Riptide

Riptide
Participation Information
Reboot Seasons	World Championship VI World Championship VII
Other Names	AirTime (Working name)
Team Information
Team	Team Break32
Team Members	Ethan Kurtz (Captain) Sid Prabhakaran Nathaniel Greenberg Stan Kurtz Brandon Frederick Zach Rutten Felix Jing Zak Hassanein (WC VII-Present) Michelle Kurtz (WC VII-Present) Ian McNanie (WC VII-Present) Lea McCuan (WC VII-Present)
From	Tarzana, CA
Associated Robots	Deviled Egg, Sharko, Mantasaur, TriloBot (Zak Hassanein)
Robot Statistics
Weight	247-250lbs
Power	16S LiPo battery pack (WC VII-Present) 6S LiPo batteries (WC VI)
Drive	2x Short brushless Magmotors
Weapons	Eggbeater Lifting arms (WC VI)
Statistics correct as of its most recent appearance on the show, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

For the middleweight robot which competed in Comedy Central BattleBots, see RipTide.

Riptide is a heavyweight robot built by Team Break32, which debuted in BattleBots World Championship VI and returned for World Championship VII.

It was built predominantly by Ethan Kurtz with guidance from Greg Gibson of Yeti fame, though he was not officially part of the Riptide team. Riptide is black and blue in color, featuring the robot's name and wave decals on the sides of its 6061 aluminum chassis. Riptide's weaponry comes in the form of a 55lb eggbeater weapon at the front, measuring 13x13" in diameter and also referred to as a beater bar. Made from 4130 steel in its debut season, the eggbeater could reach speeds of up to 188mph in World Championship VI. A pair of 'ears' protrude from the top, which allows the robot to drive inverted and still run its weapon. For facing dangerous spinners, Riptide has a wide titanium wedge to act as a defensive configuration, which was seen in its debut against HUGE. Riptide was originally going to be called AirTime, though this was discouraged by producers early on in the application process. According to Ethan Kurtz, Riptide was originally a reserve for World Championship VI. The name stems from a sudden change in current, which can sometimes catch swimmers unaware and in rare instances, lead to drowning. Riptide also sported a pair of lifting forks to impale opponents and feed them into the primary weapon, though these were never seen in combat, a decision explained by Sid Prabhakaran in Riptide's 2021 season Reddit AMA.

"They exist, we just couldn't justify using them during the season due to the increased weight and complexity when passive forks/wedgelets served nearly the same purpose."

— Sid Prabhakaran responds to a question over Riptide's secondary weapon

Riptide during World Championship VI hero shots.

According to team captain Ethan Kurtz, Riptide turned up to BattleBots in an unfinished state, with wiring and aesthetic work completed on set. However, Riptide was able to defeat fan favorite HUGE in their opening fight. After going the distance with Jason Vasquez and Defender, Riptide lost their second Fight Night battle. Riptide ended the qualifying rounds with a 2-1 record after defeating another veteran DUCK!, forcing it into retirement. Riptide's momentum continued as it breezed past Shatter! and overwhelmed Uppercut to reach the Top 8. However, its run ended at the hands of SawBlaze in the quarter-finals, who beached Riptide on its side. The team would end up winning the Rookie of the Year award, alongside fellow rookies, Glitch. The award was made from the hammerhead of a retired Pulverizer.

Riptide during World Championship VII hero shots.

In the same AMA, Ethan Kurtz confirmed the team's intention to apply for future seasons of BattleBots. The team's participation in World Championship VII was confirmed when an Instagram user asked them about the subject. BattleBots themselves later confirmed their acceptance via Facebook and were later revealed as #13 in the Pre-Season Power Rankings. According to the team, the 4140 steel eggbeater spinner was 25% faster, now reaching speeds of 250mph and weighing 60lbs thanks to weight saved by removing the lifting arms which were not seen outside of hero shots during the World Championship VI. Riptide now also sported vulcanized rubber wheels known as Brazil wheels to help protect against hits to its drive, as well as new fork options at the front. Riptide followed up its impressive debut season by being the third World Championship VII competitor to achieve a 4-0 record in the Fight Night rounds, but not without facing controversy in two of its fights. Riptide advanced into the Round of 32 with the No.2 seed. There, the team faced further controversy following an altercation with Bots FC's Eric Wrigley. Having discovered the Riptide team huddled around their robot after the final weigh-ins, he questioned their actions and pushed for a reweigh. According to Sid Prabhakaran, the team were fitting a 3ft long pickaxe to Riptide's weapon purely for their entrance. However, Bots FC were unaware and conflicting information exists concerning whether this had been cleared by BattleBots production. Riptide won its match against Shatter!, but not without captain Ethan Kurtz commenting on the "paranoid" nature of their opponents. This resulted in Shatter! captain Adam Wrigley refusing to shake Kurtz's hand post-fight. Riptide's season continued with a dominant win over HyperShock, which saw Ethan Kurtz's machine launch its opponent into the ceiling after both weapons met head-on. Ahead of its quarter-final battle with Copperhead, Riptide's dominant run suffered a devastating blow when Ethan Kurtz tested positive for COVID-19, causing him to go into mandatory isolation and forcing Team Break32 to replace him with Felix Jing as Riptide's driver for this all-important fight. Despite a close encounter, Riptide lost power to its weapon and ultimately lost the judges' decision, eliminating it at the quarter-final stage for the second year running.

It is currently unknown if Riptide will return for future seasons due to its highly controversial run in World Championship VII. However, Team Break32 member Sid Prabhakaran expressed interest in attending Proving Ground ahead of a potential future season.

Riptide in the BattleBox during World Championship VII.

Team Break32 with Riptide.

Riptide during promotional shots during World Championship VI.

Riptide ahead of World Championship VI.

Riptide's beater bar weapon.

Early CAD of Riptide.

CAD of Riptide under the name AirTime.

Outside BattleBots

The team behind Riptide put themselves forward for the 2023 RoboGames event with Break 32, essentially a renamed version of their BattleBots machine. However, they were one of many withdrawals ahead of the event.

