User blog:SpaceManiac888/Rusty Spanner of the Episode: Series 10, Grand Final Results

I have now added up the scores and detailed the top three moments of the Grand Final 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.

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

Dishonourable mentions

 * Self-pitting robots in the Rumble (10): Expulsion, Sabretooth and Thor may not have been expected to win the Rumble, but to go out through no pressure from other robots has got to be embarrassing!


 * Magnetar being flipped by Matilda (10): I will discuss this later on in this blog post…


 * Sir Killalot trying to eliminate Terrorhurtz (8): Still, could be worse; at least it spawned a new meme based on John Reid’s reaction!


 * Eruption and Carbide meeting in the Grand Final (6): After all the surprises that have occurred in this series, the fact that the two favourites managed to end up facing each other in the Grand Final for the second time in a row is disappointing.


 * Fog of War being used constantly (6): When even Jonathan Pearce is starting to tire of it, you know this “hazard” needs to be removed.


 * Magnetar’s reliability (6): I will discuss this later on in this blog post…


 * Different music over the end credits (6): I do understand why some people are annoyed about the change of music, but Robot Wars is not the first show to do this.
 * Carbide’s chain guard (6): This really grinds my gears to be honest, which I will explain later on in this blog post.
 * Rapid bursting into flames (6): Might as well be another Rusty Spanner vote for the Fog of War, since Rapid’s smoke was a better hazard.


 * Unsubtle foreshadowing (6): Well, I really had enough of this once Michael Oates stated his Robot Wars dream constantly. To the editor: We get it, please stop!


 * Carbide attacking an immobile Rapid (6): I do not really get this nomination, because not only were Carbide given the chance to by Rapid’s team, you may as well moan about many of Hypno-Disc’s dominant victories.


 * No ganging up on Eruption during the Rumble/Eruptions tactics in the Rumble (6): Eruption’s Michael Oates was the best tactician in the Rumble, making his robot stay out of the way whilst everyone else battle among each other. Just a shame that nobody noticed this until it was too late. This led to…


 * Eruption winning the Rumble (4): …This nomination. To be fair, regardless of tactics used by Eruption, I still did not want it to win on the basis that I wanted a surprise. Eruption simply was too good to be interesting in the Rumble, to be honest, although it should be commended nonetheless.


 * Robots pressing the Arena Tyre more than once (4): And generally getting the worst hazard possible most of the time!


 * Michael Oates being labelled a villain (4): In sociological terms, let’s hope this does not become a self-fulfilling prophecy, where everyone surrounding him starting treating him as if he was a villain, and thus cause him to generally start behaving in the label’s meaning and thus making it true as a consequence!


 * Behemoth’s luck in the Group Battle (2): Yup, although its loss was totally fair.


 * Nuts facing only a few robots all series (2): CrashBash does raise a valid point about Nuts 2, since although it was excellent, it only faced a few robots. Would have been nice if it faced a certain other robot in the semi-final round, which we will get to shortly.


 * Lack of an exit interview for Behemoth (2): It would have been nice to see this, but I understand why it probably was cut.


 * Lack of Matilda in the Rumble (2): Some people felt that House Robots spoiled part of the battle and wanted them to never appear in the Rumble. I say that no Matilda was a disappointment in response, simply because her KO power would have been a nice addition.


 * Magnetar’s luck (2): I will discuss this shortly.


 * The “been there, done that” feeling of some battles (2): In fairness, when the Grand Final has Eruption versus Carbide, Behemoth versus Eruption and Carbide vs Nuts 2, I can understand this feeling.

3: No third-place playoff (14)
Despite appearing (ironically) in third place, I do not think this Rusty Spanner was that significant, to be honest. Sure, whilst I would have loved to have seen a third-place playoff between Behemoth and Nuts 2, the two biggest surprises this series, having it be replaced by the Rumble was acceptable in my opinion. In a way, I am not even too sure if Nuts 2 would have been able to compete at one hundred percent based on the damage that it suffered as a result of Carbide’s attacks, although similar to how it was still able to face Terrorhurtz in Series 8, I am confident it would have been able to face Behemoth in some form. But would it have still won against Behemoth in the third-place playoff? Well, maybe not after that Carbide battle, to be honest, but I have to say that a one hundred percent Behemoth and Nuts 2 facing off would have been a compelling battle. Therefore, let me know in the comments as to who you think would have won. Nonetheless, the number of votes and points means that the lack of a third-place playoff ends up finishing third in the Rusty Spanner moments of the Grand Final. And that means in my opinion that this episode must have been one of the best if this minor complaint is this high on the list.

