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Battlebots 2020


Prepuce of Doom

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Just a reminder that tomorrow is the big day - 8pm Eastern on Discovery, and apparently there's some weird inconsistencies with how certain Discovery Channel programs air on certain providers in the Pacific time zone, so just double check. 

There's a marathon all day tomorrow starting at 11am Eastern to lead up to the premiere - cast a wide net with your DVR if you need a new babysitter for bored offspring. 

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Yeah, that was fun. A few matches felt like maybe they might have been left on the cutting room floor in normal seasons, but that's okay with me - they can't all be slugfests that go to the judges. 

That Dave guy with Rusty seems like he's got potential to become a crowd favorite, though I don't envision his robot kicking very much ass. 

I'm pretty tired of the whole Ewart family and their clannish weirdness and swagger. Reminds me of The Peacocks from the X-Files mixed with Mr. Rankin, the farmer from the Curious George cartoon. 

Smeeeeeeeeee and Sharkoprion was like a middle school "fight" when neither guy really wants to fight the other so they just kind of posture near each other. 

Everyone in our house picked only three of eight correct tonight. 

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That was outstanding, top to bottom. Even the match with, like, that kid, like, whose mom is like, boffing Ray Billings, that was over in like, 30 seconds was entertaining, but like, a little of that kid, like, goes a long way. 

I went 6 for 7 with my picks - whiffed by picking Ghost Raptor. I forgot what a tittybaby that dude is.

Mammoth and Huge didn't disappoint, and I wouldn't have disagreed with any outcome (unanimous in favor of either, or split in favor of either) for Hydra vs. Witch Doctor. 

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Yep. Another very enjoyable card.

I like Witch Doctor because I think that chick is nerdy cute. But the bot didn’t do shit and the driver was correct that he drove poorly. Hydra threw WD all over the arena and when it got itself stuck, WD was content to wait around and not inflict any damage in the final 20 seconds hoping for a lucky self-knockout. Hydra deserved that win.

Ghost Raptor’s driver is a baby. I mean, he quit the sport for like 4 years after his first loss. Good lord. And his bot sucks.

Mammoth vs. Huge was like a wrestling match. Those two bots suplexed each other all over the arena. I was bummed when Huge got stuck because I wanted to see that one go the distance. And how stupid was it for the Mammoth team to talk through all of their bot’s vulnerabilities after the match? 

Ribbot is a killer. The Kraken vs Black Dragon match was a fun contrast of styles, and the decision could have gone either way.

Edited by BrickHorn
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On 12/11/2020 at 10:33 AM, BrickHorn said:

Yep. Another very enjoyable card.

I like Witch Doctor because I think that chick is nerdy cute. But the bot didn’t do shit and the driver was correct that he drove poorly. Hydra threw WD all over the arena and when it got itself stuck, WD was content to wait around and not inflict any damage in the final 20 seconds hoping for a lucky self-knockout. Hydra deserved that win.

Ghost Raptor’s driver is a baby. I mean, he quit the sport for like 4 years after his first loss. Good lord. And his bot sucks.

Mammoth vs. Huge was like a wrestling match. Those two bots suplexed each other all over the arena. I was bummed when Huge got stuck because I wanted to see that one go the distance. And how stupid was it for the Mammoth team to talk through all of their bot’s vulnerabilities after the match? 

Ribbot is a killer. The Kraken vs Black Dragon match was a fun contrast of styles, and the decision could have gone either way.

Yeah, that chick is like a normal 5-6 but a Battlebots 9.  Witch Doctor is also one tough ass bot.  

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I don't remember the names of the bots, but the really fast bot was fun to watch.  Also, the one with the heavy metal triangular bar on the front seemed capable of withstanding the force of the lawnmower blade type bots.  The Huge vs. Mammoth battle was epic - I was entertained, intrigued and fascinated. 

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No liquids. 

