User blog:NJGW/Series 9, Heat C afterthoughts

Concussion makes it through to the Grand Final after the third heat of Series 9, but what did I think of its heat? Let's have another ramble, shall we?

Group Battle 1
So, last week I mentioned the range of Group Battles we've tended to experience so far, and sadly, the first melee from this episode goes into the 'disappointing' group.

Tauron: It's so beautiful, so unique, and I was so upset when it was knocked out in the way it was, but I was also deeply frustrated that we saw another robot conk out so easily in the melees. Melees are so often my favourite battles, but with so little prep time, the slight faults in robots tend to be exploited in this environment. I really hope Tauron comes back next time though - I really don't want it being another throwaway robot that loses in a melee. The robot doesn't deserve that, and the team look really interesting as well.

The limp breakdown was relevant for Chimera 2 as well. It's another one where it's a shame - it was bobbing along, having a decent little tussle and then a chain goes and that's it. I don't mind it going in a damage demolition job, but machines like Chimera 2 and Tauron deserve to have really good fights to show themselves off before getting knocked out, and that's at the very least.

Group Battle 2
Now this was a very interesting and fast-paced watch. I feel so aggrieved at having lost Foxic in such a silly way though, and what makes it worse is, that despite it being a 'one of those' things for the way it lost and couldn't self-right, it still actually had a legitimate case to go through, as one of Heavy Metal's wheels completely locked up just as it finished pushing Expulsion into the CPZ. Foxic was flipped over approximately 10 seconds later, but because it was such a more visual immobilisation, while Heavy Metal just casually lost drive in all the madness, it was much easier to spot Foxic's immobilisation. I do seem to remember Noel Sharkey saying that the judges couldn't watch battles over again unless it went to a Judges' decision though, which is a shame, because in the heat of the moment, it's very easy to miss. Sadly, it's one of those things, and it happens, but I would've loved to see more of this Foxic - I genuinely think it could have had a very good run.

Head-to-Head robots and general relevant thoughts
With the Group Battles out of the way, we can just discuss the remaining four robots while skimming over the surface of some of the battles.

Concussion vs. Thor was a mixture of frustrating because of the technical issues, drama, and sheer incompetence. With the pit causing so much trouble for a period in that battle, it should have been sorted in some way. Jason's mistake was an "Oh, Jason! :-(" moment, but that doesn't ignore the potential of what could have been a better to-and-fro battle if the circumstances were right.

Honestly, a lot of the Head-to-Head battles frustrated me last night. There was still enjoyable moments, but this episode missed a proper good back-and-forth battle where both robots made themselves felt consistently, with most of these Head-to-Heads being decided by technical issues.

As for a classic instance, M.R. Speed Squared is a robot I like, and this series it looked nicer, more damaging and just like it could be more capable all round. Sadly for it though, it's a robot that I'll never have a feeling of it that extends further than "oh, it's M.R. Speed Squared, cool!" because of how it simply cannot remain competitive in the Head-to-Heads. It's funny, because bar that mightily disappointing battle with Thor, it at least remained active, but with a ring spinner like M.R. Speed Squared so easily bullied if its weapon doesn't work, then it really takes up a space in an annoying way.

I really like Heavy Metal though. It's a shame its wheels popped off so easily at times, but I liked watching it and it provided battles with good speed and fun. It's a robot that could be more competitive with the teething issues solved, but I don't think it'll succeed in being selected if it applies for Series 10. I hope that's not the case though, because I'd love to see more of it.

Thor was a bit of a shame. Maybe I had lofty expectations and maybe I was a bit hasty in expecting the teething issues that Jason was having with the new Thor in the lead up to filming to be solved fully, but it's still frustrating that it had as many issues as it did. It was the proper headline act in this heat, so it was disappointing in that regard. It was still good in its own way, but it wasn't strong enough to put itself in a 'fully deserving of the wildcard' category, which really opens things up for Heats D and E in that regard.

Concussion, is, eh. I don't know - it's good, but I just don't really like it all that much. It's a good machine and impressive for first timers, don't get me wrong, but if it was to win a heat and be a proper "newcomer storms to a heat victory" story, then this felt like a bit of an underwhelming way for it to go. I wish it luck in the final, but I can see it being curbstomped in all honesty. It's too slow, has too many issues and isn't explosive enough in comparison to the upper tier. I want Concussion to improve and come back again, but it will need to do a bit more for me to take a liking to it - especially since it felt like Sabretooth was more competent but just dealt an unlucky draw in comparison. Well done to the lads for winning the heat - they're great guys and very likeable, but they just don't feel like Grand Finalists at all - not yet, anyway. That's not even their own fault, because nobody in this heat did enough to say they fully deserved a place in the Grand Final, but I fear that Concussion will be in for a slaughtering if its drawn against the wrong robots in its Grand Final melee, which will be a shame to see. At least with Thor, it's a machine that can potentially adapt to different machines with its fast paced driving etc, but Concussion has to get in close-quarters with the opposition to do anything of note, and against the robots it'll face in the final six, it will probably get hopelessly outclassed. Nevertheless, congratulations to it still!

Conclusion
Honestly, this week's heat was a shame for me personally. I've felt so out of it this week and as a result I wasn't able to get immersed in the show or analyse the battles in as good detail. Thankfully, I'm starting to finally feel more like myself in the later part of today, but this score will do for now. I'll have to rewatch it on the whole in the future and maybe I'll re-review a couple of things - as well as the score. Anyhow, I still enjoyed it, but my personal injury as well as factors like Tauron going out quickly and the winner of the heat not standing out enough means that I feel this score is fair enough for the time being.

Score: 7.25/10