The twelfth episode of King of Bots II aired on September 28th 2019, and concluded the series. With one final Attrition War, the ten remaining robots entered the arena, with one team of five emerging as the champions.
The end of the episode also featured Robo Genius, an educational segment exploring different aspects of robot building and combat.
Competing robots
Setup
This episode reused the Attrition War format first seen in Episode 8, where the two remaining celebrity managers would organise their five robots into a set order, for a series of two-minute head-to-head bouts.
The first robots on each team would then enter the arena, and while the loser would be eliminated from the Attrition War, the winner had the option to stay in the arena and fight another opponent. The robot would not be allowed to leave the arena during this time, and would enter the next battle with no repairs or battery charging done before the fight. If the celebrities and roboteers were happy to continue, they would fight their next opponent for another opportunity to win. If a robot was withdrawn, they would also be eliminated from the Attrition War, and they would be replaced by the next robot in line. This process would continue until one team had lost all five of their robots, and a King of Bots champion would be crowned.
The teams were as following (in order):
| Celebrities | Robots (in order) |
|---|---|
| Huang Jian Xiang | 1. Deep-Sea Shark, 2. Xiake, 3. Shrederator Tiger Claw, 4. Thunder, 5. Vulcan |
| Ye Hong Li | 1. Warrior, 2. Cat King, 3. Megabyte, 4. Spectre, 5. Drift |
Battles
NOTE: Robots on the left represent Huang Jian Xiang. Robots on the right represent Ye Hong Li.
Deep-Sea Shark vs Warrior
Deep-Sea Shark entered the battle with two front forks, while Warrior equipped its anti-drum wedge, hoping to use this against its potential second opponent Xiake.
Warrior's blow narrowly misses Deep-Sea Shark
Warrior's mobility issues become clear
Warrior initially moved towards Deep-Sea Shark, but backed away after seeing that the Chinese spinner had already reached top speeds. As Deep-Sea Shark moved forwards, Warrior lined up its attack and swung its axe, but barely missed the back end of Deep-Sea Shark, throwing only a few sparks from what may have been a glancing blow. This swing seemed to have a noticeable impact on Warrior, as it was now leaning to one side on further approaches, suggesting difficulties with its right-hand side of drive. Deep-Sea Shark knocked it aside, and took advantage of Warrior's limited mobility by hitting the back end of the British machine, and Warrior simply drifted into a Grinder.
- "Let him come to you. Don't turn your back."
- — Grant Cooper to Jason Marston
Warrior targets the front of Deep-Sea Shark
Deep-Sea Shark delivers a head-on blow to Warrior
Warrior turned its lengthy wedge into Deep-Sea Shark, and then fed it directly under the spinning blade, allowing Warrior to take a shot with its axe, and scraped the front of Deep-Sea Shark with a second attack, but still largely failed to hit critical areas of its opponent. Deep-Sea Shark was aware of Warrior's hindered mobility, and fled across the arena to force an approach from Warrior while also charging up its own spinning blade. Warrior was able to coast in the direction of Deep-Sea Shark, but the latter delivered a hit straight to Warrior's front end, at the cost of all spinning momentum it had built up.
- "Keep it slow and steady, keep your front pointed at him."
- — Grant Cooper to Jason Marston
Deep-Sea Shark knocks Warrior over
Warrior's late sequence of axe blows
After reaching a reasonable spinning speed, Deep-Sea Shark once again hit Warrior's large wedgelet, but again sacrificed its momentum and was forced to run away and spin back up to speed once more, although Warrior was largely unable to stop it due to its hindered drive. Deep-Sea Shark's next attack was a frontal hit on Warrior, which also baited an axe swing out of Warrior that missed its mark. After landing a light side-on hit, Deep-Sea Shark then carried out the most crucial attack of the match, throwing Warrior onto its back with a notable spinner hit. Warrior self-righted using its axe, but Deep-Sea Shark barged it back, and Warrior missed another axe blow, knocking it under an arena hammer where Warrior's exposed back end was momentarily vulnerable. However, Warrior finally landed its first direct blow of the match, and followed this up by moving Deep-Sea Shark into the corner to land a number of blows, with pieces flying through the air as a result. Deep-Sea Shark made its escape, and spent the final ten seconds passively, only landing a light slam at the very end.
