BattleBots: Champions II was the second season of the spin-off series BattleBots: Champions, filmed concurrently with World Championship VII.
The season was first confirmed by BattleBots co-founder Greg Munson in a September 2022 Behind the Bots podcast episode, revealing that it would comprise of six two-hour episodes. Due to scheduling limitations at filming, a major change over the previous season and BattleBots: Bounty Hunters is the absence of 'gatekeeper' rounds. As such, winners of the five Champions II 'tournament' episodes (also referred to in filming schedules as Qualifiers) were no longer be required to fight a 'Legendary Bot' in order to secure a place in the main 'Golden Bolt' bracket.[1]
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The five Sin City Slugfest brackets comprised of three alternates and thirty-seven fully accepted competitors from World Championship VII. Filming schedules confirm that Champions II was recorded between 26-30 October 2022, in tandem with the latter stages of the World Championship VII tournament.[2] This explains the absence of Top 8 finishers in the side tournament. As the only two former Giant Nut winners present for the filming of the 2022 competition, End Game and Tantrum once again automatically qualified for the Golden Bolt tournament without having to compete in the Sin City Slugfest episodes. They were joined by the World Championship VII Giant Nut winner, which was confirmed to be SawBlaze.
The Golden Bolt Tournament was once again won by End Game after defeating Free Shipping, JackPot and SawBlaze, making them the first robot since Bite Force to successfully defend their title as a reigning champion in a BattleBots competition.
The Best in Show awards from World Championship VII were presented near the end of the first episode of BattleBots: Champions II. The Excellence in Sportsmanship Award was won by Rory Mangles of Team Monsoon. The Most Destructive Robot Award was won by World Championship VII runner-up HUGE. The Grant Imahara Award for Best Design was won by RIPperoni and the Founder's Award was won by MadCatter.
Reveals and Trailers[]
On September 7, 2023, it was announced that BattleBots: Champions II would begin airing on October 5, 2023[3], and all five Sin City Slugfest brackets were revealed to Facebook Supporters. The BattleBots website was later updated to tease one fight from each of the upcoming Slugfest brackets.
The official 60 second trailer for BattleBots: Champions II was revealed on September 22, 2023, showcasing fights from the previous season as well as BattleBots: Champions I.[4]
On October 2, 2023, BattleBots released a video to Facebook teasing the premiere of BattleBots: Champions II. The first bracket was publicly revealed by Team Special Delivery that same day.[5] Like the previous installment, the following week's bracket was publicly revealed in the closing minutes of each episode, but episodes were no longer uploaded a day early on the discovery+ or Max streaming services.
Sin City Slugfest[]
Episode 1: LET THE SLUGFESTS BEGIN![]
- "The journey to the Golden Bolt starts October 5th with the first Sin City Slugfest. Eight robots will enter, but only one will punch its ticket to the tournament of champions. In this electric six episode series, every fight is win or go home. The game's on."
- — Official description for Episode 1
Main article: BattleBots: Champions II/Episode 1
| Sin City Slugfest Quarter-Finals |
|---|
| SHREDDIT BRO! vs. Skorpios |
| ROTATOR vs. Terrortops |
| Switchback vs. Kraken |
| Valkyrie vs. Ominous |
| Sin City Slugfest Semi-Finals |
| SHREDDIT BRO! vs. Switchback |
| ROTATOR vs. Valkyrie |
| Sin City Slugfest Final |
Episode 2: THE SLUGFEST PART 2[]
- "The second Sin City Slugfest gets underway where eight of the most ferocious machines in robot combat will go head-to-head in a one night tournament. The winner will punch their ticket to into the exclusive Golden Bolt Championship."
- — Official description for Episode 2
Main article: BattleBots: Champions II/Episode 2
| Sin City Slugfest Quarter-Finals |
|---|
| Blip vs. Black Dragon |
| MadCatter vs. Bloodsport |
| Malice vs. HiJinx |
| Fusion vs. Whiplash |
| Sin City Slugfest Semi-Finals |
| MadCatter vs. Black Dragon |
| Malice vs. Whiplash |
| Sin City Slugfest Final |
Black Dragon vs. Whiplash |
Episode 3: SIN CITY SLUGFEST – BRACKET 3[]
- "Get ready for our third Sin City Slugfest bracket! The winner of this single elimination gauntlet earns a bid into the Golden Bolt Tournament of Champions, where they will face winners of other Slugfests, plus our three most recent Giant Nut winners."
- — Official description for Episode 3
Main article: BattleBots: Champions II/Episode 3
| Sin City Slugfest Quarter-Finals |
|---|
| Triton vs. Gigabyte |
| Double Tap vs. Beta |
| DeathRoll vs. Slammo! |
| Mammoth vs. Free Shipping |
| Sin City Slugfest Semi-Finals |
| Gigabyte vs. DeathRoll |
| Free Shipping vs. Beta |
| Sin City Slugfest Final |
Episode 4: SLUG ME BABY ONE MORE TIME[]
- "The Slugfest continues… eight more teams risk it all by fighting to the death in the hope of earning the fourth spot in the upcoming Golden Bolt Tournament. Only one can survive tonight’s mechanical mayhem and join the field of Champions."
