Battlebots: Season 6, Episode 11 Review (TV Series, 2022)
Editorial note: these Battlebots reviews will contain spoilers.
Let the tournament begin. We’re finally into the Round of 32 and it’s already a completely unpredictable experience. Battlebots has clear rules about what is allowed to fight in the tournament and that plays out in this episode.
The first fight of the night is Shatter! vs Riptide. Shatter! is the hammerbot from Adam Wrigley and Team Bots FC. They went 2-0 this season, winning against SubZero and Blacksmith in judges’ decisions. Riptide is the eggbeater spinner from Ethan Kurtz and Team Break32. They went 2-1 this season, beating HUGE and DUCK! in knockouts, but losing to Defender in a judges’ decision.
I previously predicted that Shatter! would win this fight. That came down to experience and precision. The Round of 32 and single elimination tournament is such a different experience from the pre-season that actual experience fighting the robot in this part of the tournament can make a huge difference.
Riptide goes in weapon first, hitting shot after shot against Shatter! Riptide launches them onto the Upper Deck, then sends them flying into the Pulverizer. Shatter! starts smoking and cannot free itself from the corner. It actually looks like their new spiked hammer gets stuck on the wall of the Arena. Either way, Shatter! is counted out and Riptide moves onto the Round of 16.
Experience can play such a huge role in the knockout tournament rounds. Here, it came down to Aggression. Shatter! held back to see what Riptide could do and Riptide showed them. Eggbeaters are powerful weapons and Riptide is showing that off.
Next up is HyperShock vs P1. HyperShock is the vertical spinner from Will Bales and Team HyperShock. They went 2-0 in the qualifying rounds, beating Slammo and Lock-Jaw in knockouts. P1 is the lifter from Brandon Zalinsky and Team Aberrant Robotics. They went 2-1 in the qualifying rounds, beating Valkyrie in a judges’ decision and Jäger in a knockout but losing to Ribbot in a knockout.
I previously predicted P1 would win this fight. I think it will come down to driving skill and P1 is just so fast and controlled in the Battlebox this season. HyperShock is a great robot, too, but I think P1 will have an easier time getting under HyperShock.
At the box rush, HyperShock proves it can get underneath P1 with its forks. HyperShock gets a few hits against P1, but P1 flips HyperShock upside down. HyperShock removed their self-righter this season for armor. It can drive inverted, but not well. P1 keeps getting under HyperShock and lifting it onto the Upper Deck. P1’s ramp design is on display this fight, with HyperShock gliding right over the wedge and going flying off the lifter. With a minute left in the fight, HyperShock gets righted and starts engaging again. Unfortunately, its weapon is no longer spinning after all the attempts to self-right. HyperShock dominates the final moments of the fight, causing a lot of damage to P1’s frame and pinning it at the end.
This fight goes to a judges’ decision. They unanimously give the win to P1. I agree with the decision. P1 was in Control for most of the fight. They Damaged HyperShock on that flip and showed Aggression when they kept pushing HyperShock around the Arena and onto the Upper Deck. HyperShock could’ve won if they self-righted sooner, but P1 had Control for most of the fight.
Up next is the play-in for the #32 seed: Skorpios vs Malice. Skorpios is the hammersaw from Zach Lytle, Diana Tarlson, and Team Bot Bash Party Crew. They went 1-2, winning against Blade but losing to Whiplash and Yeti all in judges’ decisions. Malice is the horizontal spinner with interchangeable weapons from Bunny Sauriol and Team Malice. They also went 1-2, losing to Tantrum in a judges’ decision and JackPot in a knockout but winning against Blacksmith in a judges’ decision.
I predicted Malice taking this fight, but it is honestly the fight I was the least confident in. It could go either way. It’s going to come down to weapon reliability on Malice.
Skorpios goes for the box rush to disable Malice’s weapon and succeeds right away. Malice gets hooked onto Skorpios’ wedge, giving Skorpios plenty of free shots with the hammersaw. Skorpios dominates the fight. It has a stronger drive train and more control. Skorpios starts smoking, but they explained in one of their weekly builder blogs a few weeks ago that the smoke is from the weapons belts and not actually a failing of their system. That doesn’t mean the judges know that going into their deliberations, but Malice really didn’t stand a chance here once the weapon went down.
