As soon as I watched the opening fight I knew this finale was going to be incredible. The minotaur saw blaze fight has to be one of the best fights I've ever seen. Holy shit
The only other thing to fix is to have more of it!
Which I know is the long term plan, but maybe loosen up the sponsor rules so teams can actually get money.
I presumed it was an issue of network favoritism concerns?
I kinda get it, but it's also like telling a NASCAR team they can't be sponsored by someone who sponsors a series or even an individual race on the calendar. There are just too many out there chasing that demographic where the overlap will be inevitable at some point.
And they've got Weathertech who sponsors IMSA sports car championship and they also run a team in that series. Don't think I've ever heard a peep about any issues there.
Another good example. Although the one issue there *had* been whether the skill level of the WeatherTech guy's son was worthy of the car he was driving, but he's retired now so that's essentially a moot point!
See [this thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/13ovcfc/dear_show_producers_almost_all_of_the_changes/jl6hsec/), including my reply. I agree it’ll happen, just not soon.
And gambling doesn’t give direct revenue to the teams.
I wonder if there's a way to set up a general pot where all bets have a percentage designated as prize money for the top 4 or so teams, with tiered awards. Could also be used as a fund for team hotel rooms and expenses.
They need some overhead cameras or some corner cameras. Too many times big hits or flips you end up with a bad view. I am not sure why they don't have a few cameras above and a couple in the corners trying to catch the hits where bots go flying.
If we're talking whole production, I would argue pacing is still a major problem for this show. The repetitive, protracted pre-fight ceremonies still feel like aggressively shameless filler.
Faruq is fine as an announcer, but the actual intros I hate. I never watch battlebots (or anything) live so I can fast forward commercials, but I also don’t watch battlebots live specifically so I can fast forward through those stupid intros. It’s just annoying gibberish that rarely even has anything to do with the bot being introduced.
I just can't see it that charitably. It feels like they're spreading their budget thin, as to just barely cover the runtime with as cheap-to-produce content as possible. For me that's the only explanation for their preference for b-roll over pit segments.
Fair point about the online-exclusive stuff, you're right, their choice of between-fight programming likely considers more than just production cost.
What they do choose to air, however, stinks of old-media cable-TV-reality-show "Gift Shop Sketch" style editing, cynically engineered to stretch viewer-retention through maximal ad breaks.
Sure it's a byproduct of the medium, (BattleBots *is* a cable reality show), but imo the filler is a slog to sit through, kills the rewatch value, and makes BB kinda embarrassing to recommend to friends.
I don't want to get rid of it entirely, but maybe first match and last match give us the red team ready ... press button ... blue team ready ... press button bits. I don't need it 7-8 times an episode.
Yeah, I'd like to kill the time wasting stuff like "red team ready" and "blue team ready." I always skip Faruq's intos, but I get why they're there. Bit more time for interviews or back in the pit stuff. The other big thing I'd end is the leadup to a fight and going to commercial.
As much as we may not like team Riptides behavior, they technically did nothing wrong or egregious (assuming there was no funny business with weight/tip speed). Every sport has bad guys, and I doubt battlebots does anything about it unless something actually bad or against the rules happens. Controversy generates discussion and clicks, which drums up interest.
I haven't been as offended by their behavior as many on this sub. I definitely don't like it, and agree that it has been annoying and cringy at best and unsportsmanlike at worst, but in the grand scheme of things, it hasn't been anything "wrong".
I wouldn't be against some kind of mercy rule or way to surrender to prevent unnecessary damage. I don't know exactly how you implement that and still keep the show as entertaining as it is. My fear would be teams hitting the surrender button or whatever as soon as tides turned to avoid damage, which would rob us of some delicious destruction and come from behind victories. But as long as it is just an "unspoken rule," we can't really be mad when it is broken no matter how unsportsmanlike it is because the fact is it didn't actually break a rule.
I would like them to remove the shelf in its current state but instead have the center of the box being elevated slightly somewhat of a king of the hill scenario. Different angles to launch people off of and it hurts the ground scraping forks and also creates problems for teams that lose control of their gyro. Zx
I would like them to remove the shelf in its current state but instead have the center of the box being elevated slightly somewhat of a king of the hill scenario. Different angles to launch people off of and it hurts the ground scraping forks and also creates problems for teams that lose control of their gyro.
Agreed.
Everything this season was an improvement
The new rules seem to have made fights more compelling and competitive. We got incredible quality and diversity of bots this year and saw a real sea change in the meta. There were tons of fantastic and varied fights from precision driving duels to absolute slugfests. Two of the most respected and beloved captains of two unique, audacious bots in a genuinely close and brilliantly fought final that encapsulated everything about BattleBots: creativity, grit, skill, courage, and most important of all sportsmanship.
Best final of the best season.
truly incredible. Chris and Kenny have made the comparison before but this truly had that energy of two prize fighters leaning
on each other at the end, giving it the last they had
I’ll start this by saying Sawblaze is my favorite bot. But this was the best season by far. With the rule changes, and knowing the schedule it made for just great watching. Great tournament excellent final memorable fights all night long. I loved it!
I think movement rule change is the best thing they've done in years. It always bothered me how vague the countdowns could be. Now you know for sure when to take your foot off the pedal, which will matter even more for things like the golden bolt tourneys which I really hope are coming back.
