Basilisk

Basilisk
Participation Information
Reboot Seasons	World Championship II World Championship III
Team Information
Team	MBS Robotics
Team Members	Lucas Sloan (Captain) Andrew Maier (WC II) David Sloan (WC II) Graham Jordan (WC II) Pierre Blanchard (WC III) Emily Ahlf (WC III)
From	Edmonton, Canada
Robot Statistics
Weight	245lbs
Weapons	Flipper Pneumatic spike (WC II) Flamethrower (WC III)
Statistics correct as of its most recent appearance on the show, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

Basilisk was a heavyweight robot built by MBS Robotics which competed in BattleBots World Championship II and III.

It was created by a brand new team of fabricators from Alberta, Canada led by Lucas Sloan. Basilisk's weapon was an aluminum flipping arm which could supposedly "strike three times faster than the blink of an eye" due to eight custom-manufactured twitch valves. The flipper ran at 3000psi, but struggled to be an effective weapon during fights.

Basilisk during World Championship II hero shots.

The robot was armored in steel, sporting a total of twelve small wheels (four sets of three in parallel) which were powered by four motors. In addition to its flipper, the robot was armed with a pneumatic spear that fired through the lower hole in the robot's flipping arm. Basilisk was also joined in the arena by Afterbyte, a 10lb flying drone equipped with a unique weapon - AfterByte could theoretically latch itself onto the top of another robot using vacuums and 3D-printed skirts, then use its drill weapon to penetrate the top armor. The team claimed AfterByte had in excess of 100lb of holding force on a flat surface, though it rarely had a chance to prove this in the BattleBox. It lost its only fight of World Championship II, which was a three-way qualifying rumble against Gemini and Blacksmith.

For the 2018 season, Basilisk had evolved into a more pyramid-shaped chassis with a bigger snake head on the flipping arm, reworked electronics, a flamethrower firing through the flipping arm, and an addition of a camera on the flipper. The robot was also adorned with a number of addressable RGB strips that were intended to be remotely controlled by the flamethrower operator, with patterns to indicate what the robot was doing at the time, though this was never seen in action. The flipping arm was also upgraded from aluminum to titanium to increase its strength. In order to make weight for these adjustments, the pneumatic spike was removed along with AfterByte, as AfterByte's single-piece 3D-printed frame would be too time consuming and expensive to produce multiple copies of for the Fight Night format of the 2018 season. Finally, Basilisk was originally equipped with mecanum wheels, potentially becoming the first reboot bot to use them ahead of Shatter!, however in the first attempt to utilize them in the Test Box, the custom made wheels reportedly disintegrated under the strain of moving Basilisk. The use for the camera was unknown.

Despite its improvements, Basilisk was originally a reserve for the 2018 competition, but was later instated as a full competitor. Though inconsistent throughout the season, it chalked up two wins, including a victory over the only bot to hand three-time Giant Nut winner Bite Force a loss in BattleBots, Chomp.

Basilisk did not return for World Championship IV, or any future seasons of BattleBots.

Basilisk being weighed during World Championship III.

Basilisk entering the BattleBox during World Championship II.

Basilisk and several team members in The Pits during the 2016 season.