Robot History

World Championship VI
Riptide vs. HUGE Riptide box-rushes HUGE from the first seconds. Riptide's BattleBots debut came against the returning HUGE. For this battle, Riptide entered with reinforced top armor and a front wedge, anticipating that HUGE would spin downwards. As the fight commenced, Riptide charged at HUGE and went weapon-to-weapon, knocking HUGE backwards into its own square as they opted to spin upwards. The second shot launched HUGE backwards and trapped one of its UMHW wheels behind the screws, but also broke a bearing in Riptide's weapon. Despite its best efforts, HUGE appeared stuck even despite the screws attempting to spit Jonathan Schultz’s bot back out. Riptide received a warning from referee David Sanfilippo about corralling as a count began on HUGE. Riptide ultimately won by KO, upsetting the veteran team. Though cut from the final broadcast, Riptide initially committed a false start, leaving its box to rush HUGE on the orange light and popping it several feet into the air. Both teams reset their positions and the fight commenced for a second time, though the HUGE team opted out of checking for any potential damage their bot. The false start in question - note 2:59 on the clock. "The false start was definitely a mistake on our part, and we took precautions to make sure it wouldn't happen again." — Sid Prabhakaran on Riptide's false start
Riptide vs. Defender Riptide and Defender meet in the center of the BattleBox. Riptide's flamboyant method of self-righting. Chasing their second win in as many fights, Riptide's second fight was Jason Vasquez and Defender. Both robots evaded one other to begin with, Riptide landed a shot on Defender's reinforced forks. This impact sent Riptide bouncing into the corner of the BattleBox as Defender was upended. Defender took a moment to right itself and as Riptide drove into the barrier in an attempt to do the same, found itself beached on its side. In a showing of good sportsmanship, Jason Vasquez righted Riptide to allow the fight to continue. It then backed Riptide further into the corner with its flamethrower active. Still upside down, Riptide threw itself into the side of the Upper Deck to try and right itself, and in doing so, launched itself several meters into the air and onto the Upper Deck itself. Keen to escape before a count started, Riptide drove off the opposite side but Defender was able to smother Riptide and prevent it from spinning back up. However, when given the time and space to do so, it became clear Riptide's weapon had been hurt in its attempts to self-right earlier in the fight. It had also lost a tire during the fight, as was noticeable when Defender pressed Riptide into the corner late on. Riptide was unable to escape the corner in the closing moments, and the fight went the distance. A unanimous decision was made in favor of Defender, pegging Riptide back to 1-1. "Something from the arena hit the aluminum front panel behind the weapon, partially bending it into one of our weapon motors." — Sid Prabhakaran explains why Riptide's weapon was not at 100% for much of the fight.
Riptide vs. DUCK! Riptide sends DUCK! south for the winter. Riptide shatters DUCK!'s beak. Riptide's third and final Fight Night opponent was Hal Rucker and DUCK!. From the off, Riptide charged at DUCK! who led with its plow for this fight, hoping to break the spinning weapon. However, Riptide's weapon tanked the first few hits and it sent DUCK! to the corner of the BattleBox. Riptide landed some uppercuts to DUCK! and shattered its beak, which proved to be brittle in its previous loss. In the time it took DUCK! to escape, Riptide's weapon got up to full speed and tore pieces away from Hal Rucker's bot. It then tore one of their front wheels away and took a bite out of the corner of DUCK!'s billet frame. Riptide continued to attack and threw DUCK! into the protection right in front of Team Black and Blue. Parts of DUCK! littered the arena floor as it struggled to escape the red square before driving under the pulverizer. Riptide landed yet another hit on the rear of DUCK!, sending it flying high into the air and landing beneath the pulverizer to take another hit from the hazard. DUCK! began smoking and as Riptide eventually showed mercy, a count began on Hal Rucker's bot. Although its weapon had gone down, Riptide took the win by knockout, advancing to 2-1 for the season.
Riptide vs. Shatter! Riptide backs off after a series of attacks on Shatter!. Bots FC try to get Shatter! running again to no avail. Riptide progressed to the Round of 32 seeded No.21, and faced No.12 seed Shatter! in its first knockout battle, whose team fitted it with a new hammer specifically to nullify powerful spinning weapons. Riptide opted against the box rush this time as Shatter! strafed around it before taking a small hit from Riptide's eggbeater, ripping some of Shatter!'s cosmetic armor off. Riptide coerced its opponent against the screws of the Upper Deck before throwing Shatter! on top of the BattleBox hazard. Adam Wrigley's bot was able to drive its way off, but was now deep in the short corner facing Riptide with its eggbeater back up to speed. Shatter! missed with their hammer shot and Riptide took advantage, punching Shatter! into the wall as it landed upside down. Shatter! was righted with help from its opponent, but Riptide backed up to deliver another hit which appeared to immobilize Shatter! completely. The hammer was able to land a blow on top of Riptide as the rookie team closed in again, but this caused them no issues as Shatter! was now smoking on the right side and unable to move. With less than a minute gone, Shatter! was counted out and Riptide progressed to the Top 16.
Riptide vs. Uppercut Foam litters the BattleBox as Uppercut's tires are shredded. After another statement win, Riptide matched Alex Hattori and the No.5 seed, Uppercut. Both bots charged to the center of the BattleBox, but it was Riptide who engaged first with its weapon, hitting the right side of Uppercut and throwing it around. Uppercut landed on its side against the wall and before it had a chance to recover, Riptide struck two more times and Uppercut bounced into the screws. Uppercut was stuck behind the screws for a moment before being spat out. Riptide sliced their foam-filled tire upon recovering, littering the BattleBox as Uppercut tried to escape. Alex Hattori's team attempted to use the gyroscopic forces from their weapon to manoeuvre away, but lost a side pole in the process. Riptide continued to overwhelm its opponent and honed in on the exposed tires until Uppercut was no longer mobile. Uppercut was counted out and Riptide's impressive debut campaign continued.
