User blog:SpaceManiac888/Rusty Spanner of the Episode: Series 10, Heat 5 Results

I have now added up the scores and detailed the top three aspects of Heat 5 of Series 10 that were considered "Rusty Spanner" moments.

The scoring goes as follows; when a user lists three Rusty Spanner moments, their top pick gets six points, the second will earn four points and the last one gains two points. These are added up with other users' votes to determine the highest scorers, which will be listed and detailed below. In the case of a tie, I will either put one moment ahead of another based on how many people voted, or if the same number of people voted for both moments, how many times it was their first or second pick.

I have decided to have a new rule, whereby should a user vote for two things in the same mention, half points will be awarded for each Rusty Spanner. Try not to include multiple mentions in the each vote, however, especially if they have no correlation. It just makes adding up the scores generally easier.

With the rules on scoring out of the way, let's begin with some dishonourable mentions.

Dishonourable mentions

 * Expulsion’s battles (8): Maybe I was being a bit harsh on this nomination, but I still would argue that Expulsion’s battles overall were either too short or just not entertaining. Still, I guess that explosive hit from Magnetar and it having a decent tussle with Coyote did at least make its battles more entertaining than Track-tion’s, I suppose.


 * Hobgoblin (6): Unfortunately, despite being given a second chance to show-off its competitiveness in Robot Wars (it was selected as a reserve this series and only got in thanks to Point Blank’s withdrawal), I would argue that out of all thirty robots, Hobgoblin probably was the least interesting, breaking down far too quickly in both battles to be entertaining. The only redeeming quality I guess would be it managing to damage Shunt’s axe, but that was more on the part of Shunt’s driver and welder.


 * The Robot Redemption battles (6): Neither of these battles were going to set the world on fire, but it would have helped if most of the robots competing did not suffer reliability issues or be attacked by the House Robots. Poor quality battles overall in my opinion.


 * Too many short battles (6): Another dishonourable mention that again focuses on Expulsion, a couple of battles ended up well too short to be entertaining. Expulsion versus Push to Exit was probably the worst offender here.


 * Hobgoblin’s batteries (6): The main reason why Hobgoblin again disappointed was because of its batteries. According to ToastUltimatum, the batteries were generally faulty, working at only four volts rather than sixteen. Who knows, at sixteen volts, maybe Hobgoblin would have easily beaten Coyote?


 * The Floor Flipper (6): This has been a general issue of the series thus far. After all, whilst the Floor Flipper is a bigger hazard than ever, it has taken victory several times, with Thor versus Magnetar being one of the most notable examples.


 * Team S.Tek not bringing Push to Exit to Live Events (6): If only they did. Maybe for all we know the reliability issues may have been rectified, enabling Push to Exit to truly show off what it can do.


 * "Next time" spoilers (6): Another general issue that has plagued the series, the "next time" used to promote this heat showcased three robots. Which three robots? Why, the heat winner Magnetar and the two Rumble competitors Thor and Expulsion of course! Whilst CrashBash is correct that the winner remained unknown in spite of the "next time" trailer, it would help if it had showcased Push to Exit, Hobgoblin and Coyote in the same fashion, to ensure that viewers cannot be potentially spoiled by the outcome. Still, could be worse; at least the Grand Final has not been spoiled this time!


 * The Line-up (6): With the exception of Magnetar and Thor, this line-up just has not quite had the competitiveness that other Series 10 heats have enjoyed (in particular, heats A, B and D spring to mind). If it had, say the new Ironside3 machine in the heat (to face Magnetar for no reason whatsoever, ha ha), the line-up would have been more positively received in my opinion. This leads to…


 * The predictability of the heat (6): …this dishonourable mention. Although Push to Exit and maybe Hobgoblin could have pulled an upset going in, the moment they ran into problems I knew who was going to be in the heat-final. Not helped of course by the "next time" spoilers.


 * Expulsion (5): I will discuss this mention later on in this blog post…


 * The pit only opening once (4): Yeah, this is especially an issue when considering that Coyote (and Expulsion in its battle with Magnetar) could have been benefitted if the pit had opened more than once. I suggest that Series 11 has two tyre buttons (whereby one automatically opens the pit), or that it automatically comes down after a certain amount of time, in a similar fashion to Series 4.


