User blog:RA2/Robot Wars Extreme Warriors 1 Rankdown

Welcome to the Robot Wars Extreme Warriors Rankdown (Aka US Season 1 Rankdown). If you would like to play, please see the signup instructions.

Format
We’ll be using the “Pick-n-Mix” format. In this game, we'll be setting up a pool of robots, and take turns eliminating one robot from the pool, the adding a new one

On your turn, you will eliminate one robot in the pool and explain why (Note: You may not cut your own nominees, unless your nominees comprise more than half the pool) then nominate one other robot, whom you believe should get cut ASAP, to go into the pool. You can’t cut or nom a robot that’s already been cut or nommed. Here’s an example of the flow. The example has 5 players, our game may have fewer:

Round 1:
 * Player 1: Cuts any one robot and explains why, nominates one other robot for the pool (no explanation needed for the nomination). Lists out all the nominated robots for the benefit of the next player
 * Player 2: Same, with any robots not cut or nominated yet
 * Player 3: Same, with any robots not cut or nominated yet
 * Player 4: Same, with any robots not cut or nominated yet
 * Player 5: Same, with any robots not cut or nominated yet.

Round 2 and beyond
 * Player 1: Cuts one of the 5 robots in the pool, and explains why.   Nominates one other robot for the pool (no explanation needed).  Lists out all the nominated robots for the benefit of the next player.
 * Players 2-5: Same

This will continue for 13 rounds, unless 19 or more robots remain, in which case, a 14th round will commence. After that, players will rank the surviving robots, and the averages will determine final rankings.

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 Extreme 1 & Series 5 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.
 * You can make backroom deals with other players, but keep in mind, there is no recourse if someone breaks the deal.
 * 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. Since Extreme is part of this, you'll have to remember all the different appearances that each robot made.  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 comments are not working for whatever reason, you may use 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.

The Doom Dial
To make things more interesting, I’m introducing the Doom Dial, your choice of a special power. Each player may press the Doom Dial once to access one of the following effects:


 * Pit: Negate the most recent cut and remove the robot in question from the pool. The robot gets immunity for one full cycle (ie cannot be nominated until after the player you interrupted finishes his/her next turn).  It’s on you to play this in time to catch the robot you want, if it’s not the most recent, it can’t be Pitted.


 * Rogue House Robot: on your turn, you may cut a robot that’s not in the pool. You will not nominate on the round you use this. You may not cut any robot that has immunity.  This cut cannot be negated by the Pit.


 * Fog Of War: On your turn, instead of cutting/nominating, replace the entire pool with a new set. You may not pick any robot that has immunity.  In subsequent rounds, you can cut robots that you brought in with Fog of War.

The Doom Dial will be available in all rounds except the first and last. You are not obligated to use the Doom Dial. To reiterate, you each get one button press, NOT one of each power.

Usages

 * RA2:

Included

 * All robots that competed in an episode of Extreme Warriors

Excluded

 * Non-US bots from the World Championship
 * Dropouts

Spreadsheet
Here is the spreadsheet listing the 37 robots that took part in Extreme or Series 5: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rdc5AUOOX2lhLjT9Agf1Kftei5qSQS-iyCysfkJJKi4/edit#gid=0

Instructions
In order to even out the cutting power, I've decided to establish a pool before Round 1. This means that you will no longer be cutting any robot you like in Round 1, there will immediately be a pool available. When you sign up, you'll be voting robots in by making a list of the 8 worst - eight being the very wort, 1 being the least-worst. Please format your signup like I do, order matters because the robot at #8 will count as 8 votes, the robot at #7 will count as 7 votes... etc. The robots† who collect the most votes will comprise the initial pool. No need to explain your vote-ins though you are free to explain if you wish. The robots that get voted-in can be cut by anybody.


 * †Pool size will be 2 x the number of players.

My signup
Just do as I've done here.

Desired Number: 1

Bottom 8 robots:


 * 8: The Green Mouse. This I feel is the very bottom of the stack.  Weapon that makes it "buck", overall weak frame, and flammable.  So I'm giving it 8 votes, the max I can give to a robot, to be in jeopardy right off the bat.


 * 7: Spawn Again. Regardless of how bad the US bots may have been, at least they moved.  Seven votes in seems deserved


 * 6: Skullmania


 * 5: Coffin Bot


 * 4: Run Away


 * 3: Spartacus


 * 2: Sobek


 * 1: Red Virus. Not offensive to my senses, but lacking in battle prowess. It'll make my list of the bots I want in the pool, but I could take or leave it, so I'm giving it just one vote.

Players
1) RA2

2)

3)

4)

5)

I can take a maximum of 5 total players, minimum of 3. The game will start, with my taking the first turn, one week from now, 11/9.