Riptide vs. SawBlaze Riptide sporting its "Break8" decal as it enters the BattleBox. Riptide and SawBlaze come together. SawBlaze pins an upended Riptide against the wall. SawBlaze leaves Riptide to be counted out. Riptide next faced the highest-seeded robot left in the field, Jamison Go and the No.4 seed SawBlaze. For this must-win fight, Riptide was again equipped with its hinged wedgelets and lacked its lifting forks. Both robots immediately drove at one another, causing Riptide to flip in the air and land inverted. SawBlaze then scooped it up and pinned Riptide against the wall, before shoving it towards the Upper Deck. Now upright but in the short corner, Riptide landed a weak hit to the front of SawBlaze before it found itself atop its opponent's forks again. SawBlaze positioned itself and landed its first serious shot of the match with the hammer saw weapon, but Riptide survived and escaped. The eggbeater weapon then collided with the front of SawBlaze, sending both robots flying backwards. Riptide was again popped up by the power of its own weapon before being pinned against the arena wall by Jamison Go's bot. Riptide was stuck on its side with no way of getting down and was counted out, ending a remarkable run for the rookie team. Team Break32 celebrate their win. To commemorate their success, the Riptide team were awarded a retired pulverizer to commemorate sharing the Rookie of the Year award for 2021 alongside Team CRB and Glitch.
Riptide vs. Bloodsport (Exhibition) Riptide tries to right itself. Both robots collide. Following the conclusion of the 2021 season, Riptide competed in several exhibition matches, shown as part of Vengeance in Vegas. The first of these matches was against Bloodsport. Both bots spun up as Riptide dealt the first attack of the match - a glancing blow which saw Bloodsport deflect towards the wall. Bloodsport showed its back end to Riptide and reversed into it, but caused no noticeable damage. Bloodsport then reversed and allowed Riptide to drive into it, which threw Ethan Kurtz's bot over. Riptide lined up and drove at its opponent. Now inverted, Riptide was spinning downwards and the impact sent Riptide twisting into the Upper Deck and landing upside-down again. The rookie bot had lost one of its ears in this attack, and the eggbeater drum now made contact with the floor as it tried to escape to safety and eventually self-righted. Bloodsport spun up again, but slammed its blade into the arena paddle as it tried to deliver a shot, giving Riptide the time to spin its weapon back up to speed. Riptide escaped the short corner and dished out another glancing blow. The next attack flipped both robots over and sent them to opposite ends of the BattleBox. Although Riptide was able to right itself, it lost its other ear. But it was Bloodsport who came out of the exchange worse, as it was now upended and against the drivers' booths. Bloodsport did not have the torque in its weapon to right itself, so encouraged Riptide to attack. Team Break32 obliged, slamming its weapon into Bloodsport, but now neither robot appeared healthy as their weapons slowed to a halt. Both robots engaged in a pushing match in the short corner, which resulted in smoke coming from Bloodsport's motors. Its weapon sprung back to life momentarily, but Riptide smothered Bloodsport and pinned against the BattleBox before pushing it around at will. Bloodsport attempted to spin up again, but Riptide drove into its weapon, which cost Bloodsport one of their forks. Later in the fight, Riptide pinned Bloodsport again and a brief fire began inside Justin Marple's bot before smoke began to show again. Bloodsport got its weapon back up to speed in the final ten seconds of the fight, but both robots were mobile at the end. Riptide took the win by way of a split judges' decision.
Riptide vs. JackPot (Exhibition) Riptide gets the better of JackPot early on. JackPot lands on its face. The knockout shot. Riptide took part in a second exhibition fight, this time against JackPot, dubbed the Main Event for Vengeance in Vegas. Both robots collided in the middle of the BattleBox with Riptide spinning up immediately and JackPot taking a little longer to get its Die-mond discs up to speed. Riptide delivered the first hit of the fight, sending JackPot backwards and into the screws of the Upper Deck. The follow-up shot threw JackPot through the air, but it landed upright. However, it struggled to escape as Riptide dished out a third attack in quick succession, throwing Jeff Waters’ robot into the short corner and forcing it to land on its face. Riptide had also lost a weapon belt in these exchanges, but thanks to its redundancy, this did not affect the power of its eggbeater drum. As JackPot did not have the torque in its weapon to self-right, Riptide turned its attention to Ace before attempting to right JackPot in an act of sportsmanship. Although it was now out of the short corner, JackPot was upside-down and its self-righting arms were seemingly no longer working. Riptide delivered one final blow which sent JackPot flailing across the BattleBox. Two of its lithium polymer batteries came loose and lay next to the defeated bot as a count mercifully began on JackPot. Riptide took the win by knockout.
World Championship VII
Riptide vs. Glitch After a highly impressive debut season, Riptide returned for World Championship VII and first faced Team CRB and Glitch - the robot Team Break32 shared the Rookie of the Year award in the previous season. Riptide and Glitch drive towards one another. Riptide throws Glitch over early on. Both robots got their weapons up to speed and as Riptide darted towards its starting square, Glitch strafed to avoid it. However, Riptide's eggbeater spinner caught the widest point of Glitch's chassis, which sent it careening across the BattleBox, slamming into the Upper Deck. Glitch landed upside-down and motionless. Typically able to run inverted or self-right with its weapon, neither its drive or its weapon appeared to be fully functional. "And Glitch lands on its head! Is this a one-and-done?!" — Chris Rose as Glitch is upended Glitch is carried to the Upper Deck. Damage to Riptide's eggbeater drum. Riptide came in for another hit, which both teams mutually agreed was to try and right Glitch. Instead, the screws carried Glitch on top of the hazard, out of reach of its opponent. Only one wheel was twitching on Glitch, which laid helpless on the Upper Deck and was counted out. Riptide won by knockout, starting its campaign with a win.
