MovieChat Forums > BattleBots (2015) Discussion > July 7 fights

July 7 fights

posted 9 years ago by joen0411
14 replies | jump to latest

Yeti vs Lucky: They decided to show us what goes on in the pit which was nice. They showed the damage that Yeti's drum got from Lockjaw which looked significant but I think I've discussed that fight enough. They also mentioned that he didn't think he would win so he didn't bring any spare parts. He had to borrow or buy some used tires from Bronco. Not sure if there was something wrong with Lucky's flipper, early in the fight it had Yeti in perfect position to flip it but didn't. Then when it did use the flipper it got stuck in the open position leaving it very vulnerable. Yeti was doing a lot of damage then lost its rear left tire, not sure if it was one of the used tires or not. Despite the loss of one tire it still managed to move around with some precision. Lucky's flipper was stuck in the up position again and this time Yeti took advantage of it and broke it off. Lucky still tried to win by pushing Yeti around but Yeti's drum just kept chipping away at it and Lucky eventually just died. Hopefully Yeti gets some good replacement parts, other bots will take advantage of any weakness.

Minotaur vs Blacksmith: I don't think that hammer on Blacksmith could do any damage to any bot if it was completely still in the middle of the arena. It just does not look like it has any significant force to it. Minotaur added some spikes (or horns) the the front which in my opinion was a mistake. It could not get under Blacksmith's wedge and kept Minotaur's deadly spinning drum from making contact. Hopefully they take that out for the next fight. I think when Blacksmith hit the wall, it damaged the wedge and lifted it up just enough for Minotaur's horns to finally get under it. Whatever it was, after that Minotaur just destroyed Blacksmith. Blacksmith lost its hammer again, no surprise there. It was a bloodbath and eventually Blacksmith burst into flames. I'd like to see Minotaur vs Yeti.

Bronco vs Chrome fly: Bronco added a wedge in its rear to combat horizontal spinning blades and started the fight with it. On the second hit one of Chromes fly's blades was damaged and the other stopped spinning. Despite adding some useless plastic on it's sides to protect from Bronco flipping it, Bronco turned around and did what it does best. It flipped Chrome fly out of the floor and then went after another useless drone. Bronco's wedge proved effective, we'll have to wait and see if it can take a hit from Tombstone

Witch Doctor vs Red Devil: This was just disappointing. They took off Witch Doctor's front shield to make it lighter so that it could bring its mini bot Shaman into the fight. This was a stupid mistake, very stupid. There was no way to tell how good of a bot Red Devil is because its first fight it went against one of the most useless bots. They brought Shaman out to please the crowd and underestimated its opponent. You know what pleases the crowd, WINNING! Red Devil did exactly what it planned, grabbed WD in just the right spot and used its blade to cut into body. RD cut into something and a lot of smoke came out of WD, the fight was over. And what did Shaman do during the fight? NOTHING! And I honestly think they were using WD as a distraction so Shaman could attack. If WD had hit RD from the side with its weapon, I think it would have disabled RD quickly. This just left a bad taste in my mouth, ugh.

[–] Loodgookin 9 years ago

Good recaps of the fights.

I too think the hammer on Blacksmith is useless. It either missed entirely or just does't seem to have much force behind it. Sure, it would probably shatter my foot it if hit it, but to these bots it seems ineffective.

I don't get what WD was thinking when they removed their front piece. Well, I do know, but why take away an important piece of defense to have a very situational bot enter the arena. It seems like some of the bot builders get completely stuck in their heads with an idea and feel the need to implement it, even if it would leave them at a disadvantage (i.e having shaman, the drone, etc.). Like you said, had WD hit RD from the side, it could have severely damaged the tires and then gone to town on RD. But, since the front end was removed, it was a fairly easy grab for RD.

I think the announcers mentioned that Red Devils claw pierced into the batteries of WD and that is what was producing all that smoke.

[–] joen0411 9 years ago

Glad you like the recaps

Considering their poor aim and relatively slow swing, your feet are safe from that useless hammer. But you're still right about it probably shattering your foot on the off chance it hit it.

What kind of battery do the bots use and why would cutting it open create that thick smoke? It was very thick and probably toxic.

[–] drunkbear 9 years ago

Bronco is a beast, and quite adaptable. I mentioned elsewhere on the board that I was impressed with their use of reactive armor (bouncy fenders) to take the impact out of Blacksmith's hammer, and I don't think I've ever seen a bot with such a powerful flip; they also have fantastic driving skills.

Eager to see how they'll deal with a full-on monster spinner, though.

- Crazy. All crazy but I'm.

[–] joen0411 9 years ago

If it can withstand Tombstone's blade it can win

[–] MiloSuperSpesh 9 years ago

shame bronco and tombstone will only meet in the final as they are on different sides of the tourny board..

i kind of want tombstone to lose by an underdog for the lolz.

