I don't have the creativity to create elaborate April Fools Day jokes (and besides, it's too late now....you're not meant to make a joke after midday). So instead, I'm going to get on with something I said I'd do ages ago....Series 9 in the format of Series 10. Might as well seeing as I already did Series 8.
How this works[]
I will be taking the line-up for Series 9 and basically converting it into a Series 10 style format. The results of Round 1 will always be the same, but they will be invariably extended to imagine what would have happened had the fight continued, so that there is a designated 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th place. The robots that finish in first automatically go through to the heat-semis, whilst the robots in second and third will face off in the Redemption Round. Robots in fourth place will automatically be eliminated.
Robots listed in bold are classed to have won their battle, whilst robots in italics will fight for redemption.
Heat 1[]
Round 1[]
- Jellyfish vs Nuts 2 vs Rapid vs Terrorhurtz
Had the fight continued, I suspect that a very similar scenario to what happened in Series 10 might play out. And why not? We know Terrorhurtz had a lot of axe problems in Series 9.
- Aftershock vs Crank-E vs Sabretooth vs TMHWK
I had to look this battle over again to see who was immobilised first between Crank-E and TMHWK. It's hard to tell, but to be honest, given the positions Crank-E was put into, I don't think anyone would begrudge me if I said it went out first. Luckily enough for Sabretooth, Aftershock's disc failing spares it so much damage....
Redemption Round[]
- Terrorhurtz vs TMHWK
We saw it.
- Sabretooth vs Jellyfish
Lets be honest here, a working Sabretooth would win. It was a dead robot rolling by the time they actually fought, so to say "happened" wouldn't be fair.
Heat-Semis[]
- Rapid vs Sabretooth
Eh, it's hard to tell, but I just don't think it's Aftershock levels of destruction. Rapid could probably tank the blows, and eventually score the vital flips. Or if not play tactical.
- Aftershock vs Terrorhurtz
We saw this one too.
Playoff[]
- Sabretooth vs Terrorhurtz
If Terrorhurtz is in ANY state to even fight this battle, then it's still in trouble anyway.
Heat Final[]
- Rapid vs Aftershock
Happened. At least Rapid will have goodness knows how much time to fix its problems.
Heat 2[]
Round 1[]
- Behemoth vs Cobra vs Eruption vs Hobgoblin
The fact this battle lasted the full-three minutes between three robots makes this so much easier. I think it's probably fair to say that Eruption was the strongest robot in this battle.
- Cherub vs Draven vs PP3D vs Push To Exit
OK, so here's my logic. After PP3D pretty much OHKOs Push, it clashes with Cherub and, ultimately what happened in their actual fight comes about. With both robots immobile upon the restart for more or less the same reason, it goes to the judges. However, because PP3D had immobilised Push and caused so much damage to Draven, it gets the nod. Does that make sense?
Redemption Round[]
- Behemoth vs Push To Exit
Yeah, given everything Push has done, it's not going to win. It'll probably die upon first contact.
- Cherub vs Cobra
This is a tough one. Cherub is more than capable of holding its own against rambots like Cobra. There exist videos on YouTube showing it completely dominating Tornado when it can get ahold of it. The problem here is I'm not sure there's anything it can easily get ahold of Cobra. Once you lose that edge, things go wrong. I'm more than willing to reconsider if someone has any other thoughts, but right now I'm leaning more towards Cobra.
Heat-Semis[]
- Eruption vs Cobra
Well, lets be honest, no matter which way this happened, Eruption was going to win.
- PP3D vs Behemoth
What we saw was a pretty commanding victory on Behemoth's part. SHE'S BLOWN UP NOW, BOYS!!
Playoff[]
- PP3D vs Cobra
So, Cobra had an anti-spinner wedge back in Series 9. Regardless, PP3D will still likely be in a poor state, to the point where it'd probably die after a few solid rams.
Heat Final[]
- Eruption vs Behemoth
This was only ever going to end one way.
Heat 3[]
Round 1[]
- Chimera 2 vs Concussion vs Tauron vs Thor
A relatively simple battle to start with, made easier by only one surviving. Just a case of determining which order the other three fell.
- Expulsion vs Foxic vs Heavy Metal vs M.R. Speed Squared
Actually, this is much the same.
Redemption Round[]
- Concussion vs Foxic
I question exactly what Concussion can actually do to Foxic in the long run. As a result, we'll have our first grand finalist that didn't make it through.
- Heavy Metal vs Chimera 2
Seems pretty simple to me.
Heat-Semis[]
- Thor vs Heavy Metal
Happened.
- M.R. Speed Squared vs Foxic
The rematch nobody wanted, but crucially very different from last time. Naturally, Speed won't be spinning, but the important thing here is Foxic's mobility. It lost last time because it had none. Here, it does, so it'll be able to bulldoze Speed around like nobody's business. If Speed doesn't conk out, it'll lose the judges' decision.
Playoff[]
- M.R. Speed Squared vs Heavy Metal
Happened
Heat Final[]
- Thor vs Foxic
Foxic may have improved, but I'm not too convinced if it's improved enough to successfully get revenge on Thor.