Riptide vs. MadCatter Keen to build on its winning start, Riptide next faced MadCatter in its first Main Event. Ahead of the fight, much of the pre-fight content highlighted the controversy between Ethan Kurtz and MadCatter driver Calvin Iba, who believed Riptide was a scaled-up copy of his championship-winning beetleweight, Lynx. Whereas Riptide was equipped with its twin forks, MadCatter featured two wedgelets of different lengths as well as the minibot Gassy Cat. Riptide and MadCatter go weapon-to-weapon. Both robots immediately spun up and went weapon-to-weapon, causing Riptide to bounce away. MadCatter initiated another attack, but was thrown into a backflip and saw its shorter wedgelet come loose from its hinges. Riptide also lost its right fork from these exchanges, but built on its momentum, pressing MadCatter back into the blue starting square and delivering a brutal hit to its opponent, tearing away the damaged wedgelet and flipping MadCatter over. "These are knockout shots, Chris!" — Kenny Florian commentates as Riptide refuses to let up MadCatter is knocked out. Before it had a chance to drive to safety, Riptide immediately followed up this attack and used its eggbeater drum to further damage MadCatter, righting it and then beating against its underside. Continuing its assault, Riptide tore a wheel from Martin Mason's machine before throwing it over the paddles, jamming its vertical spinner. MadCatter was unable to escape from this position and was counted out, confirming another knockout win and a 2-0 record for Riptide. Immediately after the buzzer sounded, Riptide proceeded to drive into and fling a solid piece of MadCatter's detached wedgelet, which forced Martin Mason's team to repair it later. This occurred even as referee David Sanfilippo instructed Ethan Kurtz to return Riptide to the blue square and relinquish control of his machine. After Episode 5 premiered, Team Break32 released a public apology via Instagram and Facebook posts, admitting that their decision to hit MadCatter's debris was "unprofessional and dangerous", and stating that they would not repeat this again. Martin Mason ignores Ethan Kurtz's advances. Further controversy awaited in the post-match interviews, where Ethan Kurtz put his hand over Martin Mason's mouth as the camera panned to focus on the MadCatter captain. In response, a visibly annoyed Mason pushed Kurtz's hand away and later ignored his offer to make peace.
Riptide vs. Captain Shrederator Riptide pre-fight. Riptide's penultimate Fight Night opponents were veterans Team LOGICOM and Captain Shrederator. Looking to go 3-0, Team Break32 fitted wedges to either side of the eggbeater spinner, calling this configuration "Rip Current". They later clarified that this setup was created in The Pits, after the team realized that they did not have enough of a weight allowance to use its full anti-horizontal wedge configuration. "In order to win the fight against [Captain] Shrederator tonight, all we really have to do is flip 'em on their back. Our strategy is just gonna go in, we're gonna hit their weapon, keep their weapon not spun up and just try to KO them, hit them on their back and end the fight as soon as possible..." — Ethan Kurtz explains his strategy before the match starts Riptide launches Captain Shrederator across the BattleBox. Riptide quickly weaved away from the red square towards the center, turning left towards Captain Shrederator which had maneuvered over the top-right killsaws. Missing with its attack, it proceeded to chase and catch up with the Team LOGICOM machine, throwing it into the air opposite the control booth. Riptide lunged again at Captain Shrederator, sparks flying as it took a grazing hit to its right wedge. In exchanging another weapon-on-weapon blow, the Team Break32 machine was momentarily thrown onto its side, but landed right-side up through gyroscopic procession. Moments later, Riptide repositioned itself for another attack on Captain Shrederator. It ripped one of the teeth off its opponent's shell spinner, sending it clattering into the outer Lexan enclosure and skidding across the floor. Riptide rounded Captain Shrederator into an Upper Deck screw mount, before landing two quick hits which sent the latter flying onto another screw mount behind the blue square. Captain Shrederator toppled over upon landing, fulfilling the main requirement for Ethan Kurtz's strategy. Riptide destroys the shell of Captain Shrederator. However, Riptide did not cease attacking beyond this point. As Captain Shrederator bounced on its back, it immediately rushed in and hit it twice more along the BattleBox perimeter. These attacks were enough to damage Captain Shrederator's baseplate and tear a significant chunk out of its shell. A third successive hit from Riptide catapulted Captain Shrederator towards the bottom-right wall and pulverizer. Riptide kept attacking Captain Shrederator as the latter freed itself from the wall. Captain Shrederator landed on its now-warped baseplate, the damage effectively leaving it high-centered. Riptide continued attacking the seemingly incapacitated Captain Shrederator, tearing one of its top panels off and flinging it against the control booth wall once again. "Under the new knockout rules implemented for this season, we interpreted Captain Shrederator's spinning as intent to continue the fight. We weren't able to tell the extent of the damage they had taken and had no reason to look over at their team while their robot was moving, which is why we didn't hear or respond to the brief comments made by their team during the match. We just had no idea they wanted to end the match until well after it was over. If we had recognized that they had sustained enough damage to warrant a count-out, or if the referees had started a count-out, or if Shrederator had stopped powering their weapon, we would've backed off." — Riptide Battlebot Facebook post Team LOGICOM protest against Team Break32's prolonged attacks. Members of Team LOGICOM - including captain Brian Nave and driver Jonathan LaPlain - gestured in disapproval, as they attempted to dissuade Team Break32 from damaging Captain Shrederator any further. Nevertheless, Team Break32 did not respond to their communications, with Riptide slamming a partially-inverted Captain Shrederator against the spiked bumper after the latter attempted to free itself through gyroscopic procession. Pieces of the BattleBots banner flew as weapons operator Sid Prabhakaran was shown to encourage Ethan Kurtz to inflict more attacks. "Hit them again!" — Sid Prabhakaran, instructing Ethan Kurtz to deal more damage Riptide plays with Brian Nave's bot. Churning away at Captain Shrederator's shell, Riptide pushed its vulnerable and heavily-damaged opponent across the bottom-right corner. Another heavy blow resulted in it punting Captain Shrederator into an inner Lexan shield, almost causing it to fly over into the door buffer zone behind. The final attack on Captain Shrederator. As soon as Captain Shrederator recoiled back into its path, Riptide threw it one last time onto the spiked bumper, the attack causing electrical sparks to fly from within its badly-damaged opponent. Riptide gyro-danced away and proceeded to fling the top panel it removed from Captain Shrederator across the BattleBox. It was then seen turning and shuffling back towards the red square, returning to it by the time Captain Shrederator was fully counted out. Nick Nave: "A lot of unnecessary damage, by the way." David Sanfilippo: "I know. We've warned [Team Break32] already." Brian Nave: "They don't care, they don't