User blog:CrashBash/Ragnabot 2 - Quarter Finalist Analysis

It's been a rocky few months, but the heats for the second series of Ragnabot are almost over, and we pretty much have our 64 Quarter-Finalists. I thought it'd be fun, before the Quarter-Finals start, to try and play a little prediction game and see how I think the robots that have made it this far will fare. Lets see if you agree with me....or not....

In Alphabetical order for the sake of my sanity...
 * 3 Stegs to Heaven - I can't see it doing too well given the quality of robots it's left with. It's not very reliable and its drive kept cutting out. It could probably beat some of the lesser robots, but there aren't that many left.
 * Anarchy - There are a fair few too many flippers and spinners that I think could cause it some trouble and its slow speed could cause it issues.
 * Apollo - As the latest Robot Wars champion, I imagine Apollo could do pretty well for itself, and I can see it making the top eight at minimum. Probably further.
 * Atomic - Atomic's very low and wide flipper plate will likely continue to be a massive threat to the competition, and I think it stands a good chance of doing well.
 * Axe-Awe - Brilliant that it's made it this far, but I do fear it'll be outclassed by a good deal of robots.
 * Behemoth - Behemoth stands a really good chance, but it needs to avoid the more modern flippers and spinners. The less modern of the two, it could probably take.
 * Big Nipper - As long as it avoids a good flipper, it can do decently. The problem is there are quite a few
 * Black Hole - There are a few good flippers, and I fear for its position here. With its small size being an issue, it'll need to score lucky.
 * Carbide - There aren't that many robots that could beat Carbide, at least not in my mind. If it plays it well, I could see it being a finalist, easily.
 * Cedric Slammer - Looks potent, but I don't think it'll last that long.
 * Chaos 2 - Chaos 2 may have been seriously outclassed in later wars, but I still see the possibility of it doing well here. If it avoids the more modern hard hitting robots, that is.
 * Chip - I can't see Chip lasting against most of the quarter-finalists
 * Corkscrew Two - Without question, this is the weakest of the quarter-finalists. Expect anyone to draw this to get a free win.
 * Dantomkia - Dantomkia still looks reasonably potent even for 2016, although I think it could struggle against other flippers.
 * Das Gepack - Unless it can keep on the offensive, I think Das Gepack will struggle.
 * Destructive Criticism - A decent spinner, but the majority of the other spinners in the quarter finals are much heavier. It could beat a fair few robots, but it needs to avoid many others.
 * Dominator 2 - Could probably do well if it avoids a heavy spinner, or a fast rammer. Otherwise it's in trouble
 * Eruption - Easily capable of taking out most robots, but NEEDS to avoid the heavy spinners, such as Carbide. Especially Carbide.
 * G-Force - One of the weaker robots left in, could struggle with a great deal of them, especially the flippers and spinners. Its armour wasn't great.
 * Gravity - A nice powerful flipper should see it do well, but against the more modern robots I feel it may struggle, given its poor armour.
 * Hydra - The surprise package of the previous Ragnabot, coming in 8th last time. I can't see it repeating that. It has poor history with flippers, and there's a good few of them left in the competition.
 * Infernal Contraption - Was pretty blessed with its heat line-up, will struggle with a good deal of the robots. Probably slightly better than the other "weak-links", though.
 * Inshredable - Probably in the same boat as Infernal Contraption. One of the better "weaklinks", but will be easily overpowered by the stronger robots.
 * Ironside3 - Could do well provided it isn't facing anything that could overturn it, whereupon its slow srimech will stuff it like a turkey. With so many, it's only a matter of time.
 * Kan-Opener - Going over all the robots, there's only so many left that it can effectively attack, which will leave it at a major disadvantage.
 * King B Remix - Hey, I'm happy to see it get to this stage, but I feel out of the remaining machines, it's "average" at best. So whether it'll progress further or not remains to be seen.
 * M2 - A decent enough flipper, but I fear it'll be outclassed by the majority of the others. Which is a shame because it's otherwise quite good.
 * Manta - Probably one of the better rambots left in the competition and would probably be capable of evading most attacks, but I feel it still settles too firmly into the "average" section. Again, it needs to stay on the attack.
 * Meshuggah - You can never really tell with Meshuggah, but I do fear for it in the long run.
 * M.R. Speed Squared - Everyone's favourite one-battle wonder is going to struggle with a lot of the robots left in, but could still take on quite a few.
 * Ninjitsu - Basically a marginally better Destructive Criticism.
