User blog:Rammingspeed/Robot Wars Series 9 Heat D - Rammingspeed's punditry

Well, this is a bit late. Please forgive.

I've been busy recently - I've spent most of my time working towards the 636723687126 deadlines I have coming up, trying to become not single and hiding my flatmate's gin from him. He nearly hit me last night.

Group Battles
Frostbite vs Wyrm vs HIGH-5 vs Supernova

Frostbite is dead (we all saw the preview). It's made of polycarbonate, I don't care if it's "frosted" or whatever, it's crap and it's gonna get destroyed.

A lot of people are picking Wyrm to go through along with Supernova - the latter of which I have to agree with, I don't think there's any stopping it in this melee bar a complete fluke. While I still believe this melee is Supernova's to control, I will say that I don't like how exposed HIGH-5's tyres are. Wyrm is also slightly faster and more agile, so I'll give it the advantage. Supernova dominates the field, showing signs of 2002 all over again.

Supernova and Wyrm Progress

Crushtacean vs Apex vs Pulsar vs Ironside3

Crushtacean whhhyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

I was so excited to see Crushtacean back. Now I'm just wondering how much they'll be able to salvage after this. To be fair, there's a very slight chance it could get hold of Ironside3 or Apex - but not Pulsar. Moreover, it won't avoid Pulsar for 3 minutes. They give Supernova a dream of a melee, and saddle poor Crushty with this? Scandalous.

As for the other three, it's very tough to choose. I've heard a lot of shouts circulating about Apex's stability - and let's face it, I think they're valid. The Danbys aren't the greatest engineers in the world, and with an untested weapon I can see it ping-ponging around the arena like MR Speed Squared (pls die) did last episode.

In short, this should be a bloodbath. Pulsar to fling robots around left, right and centre. Ironside3 to progress simply by being more stable than Apex.

Ironside3 and Pulsar Progress

Head-to-Head Battles
Ironside3 vs Supernova

Tough. Two horizontal spinners is always hard to predict, so I'll take a gamble here. Ironside3 had to get through a much more taxing group battle than Supernova did - therefore, it'll be in worse shape here. Supernova has the exposed wheels, but in a head-on collision between a bar spinner and a flywheel, I'd always back the flywheel. Supernova to take a KO win.

Supernova wins by KO

Pulsar vs Wyrm

Not really a great deal Wyrm can do here. It's actually slower than Pulsar, and its opponent's front is very low. Assuming Pulsar has gotten over the reliability issues of its youth, it should be ok here - but it's hard to ignore the fact that it fell asleep more times in battle last year than me in a 9am lecture. Still, 3 points seem inevitable here.

Pulsar wins by KO

Ironside3 vs Pulsar

Let's get the grudge match out of the way. Ironside3 has upgraded one thing this year - the self righting arm. That ma help it in the battle, but it won't win the match for it. What will win the match for Pulsar is its heavier drum, upgraded armour and (I'm assuming) strengthened reliability.

Let's not forget the rule of thumb - drum spinners will 99 times of 100 beat a horizontal spinner, given that they are of a similar quality. Just take a look at Touro Maximus vs Last Rites.

Pulsar wins by KO

Wyrm vs Supernova

Now this one is interesting. Just how thick is that front plough on Wyrm? If it's thick enough, it could deflect Supernova's attacks and cause a real upset here. That being said, a lesser version of Supernova stood up to Storm2 in its prime for 5 minutes once upon a time.

On the balance of probabilities, I have to give it to the Sri Lankans. I just can't see Wyrm protecting itself for the full three minutes without taking at least one big hit.

Supernova wins by KO

Pulsar vs Supernova

This is a bit tighter than Ironside3/Pulsar, but still pretty much a formality. Pulsar has more to get hold with Supernova's flywheel in comparison to Ironside3's bar, not to mention.

This is all assuming Pulsar is in a healthy condition after its gruelling group battle - it should be though, as it is likely to be the one dishing out the damage in that battle rather than receiving it.

Pulsar wins by KO

Wyrm vs Ironside3

I'm really torn here, I want to give Wyrm at least 2 points against what could potentially be a crippled Ironside3. We've also got to remember that Stinger/Sewer Snake, the robot that so many have compared Wyrm to, is a notorious spinner killer.

In fact, I will give Wyrm 2 points here, f*** it. Ironside3 may have a very heavy spinner, but let's remember how that srimech takes 5 seconds to open. Let's also remember how a hard hit from Wyrm could easily leave it on its back. Plenty of time for the jock students to shove it into a hazard, picking up aggression points, control points, etc. People may call a wishful thinker, but I'm gonna give Wyrm the nod. My main issue with giving Ironside3 the win is I really don't think it'll be at 100% - if it was, I'd have no problem awarding it the KO win - bit as things stand, I just feel more comfortable giving Wyrm the victory.

Wyrm wins by Judges' Decision

Pulsar: 9

Supernova: 6

Wyrm: 2

Ironside3: 0 (!)

Heat Final
Pulsar vs Supernova

I see no reason to change my earlier decision. Pulsar might be damaged, but Supernova is far more likely to be in worse condition. I wish I could say more. Pulsar is back in the Grand Final.

HEAT D WINNER: PULSAR