User blog:SpaceManiac888/Rusty Spanner of the Episode: Series 10, Heat 4 Results

Nearly a week late, I have now added up the scores and detailed top three aspects of Heat 4 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

 * Matilda's untelevised OotA (8): Apparently, Matilda successfully performed an OotA on the outer shell of one of The Kegs, with the use of her tusks. Regardless of whether or not this can be truly considered an OotA, it would have been nice to actually see it.


 * Concussion's Nut Busters (6): On the one hand, I completely understand why the team decided to equip these Nut Busters, seeing the damage Nuts 2 caused to the robot’s tyres in the Group Battle. On the other hand, it performed just as well as S3’s anti-flipper plates i.e. badly.


 * Iron-Awe being deemed the "Grandfather of flippers" (6): This was less to do with a clear failure to recall previous series, but instead an issue with editing. According to Jimlaad, this segment actually detailed Iron-Awe being the Grandfather of modern flippers, considering how post-Series 7 Iron-Awe machines introduced much of the technology that is currently used by flippers such as Apollo and Eruption. Sadly, this was cut into something that made the legitimate claim turn into an illegitimate one.


 * Tauron Mk 2 being unfairly eliminated in the first round (6): I will be discussing this mention later in this blog post.


 * Showcasing Team Iron-Awe 6's family (6): Now I understand why the producers decided that showcasing one segment of this toddler would be interesting, but it went completely overboard after a while. Besides, the interview I mentioned above was cut because of these unnecessary segments, so this no doubt deserves a dishonourable mention.


 * The "shock" of Nuts 2 winning a battle (6): The shock of Nuts 2 winning the heat was acceptable. The shock of Nuts 2 winning a battle was not, especially when it (along with Terrorhurtz), were victors of the first battle in the reboot series of Robot Wars.


 * Angela Scanlon's comments (6): I have noticed a trend here whereby some users have considered both Dara’s and Angela’s comments to have been rather harsh this series. Personally, considering how Jeremy Clarkson and Philippa Forrester negatively labelled some robots in the past, I do not really see the issue, to be honest.


 * Tauron Mk 2 (4): I will be discussing this mention later in this blog post.
 * The Playoff (4): When some users believe that the non-existent Playoff in the previous heat was better, you know this battle was of low quality.


 * The Arena Tyre (4): For functioning even though the robots did not actually touch it, just the general area around it. I would like to see more accuracy in whether the arena tyre should activate or not in the next series.


 * Unsubtle foreshadowing (4): Have to agree with Toon Ganondorf here, especially when it comes to Nuts 2 ultimately winning the heat. Still, it is not as bad as the Series 6 spoilers… yet.
 * General lack of remembering Concussion's Grand Final appearance (4): With some exceptions, it appeared that few people who worked on the last series of Robot Wars actually remembered that Concussion reached the Grand Final. And who knows, maybe it will reach the Grand Final again this series.


 * Concussion's low blows to The Kegs (4): I disagree with this mention, to be honest, because you may as well criticise Hypno-Disc’s battles with Robogeddon, Stealth and Splinter for the same reason. And well, I love destruction, and considering that The Kegs were going out in this round anyway, I really do not see any problem with Concussion’s attacks after it killed both clusters.


 * O Raz3r O's bad predictions (2): For believing that Androne 4000, Tauron Mk 2 and Iron-Awe 6 were the most likely to reach the heat-final. Well, it could be worse; at least he correctly predicted The Kegs would go out in the Robot Redemption.


 * Concussion's lack of lengthy battles (2): To be honest, whilst Concussion’s battles were generally quick, I would say that apart from its heat-final battle with Nuts 2, all of them were still entertaining in a way. Besides, its dominance against Iron-Awe 6 reminded me of Barber-Ous 2 vs Kat 3, one of my favourite battles.
 * Madness in this heat (2): So Nuts 2 won, Tauron Mk 2 went out in the Robot Redemption, Gilbert Grimm invented the flipper and Sir Killalot invented the ASBO. Well, anything can happen in Robot Wars, it appears.


 * JME Anderson setting up a jewellery company near Jonathan Swan's (2): Intra-team conflict, huh?


 * The Floor Flipper deciding battles (2): Well, considering I did not like how the Series 3 arena spikes decided battles, I guess this nomination makes sense, since I would rather have seen Nuts 2 and Concussion battle it out without Concussion trying in vain to flip itself over again.


