The judges say: 31-14 victory for Diesector
The fans say: 30-15 victory for Diesector
Scott: I think Aggression is fairly straightforward. Dreadnought did some attacking, but Diesector did much more attacking. Four-one.
Damage requires a little deliberation. Diesector's plow got torn apart. No external damage was caused to Dreadnought. But Dreadnought probably took some internal damage from being shoved around so much. Hmm. Well, since I didn't see any symptoms of internal damage to Dreadnought, I'm not going to factor it in. As for the broken plow, it wasn't enough to warrant five points for Dreadnought, but was more than what three points would be worth. So Dreadnought gets four points for Damage.
Huh... on my scorecard, the two robots are tied right now. It all comes down to Strategy. I was going to comment on the fact that the robot with two weapons always looks like it has more strategy, but then I realized that Dreadnought has two weapons, too -- the wedge and the disks (I know that sounds obvious, but for some reason, it didn't hit me until mid-fight). So it does come down to which bot had the better strategic planning, given its two weapons.
First, I watched the fight. I noticed all of the stuff that Diesector did to Dreadnought, then realized that everything I was noting really fell into the Aggression column. So I watched the fight again. Then I got confused. Then I watched Cartoon Network for a while. Then I looked at the Judges' Guide. Both robots seemed to have the strategy of "ram myself into the opponent and see where we go from there." Diesector used the jaws mostly as a wedge, except when it used them to lift or clamp Dreadnought (change of strategy). However, Diesector stayed with the wedge/jaws after the plow started crumbling, while there seemed to be little reason why Dreadnought would go from disks to wedge and back again (also change of strategy). But Diesector must have been doing something right to own Dreadnought like that for most of the fight, so I'm giving it the edge. Odd, I didn't expect myself to score this fight as closely as I did.
Shin: Ahh, yes. This is how fights are meant to be. Total relentless violence...both bots did wonderful parts in participating in making this one of the best battles yet in the series. Even if Dreadnought was being bullied around for most of the fight! He made a good wimp!
Some of Diesector's snowplow got chipped off at the start of the fight, but that was pretty much the only real damage he received during the whole fight. And it didn't even phase him, as the plow worked as good as it ever did, like it never really needed that piece that got torn off in the first place. It just didn't...matter. Dreadnought, well...after being taken to almost all the hazards, slammed against a bunch of walls, and having the eternal glory of being 'eaten' by Diesector (an image that will forever stay in my mind happily), I guess it's kinda obvious, isn't it? I'm just glad it didn't knock Dreadnought out. I'd kill to see unending violence like this all the time.
Aggression didn't really even seem all too questionable; the few times Diesector did pull away from Dreadnought were smart moves anyway, so should it really take off for his aggression? I felt generous tonight, though, and Dreadnought was being a good sport for never giving up though it was clear which bot had more torque in this match. The important thing is that neither bot chickened out for a second. That's what great matches are all about.
Diesector obviously had a plot all lined out before even going into battle, proof being his sudden change in form made specifically for this battle. I couldn't really see a strategy much on Dreadnought's part; he was too busy being slammed into the walls to mess around with something like strategy. Who needs strategy when you're being shoved into every wall so the crowd can see you HURT?! Hell, I'd take that over something bothersome like coming up with a strategy! ...but really. Dreadnought put up a fight. I just couldn't tell what the hell his strategy was...I'm sure it was something beautiful, but...
Xrayspex: Dreadnought was simply overwhelmed by Diesector in this match. Both bots were aggressive but Diesector seemed to have a larger number of attacks, which is why I gave Diesector the aggression advantage.
Damage-wise, at the very beginning of the fight, Dreadnought was able to remove part of Diesector's new plow attachment. I consider that plow to be "ablative", meant to take abuse to stop spinning weapons. Thus this was minor damage. Later on, Diesector took a minor saw hit and one pulverizer hit, but for the most part, Diesector avoided the hazards. This was not the case with Dreadnought, who spent a good portion of the fight smashed into the walls, pushed into spike strips, delivered to the saws, placed under the pulverizer, stuck in Diesector's jaws, etc. Diesector gets most of the damage points.
For strategy, I scored the way I did not so much because of a lack of strategy on Dreadnought's part, but because of the large number of strategies employed by Diesector. Dreadnought had the spinning disks and the wedge, which were employed somewhat successfully against Diesector. Diesector had that plow, which did stop Dreadnought's disks, and allowed Diesector to push Dreadnought to a hazard. Diesector used the jaws effectively as clamps to drag/push Dreadnought to hazards. Diesector also used the jaws very effectively as a wedge/lifter to lift Dreadnought's tires off the ground and tip it over. Whatever Dreadnought did, Diesector had a strategy to deal with it. Strategy point advantage to Diesector.
The judges say: 33-12 victory for MechaVore
The fans say: 35-10 victory for MechaVore
Scott: Can I do Damage first? When MechaVore and Mauler charged one another, Mauler's spinning dome broke. Then MechaVore put gashes in it. MechaVore gets all of the Damage points.
Okay, now the hard ones. First of all, I'm probably not even going to mention that big chunk of fight in the middle where both robots had no weapon, because during that entire time, both bots were equally ineffective in doing anything to the other. Just a bunch of bumping. So that all cancels itself out and we look at the rest of the fight.
When both robots were spinning, they both had the same amount of aggression (which is to say, not much until that first hit). When MechaVore had a spinning weapon and Mauler didn't, it was aggressive. But Mauler didn't back down, either. Since MechaVore's attacks were more severe, it gets the slight edge.
Strategy is a different matter. I originally was going to ding MechaVore because it didn't use that flat back end to push Mauler around, instead opting for the round front. But then I realized that just because I don't agree with a strategy doesn't make it bad. And MechaVore did stick to pushing with its front. So never mind that. But there's one thing that MechaVore will get dinged for here. While people may disagree with it, the Judges' Guide states that freeing an evenly-matched opponent will count against you in the Strategy category. During the pushing match portion of the fight (okay, I lied, I'm mentioning it), Mauler got high-centered on one of its own flails. MechaVore bumped into Mauler, and Mauler was put back on its wheels. As a result, Mauler takes the edge in Strategy. Whoops.
Shin: Ah...what much is there to be said about a Mauler battle? Their strategy died the second Mauler stopped spinning. Which was...what, after the first hit? Bada-boom. Not that MechaVore's display of evilness wasn't any different from what we've seen of him before, it was SOMETHING. Something significant. Just nothing special. But significance rules over all, and MechaVore gets all the points.
Damage, uh...something flied off MechaVore during the first clash, right? I think so. And MechaVore's disk had some faulty issues on and off during the fight...other than that, it was really Mauler who was hurting. As always. That's why we love him, of course. He really looked like he was about to kick it, though. Right there in the end, which is sad. It's always more fun to see him go out with a bang.
And, well...Mauler can't really go at anything when he's about to die. He did his part while he was healthy, and that's all we ask of him, really. Sniff. MechaVore shoved him around whenever he can, even though MechaVore isn't really the best bot when it comes to pushing stuff around. Oh well...
Will: I think this fight can be summed up in one paragraph, so here goes. MechaVore takes aggression for bravely going at Mauler and constantly pounding him even after his spinner's motor stalls out. MechaVore clearly takes the damage category as well - Mauler's shell is now just an ornament to be displayed at the Lazy Toad Robot Club (I do have a picture). And finally, MechaVore takes strategy mainly because of his aggressive maneuvers, and for taking advantage of the vulnerability of Mauler's shell.