 * Both House Robots being damaged by Hobgoblin (4): Whilst Shunt losing his axe was quite funny (and at the time was my top Rusty Spanner vote), it should be noted that Sir Killalot also suffered damage to his claw thanks to Hobgoblin! Gosh, if only it actually worked for more than a couple of seconds in each battle.


 * Reliability issues (4): Speaking of which, when one considers that the three losers of this heat all suffered greatly in terms of reliability issues, you know this has to be a dishonourable mention, especially when considering the new format was meant to prevent this.


 * Both Thor vs Coyote battles (4): Not helped by Matilda in the second battle, both encounters should really have ended in knockouts by Thor to be honest. Not too confident that Thor is going to win the Rumble, by the way.


 * The editor (4): One moment surrounding the editor concerns something that I will be detailing later on in this blog post. However, other issues, such as showcasing Dara’s Prince joke and Shane’s love of dogs, were enough for a dishonourable mention anyway.


 * “When House Robots attack” (4): Did any of you experience flashbacks to Series 2 and 3 thanks to this heat?


 * Jamie McHarg being too tall for the interview camera (4): I was not really paying attention when this incident occurred, but it sounds amusing in a way.


 * Expulsion’s team (3): Nope. I still do not get this nomination, especially when considering that Expulsion’s team seem motivated, friendly and were trying to inspire more girls and women into entering Robot Wars. Let’s hope they build a better robot for next series, though!


 * Shunt’s welding (2): To be honest, I cannot really criticise the welding of Shunt too much. After all, it did survive several hits before finally breaking, so maybe the driver was more to blame for this dishonourable mention.


 * Expulsion getting through to the Rumble (2): I will be discussing this issue later on in this blog post…


 * No mention of Push to Exit’s YouTube stars (2): I guess that the producers/editor felt that their YouTube success just was not notable enough to be showcased?


 * Getting stuck on the pit (2): Another general issue that has occurred throughout the entire reboot, let alone this heat, to be honest.


 * The reserve choices (2): I will say that Coyote was better than expected, although Hobgoblin again disappointed. It would have been better if Ironside3 was in this heat instead.


 * Push to Exit’s luck (2): Luck? What luck? Exactly.

3: Expulsion’s "srimech" (10)
Unpopular opinion: I genuinely believe that Expulsion deserved a second chance in Robot Wars. In contrast to some wiki members’ negative opinions on Expulsion, which ranged from the robot itself to the team, I actually have a generally positive view on the robot. Sure, I did not like its battles too much, but at least it is a major upgrade from the unreliable Series 9 version, to the point where it actually had a decent tussle with Coyote and showed positive signs that a potential Series 11 version could be even better. I would also argue that Expulsion’s team have inspired far more girls to get into engineering than Ms. Nightshade ever had, whilst genuinely being entertaining, and hard-working in ensuring that their robot stood some kind of chance against tremendous odds. That said, this motivation actually brings me to the bronze medal Rusty Spanner spot of this heat, concerning the srimech.

Now, an unreliable or poorly designed srimech is not a new thing in Robot Wars. Indeed, we have seen examples of incomplete self-righting mechanisms failing to right the robot (Chaos), and examples where it fails to work at all (Foxic in Series 9). But although I accept Expulsion’s srimech failure to function in the Group Battle, I think that for Series 10, it was unacceptable to see it fail in all four battles. I mean, falling on its face may have been entertaining once, but when it occurs to the point where the team needs to find solutions to prevent it from happening in the Third-Place Playoff, perhaps there is a clear design flaw with the robot? In fact, I would argue that the whole srimech issue nearly cost Expulsion its battle with Push to Exit, whereby if the latter was able to move for one more second afterwards (like Iron-Awe 6 did against Tauron Mk 2), it would have lost the judges’ decision, no doubt about it. Plus, when one considers that only extensive luck enabled it to gain access to the Rumble battle, I can sort of understand why some people are unhappy with Expulsion overall.

Therefore, when one considers that this is not only an example of a srimech failing constantly in Series 10, but also that its team had to find other solutions to fix the whole “landing on face” issue to avoid costing Expulsion victories, its non-functioning srimech no doubt deserves the third spot on Rusty Spanner moments of this heat. Still, although it probably stands zero chance in the Rumble, I look forward to seeing what new designs the team will come up with in the future. Who knows, maybe it could challenge some of the most competitive robots in a possible Series 11? Or at least self-right without issues.