The two-minute battle proved to be very close, and the Judges were required to determine who had earned the upper hand in the Attrition War. The Judges voted in favour of Deep-Sea Shark, putting Huang Jian Xiang's team in the lead.
Winner: Deep-Sea Shark
Deep-Sea Shark vs Cat King
- Brian Nave: "Make him drive around a lot. He has reliability issues."
- Alan Young: "With Cat King, he just needs to sit and turn and face."
- — Huang Jian Xiang's team give advice to Deep-Sea Shark
Deep-Sea Shark by necessity retained its setup from the previous match, while Cat King entered with one lifter and its asymmetrical bar spinner.
- Ye Hong Li: "So what's your plan?"
- Martin Mason: "We've just gotta pop him over. We've just gotta get a hit on him."
- Ye Hong Li: "You have to go around, because I think his front end looks quite low."
- Martin Mason: "Yeah, no we can't go straight onto him."
- Ye Hong Li: "Just enjoy it, it's OK."
- — The captain's words for Cat King
Deep-Sea Shark disables Cat King's drive system
Cat King is counted out
Following advice from its teammates, Deep-Sea Shark hung back in the opening seconds and made no movements other than powering up its spinner, forcing Cat King to make an approach. Cat King was understandably hesitant, and refused to draw near to Deep-Sea Shark, instead just turning in place as its own form of bait. However, this worked out perfectly for Deep-Sea Shark, which seized an opportunity with one of Cat King's larger swerves, and it clipped Cat King directly on its front-right wheel. This disabled Cat King's movement on one side, and Deep-Sea Shark backed off, having secured a one-hit knockout. Cat King turned in place until it was counted out by the referee, and Deep-Sea Shark earned a second win in the Attrition War.
Winner: Deep-Sea Shark
Deep-Sea Shark vs Megabyte
- John Mladenik: "He's already beat two robots he didn't expect to beat."
- Jason Marston: "I chopped all his wheels off the top."
- John Mladenik: "Yeah, I noticed that he barely moved out of the start. We're gonna hit him at full speed."
- — Plans from the Megabyte team
Deep-Sea Shark misaligns its opening charge
A direct collision causes Megabyte to shed an internal component
Deep-Sea Shark started the battle in contrast to its usual passive nature, and charged right at Megabyte, but only connected with its front wedgelet rather than its disc, and was blasted aside by Megabyte, although Megabyte seemingly came off worse as it was thrown into a Grinder by the impact. Deep-Sea Shark used this chance to throw Megabyte upwards with a hit which caused it to smash into the arena wall, and when the two came together again, the force of a weapon-on-weapon hit between the two robots caused Megabyte to shed its tensioner and a drive belt which fell to the arena floor uselessly. Fortunately for Megabyte, this drive belt only connected Megabyte's slave wheels to its powered wheels, so the robot could still function without the component.
- "It was the drive belt and tensioner that is used for the drive wheel to drive the slave wheel. The tensioner floats in the middle making the cogged belt tight. It is 3D printed."
- — Robotic Death Company Facebook page describes the broken component[1]
Megabyte delivers a shattering blow to Deep-Sea Shark
Megabyte splits Deep-Sea Shark's front fork apart
While getting back up to speed, Megabyte deflected Deep-Sea Shark into the Grinder, and then caught up to deliver a mighty slam on the side of Deep-Sea Shark, generating a shower of sparks while spinning Deep-Sea Shark into the arena wall. Surprisingly, Deep-Sea Shark escaped without significant damage, but the next attack from Megabyte completely blew apart one of its front wedgelets, casting it across the arena in three distinct parts. This did not stop Deep-Sea Shark from attacking, as it valiantly charged into Megabyte only to be thrown across the entire length of the arena, also knocking Megabyte into the wall.
