BattleBots (2015–…): Season 6, Episode 5 - Let's Uppercut to the Chase! - full transcript

Robots activate.

Welcome to battlebots,
a sports so intense,

gary busey once referred to it

as "a little too
much for my taste".

I'm chris rose and this
isn't the human olympics.

This is the robot games.

And I'm here with ufc legend

and olympic level
robot combat analyst,

say hello once
again to kenny florian.

Thanks, chris.

We may not have any
gold medals to hand out,



but we do have
the greatest trophy

in all of sports waiting
for this year's champion,

the giant nut.

Let's take a look
at tonight's fight card,

where a handful of
teams are already facing

the daunting prospect
of a dreaded 0-2 start

to their season,

hydra captain, jake
ewert finds himself

in unfamiliar territory

after a loss in
his opening fight.

Can last year's number
one tournament seed

flip back into the win column

or will the ferocious
flame of gruff

torch his chances
of making another run



at the giant nut?

We'll also see a
battle of the full body spinners

gigabyte and
captain john mladenik

are in the danger zone

as they face the iconic
captain shrederator fresh off

of its gigantic upset
win over tombstone.

Sparks will fly in that one.

And in our main event,

two of the sport's
most violent weapons

prepare to do battle.

It's end game
versus witch doctor.

These two teams
are in the business

of knocking robots out

and business is booming so much

so we may actually send
the judge's home a bit early.

But right now,

we kick things off
in a blaze of glory

with the flame
throwing free shipping

backed into a
corner after a loss

in its opening match,

the madman gary gin.

He's going to need to put
his legendary driving skills

to the test to save his season.

Standing in his way

one of the most
devastating vertical spinners

in the world uppercut

after starting the year

with a dominant
win over gigabyte,

captain alex hattori

looks to add yet another
impressive knockout

to his already
stunning highlight reel.

Oh, my
goodness! My gosh!

Are you guys ready?

I love hearing that sound.
Faruq, it's your world.

Ladies and gentlemen,
are you ready?

It is robot fighting time.

In the red square,

moving to hassle
that's never the best,

but give this bot a wrestle
and he'll do the rest.

He'll lift you and drop
you until your bots brittle.

Then he'll wrap you up

and send you
straight to the hospital.

It's free shipping.

Gary gin and free shipping

looking to break even
on the season here tonight.

So how do they deal

with one of the most
violent weapons in the sport,

kenny florian?

As a control driver going up

against a knockout artist,

free shipping needs
to use its front wedges

to get underneath uppercut

and try to break that spear
as quickly as possible.

So I put all my
chips on a box rush

from gary gin right
out of the gate here.

And the blue square,

ding, ding rang the bell.

There's going to
be a rumble tonight.

This guy is like conor mcgregor,

if he actually
won his last fight.

He's putting up his dukes
and like muhammad ali,

he's going to
float like a butterfly

and sting like

getting punched in the
face by 250 pound robot.

They're not all going to run.

It's uppercut!

Oh, yes.

Faruq bringing the
heat, as always,

as we welcome uppercut
and captain alex hattori,

a seven time national
yo-yo champion

showing off his
skills there as well.

The man looks ultra
confident coming into this one.

Well, he's definitely confident,

but alex admitted that uppercut

took a lot of internal damage
in its win over gigabyte.

He and his team
have made a real push

to get the bot back
into fighting shape,

but won't feel a 100% confident

until they see uppercut dish
out that first powerful punch.

Uppercut is a pretty
powerful vertical spinner,

if he gets a good hit on us,
he can do quite a bit of damage.

The key to our success
against uppercut

is just going out at him
fast, going at him hard,

hopefully get under him

and maybe take
some control over him.

Who knows what's
going to happen.

Since our record is now
zero wins and one loss,

it's even more important
that we get a win

in this next fight.

Yeah, so with free shipping,

we're mostly worried about
him getting underneath us

and pushing us around.

So we're hoping to
use our attachments

to get under him
early on in the match

and then be able to throw
him around as possible.

Last year, one of
our biggest moments

was when we fought sawblaze,
he also had a flamethrower

and I believe free
shipping's flamethrower

is even bigger,

so we'll see if we
can get a good hit

and a good exposure
out of their flame thrower.

Uppercut is
incredibly destructive

in a large volume,

so we're hoping
that at some point

throughout the three minutes we'll be able
to land at least one good hit on them.

Robots activate.

Red team ready.

Ready.

Blue team ready.

Free shipping,

looking to avoid an 0-2.

Uppercut, looking to
put a hole in free shipping

and climb to 2-0.

Buckle up.

Let the bot battle begin...

Wow, uppercut kind
of whiffed on that one.

Here comes free shipping
getting underneath uppercut

and now lets him off the hook.

That's...

Trying to do, what
a shot by uppercut.

Oh! Incredible power.

I think it's got the
heat off of this one.

Unbelievable.

Look at the wedges.

Look at the wedges
of free shipping.

Did you say
about the front wedges.

Oh, my goodness.

It is skidding
back and sideward.

Gary, you're on the
wrong side of road.

Oh, my gosh.

Did he get back
over, he's lost the tire,

he's trying to get back
onto the playing surface.

Oh my goodness.

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six...

the countdown is going on.

Gary gin can't get off the rail.

Three, two,
one. That's a knockout!

What a devastating moment.

That is a knockout by uppercut.

Kenny, free
shipping did a nice job

getting under uppercut at the
onset but after that, - oh!

Man, oh man,

hopefully you're wearing
your sunglasses to this event.

Yeah, that was just ridiculous.

I think I felt the
heat off of that one.

Just a ridiculous shot
there by uppercut.

Forget about feeling the heat.

Kenny, I think he got a
tan during that match.

We may need to
alert the fire department

the next time uppercut
steps into the box.

That was the biggest
explosion I have ever seen here

at battlebots.

Uppercut just
dismantling free shipping

from that point on.

Absolute mayhem
here to start the night.

Wow.

Alex hattori,

great balls of fire.

Was that as much
fun as it looked like?

It was quite scary again,

kind of brought us flashbacks
to the sawblaze fight.

Alex, you told us at the
beginning of the season

that you wanted to
be more entertaining

than championship caliber.

Don't you think
you're on your way

to being both?

Oh, we certainly hope so.

By the way, if you're
scared watching

what's happening, what
do you think is going

through your opponent's mind?

Well, they actually
got under us,

so I feel like they might
have felt pretty good

in the beginning.

In the beginning and then what?

Then stuff happened.

Alex hattori, congratulations

on your amazing 2-0, start.

Thank you.

Alex hattori doesn't
like to say much.

His bot definitely
does the talking.

Coming up, it's
always a good time

to get hammered in vegas,

blacksmith and shatter!,

they duke it out for
hammer supremacy.

That's next on battlebots.

Welcome back to battlebots

and up next, yeah,
it's hammer time

as blacksmith throws
down with shatter!

Let's start with
the metallic mafia

from new jersey, blacksmith.

After taking a year off
from combat robotics,

al kindle and team blacksmith

came surging back onto
the scene this season.

So the big question

of what is blacksmith
sealing this year?

Well, it's tough to say
with such a small sample size,

but that power hammer
upgrade al gave to his weapon

seems to be making
a big difference.

In a very close fight
against free shipping,

blacksmith managed to
deal out just enough damage

in the eyes of the
judges to take the w.

Blacksmith.

Interested to see
what kind of statement

he makes here
in its second fight.

And from across the hudson,

we have brooklyn's
adam wrigley and shatter!

Coming in with a record of 1-0

after winning a judge's decision

against subzero
in an unaired fight,

another w here could send
them into the round of 32

for the second
consecutive season.