2: Lack of judges’ decision tension (14)
As I write this blog post, CrashBash is in the process of writing the “Top 10 Mistakes Robot Wars made that made the UK Championships less enjoyable”. It will include one mistake for each UK series, making me wonder what will be the biggest mistake to have occurred in Series 10, at least according to this wiki member. Well, based on his (and my) votes, perhaps the lack of judges’ decision tension is one of the most notable mistakes in this series.

For those who are unsure of what I mean by “judges’ decision tension”, cast your mind back to the first nine series, especially the battles which had close decisions (Hypno-Disc versus 101), or controversial ones (Cherub versus PP3D). What did they all have in common? Well, there was always a pause by the presenter before the winner was announced. This was a good thing, because it always meant that the viewers at home and in the arena could be excited over a nail-biting decision made by the judges, which could lead to reactions of happiness, sadness or anger based on who was the victor. Now, imagine what would happen in the two examples mentioned above if the presenter giving the good news to Hypno-Disc’s or Cherub’s team just immediately told them they had won, before the next segment in the episode just abruptly started?

Now, of course nobody was expecting Coyote to triumph over Thor in either judges’ decision, but as with some other decisions, the seemingly expected choice is not always the one who the judges pick to win (The Grim Reaper versus Big Nipper is a good example). But because of the editing of this battle, which saw Angela Scanlon just inform Jason Marston that Thor had won, any tension that might have been incurred prior to the result being revealed was completely lost. It especially did not help when the editor inexplicably showcased Sethu Vijayakumar statement that there was “no doubt at all” over who had won, before the decision was made. I mean, come on now, at least let the viewers guess who was the victor before the presenters actually reveal the decision!

Indeed, a lack of judges’ decision tension is a major Rusty Spanner issue that deserves the silver spot in this heat, and also a possible mention for the entire series. This is especially true since it does take away some of the entertainment value away from the series, even for poor quality battles. Take Firestorm 2 vs Bolt from the Blue as an example. It may have been a horrible Series 4 battle, but at least it had the redeeming quality of being a genuinely close decision, which could have caused my favourite robot to fall at the second hurdle. Thor versus Coyote did not have any chance of receiving that same redeeming quality thanks to the lack of tension, meaning that this Rusty Spanner is worthy of its second spot in this heat.

1: Push to Exit (22)
Speaking of Firestorm 2, it is a shame that the front-hinged flipper has almost disappeared from Robot Wars. Sure, maybe Firestorm’s consistent success with the weapon generally made it overrated in the eyes of most modern roboteers, but it was always an interesting alternative over the typical rear-hinged version. Henceforth, seeing Team S.Tek enter Series 9 and 10 with a front-hinged flipper was a case for excitement, especially since this was the same team that had entered Dantomkia so that it could return in Series 8. Just a shame then that this front-hinged flipper machine so far has been completely disappointing.

In fairness, unlike with Series 9, where it was dominated by PP3D straight away, Push to Exit actually started promisingly, flipping Hobgoblin almost immediately. Sure, Magnetar’s drum and the Floor Flipper ultimately cost it the Group Battle, but at least the opening seconds of the battle showed that maybe, just maybe, Push to Exit could finally showcase the idea that the front-hinged flipper can work in modern Robot Wars. And when one considers that Push to Exit’s next battle was against Expulsion, a robot with a non-working srimech, surely it would also win at least one battle too?

Well, no. After experiencing a cut wire within the speed controller, Push to Exit was unable to work properly, with its flipper failing to function even once, whilst intermission meant it could barely move. Even when Expulsion was flipped over by the Floor Flipper and thus landed on its face again, the fact remained that Push to Exit simply was not moving properly and ultimately gave its opponent the victory through a judges' decision (which had the redeeming quality of being tense, yay!). In my opinion, out of all the battles that have occurred thus far in this series, Push to Exit has suffered one of the most embarrassing losses. Indeed, it could have won with a flip of doom, a rare occurrence in Robot Wars nowadays.

Henceforth, Push to Exit’s disastrous performance in my opinion is the top Rusty Spanner moment for this heat, not only for once again letting down Team S.Tek (who could have entered Dantomkia and potentially have reached the Rumble with it), but also for deterring other roboteers from entering with a front-hinged flipper upon viewing its lack of success in the Reboot series thus far. Nonetheless, let’s hope that Team S.Tek do remain in Robot Wars for the next series, since they are very entertaining in my opinion.