Megabyte throws Deep-Sea Shark onto its back
Megabyte hits the rear wheels of Deep-Sea Shark
The remains of Deep-Sea Shark at the end of the battle
The spinning motion of Deep-Sea Shark was momentarily halted, but it charged straight back into Megabyte without its weapon, and was sent recoiling into the air, landing on its back in the process, also losing part of its frontal frame. However, Deep-Sea Shark reacted very quickly and drove into a Grinder while inverted, using the arena hazard and its own spinner to self-right, at the cost of yet more framework. Deep-Sea Shark returned to attack Megabyte, while the shell spinner continued to shave away the front of the suffering Deep-Sea Shark. This was repeated with the next few attacks, where Deep-Sea Shark continually drove into Megabyte, only to be swatted away, taking more damage in the process. After several more hits, including a blow which lifted Deep-Sea Shark into the air, Megabyte finally connected a combo hit which swung Deep-Sea Shark around, and allowed Megabyte to connect a hit to its opponent's wheels, exposed at the back of the robot. These hits to Deep-Sea Shark disabled its drive on one side, and loosened a side panel. Megabyte backed off, and Deep-Sea Shark was counted out despite its attempts to keep moving, giving the win to Megabyte.
- "The only thing that was broken after the fight was the ETEK weapon motors, the brushes were burned up, desoldered and prevented the spin from working in the next fight."
- — Robotic Death Company Facebook page described the remaining damage after the fight[2]
Winner: Megabyte
Xiake vs Megabyte
Winner: Xiake
Xiake vs Spectre
Winner: Spectre
Shrederator Tiger Claw vs Spectre
Shrederator Tiger Claw entered the arena to face off with Spectre, which had been left in the arena from its previous victory. However, Shrederator Tiger Claw immediately showed no signs of control, and aimlessly darted around the arena regardless of what Team LOGICOM entered into their transmitter. The tournament officials gave Brian Nave exactly five minutes to repair his robot, but made no progress. Shrederator Tiger Claw was still seen as somewhat capable of fighting, so the officials offered the team one more minute to drive the robot back into its starting corner, but as Shrederator Tiger Claw simply bumped into the Grinders and made no forward progress, it was deemed to have lost the battle, and Spectre won by default.
Winner: Spectre (by default)
Vulcan vs Spectre
Winner: Vulcan
Vulcan vs Drift
Winner: Vulcan
Winning Team
After a close all-or-nothing battle, Vulcan secured the King of Bots title for Huang Jian Xiang and his team. To many, Vulcan is considered to be the King of Bots champion as a result of winning the title fight, but Huang Jian Xiang's other victorious machines (Xiake and Deep-Sea Shark) and even his losing machines (Thunder and Shrederator Tiger Claw) would all celebrate a group victory. Alan Young of Vulcan's team lifted the trophy, and both he and Huang Jian Xiang were thrown into the air by their teammates and friends.
Champion: Huang Jian Xiang
| Celebrity | Robots |
|---|---|
| Huang Jian Xiang | Vulcan, Deep-Sea Shark, Xiake, Thunder, Shrederator Tiger Claw |
Trivia
- This episode aired on September 28th 2019, a Saturday, unlike all eleven of the previous episodes, which aired on a Sunday.
- With Huang Jian Xiang's team winning the competition, Shrederator Tiger Claw became the only robot to win a combat tournament despite losing all of its battles.
- Shrederator Tiger Claw was also regularly referred to by the name of its BattleBots counterpart Captain Shrederator by the competing teams.
- This episode saw the third time that Megabyte would lose to Chiyung Jinlun or Xiake.
References
- ↑ Private correspondence with User:ToastUltimatum
- ↑ Private correspondence with User:ToastUltimatum
External Links
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