Home BattleBots Battlebots Episode 8.3 Preview

Battlebots Episode 8.3 Preview

by Ian

After two weeks of robot fighting action, the 8th season of Battlebots is off to a great start. We have seen monster fights where the Battlebox floor got completely shredded. We have seen one of the most brutal knockouts in Battlebots history. And we’re just getting started. Here’s what’s on tap this week.

Hypershock vs Bite Force

The first rematch of this Battlebots season (no, not of The Rakening). This is a rematch of a Season 6 (or “First ABC Season”) Round of 16 matchup. In that meeting, Bite Force’s wedge and lifting arms outlasted Hypershock’s spinner (which fizzled out during the match). Hypershock appeared to be in control before their motor burned out. Now, Bite Force is back with it’s vertical spinner for its second appearance of this season after blasting Blacksmith back to the Bronze Age. This is the new-look Hypershock’s first fight. Hypershock is now somewhat similarly designed to Lock-Jaw with a vertical spinning drum and two lifting arms.

Overhaul vs SawBlaze

This is not exactly a rematch per se (though both took part in the un-televised MIT Rumble last season) but more of a grudge match. After Season 6’s run to the Quarterfinals, the Overhaul team broke apart and spawned Brutus and SawBlaze. Last season, Overhaul lost a preliminary round fight to Cobalt when it’s drivetrain broke down then after being awarded a wild card got pounded into submission by BETA. SawBlaze fell victim to the terrible spell of judging last season, and despite controlling a fight with Razorback, was given a loss because their primary weapon (the saw) was broken when it was lowered onto Razorback’s drum spinner. This should be an interesting fight between a clamping bot in Overhaul and a wedge/saw in SawBlaze. Neither have the weaponry to deliver an absolute kill shot, so driving will be imperative to winning the fight.

Whiplash vs Hypothermia

Whiplash is the evolution of Splatter, a bot that appeared during the previous two ABC seasons. Last season, Splatter lost to Warrior Clan on a judge’s decision. Whiplash is a similar bot with a lifting arm in the center that features a circular vertical spinner. Whiplash is built by Jeff Vasquez of Team Fast Electric Robots who have competed since Season 3 in multiple weight classifications. Hypothermia is also an upgraded version of an older bot – Polar Vortex. Hypothermia is a clamping bot with a lifting wedge and is the entrant of Michael Mauldin’s Team Toad, who competed in all 4 weight classifications on the original Battlebots series with plow bots FrostBite, SnowFlake, IceBerg, and IceCube.

WAR Hawk vs Axe Backwards

WAR Hawk is the bot of Rob Farrow, who has competed for many years on the robot fighting circuit with his most famous Battlebot being lightweight Death by Monkeys (yes, that is the second Ziggo fight I’ve linked in this article because I’m never going to pass on an opportunity to revisit Ziggo mauling other robots). Rob’s team hails from Seattle and is called Western Allied Robotics (hence the “WAR” in the bot’s name). They have brought a robot bearing some similarity to Bombshell with a vertical disc spinner and a front plow blade/wedge. Unlike the Bombshell we saw in Episode 1, WAR Hawk should be able to drive inverted. Axe Backwards gets credit for bringing an incredibly unique design to Battlebots. Their robot is essentially a giant log that has wheels on the end with the middle tube being comprised of a toothed spinner. If its spinners are functioning it should be a hard bot to knock out because there is not much surface area to safely strike, outside of the wheels.

The Four Horsemen vs Double Jeopardy vs Gamma 9

We get another rumble this week which should be absolute mayhem. Four Horsemen is a multi-bot with essentially 3 miniature Tombstone’s (bots with horizontal spinning bars) and one wedge bot. Four Horsemen is another bot from England, built by Ian Watts. Ian was known for knocking out Mauler 51-50 with the flipper Bigger Brother in Season 2 and competing with Little Sister (another flipper) in Seasons 3-5. Double Jeopardy’s entrance is noteworthy as it is the first bot in Battlebots history capable of firing a projectile. Of course, it only gets one shot and it’s first fight is in a rumble where there will be 5 other robots. The cannon will certainly fire once, but after that Double Jeopardy will need to rely on its front wedge for the rest of the fight. Gamma 9 is the latest iteration of the Gammatronic Robot Brigade who competed in all 5 original seasons of Battlebots. Gammatron competed in Seasons 1-3 and was a precursor to Son of Whyachi – a walking bot with a helicopter-like hammered spinner atop the bot. Gammacide – a simple bot with a plow blade on the front – was the team’s entry in Seasons 4 and 5. Now, they are here with Gamma 9 which is a clamping/crushing bot. There is also a revenge element to this rumble as Gammatron’s career ended in Season 3 with a loss to Ian Watts’ flipper Little Sister.

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