Yeah, even
though shatter! Made it

all the way to
the quarter finals,

only to lose to eventual
champs end game last year,

adam actually told us
he was disappointed

in what he called an early exit

and is hell bent on
making a serious run

at the giant nut in 2021.

Let's check it out. Faruq?

In the red square from
edison, new jersey,

home of menlo park,

this box force to be stronger
than the armor of tony stark.

You'll be dust when
his hammer is fired

and slams at the
box are like tin foil

but he's the iron man.

It's blacksmith.

Here comes blacksmith

sporting that new
and improved weapon.

How does al kindle come out
on top in the battle of hammers,

kenny?

Well, shatter! Is going
to have to reach advantage

in this fight, so al will
need to find a way

to get around to the
size of shatter! Here.

If he could do that,

blacksmith has the power

to disable their weapon
and move to 2-0.

In the blue square,

this disco ball bar looks
like it listens to abba,

but with its powerful
acts, it's more of a stabber.

The box is his dance
floor and he's ready to drive

and when he comes for you,
you won't be staying alive,

giving other bots a case
of the heebie-jeebies,

it's shatter!

Shatter! Sporting and
medieval looking at hammer arm,

they call the mary special.

Oh, mary, mary,
that thing's sharp.

Stay away from
that. Mary, be careful!

I definitely wouldn't
want to hug that thing,

but yes, what better opportunity
to debut a brand new hammer

than in the battle
of the hammers?

Adam wrigley always such a show.

Shatter is possibly the
best hammer out there.

Hits very hard.

The most dangerous
part of shatter!

Is actually the reach.

For us to win this fight,

we're going to have to avoid
the front of his robot somehow.

We need to try to
get around to a side

and if we can do that, we
could really do some damage.

It's important for us to
do well and get a win,

we can go up 2 and 0.

You know, we're
almost guaranteed

to get into the round of 32, so
it's critical to get a good start.

So we looked at
blacksmith's last fight

and the hammer
saw is working well.

It's a scary weapon,

so we're taking out a
whole new configuration

we haven't used before.

We have stronger top panels,

we have a different
front configuration

and an all new hammer arm
that we call the mary special.

We're very excited
to take them on.

I think the fans have wanted
to see blacksmith shatter!

For a while now.

You know, we had
some banter online,

so we've been looking
forward to this one.

It'll be a lot of fun.

Robots activate.

For more on shatter's strategy

in this fight, let's toss it out
over to our bot whisperer,

pete abrahamson.

A couple of things
on top of shatter!

Is some impact absorbing
armor that they've built onto it,

of course, with
the mary special.

You'll notice all the
wonderful points there.

Those are meant to
be able to come down

and go into the
chains on blacksmith

and take out this chain.

But really, the
key to this strategy

is their longest
social distancing forks.

They hope to hold
a blacksmith back

while their longer hammer

will reach out and
get blacksmith.

Let the bot battle begin.

Big swing there by shatter!.

Gosh, look at the reach
on that weapon kenny.

Yeah, that is very impressive.

Oh! That's terrific.
Huge shot to shatter!

What a shot.

That was a direct hit to
shatter's weapon chris.

Oh.

Here is shatter!
With a big power shot

laying into blacksmith's
weapon now.

Wow! - go on.

Shatter! May have gotten
the blacksmith's weapon belts

in that exchange.

You could see one
flapping around now.

Blacksmith still swing it away.

Oh, what a shot.

Good shot right
there by shatter!

With the mary special
and you called it kenny,

the disc on the end
of blacksmith's hammer

no longer appears
to be functional,

a heck of a shot by adam
wrigley and shatter! Wow.

The speed of that hammer
is impressive to watch one, chris.

And those long spiked saws

on the front of shatter!

Has worked to perfection
hooking blacksmith here.

Oh.

Shatter! Continues its
onslaught with the mary special

playing into the
top of blacksmith's

with that long scaffold weapon.

Here comes blacksmith
pushing shatter!

Into the screws.

Without the ability to do damage

with his weapon, al,

is going to have to
drive his way back

into this fight, chris.

You can see blacksmith trying

to get around to
the sides of shatter!

And avoid that weapon

about 90 seconds remaining here.

Oh, and here
shatter! Caught in a kilt zone.

Black reverse tail.

And shatter! Is going
every shot, it reverse now.

Unbelievable, no
matter what blacksmith does,

it can't seem to avoid
that giant weapon,

just too much reach
from that bot brooklyn

and blacksmith seems unable
to fire its hammer arm at all.

Oh, that was a beautiful hit

and another.

Shatter! Pushing
blacksmith to the.

Has shot, holy smokes.

Again, it's combination
shots as well as not just one.

Oh, look how precise that is.

But under a
minute to go those kill saw.

Nice job there from blacksmith

by attacking with planks.

Something that's
been hard to do here

against a bot as
athletic as shatter!

With its
omni-directional wheels.

Oh, nice job by blacksmith

because you
enter into the rails.

Blacksmith making
a push in the control category

down the stretch
here, but shatter!

Not letting up for a second.

Adam wrigley continues
to throw that mary special.

But now here's
blacksmith suddenly finding

on the right angle

showing off that real
right in shutting shatter!

All around the battlebots.

Great effort by
al kindle to end this battle.

Oh, arms of mary special,

shatter! Swinging
away as time expires.

And this is one is going
to go into the judges.

They are derek young.

Jason bardis and lisa winter
scoring on an 11 point system,

five points can be
awarded for damage,

three a piece for
aggression and control.

Kenny, I have two words for you,

mary special.

Oh, man, you got to love it

when a plan comes together.

Adam wrigley
designed this weapon

for maximum reach and precision.

And boy, did it
perform perfectly

taking out blacksmith's
weapon belts,

disabling the hammer
and, in my opinion,

delivering shatter!
The victory.

Blacksmith
was able to land a shot

to the mary special
very early in this fight,

it almost changed the
course of the entire match,

but shatter! Survived,

it simply went on
to dominate as well.

Let's see how the judges
broke this one down.

Here is faruq with the decision.

The results from
the judges are in.

The winner by
unanimous decision is...

Shatter!

Adam wrigley.

I'm guessing that's the way

the mary special is
supposed to work?

The mary special did its job.

Mary, what's it like

having a destructive killer
weapon named after you?

It feels right.

Adam, is this the
start you envisioned

when you joined us
here for the 2021 season?

I try not to envision
anything, so I don't jinx it,

but this is great.

And very quickly, what
do you think of 2 and 0,

impressive start like this says
to the selection committee?

Undefeated, I mean,

that makes us the number
one seed right now, right.

I think we're pretty excited.

That says it all.
Congratulations to team shatter!

Adam wrigley all smiles

as his weapon
works to perfection,

shatter! Off to a
very impressive

2 and 0 start,

and is looking like a
shoo-in for the tournament.

Up next, p1 upset valkyrie

in its first match
of the season,

but can he survive a tag team
beat down for rookie jager?

And stay tuned

for the main event
of the evening

where defending
champion, end game,

will look to get
underneath the skin

of the wily witch doctor.

That's later tonight
on battlebots.

We continue on
here on battlebots

and p1 steps inside the box
for the second time this season,

and they will be
taking on jager,

a rookie bot out of germany.

As for p1 captain
brandon zalinsky,

this is a crossroads moment.

After an upset victory

over last season's most
destructive bot, valkyrie,

brandon's coming off arguably
the biggest win of his career.

So, the question can he make
it a trend and go 2 an 0, kenny?