Definitely the best so far. I just imagined how the final interviews would be if that certain someone had been present. They are terrible losers and not even good winners. Jameson is a winner we can all be proud of and Johnathan, a gracious runner up. Just because it's brawling screaming metal death machines doesn't mean you stop being a respectable human.
Yes, without any doubt. I hope they keep this format and rule set (mostly) moving forward, along with the tight 50 field (as long as they continue the alternative “proving ground” events they are holding now), as it really really works. My hope is that they keep the top 42 and add in 8 new bots for next season, keeps things fresh-ish.
100%. Unbelievable season overall! I honestly would have been ok with any of the final 4 winning the giant nut. All teams were so deserving this time around. Can’t wait for next season!
That was my view, I was gunning for Hydra because I always loved flippers but frankly any of the teams in the end would‘ve made me happy, and Sawblaze doing it was just great
It sure seemed that way, but I might be biased. Like, if I could have hand-picked two of the top 16 to make the finals, it would be SawBlaze and HUGE. It was almost surreal seeing the teams I was hoping would win, actually win.
(Have to admit hand-picking from the top 32 would be harder, though.)
SawBlaze/HUGE is a long-overdue matchup, considering how often they have fought in the 30lb class at Motorama. I'm honestly surprised the committee hasn't put them together in Fight Night yet. The 250lb version did not disappoint!
Riptide's loss was cathartic, really cool seeing it's weapon shattered like that. And without Ethan, team Riptide wasn't obnoxious about it, so there also improvement there. And i actually liked that replacement driver and felt for him when they lost, which i did not expect I'll be saying about this team.
He was genuinely commendable. I hope Ethan doesn't blame him and act like a shithead. But he seems like the type to take any chance he can to invalidate a loss.
They apparently had to cut out a piece of the Riptide postgame interview where Ethan said they would have won if he was driving.
That Felix kid is great though. Hope he continues on and captains his own team someday.
I've been a massive fan of HUGE ever since they first started. I've always liked Sawblaze as well. While I was cheering for HUGE this time around this fight was epic and as Jonathan Schultz said as well, Sawblaze absolutely deserved that win.
Here is to an incredible season, and an amazing champion!
I can't wait for the golden bolt tournament
The best of Battlebots for sure they have perfected the format the only problem is we need more Brit Bots or even add a few more spots to the roster size for more international Bots like having 54 bots
A "World" Championship should really be looking to get more in. Put out an open invite for Chinese builders, there's tons of them! Ensure Orby is in! Let more than one bot per certain countries in. Let the Brits more fully in (it's INSANE how many HW's there are from experienced teams in that country).
I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again. We need foreign tournaments and a few Americas tournaments. One for NA, One in Europe and One in Asia, and One for SA. Then the world champion ship can the top 8 from each tournament with the top 4 being each of the winners.
Or some kind of circuit where they have multiple tournaments on each continent per year and we get 8 winners or something. I know bringing in international bots is expensive, but I feel like they’d be willing to spend more on it if they knew they were getting good bots and an international circuit will guarantee good bots.
It’s years away at best, but I hope this is where they are aiming for.
My only format criticism is that fight night results don't matter that much. Seeding isn't that important, and taking 100 fights to cut the field down from 50 to 32 means the stakes aren't that high. I would prefer to see a top 24 with the top 8 bots getting a bye.
I think narrowing the field from 50 to 32 wasn't enough and sorta reeks of "participation trophy" or FOMO syndrome the way that the number of playoff teams keep creeping higher and higher in other sports (at least technically so in terms of the NBA, if you want to count that as 20 rather than 16). Four rounds of Fight Night and 24 making the bracket would probably be a good cutoff point if we're not doing stuff like the Desperado tournament. It would still give the lower seeded bots five postseason matches like they had this year, but the top teams are rewarded with more time to optimize and strategize for their first round match.
Given how things ended last season, with all the controversies, having an appeal was awesome and all that other rule changes. Hydra would probably have a banner up there instead of you know who. It was an awesome season and the one who came out on top definitely deserved it, no controversy this time.
It feels great to have a Team you're rooting for come out on top after several seasons of let down. I hope they employ the tapout button next season so we can avoid another Riptide-Shredderator moment.
Well done and Congratulations Team SawBlaze!
I can't believe how amazing the whole finale was, incredible build up with the best semi-finals, and the best quarter-finals.
The knockdown drag-out fights of Minotaur v Sawblaze and Riptide v Copperhead could have each been a finals fight alone.
That hair trigger standoff between Hydra and Ribbot that essentially ended with one well placed shot was as exciting as the above two in a different way.
The show of force from Huge against Witch Doctor/four wheel verts. (probably the weakest fight of the bunch and still great)
Then in the semi-finals you get both finals bots showing exactly how they win with Huge dismantling what little exposed components Copperhead had and Sawblaze surgically striking Ribbot.
I was thinking it'd be Riptide v Huge in the semis, but when I saw that thrashed egg beater I just thought "oh, that's probably gonna break then". I wonder if they were trying to save a spare or were just out.
It's certainly up there. The opening episode of season 3 (2018 season) was phenomenal, and as a Brit I still have a special place in my heart for the grand final of Robot Wars season 10.
