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Son of Whychi, once again, will be the bot to beat. I was a fan of its team last year and back during the Comedy Central run (the original bot took out Vlad, Biohazard AND the infamous bout with Nightmare), and I knew those minibots didn't have a prayer against it. And I was right.

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That's the first time I noticed fire as an effective weapon. Several bots figured out how to make it hurt their opponents this round.

The last humanoid bot just seemed like a thought experiment, it had no real chance of beating most bots it would face. But it was interesting somebody went to all that effort to build.

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(edited)

Yeah, OB Overlord seemed neat from a design perspective, but it didn't have a prayer against Warhead. As soon as its cables would be damaged, that would be it and that's exactly what happened.

I only saw the second hour but my favorite match of the night was either Disk O'Inferno vs Chomp, or Complete Control vs Bombshell. Still can't believe the match went to Chomp, but oh well, both bots fought great. Complete Control was a bot that I underestimated and never took too seriously, but the flamethrower had to be new, right? That and improved armor definitely made it a formidable opponent.

Now Hypershock vs Ultraviolent was just brutal to watch. Either Ultraviolent had weak armor or Hypershock improved its weapons a ton since last time or both, but I was feeling bad for Ultraviolent. It just got EATEN.

And Nightmare is a jobber at this point, isn't it? How many ways has it been taken out so far? This time a flamethrower did it in. I see Stinger doing well.

Edited by Galileo908
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I really wanted for Ghost Raptor to CRUSH Son of Whychi.  I'd rather see a team that has winning as its main objective as opposed to one that just wants "revenge".

The fight between LockJaw and Yeti was super-close.  I think I would have given the win to LockJaw for being able to push Yeti around, espcially into the Hammer, and for still moving after Yeti's last hit.

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4 hours ago, jhlipton said:

The fight between LockJaw and Yeti was super-close.  I think I would have given the win to LockJaw for being able to push Yeti around, espcially into the Hammer, and for still moving after Yeti's last hit.

I agree - I thought LockJaw had the more dominant performance but I guess they took points off for having his main weapon damaged.

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(edited)
On ‎6‎/‎25‎/‎2016 at 11:28 AM, SirOsisOfLiver said:

We recorded the program and then watched the whole 2 hours in about 20 minutes. So much useless chatter and filler. Hosts add absolutely nothing to my viewing pleasure.

I do the same. I love the actual bouts, but couldn't tolerate watching this in real time. And yet, with all the filler they put in we still only get summaries of half the bouts, some of which look more interesting than the featured ones. They couldn't have summarized the one that lasted less than 15 seconds? Really?

Totally don't understand why they need 3 hosts AND an announcer.  Well, I suppose the Hot Girl In A Tight Dress is some kind of legal requirement, but I'd be happier if Adam Savage from Mythbusters replaced those 3 other guys. He could still be a judge, too.

 

Quote

my favorite match of the night was either Disk O'Inferno vs Chomp,[snip] Still can't believe the match went to Chomp, but oh well, both bots fought great

Was that the one where Adam voted for the loser, Disk O'Inferno? Total miscarriage of justice, that bot should have won.

Is there any kind of wild-card round where the losers get another chance?

Edited by Quilt Fairy
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Recorded it again. First bout was about 8 minutes in, second bout didn't happen till about the 20 minute mark. Skim past several other matches, then show us one that lasted all of 5 seconds at the end. So bad. So  very, very bad. I think I'm done. The editing of this show is just atrocious and the actual content isn't worth waiting for, despite Hot Girl In A Tight Dress.

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On 7/1/2016 at 1:52 PM, Quilt Fairy said:

I do the same. I love the actual bouts, but couldn't tolerate watching this in real time. And yet, with all the filler they put in we still only get summaries of half the bouts, some of which look more interesting than the featured ones. They couldn't have summarized the one that lasted less than 15 seconds? Really?

