The first heat of Season 1 aired on January 8th, 2018. It was the first episode of the show, where eight first-round battles were held between sixteen robots, and half progressed to the second round.
Competing robots
- Drought War Tiger
- Megabyte
- Mighty Crossbow and Steel Shield
- Nuclear
- Red from the Flames
- Saber
- Sea Wolf
- Snake
- Stingray
- Spectre
- Tyrannosaurus Rex
- Vulcan
- Whirlwind Cloud Breaker
- Wild Beast
Battles
Megabyte vs Stingray
The initial collision between Megabyte and Stingray
Megabyte (right) tears Stingray's drum off
Immediately, Megabyte jolted sideways and spun up its spinning shell, dodging an initial lunge from Stingray and attempting to drive away from the latter before the two robots collided. Megabyte was sent hurtling across the arena upon impact, the gyroscopic forces of its weapon almost causing it to overturn as it constantly hit the walls and arena floor with its blades. Landing on its wheels and next to a partially-immobile Stingray, Megabyte retreated to get its weapon spinning and proceeded to rip Stingray’s drum off with its second hit.
- "Total destruction, my friends!"
- — One of the commentators shortly after Megabyte tears Stingray's drum off
It proceeded to tear one of Stingray’s right-hand armour panels off just before the latter was counted out, emerging victorious and advancing to the next round. Afterwards, it was discovered that Megabyte had also torn one of the wall spikes off, as a result of it clipping the walls during the recoil of its initial hit.
Winner: Megabyte
Saber vs Vulcan
Saber was in danger of missing the battle, as the team were frantically making repairs to the robot even while it was in the loading bay for the arena, but Saber was fixed within time for it to compete, albeit with a late entrance.
- "These two are evenly matched!"
- — The commentators during the start of the match
Saber's first flip on Vulcan
Saber's knockout flip
As Vulcan was initially evasive in the start of the battle, Saber chased after it, and managed to drive under the back end of Vulcan to flip it over. Vulcan quickly self-righted, but Saber had taken an early lead. Both robots met in the center of the arena, and missed with their weapons. While backing away, Saber's wedges briefly buckled, allowing Vulcan to catch up to it, and Saber also expended more gas. At this stage, Saber was almost hit by Vulcan's axe, but the British robot drove onto a floor flipper, and was turned over. This caused one of Vulcan's wheels to fall out, so Saber became the more offensive machine, pushing Vulcan back and flipping it over. Although it self-righted, Saber's pursuit caused Vulcan to overturn itself by the power of its axe, and Saber continued to push it backwards. Saber flipped Vulcan back onto its wheel, but as the latter was effectively immobile, Saber paced itself to flip Vulcan into a corner of the arena, where the hammer threatened it. Saber left Vulcan idle as it struggled to self-right over the flame jet, and once Vulcan was counted out, Saber progressed to the next round, having won by knockout with just over thirty seconds left on the clock.
- "Our opponents were brilliant, they were great, they drove really well, their flipper's really good. I think they've got a good chance, going forward."
- — Alan Young of Vulcan's team
Winner: Saber
Nuclear vs Snake
Snake grabs and lifts Nuclear off the floor
Both robots moved tentatively from their starting positions in the opening seconds, with Nuclear driving over one of the floor flippers and getting stuck. Snake lifted its weapon and shuffled back and forth across the arena before attempting to grab Nuclear over the flipper – in doing so, it pushed Nuclear off, allowing the latter to move properly again. Eventually, the two robots met in the centre of the arena, with Snake getting its wedges underneath Nuclear but struggling to lift or grab it. Snake proceeded to ram Nuclear a few more times, before finally getting underneath, grabbing and lifting it onto its back. Following this attack, it pushed the inverted Nuclear into the wall and threw it back upright, before pushing it into the spikes. After the two robots bumped each other, Snake attempted to grab Nuclear again, but could not gain any purchase, and backed away as Nuclear slammed into its side in the closing seconds. With both robots still mobile, the battle went to a Judges’ decision, which ruled in favour of Snake and Team Unknown Son.
Winner: Snake
Mighty Crossbow and Steel Shield VS Tyrannosaurus Rex
The smaller half tries to push its larger opponent
In the first round, Bullet Steel Shield fought the tall and comedic design, Tyrannosaurus Rex. The robots were initially evasive, with only the smaller half of the clusterbot attempting to attack, but reared up on the charge and could not drive under Tyrannosaurus Rex. It later backed into Tyrannosaurus Rex and tried to push the huge robot towards the arena drum, but could not push the heavier machine. It pressed into the side of Tyrannosaurus Rex and eventually caused one of its wheels to fall off.