Heat 4[]
Round 1[]
- Frostbite vs HIGH-5 vs Supernova vs Wyrm
God, this fight. I mean, clearly Supernova is the only good robot in this battle, but it wouldn't put it past it to just completely conk out and have Frostbite winning despite barely being properly mobile throughout the entire battle. But because I don't want that to happen....
- Apex vs Crushtacean vs Ironside3 vs Pulsar
Logic seems to suggest to me that, with both Apex and Crushtacean out so quickly, the fight between Ironside and Pulsar would probably play out similar to their head-to-head encounter. Without the controversial finish, mind, since they were in the same control booth in the first battle. Given that the original result went for Pulsar, though....
Redemption Round[]
- Frostbite vs Apex
This is going to end in one of two ways. The first is that Apex completely guts Frostbite like Supernova did. The second is that Apex causes severe damage to Frostbite, then immediately self-destructs, giving Frostbite the win, only for it to subsequently withdraw from the competition as it's in no state to continue, thus reinstating Apex anyway. Basically, Apex goes through no matter what happens.
- Ironside3 vs Wyrm
Yeah, this happened.
Heat-Semis[]
- Supernova vs Apex
Yeah, there's no two ways about this. If Apex didn't self-destruct before, it probably will now.
- Pulsar vs Ironside3
Is it too much to ask that we could have gotten just a normal fight between these two that wasn't completely marred by controversy? I'm personally under the opinion that, in a fair world, Pulsar is better suited for beating Ironside in a head-to-head clash than the other way around. Also, since Pulsar hasn't had to go through four fights in a row yet, it won't have time to burn itself out.
Playoff[]
- Apex vs Ironside3
On the other hand, Ironside is still in a better position to fight on than Apex.
Heat Final[]
- Supernova vs Pulsar
One word - BANG!! But I do legitimately worry for Pulsar's chances in the final...and not for the first time.
Heat 5[]
Round 1[]
- Apollo vs Coyote vs Ms Nightshade vs Rusty
To be honest, I can't help but feel nearly everything in this heat is redundant, but I gotta do it anyway.
- Carbide vs Crackers 'n' Smash vs MeggaMouse vs Trolley Rage
Same deal here.
Redemption Round[]
- Coyote vs MeggaMouse
Never gotten the hype with MeggaMouse, all videos I've seen of it, it doesn't do well. But its weapon is more potent looking than Coyote's, so I'll give it that.
- Crackers 'n' Smash vs Rusty
Yeah, Rusty will either fall apart or get itself stuck on its back.
Heat-Semis[]
- Apollo vs Crackers 'n' Smash
Happened
- Carbide vs MeggaMouse
Also happened.
Playoff[]
- Crackers 'n' Smash vs MeggaMouse
Literally the only part of the heat that's worth discussing, really. All I'm saying is that Crackers 'n' Smash will be in better shape to deal with MeggaMouse, who has already gone through two battles with Carbide. Also, I can't imagine MeggaMouse being able to deal with two compact box-wedges.
Heat Final[]
- Apollo vs Carbide
Yeah, nothing changes. Pick your battle.
Final[]
Rumble[]
- Apollo vs Behemoth vs Cobra vs Crackers 'n' Smash vs Foxic vs Heavy Metal vs Ironside3 vs Rapid vs Sabretooth vs Supernova
This was a really tough call, even after getting the advise from other users. It seemed to ultimately come down to either Behemoth or Cobra as the last two standing, which I can see the logic behind. I just feel that, when they clashed, Cobra appeared to be the slightly weaker of the two. At least as far as I was concerned. So, yeah, narrow win for Behemoth.
Round 1[]
- Aftershock vs Eruption vs Pulsar
Since the original line-up would have placed Behemoth straight in against Eruption, and across the three rebooted series the wildcard was always kept separate from the robot that beat it, I'll do the same. Either way, I feel Eruption has this. Pulsar will probably be put down quite early due to having so many reliability issues, and Aftershock may well lose the judges decision.
- Behemoth vs Carbide vs Thor
I can't imagine Behemoth not using its anti-spinner scoop here. In theory, it should resist Carbide quite nicely, and should last the whole battle. I just don't think it will be able to overturn all the damage and aggression points Carbide will have scored up to that point, even though Carbide has a habit of struggling if the battle isn't over within a minute. Thor, of course, will be absolutely mangled.
Redemption Round[]
- Aftershock vs Thor
Heck, if we base it on the previous clash, Thor will be in a pretty poor state as is. Even then I'd back Aftershock.
- Behemoth vs Pulsar
Same here.
Semi-Finals[]
- Eruption vs Behemoth
Happened. Twice.
- Carbide vs Aftershock
Also happened twice.
Grand Final[]
- Eruption vs Carbide
And despite all this, we end up with the exact same grand final. Eruption will have its time with Carbide, I guarantee it. But today is not that day.
BTW, would anyone be interested in seeing me do Series 10 in the format of S8/S9? With the Round Robin and stuff?