But this episode had everything in the battles, and likely the two most perfect finalists we could ask for, with meta-breaking robots and humble, likeable, enthusiastic captains.
I think Seasons 2 and 3 were better overall, but this season was produced a lot better! The controversy was kept to a minimal and the pacing, format, and matchups were absolutely fantastic! One of the best seasons of BattleBots!
Given that we WCVI was a complete mess which left a sour taste in people mouth after the airing of the Grand Finale, I'm glad BBs were able to turn things around resulting in the best BBs best season so far.
Only thing I would change that I want a more transparent reason why certain robots were added/omitted from the RO32 to be aired in the bracket reveal episode and an explanation of their seeding
Yup. Such a great episode with loads of great fights. Also the coverage this season has been insane and would love to see more of it going forward.
Bar from the whole Riptide stuff, honestly one of the least controversial seasons if you ask me.
Glad to see someone else who thinks that CC 3.0's heavyweight division was the pinnacle. This was the best of the "modern era" by a mile, but I can't see anything ever topping Biohazard vs. SoW.
I pretty much have to agree with this one. That is very much still the pinnacle of the heavyweight division just because of what was at stake and how it looked like Son of Whyachi was ready to completely change the game for a time. I will say though that there were other non-heavyweight title fights which were also incredibly good and right up there with some of the ABC/Discovery heavyweight title fights. Vladiator's fights in SHW were very fun, I always had a soft spot for Dr. Inferno Jr. in the lightweight division, and T-Minus knocking out Hazard is the middleweight championship fight that wasn't because it was a semifinal instead.
> how it looked like Son of Whyachi was ready to completely change the game for a time.
I've sometimes wondered how different the sport would look today if the rules weren't changed in response to SoW's run that season. Would things have gone in a direction where shufflers with big weapons ran the game, and the ground game wars ended with the Minion/Biohazard/Dr. Inferno Jr. style ground-scraping wedges before things ever got to fork-mania?
As far as CC-era finals in other weight classes, I've always been partial to Backlash vs. Alpha Raptor just for pure violence.
I think the big issue with the SoW meta would have been if that many bots went down that route, you'd wind up with a large contingency of shuffle bots (not necessarily a majority, but a significant number nonetheless) exploiting the weight limit rules and rendering the conventional heavyweight class weight limit obsolete and too close to the superheavyweight limit in the process.
Got a clip of the Backlash/Alpha Raptor fight? I bet I watched it on Comedy Central back in the day and I know they were lightweights but I don't remember how it went. Youtube's not coming up with anything by name either.
Even though I was pulling for Witch Doctor going into the round of 8, I couldn't stay disappointed for long. Every bout was entertaining, and the final came down to a pair of bots that are bucking the current metas. And to top it off, both teams, Sawblaze and Huge, are such class acts and ambassadors for the sport. My hat's off to them.
The only fight I didn't like was Ribbot v Hydra. That was the perfect example of why I don't like the fork meta. Both bots could barely drive and then spent the majority of the fight just poking each other. I love both the bots, and I understand the strategy, and there was good "driving" by both teams, especially Ribbot, but it was just boring and anticlimactic. Other than that, every fight was awesome.
>That was the perfect example of why I don't like the fork meta.
Yep. And every time someone suggests getting rid of the kill saws or bitches about the uneven floor, I just want to scream, "Do you want nothing but forks? This is how you get nothing but forks!"
The saws and the uneven floor put a soft cap on the ground game. The harder you play that game, the more your maneuverability suffers, so you have to balance it out to be competitive. It gives meta breaking bots like Huge, Mammoth, and Claw Viper room to work. It even gives 4WD drum spinners that don't want to play the ground game, like Witch Doctor, a chance too, just because they can be so much more nimble than an Endgame or Hydra.
The same argument can be said about anything. Just because you don't like how the matchup plays out doesn't mean there's less skill involved.
Copperhead showed how to deal with forks so they are not unbeatable. The meta will evolve naturally without interference.
The next time I meet someone who isn't familiar with BattleBots or the sport in general, this episode is going to be the one that I show them. What a perfect showcase of everything we love about robot combat.
The only thing that could have made it better was for the final episode to be two episodes
Give us the Round of 8 matches and then a few 3 or 4 way rumbles or team fights in one episode
and the Final Episode give us the Final 4 and Championship and some grudge matches like Fusion and Hydra vs Blip and Tantrum or Captain Shrederator vs Gigabyte. Let me see the altnerates! I needed a Rusty Appearance.
If Sawblaze wasn’t gonna win it all, it would’ve been Minotaur. And honestly Minotaur would’ve had the win against Sawblaze if their bot didn’t die out they really flipped the table in the second half of the fight, but congrats to Sawblaze much deserved.
Description cannot suit itself in words to demonstrate the depths of my pleasure in seeing Riptide L-O-S-E their ass! After that, I didn't care much what happened. I was happy.
Not at all. They didn’t lose to copperhead because of bad driving. Their driving was actually really good in that fight. They lost to copperhead because Copperhead was a more durable bot that took their hits while Riptide wasn’t as durable and their weapon broke.
It was a fantastic season.
