User blog:Toon Ganondorf/Heat Finalists that were capable of winning other heats

Not all Heat Finalists are great robots, worthy of going on to the semi-finals. Some, like The Darke Destroyer, Aggrobot and Dreadnaut, got there because the heat was packed with weaklings. Others deserved to get there, but not much further.

But some flat out pulled the short straw. They are better robots than some semi-finalists, and had they been placed in other heats, they might have been worthy of earning a semi-final place in their own right.

In selecting these robots, I've adhered to a strict criteria.
 * These robots must be able to defeat every robot in the heat, or one might be selective in which robot gets removed.
 * Seeds cannot be moved from heats, so I won't be including robots such as Suicidal Tendencies 2 or Mortis from Series 4.
 * I've also limited the weak heats to one per entry, otherwise I could just keep saying "Heat # had no one good in it".

Ready? Let's play.


 * Killertron Killertron in Series 1.jpg
 * Heat Finalist: Series 1, Heat A
 * Lost to: Roadblock.


 * What happened: I can understand that this was the pilot, and you want as many good robots as you can get. I imagine that's why the superheavyweight Barry was allowed into the heat. Nemesis looked fun, but Roadblock was always going to win this battle. But Killertron was a legitimate contender. It had a deadly axe (as Shogun found out), it was as strong as a bull (holding off Dead Metal in the Sumo), and it was healthy, with no reliability issues that we know of. Its only weakness was a wedge. So if Killertron was so good, why did they waste it by placing it in a heat where only one of Roadblock and Killertron could make the final?


 * Where it could have gone: Heat F. I like T.R.A.C.I.E., but it never screamed Grand Finalist like Roadblock or Recyclopse did. The only other decent contender here was Prince of Darkness, but it was less than half of Killertron's weight and armoured in wood. Skarab and Blob were just there to pad numbers, because neither of them could stand up to T.R.A.C.I.E., let alone Killertron. Assuming the Gauntlet ends up much the same, Killertron can score one ball goal in Snooker (not that it matters, with The Mouse set to take a dive). Heat Final ends up as Killertron v T.R.A.C.I.E., and we get the best of both worlds. Either T.R.A.C.I.E. earns its Grand Final place by going after Killertron's wheels, or Killertron gets to be in the Grand Final. Are we really any worse off for seeing Roadblock v Killertron in the Grand Final, instead of the Heat Final?


 * Mortis Mortis battering ram.JPG
 * Heat Finalist: Series 1, Heat B
 * Lost to: Recyclopse.


 * What happened: Mortis in Series 1 was more impressive than half of the robots in Series 3. That tanto axe absolutely chopped Leighbot to pieces. But its run ended when it ran into trouble against Recyclopse, and a very tight judges decision cost it a place. Perhaps the same logic as above applied, and they wanted at least two real contenders to keep fans of this hatchling show tuned in. But honestly, there were probably only two robots in Series 1 who could stop Recyclopse, and their names were Roadblock and Mortis. Why waste that showdown in the heat final?


 * Where it could have gone: Heat E. I've been unapologetic in my criticism of this boring episode. With the 30kg Full Metal Jacket never likely to succeed past the Gauntlet/Trial stages, REALI-T was the only robot that showed any potential, yet the heat seemed inexplicably fixed for Bodyhammer, whose only positive factor was that it looked shiny. So in Heat E, Mortis reaches the Semi-Final (because despite not being ideal in the Labyrinth, it only has to beat Psychosprout). If it goes against Torque of the Devil, it chops it to pieces. REALI-T gets pushed onto the side grates, and so does Full Metal Anorak. That only leaves Bodyhammer, and to be frank, I'll give anyone the benefit of the doubt over Bodyhammer, whose only achievement in two seasons was defeating Torque of the Devil. Now we get a Grand Final with Mortis, Killertron, Roadblock and Recyclopse. Roadblock probably still purges the arena, but more interesting stuff happens in the background.