User blog:RA2/Robot Wars Rankdown: Series 4

It's time for Robot Wars Rankdown Series 4. For those who missed the last blog post, this is a game where all the robots of Series 4 get ranked. Players take turns placing robots, starting at the bottom, and finishing at the top.

Rules
This is the "Follow The Leader" format, done to accomodate as many people as possible.

In each round, the leader will nominate a pool of robots (2 x # of players not counting him/herself), and then the rest of the players will, in order, choose one to cut. They will write a brief summary on why they're cutting that robot, and they will finish by choosing one robot to save (no need to explain your save decision). The cut robot is ranked at whatever is the lowest vacant position - so the first robot cut ends up in last place, then the next in second-to-last place...etc. The saved robot is safe from elimination, and cannot be nominated next round. After each player has had a turn, the last player nominates a new pool of robots, and the next round begins. This will continue until a pre-determined number of rounds has elapsed. Then, all participants rank the remaining robots (with explanations), and send me their ballots. The averages determine final ranking, up to and including number one. Here's a bullet-list of the game flow, in order. The example has 5 players, our game may have more or fewer.


 * Player 1: Nominates 8 robots that he/she believes should be cut. Does not make a cut or save this round
 * Player 2: Cuts one of the 8 robots, explains why, saves another one of the 8 robots.
 * Player 3: 6 choices remain. Cuts one of the 6 robots, explains why, saves another one of the 6 robots.
 * Player 4: 4 choices remain. Cuts one of the 4 robots, explains why, saves another one of the 4 robots.
 * Player 5: 2 choices remain. Cuts one of the robots, explains why, saves the other.  Nominates 8 new robots, cannot nominate one of the 4 bots saved this round.
 * Round ends. Everybody shifts down one position, and Player 5 becomes Player 1.

We'll carry on like this until there aren't enough robots left to make a pool (some players may be the leader more than once). After the final round of cuts, the aforementioned balloting occurs, where players rank all surviving robots.

I'll be pretty open about the criteria you use to make your cuts, just a few rule & guidelines:
 * Try to insulate it to the series in question - we're strictly ranking the Series 2 incarnations of robots
 * No discussing how it was received by the fandom - you can call a robot overrated or underrated, complain about fanboys, etc, as long as that is not your only reason for cutting
 * No troll-moves. Everyone's entitled to their opinions, but if I see a move that's clearly intended to get a rise out of people or an individual, you will be booted.  Slots are very limited, do not take one unless you plan on taking this seriously.
 * No gaming the system. Do not nominate good robots with the intent of getting them immunity via a save.  Again, everyone's entitled to their opinions of what robots are good, but the list you make should be comprised entirely of robots that you'd like to see at the bottom - don't try to tell me you sincerely think something like a champion should be cut in Round 1.
 * You must have watched & be familiar with all episodes of the series in question, even the obscure ones - it won't do to have a bad robot slip under the radar because people forget to nominate it. The series is on YouTube if you need to refresh your memory, and I will post a spreadsheet in Google Docs, listing all robots in the game, and their status in the rankdown.
 * Please be punctual and check in often. The game only works if each person takes their turn in good order.
 * This will now be enforced, in order to keep the game moving. If a player does not take their turn within 36 hours of the last player, the player will receive a strike, and the turn may be taken by anyone not participating in the rankdown.  If a player gets 3 strikes, a replacement will be sought.  I'm sorry to have to do this, but it is not fair to the other players to keep them waiting an indeterminate amount of time.  If you don't have time to write out a summary, I'll accept just the robots names, and you can post the writeups later.  If blog comments aren't working, you may post on my talk page.
 * Most importantly, have fun, and don't take it personally if a robot you like gets cut sooner than you want it to.

Doom Dial
For those not familiar, the Doom Dial is a feature that allows you a one-use special power of your choosing. Here are the Doom Dial options - it's not random, you choose the one you want


 * Pit: This is played as a reply to someone else's turn. Negate any cut that has happened so far in this round (in other words, it doesn't have to be the single most recent cut, it just has to be one from the current round).  The robot gets immunity as if it were Saved.  This doesn’t count as taking a turn.


