[robotic voice] Robots activate.
[audience cheering]
Hey, everybody, and welcome to BattleBotsWorld Championship VII,
coming to you from right here in the heart of beautiful Las Vegas.
I am Chris Rose, here to bring you all the action,
but, of course, I don't travel alone.
Joining me as always
UFC legend,
robot combat analyst,
the man, the myth, the legend...
- Did I build you up enough? - It's pretty good.
Let's hear it for Kenny Florian.
[Kenny] Thanks, Chris. It is week 10 of the qualifying rounds and as always,
tonight's fight card features 14
of the very best combat robots ever created.
Their goal, tear each other limb from limb,
impress our selection committee,
and punch their ticket to our 32-team world championship tournament.
Believe it or not, we're now just a few weeks away
from kicking off the chase for the most coveted trophy in all of sports,
the Giant Nut.
[Chris] As these squads head into their third of four total qualifying fights,
time is running out to prove they belong in that prestigious top-32.
We're gonna break down all the matchups as we go.
Including our powerhouse main event featuring Whiplash and Monsoon.
But we kick things off with a shot of pure adrenalin.
What do you get when you cross what maybe the most dangerous weapon in the field
- with the loudest battle cry in the sport? - [yelling] Riptide!
[Chris] The answer is Riptide.
Captained by the young lion, Ethan Kurtz
looking to move to a perfect 3 and 0 against Captain Shrederator.
Rumor has it, this season may be Captain Brian Nave's last.
And that he's gonna do whatever it takes to make sure his full-body spinner
leaves the box as a winner.
All right, let's get this party started.
Faruq, take it away.
Ladies and gentlemen,
are you ready?
It's robot fighting time!
In the red square,
from Tarzana, California,
Kurtz and the team will make you hurt and scream,
it's Riptide!
[Chris] All right, this team,
they're entertaining, they're energetic, they're talented.
Oh, come on. Really?
What do we got here?
[Kenny] That pit crew member Ian McNanie going full Hulk.
You got to love the intensity.
And Team Riptide backs it up in a big way.
They're on an absolute tear right now.
Not only have they KO'd their first two opponents in spectacular fashion,
all six of their career wins are by way of knockouts.
It's hard to overstate how impressive that level of success is
for a bot in only its second season.
In the blue square, from Ormond Beach, Florida,
so patriotic, Lee Greenwood sends him a Christmas card,
it's Captain Shrederator!
[Chris] There isBattleBots vet Brian Nave coming off a knockout victory over HiJinx.
Kenny, he's got a chance to do something he's never done in sevenBattleBots seasons.
And that is pilot Shrederator to not one, but two wins in a row.
[Kenny] Well, Shrederator's certainly the underdog here,
but Brian already has one legendary upset on his resume
with that knockout of Tombstone last season.
Going with that durable titanium shell,
but Brian knows he has to avoid Riptide's weapon at all costs.
The team's best chance for success is to stay mobile
and try and outdrive the sophomores.
In order to win the fight against Shrederator tonight,
all we really have to do is flip them on their back.
Our strategy is just gonna go in, we're gonna hit their weapon
keep their weapon not spun up and just try to KO them,
or hit them on their back and end the fight as soon as possible.
If our strategy works, they will be on their back
within the first five seconds of the fight.
Or they will not have enough time to spin up
and we're just gonna have our way with them.
In order to win this fight, we've got to stay away long enough to build up momentum.
If he hits us with his weapon, it's possible we're gonna go flying.
Hopefully, we'll be spinning fast enough to stay flat
because of gyroscopic procession.
If we're spinning as we go up in the air, we'll go straight up and straight down.
If we're not spinning, we'll flip over or flop on our back
or spin a thousand times, who knows, but it won't be pretty.
So hopefully we'll be spinning and if we're spinning, we're winning.
[robotic voice] Robots Activate.
[audience cheering]
[Chris] Kenny, Riptide going with a slightly different configuration for this one.
[Kenny] Yeah, they call this Rip Current.
You see those short split wedges on the sides?
Ethan wants to keep Riptide pointed forward
and feed Shrederator straight into the weapon.
[robotic voice] Red team ready?
Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go.
[robotic voice] Blue team ready?
Yeah!
[Ethan] I love you guys.
[Sid] Yeah.
[Chris] Ethan Kurtz flanked by weapons operator Sid The Kid, Prabhakaran.
Brian Nave by driver Johnathan La Plain.
Let the bot battle begin.
Riptide on the attack.
[Kenny] Oh!
[Chris] Nice driving by Shrederator to get away.
[Kenny] Listen to the sound of Riptide's drum.
[Chris] Oh, speed. There's the first shot of the match.
[Kenny] Nice stability though there from Captain Shrederator.
[Chris] Takes another shot.
[Sid] Perfect.
[Kenny] Yeah, Shrederator looking way better here, Chris, so far.
But Riptide can hit so hard.
[Chris] Whoa! Like that.
Wow! Just like that.
Oh, God. Wow.
That thing is breaking into bits.
[Kenny] Yeah, he's shredding Captain Shrederator right now.
- [Chris] Oh, my God. - Come on, no.
[Kenny] This is ugly.
[Chris] Shrederator's on its head, how much more punishment can it take?
[Sid] Hit 'em again.
[Chris] Oh, my God.
[Kenny] Bot parts everywhere.
Oh!
Oh, my goodness.
[Chris] Riptide wants to send Shrederator into early retirement.
[Kenny] Jeez.
[Chris] Mercy is for the weak.
[Kenny] Wow.
[Chris] Riptide impressive.
The countdown has started.
Shrederator's down, out and dismantled.
Three, two, one. Knockout!
That's a lot of unnecessary damage, by the way.
They don't care, they don't care.
[Chris] Kenny, when that drum on Riptide starts a humming,
it feels something terrible is coming our way.
[Kenny] Yeah, no surprise that Riptide came out with the full-court press.
They were clearly out for blood.
Shrederator with some nice defensive driving early on, able to handle a few shots.
But then the Captain took flight, wow.
[Chris] Listen, we've seen Shrederator take shots over the years,
rarely does he fly that high.
[Kenny] Riptide is another level right now.
You saw team Shrederator asking for mercy.
That's like yelling at a storm to stop dropping the rain on you.
Ethan never let up. Even took out our sign.
[Chris] That's another 1% off your paycheck there, Kenny.
[Kenny laughs] That was an absolute dismantling.
I mean, look at the shell.
[Chris] What shell?
Fantastic performance by Ethan Kurtz and team Riptide,
as it improves to 3 and 0.
Ethan, are you shocked that you can create that much damage
in that short amount of time?
Yeah, they flew pretty high.
And it was pretty hard to tell when to stop, 'cause they just kinda kept moving.
So it's like, I guess, I'll keep hitting them.
But then I kinda felt bad about it.
So you now have three knockouts in three matches.
Up next, you face Black Dragon, which has never been knocked out.
- Can you-- - Oh, yeah, we'll be the first to knock them out, for sure.
It'll happen.
Can you guarantee one right here?
Oh, we'll say it. The weapon works. We've been waiting on this for a while, you know.
Yeah, we're coming for them.
We're gonna [bleep] kill 'em!
Let's go!
Congratulations, guys, for improving to 3 and 0.
Thank you.
All right, talk about calling your shot, Kenny.
But I certainly understand the confidence.
When it comes to this year's field of 50 robots,
I'm not sure there's one that's more powerful than Riptide.
[Kenny] I feel like we just watched Ivan Drago beat Apollo Creed to a pulp.
That was brutal.
Ethan Kurtz is driving like a man possessed.
And this team has a legit shot at a top seed in the tournament
in only its second BattleBots season.
[Chris] And if you're keeping score at home, that is Riptide's seventh career win,
all have been by knockout.
You heard Ethan say he's coming for Black Dragon next.
The Brazilians have gone an incredible 23 fights without being knocked out.
That should be a showdown for the ages.
As for Brian Nave, we know he desperately wants to make the tournament
in what may be his final season.
But his robot is now in pieces.
Shrederator sits at 1 and 2 and will have to make a statement
in its fourth and final fight against Jackpot.
All right, we're just getting started here, folks.
Later tonight in our main event, the battle tested Brits.
Tom Brewster and Tim Rackers lead Monsoon into the box
to face the 2020 runner up Matty Vasquez and Whiplash.
And have you ever wondered, how a 6-foot combat robot makes its way around the pits?
Well, there's a live look at Mammoth.
Pardon me, excuse me, coming through.
It's being wheeled towards the arena.
It's set to square off with the Aussie assassin DeathRoll.
That's whenBattleBots continues.
[Chris] Welcome back to BattleBots,
where we just witnessed a violent display of raw power
courtesy of team Riptide in its dominant victory over Captain Shrederator.
And here's what Brian Nave had to say in the aftermath regarding the bigtime beating.
Gonna need a new shell.
That doesn't look good at all.
All that happened after we were incapacitated.
There's no rule against hitting people like that, but we just don't do it.
We know how much work, we know how much time,
we know how much money goes into these things.
And you're not gonna do that to a friend of yours.
Ah, maybe he's not my friend.