It will be interesting to see how minotaur fairs against bronco, (seems a safe bet for the semi final match). Although i kind find the minotaur driver a bit of a bad winner with his huge scream at the camera ;)

[–] Crustacean_Predation 9 years ago

I'm so glad WD got BTFO. I always find myself rooting against the teams who are all flash and no content. Their bot is nothing special and they try to disguise it by wearing goofy costumes and acting all flashy like they're hot stuff. Some people like that stuff but I don't care about the people, the focus should be on the bots. WD isn't even a terrible bot but its owners just annoy me to no end, and their cockiness going in finally came back to bite them. Even their little Shaman who was just going around shooting fire was another example of all flash and no content. It got flipped over by trying to be too fancy and ended up being useless. RD on the other hand had serious owners who came up with a plan, modded the bot to do it, and followed through with it. They totally deserved that win.

[–] joen0411 9 years ago

I felt the same about WD but after they put on that shield it turned into a good bot and proved itself in battle. Then they got rid of it. They lost all my respect with that decision

[–] chumpbroni 9 years ago

Witch Doctor should not have been ranked 3rd. How did they even come up with that seeding? That's even higher than last year's champion and makes no sense. Did everyone think that Witch Doctor took Tombstone to the brink last year and somehow that meant it's now 3rd?

[–] joen0411 9 years ago

If it had a way to right itself it could have finished Tombstone after losing half its blade. Once it added a way to right itself it became a good bot. But then stupid happened

[–] jurus1 9 years ago

I finally got to see the episode. Overall, it was great.

Yeti vs Lucky - One way or another, the whole thing was over 40 seconds into the fight when Lucky lost it's weapon. After that, it was only a question of whether it'll be a KO or not.

Minotaur vs Blacksmith - Hands down one of my favourite fights ever. Blacksmith proved it didn't deserve a Wild Card and demonstrated how utterly ineffective it's kind of design is. As for the Minotaur's "horns", while on one hand they prevented them from connecting a few hits, on the other they did seem to help them. With Blacksmith's wedge being lower than the drum and at that angle, it should've been able to absorb the damage pretty well. But after Minotaur hit Blacksmith on the edge, it slightly lifted the wedge up on one side which was enough for the horns to go underneat. How effective those horns were afterwards is really hard to tell even on slow replay. I may be wrong, but the wedge still seemed lower than the drum so the slight lift they provided might've helped the drum's hits to hit low enough to chip away at the wedge's lower edge thus removing BS's advantage of having a lower ground clearance. After that the drum easily hit it from bellow and sent that armour flying away.

Bronco vs Chrome Fly - Showing again why Bronco is favourite. I think that against a bot as structurally weak as Plastic Fly, they could've won even without that wedge, but they showed how smart they are by not underestimating their opponent (as they did with Blacksmith as well) and by testing their additional defenses against a lower threat first. Plus, they also showed tremendous discipline when driving it in the arena, while Paper Fly was still operational. Calm, collected, no stupid risks, just results.

Witch Doctor vs Red Devil - I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Witch Doctor getting wrecked, simply because ever since this season started, they kept repeating over and over again, how great Witch Doctor is and how it is loved by everyone. Seriously, who hell loves this robot and why? Last season it won 1 fight. Against Overdrive, a bot that came straight out of a bargain bin of a Toys'R'Us. I just don't get it.

[–] joen0411 9 years ago

At first I thought Blacksmith's wedge was damaged from Minotaur hitting in the edge then after watching it again I thought it happened earlier when it hit the wall. I'll need to watch it again to see if hitting the wall actually helped Minotaur or if it was the edge hit. I still think the horns are a disadvantage but I guess it depends on the opponent

Paper Fly :)

I shamefully admit I was a fan of Witch Doctor, can't deny it without deleting everything I've posted on this board. I've been trying to defend my decision but I think I just have to finally admit I was wrong.

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] Cimejes 9 years ago

Yeah, I'm glad that Witch Doctor was knocked out. It's a decent bot, but the unwarranted hype is annoying and it certainly didn't warrant a number three seed. And so much camera time. Even after losing to Red Devil they were the ones interviewed, not their opponents.

It's funny that they mentioned the ridiculous seeding (#3 vs #30)—as if Witch Doctor is an elite bot and it's a huge upset that they lost. Really, it's just a decent bot who had a good match against Tombstone last season, but otherwise has not really been impressive.

[–] LAV25USMC 9 years ago

I actually cheered out loud when WD started smoking.  Like other posters, I think WD is a decent bot and the driver does fairly well. But their hype and showboating is too detracting. IMHO they did not deserve the wild card they got last year and certainly were nowhere near being worthy of a #3 seed this year.

On a side note:

Did anyone else notice that instead of airing the interview with the winning bot driver and crew (which they had done after every other match IIRC), the editors opted to show the interview with WD's crew after their tragic loss which was perhaps the "worst upset in Battlebots history!" Commentators comment not mine.  Pulleeze! They didn't even give the winners the courtesy of 10 seconds.

I guess it was more important to give air time to a "fan favorite".