Robot Wars: Series 9/Heat 2

Episode 2 was the second of five qualification episodes which will determine the Grand Finalists of Series 9 of Robot Wars. It aired on March 12th, 2017 at 7pm

Behemoth vs Cobra vs Eruption vs Hobgoblin
All four robots dodged each other as Activate was called. Behemoth drove over the pit, and was caught on the lip. Behemoth lifted its scoop to get out, which allowed Cobra to push it into the Arena wall, where Cobra rode up the side. Eruption drove in, and Cobra reversed onto the wegde, but escaped before being flipped. Cobra slammed into the front of Behemoth, but both bounced off each other. Hobgoblin stayed out of the fight while it spun up its "beater", but didn't show too much mobility as Eruption slipped under it, flipping Hobgoblin over, before being flipped itself by Behemoth. Eruption self-righted, but Hobgoblin was stuck with the beater grazing the floor.

Cobra tried to attack Eruption, but was flipped by Eruption's weapon, and was left running on only two wheels. Cobra drove towards the floor flipper, which fired and plopped it back on all four wheels. It landed on Eruption's flipper, where it was flipped again, and landed on the flipper again, which flipped. Cobra landed upright though, and escaped as both remaining opponents missed a flip. Cobra drove in to the melee, getting Behemoth caught up in the Arena Spikes. After retreating, Cobra charged again, and was flipped By Behemoth. While running inverted, Cobra activated the Dial of Doom, which selected the pit release. Eruption helped Cobra into the CPZ, where it was paraded around by Sir Killalot.

Behemoth and Eruption both tried to flip each other, but both missed, and Behemoth's subsequent charge saw it flipped over by the Floor Flipper, which it quickly righted from. Behemoth managed to flip Cobra again, as the pit was raised back up again. Cobra was running inverted on two wheels, and was being chased by Eruption, and despite getting it caught in the spikes, held back on flipping Cobra.

The three robots met in the corner, and Eruption lightly flipped Cobra again. Behemoth pushed back and managed to get a small flip on Eruption in. Behemoth charged at Cobra and bounced off, so Eruption started pushing the Belgian machine instead. Eruption pushed Cobra to the wall, and flipped it back the right way up. Behemoth drove to the Dial of Doom, and pressed it again, where the pit was re-opened. Cobra drove at Behemoth and rode up the scoop because Behemoth was pushing back on a raised arena spike. Cobra was inverted in the attack. The three robots dodged each other, until Eruption scored a powerful flip on Cobra, throwing it quite far across the Arena, but harmlessly stayed in. The pit once again raised, but wasn't needed, as the three battled together, with Eruption flipping both robots in one flip as Cease was called. "At one point, it looks like we lost a rear chain, so that's why we had a little bit of a problem, but as soon as we spat the chain out we were OK."

- Ant Pritchard details how close Behemoth came to being immobilised

Qualified: Behemoth & Eruption

Cherub vs Draven vs PP3D vs Push to Exit
"Good luck to Toby, terrific stuff, only 13"

- Jonathan Pearce praises Cherub's driver, the youngest of the Series

Push to Exit flew straight towards Draven, but missed and skidded into the opposite wall. Push to Exit turned and charged again at Draven and Cherub, whislt PP3D hung back to get its disc up to speed. Draven came close, and had its side slashed by PP3D's disc. Draven stayed close, taking the same hit before escaping. Cherub rode up Push to Exit, but fell off just before it was flipped. Draven moved in to hit Cherub, but missed, letting PP3D glance off the front of the white and gold robot, as Draven only just avoided being turned over by the floor flipper. PP3D spun its disc up to a higher speed, and met the front of Draven, breaking off its bottom jaw. Cherub tried to push PP3D, but the Scottish robot escaped as Draven got too close. The undercutting flywheel slid underneath Draven's side, mercilessly cutting the bottom of Draven for a while as as PP3D pushed the silver robot into Shunt. Shunt's pressure on Draven allowed PP3D to drive around the other side and undercut it there. Shunt fired his axe, which dented the top of Draven, immobilising it. "Oh, we're out"

- Team Draven after Shunt's axe attack

Push to Exit breached Cherub's ground clearance, but left itself exposed to PP3D, where one big hit separated the three robots, terminally damaging Push to Exit.