Well, we know
brandon came into this season

with a huge chip on his shoulder
after not making the round of 32

due to a week strict of
schedule but with the win here

to match his impressive debut,

he would put himself
in a great position

to make this year's tournament

and prove p1 is a team
to be reckoned with.

Taking on a rookie bot named
jager, it's very interesting.

It's a multi-bot, meaning
it's 2 separate robots

in this case, both weighing
in around 125 pounds.

The idea here is
that fighting 2 bots

and a variety of weapons

is more difficult than
dealing with just one.

But the truth is,

multi bots haven't
enjoyed much success here

at battlebots, kenny.

Yeah, it's a
really cool idea in theory.

We've seen similar
teams like gemini

and the four
horsemen in years past,

but ultimately a 150 pound robot

getting hit by a
250 pound robot,

you don't need to be an engineer
to guess how that usually ends.

Let's see if rookie
captain, ralf schneider,

can crack the code with jager.

Both teams are all wrapped up

and ready to go
on the driver's deck.

Let's get you
straight into the action.

Red team, ready.

And there is jager
captain ralf schneider

and kenny.

He actually has three
robots in the mix tonight.

That's right,

he brought an under
cutter named toe kicker,

a hammer saw called arm muscle,

and a wedge mini bot

that apparently didn't
deserve a cool name.

If battlebots is a game
of rock, paper, scissors,

jager is trying to be all three.

Blue team, ready.

Kenny, brandon zalinsky built p1

to look kind of like a race car

and it looked as the fastest
one in that win over valkyrie.

No doubt the one
two punch of p1's speed

and low profile
allowed it to dominate

the ground game in that match.

Brandon plan to take
the same approach here.

Let's see how he
handles the chaos

of fighting a multi-bot.

Let the bot
battles begin. Oh!

P1 takes out the mini bot,

but the little guy
comes bouncing back

and gets underneath p1.

Uh-oh. That
mini-bot has high center p1.

Oh, uh-oh!

And that hammer
saw has made him fire!

How about jager

using the mini-bot
to perfection there.

- Oh! Ho-ho.
- The undercutter getting in on the action

but here is p1 battling back,

always a challenge to
decide which robot to attack

when facing a
multi-bot, tough decision.

P1 able to get
under jager's hammer saw

with ease there.

Oh! P1 rocks the
advance by the undercutter,

it kind of put it
in the friend zone.

Looks like jager's hammer saw

is having trouble riding itself

as p1 drives the
undercutter toe kicker

into the screws, chris.

Let's remember,
p1 has got to dismantle

both of the 125 pound bots
in order to register a knockout.

Yeah, let's
see if toe kicker can try

to bring his other
buddy here back to life.

Oh, get him up
on the upper deck.

- Oh, let's go!
- Tow them out.

- That is impressive.
- Brilliant!

And I am not too sure
if that robot can work its way

off of the upper deck.

Brandon zalinsky
is driving on fire tonight.

As he talks
jager's mini-bot there

and now drives
it into the screws.

Five, four...

The ref is counting out
the team from germany.

- Two...
- oh, he's back... He's back.

Oh, jager, slips
off the upper deck.

And stops the countdown
just in time. That was amazing.

Check out the
mini-bot stuck to the front of p1.

But not anymore as toe kicker

goes from reeling
into both bots,

p1 right back on top of it.

Wow.

So only one of the two
big bots has been dismantled.

So now it's about
half the size of p1

- that is going to try and...
- oh.

Stick around for another minute.

Now this is a problem, you know,

when you're having
mass versus mass,

you have 125 pound robot
going to get a 250 pounds robot,

it's kind of like manny pacquiao

trying to contend
with mike tyson.

Good luck.

And look at p1
doing yeoman's work,

trying to get that bot
back up on the upper deck.

All over him.

Can he
do it? Oh, uh-oh.

Little smoke, good
use of the flipper.

Look at that
placement there, chris.

So impressive.

Toe kicker, though, is
back down on the floor

trying to do whatever it can

to get its wheels
back on the ground,

even utilizing its own weapon.

Ten, nine, eight, seven...

now the countdown
has started again.

- Six, five, four, three,
-and this time.

- Two, one.
- That's a knockout! wow.

P1 has done it.

Nice job by brandon zalinsky

who improves to
2-0 on this season.

I got to give p1
some serious credit,

if that was me in
the center of that box,

my head would be spinning.

I wouldn't know
which one to go after.

No doubt about it.

And jager got off to a
great start in this fight

high centering
p1 with its mini-bot

and then landing a
shot with arm muscle,

its hammer saw.

But from that
point on, it was all p1

utilizing its signature speed

and ground scraping wedge
to get underneath arm muscle

and even its lifter to punch
jager's undercut toe kicker

onto the upper deck.

A great display of control

by brandon
zalinsky in this fight.

Jager hung in there

and almost made it to
the full three minutes,

but in the end,
you saw the danger

of bringing a multi-bot
to the party, chris.

Yeah, once
you lose that first bot,

it's only a matter of time.

You know, jager means
hunter in german, kenny,

but it was p1's
prey in this one.

Brandon zelinsky.

Brandon zelinsky,
you're all smiles.

Is that the best driving
you've ever done?

Um, I want the best...

I want the best
driving I've ever done

to be in my next fight.

Just get better
every single fight.

So what was it like facing
multiple bots at the same time?

Was it a little confusing?

Uh. It was hard.

I was trying to focus
on the horizontal initially,

but you have a plan
and then you start fighting

and then it's like, oh,
the robot is over here,

so I'm going to
start hitting him.

The lift by his mini-bot
I did not see coming.

It's an incredibly
powerful little robot.

I was scared for
quite a bit there

that they would be
able to take a wheel off

or something like that.

But once we got off,

we were able to kind
of control the fight.

We were able to get the...
The top attack knocked over

and we... We were able

to kind of just maybe
get the horizontal

onto the shelf and not quite.

You guys keep getting
better. Congratulations.

Thank you so much.

Okay, so p1
notches win number two

in what's quickly becoming
a breakout season.

Keep an eye out for whether
the committee rewards them

with a marquee match up
in their third and final fight.

Coming up,

the most feared
flipper in the galaxy.

Hydra is backed into a corner
and desperate for a victory.

Standing in its way
about the hard to kill

and will melt your
grill, that's gruff.

And that's next on battlebots.

Welcome back to battlebots.

We've got three
matches in the books here

on tonight's fight card.

And up next it is
hydra versus gruff.

Last year's number
one seed, hydra

and captain jake
ewert make their money

dominating what
builders like to refer to

as the ground game, kenny.

It's crucial for their success,

but not just for them.

So many bots in the field depend

on getting under
their opponents.

It's an engineering challenge

that comes down to not
inches, but millimeters.

For 50% of the bots,
the game is played

on the front edge
of your weapon.

Forks, wedge, there's
a lot of advantages

to being able to get
underneath another robot.

If you can get
under the opponent,

you can control them.

Oh!

Hydra is just so
low to the ground chris,

they're dominating
this fight right now.

You can lift them
off the ground,

drive them around, take
them wherever you want.

If you're a vertical spinner,

then you're placing them
right at the sweet spot.

- My gosh!
- End game showing the low-end wins.

Whoever is the lowest,
whoever makes that first contact

is going to win the
rest of the match.

It could be easily
decide in 10 seconds.

Jamison go told us

this will be a battle
for low ground, it is.

What do you got chris?

If you don't have a ground game,

you're going to be in
a world of hurt usually.

This wedge we
grind this flat angle

across the front of it.

And hopefully anything
that comes in at it

will just be lifted up.