[Chris] In only its second season, Riptide's quickly gaining a reputation
for showing no mercy.
You got to wonder if what goes around will come around,
but whatever you think of this team, they are 3 and 0.
[Kenny] Yeah, Riptide is hitting as hard as any robot in the world right now.
Their driving is on point. They seem like they're very durable.
They're very impressive, man.
You know, what else they've got?
Confidence.
Yeah, just a little.
[Chris] All right, up next, we've got the big boy.
Mammoth taking on the little guy with a big bite, DeathRoll.
Both of these teams enter with 1-1 records, but they may be headed in opposite directions.
Let's start with Ricky Willems and team Mammoth.
They were so excited they're coming off of a victory, they're feeling good.
But understand it has been quite a chore back there in the pits just to get this
machine ready for tonight's fight.
Yeah, they've been experiencing a lot of challenges
both in getting parts and putting their bot together.
This was just moments ago.
The team was re-linking Mammoth's chains and swapping out its armor
in preparation before this matchup.
You know, the robot imploded under pressure in its first fight,
rebounded against a rookie in fight number two.
Mammoth needs to turn in a solid performance tonight.
[Chris] And staring them right in the face Steven Martin and the Aussie team DeathRoll.
They were a little slow out of the gate this year.
But in their last fight,
they showed flashes of the heavy hitter
that finished in the top four a few seasons ago , Kenny.
[Kenny] Yeah, we know they can take care of beefier competition,
but again, the robot really hasn't changed much
or been significantly upgraded since 2019.
And it didn't fare well against a top team in Cobalt.
I think that makes tournament seeding very important for them.
Get a higher seed, avoid those tough, early matchups.
Tonight is all about taking care of business
in a fight they should be favored to win.
[audience cheering]
[Chris] All right, will somebody call animal control
because we've got a mammoth and a crocodile on the loose.
Look out!
[robotic voice] Red team ready?
Ohhh, ready as we'll be.
[Chris] Oh, there's Ricky Willems piloting the six-foot Mammoth.
Tell us about this Frankenstein of a weapon there, Kenny.
[Kenny] That's half Tegris, half UHMW, two different heavy-duty plastics.
The teams hoping it gives them a nice cross
between UHMW's springiness and the stiffness of the Tegris.
They also added an extra set of interior forks.
They know DeathRoll has no ground game
so they're hoping to get under the Aussies
and pump them rugby style.
[robotic voice] Blue team ready?
[Chris] Kenny Florian, you actually broke into the pit of DeathRoll,
stole their playbook,
and now you're gonna reveal their strategy to everybody out there.
What did it say?
[Kenny] I'm gonna do my best to break this down
so everyone can understand it.
Okay, they wanna point that red, sharp spinny thing
and just hit Mammoth as many times as they can.
[Chris] Excellent espionage.
[Kenny] But seriously, if I'm DeathRoll,
I have my crosshairs pointed straight
at those exposed wheels on Mammoth.
[audience cheering]
[audience chanting] Fight, fight, fight, fight...
[Chris] Let the bot battle begin!
Ohhh, DeathRoll fast out of the gate.
- [Kenny] Oh. - [Chris] Nice little shove back by Mammoth.
Yeah!
[Kenny] And so far those inside forks
doing well to keep DeathRoll at bay.
- [Chris] DeathRoll gets around-- - [Kenny] Ohhh.
[Chris] Rips off one of Mammoth's legs!
- That is gonna be big-time trouble, Kenny. - Haven't caught up.
[Kenny] Yeah, that's right and right now there's--
Ohhh, go for the wheels! Uh-oh.
[Chris] And it looks like it did some serious damage to that left one.
[Chris and Kenny] Whoa!
[Kenny] Nasty shot there.
[Chris] Mammoth almost reached it's tipping point.
[Kenny] Mammoth in a world of hurt,
DeathRoll flexing its muscle and making a statement here in its third fight.
[Chris] The countdown has started...
- Seven, six... - [Chris] ...and the Aussies are gonna record
- a quick knockout over Mammoth here. - ...five, four,
- three, two, one. - [Chris] What a performance by the crew from Brisbane.
Knockout!
[audience cheering]
[Chris] Well, Kenny, we know Mammoth was having issues
getting ready for this fight,
but I'm not so sure that had much to do with the outcome.
Deathroll just too powerful.
[Kenny] Good call, Chris. Gotta give the Aussies the credit here.
These are the fights you have to dominate if you're a DeathRoll.
This was a favorable matchup.
They were ready for it, handled their business and barely broke a sweat.
[Chris] You know, Mammoth has such great length
but because of that, it isn't the most agile robot inside the BattleBox.
[Kenny] Yeah, that's right.
That's where DeathRoll really took advantage with its speed,
got around to the side and went to work.
[Chris] Yeah, I mean those tires are so exposed
and for a weapon that DeathRoll has...
And it's just no match.
That is an incredible shot and after that,
Mammoth wasfini.
[audience cheering]
[Chris] Steven Martin, congratulations.
Um, you know, Kenny spilled your strategy to everybody.
- [chuckles] - He said, "What they wanna do is they wanna take
that red, spinny thing and hit Mammoth as many times as possible."
- [chuckles] - Did he break it down the right way?
I think that's pretty much our strategy going in to this
and that's sort of what we saw in the box.
Uh, how juicy are those wheels on Mammoth?
Very juicy.
We've been watching Mammoth work so hard to get back in the box
and when they put them on, we just...
We were going for them the whole time.
Uh, you guys have been unbelievable.
That weapon is hitting so hard. How far can you guys go?
Look, it's... It's hard to say after a couple of years off.
The field's really changed and everything's a little bit different.
We're really liking how wrecked the floor looks now.
- [Kenny chuckles] - Um, with no wedges on the front
so we'll see if that works to our advantage going forward.
Congratulations, Steven.
- Cheers, thank you. - [audience cheering]
You know, it's been so long since we had seen DeathRoll back here at BattleBots.
You forgot how powerful a machine that was.
[Kenny] Yeah, that's back-to-back,
definitive wins for the Aussies.
They'll finish their season against a fellow vertical spinner in Monsoon.
[Chris] And for Ricky Willems... Hey, we love you, buddy,
but Mammoth's not looking much like the bot
that upset the number three seed back in 2020.
One more chance though, to turn things around against Kraken
in fight number four.
Coming up, we got a throwdown between 1-1 rookies
as the pneumatic flipper, Banshee
tries to flip the script on the dreaded, vertical spinner, Emulsifier.
And guess who's gonna be joining us for that match?
[Faruq] It's MaDCatTer!
[yelling]
Oh, yeah!
Yeah!
[Chris] Yeah, get ready to hear some loud noises and lots of alliteration
because MaDCatTer's Martin Mason will be signaling box side.
Ooh, yeah!
- That's when we return onBattleBots. - [audience cheering]
[audience cheering]
[Chris] We are back onBattleBots, World Championship VII.
You know this guy, that's Kenny Florian.
You know me, I'm Chris Rose.
You definitely know this guy.
Round of applause for the captain of MaDCatTer.
- The one and only, Martin Mason! - Ooh, yeah!
Oh, yeah!
Hello, Martin.
Hey, how you doing, Chris?
I am doing great so let's take a look at your season so far.
You're 2-1. Your lone loss to Riptide.
You know, that happened in your second match of the season.
In match three I thought you were
even more determined than usual, were ya?
You know what?
Big Dill is a brother team to us.
You know, we've been working with those guys for years
and, you know, we wanted two things.
Number one... [chuckles] We wanted to win.
We were gonna make sure that happened.
But we also wanted--
We wanted Big Dill to show what it can do, you know.
And that robot, it was put together well.
It took the hits, it put on a show.
You know, you guys saw two minutes
and 56 seconds of action, folks,
- and that's what we're here to do. - [audience cheering]
Love to hear it.
[Chris] All right.
Well, we're about to see a rookie brawl between Banshee and Emulsifier.
The 1-1 Banshee is a flipper bot that can move well
but it hasn't really delivered any huge flips so far.
Emulsifier on the other hand has a massive vert that's been hitting like a truck,
but they're winless.
Both teams need a strong performance
to keep their tournament dreams alive.
So how do you break this one down, Martin?
I've known David Small, captain of the Banshee, for a long time.
He's been building pneumatic flippers
and he's honestly got a lot more experience than folks think
so if he can get that dialed in,
it's gonna be really an exciting robot.
We're hoping to see him just get those robots way up in the air.
Matt Bores is the captain of Emulsifier.
You know, he's a little newer in it,
but he is running a crazy, big disk, right,
and we know it can hot hard.
And he's not gonna tread lightly in this arena, folks.
Thanks, Martin. I'll be over here if you need me.
- [laughs] - Faruq, take it away.
[audience cheering]
[Faruq] In the red square, from Phoenix, Arizona.
You'll rise again then fall again
then rise again then...
You get the picture.
It's Banshee!
[audience cheering]
[Chris] Here comes David Small.
Why don't you ever wear a kilt, Martin Mason?
- [Kenny laughs] - [Martin] You know, uh, I keep my pants on.