 * Rogue House Robot: On your turn (if you're not the leader), you may cut a robot that’s not in the pool. Make a save as you would normally.  You may not cut any robot that has immunity.  This cut cannot be negated by the Pit.

There is no Fog of War in this format. The Doom Dial will be available from Rounds 2-10. You are not obligated to use the Doom Dial. To reiterate, you each get one button press, NOT one of each power.

Usages

 * Jimlaad
 * Harry Stormer Round 4 (Pit)
 * RA2: Round 2 (Rogue House Robot)
 * Toon Ganondorf Round 4 (Pit)
 * ThatRedOtter
 * Hogwild
 * ToastUltimatum: Round 3 (Pit)
 * NJGW
 * Combatwombat555

Signups & size
There will be 9 players - that means 8 open spots plus myself, and 10 rounds of regular play followed by one free-for-all round. For the 24 hours, this will be open only to people who did not play in Series 3. After that, anyone can join. Mind the timestamp, I am not going to relax it for even a minute too early. Also keep in mind that players in this rankdown will have the restriction for the Extreme 1 Rankdown.

Please comment if you'd like to play, and your desired spot. If you don't have a preference, that's fine I'll give you a random one, and I'm taking #3 for myself. Slot #1 should be someone who feels strongly they understand the game, as they have the first move.

1) Jimlaad

2) Harry Stormer

3) RA2

4) Toon Ganondorf

5) ThatRedOtter

6) Hogwild

7) ToastUltimatum

8) NJGW

9) Combatwombat555

Spreadsheet
For your reference, here is a list of all the robots that competed in Series 4. I will try to keep this updated with the cut/saved bots as often as I can. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NI4L2VmaJdpecX_ip8hpjEuw1CNofGkND5kWh5qUbX4/edit?usp=sharing

Rankdown
We now have all the players, so the Rankdown can begin! Jimlaad will kick things off with the first batch of 16 nominees.

Jimlaad's Nominees

 * Attila The Drum SAFE
 * Banshee #100
 * Clawed Hopper SAFE
 * Cronos SAFE
 * Destruct-A-Bubble SAFE
 * Detonator #101
 * Fat Boy Tin #95
 * Ghetto-Bot #102
 * Indefatigable #99
 * Maverick SAFE
 * Mazakari SAFE
 * Medusa 2000 SAFE
 * Millennium Bug #97
 * The Creature SAFE
 * The Mangulator #98
 * The Predator #96

102. Ghetto-Bot (Harry Stormer)
Staying in the 80's: Ghetto-bot because it was just a box on wheels and was more of a series 2 bot

Not walking out yet: Clawed Hopper becuase of it's weird way of walking

101. Detonator (RA2)
Going out with a bang: Detonator. Now THIS is how you retire a robot. Detonator at least had some colour, so I can abide by it being above Ghetto-bot, but you can't really have a battering ram and ramming spikes if your bot doesn't have a ramming speed.

Saving: The Creature. There are only a few here that I would be remiss to lose in Round 1, and of those, Creature is the most at risk.

100. Banshee (Toon Ganondorf)
Cut Banshee: Moved faster and spun more during Spawn of Scutters attack than it could on its own merits

Save: Medusa 2000: It’s not good, but it’s still a wedge with wheels and it’s shouldn’t be in the bottom rungs

99. Indefatigable (ThatRedOtter)
Ironically getting tired very quickly: Indefatigable: While it was somewhat fast and it was taken out by the reigning champion... that doesn't amount to much. Especially not here. With a weapon that would have struggled been unable to lift some competitors, and then not having any kind of SRIMECH at a time where instead of being a good idea, they were downright expected. Indefatigable goes no further for me.