Jack barker on the attack,

a nice shot on rotator.

Rotator was not
really designed to like

use forks or be able to
push other robots around.

It was just to meant
to do damage.

Rotator retreat
and that blade still spinning

and now going for a ride.

Last year, we had beta

just giving us a ride
around the arena.

Now how do we fix that?

If you prevent the robot
from getting underneath you,

they can't control you.

So now there's this
kind of escalation

of ground scraping
claws and forks.

Fork extremity is
getting longer and longer

and sharper and sharper.

Every match we have
curls of the arena floor

that we have to actually
peel off the ends of our forks

just because we plain
that thing so smooth.

There are definitely some risks
in trying to play the low game.

End game hung
up on something chris.

No, it is a
sitting duck at this point.

The kill saws, the hell raises,

even the floor seems

you can get stuck in
them if you're not careful.

We've really tried to
resist the ground game

with witch doctor
as long as we can.

Some of our best characteristics

are that we're super
maneuverable and super aggressive,

and we don't want to
lose that with the forks.

This is battlebots, we
want to fight with weapons.

Sawblaze winning
the low ground battle.

Witch doctor doesn't care.
They've just going on attack.

But at the same time,

we can be eliminated
from the tournament

because we don't have forks,

so we're not watching
what's happening,

so we have to react to that.

It's a delicate balance
you've got to ride.

Too much if you go too far,

it's going to be
really difficult for you.

Hydra getting
stuck on the floor a bit,

now looking to engage,
gets underneath end game.

Oh, look at that!

I don't care if I can't make it

off the four by four square.

I don't want to lose that war.

I'm going to have to keep
on sharper and sharper

and then eventually I won't be
able to get out of my starting blocks,

but he is still got to
try to beat me there.

Over the last few seasons

hydra laid claim to being
the lowest bot in the field,

but last year it was end game

who used their ground game

to March all the
way to the giant nut.

And after the defending
champ put hydra in an 0-1 hole

to start the season,

captain jake ewert
now turns his attention

to tonight's opponent, gruff.

Yeah, jake is
definitely not impressed

with how hydra
performed in that first fight,

and he's certainly not
okay with going 0-2.

He wants to use hydra's
advantage in the ground game

to get under gruff

and flip his way to a
victory in this matchup.

Gruff, of course, the lifter bot

built kind of like
a bomb shelter

off to a 1-0 start

with a win over
rookie switchback.

Captain sam mcamis,
he's got to know that a win

against last year's number
one tournament seed

would put him in the fast lane

toward a spot in
the round of 32.

Oh for sure.

After a debut win
over a rookie team,

gruff is now facing the
cream of the crop in hydra,

but it is an opportunity
here to put hydra to the test

after the flipper faced
mechanical issues

in that first fight.

We know gruff is built to
go the full three minutes.

Can it outlast hydra here?
Should be a good one.

Let's get to it. Faruq.

In the red square.
Hey, everyone.

It's your captain faruq here.

Wanted to thank you guys
for flying hydra airlines.

We're going to be getting
loves here in a second

and then we'll be cruising
at about 35,000 feet.

It's going to be a
bumpy ride, so buckle up.

Flight attendants will be
around to take your orders

for your last meal

and in the very likely
event of a crash landing,

sit back, relax and
enjoy your demise.

You're now free to
move about your coffin.

Thanks again for flying
the deadly skies with hydra!

We're gonna crush it, faruq.

Plenty of bots out there have

frequent flier miles
on this airline.

Jake ewert all smiles
despite the losing start

and says his flipper's
looking better than last year.

Yeah, jake said his
pup burned out in that last fight

and took the
electronics out with it.

But he's basically rebuilt
the weapons system

and says not only is he
going to be able to flip,

he might even set a new
battlebots record for flips.

They better breakout
that abacus for this one.

In the blue square,

this bot is named
after a kid's book

that's pretty legendary.

Oh, the places you'll go
like inside the cemetery.

Going against him, you're
definitely going to perish,

you must have one fish,
two fish, bluefish, death wish.

Give it up for gruff!

Here is sam mcamis and team.

Gruff, a pair of oven mitts
covering the robot there,

because that's just how
powerful its flamethrower is.

How's it going to handle
being airborne, though, kenny?

Well, we've
said it over and over

that gruff is built like a tank,

but this should be
a very different test

of the bot's durability.

We know it can survive
massive collisions,

but that only matters

if they're not flipped
onto their head.

Sam will have to make sure

those forks are equally
as useful as a self-righter,

as they are as a primary weapon.

We're going against gruff today,

and although he's
not a big spinner,

which I'm usually going
to have to go against,

it could be a
driving battle today.

So it's going to be a
little bit of a fun one.

Last fight against
end game was bad.

Our pump went out right
away, so I gave him a freebie

but hopefully this time our
pump works the whole time

and we can just, you know,

go for the record
number of flips.

We're going to go
for 30 this match.

We're one and 0 right now.
Basically, if we win, we're in.

Our plan is to try to position
ourselves between hydra

and the upper deck
so that if he does flip us,

we go on that and
we have a chance

to kind of recover
and reposition.

Whereas if he not launches us

against like one of the
regular walls of the arena,

those new guards are going
to basically just knock us down

and let him flip,
keep flipping us.

If he gets us on the upper deck,

it give us a chance
to kind of regroup

and go for another attack.

Robots, activate.

Last year's number
one tournament seed

has its back against
the wall, folks.

Can hydra avoid the
dreaded 0-2 start to a season

or will gruff send its dreams
of a giant nut up in flames.

Find out next when
battlebots continues.

Welcome back to battlebots.

The carnage continues

as last year's number
one seed, hydra,

looks to avoid an 0-2 to start

against the flaming
forks of gruff.

Let the bot battle begin.

The bots meet in the
center of the dance floor

and gruff already looking
to turn the temperature up

inside the box.

Hydra just missed an opportunity

to get underneath gruff there.

The battle for low
ground on display right there.

Oh, there's a
mini... Mini flip.

Oh, gruff on its head now.

And he stop right under
this, not so fast my friend.

Here is another.

Hydra putting the
pressure on gruff right now.

He is finding his grove now.

There's another good opportunity
to get him on the upper deck

oh and gruff grinding nuggets.

His crew is trying to avoid

getting caught
on the upper deck.

Fire leaking from more than

just gruff's flame
thrower now chris

hydra trying to take gruff,

like it didn't quite work.

Oh, yeah,

nice shot there.

Oh, he tumbles
towards the screws.

Oh, yeah, he has
got right on the screws.

That'll drag him up

and then eventually
spit him out.

Hydra is trying to get under it.

He is chewed
and screwed right now

in the battlebots.

That sounds nasty
kenny, keep that to yourself.

Oh, that's a big one.

Went right off the glass.

Kenny, hydra is
racking up the flips,

but it's going to take more
than this to knockout gruff.

Chris, hydra flipper
doesn't have anywhere near

its max power right now.

And the longer jake ewert,
let's gruff hang around,

the more likely hydra
is to get in trouble here.

Gruff super durable.

Even with fire, hydra
tried out, - oh!

Run it out of the side line.

He did it.

Yeah.

He did it.

Are you kidding me.

The countdown has started.

- eight, seven, six, five...
- my goodness.

And sam, the game
has got only one, -four, three,

- two, one.
- His dreams got dumped in flames.

Knockout.

Hydra evens in season record

at one and one.

So, kenny, no doubt

hydra was all over
gruff in this one,

but I have the feeling

jake ewert isn't
going to be satisfied

with his performance.

Will he?

I'm not so sure chris.