[all laugh]
[Chris] Now apparently Banshee's made some upgrades
to their air compression valves
so maybe we'll see some better flipping tonight.
But how do you think they'd win it, Martin?
[Martin] They're gonna have to drive this match well.
Banshee only gets one mistake.
Emulsifier gets a few more.
Uh, so we're gonna see who makes that first mistake and that's gonna be crucial.
[Faruq] In the blue square, from Columbus, Ohio.
He'll bond your face with the back of his hand.
It's Emulsifier!
[audience cheering]
[Chris] Here comes Emulsifier under the BotsFC umbrella
which is why you see Adam Wrigley of Shatter! down there
in addition to Emulsifier's Captain Matt Bores.
They're 0-2, but you've got some intel on these guys, right, Martin?
[Martin] I was just looking in the test box, folks
and, uh, they were having some problems
with their fork setup they had
so they've just walked in this new fork setup
just a few minutes ago
so we're gonna see if it works out for 'em.
[Chris] And how tough is that
when you make a last minute adjustment, Martin?
[Martin] It's really stressful because you don't have time to be confident in it.
You know, both these robots are looking really fast.
I think that's gonna make for an exciting fight.
We've only been getting like five or six decent flips, it seems like
and it should be more like ten or 15.
We're hoping that the changes we made to the valve system
will give us all the flips we should need for the fight.
So to prepare for Emulsifier, we put our wedgelets back on,
we have our low-ground scoop attached.
Against Valkyrie, we used brute force and aggressive driving.
For this fight, we're gonna do the opposite.
We're gonna drive delicately like a surgeon
and we're going to pick our battles carefully,
try to outmaneuver, and avoid their weapon at all cost.
In order to defend against Banshee,
we're putting on some forks right now to help win the ground game.
Obviously, they're gonna try to box rush us, get around us
so the strategy is to just keep the front facing him
not let him get around to the side.
Oh, we've got enough reach with our disk
where even if they went under us with their forks,
I still think we'll get a shot off on their frame.
We just gotta be, uh, very careful with our driving, keep our front facing them
and just land that kill shot on 'em.
[audience cheering]
[robotic voice] Robots activate.
[audience cheering]
[Chris] Okay, Kenny. Despite Emulsifier's 0-2 record
you've been impressed with them so far, right?
[Kenny] Yeah, they look great against Fusion
and their loss to Malice was kind of a fluke.
The 50-pound disk has been very reliable too
which isn't something you expect from a rookie robot.
I think Emulsifier can win a tournament fight.
They just need a lights-out finish
to the qualifiers to get there.
[audience chanting] Fight, fight, fight, fight...
[Chris] Emulsifier.
Banshee.
Both rookies need a strong performance
or they can kiss their post season dreams goodbye.
Let the bot battle begin.
Emulsifier having trouble with those treads out of the gate, Martin.
[Martin] Yeah, I can see that.
It's just gonna take a good line-up here though.
[Chris] Emulsifier playing the aggressor now, and going to work.
[Martin] Emulsifier's gotta get some speed up to deliver that hit.
- Come on! - I'm pointing--
[Chris] Chewing right on Banshee. [chuckles]
Yeah, we're still moving, we're still moving.
[Kenny] Emulsifier peeling away that top armor on Banshee.
Banshee looking to try to point that weapon
and get underneath, unable to do it so far.
[Chris] Well, easier said than done.
David Small has to avoid that 50-pound vertical disk.
[Kenny] Ooh, got underneath Emulsifier there.
[Chris] A game of cat and mouse here, so far.
Emulsifier searching for that big shot.
Banshee looking to upend Emulsifier with its flipper.
Let's see what either bot can do.
[Kenny] Emulsifier has Banshee on the run.
David Small on his heels here, Martin.
[Martin] Emulsifier looking really aggressive
but here comes Banshee again.
- [Chris] Ohhh! - [Martin] Oh.
[Chris] Banshee getting all the way underneath Emulsifier and retreats.
What are you doing? Come at us!
[Chris] There's Eric Wrigley on the Emulsifier side.
He must be a blast at parties.
- [Kenny] Ohhh. - [Chris] Oh, yeah, nice chewing by Emulsifier.
[Kenny] Team Banshee unable to get
their primary weapon going at all in this fight.
They've had some opportunities but no life whatsoever from the flipper.
[Chris] And now Emulsifier zeroing in on Banshee.
Banshee really starting to feel it.
Hit him again, hit him again, hit him again.
Go around the back and hit him.
[Chris] A minute thirty remaining.
- Banshee frozen in place. - [Eric yelling indistinctly]
[Chris] Emulsifier threatening...
- David Small mashing the controls! - [referee] Ten!
Nine!
- [Chris] And here comes the countdown! - [referee] Eight, seven,
- six, five, four... - [Chris] Banshee is not moving.
[referee] ...three...
- two, one... - [Chris] Emulsifier gets its
- first ever win! - [referee] ...knockout!
[buzzer buzzes]
- [audience cheering] - That's what I'm talking about!
[woman] Whoo!
[Chris] Well, Kenny, no question Emulsifier
was the one with the most aggression and the biggest bite.
[Kenny] No doubt about it, wasn't able to land that big knockout shot
but very effective nonetheless.
Banshee had their opportunities,
did a good job getting underneath the Emulsifier,
but again that flipper just wasn't firing.
[Chris] Martin, how tough is it when
your primary weapon isn't doing what it's supposed to do?
[Martin] You know, it's tough.
And I think you always have to kind of
think through all the different scenarios
and, you know, if you don't have the weapon
you gotta drive.
And we saw, we saw David trying to do that,
but, uh, it just wasn't enough.
[Chris] Banshee eventually succumbing to the damage,
and dying a quiet death over by the rail.
[Martin] Good night, now.
[audience cheering]
[Matt] Good job, guys.
[Moose] Good job.
[audience cheering]
[Chris] So, Emulsifier maybe didn't look quite as impressive
as it did in those first two losing efforts.
But, I mean, that is a huge moment when you get your first win.
Emulsifier's just 1-2,
but still for a rookie bot pretty solid performance so far.
Absolutely. Always getting better, always hitting harder.
So, uh, I think a lot of great takeaways there.
- [Martin] Yeah. - Martin Mason,
let's look ahead to your fourth and final fight of the regular season.
You're trying to improve to 3-1.
You're taking on a former champion
in Donald Hutson and Lock-Jaw.
How excited does your pit crew
get when that could happen?
We have learned so much from Lock-Jaw.
It is one of our biggest inspirations.
Donald Hutson's building to a price point,
he's building with, with real engineering goals in mind,
and I have incredible respect for him.
If we win this, that is gonna mean so much to us.
But he is, he is an inspiration to the sport.
It's gonna be an amazing fight.
The one and only Martin Mason of team MaDCatTer.
Yeah!
Thank you, guys.
After the break,
we're going to see Copperhead
take on the redesigned Kraken.
Copperhead's been one of the most dominant robots
of the season so far.
In its first two fights,
the massive drum-spinner demolished and disemboweled its opponents.
Can Luke Quintal keep his perfect record alive
against NASA engineer Matt Spurk?
Sparks will fly when we return on
BattleBots.
[Chris] We continue on here on BattleBots.
And up next we've got
what should be a highly
kinetic matchup between Copperhead and Kraken.
And don't forget,
at the end of the night,
we've got a clash between
a surgeon and a buzzsaw
as one of the sport's top drivers,
Matty Vasquez looks for his first win
against the massive vertical weapon of Monsoon.
Let's dive into tonight's marquee matchup.
[Faruq] Please, make it loud for the family robot.
It's Whiplash.
0-2 is definitely unfamiliar territory for team Whiplash.
[Chris] No!
Are you kidding me!
[Martin] That wasn't Whiplash!
That was Whip-last!
So far, our disc has not really worked.
[Chris] Whiplash is in control.
[Matty] HyperShock, we had him right where we wanted to,
it wasn't working and we couldn't inflict any damage.
[Chris] Oh!
Whiplash on fire!
[Matty] We took lots of damage from HyperShock.
It took a lot of time to repair it.
We've had two fights,
and already two giant repair jobs.
There's definitely a level of anxiety to it.
The main focus is just getting the robot together.
[Faruq] The British are coming.
Monsoon.
Our last fight was a fantastic win.
[Kenny] And this is gonna be an early knockout.
Yes! Yes!
Just didn't know that after
three years of being away from BattleBots,
will the robot work?
I think that was what we really needed.
Keeping the momentum going it's crucial at this point.
[Kenny] Oh! Huge hit by Monsoon!
[Tom] The advantage for us is we've got a much bigger weapon.
We're putting on our weapon disc,
which is the first time we've ever, ever used it.
This is the biggest, most powerful weapon we've ever run.
Twenty-one kilos.
It spins at 200 miles an hour.
It's gonna hit like an absolute freight train.
[Matty] Monsoon presents a very big challenge to Whiplash.
They only need to get one or two hits to win the fight.
So, we just need to not get hit.
That'll be bad. [chuckles]
[Tom] Whiplash on its own is already pretty dangerous.
And an 0-2 Whiplash is
far more dangerous. [chuckles]
They're a world-class robot.