Totally don't understand why they need 3 hosts AND an announcer.  Well, I suppose the Hot Girl In A Tight Dress is some kind of legal requirement, but I'd be happier if Adam Savage from Mythbusters replaced those 3 other guys. He could still be a judge, too.

 

Was that the one where Adam voted for the loser, Disk O'Inferno? Total miscarriage of justice, that bot should have won.

Is there any kind of wild-card round where the losers get another chance?

Eight of the losers were selected by "the judges" to go on to the round of 32. Sadly, Disk O'Inferno didn't make it. Several bots that had crappy first rounds did, however. In keeping with their horrible editing, they didn't explain the process for choosing these eight --- they kind of said in the last minute of the show, "Oh, by the way, these are the eight losers who were chosen to go on to the second round."  Horrible!

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I saw the first round of eliminations a couple of weeks ago, and just saw the second via Hulu (a horrible service I encourage everyone not to pay for, like my wife does). Was the two-hour show you guys mention above those two single hour shows?  I assume so.  My tivo picked up the first regular season show on Thursday but not either of those, so I hope I'll get the rest without incident.  I got tired of wrestling with Hulu and so missed the announcement of the wildcards, surprised Mega Tento made it through but I guess as stated above they mostly filled out the slots with veterans.  I thought Lockjaw was pretty much dominating its round and was surprised it lost the judge's decision, but at least it's getting another shot.

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Man did I enjoy these battles, as one-sided as they seemed to be.

Favorite fight? Probably Yeti vs Lucky. Yeti lost a wheel and didn't miss a single beat, while Lucky's luck ran out (sorry) when its weapon broke off. Speaking of luck, Red Devil really grabbed Witch Doctor in the exact right place to disable it. When the batteries smoke like that, it's over.

Blacksmith vs Minotaur was over the second Blacksmith's wedge was torn off. That weapon was really cumbersome, and a tiny bot like Minotaur meant it was gonna miss a LOT. And then the hammer flew off again and it was over for it. 

As for Bronco vs Chrome Fly? That was just brutal. They were talking about Chrome Fly's builder holding off college to manage his start up for this...I think that kid should reconsider college.

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Eight of the losers were selected by "the judges" to go on to the round of 32. Sadly, Disk O'Inferno didn't make it. Several bots that had crappy first rounds did, however. In keeping with their horrible editing, they didn't explain the process for choosing these eight --- they kind of said in the last minute of the show, "Oh, by the way, these are the eight losers who were chosen to go on to the second round."  Horrible!

Seriously! Disk O'Inferno not getting a wild card spot was criminal.  They lost on a controversial judges decision, so unless there is a story about why the bot was actually too damaged to be able to be repaired for the next round that is a giant load of crap. 

Nightmare really didn't deserve a wildcard this year.  It did zero damage and was completely dominated from the start and quickly knocked over and out (second shortest match of the opening round at just over 40 seconds)...about the only reason I could see him getting a wildcard slot was to make up for getting badly screwed out of one last year?  Then there was Overhaul...  Overhaul did nothing except tank a few hits from Cobalt's blade which because its heavy/sturdy meant Cobalt tossed itself a bit and had some technical problems of their own.   Bombshell may have gotten one axe swing to actually connect with the body of Complete Control...not sure it was strong enough to have even scratched the paint job.  They hit the floor a bunch of times with their axe and I guess their axe pole love tapped CC's lifting arm a few times while they were being helplessly lifted and cooked. Oh I almost forgot their drone did get in a good hit of flamethrower....on their own bot and then shortly after crashed into the floor/wall dead.  Not the least bit impressive of a performance worthy of a Wildcard.  I'm not even sure they actually survived the whole fight, CC just didn't leave them alone long enough to prove they were still alive.   Finally Mega Tento...covered their crappy opponent and got pushed around since their drum stopped working almost immediately.   HOW DID ANY OF THESE GET SELECTED TO MOVE ON OVER TEAM INFERNO?

