The Fans Judge |
The judges say: 24-21 victory for MechaVore
The fans say: 26-19 victory for MechaVore
Scott: Damage is trickier than it first appears here. Vlad lost the use of its weapon, but did so by slamming MechaVore into the wall -- MechaVore did nothing to disable the lifting forks. So damage must be judged by armor alone. Vlad bent the two side skirts (the rear was thrown by a collision initiated by luck). But MechaVore sliced through most of Vlad's perimeter. I can't justify a 3-2 here, so MechaVore gets 4 points. Strategy was close. Vlad had a clear strategy at the beginning (back up, charge, and lift) that it carried out, while MechaVore wasn't doing as well at carrying out its strategy. When Vlad lost use of its forks, its strategy became more difficult to decipher -- I think it was taking runs at MechaVore's side, but it couldn't decide whether to use the front or the back. MechaVore kept at its strategy (and forced Vlad into a lot of aborted runs), so it gets 3. Vlad was more aggressive, though -- it attacked more often, and its attacks were more successful (MechaVore seemed to only attack when Vlad came over, and then it was just because Vlad touched its disk). It wasn't a total blowout (MechaVore kept at it when Vlad was near), but Vlad gets the majority of Aggression points. A very, very close match.
Shin: I remember this fight surprising the crap out of me when I first saw it. It was a bit unnerving to see Vlad’s defenses, which were previously deemed indestructible, shredded through so easily by MechaVore. It was amusing to see Vlad hang in there for the entire fight, seeing as he looked to about nearly lose his backside armor by the time the fight had ended. As aggressive of a driver Gage always was, it was kind of sad, because it literally looked like Vlad was on a suicide mission. 9 times out of 10, Vlad was getting a piece of armor shredded to oblivion each time he connected a hit with MechaVore. And as active as Vlad was, the wall slams and shoves he dished out did little to nothing to affect anything on MechaVore. In fact, MechaVore pretty much remained intact for the entire fight, aside from what looked like one little piece of his own armor flying off from a powerful clash, and the brief time his disc stopped spinning when he got a deep cut inside Vlad. I’d like to say the hazards helped Vlad to an extent, but he was getting popped here and there a few times, though not nearly as much as MechaVore….it didn’t really affect either bot, though. What DID stand out in Vlad’s favor was his driving. It’s a little bit of a no-duh, seeing as Gage is experienced and all, but MechaVore’s driving was laughably terrible. I wish I could say whether it was because the drivers were still rookie-ish, or if it was just how MechaVore was designed, but I’m willing to say both. To the team’s credit, it didn’t LOOK like MechaVore was chickening out or anything like Omega 13, but they only rarely got a direct hit on Vlad whenever they charged forward first. Probably something involving the gyroscopic effects on their disc, or their ridiculously large body, which moved so sluggishly, that it was nearly impossible to dodge anything from Vlad. However, Vlad did make his own mistakes, such as letting himself be turned around at MechaVore plowed through him in the later portion of the match. I think in some ways, that cost Vlad his victory, in addition to the notable damage. Aside from all that, while MechaVore had a pretty simple strategy, it was amazing to see it be so effective against Vlad, who, while successfully kept MechaVore at bay to keep himself alive, was merely no different from every strategy Vlad executes in every fight he’s ever fought, with little to no alterations, and this time his failure to try something new became his undoing. Had Vlad’s forklift gone up sooner in the match, MechaVore might’ve been able to show a more dominating edge, but in all honestly, that’s just what I assume.
Xrayspex: Vlad the Impaler had a better driver and was more maneuverable, but Mechavore had a more effective weapon. Vlad was able to get the lifting arm under Mechavore and deliver her to a couple hazards, but the hazards only caused some superficial damage. Vlad was unable to flip Mechavore over, which would have immediately disabled her. Mechavore was able to disable Vlad's main weapon and seriously damage his armor with her spinning blade.
Strategy-wise, Mechavore really only has one plan of attack: bludgeon the enemy with the blade anywhere you can get a hit in on him. Mechavore was quite effective at this strategy, continuing to come at Vlad constantly. She was not as maneuverable as Vlad though and ended up exposing her side to Vlad's lifting arm a couple times while she was trying to turn around and get the blade positioned. Vlad was able to change his strategy after his main weapon was disabled and got in a few good slams on the side of Mechavore.
Techno Destructo vs. CUAD the Crusher
The judges say: 23-22 victory for Techno Destructo
The fans say: 25-20 victory for Techno Destructo
Scott: Okay, I'm going to be blunt. What in the world was CUAD the Crusher's strategy? Was it a wedge, a clamper, a bizarre thing that stayed off the floor... what? That spike rotated for no apparent reason. Techno Destructo wasn't wholly successful in carrying out its strategy, which is the only reason it didn't get the sweep there. As for damage, the problem lies in determining how CUAD the Crusher lost its spike. Techno Destructo pushed CUAD the Crusher over to the saws, which popped up and pushed CUAD the Crusher into Techno Destructo. That collision knocked the spike off. Since Techno Destructo started the chain reaction, I'm interpreting it as indirectly using the hazards for damage. Therefore, shield damage versus damage to a (presumably) offensive weapon means Techno Destructo gets more points. Aggression was close, but CUAD the Crusher had more control over the fight. This was harder to judge than I thought it would be.