Hydra connected on a
ton of flips in this match,

16 to be exact.

But to your point,

that weapon is
still lacking the pop

that made it such a force to
be reckoned with last season.

Either way, jake ewert
did an excellent job of using

the box hazards to his advantage
and drove one heck of a fight.

Tossed gruff around
the box into the screws

and just when it looked like

this one was going
to go the distance

hydra ended it in
dramatic fashion.

Flipping gruff
right out of the arena.

Now that's how you
make a statement.

All right, jake, congratulations

on win number one of the season.

Kenny and I have a little bet.

Kenny thinks you're thrilled.

I think you're not,

because that's...
Explain to me why I won.

It needs to be
way up here. Yeah.

We don't know
why it wasn't flipping.

It flipped before
on the test box,

so, I mean, it's glad I
could control him enough

during the match,

but I really wanted to get
him at least up on the shelf

or at least, you know,

eight foot high, it would
have been nicer, but

I'm glad I made
you guys wait, wait.

I'm going to be that
guy. Oh, yeah, I'm not.

Does this... Does this
concern you a little bit?

Well, hopefully we
can figure it out, right?

I mean, it still works

the way it is but I'd like to be able to
damage people when they come down.

I use gravity to beat them, so.

And based on the performance.
How would you grade your robot?

It's like an f right now.

- Really?
- Oh.

Yeah, it's pretty
low. It's really is.

Wow. Okay. Very unhappy.

You know you won, right?

Doesn't matter, you
got to be the best, right?

Okay. All right, jake.
Get back in the workshop.

- We'll see you down the line.
- Okay, thank you, guys. See you.

Jake ewert said
he'd give himself an f.

I think that was a little
harsh. Well, I mean, he won.

He got a bunch of flips off

and he just used to these
flawless performances

where he's launching robots
like 20 feet up in the air.

So, he's a little
harder himself.

But this is why he's one of the
best robots in the world as well.

But what did he tell us at
the beginning of the season?

He said this bot is
even better than the one

that went unbeaten in the
regular season a year ago.

He's having issues,

and I think that's
why he's so frustrated.

He put a lot of
work into this robot

thinking he was
making it better,

but he hasn't quite
seen it fulfill its potential.

Both robots, hydra
and gruff are now 1-1.

Coming up both teams
will choose to spin.

It's the wheel of
misfortune as gigabyte

takes on captain shrederator.

That's next here on battlebots.

Welcome back to battlebots

coming to you

from the second most
dangerous place in las vegas.

The first being
between kenny florian

and the all-you-can-eat buffet.

And there you see,
jake ewert headed back

to his pit area fresh off
that critical win over gruff.

No doubt he will have
hydra flipping sky high

in no time.

Kenny, you ever feel like

your life is just running
around in circles?

Well, you have arrived
safely at the right place

because we have the rare
spinner on spinner fight for you.

And let's start with
captain shrederator,

which christened the 2021 season

with a knockout of the
legendary tombstone.

Dare I say that brian
nave has his swag back.

Swag all day for
brian nave and for a bot

that's often struggled
with reliability,

captain shrederator
looked very durable

in that first match

and is riding high
after knocking out

one of the most dangerous
bots in the entire field.

Now brian is on cloud nine,

but he's got another
tough matchup here

against gigabyte.

Yeah, the other
side of the swag spectrum

sits gigabyte and john mladenik,

and I think
they're still stunned

based on what happened to them

in their first fight
against uppercut.

There's no shame
in losing that fight,

but let's not forget that
gigabyte no stranger

to taking on full
body spinners, kenny.

Dead on chris.

Last year, gigabyte tore

through the son of
whyachi bounty tournament

and dethroned the
legendary spinner.

Oh, my goodness.

John mladenik spun,

it's going to take
down a legend.

This bot made a huge
jump in durability last season.

Regardless of that
loss to uppercut,

john has a lot of faith
in gigabyte's ability

to trade shots and
keep on spinning.

We'll see if he
stays aggressive here

against shrederator.

Let's find out. Faruq?

In the red square,

this fighter has got
fight like the great white

from jaws when there's
blood in the water,

he's the most likely cause.

Other teams hit him
with all that they've got,

but it's never enough,

you're going to
need a bigger bot,

it's gigabyte.

John mladenik, team gigabyte,

hoping to shake off
that brutal knockout loss

to uppercut,

but it is worth remembering
they kicked off last season

with a tough loss
as well, kenny.

They did.

Gigabyte got destroyed
by copperhead

in their first fight last year

and then went on a
knockout spree that didn't end

until they met hydra
in the round of 16.

This is arguably

the best full body
spinner in the world.

Let's see if it can
ride the ship here

against shrederator.

In the blue square,

this next bot spins
at 2,200 rpms.

You will die on his shield.

You're not avengers.
You're not even friends.

It doesn't matter your rank
for the money you spent.

You're getting
discharged from the box,

call it corporal punishment.

It's captain shrederator.

The patriotic crew
of captain shrederator

led by brian nave

saluting his fans

and there is the
famed full body spinner,

which has a unique
advantage in this one.

It does.

Brian has the ability to
decide which direction he wants

captain shrederator
to spin in this fight,

and he's gone
with the sloped shell

in order to act as
a 360 degree wedge

to try and get
underneath gigabyte.

It's been a long time
since we had a season

where we're going forward
with a winning record,

so we're 1-0 right now.

We're going against
gigabyte. They are 0-1.

We're looking to make it 2-0

and 0-2 for them.

To get ready for gigabyte
what we've been doing

is going out a lot at night
gambling, drinking, partying.

No, we've been
working on the robot

the whole time getting ready.

We've got a couple of
things we want to play with.

We've got a few surprises
in store and, you know,

hopefully it turns
out, all right.

Going into our match
with captain shrederator,

our strategy is
just outlast him.

It is just keep hitting
him and hitting him

and hitting him until he dies

and that's typically
how he loses.

I like brian, he
has a great design

and I like to get to show
people that we are more reliable.

His design, if you look at it,
technically might look better,

but it doesn't do better
and this will show that.

We're 0-1.

This is really an
important fight,

we can't go 0-2.

Robots activate.

And for more on
shrederator spin strategy,

let's go to the bot whisperer.

Which way is shred
going to spin here, pete?

Well, spinning
in the same direction

as gigabyte

will result in more
violent collisions,

but spinning in the
opposite direction

means the two shells will
mesh together like gears,

leading to more stable impacts
and giving brian more control.

Fascinating stuff
there, pete. Thank you.

Let's see what the
captain goes with.

Shrederator,

gigabyte, only one can claim
the crown of king spinner.

Who's it going to be?

Let the bot battle begin.

Shrederator choosing to spin

in the opposite
direction of gigabytes

going with the conservative
play here off the top.

Oh, it will pop in the
air, captain shrederator.

- Oh.
- That make one, two.

Nice controlled shot there

by shrederator.

Here is gigabyte
wanting to reengage.

Oh, big collision

that sends shrederator
flying backwards

and into the side of the box.

But look at
this, captain shrederator

looks like a sitting duck here.

Oh, my goodness,
shrederator no longer spinning.

Gigabyte now backing off.

Thank you very much.

You don't have to count you out.

Oh, no. Oh yes,
the countdown has started.

Seven, six,

you can see the frustration

- on brian nave's face.
- Four, three,

- two hits and he's done.
- Two, one

it is a knockout.

Another unbelievable.

- Great job.
- Thanks, dave.

That's the worst
thing that can happen.

Just unexplainable to death.
Just like everybody expects.

Well, kenny,

as the wise philosopher
brian nave once said

"you've got to spin to win".