They were talking about Chrome Fly's builder holding off college to manage his start up for this...I think that kid should reconsider college.

Yeah...it had to be embarrassing that as someone behind a start-up drone company,..his drone totally failed to actually fly.  Bwah!

I thought Witch Doctor certainly had an interesting strategy about feeding their mini-bot to Red Devil to occupy his weapon.  Too bad we did not get to see it as Shaman's driver is still as terrible at steering it as she was last year...  Seriously would it kill some of these people to practice driving a little?  They spend so much time focusing on the destructive power of their bots and not nearly enough on really learning how to effectively steer the dang things with a little precision instead of like ten-year-olds driving their first RC car?

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1 hour ago, chitowngirl said:

Bumped from tonight's lineup ☹️

I was just coming here to ask if anyone else saw that!  Earlier today Battlebots was clearly listed on my TV guide, now there's some stupid political thing on there.  Grrrr!

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Warhead vs Complete Control: Shiiiit. That was cool, and goodbye Complete Control.

Razorback vs Ghost Raptor: Ghost Raptor got suplexed hard and it just had to land on the one spot where it could get stuck, getting shoved into the hazards was just overkill. Overall, great strategy from Razorback. Possibly my favorite match of the night (I only caught the end of Warhead vs Complete Control). 

Tombstone vs Escape Velocity: As EV's builders said, "yes...this is fine..." Yeah, Escape Velocity looked fragile from the get-go, it didn't have a prayer.

Son of Whyachi vs Poison Arrow: Well, going in I knew that this match was gonna be another one-sided one...but I didn't think it was gonna be against SOW. Can't believe I just saw that.

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Tonight was great.  Ghost Raptor got his ass handed to him.  Tombstone destroyed something, and then Poison Arrow took down SOW.  I don't think anyone was expecting that and it was so great.  That upward flipping drum spinner really was a great weapon to use against SOW.  I think they should get rid of that flame spurting drone, it doesn't seem to add anything, but they totally get a pass for being the underdog and kicking ass.

But this season is really overkill on all the in between battle stuff.  The only watch to watch this show is later on the dvr so you can fast forward through all of that crap.

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The action this season has been superb. The quality of the bots is significantly better this season and the battles have been great. And from what I can tell the ratings are good too. 

And watching SOW get launched all the way across the box was a thrill to watch. ;)

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17 hours ago, Galileo908 said:

I only caught the end of Warhead vs Complete Control). 

Try to catch the whole match.  It was a good one from beginning to end.  But the end was the best part.

I wonder what really took out Son of Whyachi; the actual impact from Poison Arrow, or the fall that resulted from it.  That was one hell of a hit.   It might also be a preview of what happens if Minotaur matches up with Tombstone.

Quadrant 3 is shaping up to be the section where the underdogs reign.

15 hours ago, GenieinTX said:

But this season is really overkill on all the in between battle stuff.  The only watch to watch this show is later on the dvr so you can fast forward through all of that crap.

That may not be an issue with the next episode.  It's going to be the 8 remaining matches in the round of 32, but my DVR shows it as a 1-hour episode still.  So twice the action in the same amount of time.

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26 minutes ago, SVNBob said:

That may not be an issue with the next episode.  It's going to be the 8 remaining matches in the round of 32, but my DVR shows it as a 1-hour episode still.  So twice the action in the same amount of time.

Or they do the same amount of "fluff" but add in "and earlier tonight, bot a defeated bot b."

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(edited)

Yeah...the preview only mentioned a few fights.  So I am definitely expecting an "earlier tonight" segment.  I believe they pulled the same things last year too if I am not mistaken?  Although at least they are still pretty much guaranteed to be put online this year.  They FINALLY finished putting up the last of the opening round fights not shown on TV up on the BattleBots official YouTube channel.   To be fair you can certainly see why most of them were not aired in full as they were pretty crappy boring fights. 