Not popped just yet: Destruct-A-Bubble Yes I'm surprised too. But D-A-B showed some good fighting spirit and really, it's the most competent in battle of all the robots left I can show for here. Also a decent sumo score, it's not good by any means, but it's the nicest smelling in a pile of crap for me.

98. The Mangulator (Hogwild)
Cut: The Mangulator. If Ming 2 could break the wheel off with a slight charge, I dread to think what, say Hypno-Disc could do.

Save: Cronos. Crusher looks decent, as did rear flipper, sort of. Definitely not a bottom tier robot.

97. Millennium Bug (ToastUltimatum)
Picked off: Not only did Clawed Hopper progress way too far into the tournament within the first two turns, but for some reason, nobody wants to bin off Millennium Bug either. Lacking the basic principle of free movement, it's time to drop the first of the two walkers.

Save: Provided Nick doesn't save Fat Boy Tin, the remaining cuts and saves are very straightforward (poor Maverick and Attila shouldn't still be on the chopping block) so I'm going to employ some regional pride and save the perfectly adequate Mazakari.

96. The Predator (NJGW)
Saved: Attila the Drum - this machine is perfectly fine. Caused damage to Razer and worked its way through an Annihilator full of solid machines.

Cut: The Predator - it's not completely awful, and took some solid stick against Hypno-Disc, but it just has no offensive potential.

95. Fat Boy Tin (Combatwombat555)
Dropping the bass into the Pit, and following it in: Fat Boy Tin - Just not at all competitive. High centre of gravity, no real weaponry to speak of, and when the most thing your robot is most famous for is that a snail was found inside it you know it's not good.

Top Gun (well, for now): Maverick - Showed decent pace and aggression in its melee, doesn't deserve to go out just yet.

Combatwombat555's Nominees

 * Atomic SAFE
 * Hammer & Tong #89
 * Henry 2 #94
 * Humphrey
 * Iron-Awe SAFE
 * Kater Killer SAFE
 * Killertron SAFE
 * Major Tom #87
 * Oblivion 2 #90
 * Reptirron #91
 * Saw Point SAFE
 * Scorpion #93
 * Shadow of Napalm SAFE
 * Sump Thing SAFE
 * Warhog SAFE
 * Wheelosaurus #88

94. Henry 2 (Jimlaad)
Dominated: Henry 2 seconds. I literally don't need to say any more.

Cheesed off to be nominated so low: Killertron. it might not have been great by the time Series 4 rolled around, but there's still a lot of chaff that can be sifted below Killertron.

93. Scorpion (Harry Stormer)
Stung: Scorpion because it was the worst version of the robot and never really did anything.

Saved: Iron Awe because its self-righting with the axe was awe-some and should have gone further

92. Rammstein (RA2)
Very few robots deserve to get ranked below Clawed Hopper, and I have to make sure a certain one should. That’s why, at such an early stage of the game, I’ll be activating ROGUE HOUSE ROBOT

Canceled due to low ticket sales: Rammstein. Like Barry, their weight advantage is the only thing they’ve got goong for them. If we were ranking the Battlebots superheavyweight with a pneumatic spike, this one would survive longer, but in this context, we’re ranking a plain grey lozenge with a static spike that was allowed to be overweight and still didn’t have enough battery power. It’s unfortunate that they didn’t know about the 5-minute battles, but it still happened. Clawed Hopper’s creativity is the only reason to boost its position, so a plain box with a static spike seems a necessary cut.

Since you still get a save when you use RHR, I’ll be saving Warhog, since it did show some major damage potential before it broke down.

Also note, this means one of Jim’s nominees will be untouched at the end. That robot CAN be nominated again right away and is not considered “safe”.

91. Reptirron (Toon Ganondorf)
CUT: Reptirron - this robot was somehow bad enough to give Milly-Ann Bug a KO victory.

SAVE: Saw Point - none of these are awe-inspiring but we need Saw Point to exceed Oblivion 2.

90. Oblivion 2 (ThatRedOtter)
Speaking of... : Oblivion 2. When you're eliminated by being driven over, you are not a good robot at all.

