Time for the final heat before the grand final and to see who will join Behemoth, Carbide, Rapid and Nuts 2. We will also see which two robots will take the last spots in the ten-way last man standing free for all, which will determine the final grand finalist.
LET THE WARS BEGIN
Group battle 1 Expulsion vs Thor vs Coyote
Expulsion was comprised of a group of secondary school girls who were competing, because they wanted to encourage more girls to get into engineering. Their weapon was a vertical spinning disc mounted against the side of their machine, which I think is a poor design.
Their first opponent was the veteran of the previous wars and former grand finalist: Thor, armed with a hammer that slammed down with a tonne of force.
Rounding out the trio was Coyote who were armed with crushing jaws and a chainsaw tail.
3...2...1...ACTIVATE
The battle began with Coyote slamming into Expulsion with Thor leaving them to it. Coyote pushed Expulsion into the CPZ, where they were attacked by house robot: Dead Metal. But Expulsion escaped and hit the Dial of Doom, which allowed Dead Metal to leave his home and start attacking Expulsion again, before roasting them on the flame pit.
Meanwhile, Thor and Coyote were having their own war, slamming into each other. Coyote tried to get their crushing jaws into play, but their bark was worse than their bite. However, Thor was able to slam their hammer down.
Coyote escaped and hit the Dial of doom, once again allowing Dead metal to come out and attack the already beaten Expulsion. Thor and Coyote tried to defend their fallen competitor with little success. Afterwards, Thor damaged Coyote's beak leaving them as the clear winners.
Group battle 2 Magnetar vs Hobgoblin vs Push to Exit
Magnetar is the latest incarnation of S1 grand finalist Pulsar. The Magnetar machine was armed with a lethal spinning drum and are ones to watch. Their first opponent was Hobogoblin who were also armed with a spinning drum - cum - egg-beater.
Finally, we have Push to Exit who were armed with a forward-hinged flipper. This means that rather than trying to flip other machines, they would aim to topple them over. It is a more uncommon flipper design, but has seen great success in veterans Firestorm.
3...2...1 ACTIVATE
Push to Exit's unconventional flipper led to them starting strongly. They were easily able to get under Hobgoblin and flip them over who couldn't self-right. Push to Exit then made the mistake of messing with Magnetar who were just awesome. They slammed and battered Push to Exit. Metal was buckled and Push to Exit were soon immobilised. An impressive start from the previous finalists.
Robot Redemption 1 Hobgoblin vs Coyote
To call this a fight would be exaggerating. It was pushing and shoving and calling names. Coyote bashed into Hobgoblin, but couldn't get their crushing beak into play.
Instead, they displayed some good tactical thinking. They pushed Hobgoblin into Shunt who rained down hell on Hobgoblin, who couldn't survive the assault. On the plus side, they were able to use their egg-beater weapon to destroy Shunt's axe-blade.
Hobgoblin goes home, but Coyote was through to the next round.
Robot Redemption 2 Push to Exit vs Expulsion
This was another Handbags at Dawn match. No great damage or destruction happened. Both robots danced around each other, while Push to Exit had intermittent control problems. They were not running smoothly.
Their flipper wasn't working either, as they had plenty of opportunities to flip Expulsion and didn't. Expulsion also suffered from poor driving, as they drove onto the floor flipper and were flipped over. Meanwhile, Push to Exit had broken down. The match went to the judges who awarded it to Expulsion, deeming Push to Exit to have been immobilised first.
Round 2 Battle 1
Coyote vs Thor
Again this battle began with both machines sizing each other up. Coyote then went on the attack, slamming into Thor but doing no real damage.
Thor shoved back, pushing Coyote into the arena wall and slamming their hammer down, getting in some heavy hits. Coyote escaped and sensing they were in trouble, hit the Dial of Doom, allowing Matilda to come out of the CPZ.
Scared, Thor ran away and straight onto the floor flipper which flipped them far and wide. Dazed after this attack, Thor then drove straight onto Matilda's flywheel, which led to their CO2 bottle exploding in a cloud of smoke.
In the end, the fight went to the judges who awarded it to Thor, as they were more aggressive throughout the fight.
Round 2 Battle 2
Magnetar vs Expulsion
We've seen how powerful Magnetar's spinning drum is, which is why I understand why Expulsion went straight for the Dial of Doom. With the hopes of confusing Magnetar, they released the Fog of War. However, Magnetar used the Fog of War tactically. They revved their drum to top speed and slammed into Expulsion, delivering a 1-hit KO. Afterwards Expulsion went in the pit and Magnetar went through to the heat final.
Playoff Expulsion vs Coyote
Time to see who will claim 3rd place and the 9th spot in the 10-way free for all.
From Coyote's early performance, it was clear it wasn't going to be them. They showed terrible driving by repeatedly driving into the arena wall.
Meanwhile, Expulsion were slamming into Coyote who tried to recover, but couldn't and they soon broke down. Expulsion were through to the 10-way robot rumble.
Heat final Thor vs Magnetar
To prepare for this battle, the Thor team attached steel ropes to their machine with hopes of entangling Magnetar's spinning drum.
This served to bemuse Magnetar, rather than hurt them, as they charged into Thor. While this was a powerful blow, Thor recovered, pushing Magnetar into the arena wall and bringing their hammer down.
Magnetar escaped and while Thor was pursuing them, they stupidly drove onto the floor flipper. Thor recovered, but then drove onto the floor flipper again, and when crashing down, they landed on Magnetar's spinning drum. And once again, Thor's CO2 bottle exploded in a cloud of smoke. Weaponless, they were soon immobilised.
Thor joins Expulsion, Iron-Awe 6, Concussion, Tracktion, Terrorhurtz, Big Nipper, Eruption, Sabretooth and Apollo in the ten robot, last man standing, free for all. The winner will become our last finalist.
I can't wait to see this. The original series never attempted anything this big, so I'm sure it will be pure chaos. I wouldn't even like to predict a winner. As former champions, the smart money is on Apollo, but who knows?
Meanwhile, Magnetar is out fifth finalist, joining Behemoth, Carbide, Rapid and Nuts 2.
Dim the lights,
scream your applause,
Magnetar is our fifth finalist
on Robot Wars.
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