Trying something different this week – a format where each robots strengths are waited in five categories. Those are Weapon (and specifically weapon power and effectiveness), Speed/Agility (speaks for itself), Durability (this includes reliability, i.e. does robot have a record of failing internally), Design (see below), and Overall Quality. The last category is mostly an accumulation of the other four, but also represents whether or not robot is generally successful at realizing its design.

(The Design category is yes, judging the quality of the design, but also considering it in terms of what is hip and unhip in the modern sport. This is an indicator of how well the robot is configured to be successful in the modern age. So like, if you have a design that has been around for 20 years and used to be more successful than it is now – you’re going to get a low score. It’s about modernity, but also of course the effectiveness of the design as well.)

Let’s go through the fights

Bloodsport (0-1, last season 16 seed) vs Gigabyte (0-1, last season 21 seed)

Weapon:
Bloodsport 8
Gigabyte 8

Speed/Agility:
Bloodsport 9
Gigabyte 6

Durability:
Bloodsport 6
Gigabyte 10

Design:
Bloodsport 5
Gigabyte 3

Overall Quality:
Bloodsport 7
Gigabyte 6

This is an interesting matchup particularly because they kinda have the same weapon type, they just implement it differently. They both sport horizontal spinning weapons, but in Bloodsport’s case it’s a giant blade on their back whereas Gigabyte spins its ENTIRE 125 pound shell. Horizontal weapons hit hard and cause tons of damage, but also require time to “spin up” and the collisions can send the owner of the weapon flying. In terms of the sport overall horizontal weapons used to be very popular, now they have largely been “solved” and these robots rarely make deep playoff runs. This is why I scored both robots so low on Design – in particular Gigabyte’s design is absolutely ancient by modern standards.

Gigabyte is the maybe the most durable robot in the sport (good god that Hypershock fight, I’m talking before the final hit, unreal). Bloodsport is definitely faster and more maneuverable. I’d say the weapons and most other factors are pretty even. Who do you want? A sniping killer (BS), or a robot that seems completely invincible (Gig)?

As for my pick – I don’t like that the new people driving Gigabyte seemed like complete and utter buffoons, and were driving into walls and just a mess in their opening loss. Bloodsport lost against a better opponent but they also lost in like 20 seconds, it was bad. Nevertheless, I’ll take Bloodsport, almost entirely because I trust that guy and believe he knows what he’s doing.

The Pick: Bloodsport by Knockout

Claw Viper (2-0) vs Overhaul (1-0)

Weapon:
…yeah we’re gonna skip this one. Both robots grab. They would score low here compared to, say, either of the robots in the first fight. I’d say Claw Viper’s arms appear more flexible and versatile.

Speed/Agility:
Claw Viper 10(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Overhaul 5

Durability:
Claw Viper 7
Overhaul 6

Design:
Claw Viper 9
Overhaul 4

Overall Quality:
Claw Viper 8
Overhaul 4

This is kinda wacky because both robots grab and lift and that’s what they do. But man, there are a couple of significant disparities here, all in Claw Viper’s favor. One is the speed – Claw Viper is the fastest thing in the sport right now, I don’t think there’s any question. It’s insane. And that’s been its primary “weapon” as it has streaked out to an impressive 2-0. Beyond that though – Claw Viper reeks of modernity, along with Quantum it appears to be setting a new trend of super fast grabbing bots that are surprising the competition this year (4-0). The robot is only a couple years old. Overhaul on the other hand has been the same idea for like 7 seasons now, and hasn’t been successful in awhile. I will be taking Claw Viper to win handily keep the party going.

Now – if you wanted to make a case for an upset, Claw Viper is designed to be fighting robots with weapons, not less dangerous robots like this. With all those arms and both trying to do the same thing, something weird could get caught and yadda yadda yadda. I wonder if Overhaul is bigger than Claw Viper would like? Anyhow, trying to be fair, we get plenty of upsets in BB.

The Pick: Claw Viper by Judges Decision

Horizon (0-1, rookie) vs Monsoon (0-1)

Weapon:
Monsoon 10
Horizon …2 maybe?