Not going into meltdown today: Atomic. Yes it was mediocre at best, but Mediocre isn't bad enough to warrant going out in round 2

89. Hammer & Tong (Hogwild)
Binned: Hammer & Tong. Nice idea for a weapon, but sadly it just didn't quite work. At least the others in the pool had pretty decent ideas behind their weapons.

Saved (for now): Sumpthing. This was its best series, it deserves to go a bit further than this.

88. Wheelosaurus (ToastUltimatum)
Back to the bin it was made from: Wheelosaurus. Because Nick didn't like the Czech Republic's song because it lacked offensive output, movement capabilities, and broke down randomly in Round 2

Reprieved: Kater Killer. Very hard to save anyone now, but Kater Killer at least had solid construction and a semi-promising weapon.

87. Major Tom (NJGW)
Cut: Major Tom - I would've cut Humphrey for that weak breakdown, but Major Tom did just as badly against 101, and I'd fancy Humphrey in a one vs. one between the two.

Save: Shadow of Napalm - at least it could take some punishment compared to some others.

Note: Humphrey was not touched, and can be nominated again immediately.

NJGW's Nominees

 * Medusa 2000 #80
 * Clawed Hopper #86
 * Destruct-A-Bubble #81
 * Maverick #85
 * Mazakari SAFE
 * The Creature #83
 * Scar SAFE
 * Disc-O-Inferno SAFE
 * Weld-Dor 2 SAFE
 * Sir Chromalot SAFE
 * Attila The Drum SAFE
 * Humphrey #82
 * Centurion SAFE
 * Small Torque SAFE
 * Dreadnaut #84
 * Inverterbrat SAFE

86. Clawed Hopper (Combatwombat555)
Being shown the door, but likely to take a while to actually get there (yes, I'm reusing it): Clawed Hopper - It's a creative and innovative machine, yes, but it lacks pretty much any offensive output, and realistically it'd really struggle to beat anything left that didn't break down.

Dancing to its own beat: Attila the Drum - Third place in an annihilator (and getting stuck in) and giving Razer a massive scare along the way is enough in my book to save Attila for now.

PIT Mazakari (Jimlaad)
Being sent to Spire or Haven: Mazakari. It was an overweight robot that had to sacrifice so much just to enter the arena. The weapon never looked good, and it was so easy to be carried around.

Staying on Tomahna: Disc-O-Inferno. It's a good robot that was simply let down by a wire and a switch being in the wrong place. Showed in Extreme 1 that this version of the robot is very good.

Toast: Toast feels strongly about this one too - that's why I'm using The Pit to save MAZAKARI. Living 30 minutes from Darlington, it's basically my responsibility. For starters, let's compare it to Disc-O-Inferno directly. Disc-O-Inferno had a good start, then broke down inexplicably against Major Tom and Shadow of Napalm. This dreadful statistic COULD still be forgiven... until it lost a SECOND match to SIR CHROMALOT. Mazakari on the other hand, remained functional for five minutes, only fell foul of a very specific weapon type almost tailored to beat it, and was utterly cheated to leave the competition. Even ignoring the rule that Mortis and Mazakari should have been separated, Iron-Awe straight up died (which it would do in two other matches, again making it worse than Mazakari) and should've lost the battle. Mazakari was a Round 2 robot minimum purely on that basis, and beyond that, it was an invertible, reliable machine with good weapon range, and while it may not be powerful, it could use it to gain aggression and minor damage points which would put it above other robots still in the rankdown such as The Creature, Medusa 2000 and Humphrey. I'm quite happy to blow my one and only Doom Dial press to save poor old Mazakari.

85. Maverick (Harry Stormer)
Being sent the exit after a long time: maverick because it was flipped over in seconds and the wedge never really worked because it was too high.

Still making small Talk: Small Torque. Its weapon was never the most effective but it was nippy for the series and did alright compared to the later Team Torque machines.