Qualified: Cherub & PP3D

Behemoth vs Eruption
As the battle started, the two met in the centre of the Arena, scoping each other's ground clearances. Behemoth eventually got the first flip in, turning Eruption over on the flame pit. Eruption flipped themselves back onto their wheels, and escaped before Behemoth could flip again. Eruption charged at the scoop, but lost the battle of Ground Clearances, and rode straight up and tipped over. Behemoth drove into a corner, which happened to be blind spot for the team, allowing Eruption to apply enough pressure to hold their opponent there. Eruption slipped under Behemoth and threw it up high. Behemoth were eventually freed, but were on the run, only just escaping the floor flipper. The two drove to the opposite CPZ. Both skirted around each other, and Behemoth missed an opportunity to flip Eruption. They then went for a second flip, but mistimed it, lifting Behemoth up. As Behemoth fell down, it fell on Eruption's wedge. Behemoth tried to use a flip of the scoop to shake them off Eruption, but it propped them up against the Arena wall, where Eruption didn't hesitate to throw Behemoth into the trench. This was the third time Behemoth had been flipped out of the Arena.

Winner: Eruption (3 points)

Cherub vs PP3D
"PP3D's biggest weakness is, it's weapon is so hugely powerful. The shock that goes back through the chassis is our biggest problem."

- Gary Cairns details the main weakness of PP3D

Cherub tried to attack PP3D early, but the Scottish robot moved away to get their weapon up to speed. They turned and hit the side of Cherub, knocking them across the Arena. PP3D charged in, hitting the scoop of Cherub, which threw PP3D into the air. Cherub moved in again, making PP3D jump a second time on the wedge. A third hit on the scoop once again made PP3D jump, but it then clipped the side of Cherub, bouncing it into the side wall. Cherub inadvertently activated the Dial of Doom, which selected Rogue House Robot, allowing Dead Metal to attack Cherub. "He's now up to speed, boy!"

- Gary Cairns as PP3D's disc reaches full speed.

PP3D used the opportunity to retreat and get their disc up to full speed. Once Dead Metal released Cherub, PP3D moved in for the kill. The first hit sent both robots careening away from the impact, but most spectacularly for Cherub, which corkscrewed into the side wall, ripping a panel off the wall and turning Cherub over. Cease was called as the arena was repaired. The battle was restarted with both robots in the same place as they finished - PP3D in the opposite corner, and Cherub inverted in Dead Metal's CPZ. Cherub was instantly attacked by Dead Metal, but PP3D was stuck spinning in circles, as their disc had dropped on the floor. With both robots immobilised by PP3D's massive attack, the judges were called to decide a winner from the battle before the hit. Cherub were unanimously awarded the two points.

Winner: Cherub (2 points)

Cherub vs Eruption
After claiming they could "do a handstand" with the forks on Cherub, the team started the battle by attempting it. Eruption were having none of it, as they charged in and used the presented ground clearance to push Cherub to the wall and flipped them. Cherub bounced down in the arena, but their wheels didn't seem to be working, so it went for a handstand again. Eruption lined up underneath Cherub, firing the crusher twice before flipping again, but Cherub landed harmlessly in the arena. An inverted Cherub used their forks to prop themselves up, but it was inviting for Eruption, which slipped under, finally throwing Cherub out on the third attempt. "Quite early on, realised we weren't going to be able to drive anywhere, because one of our wheels wasn't working"

- The Cherub team explain why they weren't moving in the battle.

Winner: Eruption (3 points)

Behemoth vs PP3D
Before the battle, Behemoth swapped their scoop to the "anti-spinner" variant. Behemoth drove in to deflect the spinner of PP3D, but overdid a turn, and slid sideways into PP3D, who scored a blow on the exposed side. Behemoth managed to pressure PP3D into the side wall without taking any damage. Behemoth retreated, which allowed PP3D to spin up their weapon. Behemoth charged in, but the impact sent them flying away. Behemoth spun into the wall, and PP3D were deflected into the CPZ of Shunt. Shunt applied pressure, and after releasing them, sparks started cascading out of PP3D. Noticing this, the Behemoth team stayed away, activating the Dial of Doom, which selected Rogue House Robot. Shunt attacked PP3D, and as it turned away, more sparks flew from PP3D. PP3D tried to move away, but they were running on the disc again, and were soon defeated as Cease was called.