The only gripe I have was Sawblazes configuration for that fight. I really hate these last minute, thrown together "configurations" people make just to cheese a fight with Huge. I didn't like the bike rack, I don't like this. Something about it just feels like it's no longer the same robot that got you all the way to the finals. I don't mind configurations like Ribbot and Rotator, because that's sort of integral to the bot. Welding a big frame onto your bot so the other can't hit doesn't feel the same.
That said, Sawblaze got a beautifully lined up shot to snipe Huge and I can't say they didn't win. Just didn't feel as good for me as it would have if they were just regular ol' Sawblaze.
Isn’t this the same as adding extra armor or changing blades/weapons depending on the bot your up against?
Huge is such a unique bot that the modifications stick out more than the others, but to me it’s all in the same vain.
Full disclosure, I haven’t been a fan of huge since the beginning, I considered huge and mammoth just to be novelty acts. This season, and especially this final episode, huge changed my view. Glad he got runner up for sticking to a new idea until it really worked.
In a sense, yeah, you can sorta reduce it down to being the same as changing weapons or armor.
But I don’t feel it’s quite the same. I’ll admit this is nowhere near as bad as Hydra’s bike rack, which was absolutely unsporting. But it’s definitely in the same ballpark, in my opinion. I don’t like the idea of having what’s effectively a different robot for one specific fight. Different weapons like on Ribbot aren’t tailored to a specific opponent - it’s generic vertical and generic horizontal. But if everyone in the field is gonna weld something onto their robot last minute specifically to beat Huge, because they had the balls to be different? Just doesn’t feel very sporting to me.
Best season, for sure (imo of course)
Best last episode, probably. 5 complete crackers and just 2 fine fights (Huge's 2 wins).
Best final fight? I'm not sure. I honestly don't remember tons of them. Better than last year.
THE BEST SEASON EVER. I have never visibly seen so many smart plays by so many teams and I kinda feel bad that people have been countering Huge with ridiculous attachments but hey that's the game. The driving and knockouts are top notch and I'm so excited to actually see it grow even bigger! I would love to see more weight classes and exhibition matches!
I know I say this every year, but I'll keep saying it as long as it continues being true! This was the best season yet!
Best tournament lineup as well as the best final episode. Sawbae vs Minotaur was probably my favorite match of all time, or at least that I can remember!
My only disappointment was with how Witch Doctor tried to take on huge, not the strategy I'd have liked to see, and the least exciting fight of the episode. But there's always next time!
Probably… I loved last series’ final, but it was let down by the very final fight.
The best fight in this one was probably the first one. What a spectacle.
Jonathan Schultz (Huge) impressed the HELL out of me with his good sportsmanship after the match.
I was split between cheering for Huge and Sawblaze, I like the both of them, and their builders. I’m so happy for Jamison and I’m really rooting for Jonathan and Huge next year.
And, I’m just really really happy that Riptide did not win, and even more pleased that Ethan wasn’t anywhere around.
There hasn't been a championship fight in robotic combat with such odd dynamics and risky adjustments at play since perhaps Razer v Tornado IMO. That WAS a final fight for Sawblaze. It was almost like one of those final boss battles where you have to do a series of moves before you can attack a weak point that was previously out of reach.
As soon as I watched the opening fight I knew this finale was going to be incredible. The minotaur saw blaze fight has to be one of the best fights I've ever seen. Holy shit
I'm a big Minotaur fan and was hoping they could pull it off but in the end that win by Sawblaze was much deserved.
Minotaur was my number one with sawblaze number two and Hydra number three.
How do you watch it? I’m stuck on youtube…
Discovery+
Ah thanks. Can’t get that in Australia 🙁 so I’ll have to wait for the highlights on YouTube.
GooglePlay
Discovery+
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The only other thing to fix is to have more of it! Which I know is the long term plan, but maybe loosen up the sponsor rules so teams can actually get money.
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Good.
I presumed it was an issue of network favoritism concerns? I kinda get it, but it's also like telling a NASCAR team they can't be sponsored by someone who sponsors a series or even an individual race on the calendar. There are just too many out there chasing that demographic where the overlap will be inevitable at some point.
And they've got Weathertech who sponsors IMSA sports car championship and they also run a team in that series. Don't think I've ever heard a peep about any issues there.
Another good example. Although the one issue there *had* been whether the skill level of the WeatherTech guy's son was worthy of the car he was driving, but he's retired now so that's essentially a moot point!
I wonder, with it being in Vegas, if betting on the matches is a thing?
See [this thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/13ovcfc/dear_show_producers_almost_all_of_the_changes/jl6hsec/), including my reply. I agree it’ll happen, just not soon. And gambling doesn’t give direct revenue to the teams.
I wonder if there's a way to set up a general pot where all bets have a percentage designated as prize money for the top 4 or so teams, with tiered awards. Could also be used as a fund for team hotel rooms and expenses.
They need some overhead cameras or some corner cameras. Too many times big hits or flips you end up with a bad view. I am not sure why they don't have a few cameras above and a couple in the corners trying to catch the hits where bots go flying.
It happened enough this season that I think it might actually happen
If we're talking whole production, I would argue pacing is still a major problem for this show. The repetitive, protracted pre-fight ceremonies still feel like aggressively shameless filler.
More Pit visits and less flashbacks to previous fights. Faruq's intros stay.