84. Dreadnaut XP-1 (RA2)
X-pelled: Dreadnaut XP-1. The robot equivalent of “Luigi Wins by Doing Nothing,” it was almost aggravating to watch it advance. If not for Warhog’s breakdown, it would’ve gone home in a bin-bag, and with its Weak construction and poor weaponry, I struggle to think of any Series 4 robot it could convincingly beat.

Romani mare hic: Centurion. Unfortunate to break down, and it put up a fight worthy of surviving here longer.

83. The Creature (Toon Ganondorf)
Cut: The Creature. A step up from Twn Trwn but only barely

Save: Sir Chromalot. If for no other reason than it beat Disc-O-Inferno and I will not see it outranked by it.

82. Humphrey (ThatRedOtter)
Getting the Hump (I've had a long day, puns are the least of my worries): Humphrey losing drive from being bumped into by Wild Thing, ineffective weapons and just being all-round bad, Humphrey simply wasn't very good.

Not breaking down: Scar A decent weapon and shape, this robot definitely deserved not to have to drop out like it did in real life, it deserved more and it's getting more here.

81. Destruct-A-Bubble (Hogwild)
Binned: Destruct-A-Bubble. At least Medusa was a decent wedge and had an OK looking spinner. Destruct-A-Bubble is a great design, but not a good fighter unfortunately.

Saved: Inverterbrat. The most competent of the remaining bots, I think we can write off what happened in its melee as unfortunate.

80. Medusa 2000 (ToastUltimatum)
Petrified: Medusa 2000. While its design was competent enough, it failed to do anything of note in two separate battles, neither of which it deserved to win.

Saved: Weld-Dor 2. If it was a split choice between the competent weaponry of Weld-Dor 2 and the passive nature of Medusa 2000, there was only one choice.

ToastUltimatum's Nominees

 * Bolt from the Blue #76
 * Cerberus SAFE
 * Darke Destroyer 2 #77
 * Diotoir SAFE
 * Evil Weevil 2 SAFE
 * Iron-Awe SAFE
 * Kater Killer #74
 * The Morgue SAFE
 * Milly-Ann Bug SAFE
 * Plunderbird 4 SAFE
 * Prizephita Mk 2 SAFE
 * Saw Point #79
 * Shadow of Napalm SAFE
 * Sumpthing SAFE
 * Velocirippa #78
 * Warhog #75

PIT Iron-Awe (NJGW)
Cut: Iron-Awe - I don't want to give the Grimm's any leniency. It broke down in every fight it had.

Saved: Evil Weevil - it was an unfortunate thing that happened. As a machine, Evil Weevil is still good enough to stay out of this batch.

Pit used by Harry Stormer.

79. Saw Point CombatWombat
Sawly missed: Saw Point - The saw blade wheels were an interesting idea and I guess they kind of worked to immobilise Oblivion, but there's a reason no one's replicated it. And the fact that apparently very little could be salvaged for Demolition Man after an incredibly damaging fight against... Panic Attack.

Sumpthing unexpected: Sump Thing - Series 4 was by far Sump Thing's best series, and it was beating Mouse Trap before it killed itself with a gung-ho attack. I honestly feel it could beat much of what's left in the pool.

PIT Diotoir (Jimlaad)
All outta gum: Diotoir. The overweight robot needed so much removed to appear in the arena it really didn't stand a chance.

Gonna take your robot to the breakers yard: Plunderbird 4. Out of this lot, Plunderbird is the best.

I don't know whether you cutting Diotoir prematurely or pushing Disc-O-Inferno into a good tier is worse and I'm torn how to use my Doom Dial, but I'm going to have faith in the other users agreeing that Disco has overstayed its welcome.

TLDR?

PIT OF OBLIVION: Saving Diotoir. This is a bemusing choice to cut. Diotoir may have been instantly KO'd in the heat, but it came fifth in the Pinball and came second in the Celebrity Special, where it defeated two robots, who happened to be all-stars Gemini and Wild Thing.