The judges award a unanimous decision to Skorpios. I agree. Skorpios dominated this fight and Malice really had nothing to do once their weapon went down. Even Bunny agrees, clearly saying Skorpios won before the judges’ decision is announced.
The next fight is Minotaur vs Bloodsport. Minotaur is the horizontal drum spinner from Daniel Freitas and Team RioBotz. They went 2-1 this season, losing to SawBlaze in a judges’ decision but winning in knockouts against Dragon Slayer and Deep Six. Bloodsport is the interchangeable weapon horizontal spinner from Justin Marple and Team Bots ‘n’ Stuff Robotics. They also went 2-1, losing in a knockout to Whiplash but winning against SubZero in a knockout and Claw Viper in a judges’ decision.
I previously predicted that Minotaur would knockout Bloodsport. This is because of experience and destructive potential. Bloodsport runs a lot of different weapon blades, but Minotaur basically has its one drum. Both robots have knockout potential, but Minotaur feels like it has the advantage here.
Minotaur holds in the starting box for a few seconds to get up to speed while Bloodsport starts to move forward. Minotaur then goes on the attack, chasing down Bloodsport as it tries to back away and get up to speed. On the first impact, Minotaur breaks off part of Bloodsport’s weapon. Bloodsport’s weapon is still working, but horizontal spinners rely on precise design to remain stable while driving. Meanwhile, Minotaur knows it can get the best of these exchanges and keeps going in when their drum is up to speed. They’re slamming Bloodsport into the Arena walls and even stopping their drum spinner so they can get some good pins towards the end of the fight.
This fight goes to a judges’ decision with Minotaur winning unanimously. I agree. They tore up Bloodsport’s weapon, were more Aggressive, and Controlled the match. Bloodsport’s blade was at the perfect height for Minotaur to catch over and over again.
We’ve hit the fight where the rules change the entire tournament. Glitch could not get their active weapon repaired in time for their fight against Witch Doctor, so they are forced to withdraw from the Round of 32. Mammoth gets brought in as a replacement for the #9 seed.
Glitch is an impressive robot, but the team revealed in their own builder blogs that they had trouble with the robot throughout the tournament. They never got to test Glitch before arriving in Vegas for Battlebots and were constantly working to the last minute to get ready. Chuck Pitzer from Ghost Raptor actually helped them get Glitch ready for their fight against Ghost Raptor right before it happened. Team Combat Robotics at Berkeley plan on returning next season with a lot of changes to their robot based on what they learned this season.
The next fight is SawBlaze vs HiJinx. SawBlaze is the hammersaw and flamethrower from Jamison Go and Team SawBlaze. They went 2-1 this season, beating Minotaur in a judges’ decision and knocking out Mad Catter but losing to End Game in a knockout. HiJinx is the massive horizontal spinner from Jen Herchenroeder and Team Offbeat Robotics. They also went 2-1 this season, losing to Mammoth in a knockout but beating Kraken in a judges’ decision and SubZero in a knockout.
I previously predicted HiJinx would win this fight because of their weapon reach. I still think that could happen with SawBlaze’s usual dustpan setup. What I forgot was Jamison Go has a plan for everything and has had a massive steel plow prepared for horizontal spinners since it faced Son of Whyachi in Season 4. It’s at the perfect height to make HiJinx hit the plow instead of the frame or weapon. Whoops.
HiJinx is going tail first, hoping to win the low ground game against SawBlaze. SawBlaze actually can’t get under the tail, but it doesn’t need to. HiJinx’s wheels keep slipping right into the gap between SawBlaze’s plow and frame, giving it control over the fight and the opportunity to use their hammersaw. HiJinx doesn’t have enough room to get their weapon up to speed. SawBlaze knocks off HiJinx’s top armor plate on the right, knocking one of the drive motors loose. Then it rips off the tail and gets HiJinx trapped in the corner. HiJinx is too wide to crabwalk out of the corner and SawBlaze keeps engaging. HiJinx refuses to back down and SawBlaze keeps attacking. SawBlaze puts HiJinx on the Upper Deck in the final moments of the fight, but it’s too late to cause the countdown.