The real danger here though is the driver,
is, is Matt Vasquez. He's... He's phenomenal.
[Chris] This is some exceptional driving from Matty Vasquez.
[Matty] I'm preparing for Monsoon to be very aggressive.
Just gonna keep my fight face towards him.
Hit him right off the bat,
get him flipped over,
and just start inflicting damage.
[Tom] We need to knockout,
and we need it quickly and definitively.
[Matty] This is definitely a desperation fight for us.
We've just got to win this fight, no matter what.
[Chris] An awful lot on the line in that fight.
In fact, there's a good look at team Whiplash
putting the finishing touches on their bot.
We'll see if they're able to dial in that spinner later tonight.
But let's get back to our current matchup.
Up next, one of the most impressive bots
we have seen all season.
The compact killer, Copperhead
will try and stay perfect against Matt Spurk
and the redesigned Kraken.
And let's start with the team led by rookie captain Luke Quintal.
He's got Copperhead sitting at 2-0,
and on average, their fights have lasted just 34 seconds this season.
But those first two wins were against horizontals,
and as you can see, Kenny,
they're gonna finish their qualifiers against
a couple of vertical spinners.
[Kenny] Yeah, Copperhead was built to bully horizontals,
so no surprise they've had success
against their first two opponents.
But I do still feel like they're flying under the radar.
The robot hasn't changed much since World Championship V,
but they're 8-2 with two tournament appearances over that span.
In this season, Luke has it hitting harder than ever,
so let's see if he can keep the momentum going tonight,
against a vertical spinner.
[Chris] And that vert belongs to Matt Spurk
and his redesigned robot, Kraken.
They're 0-2.
And, Kenny, while the hammer saw's looked awfully good,
everything else about this new bot hasn't.
[Kenny] Yeah, it's been plagued with mobility issues.
Part of that is Matt learning how to drive
a four-wheel bot with a spinning weapon.
The other part is learning the ins and outs of a complex new machine.
But it is gonna be tough to learn on the fly
against a robot as quick and as violent as Copperhead.
It's critical that Matt keeps Kraken squared up at all times,
something he's struggled to do so far this season.
Tough task for Matt Spurk and his family.
Let's see if they can get their first "dub".
Faruq.
[audience cheering]
[Faruq] In the red square,
this bot's a real sneak, he should be in Congress,
except for the fact he's actually making progress.
He'll crack you in the teapot dome,
and the shock that he delivers,
will lead you to one big crash,
and drown you in the Chappaquiddick River.
It's Copperhead!
[Chris] Oh, my G... What is going on here?
- [Kenny laughs] - [Chris] Somebody's getting
a big head, Luke Quintal.
Oh, this is great.
[Kenny laughs]
[Chris] Oh, no!
The team's looking to sail the seven seas
- against Kraken, Kenny. - [Kenny] Love it.
And you know, Copperhead usually
keeps it fairly consistent
with their configurations.
But they did add an extra plate of top armor
to protect against overhead attacks.
Luke has a lot of respect for Matt Spurk
and he's not taking any chances here against Kraken.
[Chris in a raspy voice] Aye, aye, captain.
[Faruq] In the blue square,
sit right back, and you'll hear
a tale of a fateful BattleBotstrip.
At the hands of this ripping skipper,
you'll sink like Gilligan's ship.
It doesn't take a professor to know that your robot
won't fare well.
He's a big fish.
You're a minnow, little buddy.
Enjoy your three-minute tour of hell.
It's Kraken!
Whoo!
[Chris] Ah, you can hear the roar of the crowd.
Despite being winless
his last two seasons, Matt Spurk and family
still uber popular in theBattleBots game.
Now, we know Kraken is overpowered
in the weapon department, Kenny.
But how do they win this fight?
[Kenny] Well, Kraken still has a formidable front wedge.
If they can pop Copperhead up,
there's the possibility it destroys itself,
but they also wanna try to use Kraken more like a crusher bot here,
clamp down on Copperhead,
and slam them into the walls
like we've seen Quantum successfully do this season.
Kraken's all new this season.
We've seen their previous matches.
We know they've had some issues with the brand new robot.
Uh, having some drive issues.
So what we're thinking is
we're gonna do a little bit more tactical driving.
Uh, we might spin the drum a little bit slower,
get some more maneuverability,
try to get along, you know, around to the side of them.
The top of Copperhead has exposed drive chains,
and we wanna make sure
that Kraken doesn't have the opportunity to hit that.
If they're able to do that,
we'll lose the drive side.
It's hard to land hits that way.
So we just wanna make sure
our drive continues to function,
and just hit 'em, hit 'em, and just never stop hitting 'em.
We were really nervous
but as soon as we saw on the card
that we were fighting Copperhead,
we know they are a great robot,
how tough they are,
but at the same point,
our armor is designed
for robots like his.
So, if we can get those two front forks in under his drum,
we might be able to just control him
from that point.
And from there, we can deliver the hammer
whenever we want to.
If we can somehow manage,
to, to scrape away a win against Copperhead,
it would be huge.
It would basically save our season.
- Beautiful. - We're good.
[robotic voice] Robots activate.
[audience cheering]
[Chris] Okay, Kraken's drive looking good, Kenny.
[Kenny] Yeah, and mobility's gonna be key here.
It's gone the distance in both of its fights this season.
Copperhead, on the other hand, has been a knockout party.
[Chris] Oh, this should be a good one.
Can Kraken turn its season around,
or will Luke Quintal's
little juggernaut keep mowing through the competition?
The answer, when we return
onBattleBots.
[Chris] Welcome back toBattleBots,
where the 2-0 Copperhead
and the 0-2 Kraken
have both slithered in to the arena,
and are ready to make each other squirm.
It's one of our heaviest hitters
versus one of our most durable designs.
Time to see some parts fly.
[audience cheering]
[audience chanting] Fight, fight, fight, fight...
[buzzer sounds]
[Chris] Let the bot battle begin.
- Kraken on the attack-- - [Kenny] Oh!
[Chris] It overshoots the runway.
Whoa!
Takes a shot!
- [Kenny] Uh-oh. - [Chris] Couple of them.
[Kenny] Kraken very fast
but they couldn't find the brakes there.
Copperhead taking full advantage here.
[Chris] And gets a nice knock from his buddy,
the 100-pound pulverizer too.
[Kenny] Kraken fishtailing, Copperhead smells blood.
- [Chris] Man, Kraken just has no stability right now. - [Kenny] Oh!
[Chris] And Copperhead's gonna take advantage of that.
Ow! Ow! Ow! Aw! Jeez.
[Kenny] Kraken's weapon still active, Chris.
Oh, my goodness, Copperhead just as no fear.
Luke Quintal in complete control.
[Chris] Has Kraken up against the screws.
Little narwhal says, "Hey, get your hands off my dad!"
But no! Takes the minibot!
[Kenny] Uh-oh, this might be...
[Kenny and Chris exclaim]
[Chris] Wow!
- Gone? - [Chris] First little narwhal took the shot,
now, the big bot, Kraken doing his crunches.
Oh! Trying to get back up.
Copperhead's, "No, you just stay right there.
I'm gonna beat you into the screws."
[Kenny] Oh, boy.
[Chris] Kraken thrashing around like a wounded animal.
Copperhead ain't gonna lay off.
- [Kenny] Oh! - [Chris] Oh, no!
The neck getting a clean shave courtesy of the screws.
- Is that gonna be it, Kenny? - [Kenny] Copperhead thinks so.
[Chris] Here comes the countdown.
- It has been all about power. - [referee] ...eight, seven...
[Chris] ...precision and perfect for the little drum spinner
here in World Championship VII.
[referee] ...one. Knockout.
[cheering]
[Chris] Copperhead moves to 3-0.
[indistinct conversation]
[Chris] Kenny, this fight started with a big old swing and a miss from Kraken,
it was all Copperhead after that.
[Kenny] Yeah, Luke Quintal dominated the driving battle
in this one. He found every opening
and got underneath Kraken repeatedly.
[Chris] Shades of Minotaur the way Copperhead sticks to its opponents
grinds away and delivers those heavy shots.
[Kenny] Yeah, I mean that robot is dominant, man.
They're gonna be very tough to beat.
They're very low to the ground.
That weapon is hitting extremely hard.
Seems like Luke is driving the heck out of it. Very impressed.
[Chris] Yeah, it is something special out there.
He mixes aggressiveness with intelligence, that's what you get.
A 3-0 start to the season.
[audience applauding]
[Chris] Hey, Luke, your bot seems perfect.
Yeah, I mean Copperhead's never been better.
We really got it dialed in.
Uh, I'm so happy with the way it's performing.
Uh, it's... It's been great.
[Kenny] Yeah, it seems like you didn't wanna waste any time.
You were aggressive as soon as that fight started.
Yeah, we wanted to get in there real quick,
um, we wanted to do a little bit more
driving, we definitely didn't wanna drive
right up their wedge where their weapon
could potentially grab us,
uh, we do have expose chains, we didn't wanna
give 'em any garb... grabbel... grappel
opportunities so, try get around to the side
do some damage, pop 'em up in the air,
just stay aggressive was our strategy.