MegaTento vs Poison Arrow, Escape Velocity vs Overdrive, Wrecks vs Red Devil and Ringmaster vs Ultimo Destructo would have been just terrible TV viewing for keeping an audience interested.

Biteforce vs Mohawk, Overhaul vs Cobalt, and Tombstone vs Black Ice were okay if underwhelming.

We pretty much saw the whole Nightmare vs Stinger fight since it was over that quick, we just skipped the unnecessary build-up stuff.

Sawblaze vs Razorback was rather enjoyable to me, but of course ABC is of the mind that dominating an opponent outdriving and shoving them around the arena is not exciting enough hence the scoring rules change this season...  Which is probably why despite controlling the ENTIRE FIGHT Sawblaze was completely screwed out of not only the win, but an well deserved wildcard spot just because their main weapon malfunctioned at the start of the fight.  Blah.

------------

On a different note was it purely a coincidence that once again the last fight shown was a big upset?  Wonder which fight will be chosen to end the next episode because with 8 to choose from I am suspecting another upset.

Edited by Xenith22
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29 minutes ago, Xenith22 said:

On a different note was it purely a coincidence that once again the last fight shown was a big upset?   Wonder which fight will be chosen to end the next episode because with 8 to choose from I am suspecting another upset.

Not just an upset, but a quick upset via KO.  Neither of the two big upsets went the distance or went to a judges' decision.  And looking at the 8 fights, there is room for a big upset or two.

Here's the match-ups, including seed numbers.

  • Brutus (16) v Lock-Jaw (17)
  • Icewave (8) v Nightmare (25)
  • Beta (9) v Overhaul (24)
  • Bite Force (4) v The Ringmaster (29)
  • Chomp (13) v Captain Shrederator (20)
  • Stinger (5) v Mega Tento (28)
  • Cobalt (14) v Bombshell (19)
  • HyperShock (11) v Warrior Clan (22)

I'm not sure Mega Tento taking out Stinger would be considered an upset, since that's Lisa Winter's bot, and she's one of the Battlebot veterans.  Matt Maxham's an Ascended Fanboy of BattleBots, so he'd see losing to her almost as much of an honor as defeating her.  Similarly, the big vet Nightmare taking out Icewave might not be considered an upset either.

The HyperShock/Warrior Clan fight is in Quadrant 3, where the lower seeds have been advancing.  That's a almost a good sign for the Ewerts, given what happened with the rest of the family.

Biggest possible upset would be Ringmaster, a ring spinner bot, taking out the defending champion Bite Force.

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BETA vs Overhaul: I never like bots whose weapon is more powerful than the body that houses it, but BETA's driver knows how to control it. That hammer struck all the right parts of Overhaul to take it out. So simple, but very effective

HyperShock vs Warrior Clan: A rake to take down the drone. Okay then. And it worked! Badass.

Stinger vs Mega Tento: How the hell does Mega-Tento keep going so far? Lisa Winter must be doing something right.

Captain Shredderator vs Chomp: Again, both bots have weapons stronger than their bodies. With Chomp a big, lumbering bot with a powerful hammer and CS a light spinner that goes flying when it hits something, Chomp had to be careful not to leave itself open, while CS had to be patient. This ended up being a fight to the finish and Captain ended up dying first. 

Now for the rest moving on: Nightmare (that was a surprise that worked for him. I'll be surprised if it beats BETA), Brutus (split decision, it'll get obliterated by Tombstone), Bomshell (goes against Red Devil, could go either way), and Bite Force (no shock there, but its weapon broke against Ringmaster and I see an easy victory over Chomp)

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The Shredderator/Chomp bout was a tough one for me.  I do not like the design of Chomp.  It reminds me of the old house robots from the UK's Robot Wars, and not in a good way.  So I don't really want to see Chomp move on.  But I really dislike the attitude of Shredderator's driver.  He seemed offended that he was low ranked and had to compete against a woman ranked higher than him to advance.  If he were 30 years younger, he'd be a GamerGater for sure.