This fight goes to a judges’ decision and SawBlaze wins. I agree. SawBlaze dominated the fight, but HiJinx proved its durability. Not many robots could lose half their drive train that early in a fight and make it to a judges’ decision.
Up next is Witch Doctor vs Mammoth. Witch Doctor is the asymmetrical dual disc spinner from Andrea Gellatly, Mike Gellatly, and Team Witch Doctor. They went 2-1 this season, beating DUCK! in a judges’ decision, losing to End Game in a knockout, and winning against Rusty in a knockout. Mammoth is the massive trebuchet-style flexible flipper from Ricky Willems and Team Mammoth. They went 1-2 this season, beating HiJinx in a knockout but losing to Tombstone and Lucky in knockouts.
I predicted Witch Doctor would beat Glitch because of durability and I think that still applies to Mammoth. Witch Doctor can probably survive a toss from Mammoth, but I don’t know if Mammoth will survive direct hits from Witch Doctor.
Mammoth goes in straight for the box rush, but Witch Doctor strafes to the side and starts attacking. They knock Mammoth on its side, then start chewing into the wheels while it’s self-righting. Another hit knocks one of the weapon chains off. A couple more hits and Mammoth loses a wheel and gets counted out.
Witch Doctor’s driving is so good this season. That comes down to experience. Mammoth is a tremendous bot to go against. Its opponents know the weakness is the wheels, but not every driver can take advantage of that so easily.
Copperhead vs Lucky is reduced to a highlights reel of the fight. I previously predicted Lucky would win on driving and durability. It’s hard to make out exactly what happened in the fight. Copperhead wins a unanimous judges’ decision. We get to see Copperhead break the flipper and take off a wheel, but the fight does go the full three minutes.
Uppercut vs HUGE is also cut to the highlights reel. I previously predicted Uppercut could knockout HUGE. The two bots go weapon to weapon, launching each other to opposite sides of the Arena. The fight actually ends in a double KO on a later impact. Uppercut wins the judges’ decision.
The final fight of the night is End Game vs Skorpios. Skorpios won its play-in match against Malice, putting it at 2-2 this season. End Game, the vertical spinner and defending champion from Nick Mabey, Jack Barker, and Team OYES Robotics, is 3-0 this season. They won knockouts against Hydra, Witch Doctor, and SawBlaze.
I predicted End Game would beat Malice, and I think it can beat Skorpios for the same reason. That weapon is so strong and has been sending its opponents flying around the box. Skorpios wants to fight End Game because they prepared a version of the bot to specifically take out End Game.
Skorpios’ new forks get bent on the first impact from End Game. One of their tires also gets hit pretty bad right at the start. End Game shoves Skorpios into the corner of the Upper Deck, high centering it. Skorpios cannot free itself and End Game wins in a quick knockout.
End Game is the reigning champ for a reason. That blade they used against SawBlaze and Skorpios turns their vertical spinner into a kinetic flipper with a lot of precision. That’s terrifying.
So far, I’m 5-4 in my predictions. That’s not too bad. I’ll be keeping track of my original predictions throughout the rest of the season. I am proud for calling that P1 would beat HyperShock, especially with the show calling it such a shocking upset. Riptide really impressed me tonight and I think it has the potential to go much further into the tournament than I anticipated. Copperhead is going to shake up my bracket the most (I think it can make the semifinals with the rest of its potential opponents), but I’m still confident that Minotaur has a path to the Giant Nut.
There will be two YouTube exclusive fights this weekend. Both Copperhead vs Lucky and Uppercut vs HUGE will be available to watch on the Battlebots YouTube page this Sunday, 20 March. Members of the Battlebots Facebook group can watch both fights in their entirety now.
Battlebots premieres new episodes at 8PM EDT on Thursdays Nights on Discovery Channel. Discovery+ releases the episodes earlier in the day.
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