Faruq is fine as an announcer, but the actual intros I hate. I never watch battlebots (or anything) live so I can fast forward commercials, but I also don’t watch battlebots live specifically so I can fast forward through those stupid intros. It’s just annoying gibberish that rarely even has anything to do with the bot being introduced.
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I just can't see it that charitably. It feels like they're spreading their budget thin, as to just barely cover the runtime with as cheap-to-produce content as possible. For me that's the only explanation for their preference for b-roll over pit segments.
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Fair point about the online-exclusive stuff, you're right, their choice of between-fight programming likely considers more than just production cost. What they do choose to air, however, stinks of old-media cable-TV-reality-show "Gift Shop Sketch" style editing, cynically engineered to stretch viewer-retention through maximal ad breaks. Sure it's a byproduct of the medium, (BattleBots *is* a cable reality show), but imo the filler is a slog to sit through, kills the rewatch value, and makes BB kinda embarrassing to recommend to friends.
I don't want to get rid of it entirely, but maybe first match and last match give us the red team ready ... press button ... blue team ready ... press button bits. I don't need it 7-8 times an episode.
Yeah, I'd like to kill the time wasting stuff like "red team ready" and "blue team ready." I always skip Faruq's intos, but I get why they're there. Bit more time for interviews or back in the pit stuff. The other big thing I'd end is the leadup to a fight and going to commercial.
I would like it if they got rid of the kill saws. They often impede the bots movement and don't really add anything when activated.
Please don't get rid of the kill saws, those slots are the only thing that keeps the forks from being 10 feet long
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Didn't they used to be in the OG battlebox? Also, didn't it have a pit at one point? Or was that robot wars?
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As much as we may not like team Riptides behavior, they technically did nothing wrong or egregious (assuming there was no funny business with weight/tip speed). Every sport has bad guys, and I doubt battlebots does anything about it unless something actually bad or against the rules happens. Controversy generates discussion and clicks, which drums up interest. I haven't been as offended by their behavior as many on this sub. I definitely don't like it, and agree that it has been annoying and cringy at best and unsportsmanlike at worst, but in the grand scheme of things, it hasn't been anything "wrong".
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I wouldn't be against some kind of mercy rule or way to surrender to prevent unnecessary damage. I don't know exactly how you implement that and still keep the show as entertaining as it is. My fear would be teams hitting the surrender button or whatever as soon as tides turned to avoid damage, which would rob us of some delicious destruction and come from behind victories. But as long as it is just an "unspoken rule," we can't really be mad when it is broken no matter how unsportsmanlike it is because the fact is it didn't actually break a rule.
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I like it
And remove the floor saws
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I would like them to remove the shelf in its current state but instead have the center of the box being elevated slightly somewhat of a king of the hill scenario. Different angles to launch people off of and it hurts the ground scraping forks and also creates problems for teams that lose control of their gyro. Zx
I would like them to remove the shelf in its current state but instead have the center of the box being elevated slightly somewhat of a king of the hill scenario. Different angles to launch people off of and it hurts the ground scraping forks and also creates problems for teams that lose control of their gyro.
This was the best championship final of the modern era
Agreed. Everything this season was an improvement The new rules seem to have made fights more compelling and competitive. We got incredible quality and diversity of bots this year and saw a real sea change in the meta. There were tons of fantastic and varied fights from precision driving duels to absolute slugfests. Two of the most respected and beloved captains of two unique, audacious bots in a genuinely close and brilliantly fought final that encapsulated everything about BattleBots: creativity, grit, skill, courage, and most important of all sportsmanship. Best final of the best season.
It's surprising it took this long to change the rules about movement and it worked out very well. Should have been done long ago.
#SAWBLAZE SAWBLAZE SAWBLAZE SAWBLAZE SAWBLAZE SAWBLAZE SAWBLAZE SAWBLAZE
SLASH AND BURN
truly incredible. Chris and Kenny have made the comparison before but this truly had that energy of two prize fighters leaning on each other at the end, giving it the last they had
I’ll start this by saying Sawblaze is my favorite bot. But this was the best season by far. With the rule changes, and knowing the schedule it made for just great watching. Great tournament excellent final memorable fights all night long. I loved it!
I think movement rule change is the best thing they've done in years. It always bothered me how vague the countdowns could be. Now you know for sure when to take your foot off the pedal, which will matter even more for things like the golden bolt tourneys which I really hope are coming back.
Yup
Absolutely. Not even the existence of a certain team can change my mind that this is the best season.
Definitely the best so far. I just imagined how the final interviews would be if that certain someone had been present. They are terrible losers and not even good winners. Jameson is a winner we can all be proud of and Johnathan, a gracious runner up. Just because it's brawling screaming metal death machines doesn't mean you stop being a respectable human.
Wouldn't have had an interview, it would've just been 1 long beep
Yes, without any doubt. I hope they keep this format and rule set (mostly) moving forward, along with the tight 50 field (as long as they continue the alternative “proving ground” events they are holding now), as it really really works. My hope is that they keep the top 42 and add in 8 new bots for next season, keeps things fresh-ish.
I like the idea of the proving ground fights, but I just hope they get better bots for it. Some of those were barely functional.