You know, Luke you guys have been
very successful for the last
few regular seasons.
Do you feel like
this is the best we've seen Copperhead?
I mean Copperhead is definitely better
than it's ever been, uh, the weapon works
great, the drive's working perfectly, uh,
you know, we get it a little
bit better every season
and I think this could be our season
to go all the way.
So, you think you could get
your hands on the Giant Nut?
That Giant Nut
- is coming to Colorado. - [Chris] Wow!
- [audience cheering] - [kid cheering]
- [Luke] Yes. - And Luke good job out there
as you improve to 3 and 0.
Thank you.
- [man] Yeah. - [kid] Yes, we won.
[audience cheering]
[indistinct chatter]
Kenny based on what Copperhead
has done the last few seasons,
remember they were
a top three seed heading into
the tournament a few years ago,
last season they were a top 10.
This shouldn't come as a surprise but this
time it feels a little different, doesn't it?
I mean, yeah, Co... Copperhead has so much
momentum right now
and I think what I love most
is how Luke's aggressive
driving style pairs
perfectly with the robot,
he's fearless and Copperhead can just
overwhelm opponents
with that drum spinner,
still has one more qualifying fight against
rookie phenom RIPperoni,
hasn't had the toughest strength of schedule
so far this season,
but at 3 and 0 with three KOs,
this team is where it needs to be.
[Chris] And for team Kraken
their hopes of making the tournament
are sinking fast.
[Kenny] Yeah, at this point Matt Spurk and family
need to just try and finish
strong, maybe take some momentum
into next season
or even a Sin City Slugfest
and hey, if you're missing the old Kraken
come check it out
at the Vegas live show,
BattleBots Destructathon.
[Chris] All right, coming up,
we've got two winless squads
desperate for their first victory of the season.
Will the 2020 top eight team
Shatter! be able to put the hammer down
on the dual horizontal disks
of the rookie robot Horizon?
There's one way to find out and that's
to stay tuned for more BattleBots.
[audience cheering]
We are back on BattleBots
and our next fight
is brought to you by the number zero,
that's because Horizon and Shatter! have
combined for zero wins,
but there's a deeper story today
and let's start with the veteran bot
builder Adam Wrigley and Shatter!.
They're 0 and 2
but their losses are to HUGE and Beta
who are combined 5 and 0 this season.
Now, Shatter! will finish the qualifiers
against a couple of rookies,
so maybe Adam doesn't need to hit
the panic button just yet, Kenny.
[Kenny] Yeah, two tough matchups to start
the season, they look great
in a losing effort to HUGE
but then they got demolished
by Beta in that last fight.
Team Shatter! needs
to take care of business here
in this all important
third round of the qualifiers.
[Chris] And trying to put a nail in Shatter's
tournament coffin tonight
is Horizon,
captained by Josh Kong,
and while we love the design
the 20 year old is finding out
just how hard it is to compete in the highest
level of robot combat.
There's no question that this team is very
- creative, I... I haven't seen another bot like it. - Nope.
Uh, so I admire that,
however that weapon just
isn't hitting very hard
at this stage of the game
and after their second loss
Josh said, "Not working
isn't gonna be their legacy"
they've been in the pits
night and day to get it ready,
I'm hearing the weapons
should at least be able to spin up,
if it doesn't, we might not see them next year,
they were invited
as an experimental design
but it's time to show a little practicality.
[Chris] All right, the robots are ready to go.
Let's dance.
[audience cheering]
[robotic voice] Red team ready?
[Chris] Well, Kenny it doesn't matter
what day of the week it's is,
it's taco time
for team Horizon
and it looks like the robot
does have a hard shell of its own tonight.
[Kenny] Yeah, you could see the dark Tegris
armor they've bolted to its arms.
That's to help protect against
Shatter!'s hammer.
Also check out their not
so mini, mini bot, Sunrise.
Similar to the one Jackpot uses,
it's heavily magnetized
and its goal is to sit
in front of Shatter like a door stop
giving Horizon more time to spin up.
[Chris] Oh, okay,
so it's like the offensive line
- of Horizon. - [Kenny] Exactly.
[robotic voice] Blue team ready?
[Chris] That's Adam Wrigly there on the left,
it's a top eight team
from a few seasons ago
going against the rookie robot.
If this were a basketball game
I'd say Shatter!'s
a 10 point favorite here, Kenny.
So, how do they
pull off a dominant victory?
[Kenny] Well, they're hoping to land
quite a few shots tonight
so they're running their shock
mountain hammer,
it absorbs energy
which will help stop them
from losing control
after hitting Horizon.
Adam's an aggressive driver so I'm expecting
to see them fire the hammer a lot,
just have to land the hits.
[Chris] Over under 15 hammer shots
from Shatter! here tonight.
[Kenny] In a fight that could decide their season,
can't hold anything back, given the over.
[audience cheering]
[audience chanting] Fight, fight, fight, fight...
[Chris] A rookie
and a top eight bot
from a few seasons ago.
If they want to sniff the round of 32
both teams need to let her rip here.
Let the bot battle begin!
Let's see if Sunrise
that little mini bot
can do some blocking, no.
Horizon's blades are spinning though
that's a good sign.
Okay, nice little shot there
taken off some of that abative armor.
- [Kenny] Oh. - [Chris] All right, that's a serious shot.
- [Kenny] Oh! - [Chris] Oh, Shatter!
- just misses there. - Get up, man, get up.
[Chris] And that was a huge
problem we saw in their last
fight against Beta, Kenny.
[Kenny] Yeah, and you know while Horizon has
those long arms, that's actually
a relatively small target,
pretty well protected too.
- [Kenny] Oh! - [Chris] Oh, Shatter! lands a big shot there,
but whips on the follow up
and way off on that one.
[Kenny] Yeah, Horizon actually doing a nice job,
bobbing and weaving there,
and giving themselves some time to spin up.
[Chris] Oh, another
drive by slice in there by Horizon.
The front Shatter! is all
kinds of carved up.
- [Kenny] Whoa. - [Chris] Whoa.
[Adam] Stop missing.
[Chris] Adam Wrigly is not happy,
and now Horizon's
got those tea cups spinning,
not a big hit.
That's why I'm a coffee drinker.
- [Kenny] Oh. - [Chris] That's a good shot by Shatter!
- [Kenny] Whoa! - [Chris] Whoa! A spinning back fist,
Horizon's looking like
Kenny Florian and Shatter! is
up on the upper deck.
[Kenny] That's a great job
by Adam Wrigly's crew to get down.
[Chris] Good shot there.
[Kenny] Tell you what, Horizon's weapon
is not to be underestimated here.
[Chris] No, it's done a nice job so far.
Shatter! 0 and 2,
and I'm sure this is a much
closer fight than they were expecting.
Get him.
- Wait, wait, run away, run away. - [Kenny] So far Horizon
performing the best
that we've seen all season.
- [Chris] Whoa! - [Kenny] Whoa! Uh-oh!
[Chris] Well, Horizon might not have that
one hit KO power
but those blades are carving Shatter! up.
[Kenny] Yeah, kind of a death
by a 1000 cuts.
- Oh. - [Chris] And that's a good shot
there by Adam Wrigly's team,
maybe starting to get that
hammer dialed in a bit.
- Get some clairs, get some clairs. - [David] One...
- [Chris] Oh. - [Kenny] Horizon just has a tiny
strike zone.
[Chris] I mean, Adam Wrigly
swinging that hammer just
not connecting at all, Kenny.
[Kenny] Well, Horizon utilizing,
a stick and move strategy
to perfection right now.
Shatter! just not
able to get a handle on him.
[Chris] Oh, but Adam Wrigly lands
an acrobatic shot there.
When they have connected, Kenny,
it's been pretty solid.
[Kenny] Yeah, and something might be up
with those omni wheels,
they look like they're driving on ice.
[Chris] Connects with the hammer there but
misses the follow up.
Hasn't been able to put
together a combo just yet.
40 second to go in this one.
[Kenny] And it looks like one of Horizon's
discs is down.
[Chris] That'll help Shatter!'s cause
in the damage category.
Lands another good shot,
starting to figure out
this game of Whac-A-Mole.
[Adam] Fire again, fire, keep firing.
[Chris] Well, Adam Wrigly tells
his brother to keep letting it rip.
And at least one of Horizon's discs
is still working,
very close fight here.
- [Kenny] Oh! - [Chris] A direct hit
by Shatter!
[Kenny] Shatter! going on the offensive.
- [electronic beeping] - [Chris] Oh, here you go,
good opportunity.
- [Kenny] Uh-oh. - [Chris] Three shots, four.
Quit running away!
[Chris] Team Shatter! with one final flurry.
With some frustration
as time expires.
[Kenny] And those horizontal spinners on Horizon
were still working
at the end of that fight.
[man] Yeah, yeah!
Whoo!
[Chris] And look at Josh Kong and his crew.
Super excited,
he's a third year mechanical engineering
student in UC Davis,
but he's like, "It finally worked."
Win or lose,
Horizon did its job.
So, now this one is in the hands
of the Judges, all three are former
BattleBots participants.
