#Battlebots: Season 6, Episode 9 Review (TV Series, 2022)
Editorial note: these Battlebots reviews will contain spoilers.
This week, we inch ever closer to the Round of 32. Each competitor only has two or three matches to impress the Selection Committee and secure a spot in the single elimination championship. This is going to be the last qualifying fight for many robots tonight, which can make the difference between moving on and being eliminated.
Let’s get into it.
Up first is Gruff vs Cobalt. Gruff is the lifter with flamethrowers from Sam McAmis and Team Gruff. It’s currently 1-1 this season, winning a knockout against Switchback and losing a knockout against Hydra when it was flipped out of the Arena. Cobalt is the vertical spinner atop a wedge from John Mladenik, Matt Maxham, and Team Robotic Death Company. They’re also 1-1, losing to Fusion in a knockout but winning in an explosive knockout against Ghost Raptor that left Ghost Raptor split in half.
Gruff put on its longer forks for its lifter, while Cobalt installed its multi-forked front armor instead of the more straightforward wedge. These robots are trying to win the low ground game and reach their opponent without being in danger of being caught on the other’s weapon.
Cobalt wins the low ground game, flipping Gruff upside down on the initial impact. Gruff can’t quite catch purchase under Cobalt, which results in it catching on Cobalt’s wedge and popping up in the air. Cobalt is sending Gruff flying in the air like it’s a flipper. Eventually, Gruff starts to lose control of its drive and even gets set on fire when Cobalt catches the fuel tank for the flamethrower. Cobalt wins in a decisive knockout against one of the most reliable robots in the competition this year.
Next up is DUCK! vs Riptide. DUCK! is the beloved quacking controlbot from Hal Rucker and Team Black and Blue. They are 0-2 this season, losing both fights to judges’ decisions. Riptide is the rookie eggbeater with lifting arms from Ethan Kurtz and Team Break32. They are 1-1 so far, winning in a knockout against HUGE but losing in a judges’ decision to Defender.
DUCK! leads with a winged plow on the back, trying to break Riptide’s weapon. Riptide’s eggbeater is at just the right height to catch DUCK! every time. This is a one-sided fight, with DUCK! getting thrown in the air again and again. The lifter gets torn up, then it loses a wheel. DUCK! was driving better than it did in its first two fights, but those repairs are short lived as each flip from Riptide further damages the drive train. Riptide wins in a knockout when DUCK! cannot show controlled movement.
I’m still a big fan of DUCK! It definitely made an impact on Battlebots in its first two seasons, earning one of the coveted slots in the HexBug Battlebots toy series. As combat robotics evolves at a rapid pace, some robots just don’t keep up as well. The break the weapon strategy works well in smaller weight classes still, but heavyweights are more reliable than they’ve ever been in response to the vertical spinner meta. DUCK! is a great robot that just doesn’t quite fit in the current scene.
The next fight is Valkyrie vs Pardon My French. Valkyrie is the interchangeable horizontal disc spinner from Leanne Cushing and Team Valkyrie. They are currently 1-1 in the tournament, losing their first fight to P1 in a judges’ decision but winning against Triple Crown in a decisive knockout. Pardon My French is the rookie drum spinner with the most dangerous minibot in Battlebots from Philippe Voyer and Team OuiOui. They are 0-1 this season so far, losing a YouTube exclusive fight against Claw Viper in a knockout.
We don’t even get the entrances to the Arena for this fight. Someone is getting knocked out real quick.
Valkyrie and Pardon My French go weapon on weapon right away, with Pardon My French losing control of its drum spinner. A second impact disables the main bot and makes the little minibot go flying, start smoking, and lose half its drive train. Valkyrie wins in a quick KO.
This episode is laying on the narratives thick. They're saying Valkyrie had an easier Strength of Schedule (despite P1 also going 2-1 with decisive wins) than much of the field, while also trying to claim robots that are 0-2 later in the episode did great because their Strength of Schedule was so much harder. It's...a TV show, after all.
Next up is Lock-Jaw vs Blip. Lock-Jaw is the vertical spinner with lifter arms from Donald Hutson and Team Mutant Robotics. It’s currently 0-2 this season, losing to Copperhead in a judges’ decision and HyperShock in a knockout. Blip is the rookie flipper from Aren Hill and Team Seems Reasonable Robotics. It’s currently 2-0 this season, winning against Rusty and Overhaul in knockouts.
Lock-Jaw is bringing a minibot into the fight to get underneath Blip. Blip is using a bunch of wedglets at the front to help pull Lock-Jaw onto the flipper.
Blip wins the low ground game. Those piano key wedges are just the right angle to draw Lock-Jaw up onto the flipper. Lock-Jaw actually starts to smoke after the second flip, losing control of its spinner. In the scariest thing I’ve seen since Uppercut launched half of Gemini straight at Lisa Winter, Blip almost launches Lock-Jaw into the angled part of the BattleBox where the drivers stand. There is an awning on that angled panel where the drivers can lean slightly over the box and Lock-Jaw goes high enough to land on it. Lock-Jaw’s minibot does high center Blip near the end of the fight, giving Lock-Jaw a chance to ram it a bit.
Uppercut Launches Gemini at Lisa Winter
This fight goes to a judges’ decision. Blip wins in a unanimous decision. I do agree. Blip dominated on Damage, Control, and Aggression for most of the match. I will say if the match went to four minutes instead of three, Blip might not have made it. It was smoking by the end and Lock-Jaw found its footing and took control of the last minute. As it stands, Blip was a clear winner.