 * Angela Scanlon with the brush (2): Actually, I give credit to Angela for sweeping up the debris. But where was Dara in all of this?

3: Tauron Mk 2 losing the Group Battle (10)
I actually do not see the hype with Tauron Mk 2, to be honest. Sure, it was no doubt an improvement over the original, but as I will discuss later on in this Rusty Spanner awards page, I still think it has been as overhyped as 259 was in Series 6. Still, at least it knocked out The Kegs with a few blows in the Group Battle, and although the weaponless Iron-Awe 6 did irritate Tauron Mk 2 somewhat, it still seemed on course to easily win this battle, through a knockout or judges’ decision. However, this is where this Rusty Spanner moment began…

As debris, likely from Iron-Awe 6’s entanglement cannons or The Keg’s remains, started to fill the arena, it became a situation where getting stranded was seemingly very likely. And that is exactly what happened to Tauron Mk 2, being stranded by debris, with Iron-Awe 6 being declared the victors, despite breaking down a few seconds later.

Now personally, I would have accepted this as a Rusty Spanner moment judging from the battle alone, simply because Sir Killalot could have moved both Tauron Mk 2 and Iron-Awe 6 to determine whether they were truly immobile, or if they were stuck, enabling the battle to continue. However, a massive argument over whether Tauron Mk 2 truly lost this battle was sparked on this very wiki, with one user claiming that Tauron Mk 2 were “cheated”, whilst others believed that Tauron Mk 2 should have kept moving to convince the judges that it was still mobile. Having gathered information from both sides of the argument, I can understand why there is conflict.

Firstly, in support of those believing that Tauron Mk 2 was fairly eliminated in this Group Battle, we should note that the rules of Robot Wars generally dictates that the first robot to be immobile generally goes out. Henceforth, even if the robot that was dominating the battle breaks down (Hypno-Disc against Nasty Warrior for example), it will be counted out first. Sure, there have been some exceptions (Behemoth going through in its Series 6 heat despite seemingly being immobile for longer than Tridentate), but the rule was enforced properly in this battle in my opinion. The other reason I support this side comes from the Excalibur argument. The Excalibur argument is something that likely only me and CrashBash know about. Pretty much it came from YouTube comments from a member of the Excalibur team, who claimed that Excalibur only lost because the robot was waiting to attack Centurion. However, if this was true, the team should have given indication that the robot was moving, since it was counted out as a result of staying in one spot for too long.

However, there is evidence to support the other side too. As noted from the actual episode and a Reddit post on the heat, Team Tauron’s Tom Brewster stated that the robot was actually mobile, but it was stuck on debris, whereby by the time it managed to escape the debris, cease was already called. So if was the case, Sir Killalot should have ensured that Tauron Mk 2 was truly immobile rather than stranded, through moving the machine. That way, the whole ordeal would have been rectified. Instead, the spinner was left to be counted out even though a few extra seconds more would have enabled Tauron Mk 2 to win the battle.

Overall then, it was a truly messy situation, which ultimately means that Tauron Mk 2 losing the Group Battle no doubt deserves the third Rusty Spanner spot for this heat. But I have not finished taking about Tauron Mk 2 just yet…

2: Tauron Mk 2 going out early (10.25)
Unpopular opinion: As I mentioned previously, I really do not get the hype for Tauron, in terms of both the original and the sequel that appeared in Series 10. Sure, its spinner is damaging, and yes, perhaps its Group Battle and even the Robot Redemption outcomes were controversial enough to warrant the second Rusty Spanner. But the thing is, I personally believe that Tauron Mk 2 should have won both battles outright, with no controversy at all.

What do I mean by this? Well firstly, we need to note the facts about Tauron Mk 2’s opponents in the Group Battle. The Kegs, although visually entertaining, were easily going to be knocked out by the spinner. And then, there is Iron-Awe 6, who although is a legend in the Robot Wars Live Event circuit, was completely weaponless here, in an era of Robot Wars where weapons are more vital than ever. Surely Tauron Mk 2 should have easily knocked out its opponent, especially when considering how Concussion (a robot I do highly rate), dominated Iron-Awe 6. Instead, the plucky Team Iron-Awe did their best to prevent Tauron Mk 2 from causing an easy knockout, and because of the debris surrounding much of the arena, actually succeeded! Whether or not one finds the outcome for this Group Battle controversial, am I alone in thinking that Tauron Mk 2 should have not only won this battle, but also without any trouble at all?