An attack of the flipper removes Tyrannosaurus Rex's head
The combined attack of the clusterbots earns the knockout
The larger clusterbot fired its flipper at thin air, while the smaller half pushed Tyrannosaurus Rex into the wall. The flipper was then brought into action for the first time, lifting up Tyrannosaurus Rex and causing its comedy head to fall away from the robot. Finally, after backing Tyrannosaurus Rex into the wall, the smaller clusterbot drove under it so that the flipper could win the match by knockout, toppling its huge foe. The Twin Flowers celebrated, as their robot progressed to the second round.
Winner: Mighty Crossbow and Steel Shield
Drought War Tiger vs Wild Beast
Drought White Tiger loses its teeth
The battle started tentatively with Wild Beast sending its drone out to attack but Drought War Tiger downs the drone sending it onto its back. Wild Beast steers around to the sides of Drought War Tiger, denting the back right corner and slightly tearing one of the back tire. Drought War Tiger turns and smashes its drum against the front of Wild Beast but is jolted upwards a few times before another smash breaks Drought War Tiger's drum, removing the teeth rendering it useless.
Drought White Tiger torn apart
Wild Beast rips away the sides of the drum of Drought War Tiger, as well as ripping away the head and front panels. Wild Beast's attacks send Drought War Tiger upwards, as it comes in and attacks the sides, ultimately carrying the heavily damaged machine. Wild Beast rips away parts from the underbelly of Drought War Tiger, one of which was a drive belt.
Drought White Tiger is flipped by a floor flipper
Drought War Tiger backs away slowly to the edge of the arena where it drives over the floor flipper, ultimately getting flipped over where it laid on its back and promptly counted out. Winner: Wild Beast
Red from the Flames vs Spectre
Spectre clamps down on Red from the Flames as it steers them towards the grinder
Spectre was the far quicker machine of the two, zipping across the arena and immediately charged towards the sides of Red from the Flames where it clamped down using its jaws. Spectre carefully controlled Red from the Flames towards one of the arena grinders where small chunks of the back corner were shredded off and top armour plate dented upwards. Flailing its lifters, Red from the Flames eventually got away, after Spectre let go, but was caught seconds later from behind by the jaws of Spectre which buckled the back of Red from the Flames.
Red from the Flames burns
Red from the Flames escaped once again, only to grappled by Spectre from the opposite side panel of where it was crushed before. Red from the Flames twitched its lifter as it was carried away by Spectre towards the flame jets where it was held to burn by Spectre. Red from the Flames evacuated and turned to the pursuing Spectre. Red from the Flames ignited its flamethrower and turned in circles as Spectre struggled to get another bite.
Red from the Flames flamethrower explodes
Spectre smashed the front of Red from the Flames and crushed it once more. Red from the Flames struggled to move as it was slammed into the side-wall spikes, and left behind. Upon leaving Red from the Flames behind, it became apparent that it had lost all mobility. Spectre came in for one more attack, but as it clamped down, Red from the Flames' flamethrower had erupted inside the robot blowing up in a fiery spectacle. Red from the Flames soon caught fire immediately after the explosion and was shunted about Spectre as a final attack before it was counted out, eliminating them from the competition.
Winner: Spectre
Sea Wolf vs Whirlwind Cloud Breaker
Whirlwind Cloud Breaker's first strike of note
Whirlwind Cloud Breaker's drone gets in on the action
The opening seconds of the battle saw Whirlwind Cloud Breaker spinning its bar up to speed, while Sea Wolf aimlessly spun around next to its starting square. Whirlwind Cloud Breaker's first contact did little to trouble Sea Wolf, barely scratching its lifting arm. After backing into space, Sea Wolf then crept forward, but once again its hard-to-control style saw the machine open itself to a blow to its front-left corner - which Whirlwind Cloud Breaker slashed into.
Whirlwind Cloud Breaker shatters Sea Wolf's back corner
Whirlwind Cloud Breaker finishes off Sea Wolf
Following a drift across the arena and into the wall spikes, Sea Wolf then had to deal with a spurt of fire from Whirlwind Cloud Breaker's drone. Whirlwind Cloud Breaker then came in itself, and once again ripped into Sea Wolf's armour. After a minor attack to the side of Sea Wolf, Whirlwind Cloud Breaker came in with a big hit that shattered the back-left corner of Sea Wolf. This attack left Sea Wolf struggling for movement, which allowed Whirlwind Cloud Breaker to close in with another attack, and one which left Sea Wolf immobilised. Sea Wolf was counted out, and eliminated from the competition as a result.
Winner: Whirlwind Cloud Breaker
Trivia
- The first three competing teams to appear on the show all spoke in English, and Excalibur, the team behind Saber, were the first competitors to speak in Chinese.
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