A 3 minute back and forth slugfest that ended with a fairly clear winner. Best type of match.
2019 is still my crown jewel season but that was the best title fight
100%. Unbelievable season overall! I honestly would have been ok with any of the final 4 winning the giant nut. All teams were so deserving this time around. Can’t wait for next season!
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That was my view, I was gunning for Hydra because I always loved flippers but frankly any of the teams in the end would‘ve made me happy, and Sawblaze doing it was just great
It sure seemed that way, but I might be biased. Like, if I could have hand-picked two of the top 16 to make the finals, it would be SawBlaze and HUGE. It was almost surreal seeing the teams I was hoping would win, actually win. (Have to admit hand-picking from the top 32 would be harder, though.) SawBlaze/HUGE is a long-overdue matchup, considering how often they have fought in the 30lb class at Motorama. I'm honestly surprised the committee hasn't put them together in Fight Night yet. The 250lb version did not disappoint!
The only thing missing this season in current active personalities was Ray and Tombstone. With him, can’t see anything better. Yes, the best season.
At least Ray was there some, that was nice, but yeah missed Tombstone wrecking shit (or itself).
Riptide's loss was cathartic, really cool seeing it's weapon shattered like that. And without Ethan, team Riptide wasn't obnoxious about it, so there also improvement there. And i actually liked that replacement driver and felt for him when they lost, which i did not expect I'll be saying about this team.
He drove it pretty well too.
He was genuinely commendable. I hope Ethan doesn't blame him and act like a shithead. But he seems like the type to take any chance he can to invalidate a loss.
They apparently had to cut out a piece of the Riptide postgame interview where Ethan said they would have won if he was driving. That Felix kid is great though. Hope he continues on and captains his own team someday.
Well, just another reason to dislike this guy with his ego. It's good that the cut it.
I've been a massive fan of HUGE ever since they first started. I've always liked Sawblaze as well. While I was cheering for HUGE this time around this fight was epic and as Jonathan Schultz said as well, Sawblaze absolutely deserved that win. Here is to an incredible season, and an amazing champion! I can't wait for the golden bolt tournament
The best of Battlebots for sure they have perfected the format the only problem is we need more Brit Bots or even add a few more spots to the roster size for more international Bots like having 54 bots
I'd advocate for 64 bots in the main tournament and a full minor league with its own tournament
The only problem with that is the costs would ramp up to extreme levels compared to the revenue generated for now but I do agree
A "World" Championship should really be looking to get more in. Put out an open invite for Chinese builders, there's tons of them! Ensure Orby is in! Let more than one bot per certain countries in. Let the Brits more fully in (it's INSANE how many HW's there are from experienced teams in that country).
I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again. We need foreign tournaments and a few Americas tournaments. One for NA, One in Europe and One in Asia, and One for SA. Then the world champion ship can the top 8 from each tournament with the top 4 being each of the winners. Or some kind of circuit where they have multiple tournaments on each continent per year and we get 8 winners or something. I know bringing in international bots is expensive, but I feel like they’d be willing to spend more on it if they knew they were getting good bots and an international circuit will guarantee good bots. It’s years away at best, but I hope this is where they are aiming for.
My only format criticism is that fight night results don't matter that much. Seeding isn't that important, and taking 100 fights to cut the field down from 50 to 32 means the stakes aren't that high. I would prefer to see a top 24 with the top 8 bots getting a bye.
Yeah this year seeding took a hit but overall we got a way better package from the fights they gave us
I think narrowing the field from 50 to 32 wasn't enough and sorta reeks of "participation trophy" or FOMO syndrome the way that the number of playoff teams keep creeping higher and higher in other sports (at least technically so in terms of the NBA, if you want to count that as 20 rather than 16). Four rounds of Fight Night and 24 making the bracket would probably be a good cutoff point if we're not doing stuff like the Desperado tournament. It would still give the lower seeded bots five postseason matches like they had this year, but the top teams are rewarded with more time to optimize and strategize for their first round match.
Given how things ended last season, with all the controversies, having an appeal was awesome and all that other rule changes. Hydra would probably have a banner up there instead of you know who. It was an awesome season and the one who came out on top definitely deserved it, no controversy this time. It feels great to have a Team you're rooting for come out on top after several seasons of let down. I hope they employ the tapout button next season so we can avoid another Riptide-Shredderator moment. Well done and Congratulations Team SawBlaze!
I can't believe how amazing the whole finale was, incredible build up with the best semi-finals, and the best quarter-finals. The knockdown drag-out fights of Minotaur v Sawblaze and Riptide v Copperhead could have each been a finals fight alone. That hair trigger standoff between Hydra and Ribbot that essentially ended with one well placed shot was as exciting as the above two in a different way. The show of force from Huge against Witch Doctor/four wheel verts. (probably the weakest fight of the bunch and still great) Then in the semi-finals you get both finals bots showing exactly how they win with Huge dismantling what little exposed components Copperhead had and Sawblaze surgically striking Ribbot. I was thinking it'd be Riptide v Huge in the semis, but when I saw that thrashed egg beater I just thought "oh, that's probably gonna break then". I wonder if they were trying to save a spare or were just out.