And at the end of this
match, captain shrederator

neither spun

nor won.

No, listen, the
captain was in control

to start this fight.

Brian landed a couple of
quality shots on gigabyte,

but then the ghost
of shrederator's past

came back to haunt it.

Kind of hard to tell
exactly what happened,

but after a shot from gigabyte

captain shrederator
simply froze up

and then got counted out.

Brian nave, he goes
from beating tombstone

to beating himself
inside the battlebots.

Gigabyte moves to 1-1.

Well, john, that
felt a little bit better

the second time
around, didn't it?

It did.

So what went right this time?

Well, I knew this would
be a fight of attrition

who-who... Who breaks
first and I think historically

we are more reliable
and that's pretty much

how I expected it to go.

You're usually so cheery,
you're usually so smiley.

What's going on here?

You just won a match
in battlebots. Come on!

Okay, I'll take it as
something different.

Still thinking about that
loss? That's perfectly fine.

We wish you the best of
luck in your next match,

john, thank you.

Thank you.

Brian, we thought
we had gotten rid of

- the reliability bugaboo.
- Yeah.

What do you think happened here?

Yeah, well, I know
what happened.

I mean, it happens to us a lot.

The radio died on us
again. I have no idea.

Once we lose the telemetry
we know the radio is at,

but you know, our plan
was working perfectly.

We were slam... We were
getting ready to hit him in the wall.

As soon as we got the
control and got him up,

we were going in ham
underneath and, you know,

just didn't get a
chance to execute

because of electronics again.

At battlebots, you
can experience

the highest highs and
the lowest lows here.

Coming off maybe
one of the biggest wins

you guys have had
against tombstone,

how are you feeling right now?

Yeah, lowest lows is probably
a good way to explain it.

Yeah. We really
expected to win this one.

I think we had
the right strategy,

but once again, our
equipment lets us down.

So what are you going to do?
Come back and win again right?

Well, you are 1-1.

1-1, could be worse.

Another victory might catapult
you into the round of 32.

How much pressure

is there on captain
shrederator moving forward?

Yeah, well, there would be a lot
less pressure if we'd have won,

but now we're under the
gun again and we got to

just get out there and work hard
and get another win under our belt.

No question you can handle it.

Brian nave, thank you very much.

Thank you, guys.

So gigabyte
gets a much needed w,

but clearly john mladenik

not satisfied with that
performance at all, kenny.

Listen in this sport,

these teams get such
precious little time

to impress the committee

and make their
case for the top 32.

And it almost felt like gigabyte
won that fight by default.

John wanted to put
on a show here tonight,

and he didn't have
the chance to do that,

regardless, gigabyte is 1-1.

Coming up. Sure,
you could slay dragons,

but what about ducks!?

It's dragon slayer versus duck!
And that's next on battlebots.

Welcome back to battlebots,

where the cavalcade of
robot carnage continues.

Up next, duck!
Prepares to show

battlebots rookie
dragon slayer the ropes.

And later tonight,

it's a showdown

of two of the heaviest
hitters in the sport

as defending champion end game

goes weapon-to-weapon
with fan favorite, witch doctor.

Let's take a closer look
at tonight's main event.

Oh, huge hit by witch doctor.

We knew against duck! That it
was going to be three minutes,

oh, nice shot.

Cause duck! Doesn't die.

Unfortunately, we
found out after that

we actually read that entire
match was just one weapon motor.

With that spinner slow

and this one's going
to have to go to judges.

Witch doctor!

Going into our end game match,

this is the first time, we're
going to be a full power.

So you're going to see
twice the level power from us

and all that
reliability will be back.

Are you kidding me!
What a shot by witch doctor.

End game

world champion.

After taking out the number
one seed from last year,

oh, that might have
been a knockout blow, chris.

We're fairly certain that we're going
to make the tournament already.

They got that world
championship swagger.

We have a few
things up our sleeve.

We think it's going to be
enough to take down witch doctor.

Our plan is always to just
stick pointing at our opponent.

End game stalking its prey.

Yeah, try feed
the weapon into them.

There's nowhere for them to run.

It is a knockout.

I think end game sits in the
middle of the arena really well

and points his weapon at you.

So I'm going to try to outdrive
him, make him make a mistake.

I try to capitalize
on those mistakes.

Oh, another
smashing shot by witch doctor.

Getting the previous champion
for our second fight card

is a tough draw, but
if we win this match,

I think we're a shoo-in
for the tournament.

Oh-ho, I'm feeling
that voodoo magic.

You've got witch doctor,
finalists from the 2019 season.

Witch doctor!

End game, the 2020 champion.

End game!

This is going to be
an explosive match.

Oh, what a shot by end game.

This fight is going to be
two of the biggest hitters.

Oh, another
big hit by witch doctor.

Someone's going to
be going into the air a lot.

Oh, my god,
it got thrown out of the arena.

One of the two robots is going
to go home in a pile of parts.

Hopefully, it's witch doctor.

- Hopefully it is not us.
- Hopefully it is not us.

There's just no
way to avoid that.

There's gonna be carnage.

Are you kidding me?

Two of the best robots

in the solar system
in tonight's main event.

Do not miss that fight.

But right now,

it's the veteran duck!

Versus a newcomer to
battlebots, dragon slayer.

And if you take
a look at duck!,

which doesn't have
a traditional weapon,

hal rucker's approach
is always pretty simple.

He wants to break his
opponent's fist with his face.

It's a strategy that almost
worked against witch doctor

when duck! Took out
their weapon in its first fight,

but ended up losing
a decision after

what became a lame
duck! Pushing match.

Witch doctor.

So how does it rebound tonight?

It's probably one of the
most defensively sound robots

we have here at battlebots.

It's one of those bots

that you're probably going
to have to go to decision with.

Look for duck! To
use its durability,

to do what it always does,
and that's absorb shots,

try and jam up its
opponent's weapon

and ideally be the
last bot standing.

Curious to see if
they can do better.

All right. So duck! Is squaring

off against a rookie
bot named dragon slayer

engineered by jordan
neal, who got into battlebots

by watching old vhs tapes
at his grandparents' house.

He built his first robot
while working at a walmart

in 2018, he actually
used that as a resume

to eventually
become a machinist.

He is super excited to be here.

He is and he said
this bot is like three years

in the making, he's
been, being mentored

by jonathan schultz of team huge

and also will bales
of team hypershock

and he is so excited to be here.

Let's see what dragon slayers
got against duck! Faruq?

In the red square,
from dayton, texas,

he came to slay.

So get on your knees and pray.

It's dragon slayer.

Kenny, we talked about

the advantages of the
ground game earlier,

and it looks like jordan neal
was certainly taking notes.

Well, sometimes

we know what we're
talking about, chris,

but yeah, dragon
slayer is another addition

to the popular
vertical spinner family,

and their goal is to get
underneath their opponent

and feed them right
into that spinner.

They've also engineered
the bot to be on the wider side

to prevent their opponents from
sneaking around behind them.

In the blue square
from atherton, california,

while his friends fly
south for the winter,

he flies straight for
your jugular, it's duck!

Here is team duck!
Hal rucker, the captain,

his daughter, hannah
rucker, the weapon operator.

So how do they avoid
the dreaded 0-2 start?

Well, listen, they
have experience on their side

and hal is very
comfortable on the sticks.

He was piloting duck!

Way before jordan neal
got bit by the bot bug,

so you have to think
he has the edge here,

and get this, hal
tells us that duck!

Is actually set up to
quack out loud tonight.

Kenny, can it
also say, must win fight?