Fon Davis, Lisa Winter
and Derek Young.
Scoring on an 11 point system,
up to five points can be awarded
for damage, three for aggression,
and three for control.
Well, Kenny that was a different Horizon
that we've seen in it's first two fights.
[Kenny] Yeah, it drove pretty
well and the weapons
finally worked,
that was much closer
to the robot we were promised this season.
[Chris] Adam Wrigly on the other hand
had another tough time
landing shots with his hammer,
Shatter! out of control
for much of this match.
[Kenny] Yeah and I think that
hurt them more than it normally would,
you could see in this
slow mo some of those shots
by Horizon were kind of amplified
because Shatter! was flailing out of control
- at the same time. - [Chris] You know, a tough one to score
in real time
which is what the judges have to do.
So, which way do you think
they're gonna go?
[Kenny] Well, I think Horizon showed a little bit
more control but aggression and damage
could go either way though.
Horizon seemed like they were doing
the majority of damage
but Shatter! did end with a nice
little flurry of hammer shots,
this was a close match.
[Chris] And either way, against an
0 and 2 rookie, Adam Wrigly
leaves a winnable
fight in the hands of the judges,
always a risky place to be.
Here's, Faruq, with the decision.
[audience cheering]
The results from the judges are in.
We have a split decision.
[audience gasping]
Judge Fon scored the battle
for Horizon.
[audience cheering]
[Faruq] Judge Derek
scored the battle
for Shatter!
[audience chanting]
[Faruq] Judge Lisa
scored the battle
for the winner,
Horizon!
[Eric] Yes, they're challenge on,
they ran away the whole fight.
[Adam] Okay, okay, okay, okay.
- [Adam] Okay. - [Eric] You kidding me?
[Adam] Okay.
[Chris] Well, Josh congratulations on your first
ever win here in BattleBots,
it was a split decision
my friend,
why do you think
that two of the judges went with you?
Uh, well, I think,
you know, damage is a very part of...
big part of BattleBots scorecard
even if it didn't, uh,
necessary disable Shatter!
I think, you know, cosmetic
damage is still kind of a grey area
so that probably went in our favor.
Uh, I mean I saw a couple times where
we got under them
because they jump when they hit,
so that probably,
maybe helped us in our aggression
format,
but overall very close fight
it somehow worked and,
I'm quite happy about it.
You should be, go celebrate
with your squad, congratulations
on your first victory.
[Josh] Thank you.
[audience cheering]
Adam, it's never fun to lose
particularly a split decision
that that's close.
What do you think was the difference?
Um, I don't know,
so we're gonna appeal it.
- Um... - [Chris] Oh.
- You know, I... I... I think... - [audience booing]
...their weapon worked a lot
better that fight than previously but
they ran away
and they were screaming at each other,
"Run away, run away, run away."
In my mind that's
a 3-0 aggression for us.
You don't run away a whole fight,
um, they did damage the plastic
but we're driving and firing
the weapon at the end
and we disabled their spinner,
we disabled their mini bot,
uh, I think we won that fight,
we're gonna appeal it.
Again, great robot,
great fight by them, best I've seen,
but, I mean we're gonna have
to use the appeal, we can't go to 0 and 3,
so, we're gonna... we're gonna appeal it.
- [audience cheering] - And that is certainly your choice.
No better time to use it.
Good luck to you, Adam.
[Adam] Thanks.
[Chris] All right, Kenny it makes perfect sense
for Shatter! to appeal this
because you heard it from Adam Wrigly,
they can't afford to go to 0 and 3.
Yeah, I think it's worth the risk,
um, it was certainly a close fight,
but Adam has a tough case here,
he thinks the Judges
may have awarded Horizon too many points
for aggression and, possibly, damage.
It's a subjective argument.
This isn't a situation like we saw last week with Malice
where the judges missed its weapon still being
functional at the end of the match.
We'll see how this goes.
[Chris] All right. So the judges will now have the chance
to review the fight footage using all available camera angles.
They can then choose to change their scorecards
or stick with their original scores.
Now, if the appeal is unsuccessful
and the decision stands,
Team Shatter! won't be able to appeal again
for the duration of World Championship VII.
But as he said, with his tournament hopes in jeopardy,
Adam Wrigley felt he had to do this.
And we still got two fights left in the night,
including our marquee-matchup.
There are the two teams
passing their final safety checks right now.
2020 runners-up, Whiplash, are in desperation mode.
The team's fate lies in the hands of this young man,
Matty Vasquez.
We'll see them both at the main event.
Stick around for more BattleBots coming your way!
Next!
[man roaring]
Welcome back to BattleBots.
Before the break, we had an appeal filed.
It was a very close fight
between a couple of 0-2 teams.
The rookie bot, Horizon,
and the seasoned veterans, Shatter!
Horizon!
[Chris] After losing a split decision,
Adam Wrigley called for the appeal,
arguing that Horizon ran away
for most of the three minutes,
and that overall, his team was more aggressive.
Well, during the break, the judges reviewed the footage
and they didn't see enough to overturn the original decision.
[man whooping]
Congratulations.
Congrats, guys.
- Good fight. - It was a hell of a fight.
No one says that fight wasn't amazing.
[Chris] So, Horizon officially earns their first career win
while Shatter! slips into the danger zone
at 0-3.
And for the record, here are the scorecards.
Walk us through these, Kenny Florian, if you don't mind.
[Kenny] Okay. Well, you can see
the judges were split across the board
in both the damage and aggression categories,
but they all agree that Horizon won the control column
and that seems to be the key difference-maker here.
After looking at the footage again during the break,
I tend to agree with them.
Shatter! did land some quality shots,
but the team didn't do itself any favors
by repeatedly flailing the hammer
and that was amplified in the exchanges,
where it sent itself flying backwards.
Horizon did retreat for stretches,
but Shatter! never had control on the fight.
It was very close,
but I can understand why the judges chose to stand pat.
[Chris] Now, Shatter! is out of appeals for the rest of the season,
including the tournament, if they make it.
They'll need a strong performance
in their final fight to sneak in,
and that fight happens to be against
one of our next two teams, Ominous,
who is getting set up in the box as we speak.
They're taking on SHREDDIT BRO!,
captained by Evan Arias out of the New York area.
And it doesn't matter Evan's result,
it's always the same attitude with him.
He's, like, "Man, I got the best bot around."
- He really believes it! - [laughing]
[Kenny] Well, unfortunately, fake it till you make it
doesn't really work atBattleBots.
They got their first win almost by default
because Horizon, who we just saw,
basically didn't work in fight number one.
He's got to get it going soon,
otherwise, we might not see him back next year.
[audience cheering]
[Chris] As for the omnidirectional rookie bot
from the Netherlands, Ominous...
Well, it got completely steamrolled by Claw Viper
in its debut fight, Kenny.
[Kenny] Yeah, it's a beautiful-looking bot,
but against Claw Viper who's been a big surprise this season,
we never really got a chance to see what it can do.
They spent a lot of time in their test box since then,
so I hope we get its mobility and vertical spinner
on full display tonight.
[Chris] All right. A big prove-it match for both teams.
Let's go down to the driver's deck.
[audience cheering]
[robotic voice] Red team ready?
[Chris] There's Captain Tim Bouwens
getting a little meta.
Ominous just got a 50-pound, 12-inch drum disc out there,
but I'm really curious to see
if his mobility will be better tonight.
[Kenny] If it is, Ominous should be able
to drive circles around SHREDDIT BRO!.
It can reach 18 miles an hour driving straight
and 15 when it drives sideways.
[robotic voice] Blue team ready?
[Chris] Evan Arias, there on the left.
They've had drive issues in their first fight.
What's the word tonight, Kenny?
[Kenny] Evan says they dialed in their speed controllers
and also swapped the wheels upfront
to, hopefully, avoid locking up as much.
But, check it out, only using little baby forks on the sides
and no wedge!
They're putting a lot of faith in that 60-pound drum of theirs.
He's gonna go right at that Dutch dudes.
[audience chanting] Fight!
Fight! Fight!
[Chris] Let the Bot Battle begin!
Both teams creep out of their squares.
Ominous sidewinding its way towards SHREDDIT BRO!.
And draws first blood with a jab!
Uh-oh! Uh-oh!
- [Chris yelling] - [audience gasping]
[Chris] That was a devastating shot!
Sent Ominous, like, 40 feet across the BattleBox!
Lucky to land on its wheels there.
And the Dutch squad right back into the action as well.
[Kenny] Looks like both weapons are feeling
the effects of that collision, Chris.
[Chris] Yeah, that vertical disc on Ominous
is trying to get going again,
but SHREDDIT BRO!'s drum appears to be down.
And based on what we've seen from this team in the past,
most likely... Out!
[Kenny] AtBattleBots, you always need a plan B,
and now is that time.
- Push it! Push it! - Let's go!
- Yeah! - Yeah!
[Kenny] Team SHREDDIT BRO! wants Evan Arias to get
in there and start pushing.
[Chris] Oh, this just turned into an NBA fight
where everybody's just staring at each other, saying,
- "Come on, hit me! Come on, hit me!" - [Kenny laughing]
[Kenny] "You go! No, you go!"