Robot History

World Championship II
Basilisk vs. Blacksmith vs. Gemini Basilisk was one of twelve robots which had to fight its way through the preliminary round in order to qualify for the main tournament. In its qualifier, Basilisk faced off against multibot Gemini and veteran Al Kindle with Blacksmith. Blacksmith targets Basilisk. Basilisk quickly targeted Blacksmith as the Gemini twins separated, but Blacksmith landed a direct shot to its shell. Basilisk fired its flipper in retaliation, though it could not get underneath the plow of Blacksmith and took a shot to it's flipper, which Blacksmith slammed shut. After this Basilisk found itself pushed into the corner by Al Kindle's flaming hammerbot. After this attack, Basilisk appeared immobile in the corner, and it played no further part in the rumble. Its drone, AfterByte, hovered in place as Blacksmith cornered both Gemini robots and landed multiple shots with its primary weapon, damaging the drive of the black half of Ace Shelander's multibot. "He's got Gemini cornered; both of 'em! POW! POW! POW!" — Chris Rose as Blacksmith strikes Gemini Basilisk with a disabled Afterbyte. With one half of Gemini experiencing drive issues, Blacksmith momentarily turned its attention towards AfterByte but failed to swat it out of the air. It instead attacked the remaining red half of Gemini, whose weapon was now out of commission too. Basilisk is hammered by Blacksmith. As AfterByte crash-landed, Basilisk suddenly returned to life, and backed into Black Smith in an attempt to protect their fallen comrade, while AfterByte was mercilessly attacked by Blacksmith. However Basilisk's flipper had been damaged earlier due to getting slammed shut by Al Kindle's bot, which meant that the flipper couldn't get under Blacksmith and flip the hammerbot. The hammerbot then landed several more blows on Basilisk and the red half of Gemini drove wedge-first into Blacksmith, who then chased it around the middle of the BattleBox. "Chris, Al Kindle is going for the knockout in his first taste of a big time victory. What a display we are seeing!" — Kenny Florian as the fight enters its final minute Blacksmith catches fire late on. Blacksmith eventually struck the top of its multibot opponent, pinning it in place with the weight of its hammer before firing its flamethrower and scorching the red half of Gemini. After raining down even more hammer blows, Blacksmith began to smoke and a fire began inside Al Kindle's robot, who stopped moving. The referee initiated a count-out, but in a race against the clock, Blacksmith showed late signs of life to interrupt the count and force a dramatic judges' decision. With Basilisk a non-factor for much of the fight, it lost the decision to Blacksmith, and thus was eliminated from the tournament.
World Championship III
Basilisk and Double Dutch vs. Parallax and Bale Spear Returning in 2018, Basilisk's first fight was a Tag Team match where they were paired up with Double Dutch and fought against Bale Spear and Parallax. Basilisk flips Parallax. Basilisk found itself shoved against the arena screws and took punishment from Parallax's weapon. However, Basilisk took advantage of Parallax's drive issues by flipping them over, which also rendered the drum almost useless. Basilisk seemed to be having drive issues as they were only moving in short bursts. Still, they managed to stay alive for the duration of the match and when time ran out, the judges awarded Basilisk and Double Dutch a unanimous 3-0 decision victory and this earned Basilisk their first BattleBots win .
Basilisk vs. Deviled Egg vs. Axe Backwards Basilisk's second match-up put it in a rumble with Deviled Egg and Axe Backwards. Basilisk takes a shot from Deviled Egg. Basilisk was quick to get out of its square, but took a big hit from Axe Backwards and seemed to have no mobility after that. However, its flipper was still working and it was able to get moving again partway through the fight. As the rumble progressed, Basilisk did very little other than take punishment from its opponents but managed to survive to a judges' decision, which was scored 2-1 in favor of Deviled Egg.
Basilisk vs. Chomp Towards the end of the 2018 season, Basilisk's team requested a match against Chomp as an exhibition match. Chomp strikes Basilisk, breaking its flipper in the process. Basilisk had drive issues from the opening seconds, but managed to avoid the first hit from Chomp. However they then took a direct hit from Chomp, and the second hit took out their weapon system. Basilisk continued to move around but took a third hit. But fortunately for Lucas Sloan's team, Chomp ended up on its side and struggled to get itself upright again. Basilisk continued to show the referees that it was mobile, as Chomp struggled to right itself. Basilisk watches on as Chomp is immobile. Towards the end of the battle, it became apparent that the Basilisk team were in conversation with the referee. Basilisk were encouraged to right Chomp in the spirit of an exhibition match, but they declined. Over a minute since Chomp became immobilized, it was counted out and Basilisk was declared the winner by knockout. This proved to be Basilisk's final BattleBots battle as it did not return for future seasons.

Results

The bottom of Basilisk

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 2
• Losses: 2

Competition	Wins	Losses
World Championship II	None	Blacksmith
World Championship III	Bale Spear & Parallax (Untelevised Tag Team Rumble with Double Dutch) Chomp (Untelevised exhibition match)	Deviled Egg (Undercard Rumble)

Faruq Tauheed Introductions

"Here comes a snake from the Garden of Bleedin'. By land or by air, he don't care. It's BASILISK!"

"This bot is about to serve a full stack of slam cakes and a side of Canadian Breakin'. It's gonna kill you with kindness. It's Canadian, eh? It's BASILISK!"

"It's the pyramid of pain that'll make you want to call your mummy. See it and you'll say Phara-OH NO! It's BASILISK!"

"This Canadian bot is going to maple leaf you in the dust. He's black, he's green, he's a killing machine. It's BASILISK!"

Trivia

• A rumble featuring this robot was shown as part of an advertisement for the Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom movie.
• In ancient mythology, the "basilisk" was a legendary reptile which could cause death with a single glance, leaving a trail of deadly venom in its wake.