care." — Team LOGICOM raise an official complaint concerning Riptide's excessive attacks The remains of Captain Shrederator leave the BattleBox. Seconds after the fight concluded, an intervention was carried out by referee John Remar, which ended with both Ethan Kurtz and Sid Prabhakaran being required to immediately hand over their transmitters. David Sanfilippo confirmed to Team LOGICOM that a warning had been issued to Team Break32 for the "unnecessary damage" caused to Captain Shrederator, costing nearly $10,000 and later proving to be terminal. This had no impact, however, on Riptide's knockout win or newly-cemented 3-0 record. Chris Rose: "Are you shocked that you can create that much damage in that short amount of time?" Ethan Kurtz: "Yeah. They flew pretty high, and it was pretty hard to tell when they stop, because they just kind of kept moving. So I was like, "I'll guess I'll keep hitting them" but then I felt kind of bad about it." — Ethan Kurtz, revealing the reason behind Riptide's continued attacks on Captain Shrederator The heavily-damaged Captain Shrederator returns to The Pits. In a post-match interview, Ethan Kurtz clarified that he struggled to judge whether Captain Shrederator had become immobilized, despite it being inverted and inherently unable to self-right. Sid Prabhakaran later added that the rotation of Captain Shrederator's shell compelled Team Break32 to believe that it had not stopped moving, also claiming that they did not hear Team LOGICOM's calls to stop damaging their machine. The perception of Captain Shrederator's shell and gyro movements was acknowledged by Team LOGICOM, when they publicly addressed this aspect of the controversy. "...yes, objectively, we hit Captain Shrederator more times than was necessary to knock their robot out. As fellow builders and competitors, we empathize with the financial and emotional strain that a last-minute rebuild can impose on a team, and we apologize to Brian Nave and the Captain Shrederator team for putting them through that. We strongly disagree with the idea that participation in a combat sport justifies the infliction of unnecessary damage, and no one within our sport should condone such behavior." — Riptide Battlebot Facebook post, addressing the controversy over the Captain Shrederator fight Following the initial airing of Episode 10, Team Break32 shared a public apology to Team LOGICOM via a post on the official Riptide Facebook page. Again, they emphasized visibility and noise issues as the reasons preventing them from properly assessing Captain Shrederator's mobility, or responding to their opponents' requests to stop attacking mid-bout.
Riptide vs. Black Dragon Looking to complete an undefeated Fight Night record, Riptide faced the Brazilian Team Uai!rrior and their former Desperado Tournament champion Black Dragon in another Main Event. Shortly after their controversial win over Captain Shrederator, Team Break32 promised to break Black Dragon's streak of 24 matches without a knockout loss. "What happens when an immovable object meets an unstoppable force? We're about to find out..." — Chris Rose pre-fight Riptide cuts Black Dragon off immediately. Riptide immediately drove towards the center of the arena, spinning up as Black Dragon kept to the outside of the BattleBox. The 3-0 bot cut Black Dragon off, however, guiding its front into the eggbeater spinner and throwing it into the screws. Riptide followed this up with several more shots while the Brazilian bot flailed helplessly. "Riptide sends the message immediately... no-one's been able to escape the wrath of this weapon." — Kenny Florian as Black Dragon is on the back foot Riptide throws Black Dragon against the Lexan. Black Dragon finally landed, but lay against the housing for the screws with its wheels off the arena floor. Riptide closed in again, tearing into the back and causing a gaping hole in Black Dragon's frame, and stayed on Black Dragon to insure it doesn't survive. Shrapnel also reached the roof of the BattleBox, shattering a light as glass rained down onto Team Uai!rrior's struggling bot. With their record in serious trouble of coming to an end, Black Dragon's primary weapon continued to spin and the robot turned into the front of Riptide, but rode up its forks again before being launched into the Lexan. Riptide watches on as it ends Black Dragon's streak. Riptide followed this attack up with an assault to the underside of Black Dragon, then striking its wheel and tossing the former semi-finalist through the air once more. Black Dragon landed inverted this time, and appeared to no longer be moving, prompting celebration from Team Break32. Referee John Remar threatened to count Black Dragon out, and began doing just that soon after. With no life in the Brazilian bot, Riptide took the win by knockout, advancing to an unbeaten Fight Night record and becoming the first opponent on record to murder Black Dragon in the process.
Riptide vs. Shatter! Having progressed through the qualifying rounds unbeaten, Riptide took the No.2 seed and met No.31 seed Shatter! in the first round of the tournament bracket. This served as a rematch from the previous season, which was also a Round of 32 battle. The robot itself kept its front fork setup, as Ethan Kurtz maintained faith in the overall power of its eggbeater spinner. "Earlier today, after Riptide had already weighed in at 250lbs, Adam Wrigley's brother Eric found the team backstage allegedly working on their robot. Hmm. Now, modifying a robot after making weight is against the rules, so Shatter! asked to have Riptide weighed again. This time the bot came in at two pounds lighter?!" — Chris Rose's voiceover during the Riptide weigh-in controversy Eric Wrigley confronts Team Break32. Before both competitors had entered the BattleBox, controversy occurred backstage, when Team Break32 were caught 'allegedly' working on Riptide after it had already weighed in at 250lbs. This prompted a brief confrontation between them and Bots FC's Eric Wrigley. Eric's brother, Adam, requested their opponent to be re-weighed and re-inspected under Section 5.6.2 of the Tournament Rules. Riptide undergoes the requested checks. Riptide passed these new checks at a slightly lower weight of 248lbs, along with tachometer checks, ensuring that every Top 32 competitor with a spinning weapon met the 250mph tip speed limit. Despite his machine being cleared to fight, Ethan Kurtz became annoyed with Bots FC, accusing them of "paranoia" over the extra scrutineering processes. "So, Shatter! thinks we're cheating. We are not cheating. Their paranoia is affecting our performance. I think this is really uncool that they did this. I think after this is over, we're gonna rip them apart." — Ethan Kurtz, criticizing Bots FC over their request for Riptide to be re-weighed and re-inspected Both robots collide and Shatter! immediately loses a fork. During the match itself, the two competitors began