Blip is guaranteed a spot in the Round of 32 with a 3-0 record. Lock-Jaw should be counted out with an 0-3 track record, but Battlebots as a TV show is seemingly setting us up for Lock-Jaw to sneak in over a robot with a 1-2 record based on Strength of Schedule. We’ll see. With the way wins have been splitting up this season, there may actually be enough 1-2 and 0-3 bots to justify this kind of shuffling.
Up next is Minotaur vs Deep Six. Minotaur is the deadly drum spinner from Marco Antonio Meggiolaro and Team RioBotz. They are currently 1-1, losing in a judges’ decision against SawBlaze but winning in a knockout against Dragon Slayer. Deep Six is the glass cannon of Battlebots, the massive vertical spinner from Dustin Esswein and Team Overboard. They’re also 1-1 this season, winning against Pain Train in a knockout but losing to SMEEE in a knockout.
Deep Six holds back in the starting square to get its weapon up to speed and angle at Minotaur. Minotaur’s weapon charges fast enough that they send Deep Six flying against the BattleBox on their first hit. Deep Six lands on its back, blade to the ground, and self-rights just in time to be sent up again. This time, Deep Six’s blade hooks into the back of the walls of the BattleBox than can move back and forth. Minotaur won’t take the bait when Deep Six captain Dustin Esswein screams at them to hit Deep Six and unstick them, instead ripping off one of its stabilizing arms right before Deep Six gets counted out. Minotaur wins in a knockout.
Minotaur seems likely to make the Round of 32 with their track record. Deep Six is on the bubble with a 1-2 record. Their knockout against Pain Train was very impressive, but it now has two losses from getting stuck in the Arena.
The next fight is SubZero vs HiJinx. SubZero is the pneumatic flipper with a flamethrower drone minibot from Logan Davis and TeamXD. They are currently 0-2, losing against Shatter! in a judges’ decision and Bloodsport in a knockout. HiJinx is the largest horizontal bar spinner in Battlebots, led by Jen Herchenroeder and Team Offbeat Robotics. They’re currently 1-1 this season, losing against Mammoth in a knockout but winning against Kraken in a judges’ decision.
SubZero’s flipper is at the right angle and long enough to get underneath HiJinx. It gets a nice little flip in right away. HiJinx is so wide that it’s not getting all the way off the ground from that angle. SubZero’s flipper gets caught in the upright position, giving HiJinx the room and time it needs to get to full speed and start tearing SubZero to pieces. HiJinx is actually leading with its back wedge to glance off off SubZero’s frame and then swing in with the spinner. HiJinx wins in a knockout.
I feel pretty confident that HiJinx is making the Round of 32. That was an impressive knockout, showing HiJinx working as intended. The drive issues (which may have been caused by a new box in the BattleBox filled with wires, Jen Herchenroeder discussed it in the post-Kraken breakdown video) seemed to be gone and the weapon is even more powerful than last year. SubZero seems unlikely to make it in at 0-3, but like Lock-Jaw, the show is pointing out how hard its opponents were this season. I’m really thinking at least one 0-3 robot is making the Round of 32 this year over 1-2 robots.
The Main Event is Skorpios vs Yeti. Skorpios is the hammersaw from Zack Lytle, Diana Tarlson, and Team Bot Bash Party Crew. They’re currently 1-1 this season, winning in a judges’ decision again Blade but losing a judges’ decision to Whiplash. Yeti is the drum spinner with lifting arms from Greg Gibson, Christian Carlberg, and Team C2 Robotics. Yeti is also 1-1, losing in a knockout against Mad Catter but winning in a knockout against Pain Train.
Skorpios tries to run to the side of the Arena to spin up before Yeti can hit, but gets caught in the Killsaws and hit by Yeti. Yeti is the aggressor, consistently getting under Skorpios’ front armor and and hitting underneath. Skorpios starts smoking, but its weapon and drive train keep working. Skorpios is getting hits in where it can, but it looks like it keeps driving away instead of attacking. Yeti’s hits are consistently flipping Skorpios into the air. It becomes apparent that Yeti is actually tilting it’s lifting arms down into the floor, sacrificing some traction to get under Skorpios so it can attack underneath. It’s a brilliant strategy. At some point, Yeti's drum stops spinning, allowing Skorpios to be a little more aggressive in the last moments of the fight.
This fight goes to a judges’ decision. Yeti wins a split decision. I agree with this. I also think the scoring system could be interpreted to give the win to Skorpios. No matter how you slice it, Skorpios won Damage. Yeti made Skorpios smoke; Skorpios tore apart one of Yeti’s tires, stopped the drum from spinning, and left visible damage on top. Yeti won Control because they initiated most of the contact and forced Skorpios to run away. Aggression was Yeti’s for the first two minutes, but Skorpios had the opportunity to start attacking and pushing in the last minute. It really comes down to how much damage you give Skorpios. 3-2 gives the win to Yeti; 4-1 or 5-0 can give the win to Skorpios.
Yeti seems pretty set for the tournament after taking down Skorpios. Skorpios is on the bubble with its 1-2 record, but it did have a dominant win against Blade and its losses were split decisions. We'll see. Like I said last week, I'd love to see all these robots win, but that's not possible.
The YouTube exclusive fight this week is Defender, the grappler bot with flamethrower from Jason Vazquez and Team Fast Electronics, against Retrograde, the controlbot/undercutter combo from Aaron Lucas and Team Bots ’n’ Stuff. Members of the Battlebots Facebook page can watch this fight now. Everyone else can watch it on Battlebots YouTube page this Sunday, 6 March 2022.
Battlebots premieres new episodes at 8PM EST on Thursdays Nights on Discovery Channel. Discovery+ releases the episodes earlier in the day.
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