Whenever we go against a robot
that has a big kinetic weapon,

our goal is to use their
energy against them,

so we'll use our duck! Beak
to try and get underneath them

and lift them enough so
that they start gyro scoping

or we can get them
off their wheels a bit

so we can shove them into
one of the arena hazards.

If we lose this one, we're 0-2.

So this match is critical.
We have to win it.

I'm pretty nervous.
This is my first fight ever.

First time at battlebots.
First time at combat robotics.

Never done it before in
my life. But I'm here to show

that I am the man
and I can run with them.

Today for our
fight against duck!

We're going to be running
our wedges that scoop in,

that are nice and shallow on the
bottom, got a nice, smooth angle

to get under their
beak, and the wedgelets.

Dragon slayer is
going to kick butt,

and it's gonna send that duck!
Flying south for the winter.

Robots, activate!

Okay. Rookie
versus veteran,

spinner versus beak,

only one can be victorious.

The fight when
battlebots continues.

Welcome back to battlebots,

where the rookie dragon slayer

is facing off against
a desperate duck!

Looking to avoid
an 0 and 2 start.

Yippee ki yay, hal rucker.

Let the bot battle begin.

Oh, dragon slayer lands
its shot out of the gate,

the rookie just cut
duck's! Beak in half.

What?

Oh, dragon slayer
has another chock of the duck!

I think his quacks
may be a cry for help, chris.

Duck! Leaning
on the rookie now.

Oh.

But dragon
slayer not backing down,

nice little pop there, kenny.

Credit to team dragon slayer

showing no fear in
their battlebots debut.

Oh!

Nice pulverizer shot

used by duck! On
top of dragon slayer.

The two bots continue
to ram horns here.

Duck! Always looking to
throw itself into its opponent

and try and break their weapon.

Can it even things up
here just by doing that,

that's the big question.

More than a minute in.

Whoa. - oh!

So far, dragon slayer
making a meal out of duck!

Barbecued
duck! Broiled, duck!

Duck! Fat fries, peking duck!.

There's just so
many ways to cook it, chris.

So delicious.

An underrated member
of the poultry family, really.

Not a fan at all.

So as you can see, we
now have what it looks like

a pushing match on our hands.

Dragon slayer scoring big time,

damage points out of the gate

and manhandling
the veteran hal rucker

in the opening stretch,
but pretty much since then,

both bots look at it like
they need a corner man here.

They're just... I don't know,

they're pretty much leaning
on each other right now.

Yeah, clearly,
duck! Is having trouble

with its drive train after
those early exchanges

and dragon slayers weapon motor

feels like it's dying
a slow death, chris.

But how about the
rookie controlling the control bot,

pushing duck! Into
the kills saws. Wow.

Prepare the
duck! Chris, medium rare.

I will be in the dining room.

Just about
30 seconds left to go.

Dragon slayer trying
to secure a victory

in its first ever
big league match.

Duck! Just
quacking for its life

and kenny florian
checking to see

when the caesar's buffet closes.

Welcome to
battlebots, boys and girls.

This has been
the longest three minutes

of my stomach's life.

Hey, when you're a robot,

you don't think three
minutes is all that long

till you get inside this box.

And dragon slayer
in its first time out,

rather impressive,

going the distance
against the veteran.

Kenny, duck!
Came out quacking,

but dragon slayer came
out attacking to start this one.

Yeah, how about
the rookie carving up

duck!'s beak in
the first 10 seconds?

Nice shot there by jordan neal.

Dragon slayer
had its way with duck!

For the first minute or so,
chipping away at the veteran

but then both bots
just kind of hit a wall.

That's right.

We didn't see the same speedy,
powerful duck! We're used to.

And for dragon slayer,

its weapon definitely lost
some juice down the stretch,

but unfortunately for duck!,
the damage had been done.

Duck! Kept on quacking,

but hal rucker
wasn't able to find

any momentum here
against the rookie.

Let's see how the
judges broke it down.

Here is faruq with the decision.

The results from
the judges are in.

The winner by
unanimous decision is

dragon slayer!

Jordan neal, did you ever think

that you would get one of those
medallions here at battlebots?

Absolutely not.

Oh.

How happy are you right now?

Oh, I've been nervous all day,

haven't been feeling
right past eight hours,

just butterflies on
top of butterflies, man.

I had no idea what to expect.

They told me it was
like riding a bike,

that was the best
bike ride of my life.

You said your main goal
was to have fun out there.

Now you're at 1-0
here at battlebots,

how does that feel?

- That's one way to have fun.
- Amazing.

Thataway.

Hey, congratulations on
your first ever battlebot victory.

Thank you.

How great is that to see?

Jordan neal, for
years in the making,

he told us,

and now he has
realized his dream?

Yeah, absolutely.

Getting a win like that,
about as good as it gets.

And for hal
rucker and duck!,

they sink to 0-2

but with a loss

to the formidable witch
doctor on their resume,

the book isn't closed just yet.

But a chance to
salvage their season

in the third and final fight,

a lot of pressure
going into that one.

All right, folks,
the time has finally arrived

for the main event
of the evening,

a showdown between
two of the deadliest

vertical spinners in the sport,

the defending champion, end game

versus 2019 runner
up, witch doctor.

Only one will walk
away undefeated.

That is next as
battlebots continues.

Adam, one of a piece
that makes shatter!

Very different than all the rest
of these bots is omni-wheels,

all directional wheels.

Sideways, as well as
forward and back and turning.

Why did you choose
such a complex item?

So that extra
maneuverability for us is key.

Hammer robots
have one square inch

where they can hit,

and we need to put
that square inch exactly

where the opponent's
fragile components are.

Oh! Look
that hammer! Uh-oh!

Oh, what a shock.

And the sideways ability
of the omni-directional drive

is what allows us to
achieve our pinpoint precision

shatter! Is just so
precise with that hammer, chris.

And it's been
working great for us.

That ability to
pinpoint our shots

without relying on tank drive
has been a huge advantage.

I can't go back to
driving the old way.

Did you change your car's wheels
out to be on omni-wheels, too?

Every time I'm on the highway,

I'm a little bit annoyed,
I can't just go sideways.

We are back on
battlebots for our grand finale

and shout out to the schedule
makers for giving us this gem.

Let's hear it for
defending champion,

end game taking on witch doctor.

Yeah, fans, soak it all in.

Let's start with the champ,
jack barker and nick mabey.

They came out of the
shoot in style in 2021

taking it to hydra
first time out.

Is that weapon even more
devastating than a season ago?

I think so again,
these guys are on fire so far.

They're taking on another
very difficult opponent

in witch doctor, but, you know,

beating hydra like they
did, very impressive.

You know, witch doctor at the
beginning of the season said,

listen, the expectations
were so high for us in 2020

because we made it all
the way to the championship

a season ago.

Last year, we kind of stumbled,

even though he made
it to the round of 16.

Now people are going
to kind of forget about us.

That's not true.

You're 1-0.

You have a chance
to improve to 2-0

with a notch on your belt
of taking down the champ.

This is a big matchup for them.

Nice try guys trying
to slip in there as underdogs.

You are not underdogs.

You're still very dangerous
and this is an insane fight.

Let's get to it.

All right, faruq, take it away.

Ladies and
gentlemen, are you ready?

It is time for the
the main event.

In the red square,

he comes from the land
where the zelin is new.

He's traveled across ocean
and he's coming for you.

It's not the maid
or colonel mustard.

It doesn't matter what room.

The only clue that you need

is that his name
spells your doom.

It's end game!

Defending
champions, end game looking

sharp enough to
attend a tugs wedding,

and it looks like those forks

have been dialed back
a little bit, kenny florian.