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

I've long wondered whether there's some way to have a napalm-like flammable adhesive, but it would be tricky to get past the judges, especially since flames are supposedly for show only. 

~~~~~

Rotator got robbed tonight. There's no basis for that decision. As far as I am concerned, that shouldn't have even been a split decision either way. 

And there's something a little skeevy about the Beta team. They remind me of those dudes who are really into their Real Dolls, but in their case, it's a fighting robot, not a fuckdoll. 

Also, Uppercut is fucking legit. 

Screenshot_20201217-215721_Drive.jpg

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10 hours ago, Prepuce of Doom said:

No liquids. 

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

I've long wondered whether there's some way to have a napalm-like flammable adhesive, but it would be tricky to get past the judges, especially since flames are supposedly for show only. 

I read through the rules and didn't see anything about magnets. A bot that could use a powerful electromagnet to attach itself to an opponent like a leech would be pretty great. Maybe then go to work on it with a drill, cutting disc or some bad ass hydraulic shears.

Or just ride the opposing bot around for the entire fight, like that cowboy monkey rode the dog. 

 

monkey-on-dog-baseball.gif

 

 

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On 12/3/2020 at 8:40 PM, Prepuce of Doom said:

Yeah, that was fun. A few matches felt like maybe they might have been left on the cutting room floor in normal seasons, but that's okay with me - they can't all be slugfests that go to the judges. 

That Dave guy with Rusty seems like he's got potential to become a crowd favorite, though I don't envision his robot kicking very much ass. 

I'm pretty tired of the whole Ewart family and their clannish weirdness and swagger. Reminds me of The Peacocks from the X-Files mixed with Mr. Rankin, the farmer from the Curious George cartoon. 

Smeeeeeeeeee and Sharkoprion was like a middle school "fight" when neither guy really wants to fight the other so they just kind of posture near each other. 

Everyone in our house picked only three of eight correct tonight. 

End Game knew exactly where to hit Tombstone (or where to have Tombstone turn into him) for maximum impact.  I watch this show for the carnage and this season has been pretty good with carnage.

 

Really enjoyed the Uppercut fight, too.  That's the shit I want to see.  None of this "I have a big hammer but I'm afraid to use it" bullshit.

Edited by Chewbacca
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On 12/18/2020 at 8:16 AM, smuggs said:

I read through the rules and didn't see anything about magnets. A bot that could use a powerful electromagnet to attach itself to an opponent like a leech would be pretty great. Maybe then go to work on it with a drill, cutting disc or some bad ass hydraulic shears.

Or just ride the opposing bot around for the entire fight, like that cowboy monkey rode the dog. 

 

monkey-on-dog-baseball.gif

 

 

I would use the magnet to stick to the floor, so my bot could not get flipped.  Then reposition again when opportunity knocked.

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Tonight they mentioned that Shatter uses magnets to stay grounded. 

Chomp finally won something. Seems like that lady overengineers the shit out of things in an expensive and interesting way each year. I don't expect Chomp to defeat anything but a lifter - anyone with a weapon will get through that flimsy "fence" perimeter and then just thrash the shit out of all that delicate walking machinery. 

Pain Train needs more training, because that was painful.

MARTIN MASON (MAD CATTER) SURE IS A LOT TO DIGEST. 

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On 12/24/2020 at 11:15 PM, Prepuce of Doom said:

Tonight they mentioned that Shatter uses magnets to stay grounded. 

Chomp finally won something. Seems like that lady overengineers the shit out of things in an expensive and interesting way each year. I don't expect Chomp to defeat anything but a lifter - anyone with a weapon will get through that flimsy "fence" perimeter and then just thrash the shit out of all that delicate walking machinery. 

Pain Train needs more training, because that was painful.

MARTIN MASON (MAD CATTER) SURE IS A LOT TO DIGEST. 

Chomp’s fight was fun to watch. The rest of the fights this week were kinda boring.

Pain Train is the shittiest bot I’ve seen this season. Is it purposefully designed not to be able to land a hit with its weapon?

Shatter got robbed. 

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Pain Train was such a disaster that I couldn't tell if it was simply malfunctioning, or if the driver had never driven it (or anything else) before. 

I can see both sides in how Shatter vs. Malice played out. In my view, it's one of those rare fights that regardless of the outcome, the loser is going to have a really valid objection. 