- — Official description for Episode 4
Main article: BattleBots: Champions II/Episode 4
| Sin City Slugfest Quarter-Finals |
|---|
| Banshee vs. Cobalt |
| Big Dill vs. JackPot |
| Emulsifier vs. Captain Shrederator |
| Lucky vs. Overhaul |
| Sin City Slugfest Semi-Finals |
| Emulsifier vs. Cobalt |
| Lucky vs. JackPot |
| Sin City Slugfest Final |
Episode 5: THE FINAL SLUGFEST[]
- "One place remains in the Tournament of Champions, and tonight, eight hopeful contestants fight to the death for the right to take it. In this single elimination Slugfest, only one can survive. The dream: to take part in the tournament against such BattleBots legends as End Game, Tantrum and World Champion SawBlaze. The prize: The Golden Bolt."
- — Official description for Episode 5
Main article: BattleBots: Champions II/Episode 5
| Sin City Slugfest Quarter-Finals |
|---|
| Claw Viper vs. Shatter! |
| Monsoon vs. Gruff |
| RIPperoni vs. Glitch |
| Starchild vs. HyperShock |
| Sin City Slugfest Semi-Finals |
| HyperShock vs. Claw Viper |
| RIPperoni vs. Monsoon |
| Sin City Slugfest Final |
HyperShock vs. RIPperoni |
Golden Bolt Tournament[]
The Golden Bolt tournament participants.
Episode 6: THE GOLDEN BOLT[]
- "It's the final of the BattleBots: Champions tournament. Five Slugfest winners go head-to-head against three BattleBots champions, including the current holder End Game, for the ultimate prize: The Golden Bolt."
- — Official description for Episode 6
Main article: BattleBots: Champions II/Episode 6
| Golden Bolt Quarter-Finals |
|---|
| Free Shipping vs. End Game |
| SHREDDIT BRO! vs. SawBlaze |
| JackPot vs. Whiplash |
| Tantrum vs. RIPperoni |
| Golden Bolt Semi-Finals |
| SawBlaze vs. Tantrum |
| End Game vs. JackPot |
| Golden Bolt Final |
Trivia[]
- BattleBots: Champions II marked the first time that SawBlaze competed in a BattleBots competition outside of the main World Championship seasons.
- For BattleBots: Champions II, HyperShock was driven by Will Bales' wife Alex, who previously drove HyperShock in the 2022 re:MARS all:STARS event.
- Footage from the event is also confirmed to have been included in BattleBots: Champions II, marking the first time it will have been seen officially.[6]
- Horizon was slated to compete in the third Sin City Slugfest bracket, but withdrew after only having one frame left after its Fight Night battles in World Championship VI.[7]
- The Golden Bolt trophy was made by Collin Royster of Team HyperShock.[8]
- Like the previous installment, BattleBots: Champions II is erroneously referred to as "Season 9" on multiple platforms such as YouTube, Prime Video, discovery+, and Max as it is not officially recognized as a spin-off series.
- The first Sin City Slugfest bracket marked the first time two robots which did not make the Top 32 in the previous season (Valkyrie and SHREDDIT BRO!) made it to the final.
- The second bracket also saw the first repeat final, as Black Dragon vs. Whiplash previously happened in the fifth bracket of BattleBots: Champions I.
- Coincidentally Whiplash won by unanimous judges' decision on both occasions.
- Undefeated World Championship VII alternates Double Tap and Terrortops experienced their first losses in BattleBots: Champions II.
- For BattleBots: Champions II, Cobalt was driven by its current owner John Mladenik as opposed to its former owner Dave Moulds.
- P1 made a cameo appearance during RIPperoni's entrance ahead of its fight against HyperShock.
- Near the end of the final episode of BattleBots: Champions II, Mark Setrakian and Marc Thorpe were both inducted into the BattleBots Hall of Fame, in which they had their banners revealed in a similar fashion to past Giant Nut winners.
References[]
- ↑ 'BattleBots Season 7 Reveal with BattleBots Cofounder Greg Munson!', Behind the Bots podcast, 14 September, 2022
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/xd9d3g/filming_schedule/
- ↑ https://twitter.com/BattleBots/status/1699739551676186633
- ↑ BattleBots Champions II Premieres October 5th, 8pm on Discovery!
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=641469237975946
- ↑ Behind the Bots - BattleBots Champions II Preview with BattleBots Co-Creator Greg Munson!
- ↑ Correspondence with Team Horizon in the Out of the Arena Discord server
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CxtgoGkLhjh/
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