78. Velocirippa (Harry Stormer)
Going extinct: Velocirippa it's the only one with ineffective weaponary and it wasn't very controlled

Save: Milly-Ann Bug I've never been a fan of the robot but it's design was different with it's 2 domes driven separately.

77. Darke Destroyer 2 (RA2)
Never to Darke-en my doorstep again: Darke Destroyer 2. I can't figure out what exactly they were fitting to destroy with these weapons, which barely extend out of their sheaths. Add subpar driving and an awkward design that made it hard to get the weapons in position, and you've got one of the luckiest Round 1 survivors. TG may have saved Napalm because it outlasted Disc-O, but I give Darke Destroyer no credit for "beating" Warhog, because both robots got direct hits on Dreadnaut, and there was a stark difference between how much damage they did.

Saving: Prizephita. It appeared to have the same very low ground clearance and decent flipper that brought it success in Series 5. Might have gone further in Series 4 under different circumstances.

76. Bolt from the Blue (Toon Ganondorf)
Cut: Bolt from the Blue - no flipability factor

Save: Shadow of Napalm - again, it beat disc o inferno and deserves to be ranked higher because of it

75. Warhog (ThatRedOtter)
Spinning out of control: Warhog Yes it did dent Dreadnaut's forks but I feel that most spinners could do this. not to mention it then immediately conked out.

Staying guard: Ceberus a decent enough rammer, providing no flippers are in play, I'd give it a reasonable chance against most of the robots left.

74. (Hogwild)
Cut: Kater Killer.

Pooled: The Morgue. Would easily win a one-on-one between these two.

Hogwild's Nominees

 * Berserk 2 SAFE
 * Bigger Brother SAFE
 * Disc-O-Inferno #73
 * Killertron #69
 * Knightmare SAFE
 * Little Fly SAFE
 * Mazakari #70
 * Overkill GTI SAFE
 * Raizer Blade
 * Rambot
 * Robochicken
 * Scar #71
 * Sir Chromalot #72
 * Small Torque #68
 * Spikasaurus SAFE
 * Weld-Dor 2

73. Disc-O-Inferno (ToastUltimatum)
Bloody Finally: I think TG would jump off a bridge if I didn't cut the robot that died under no pressure against Major Tom, Napalm and Sir Chromalot. Good-blimmin-bye Disc-O-Inferno.

Racing on: Overkill GTI - Despite its weak combst record, I still believe Pot Noodle GTI and Bigger Brother are a level above the rest. Good wedge and flipper.

72. Sir Chromalot (NJGW)
Cut: Sir Chromalot - top heavy, sluggish, and ineffective.

Save: Spikasaurus - it dropped out in a very strong melee then won the Annihilator.

71. Scar (Combatwombat555)
Wounded: Scar - Wasn't a bad machine, per se, but the weapon didn't seem particularly impressive, the body shape just made it awkward to bring it into play, and it managed to break down irreparably against Firestorm.

Escaping Room 101: Bigger Brother - Not the beast it would later become, but performed well enough in its melee and the Tag Team Terror.

70. Mazakari (Jimlaad)
Running out of Mobile Data and Battery: Mazakari. At least Toast can't deny my legit cut again.

WiFi and a charger: Knightmare. A decent wedge and flipper combination that could have won a different heat.

69. Killertron (Harry Stormer)
Cut: Killertron (Listen to it's History Podcast by NJGW and you'll know why

Save: Berserk 2 If it hadn't had faced Tornado it could have won the heat and it was certainly different

68. Small Torque (RA2)
Cutting: Small Torque. I think this robot's been a beneficiary of success the team had two years ago, because when you examine it in a vacuum, there's not much. The disc got one good hit in its two matches, and spent most of the time getting bossed around and having real trouble lining up the disc for a hit. And of course there was the prone-to-fire electronics that were bound to take it out at some stage

Saving: Little Fly because it inflicted some noticeable damage including the KO of Weld-Dor, and because The Morgue should by all accounts be the first Heat Finalist to go.