Shin: This fight was pure evil. But I will go up and immediately say that I think that little arm on Cuad looked expendable and was just ASKING to be broken off, much like Vladiator’s own little lifter. Anyway, it was obvious why Cuad was able to get so many lifts and pushes in; he’s a wedge design. And there’s some particular things about wedges that are just evil to flippers like Techno Destructo. It’s a good thing in HIS favor that he never got flipped over again after losing his top armor…that most likely would’ve smited him out of the tourney. But while Cuad had the wedge advantage over Techno, he didn’t have the torque. Most of the times he DID have Techno Destructo in his grasp, he never could really push him around anywhere, until he was knocked upside down. This is easily proven since later in the match, Techno Destructo DOES start shoving Cuad around an awful lot. And this is where Techno Destructo starts taking control of the fight, which in my honest opinion, was much more impressive than Cuad’s time of controlling. Something about those flips that just seemed more effective than Cuad running into him a bunch of times (maybe all the flipping caused Cuad’s sudden wussyness in the last half of the fight?). All Techno Destructo needed was a little bit of practice and he was able to flip Cuad just like he would any other bot. It’s just me, but I like seeing the wedge design being conquered like that, especially if it’s a wedge with such a lame weapon. While the armor removal of Techno Destructo was apparent, it didn’t make much of a difference except make a mess on the floor. Had Techno Destructo been turned on his back again, it might’ve been another story…
Xrayspex: This fight was really close. Both bots were just about equal in all categories. They both got one really good flip on each other. CUAD got an extra aggression point for slams. TechnoDestructo got an extra strategy point for overcoming CUAD's defensive "wedge-up" position with superior pushing ability and also for being able to maneuver around the back of CUAD and lift his exposed backside. TechnoDestructo took some major armor damage but gets the extra damage point for taking out CUAD's weapon.
Crash Test Dummy vs. BattleRat
The judges say: 33-12 victory for BattleRat
The fans say: 39-6 victory for BattleRat
Scott: I do feel bad that Crash Test Dummy wasn't allowed to use its weapon, but I have to judge this based solely on what happened in the box. BattleRat owns Aggression by holding Crash Test Dummy against the wall and under the hammer. Crash Test Dummy lucks out and gets some points in damage -- since neither bot was able to reduce the functionality of the opponent, the dents in Crash Test Dummy's armor give BattleRat only the slightest advantage (BattleRat broke its own arm, so that doesn't factor in). Crash Test Dummy gets one Strategy point for trying something at the beginning, but BattleRat had no problem adapting to its broken arm (it also gets strategy points for freeing Crash Test Dummy to get the hammer to damage it some more; at least, that's how I understand the rules).
Shin: Uh…heheh. How DID Crash Test Dummy manage 12 points? Half the time the judges don’t even give that much for courage. Which was pretty much all Crash Test Dummy showed here…maybe. And a tad of endurance. A great match to test the 101 uses for your weapon, I can say that much…BattleRat using his weapon in the most unexpected of ways. And it STILL works against this…I’m sorry. Even if Crash Test Dummy could have his airbags, I don’t think he’d stand a chance. Well, MAYBE he would’ve gotten less hazard damages…that’s a strict maybe. You’d think people wouldn’t make bots this tall because they would be so easily toppled over by any decent pushing bot. Oh well. Despite all the attempts Crash Test Dummy made…it was all doomed from the start. He can spin, yes, but without some kind of blade and a remotely high speed, that’s a pretty useless desperation move. The added spikes are also worthless considering BattleRat’s design. What I DID really like about this fight is how BattleRat actually risked getting hit by the Pulverisor to free Crash Test Dummy from the wall just to humiliate him some more. It kinda brings that Complete Control-type glory to BattleRat. Oh well. I don’t think I need to say anymore. This fight…pretty much spoke for itself.
Xrayspex: Crash Test Dummy's entire strategy seemed to be linked to his airbag weapon. Once those got disqualified, there really wasn't a lot left for him to do except slam into the opponent. He managed to slam the side of BattleRat a couple times, so I threw him an aggression point. BattleRat loses a strategy point by failing to just tip Crash Test Dummy over somewhere not in the vicinity of the hellraisers and end the fight by KO right then and there. I give a tip of the hat to Crash Test Dummy for continuing to function after 10 hellraiser hits, 12 spike squishes, and 13 pulverizer pounds.