2: Ellis Ware/Magnetar’s control (16)
Until that fateful moment in the Group Battle, Magnetar were dominant. Indeed, with its great spinning drum and the excellent control from Ellis Ware, plus NO RELIABILITY GREMLINS to report of unlike with Pulsar, it came as no surprise that several people stated it could have been a dark horse to win this series. So, of course, fate had to strike during its Group Battle with Eruption and Rapid, where its srimech got jammed. Still, it was on top against Eruption, so although it needed to avoid the flipper at all costs, the battle could still be won. Sadly, Ellis Ware made a critical error, driving onto Matilda’s tusks, and the rest is history.

Nonetheless, not all was lost for Magnetar and the “boy genius”. After all, it still had Behemoth to battle, whereby although reliability gremlins once again caused the srimech to jam, the hits on Behemoth caused its opponent to only be able to drive on one wheel. Although Behemoth was still mobile enough to not be counted out, all Magnetar needed to do was avoid it until time expired, which must have been looming. However, Ellis Ware made another unforced error where he ended up exposing Magnetar’s rear to Behemoth’s scoop. Behemoth capitalised and ultimately snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against its opponent.

Whilst I kind of understand the first incident (after all, Eruption was still mobile), I really cannot comprehend why Ellis Ware decided that attacking Behemoth after the latter was barely mobile was a good idea. After all, apart from being flipped at the start, Magnetar was dominant afterwards, so really, it did not need to go anywhere near Behemoth once the latter was struggling, in order to win a judges' decision. Henceforth, it is no wonder I threw my hands in the air once this Rusty Spanner moment occurred. It was completely unnecessary for Ware to move his robot that dangerously close to Behemoth, and may have ultimately cost Magnetar a chance to win this series too. No wonder it is in the silver position for the Rusty Spanner moments of the Grand Final.

1: Carbide vs Nuts 2: The Rematch (20)
And so, we conclude the final Rusty Spanner listing for the main competition of Series 10 for arguably one of the most disappointing moments I have seen in Robot Wars history. We all know the story; Carbide, who was undefeated (in televised competition at least) since the Series 8 Grand Final, finally lost a battle during its Series 10 Group Battle in the Grand Final. The winner? Nuts 2, who managed to disable the spinner with a single hit to the then-exposed chain. In fact, Carbide became so defenceless that even one of the minibots decide to attack (and nearly immobilise it!), enabling Nuts 2 to convincingly win a judges’ decision.

After this amazing accomplishment, I honestly thought that Nuts 2 may actually stand a great chance of winning this series. Sure, maybe Eruption could still spoil the party, but as long as it got a good draw, maybe it could avoid it until the final round, facing off against Behemoth whilst Eruption tries to beat Carbide for the first time. Unfortunately, the powers that be dictated that Nuts 2 must face off against Carbide in a rematch. This really disappointed me in my opinion, since I argue that Nuts 2 versus Behemoth would have been an excellent battle between the two surprises, enabling one of them to reach the Grand Final, whilst avoiding a repeat of last year’s final. Nonetheless, there was still a chance Nuts 2 could have defeated Carbide for the second time, meaning a potential Final against Eruption. Then, the chain guard was added to Carbide. Ugh.

I should note that this Rusty Spanner moment does not blame Carbide’s team. Indeed, I would have added a similar guard in response to the rules, although I do understand why Jimlaad argues that such late minute modifications should be banned in the interest of fairness. Regardless, why was it that the producers felt that rewarding Nuts 2’s victory was to give it Carbide without an exposed chain? Henceforth, instead of witnessing a hard fought matchup, we instead got to see Carbide once again destroying an opponent, including the minibot that nearly immobilised it. And that led to Carbide vs Eruption yet again, which although turned out to be an excellent battle with Eruption winning for a change, I would have preferred to not see again in any round, let alone the Grand Final for the second series running.

Henceforth, the second draw between Carbide and Nuts 2 is the top Rusty Spanner moment for the Series 10 Grand Final according to you ladies and gentlemen. But we still have the World Series Specials to watch, so Series 10’s Rusty Spanner lists are not finished quite yet.