinner eating itself in the test chamber was amusing. 

They need to figure out how to handle the "biting stapler" style robots. They both won decisively tonight, but at the same time, the fights didn't exactly seem fair, or at least not fairly officiated according to how the rules have always been enforced. 

Has anyone ever used a drill-based weapon? I don't remember ever seeing one, but I haven't been watching exhaustively for the past 20 years or anything. 

[HOOK'EMHOOAH 1,610]

 

[JimmyHoffa 1,188]

Didn't realize another season was starting but my DVR auto recorded it. My sons love the show and we even do a season long pickem contest. My wife won last year...............

[irockalltherocks 55]

6 hours ago, JimmyHoffa said:

Didn't realize another season was starting but my DVR auto recorded it. My sons love the show and we even do a season long pickem contest. My wife won last year...............

Same here with my DVR. Love watching this show with my son. Great idea on the contest.

[Chewbacca 7,827]

Cobalt tore Blacksmith up.  Gonna keep an eye on him going forward.  Bummed that Icewave isn't back this year.  That was my favorite one last year.  Tore the shit out of some robots last year.

[Mach 1 1,677]

Our family loves this show too.  Just noticed it's already set for record from last season so we'll be watching soon.

Some of the engineering is really fascinating.  It seems like the best combination of low leverage and brute power usually wins.

I laugh at the guys that have flying assholes to help the main robot, shooting fire, etc.  They do nothing but look absolutely silly.  And I love it.

[Prepuce of Doom 21,260]

Minotaur vs. Whiplash is an intriguing main event. 

SoW vs. Huge is going to be a hoot. I expect a lot of entanglements. Seems like an AP Physics problem come to life. 

Axe Backwards and Mammoth in a mutant weirdo/cripple fight. 

[tbone_ 14,412]

Love this show.

[Prepuce of Doom 21,260]

Here's tonight's fight card. This is the episode that we saw live. 

I've begun recording our family's pre-fight picks. Doomlet has correctly predicted 9/14, Mrs. Doom 7, and I've only got 3 correct. 

[Prepuce of Doom 21,260]

If anyone wants to school their children by picking all of tonight's fights correctly with the benefit of my inside information, send me a PM as long as you will promise not to spoil shit for anyone. 

[Prepuce of Doom 21,260]

Tomorrow's fight card. 

[tbone_ 14,412]

Sweet

[Prepuce of Doom 21,260]

Black Dragon looks like a top 16 robot. 

Captain Shrederator's driver looks like the Las Vegas shooter.

Still not impressed with Witch Doctor. Reliability remains suspect, and their costume store New Orleans voodoo bullshit gimmickry still annoys me. Why does a team from Miami go all in on that theme? 

Bad night for the full-body spinners. I think they might be an outdated design. 

Although Huge won, I think both it and Minotaur look like they're going in the wrong direction. Huge's team doesn't seem to understand that the flexibility and relative indestructability of their floppy wheels was their best design feature last year. And Minotaur just looks lost. They were a fight away from the BGN last year and now can't seem to land a punch. I predict they go winless this season. 

Mammoth is such junk. Like a mangled, shambling bike rack out there. 

I think the "disposable plastic armor" defense that Shatter is employing will be widely adopted soon. Maybe too late to incorporate into a design this year, but I think it will be everywhere next season. They're the first hammer-style bot that has really impressed me. 

Wan Hoo is a cheap Chinese knockoff of a robot (seriously, it just looks like the cheap off-brand version of the toy your grandmother mistakenly bought you for Christmas) but I like their team. I only mostly jokingly remarked to Mrs. Doom that they're actually Chinese spies here to steal technology, not compete in Battlebots. 

I think Matt Vasquez of Whiplash is the most skillful driver in the game. The way he controlled that match even after losing half his armor was superb. 

Edited July 7, 2019 by Prepuce of Doom

[Prepuce of Doom 21,260]

Tomorrow's fight card. 

 

[TexLonghorn 5,737]

Faruq:  "You may think you're tough, and that you have the right stuff.  But you're about to be stuffed, 'cause he's here to call your bluff!  Man, you're just not enough... It's... GRUFF!"

Crowd:

Edited July 11, 2019 by TexLonghorn

[Prepuce of Doom 21,260]

There's a pretty wide gulf between Faruq's best intros and his worst, with not a lot in between. 

[tbone_ 14,412]

I could do without all of them

[tbone_ 14,412]

I could do without all of them

[TexLonghorn 5,737]

10 hours ago, tbone_ said:

I could do without all of them

This is 100% correct.  They were fun in the early seasons, but they're such a stretch nowadays that they are almost unwatchable.

 

This season's been kinda underwhelming for me too, really - way too many bots burning out and just sitting immobile for the countdown loss each week.  Tonight's Hydra vs War Hawk totally paid off though!  And the last-second flip of War Stop!

 

Edited July 13, 2019 by TexLonghorn
I do think that hit on the separated red piece alone was a bit of a dick move.

[Prepuce of Doom 21,260]

Tomorrow's fight card. 

I think Rotator could surprise us, depending on how he plans his defense (two weapons, go for a single mutually disabling weapon-on-weapon hit, and finish the job with the other one, or use a wedge). 

And Bombshell/Cobalt will be a good one. 