[Chris] It's not really happening.
[Kenny] Oh, how about this?
Do we have some life from the weapon of Ominous?
[Chris] Tim Bouwens able to get it going there briefly.
Doesn't look like it has the ability to do much damage,
but certainly doesn't hurt his case to the judges
that, "Hey! Guess what? We're in better shape than those dudes from New York!"
[Kenny] Attack at the wheels, that's what he wanted to do.
But he can't quite get there!
[Chris] Maybe. Like, "SHREDDIT BRO!, you stay right there.
I promise I'm gonna get my weapon to fire."
[Kenny] Ominous, sweep the leg!
Sweep the leg!
[Chris chuckling] And don't forget,
our main event is coming up next.
One of the most famous families in robot combat
will be fighting for its tournament life
as Matty Vasquez and Whiplash
take on the British brawler, Monsoon.
Two top-tier bots should be a fantastic matchup!
It's definitely critical we get a win here.
A win against Tantrum in our fourth round
might not be enough to get us in the 32.
[Tom] Whiplash is a grand finalist,
so they're a world class robot.
If we can beat Whiplash, and beat them definitively,
that's gonna set a real precedent going forward.
I'm all about the weapon.
[audience cheering]
[Tom] He's all about the driving and the control,
so it's going to be a real clash of styles here.
[Chris] And that is coming your way right after this match.
SHREDDIT BRO! trying to stay aggressive
without an active weapon.
Ominous, its vertical spinner showing signs of life,
but has lacked any real pop since that huge collision
at the start of this fight.
Under ten remaining,
which means this one is going the distance.
And without much in the way of action,
the judges have the unenviable task of deciding
who gets the W.
[buzzer sounds]
[audience cheering]
[Chris] Well, this was the biggest shot of the match,
weapon to weapon, Kenny.
[Kenny] Yeah, it was all about this one shot,
sent Ominous flying across the box
and took the sting completely out of both weapons.
[Chris] Ominous was able to tease
just that touch of life out of its vertical disc,
and land one more jab. We'll see if it was enough.
[Kenny] Yeah, and again, it's little things like that
that could be the difference here in him getting the decision.
The results from the judges are in!
The winner by unanimous decision is...
- Ominous! - [audience cheering]
[Chris] Tim Bouwens, I saw that big, old exhale.
It's been four years where you've been waiting to hear those words.
How does it feel?
Very, very nice. Very nice.
I know there's a lot of teething issues
with any sort of new robot,
but when you're bringing one that's as complex as Ominous,
what's the biggest challenge?
Uh, first, don't do it.
- [laughing] - [audience laughing]
You have nowhere to test it but here.
So, uh, I'm finally, finally glad it worked...
Sort of.
So, we have some work to do.
Tim, we like you! You're a risk-taker
and that's okay in our books.
- And he's very honest. - So, good job!
Congratulations, man.
[audience cheering]
[Chris] Okay, well,
SHREDDIT BRO! had their backs turned before that decision.
Not exactly sure what that was about,
but maybe they knew it wasn't gonna go their way.
But bots move to one and one,
but after that performance,
they have got bigger problems to worry about than records.
All right, next up!
- It's finally time for the main event. - [audience cheering]
[Chris] Whiplash, for the first time in its career,
is trying to bounce back after two consecutive losses.
But they have to do it against one of the sport's biggest vertical spinners,
Monsoon.
Which one will reign victorious?
That is mere moments away right here on BattleBots.
[Chris] We continue on here atBattleBots World Championship VII.
Anybody ready for the main event?
[audience cheering]
[Chris] Of course, you are!
It's a good one.
A pair of teams that need the W,
Monsoon and Whiplash. And can you believe,
Matt Vasquez and his squad, 0-2?
We spoke to Matt Vasquez earlier today.
He said the playoffs start today.
Whiplash has had a grueling schedule
and it ain't getting any easier.
Monsoon tonight, then it's the reigning champs.
To make the tournament regardless of record,
they need to look more like the squad that nearly won it all in 2020.
[Kenny] You know, their first two fights went south
while they were on the defensive.
We used to see Whiplash outrun and outmaneuver opponents
in those situations.
It's possible the competition has caught up to this bot.
Either way, if they're going to turn this season around,
it needs to start tonight.
And Monsoon,
not only a good robot, an emotional one.
Tom Brewster and Tim Rackers,
they couldn't come over because of the pandemic
for the last few seasons.
But Monsoon got a win in its last fight
and you could see tears in Tom's eyes.
It meant that much to him.
[Kenny] Yeah, it's been a long road back for the Brits,
and remember, this was a top eight bot
at World Championship III.
These guys know what they're doing,
so with a couple of strong performances
down the stretch,
I think this team could be a top ten seed.
[Chris] And Kenny, how do these bots stack up on paper?
[Kenny] Well, the drivetrain numbers
give Whiplash the clear advantage
in the mobility department. Monsoon, on the other hand,
playing the power game.
They're a threat to end this fight in one shot
if Matty makes a mistake.
And I think fork length tells a story as well.
Whiplash wants to get underneath
and control Monsoon.
The Brits? They want contact.
Hence, those shorter eight-inch feeder forks.
Now compared to some of the other teams who run 10-15 deep,
the Los Angelinos have been short-staffed
in the pits this season.
But Matt's brother, Jason, has finally returned
after being away at school.
So, maybe we do see a more functional bot
to finish the qualifiers.
Lot on the line. Let's see what happens.
Faruq!
[audience cheering]
[Faruq] Ladies and gentlemen,
are you ready?
It's time
for the main event!
[siren blaring]
[Faruq] In the red square...
Forget what anyone's told you.
This is the ultimate driving machine!
Fastest thing on four wheels since a young Lightning McQueen.
But it's also a killer.
So, even though the driver's skills are beautiful,
they can go real slow in the procession
when they're driving to your funeral.
Give it up for Whiplash!
[audience cheering]
[Chris] Team Whiplash, 0-2 for the first time ever.
Captain Matt Vasquez on the right,
and on the left is his brother Jason,
who we were just talking about, Kenny.
[Kenny] Yeah, Jason has been Matt's right-hand man from the beginning
and his engineering skills have been critical to this bot's success.
But this one is all on Matt.
He needs to dictate the action, apply constant pressure
and look to score damage points with the vertical disc.
That's what it's there for.
[audience cheering]
[Faruq] In the blue square,
if you're a climate change denier,
this bot is coming to your door.
It won't knock on it.
It'll burst right in till it's flooded all three floors.
You'll be sitting on your roof watching your TV float right on by.
And I'll wave to you from this episode, saying,
"I told you it wasn't a lie."
It's Monsoon!
[audience cheering]
[Chris] Coming off their first victory since season four,
the Brits are all smiles.
You got Captain Tom Brewster on the right,
Tim Rackers in the back waving the Union Jack,
and they're not pulling any punches tonight, Kenny.
[Kenny] No, they're gonna let it fly
with this massive 46-pound, single-toothed vertical disc
they call The Mauler.
Spins at 225 miles per hour.
Tom feels confident with the decision.
But there's always risk involved in debuting a new weapon,
especially in a fight as high-profile as this one.
[audience cheering]
[Chris] So, it is speed versus power.
Kenny, what do you think could be the X-factor in this one?
[Kenny] Well, Monsoon doesn't have a traditional self-righter.
And remember, that's why they lost that close fight against Black Dragon.
Tom says the bigger disc should actually help Monsoon roll back
if it gets stuck on its nose.
But Matt Vasquez is surgical with that lifter arm.
So, it's something to look out for.
[Chris] And if you're feeling like this one might be close,
well, so are the pros.
Look at this. It is pretty much a pick 'em, Kenny Florian.
[Kenny] Yeah, kinda surprising to see so many taking Monsoon.
Whiplash has the pedigree,
but it hasn't been performing like its usual self,
and it could be that the builders are starting to take notes.
[robotic voice] Robots activate.
[audience cheering]
[Chris] Okay, the pressure's on.
Can Matty Vasquez drive his team out of an 0-2 hole?
Or will the British bazooka put a massive dent into their tournament chances?
The answer, when we return.
This isBattleBots.
[Martin] Welcome, folks. This is a community college team,
which means we gotta go bigger,
we gotta go harder.
Oh, yeah!
That means when we're up there on camera,
we gotta be bigger and louder.
And you know what, guys? I brought you guys in today
to see what you got for me.
Ralph, show me what you got.
Oh, yes.
Oh, Ralph. It's "Oh, yeah!"
Back of the line.
[Martin] All right, Tommy. Let's see what you got.
You're gonna give me 94%!
Oh, Tommy, I like the energy, but it's "100%!"
Yeah!
Back of the line.
All right, Calvin, let's see what you got.
I'll tell you what, guys. MaDCatTer's the best!
You know what, Calvin? I love it, the intensity,
but it's "I'll tell you what, folks."
MaDCatTer's the beast!
Oh, yeah!
All right, folks. Let's gather in.
Everybody ready?
[all] Community college!
100%!
[audience cheering]
[Chris] We are back onBattleBots.