Still, at least Tauron Mk 2 could quite literally redeem itself in the Robot Redemption round? After all, Androne 4000 is a decent enough crusher, but its wheels and hydraulic system were exposed to the elements and its armour is not the greatest either. This in theory should have been an exhibition for Tauron Mk 2, even if it did get crushed once or twice, at least in my opinion. Instead, not only did Androne 4000 get several crushes against its opponent, it was also able to control its opponent for much of the battle, scoring heavily on aggression and control. Despite a decent comeback from Tauron Mk 2, whereby it compromised the mobility of its opponent by the end, to see that Androne 4000 not only survived the battle but also ultimately WIN through a judges’ decision meant that it condemned Tauron Mk 2 as my second Rusty Spanner nomination in my opinion.

Therefore, although I accept why some people voted Tauron Mk 2 being eliminated early on as the second Rusty Spanner for this heat (after all, its disc was decent), I do believe that Tauron Mk 2 once again proved to be a disappointment. But speaking of disappointments…

1:Iron-Awe 6 (56)
"This is the rusty spanner of the series, quite honestly."

- Nweston8's vote for Iron-Awe 6 on Rusty Spanner of the Episode: Series 10, Heat 4

I decided to combine votes that suggested that Iron-Awe 6’s flipper and the machine as a whole deserved the Rusty Spanner of the heat, since they were pretty much similar in stating that Iron-Awe 6 disappointed in this heat. Still, I would argue that this combination would not have mattered either way, as both of these nominations easily dominated the top two Rusty Spanner moments of this heat. And in all honestly, I agree with Nweston that thus far in this series, Iron-Awe 6’s performance in its heat may well win the Rusty Spanner of the Series too.

Iron-Awe 6 was a robot that the majority of people that had seen its performances in the live event circuit were excited to see in Series 10. Sure, perhaps its classic series performances were not exactly much to shout about, save for its OotA on Bigger Brother and its victory in the Axe Attack, both of which occurred in Series 7. By the time Series 8 was established, the Iron-Awe machines were legends in the live event circuit, with Iron-Awe 5 winning the 2008 and 2010 UK Championships and was given a spot in the Combat Robot Hall of Fame. So, with its live event success to consider, the excitement of seeing Iron-Awe 6 appear on television proved extensive, with me being part of this hype train. And then we all saw it in the Group Battle, and everything went downhill from there.

Losing the usage of its flipper before the Group Battle began, it had to endure attacks from The Kegs (which to its credit, had discs that did work properly), and Tauron Mk 2. Somehow, despite being bashed around by the latter, Iron-Awe 6 still won the battle after the aforementioned stranding issue caused Tauron Mk 2 to be counted out. But hey, it may have lost the usage of its flipper, and yes perhaps it did not really deserve the win, but it could easily redeem itself against Concussion. After all, TR2 had a non-functioning flipper in its Group Battle in Series 8 and look how well it did afterwards! So, there was still hope from the majority of viewers that Iron-Awe 6 would deliver a performance worthy of its name. Well, it did not.

Instead, its flipper still failed to function, enabling Concussion to take full advantage of this fact and easily smash Iron-Awe 6 around with its drum, as if it was Barber-Ous 2 all of a sudden. For me it felt really anti-climatic when Iron-Awe 6 was left upside down, to be at the mercy of Dead Metal, especially when one considers that this was the robot that never ran out of Co2 in its first five years of battling. By this point, all of the excitement of seeing Iron-Awe 6 for me had completely vanished, because there was this feeling that although it still had one more chance to qualify for the Rumble, against a poorly Androne 4000, I just knew its flipper would fail to function again. And sure enough, the feeling came true, with only some expert control from Team Iron-Awe preventing the machine from being embarrassed further. Therefore, I believe it is no wonder that Iron-Awe 6 and its flipper were voted for the Rusty Spanner of the heat by most users, to the tone of fifty-six points combined. For a legend like Iron-Awe, we were expecting the machine to either prove its dominance with some killer flips, or go out in style against opponents like Concussion and Nuts 2. Instead, we got to see a weaponless Iron-Awe 6 win two battles it did not deserve to in my opinion, and be dominated by Concussion. Although it still has the Rumble to contend for, I have virtually no hope for it winning or the very least going out with a bang. It better have its flipper working in that battle, otherwise it might just be the Rusty Spanner of the Series.