So while I'm glad Chomp won this fight, I don't want her to advance any further, simply on an aesthetic level.  And since she's up against Bite Force in the next round, she may not.

HyperShock and the rake were awesome.   As for the Warrior Clan's pet Dragon...

 

The matches for the Sweet 16, divided by episode:

Tombstone v Brutus
Bronco v Razorback
Minotaur v Warhead
Red Devil v Bombshell

Nightmare v BETA
BiteForce v Chomp
Mega Tento v Yeti
Poison Arrow v HyperShock

Gonna be some good bouts coming.

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OK, Battlebots afficianados: is Poison Arrow just that lucky or just that good? I suppose if it really is a better metal they're using, maybe it's harder for the other bot to inflict damage.

From a layperson's perspective, Bronco's newly revamped strategy (and armor) looks impressive.

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17 hours ago, Eolivet said:

is Poison Arrow just that lucky or just that good?  I suppose if it really is a better metal they're using, maybe it's harder for the other bot to inflict damage.

Little from Column A, little from Column B.  From the sound of it, Poison Arrow is a small bot with "thick" but lightweight aluminum armor.  And HyperShock was using even lighter-weight but thinner and more fragile carbon fiber for their chassis, which might have been damaged during the fight with Warrior Clan.  So when the two spinning drums collided, Poison Arrow was able to take their side of the blow, but HyperShockcould not; either from being more susceptible to damage, or from already being damaged and not fully repaired, or both.

So, Poison Arrow was lucky enough to draw an opponent that was hurt, but also good enough to capitalize on it when HyperShock lost their weapon.  Plus their drone pilot was very good about staying out of rake-range, but still coming in enough to distract HyperShock.

But steel armor beats aluminum in most cases*.  Bronco's a great example.  Their armor wedge is steel, and that's been able to deflect lots of hits.  Plus now we can see how OP Bronco really is, if a reverse throw can still send bots halfway across the box.  And they got the really lucky shot of the night, perching Razorback on edge.  However, there's a relatively easy solution to that for Razorback.  Just add a small dome to the side of their treads.  No more edge-stands that way.

 

7 hours ago, AConspiracy said:

When Warhead lost its, well, head, I actually yelled.

It was amazing, but looking at how the drum spinners work, it makes sense that it would happen.  Look at the profile of a drum like Minotaur's.  It's basically a cylinder, but with a protrusion on one side, kind of like a 3D letter Q.  And the drum is set to spin so that the tail of the Q rotates upwards as you face the drum.  So drum spinners are throwing constant uppercuts.  One good hit under an edge on an opposing bot, like the lip of Warhead's spinner, and the opponent jerks upward.   Add in that edge rotating on its own, and you get powerful forces on the center of rotation of Warhead's spinner.  Not surprising the axle snapped.

I agreed fully with the judge's call on the Bombshell/Red Devil fight.  Bombshell was the aggressor throughout the match, even without their primary weapon.  They dominated that fight and deserved the win.

*I'm not sure if thin steel (say 1/8 inch) beats thick aluminum (say 1/2 inch).  Depends on what you're up against and the weight differential between the two, I imagine.

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Am I the only one who hates Tombstone and its owner.  The thing is hardly a "bot" -- it's an RC chassis with a lawn-mower blade.  I really want to see another REAL bot tear it to shreds and thoroughly humiliate its ass-hat builder.

 

ETA: I see that I said the same thing last year!

Edited by jhlipton
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8 hours ago, Zahdii said:

My local station was on the blink (again) so I missed the show.  Any way to watch it online without signing up for some service?

Luckily, ABC is putting the footage of just the fights on YouTube.   Here's their playlist for the season.  Beyond that, Hulu gets all the episodes, and they allow for a one week free trial.

 

33 minutes ago, jhlipton said:

Am I the only one who hates Tombstone and its owner....  I really want to see another REAL bot tear it to shreds and thoroughly humiliate its ass-hat builder.