by immediately ramming each other in the center of the BattleBox. Sparks flew and both robots recoiled as Riptide's eggbeater ripped Shatter!'s left fork off. "Oh, huge shot, and one of the forks is already off of Shatter!" — Chris Rose, as both robots immediately come to blows Shatter! strikes the top of Riptide. Riptide received a nudge as it turned again into the front of Shatter!, which responded by hammering the top of the machine. Turning around, it attacked the front-left corner of the Bots FC machine, buffeting and tearing up the armor panel on that side. As Shatter! strafed across the bottom perimeter, Riptide smashed it into the bumper and bottom-left paddle through another powerful weapon. Chris Rose: "You can hear that deadly eggbeater weapon hummin'!" Kenny Florian: "Oh!" Chris Rose: "Shatter! trying to hold it off -" Kenny Florian: "Oh!" Chris Rose: "- by swinging the hammer, but Riptide chippin' away!" — As Riptide tears off Shatter!'s remaining fork Riptide inflicts a violent sequence of hits upon Shatter!. Riptide continued to give chase, as Shatter! tried to maneuver away with its hammer facing backwards. It began another head-to-head exchange over the bottom-left killsaw slots, pushing and ripping more armor sections off the front of Shatter!, including the remaining fork. In response, however, Shatter! landed another hammer blow to the top of Riptide, but with no significant effects. Riptide quickly rounded Shatter! up and attacked from the left side once again. Lightly buffeting Shatter! at first, a second blow allowed it to throw the former onto its back, sending it sliding into the top-right corner. As Shatter! tried to self-right, Riptide followed, catapulting it against the outer Lexan wall. Kenny Florian: "Brutal follow-up shot! Shatter! trying to right itself, but Riptide... not giving him an inch, Chris!" Chris Rose: "Look at Riptide's weapon, OH, just tearin' pieces apart! Wow!" Kenny Florian: "Yeesh!" — Riptide continues to pressure and tear large pieces of Shatter! off Chris, Kenny and judge Derek Young watch on eagerly. Another series of attacks allowed Riptide to destabilize and maneuver Shatter further into the pocket. Sparks flew as it clipped the back of Shatter!, which was finally able to land back on its wheels. Riptide quickly pushed Shatter! into a screw bumper, tearing off the remains of its opponent's rear panel. As Chris Rose and Kenny Florian watched on, it kept pressuring and got underneath the front of Shatter! with its right fork. Immediately, Shatter! hammered down on Riptide's weapon assembly again. Riptide used this exchange to kick Shatter! upwards and tear the last remaining panel from its front armor. Riptide's assault on Shatter! continues. A few seconds later, Riptide turned back into Shatter!, throwing it against the inner Lexan wall panels in the bottom-right corner. It lunged towards its self-righting opponent, continuing to toss it end-over-end against the blue square screws. Riptide attacked Shatter! twice more in between its self-righting attempts. The second left Shatter! inverted in the bottom-right corner, as it proceeded to tear the latter's right-side panel clean off. Once Shatter! self-righted, Riptide forcefully rammed it under a nearby pulverizer Shatter!, and began buffeting it across the arena perimeter again. These attacks had begun to affect Shatter!'s mobility, though weapons operator Sid Prabhakaran urged Ethan Kurtz to keep attacking. "Go, go, go, go, go..." — Sid Prabhakaran encourages further attacks from Riptide Riptide sends Shatter! careening across the BattleBox. Riptide promptly rammed and threw Shatter! against the control booth Lexan. Another head-to-head collision sent Shatter! spinning into the top-left paddle and corner, where it was caught by a descending pulverizer. With Shatter! immobilized on its left side, Riptide smashed into the back of it once more, almost launching Shatter! over the retracted pulverizer arm. Riptide immediately retreated to the center, crawling slowly back to the blue square as Shatter! - now fully immobile - took repeated blows from the pulverizer. Riptide retreats to the blue square as Shatter! is counted out. Eventually, referee John Remar initiated the count-out for Shatter!, cementing Riptide's fifth consecutive win by knockout. While Team Break32 celebrated their victory, a frustrated Eric Wrigley raised suspicions with his Bots FC teammates about the tip speed of Riptide's eggbeater. Adam calmly assured Eric that he would 'find out' on behalf of Bots FC. Ethan Kurtz: "Clearly, Adam's paranoia cannot stop us, so I don't think anything can stop us." Chris Rose: "What does that mean?" Adam Wrigley [in disbelief]: "Wow." Ethan Kurtz: "[Bots FC] had us check weight three times. Multiple tip speed tests. We don't cheat. We did our thing. We did exactly what we had to do. And yeah, no one's gonna stop us!" — Ethan Kurtz's post-match interview Adam Wrigley rejects Ethan Kurtz's handshake. Though Adam would hold this match - and Riptide's performance - in high regard, more controversy ensued post-fight. During his interview, Ethan Kurtz reaffirmed his suspicion that Adam and Bots FC were "paranoid" over his machine's extra checks, resulting in Adam declining his offer for a handshake. It was revealed during that point that Riptide underwent three separate weigh-ins, two of which went untelevised. Later in the episode - and in the Road to the Giant Nut after-show - Adam stated his belief that Kurtz's remark was disrespectful, unsportsmanlike and unnecessary, though he would agree with Chris Rose that Riptide itself had potential to win the entire championship. "If you're working on your robot in the pit tunnel I'm going to ask for a reweigh - I don't know you, I don't know what you were doing. I still think it's weird [Team Break32] were 2 lbs off - the scales aren't that bad. I don't think it even needed to be brought up at all outside all the other pre fight stuff that always goes on. The fight was great - we lost, but the robot looked good and I thought it was entertaining. The handshake was because of Ethan's comments in the post fight interview - I did not think he showed respect with his comments and I did not think his handshake offer was genuine and worthy of reciprocation." — Adam Wrigley on the controversy pre and post-fight in the Out of the Arena Discord server Not mentioned in the televised show, the work done to Riptide pre-match involved the temporary addition of a three-foot long pickaxe to its eggbeater. Sid Prabhakaran confirmed that this was to have been used as a gag for Team Break32's arena introduction, parodying Shatter!'s own hammer weapons, and to be removed once the robot was inside the BattleBox. Additionally, Prabhakaran stated that the team had not consulted Bots FC about the addition, as they did not perceive it to become an issue. "Production knew what we were doing but we didn’t talk to Shatter about