Speed/Agility:
Monsoon 6
Horizon 2

Durability:
Monsoon 5
Horizon 5?

Design:
Monsoon 7
Horizon hahaha

Overall Quality:
Monsoon 7
Horizon 2

I can’t spend a ton of time on every fight – let me just say that Horizon was involved in the worst fight we’ve had this season that didn’t involve someone called “Doomba”. They were awful on every front, they could barely move, the weapon looked very unpotent, and they had seemingly no control over themselves and just drove around aimlessly while the seconds of my life ticked away. That was Horizon’s first fight, sometimes those go very poorly and the robot looks a lot better the second time – I don’t know. They looked genuinely terrible, not just rookie terrible.

On the other hand, Monsoon has missed a couple of seasons, and lost the opener, but they look like they should be middle of the pack at least, with a classic solid design and a DEVASTATING weapon. The problem in fight one is that the weapon broke down after a bunch of shots, they were fighting a very durable foe (that hurt their Durability score). I doubt Horizon holds up to more than 4 really good punches.

The Pick: Monsoon by KO

Starchild (0-1, rookie) vs Mammoth (0-1)

Weapon:
Starchild 1
Mammoth 3

Speed/Agility:
Starchild 4
Mammoth 3

Durability:
Starchild 6
Mammoth 3

Design:
Starchild 7
Mammoth 7

Overall Quality:
Starchild 3
Mammoth 3

Starchild is a rookie, they have the giant wheel design that has been very successul with Huge, and does have some advantages (hard to attack and damage!). I like most of what’s going on their, but holy crap was their weapon pathetically anemic in the first fight. It’s this wacky design where he swings the robot itself and it propels the spinning arm…I dunno man. It didn’t work in fight one. And like, if you have a really bad ineffective weapon, that kinda kills anything you’re trying to do. This is a fighting sport after all!

Mammoth is a different story – they have their own design where they kind of overwhelm and smother the opponent by being big, and try to push them around with the giant arm. The problem is they looked really good and were “on to something” two seasons ago, and then last season they were just really bad and couldn’t stop losing no matter what scrub the show put them against. Then that trend continued in their opening fight where they self-destructed like Wile E Coyote, it was hilarious. It’s possible the design was flukey and gimmicky and just had a hot streak.

Honestly guys, I have no effing idea what’s going to happen. It’s possible they’ll be like spinning around each other and flipping each other and all tangled up. Could be a wild scene.

Rookies have been terrible this year but what the heck – give me the Starchildren. At the very least I have faith they’ll last until the closing bell. Mammoth could slip on a banana peel at any given moment.

The Pick: Starchild by “Knockout”

Copperhead (1-0, last season 8 seed) vs Triton (0-1, rookie)

Weapon:
Copperhead 10
Triton 5

Speed/Agility:
Copperhead 6
Triton 5

Durability:
Copperhead 6
Triton 4

Design:
Copperhead 7
Triton 4

Overall Quality:
Copperhead 8
Triton 4

(Note – Triton is hard to score having been in only one fight in their career and it was unmemorable, doing my best here)

Yeah, this is maybe the most lopsided matchup of the fight. Copperhead faced a much better horizontal spinner in Bloodsport in their last fight, and it was a one-shot knockout for Copperhead (a concussive blast!). Right now the Triton weapon type gets completely owned by vertical spinners, and especially when the vertical spinner is Copperhead. I think Copperhead is one of the best bots in the sport. On the other hand, Triton looked terrible in their first fight! I think they could do damage against certain robots but that was against a giant wedge (Lucky), and now they’re facing a brutal drum spinner they won’t be able to avoid. So yeah, no thank you.

The Pick: Copperhead by KO

Lucky (1-0, last season 25 seed) vs Kraken (0-1, new design)

Weapon:
Lucky 4
Kraken 7

Speed/Agility:
Lucky 8
Kraken 5

Durability:
Lucky 6
Kraken 9

Design:
Lucky 5
Kraken 6

Overall Quality:
Lucky 5
Kraken 5

An Intriguing Matchup! Very interesting and hard to call.

