Merlin

Merlin was the heavyweight robot that was entered for Series 7 of Robot Wars by Team BlazerBotics. The robot was armed with a very powerful full-pressure flipper, but was also invertible, similar to Raging Knightmare, another robot from Leicestershire (also a robot that the team would later own).

However, Merlin suffered from technical issues the day before the qualifiers, so had to pull out, meaning that it failed to qualify for the series and was not seen on the televised show. Despite this, Merlin was still well known within the roboteering community for its powerful flipper.

In 2016, Merlin attempted to enter the 2016 series of Robot Wars. Although it was not chosen to compete in the main series, Merlin was invited to take part in the pilot episode, alongside another heavyweight owned by the team, Apollo.

2016 series
Although Merlin did not qualify for the main series of Robot Wars in 2016, it was regardless invited to attend filming of the pilot episode on March 1st, giving it the opportunity to have a head-to-head battle in front of a live audience as part of a camera test.

In its first battle, Merlin was drawn into a four-way qualifier against Reaper, Wraith and Monty. Wraith suffered from electrical problems before the start of the battle, and withdrew, turning the fight into a three-way battle. Monty quickly broke down, and was pitted, leaving Reaper and Merlin to fight alone until cease was called, with both robots qualifying.

In the one-on-one round, Merlin defeated veterans in Team Onslaught, winning against their new robot, Ka-Pow!, when Ka-Pow! drove into the pit in the opening moments of the fight. As the battle was so short, Merlin turned its efforts to attack Dead Metal.

Merlin's final battle was a loss against fellow flipper, Turbulence, as Turbulence won the Judges' decision on the basis of aggression and control.

Results

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Series Record

 * Series 1-6: Did not enter
 * Series 7: Withdrew before qualifiers
 * 2016 Series: Pilot only, withdrew from pilot with Apollo

Outside of Robot Wars
Since Robot Wars, Merlin has been rebuilt several times, but has experienced great success, particularly in the Roaming Robots circuit. Arguably Merlin's greatest triumph to date was when it won the Tag Team Terror Competition alongside Velocirippa in 2006.

Merlin still fights competitively today, reaching the Quarter-Finals of the 2011 UK Championships, after beating Dantomkia and Iron-Awe 6 in its heat, but then Merlin lost to Iron-Awe 5.

Trivia

 * Despite Team BlazerBotics making several robots for Robot Wars, Merlin was the only heavyweight at the time of Series 7.