Lockjaw and Duck has split decision written all over it. 

[Prepuce of Doom 21,260]

Desperado bracket. 

If Minotaur gets its shit together, then it's a cakewalk. But I don't think they do, and I'm picking Lucky in that match. 

I think it's coming down to End Game vs. War Hawk. 

 

[Prepuce of Doom 21,260]

https://www.robertsimms.com/battlebots/2019/7/30/12pkmbng84ber32it1l3as1j2r5pn3

A relatively amusing essay on Battlebots. 

[Prepuce of Doom 21,260]

Tomorrow's fight card. 

Whiplash in a technical domination 

Gigabyte (built to eat HUGE's crappy, non-flimsy wheels) 

Uppercut? 

Mammoth - might look like a bike rack, but Wan Hoo is a counterfeit Battlebot

SOW in an explosive KO

Flip(per) a coin 

Deep Six will savage Nelly 

[tbone_ 14,412]

Why didn’t we get an episode last week?

[Prepuce of Doom 21,260]

Shart Week on Discovery. 

[tbone_ 14,412]

I mean shark week is cool and all, but not near as cool as fighting robots.

[Prepuce of Doom 21,260]

Agreed. I'm not trying to make my kid afraid of the ocean, thanks. 

[Prepuce of Doom 21,260]

Looking good, Faruq.

[Prepuce of Doom 21,260]

This is a great fight card. 

 

[Prepuce of Doom 21,260]

Intriguing main event - not sure who I think will win. 

Bad draw for Duck! - Quantum is pretty much designed to eat something like Duck! 

Blacksmith vs. Capt. Shred will be awful. 

I like Lockjaw over Bombshell in a pretty straightforward match. 

I don't think Gruff will win, but could see him taking a hit or two and getting Tombstone off balance and tipsy. 

Cobalt and Sawblaze in cakewalks. 

 

[Prepuce of Doom 21,260]

Interesting clarification about scoring rules. I have been wondering whether points can be split in a single category. 

Gruff was robbed. 

[immortal13 4,059]

On 8/25/2019 at 4:32 PM, Prepuce of Doom said:

Interesting clarification about scoring rules. I have been wondering whether points can be split in a single category. 

Gruff was robbed. 

The Tombstone decision over Gruff was ridiculous 

[Prepuce of Doom 21,260]

Bad matchup for Bronco. I think he needs to use his flipper as a grabber (assuming that HUGE's wheels aren't solid disks) because there's no way that a flipper is effective against HUGE. Weird main event though. 

Shatter is about the only hammer bot that doesn't underwhelm, and I expect their "disposable armor" will take a savaging. Still, it seems like Minotaur has lost its mojo, surprising showing in the Desperado Tournament notwithstanding. 

SoW in a cakewalk. 

Interesting to see two of the Chinese teams face off. I think I have to go with Rail Gun Max. 

Gigabyte beats itself. 

Everyone loses with Breaker Box vs. Bloodsport. 

Whiplash over Texas Twister in a split decision. 

[Prepuce of Doom 21,260]

Not a lot to get excited about here, at least on paper. 

Bronco (0-3) in consecutive main events?! 

Bet the house on Hypershock and Yeti. 

Copperhead, I suppose. 

Can't bet against Bite Force. 

Free Shipping and RGM looks like the most fun match of the night (just like every other Free Shipping fight). 

Toss up win for Uppercut? 

Overall pretty underwhelming. 

 

[immortal13 4,059]

Hydra is gonna kick the shit out of Bronco

[Prepuce of Doom 21,260]

Agreed. 

Someone on Twitter made a similar comment, but I feel like this fight card is so underwhelming on paper that there almost certainly have to be some unexpected upsets. 

Edited September 6, 2019 by Prepuce of Doom

[immortal13 4,059]

That Hydra bitch slapping of Bronco might have been the most impressive win I have seen this season. 

[Prepuce of Doom 21,260]

Only Cobalt's thrashing of Duck! immediately comes to mind, but Duck! actually managed to win that one when Cobalt got stuck in the floor. 

I went 7-0 in our family's prediction contest - first perfect game this season. I'm still in last place, however. 

[Prepuce of Doom 21,260]

This is the right way to do it in my opinion - too many good robots at 3-1 to do it any other way. 

 

[Chewbacca 7,827]

Bullshit that Cobalt and Minotaur have to fight. 2 of my favorites.

[Prepuce of Doom 21,260]

Yeah, but they both have ugly losses. They're definitely "the team nobody wants to play" though. 

[Chewbacca 7,827]

And Duck is the fucking worst bot out there. Can't hurt anyone, he just lives to take damage.

[Prepuce of Doom 21,260]

Duck! is awesome. I like the diversity of design and game plan that it brings. 

Eats all your punches, and once you've broken your hands on his face, he just dumps you outside the box. 

Edited September 13, 2019 by Prepuce of Doom

[JimmyHoffa 1,188]

Broncos fall from relevance is really amazing. They used to be feared and now they can't even beat a marginal bot. 

[Prepuce of Doom 21,260]

Man, we got our money's worth tonight. 

[Prepuce of Doom 21,260]

 

Pretty solid pairings except for Hydra and Minotaur, though to be fair, I don't really know what they were supposed to do with Minotaur as for as seedings and matchups go.