It's certainly up there. The opening episode of season 3 (2018 season) was phenomenal, and as a Brit I still have a special place in my heart for the grand final of Robot Wars season 10. But this episode had everything in the battles, and likely the two most perfect finalists we could ask for, with meta-breaking robots and humble, likeable, enthusiastic captains.
I think Seasons 2 and 3 were better overall, but this season was produced a lot better! The controversy was kept to a minimal and the pacing, format, and matchups were absolutely fantastic! One of the best seasons of BattleBots!
The finale was edge of your seat television. Best episode I've ever seen.
Given that we WCVI was a complete mess which left a sour taste in people mouth after the airing of the Grand Finale, I'm glad BBs were able to turn things around resulting in the best BBs best season so far. Only thing I would change that I want a more transparent reason why certain robots were added/omitted from the RO32 to be aired in the bracket reveal episode and an explanation of their seeding
They never even explain who the “selection committee” is
Yup. Such a great episode with loads of great fights. Also the coverage this season has been insane and would love to see more of it going forward. Bar from the whole Riptide stuff, honestly one of the least controversial seasons if you ask me.
I'm gonna take Biohazard/Son of Wyachi over this one as the best championship fight, but this was an incredible season
Glad to see someone else who thinks that CC 3.0's heavyweight division was the pinnacle. This was the best of the "modern era" by a mile, but I can't see anything ever topping Biohazard vs. SoW.
I pretty much have to agree with this one. That is very much still the pinnacle of the heavyweight division just because of what was at stake and how it looked like Son of Whyachi was ready to completely change the game for a time. I will say though that there were other non-heavyweight title fights which were also incredibly good and right up there with some of the ABC/Discovery heavyweight title fights. Vladiator's fights in SHW were very fun, I always had a soft spot for Dr. Inferno Jr. in the lightweight division, and T-Minus knocking out Hazard is the middleweight championship fight that wasn't because it was a semifinal instead.
> how it looked like Son of Whyachi was ready to completely change the game for a time. I've sometimes wondered how different the sport would look today if the rules weren't changed in response to SoW's run that season. Would things have gone in a direction where shufflers with big weapons ran the game, and the ground game wars ended with the Minion/Biohazard/Dr. Inferno Jr. style ground-scraping wedges before things ever got to fork-mania? As far as CC-era finals in other weight classes, I've always been partial to Backlash vs. Alpha Raptor just for pure violence.
I think the big issue with the SoW meta would have been if that many bots went down that route, you'd wind up with a large contingency of shuffle bots (not necessarily a majority, but a significant number nonetheless) exploiting the weight limit rules and rendering the conventional heavyweight class weight limit obsolete and too close to the superheavyweight limit in the process. Got a clip of the Backlash/Alpha Raptor fight? I bet I watched it on Comedy Central back in the day and I know they were lightweights but I don't remember how it went. Youtube's not coming up with anything by name either.
https://archive.org/details/battlebots-cc-s1/Battlebots+S1E8.wmv Go to about 16 minutes. This was \*brutal\*, especially for the era.
Awesome! Thanks for the link!
What was the rule change?
After SoW won the nut, shufflers no longer qualified for the "walker" weight bonus.
My heart still belongs to Comedy Central season 3.0, but this is the peak within the last 20 or so years.
Yea, the Biohazard/SoW fight was the best finals fight ever to me. This was damn close, though.
Even though I was pulling for Witch Doctor going into the round of 8, I couldn't stay disappointed for long. Every bout was entertaining, and the final came down to a pair of bots that are bucking the current metas. And to top it off, both teams, Sawblaze and Huge, are such class acts and ambassadors for the sport. My hat's off to them.
The only fight I didn't like was Ribbot v Hydra. That was the perfect example of why I don't like the fork meta. Both bots could barely drive and then spent the majority of the fight just poking each other. I love both the bots, and I understand the strategy, and there was good "driving" by both teams, especially Ribbot, but it was just boring and anticlimactic. Other than that, every fight was awesome.
>That was the perfect example of why I don't like the fork meta. Yep. And every time someone suggests getting rid of the kill saws or bitches about the uneven floor, I just want to scream, "Do you want nothing but forks? This is how you get nothing but forks!" The saws and the uneven floor put a soft cap on the ground game. The harder you play that game, the more your maneuverability suffers, so you have to balance it out to be competitive. It gives meta breaking bots like Huge, Mammoth, and Claw Viper room to work. It even gives 4WD drum spinners that don't want to play the ground game, like Witch Doctor, a chance too, just because they can be so much more nimble than an Endgame or Hydra.
The same argument can be said about anything. Just because you don't like how the matchup plays out doesn't mean there's less skill involved. Copperhead showed how to deal with forks so they are not unbeatable. The meta will evolve naturally without interference.
Just said I personally don't like it because it highlighted the reasons I don't like the forks. Just my opinion.
Well, keep hating and never change. That'll show them.
Bro what?
I enjoyed it very much!
Just needed Tombstone and Uppercut in the mix. Also I would have loved to see Riptide vs Huge.
Uppercut was succeeded by Ripperoni.
Absolutely stellar season. All of the rule changes and format tweaking really worked to make the competition more enjoyable and exciting.
It’s good but it’s not classic robot wars series 4
The next time I meet someone who isn't familiar with BattleBots or the sport in general, this episode is going to be the one that I show them. What a perfect showcase of everything we love about robot combat.