They went with
their longest forks ever

to try and get underneath
hydra in their first fight,

but they kept getting
caught on the box floor.

These new shorter
forks should be able

to get underneath witch doctor

while still giving jack the
mobility to try and manage

the exceptional driving
of michael gellatly.

In the blue square,

here comes the dark
wizard who can't be ignored,

she'll slither into
the battle box

and leave the other
bots griffinsore.

She's stronger than strong.

She's tougher than tufflepuff.

She'll put you in
your gravenclaw.

Okay, okay, no more puns.

That's enough!

It's the harry
potter of slaughter,

witch doctor!

Andrea and mike
gellatly and team witch doctor,

not participating in the ground
game escalation here, kenny.

They sure aren't.

Andre said this is battlebots,
we want to fight with weapons

and they are holding
true to their word.

They're going with
their trident true wedge

in hopes of deflecting end
game's in for the spinner.

Now, you may notice
the frame on witch doctor

is longer than in season's past.

The bot whisper
has some info for us.

Pete, why the long bot?

Well, mainly that
was to accommodate

a special dual motor system
that is redundant to allow

two belts on either side
of the disc as opposed

to what they used to have,
which was belts in the middle.

This should give them
a lot more reliability

to be able to continue to fight

even if they lose
one motor or one belt,

the whole system
should still stay running.

Thank you, pete. When
you're facing a dangerous weapon like

end game has, reliability,
it's got to be the key.

Robots activate.

This is a
possible final's preview.

These bots are that good.

End game, the defending champ.

Witch doctor made the
title game two seasons ago.

Red team ready.

Blue team ready.

Let the bots battle begin.

End game throwing that
big weapon at witch doctor.

Witch doctor trying to
get away from end game

playing the angle game.

Trying the weapons.

Oh.

Witch doctor not
scared to go head to head.

Witch doctor trying to
attack, it looks like the corner

oh, that's a nice hit
there by end game.

Looks like those forks are

in the up position on
end game right now.

Yeah, end game
still playing the aggressor

though here, chris.

Oh!

Big shot.

Oh, witch doctor
pops end game in the air.

Michael gellatly had
an opportunity there.

Had end game teed
up but couldn't capitalize.

End game trying to chew
on the rib cage of witch doctor.

This may come
down to which bot can land

that first big shot, chris.

You see both teams
being very intentional

about their movement.

Oh, wow!

You got him.

Let's see if witch doctor can...

oh, wow!

Witch doctor getting
taken for a ride by end game.

Now, patience paid off
for end game right now, chris.

And it's gliding so much...

Look at end game,

just getting right
at witch doctor,

really chewing it
that rib cage seeing

if there's any meat
left on that bot.

Oh.

Wow.

A brutal attack by end game.

Witch doctors on its
head, can it self-right?

You have to watch it out.

Michael gellatly
mashing his controller,

but no life from witch doctor.

Typically,
those ribs on the back

of witch doctor
able to self-right.

I'm not sure they're going
to be able to pull it off.

End game standing
over its prey, saying,

- don't you dare get up.
- Four, three, two, one,

that's is a knockout.

A ton of action
in this one tonight, kenny.

Yeah, no doubt about it.

These guys went
right at each other,

two of the best
drivers in the game,

two of the best
bots in the game.

They have competed
at the highest levels

and this was technical
and it was brutal as well.

You know, michael
gellatly had a couple of windows

to land a kill shot on end game,

but could not seal the deal.

Yeah, echoes of that
championship loss against

bite force in 2019.

Mike's going to be
replaying this one

in his sleep tonight,
I guarantee it.

Endgame is now
tallied knockouts against hydra

and witch doctor
to start its season.

And unless thanos is next,

the defending champ
is looking like the favorite

to secure the number
one overall seed

in this year's tournament.

Nick and jack,

oh.

Here's a scary thought.

Are you guys better
than last season, nick?

We might be a little bit, yeah.

We plan to be,
but we're yet to see

if it's actually
worked out, so yeah.

Hey, like we've never gone
like a proper smash fest before.

Honestly, like, most of
our fights have ended

pretty quickly and that was
like at each other constantly.

That was excellent.

Jack, how much fun is it

when you're attacking
a team like witch doctor,

that, you know,
is that legendary,

that decorated

and you're taking them
all through the box?

It's... It's too stressful

to think about the fun,
but like when you see

them flying across the arena,

you just got to
keep chasing them.

And that's... That's
probably the best part.

Trying to line up the
second shots, yeah.

Finally, jack, what does
it say about end game

that in your first two
matches you took down hydra,

which was the number
one seed heading

into the round of
32 a season ago

and then the 2019
runner up in witch doctor?

Yeah, I think it
says good things.

We're back and you know,

we got the nut last year
and that felt pretty good,

so we're going to try to
get a second one this year.

Yeah, you think it says
good things about you?

- Yeah, I, I do agree.
- I think so, yeah.

Yeah. All right,
guys. Go party on.

Congratulations
with your 2-0 start.

Yes.

Andrea and mike, you
guys have been around

this game an awfully long time.

What are your impressions
of end game so far?

I mean, end game
is a robot that went

from never making
it to the tournament

to going all the way last year.

So we were taking
them very, very seriously.

We know they made
a lot of improvements.

We really wanted
to win this match

proving that we
didn't need forks to win

because forks have gotten
really popular in the sport.

We did make forks,
so maybe it's time

to reevaluate that decision.

Early on, it seemed
like it was a really close fight.

Can you take us through
that fight and tell us

kind of what happened
at the end there?

Yeah, of course. I mean, when
we fought bite force in 2019,

obviously he has
hinged forks in the front,

so that was our primary
focus to stay off of those

or to damage them to the point where
they couldn't get under us anymore.

And we were doing pretty
good at the beginning,

but obviously end game has
got a pretty terrifying weapon.

So they were able to get
a few hits on us and flip us,

obviously changing
the kind of the dynamic

of the match at that point.

I did lose drive about
halfway through on one side,

so that made maneuvering
pretty difficult after that

and they pretty much had their
way with us, I think at that point.

There is no shame in
losing to the champ at all,

but andrea explain
to the people at home.

Is it a helpless feeling

when you're going
against a bot like end game

and they're kind of
having their way with you

for a few seconds there?

I mean, we're here
to put on a show.

What we don't
want is for our robot

to get in there and not work.

That was spectacular. I
think it was edge of their seat.

I mean, it was for me. I'm
sure it was for everybody else.

So I'm happy with that fight.

You still feel good about
where you are in 2021.

I mean, we're... We're 1-1 now.

So it all comes down to
the third fight, card fight.

That's a lot of pressure.

I was hoping that it would
turn out a little differently,

but we'll have the
robot ready to go.

You're always a
ton of fun to watch.

Thanks, andrea
and michael gellatly

- and team witch doctor.
- Thank you.

Thanks guys.

You know, kenny, when
they give you one of these

like end game
earned a season ago,

everybody is coming after you

and you know, what's happened
so far, took care of hydra

and now has taken
care of witch doctor.

That's pretty impressive.

Absolutely, considering the
level of those opponents too,

very impressive.

But a couple other bots
have made some noise tonight.

We saw shatter!
Improve to 2-0, with a win

over blacksmith on a
hammer on hammer crime.

Uppercut continued
an explosive trend

of taking its anger
out on fuel tanks,

and hydra got off the schneid

and knocked one into that
all important win column.

So for faruq, the
bot whisperer, pete,

my man, kenny florian,
I'm chris rose,

we'll see
you next time on battlebots.