User blog:CrashBash/Ragnabot 2 - Semi-Finalist Analysis

Just yesterday, the final part of the Quarter Finals for Ragnabot 2 was uploaded. There's still a ways to go before it officially closes, but lets be honest here, I think it's obvious which four robots are going to make it through at this stage. So, I thought I'd take some time to discuss the 16 semi-finalists...and I'll tell you what, this is going to be extremely close. I know in my previous blog, ToonGanondorf stated who he felt were the ten "best" robots. All ten of these robots are now through (or will be through) to the semi-finals. It's going to be tense, that's for sure. But how well do I think they'll do? Well...lets go through them. In alphabetical order once again.


 * Anarchy - Anarchy is by far the weak link in the semi-finals. Its slow speed and vulnerability to spinners and flippers mean everyone can pretty much have its way with it. The only robot that it could probably beat is Raging Reality, and even then I think I'd side with Reality.
 * Apollo - The reigning UK champion has a strong shot at making it all the way. There are still a few robots left that I feel could give it problems, but if it can avoid them for as long as possible, well....we'll see.
 * Atomic - One of only four returning semi-finalists from the previous Ragnabot, the reigning 6th place finisher still has potential to do decently. I'd argue it was one of the best flippers of the 7th series. However, if it faces against one of the more modern flippers, or even Carbide, I fear it might struggle.
 * Behemoth - Behemoth's done extremely well to get this far, testament to how much it's improved between Series 7 and 8, but the semi-finals is filled with flippers and rammers, two weapons I know it has a poor history against. There's also two massive spinners, which could be a massive problem.
 * Carbide - I wouldn't be surprised if Carbide won. It has a great chance against the majority of the robots left, even if it runs into Apollo, but I'll discuss that as and when. Unfortunately, its Bane is also in the semi-finals, so it'll need to be very careful.
 * Eruption - This robot took out the eventual champion. You have to assume this is going to put it in a good position to take the title. But there are two heavy spinners here that it'll need to avoid.
 * Raging Reality - We plummet from E to R. Raging Reality is another of the weaker robots left in the semi-finals and I really struggle to see it beating a good lot of the competitors who are still there. It's pretty much vulnerable to nearly everyone who's left, except maybe two.
 * S3 - S3, personally, I feel was lucky to get through the quarter finals. Whilst it has a great weapon, I feel it is going to struggle against all these modern robots unless it gets a very lucky draw. Also, seven of its potential opponents have flippers, which was a weapon S3 always had trouble with.
 * Shockwave - I'm looking forward for when we can use Aftershock in tournaments like this, just saying. Shockwave stands a solid chance against a lot of the pre-reboot robots, and a good few of the new age ones, but I feel it'll have trouble against some of the higher tier ones.
 * Storm 2 - One of my two remaining sweepstake robots and through to this stage after my arm was twisted to vote against Razer. Fresh off of beating the Ragnabot champion, I wonder if its slow speed will begin to prove a hindrance at this late stage. Its low ground clearance can't be denied, but it can only take it so far.
 * Terrorhurtz - Our reigning 3rd place still stands as good a chance as any. This is the robot that defeated Carbide in Series 8, after all. More importantly, there are no weapons here like Sabretooth or Aftershock to cause real trouble...closest we have are S3 and X-Terminator, but I don't think they're quite that level.
 * Tornado - Runner-up of the previous Ragnabot, Tornado still stands a good chance of making it through to the Grand Final again. My concern here is how it'll cope against the modern day flippers. Back in the day, it was great at dealing with flippers, but here...I wonder...
 * TR2 - My favourite to win the competition is still here, and still stands a great chance. There's a lot of robots it can beat, only a few it can't, and even then it's debatable as to who will come out on top. But it's the robot I'm rooting for, even if it isn't my sweepstake.
 * Tsunami - The only non-British robot left is my other sweepstake. I still think it has a good chance, but I worry that it'll start making some mistakes now we've gotten this far.
 * Typhoon 2 - Probably one of the better choices to stand up against the new-age robots. I can't imagine there are that many machines left who will be able to effectively disrupt its rhythm, which is essential for beating it. The more pressing issue for me will be how much damage it can do.
 * X-Terminator - The last of our returning semi-finalists, I don't have my hopes too high for it. There are so many good flippers left, as well as powerful spinners and rammers, that I fear it'll struggle with a lot of its opponents.