Well, the combo of Witch Doctor and Bite Force started a Humiliation Conga last season.  Witch Doctor proved that Tombstone was not invulnerable, and Bite Force winning proved it wasn't unbeatable. 

Of the new bots we've seen in action, Bombshell might have a chance.  Their strategy against Cobolt, using their variable-height spinner to cut the tires off, could be effective against Tombstone.  That's assuming they could get in on the side to do so.  Despite being an ass-hat, Tombstone's driver is pretty good and knows how to use his limited bot to its full potential.

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Research seems to indicate this tournament took place mid-April.  And from what I can tell, it's a multi-day affair, with rounds taking place on different days.  So the first few episodes (going from 48 to 32) were all one day, then the winners and wild cards got the rest of the day and night to prepare for the next round.  Then repeat.

And I think that the semi-finals and the finals are usually on the same day.  But to give both sides ample time to make repairs, they have any working bots left mix it up in a rumble or two.

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I'm going to predict Minotaur will make it into the final 4, if not winning the whole thing.  Its spinning drum is fast and strong, and its general "phone book" like shape seems to be efficient for driving and it doesn't appear to have any real weak points.   

 

I also love the Pulverizer mallet.  And I think the announcer's hot.

Edited by EAG46
I'm shallow.
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Someone upstream said that because ABC feels a bot winning by good driving and just shoving the other one around is bad TV there were rules changes.

I know that allowing drones and fire and only having one weight class are rules changes from Battlebots Classic.  What are the others?

Edited by QuantumMechanic
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When I heard that Battlebots was coming back to TV I was a little suspicious because, among other things, I thought the Battlebots Classic ring announcer was one of the highlights of the show and how could they replace him well.

I must give props to Farouk.  He is quite the worthy successor.

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Tombstone vs Brutus: Both builders had a plan for the other, but I thought Team Brutus was a little too confident. Upping defense in exchange for battery life sounded cocky, but smart when fighting a heavy hitter like Tombstone. But it was only FRONT defense, and the heavy bar took it out in a single hit. And the second Tombstone hit Brutus's side it was all over.

Nightmare vs BETA: The giant vertical spinner vs the giant hammer with the light body. After seeing it lose so many times, I was glad to finally see Nightmare make it this far. I was leaning on BETA but the shape of its body left it totally open for Nightmare's spinner, ESPECIALLY the chain for the hammer. BETA needed Nightmare to tip over to win, and sure enough it did. I see Tombstone ending BETA (edit: Although the promo for next week suggests otherwise...)

Yeti vs Mega Tento: Mega Tento is a very dumb looking but very effective bot. Yeti was an alternate? Which bot dropped out? But Yeti pinned MT in the right place and destroyed its wheel for good measure. Good for Yeti, squash that bug.

Bite Force vs Chomp: The champ vs the knife hammer. I figured Chomp's large body made it a big target against Bite Force, while Bite Force suffered motor drive damage from its fight with Ringmaster so it could be unreliable. And of course Chomp managed to break Bite Force's weapon but BF was better at the push game. Also, the fire. I forgot Chomp had the fire and damn well used it. This was a damn good fight but I still see Chomp's cumbersome body being its undoing.

Edited by Galileo908
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I was on Team Chomp, but fear if I were a judge I would have awarded it to Bite Force.  Chomp knocked out his weapon right away, true, but then BF pushed her all around the arena.  It looked to me like BF dominated that round.

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They left a good one for the last. Bite Force vs Chomp could have gone either way; I was sure it was going to be a split decision.

I suspect ultimately the fact that Chomp disabled BF's weapon, and landed many blows subsequently gave it the win over just pushing into obstacles. 

 

Yeti was very impressive; I don't think Chomp's going to last against it. A quick fight this time so its got less damage; taking out the wheel like that once Mega was on the spinners was just icing. 

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