We are all set for tonight's final death match
between Whiplash and Monsoon.
Matt Vasquez's back is up against the wall.
And Tom Brewster would love to launch his bot right through it.
[audience chanting] Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!
[Chris] Whiplash.
Monsoon.
Big-time tournament implications in this one.
- 70%. Get rolling, then 100. - You got this. You got this.
[buzzing]
[Chris] Let the bot battle begin!
Matt Vasquez with the box rush.
Whiplash... Oh!
[Kenny] Oh, this is what they do best,
dictate the action and control their opponents.
[Chris] Monsoon able to bounce its way out of the corner.
Takes a jab from Whiplash.
You see that ingenious design of Monsoon.
The weapon module can actually pivot
so that those feeder forks remain on the ground at all times.
[Kenny] Whiplash just slicing and dicing underneath Monsoon now.
Looking for a lift here.
- [Chris] And whoa! - [Kenny] Whoa!
[Chris] Whiplash puts Monsoon on its head.
Monsoon retreats.
Oh! Nice face-to-face shot.
That one won by Monsoon.
[Kenny] Beautiful self-right and counter shot by Matty Vasquez there.
[Chris] Whiplash trying to rip Monsoon into the BattleBox.
That's what Vasquez does best.
Monsoon looking for room to breathe.
Whiplash gets underneath and drives it
into the other side of the box.
A control clinic by Whiplash here.
[Kenny] Now, did Whiplash shut down their weapon,
or was that the effect of Monsoon's big shot?
[Chris] Well, we know how big an effect the loss of a primary weapon
can have on the scorecards.
So, keep your eyes trained on that vertical disc of Whiplash.
Very important.
- Oh! - [Kenny] Oh, there's the spark.
[Chris] Oh, yeah. That's pretty.
Oh-so pretty.
[Kenny] Not getting by that armor though.
[Chris] Oh.
Don't stop, keep going.
[Chris] Whiplash racking up points
in the control and aggression categories.
[Kenny] Oh! Nasty shot there.
[Chris] And another.
Whiplash absorbs those shots,
but at some point, it has to prove it has life in its weapon, Kenny.
[Kenny] Yeah, potentially, unless they're trying to go for a knockout,
see if they can invert Monsoon,
get its weapon to maybe destroy itself.
[yelling indistinctly]
[Chris] Closing in on the one-minute mark.
- [Kenny] Oh! - [Chris] Oh, the pulverizer drops in.
[Kenny] Whiplash getting that hammer involved now.
Feeling some damage there.
Some damage to the front of Whiplash there, Chris.
[man] He's recovering.
- [man] He's on him! - Oh! Come on!
[Chris] Monsoon having some trouble with the floor.
[Kenny] This is a very close fight, Chris.
- [Chris] Wow, look at that. - [Kenny] Oh, man.
[Chris] Serious strength by Whiplash.
But how about the endurance of that weapon on Monsoon?
[Kenny] This has been a brutal fight, and both bots feel it.
Here comes the weapon of Whiplash back from the dead.
[Chris] And that could be a gamechanger, folks.
- Some of this is definitely damaging. - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[Chris] Matt Vasquez has controlled the pace to this point
and is now saying to the judges,
"Hey, you better believe that I still have an active primary weapon over there."
[Kenny] What a fight. Both teams have been super aggressive,
willing to stand in and trade shots.
Whiplash looked like it's lost its drive on that left side.
Both weapons still alive.
The judges are gonna have their work cut out for 'em.
[Chris] So, these two big-time bots will end up going the distance.
Highly entertaining match between a pair of veterans.
- [alarm buzzing] - It's home.
- What a fight. - Whoa.
- That was good. - Believe it.
[Chris] So, for the third time in as many fights,
our panel of judges takes center stage.
A pressure-packed decision is in the works
in tonight's main event.
That was awesome.
[talking indistinctly]
[Chris] Kenny, Matt Vasquez says,
"I just wanna outdrive the Brits."
He did early.
[Kenny] Well, he certainly brought his aggression.
He was taking the fight to Monsoon.
He was closing that distance.
He was getting underneath him early.
[Chris] You know, I thought that new weapon on Monsoon
held up nicely under pressure.
And it started to chip away at Whiplash as the fight went on.
[Kenny] Yeah, it certainly did.
See the forks showing some serious damage.
Front side of the armor, top of the bot as well.
Monsoon is an absolute beast.
[Chris] It seemed like Whiplash controlled the balance of the fight,
but how do you think the judges are gonna see it?
[Kenny] Oh, I think we can agree
Whiplash dominated the control column.
Both teams stayed aggressive for the full three minutes.
This should come down to the debate on damage.
Whiplash surged ahead for me
once it proved its primary weapon was functional there
down the stretch.
But Monsoon was able to knockout half of its drive and chew up those forks.
Tough call.
[Chris] Faruq has the results.
Here we go!
The results from the judges are in.
[audience cheering]
We have a split decision.
Oh, come on.
Oh, I hate these.
Judge Lisa scored the battle
- for Monsoon! - Yeah!
- [audience cheering] - Come on!
Judge Fon scored the battle
for Whiplash!
- [audience cheering] - Whoo!
Judge Derek scored the battle
for the winner...
Monsoon. Monsoon!
Whiplash!
[audience cheering]
- You're the captain. - Yeah.
Oh, my goodness.
[Chris] Matt Vasquez.
- Hi. - I just heard you mutter under your breath,
"Oh, my God."
- [Matthew chuckles] - How relieved are you?
Uh, I'm very relieved. That was a very, very, very tough fight.
They tore us up so bad, like...
Our robot just peeled open like a tuna can. [chuckles]
But, uh, yeah, we just hung in there
and, uh, barely did what we needed to do. Just barely.
But, uh, we normally lose to vertical spinners.
We just fought two before this that really beat us up.
But I think we learned from those two.
And, you know, this is our third big vertical spinner,
and I think we're starting to get the hang of it.
So, yeah. This is definitely good. [chuckles]
All right. So, now you're sitting at one and two.
You're gonna face the defending champion, Tantrum,
in your last fight.
- Yeah. - Essentially, the playoffs started today,
did they not, for you?
Uh, I think they did start today.
I think had we lost this fight,
the likelihood of us making it in would be very, very, very slim.
And I think it is, still.
It is in no way for sure.
We have to work really hard, fix the robot.
Monsoon really did lots of damage.
That's kinda what they do.
- Yeah. - Hey, congratulations on cracking the win column.
We'll see you for your next fight.
[audience cheering]
[Chris] So, a huge, potentially season-saving performance
by Matt Vasquez and Whiplash.
Both teams move to one and two.
But that was an electrifying fight start to finish, Kenny.
[Kenny] Absolutely. When it comes to making the round of 32,
I feel like both teams kinda won.
Whiplash got back to doing Whiplash things,
and Monsoon continued to look powerful
against a team with one of the best pedigrees in the field.
[Chris] A strong performance in their final qualifying fight,
which certainly helped both these squads.
Again, Whiplash is gonna finish up against the reigning champs,
who could also use a good showing.
And Monsoon will wrap up against a fellow vertical spinner
who also missed the last couple of seasons,
DeathRoll.
All right. With nearly two-thirds of the qualifiers in the books,
we thought this would be a perfect time
to do a little World Championship tournament bracketology.
And, Kenny, you've broken down the field into three tiers, is that right?
[Kenny] Yeah. And remember, I'm not part of the selection committee,
but this is how I see it.
The first tier is made up of teams
that are probably locks for the round of 32.
All the undefeated bots and some 2-1 perennial powerhouses.
Gotta throw RIPperoni in there, too,
after that upset over End Game.
The next group is the biggest.
Teams who haven't secured a spot yet
but are very much in the hunt.
We didn't expect to see teams like Blip, HyperShock and Tantrum
under 500 at this point,
but they have had tough schedules.
Still, I'd like to see on more strong performance from each
before the tournament.
And finally, the group that's in trouble
and at risk of not making the tournament.
Again, it's about how you perform in a match,
not just your record.
For example, Free Shipping and Ribbot have had solid strength of schedules,
and they've looked good at times,
so I'd still give them a shot at making it.
But most of these teams need to start throwing Hail Marys
down the stretch here.
[Chris] Great job, Kenny Florian.
And for the folks at home, remember.
You can dig into all the records
and do your own tournament prep
at battlebots.com.
Okay, now for one final piece of bookkeeping.
Earlier tonight, Team Shatter! was unsuccessful
in its appeal of a split decision lost to Horizon.
We can now report that both SHREDDIT BRO! and Monsoon
also chose to file appeals after their losses.
SHREDDIT BRO!'s was unsuccessful.
And we just got word that Monsoon's was, as well.
In fact, Judge Lisa has revised her score in favor of Whiplash.
And that result now goes into the books as a unanimous decision.
A reminder that all three squads are now out of appeals
for the remainder of the season,
including the tournament.
Okay, we're officially moving
into the final quarter of the qualifying rounds
where every matchup for every team is oh-so critical.
For Faruq, my man Kenny Florian,
I am Chris Rose.
We'll see you next time here on BattleBots.
[audience cheering]