Kraken has broken out a new design (the Krack is Back) and so it’s tough to analyze. Overall I like it! But it didn’t work great in the first fight, so Overall Quality is lower than the sum of the parts would indicate. Lucky is kind of the opposite – I think they have a higher ceiling floor but a far lower ceiling. They are pretty tough and drive well, but they’re a flipper with a flipping arm that doesn’t work very well. Most flippers get under the opponent and toss them around, this can be extremely effective (Hydra). Lucky’s arm more punches out sideways, it can still make contact but throws an opponent more than tosses them up. They can do well against middling opponents (which Kraken probably is) but will definitely struggle against higher end talent.

Kraken has a vertical spinner that is attached to their upper jaw, so it can “drop the hammer” with the blade running. Great move! I think there’s real potential here, kinda like “Switchback but it actually works”. The problem in the first fight is that they didn’t move well, kind of limped around all day, and then Beta lined up and executed on one of the Hits of the Year to date, and Kraken’s beautiful new spinner was busted. I don’t expect that to happen very often? It was kind of a miraculous shot. Still, the movement and untested stuff here is a concern. Rookies have been terrible mostly this season.

Dang, I really wanted to take Krak here (Krak is Back), but I’m thinking this over, Lucky has that big defensive shield that should hold up well to Kraken’s attacks, and Kraken is tall enough that should be able to punch with the flipper and kick them around. And they drive much better. Sigh. I hope better times are coming for our green friend! Or maybe I’ll just be wrong!!

The Pick: Lucky by JD

Minotaur (2-0, currently ranked 2nd overall in the field) vs Cobalt (1-0, currently ranked 8th overall)

Uh, wow. This, my friends, is a fight. Let’s consider the breakdown.

Weapon:
Minotaur 9
Cobalt 10(!)

Speed/Agility:
Minotaur 10(!!!)
Cobalt 7

Durability:
Minotaur 7
Cobalt 7

Design:
Minotaur 9
Cobalt 9

Overall Quality:
Minotaur 9
Cobalt 9

Cobalt’s weapon hits harder (probably the hardest in the sport), Minotaur is considerably faster and more maneuverable (probably the best driver in the sport). Otherwise I think things are pretty even across the board. Durability is a little tricky to assess – Minotaur is a case where they keep their giant weapon facing the robot at all times, they don’t want the opponent to hit them ANYWHERE besides the weapon. They don’t have a wedge or an armoured spot or anything defensive going on except the giant drum. That said – they usually hold up, because the drum is capable. I still think we can say they are less durable than the best alive (see Witch Doctor vs Minotaur last season, or when Sawblaze broke their battery and started a fire about thirty seconds into the fight).

Cobalt – similar to Minotaur they are kind of dependent on a singular idea, theirs is that they will lie very low and drive so that the other robot rolls up and onto their back, where the most devastating weapon in the sport resides. That’s the one trick for this one trick pony. They will struggle when a robot gets completely under them using wedges or whatever (Tantrum, Hydra, etc), but that’s not who Minotaur is (luckily for Cobalt). Minotaur is certainly capable of staying low, staying out of danger, and chewing up the wedges to limit Cobalt’s ability. At the same time, Cobalt has improved its game, I can’t see a situation where Minotaur completely avoids that weapon. In Cobalt’s first fight (Death Roll) they won the low game by so much it was stunning. Minotaur will hit that weapon early on. What will happen? Will the less-grounded Minotaur be tossed into the air? Or can Minotaur stay low and punch Cobalt around, maybe messing up the forks, similar to the victory over End Game?

Hmmmmm

I guess I’ll stick with Minotaur (who I think has a real chance at the Championship this season), although that kind of feels like a boring pick. Cobalt has a real shot here! If we look at who has given Minotaur trouble in past seasons, Death Roll and Bite Force are pretty comparable robots that ended their season before. Clashes between these types of weapons can really go either way. Cobalt looked incredible in their first fight. Nevertheless.

The Pick: Minotaur by KO