Winner: Behemoth (3 points)

Eruption vs PP3D
"If you want to set up a back story, that [PP3D] is probably what you'd call our arch enemy"

- Michael Oates remembers the destruction PP3D caused to Eruption in the previous series

Eruption, sporting new anti-spinner armour at the front, moved in at the start, deflecting PP3D up into the air. A second hit caused PP3D to get caught on the flame pit. They escaped, but couldn't get the disc up to speed as Eruption came close again. Dead Metal pushed PP3D out of the way, just as Eruption had lined up a flip, which send the black robot over. PP3D tried to get the disc up to speed, but it was lying on the floor, so it just made the robot spin around. Eruption pushed PP3D onto the floor flipper, which fired and inverted PP3D, freeing its movement. Eruption drove under PP3D, as they tried to get the disc up to speed, but Eruption pushed it towards the side wall, and threw PP3D out of the arena in one shot. "Three flips in a row! Three cheers for Eruption"

- Jonathan Pearce praises Eruption's incredible run

Winner: Eruption (3 points)

Behemoth vs Cherub
Behemoth attached their new grabber to fight Cherub. Cherub and Behemoth bounced off each other in the arena centre. Cherub moved in and pushed Behemoth from the side, but the yellow robot turned and tried to grab Cherub, but the scoop wasn't low enough to breach Cherub's ground clearance. Cherub drove around, avoiding Behemoth, but every time Behemoth charged it, it just rode up the side and wheels, unable to grab. Behemoth fired the grabber, which lifted the front up enough for Cherub to slide under and feed them to Dead Metal. Behemoth escaped, and pushed Cherub across the Arena towards the floor flipper, which fired prematurely, allowing Behemoth to push Cherub under the flipper, trapping it. Cease was called. "I didn't even know you could get in there"

- Team Cherub are surprised by the location of their beaching

Cherub were removed, and the battle restarted from the original positions with only 2 minutes on the clock. Behemoth got around the side of Cherub and pushed them into the Dial of Doom, which selected Rogue House Robot, allowing Dead Metal to chase the two robots, eventually grabbing Cherub. Behemoth reversed in, and were caught on the side of Dead Metal. Cherub dropped their forks, which allowed them to get underneath Behemoth when they charged head-on into the fray.

Behemoth once again went around the side of Cherub, but were lifted by the movement of Cherub's wheel. Another attack by Behemoth saw them ride up the front wedge of Cherub. Cherub were pushed into the CPZ, but Behemoth drove in, just as Dead Metal approached, and thusly bore the brunt of the House Robot's attack. Cease was called. Cherub celebrated by finally completing the handstand. As Angela Scanlon announced Cherub as unanimous victors, Ant Pritchard stormed out of the booth, angry that his team decided to use the wrong scoop weapon. "Putting a grabber of that type onto the robot for a critical match was a very poor decision. The main reason I walked out there was because I was so annoyed with the rest of the team for making the decision not to go for a guaranteed win."

- Ant Pritchard explains his early exit

Winner: Cherub (2 points)

Cherub vs Eruption
Eruption had the lower ground clearance, so Cherub rode up onto the flipper when the two met in the middle of the Arena. Eruption turned, pushed Cherub to the side wall and threw Cherub straight out. The battle lasted all of 5 seconds, breaking Gravity's 13 year long record for the shortest battle.

Winner: Eruption (3 points)

Trivia

 * PP3D was not originally intended to compete in this episode, but its participation was brought forwards when another robot was not ready to compete.
 * Draven appears in the second episode for the second time, and PP3D and Eruption appear together in the same episode again.
 * This is the first episode since Heat M of the Seventh Wars not to feature one of the previous year's semi-finalists.
 * Despite this, all three of the returning teams eliminated in the Heat Final stage of Series 8 appear in this heat.
 * The press release announcing this episode referred to Draven as Lord Draven, despite the team rejecting the name when it was suggested to them.
 * The stat boards erroneously listed both PP3D and Draven as weighing 94kg.
 * A preview of the episode was released on March 8th 2017, showing a clip of a first-round melee.