Beta over Rotator was a robbery. 

Edited by Prepuce of Doom
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Chomp weighs 500+ lbs.  When Chomp's hammer attacked, it lifted Chomp off the ground.  Seems like it's packing a wallop.  I spent most of the episode wondering how Chomp was allowed to compete being over the 250lb limit.  Took them forever to explain the limit applies to bots with wheels.

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Chomp weighs 500+ lbs.  When Chomp's hammer attacked, it lifted Chomp off the ground.  Seems like it's packing a wallop.  I spent most of the episode wondering how Chomp was allowed to compete being over the 250lb limit.  Took them forever to explain the limit applies to bots with wheels.
Chomp fucked some shit up. That hammer is packing some heat. Add in magnets to ground them when they fire the hammer would be extra damage.
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4 hours ago, Bobby Light said:

It seemed like a bad matchup but Fusion looked tough. Spinning weapons on both sides

I think a Roomba with an electric mixer could probably have beaten Aegis, so it's hard for me to get a read on Fusion. I'm not yet convinced that it's any good, personally. 

The Hydra/Huge matchup was really disappointing. I get the "letter of the law" argument, and I give full credit to Farmer Rankin for figuring out how to neutralize Huge, but I think the judges could have just as easily applied the scoring criteria in a way to give Huge the victory. At the start of the season, they were all about how there's now 5 points available for damage, and yet the judges have had two really bad decisions (Hydra/Huge and Beta/Rotator) where the "winning" team didn't even use their primary weapon. 

It was delightful to see Ghost Raptor get mutilated. Conspicuously absent post-fight interview with his tittybaby driver, too. 

The Jackpot team is really growing on me. 

And fuck all this Discovery+ bullshit. I'm not paying $5 a month to see the exclusive matches, but Discovery can take their half-screen splash ads that obscure the "free" matches and shove them up their ass. 

Edited by Prepuce of Doom
Fuck Discovery+ in the goatass.
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How funny - besides the first fight and the last fight, our household thought that was the worst episode in memory. 

Pain Train and Smeee should just be excused from now on. I don't know what either of them hope to achieve from now on. 

Gigabyte finally realized that all it needs to do is get to the center of the box and sit there. I'm sure the team has understood that, but they never really seem to put it into practice like they obviously should. Chasing their opponents around just leads to trouble for them. 

Malice's driver sure did shit the bed by leaving the throttle pinned and just trying to rock it off balance by steering in the air. Maybe toggle both inputs the next time that never happens again? 

I only picked two correct tonight - Gigabyte and Uppercut. 

I think Uppercut might be a dark horse to win it all. 

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16 hours ago, Prepuce of Doom said:

How funny - besides the first fight and the last fight, our household thought that was the worst episode in memory.

Huh. There was some ineptitude for sure, but we thought the failures were at least entertaining. Malice getting stuck like a turtle on its back, Sharko getting suplexed with a mouthful of flames, and Pain Train putting on another clinic of fail were all funny as hell.

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57 minutes ago, BrickHorn said:

Huh. There was some ineptitude for sure, but we thought the failures were at least entertaining. Malice getting stuck like a turtle on its back, Sharko getting suplexed with a mouthful of flames, and Pain Train putting on another clinic of fail were all funny as hell.

I don't necessarily disagree, but aside from the first and last matches, this episode was more a comedy of errors than tense, action-packed carnage. I think the bar has been a bit lower this season due to Covid such that we have a lot more minor-league level teams (and a corresponding drop in "quality of play") and fewer top-tier teams that can't (or shouldn't) be expected to just fight each other a half dozen times. 

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Tonight's fight card. 

Not really feeling much of this one besides Hypershock vs Mammoth and Whiplash vs Gruff (though I think that seems like a pretty underwhelming main event) - maybe there are fewer top tier competitors due to C19, but the fact that Icewave, Bronco, Son of Whyachi, and others are only appearing on the paid streaming versions seems like a great way to water down enthusiasm and ultimately diminish the fan base. 

 

20210121_095500.jpg

Edited by Prepuce of Doom
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