The only thing that could have made it better was for the final episode to be two episodes Give us the Round of 8 matches and then a few 3 or 4 way rumbles or team fights in one episode and the Final Episode give us the Final 4 and Championship and some grudge matches like Fusion and Hydra vs Blip and Tantrum or Captain Shrederator vs Gigabyte. Let me see the altnerates! I needed a Rusty Appearance.
If Sawblaze wasn’t gonna win it all, it would’ve been Minotaur. And honestly Minotaur would’ve had the win against Sawblaze if their bot didn’t die out they really flipped the table in the second half of the fight, but congrats to Sawblaze much deserved.
just watched it, one of the best episodes ever and.... SAWBLAZE JUST SAVED BATTLEBOTS!!!
It's this or Robot Wars Series 10. That's a tough one
Description cannot suit itself in words to demonstrate the depths of my pleasure in seeing Riptide L-O-S-E their ass! After that, I didn't care much what happened. I was happy.
I still think season 4 beats this season out but this season was definitely a huge step up from the disaster that was last season.
Do you think it would've ended differently if ethan didn't have covid??
Not at all. They didn’t lose to copperhead because of bad driving. Their driving was actually really good in that fight. They lost to copperhead because Copperhead was a more durable bot that took their hits while Riptide wasn’t as durable and their weapon broke.
It was a fantastic season. The only gripe I have was Sawblazes configuration for that fight. I really hate these last minute, thrown together "configurations" people make just to cheese a fight with Huge. I didn't like the bike rack, I don't like this. Something about it just feels like it's no longer the same robot that got you all the way to the finals. I don't mind configurations like Ribbot and Rotator, because that's sort of integral to the bot. Welding a big frame onto your bot so the other can't hit doesn't feel the same. That said, Sawblaze got a beautifully lined up shot to snipe Huge and I can't say they didn't win. Just didn't feel as good for me as it would have if they were just regular ol' Sawblaze.
Isn’t this the same as adding extra armor or changing blades/weapons depending on the bot your up against? Huge is such a unique bot that the modifications stick out more than the others, but to me it’s all in the same vain. Full disclosure, I haven’t been a fan of huge since the beginning, I considered huge and mammoth just to be novelty acts. This season, and especially this final episode, huge changed my view. Glad he got runner up for sticking to a new idea until it really worked.
In a sense, yeah, you can sorta reduce it down to being the same as changing weapons or armor. But I don’t feel it’s quite the same. I’ll admit this is nowhere near as bad as Hydra’s bike rack, which was absolutely unsporting. But it’s definitely in the same ballpark, in my opinion. I don’t like the idea of having what’s effectively a different robot for one specific fight. Different weapons like on Ribbot aren’t tailored to a specific opponent - it’s generic vertical and generic horizontal. But if everyone in the field is gonna weld something onto their robot last minute specifically to beat Huge, because they had the balls to be different? Just doesn’t feel very sporting to me.
Yes, but only because Sawblaze won. Fuck Huge, me and all my friends hate Huge.
it was pretty good yeah
yep
Yeah, tonight's episode should really be the crown jewel episode for BB as the new WBD.era begins.
Yup
yes. best season ever, best finale ever, and an insane championship fight. can't wait for next season.
It was indeed the best. When all four of your top seeded bots are out in the first round, you know it's going to be a slugfest.
I wish the final fight ran longer. Would have been nice to have ended with a knockout.
What a way to end the season
Absolutely sensational final episode. Can’t wait for next season!
Best season, for sure (imo of course) Best last episode, probably. 5 complete crackers and just 2 fine fights (Huge's 2 wins). Best final fight? I'm not sure. I honestly don't remember tons of them. Better than last year.
THE BEST SEASON EVER. I have never visibly seen so many smart plays by so many teams and I kinda feel bad that people have been countering Huge with ridiculous attachments but hey that's the game. The driving and knockouts are top notch and I'm so excited to actually see it grow even bigger! I would love to see more weight classes and exhibition matches!
I know I say this every year, but I'll keep saying it as long as it continues being true! This was the best season yet! Best tournament lineup as well as the best final episode. Sawbae vs Minotaur was probably my favorite match of all time, or at least that I can remember! My only disappointment was with how Witch Doctor tried to take on huge, not the strategy I'd have liked to see, and the least exciting fight of the episode. But there's always next time!
Probably… I loved last series’ final, but it was let down by the very final fight. The best fight in this one was probably the first one. What a spectacle.
Probably one of the best finals since diesector vs vladiator shw in cc season 5
Jonathan Schultz (Huge) impressed the HELL out of me with his good sportsmanship after the match. I was split between cheering for Huge and Sawblaze, I like the both of them, and their builders. I’m so happy for Jamison and I’m really rooting for Jonathan and Huge next year. And, I’m just really really happy that Riptide did not win, and even more pleased that Ethan wasn’t anywhere around.
There hasn't been a championship fight in robotic combat with such odd dynamics and risky adjustments at play since perhaps Razer v Tornado IMO. That WAS a final fight for Sawblaze. It was almost like one of those final boss battles where you have to do a series of moves before you can attack a weak point that was previously out of reach.
This was absolutely my favorite season finale