it, we just didn't think taping a pickaxe to the weapon would be a problem for anyone." — Sid Prabhakaran in the Out of the Arena Discord server However, multiple sources claimed that BattleBots production were not informed in advance about the pickaxe attachment, a situation indirectly confirmed by Prabhakaran, in a separate Reddit exchange defending Team Break32's actions and pinning the blame on their Round of 32 opponents. "We told production exactly what we were doing when they asked. Yes, we should've told production beforehand, but this could've also been avoided if Shatter had just came over and asked us what we were doing instead of immediately accusing us of cheating." — Sid Prabhakaran, indirectly debunking his earlier statement on Reddit During the Road to the Giant Nut after-show, Chris Rose publicly reiterated that Riptide had passed both weight and tip speed checks. Despite this, the BattleBots YouTube channel later uploaded this fight, controversy included, as Fight of the Week under the title Was Riptide Cheating?, prompting further discussion among fans and builders alike as to whether Team Break32 should be allowed to remain in the competition and enter future seasons.
Riptide vs. HyperShock In spite of prior controversies, Riptide continued on in the tournament, facing the No.18 seed HyperShock in the Round of 16. As was the case in the previous season's tournament, Riptide sported "Break16" on the side panel to reflect their dynamic team name. Riptide launches HyperShock into the ceiling. The fight began as Ethan Kurtz's machine landed the first attack due to HyperShock overcorrecting into a turn. This sent HyperShock into a series of somersaults which Riptide then took advantage of. After a failed attempt to self-right, Riptide landed an attack into the side of HyperShock, and then another, which sent Will Bales's machine 20 feet into the air, touching the Lexan roof of the BattleBox. "HyperShock just touched the damn ceiling!" — Chris Rose Riptide throws HyperShock across the arena. Upon landing, Riptide continued its relentless attacks on HyperShock which sent it flying towards the Blue Square. Hypershock, struggling to self-right and reset, was hit again which sent it back on its wheels. HyperShock then found an opening which meant that the robot was able to get under Riptide and push it towards the red square. Ethan Kurtz then managed to point Riptide towards the front of HyperShock, landing an attack which ripped the front tyres off Will Bales' machine. HyperShock's drive is damaged and the robot is knocked out. Continuing its unrelenting series of attacks, Riptide managed to rip the front-left wheel tether off HyperShock, before pushing it into the arena wall. HyperShock was left upside-down and stuck on the arena wall, which it eventually managed to break free from. Riptide would then perform another series of unrelenting attacks on HyperShock, which rendered the robot immobile. "They're a sitting duck right now, the chains all tied-up, I think they're jamming up the wheels, they're not going anywhere. That's a parking spot." — Kenny Florian Another angle of the biggest hit of the fight. HyperShock was then counted out by referee John Remar, and Riptide won its sixth fight in a row via knockout, sending it into the quarter-finals of World Championship VII for the second time in two seasons. Team HyperShock's Kyle Awner later confirmed that HyperShock's frame was retired after this loss, and shared concern that his team's robot would become stuck in the rafters. "We were tangled up in the rafters for a couple seconds... I was legit scared we were going to be stuck up there." — Public messages from Team HyperShock's Kyle Awner in the Out of the Arena Discord server
Riptide vs. Copperhead Now in the quarter-finals for the second successive year, Riptide took on the No.10 seed, Copperhead. Again, the team updated their side panel graphic to say "Break8" in reference to their guaranteed quarter-final finish, while exchanging their machine's forks for a set of four smaller ones. Team Break32 learn of Ethan Kurtz's COVID situation. Pre-fight, Team Break32 were hit with the news that their captain and driver Ethan Kurtz had contracted COVID-19, and therefore had to self-isolate. The team originally tried to recruit Aaron Lucas and Jack Barker as stand-in drivers, but this was outlawed by production. "Production didn’t allow it, said only someone already on the team could drive." — Sid Prabhakaran in the Out of the Arena Discord server Team Break32 enter with Ethan Kurtz appearing via video call. With their options limited to Zak Hassanein, who previously drove Deviled Egg in 2018, weapon operator Sid Prabhakaran and VEX Robotics Skills champion Felix Jing, they elected the latter to drive Riptide for this quarter-final battle. Though absent, Ethan Kurtz joined the team via video call for their introduction and post-fight interview. "This will be my first time actually driving Riptide. I'm carrying the burden of our whole team, but I'm also very confident in myself and my ability as a driver. I hope that I'll be able to win this match, so that... when Ethan comes back, we can continue our winning streak. Let's go!" — Felix Jing Riptide starts on the front foot, launching Copperhead into the Lexan. Riptide started the quicker machine, only to turn and expose its left side to Copperhead as the latter maneuvered out of the red square. This allowed Copperhead to flick it up using its own eggbeater, though Riptide immediately began to trade blows with Caustic Creations' machine. The third of these initial hits allowed it to toss Copperhead onto the Upper Deck. As Copperhead negotiated its way off the hazard, Riptide maneuvered over the center of the BattleBox and into the top-left pocket. Both robots immediately came to blows again. Riptide, while losing its inner-front fork, threw Copperhead against the bumper and onto its back a second time. Kenny Florian: "What a start for Felix Jing! These are knockout shots, Chris!" Chris Rose: "Unreal! You can just hear the energy coming off these machines!" — As Riptide builds a damaging early advantage over Copperhead Both bots go weapon-to-weapon. Momentarily, the eggbeater of Team Break32's machine spun up faster, shortly after Riptide caught itself on one of the floor hellraisers. However, Riptide missed with its next charge, taking two blows to its right-hand side from a fleeing - and gyrating - Copperhead. The second occurred as it began reversing out of the corner, and had the unintended effect of kicking Copperhead back upright once again. Riptide initiated another series of three hits on Copperhead, the second and third of which threw the latter into the wall bumper and Lexan. Sparks flew from beneath Riptide as it shuffled back and forth within the pocket. Another spinner-on-spinner collision followed, allowing Riptide to throw Copperhead against the Lexan at an even greater