 * Overkill GTI - Arguably the most unlikely of the quarter-finalists and, if I've got this right, the ONLY robot from before the 100kg weight increase. Likely it'll struggle against most of the robots.
 * Philipper 2 - I feel the robots Philipper can beat tend to be...well, situational for the most part. It seems to do well against certain robots and not so well against certain others, making it very difficult to judge.
 * Pressure - Somehow, Pressure has made its SECOND Ragnabot quarter-finals. I think it'll need a very lucky draw to get further, though.
 * Pulsar - Pulsar could still triumph over quite a few robots left in the competition, and would be pretty high on the list, but it'll struggle against robots it can't take out quickly. Depends on if anyone can exploit its inevitable glitches.
 * PulverizeR - Could defeat a few robots, but I feel most of them would overpower it. It never seemed to perform well against robots that weren't also Dutch, or Belgian.
 * Raging Reality - For how good it was, Raging Reality is one of the weaker flippers left in, and its light armour could cause it to struggle''
 * Razer - I don't think the Ragnabot champion will defend its title, but I think it could still do well provided it avoids a few of the more modern robots. Shame that the new Razer left so soon.
 * Robochicken - Needs to be pretty c-lucky with who it gets pitted against. Some promise, but given who's left....
 * Rosie the Riveter 2 - A decent ramming machine, but I feel it's not up to Storm 2 or Tornado caliber, which may give it trouble.
 * Ruf Ruf Dougal - Sorry Jim, but Dougal will need to be pretty lucky with its draw to get further. Then again, its luck has held up so far, so....
 * S3 - There's still quite a few flippers left, which were S3's bane. And also some robots with pretty hard armour - that's not so good.
 * Sabretooth - I really, really don't want Sabretooth to progress any further, but my own annoyance for it aside, I think it'll struggle against most of the other robots. Not the worst in concept, but still.
 * Shockwave - There doesn't seem to be much that can stop Shockwave, so it could probably make the semi-finals.
 * Sir Chromalot - For the most part, the Class Act will be outclassed.
 * S.M.I.D.S.Y. - Another case of a robot needing to be extremely lucky with the draw. Its losses almost always came from big weapons, and there are a LOT of big weapons left.
 * Spawn Again - Could do well, although it needs to avoid the more modern robots.
 * St Agro - Same as Spawn Again. Could have trouble with its exposed wheels, as there's a few spinning discs left.
 * Storm 2 - I still think its low speed will give it some major issues as the battles go on. It could defeat quite a few of the robots, but certainly not all of them.
 * Suicidal Tendencies - It's really going to struggle, with all the fast robots with flippers and spinners.
 * Terrorhurtz - I think it has a great chance, as there doesn't seem to be much it's weak against, except maybe modern flippers, possibly a rammer or two.
 * Tetanus Booster - One of the better lower-key robots, but still low-key, and not likely to advance too far.
 * The Executioner - Same as Tetanus Booster, just not as reliable
 * Tiberius 3 - There's a lot of heavy spinners and flippers left, and Tiberius just does not cope. Decent, but will struggle
 * Tornado - Still stands a pretty solid chance of making the semi-finals, all things considering. It's rare you see a robot not have a massive decline in quality.
 * Tough As Nails - Given how easily it got pushed around in 2016, it'd probably do well against lesser robots, not do well against more modern ones. 50/50 chance.
 * TR2 - TR2 was a very balanced robot, and can stand up to the majority of robots left in the competition. I'd probably have it down as my personal favourite to win the whole thing.
 * Tsunami - Could probably do pretty well with its powerful flipper, but needs to avoid the heavy spinners.
 * Tut Tut - It may have a no-loss record, but it is still a loanerbot, and will almost certainly struggle.
 * Twisted Metal Evo - See Destructive Criticism
 * Typhoon 2 - Unsure how to feel about Typhoon's chances. Likely, what's going to take it out are robots that can break its rhythm. What I'm more questioning is if the modern robots can tank its blows. Still think it could do pretty well for itself, though. A semi-finalist, perhaps.
 * UFO - This is the closest I have to Firestorm in the quarter finals. It's decent, but too exposed for the majority of its potential opponents.
 * Worteldrie - As it stands, if I've got it correct, it'd go through over Revolution 3 on a judges decision. They need....NEED to stay away from anything with a flipper, spinner or any damaging weapon. Otherwise they'll get splattered. I'll edit this if Revolution makes a comeback.
 * X-Terminator - Could beat a lot of the non-modern robots, but it needs to avoid the big flippers. NEEDS to.

Congratulations if you sat through all that.