height. However, as it recoiled back over the top-left killsaw slots, and snaked across the inner perimeter, it became clear that the impact had also disabled and split one end of its eggbeater. Kenny Florian: "Uh-oh, look at this! Riptide may be shut down after that shot!" Chris Rose: "Uh-oh!" Kenny Florian: "The bar is split in half on Riptide, Chris! That eggbeater is actually split in half!" Chris Rose: " That is enormous news, because Luke Quintal said "Our weapon does not die. We don’t know if the same can be said for theirs." Unreal!" — Shortly after Riptide loses use of its weapon Copperhead's weapon grinds the front of Riptide as it pushes back. Now without a working weapon, Riptide pushed and pinned Copperhead against an Upper Deck screw mount, only to take multiple blows from Copperhead's own spinner in the process. This pattern continued as both robots separated and Felix Jing attempted to maneuver Caustic Creations' machine across the front of the screws themselves. While repositioning itself and heading into the center, Riptide exposed its left side to Copperhead, which proceeded to nudge, grind and rip two of its remaining front forks off. "So after a hot start, Felix Jing has to drive the next two minutes without a weapon, find a way to stop Copperhead, or at least exert some control. The big question: is the 17-year old up to task?" — Chris Rose as Riptide tries to push Copperhead back While this occurred, the Team Break32 entry gained a traction advantage over the BattleBox floor. Steadily, it pushed Copperhead back over the bottom-left killsaw slots, then the center and the control booth bumper. Sparks flew as Riptide took another direct hit from Copperhead's eggbeater. Both robots broke free, only to lock forks again near the center after Riptide gave chase. Again, Riptide shoved Copperhead into the control booth bumper. This time, the contact between itself and its opponent's spinner was stronger, flipping Riptide over almost instantaneously. Chris Rose: "There's a shot! And now Riptide is on its head!" Kenny Florian: "Riptide was winning the drivetrain battle, but right now, they're inverted and very vulnerable here!" — As Riptide is flipped over the first time Copperhead lands glancing blows on an inverted Riptide. Riptide - now driving along on its top castors - maneuvered slowly to and from the bottom-right paddle. As it did so, it took more damage to its weapon assembly from Copperhead. Both robots locked together over the nearby killsaw slots with one minute and 30 seconds remaining. As Copperhead reversed, Riptide nudged and pursued it across the BattleBox perimeter. When the two competitors met each other in the center once more, it was flicked upwards, then steered and pushed under the bottom-left pulverizer by Luke Quintal's machine. Riptide took even more damage in the process. Once released, it was left tilting on one side as Copperhead had taken a large chunk out of its weapon mount. "Just a little over a minute to go and... Copperhead just all over Riptide. Riptide... needs some kind of a miracle to pull this one off!" — Kenny Florian, as Copperhead pressures and keeps tearing chunks from Riptide's chassis and weapon Struggling to drive away, Riptide took more hits to its back panel and weapon bulkhead. These left it dragging its eggbeater along the floor as Copperhead pursued it towards the Upper Deck. Copperhead inflicted extra blows to Riptide's left-rear wheel and eggbeater, ripping off a large blue chunk from the latter in the process. "Felix is doing whatever he can to try and get Riptide back over... and in fact, his opponent does it for him!" — Chris Rose, as Copperhead flips Riptide back upright Copperhead lands a counter-shot on Riptide, but loses its wheel. Another blow from Copperhead's weapon threw Riptide back into the upright position. Riptide, after briefly retreating, pushed Copperhead back into the center mount for the red square screws. As before, it took more damage from Copperhead, which proceeded to flip Riptide over a second time while also tearing off its last remaining fork. Riptide tumbled 360 degrees back into the center, just as an axle failure caused Copperhead to lose its right wheel. Kenny Florian: "Oh no! Copperhead just lost a wheel!" Chris Rose: "Oh my goodness, the right wheel just fell off! Maybe a result of the violent early collision? Who knows?" Kenny Florian: "Riptide may have an opening here!" — After a push from Riptide causes Copperhead to lose a wheel Riptide pins Copperhead late on. Sensing an opportunity to take advantage of its opponent's issues, Riptide darted behind and pushed Copperhead from the red square to the bottom-right corner. Stopping short of the nearby pulverizer, it forced Caustic Creations' machine under the hazard, before slamming into its eggbeater as Copperhead attempted to escape. Riptide kept pressuring Copperhead across the BattleBox, steering and pressing it spinner-first against the middle mount for the blue square screws. Both teams survive to a decision. With less than twenty seconds remaining, both robots quickly separated. Riptide backed up into the center once again, then rammed Copperhead from the left side at the inner-right perimeter. Felix Jing spent the remainder of the match pushing Copperhead across the center and over the bottom-left killsaws. Copperhead grazed the front of Riptide one last time as the two competitors ended the match nose-to-nose. Once the end buzzer sounded, a quick separation was followed by both teams celebrating a close and dramatic quarter-final match. In the resulting split decision, judge Derek Young scored in favor of Riptide, though ultimately Riptide would lose out to Copperhead. While both teams exchanged handshakes after the post-match interviews, Team Break32 later issued an appeal to contest the decision. Sid Prabhakaran briefly credited Felix Jing for Riptide's 'amazing show', but not before alluding to the 'adversity' Team Break32 faced up to this point. There, he again expressed displeasure over the previous weigh-in controversy from its Round of 32 match, while again insisting that the team was not at fault. Chris Rose: "Team Riptide. First of all, round of applause for Felix. 17-year-old, high school student, from Los Angeles. VEX driving champion. Outstanding. Sid, it's very hard to win a fight without your number one driver. Ethan obviously could not be here. What sort of shockwaves did that send throughout your team?" Sid Prabhakaran: "You know... Ethan's [an] integral part of the team. He brings the energy up in the room - any room - and he's an amazing driver as well. So, hearing the news he couldn't make it was obviously really hard for us. But... we wouldn't be Riptide if we didn't face adversity every single match. Being weighed three times before, being checked multiple times... we know what it's like to face adversity, so we were ready for this. And obviously, Felix put on an amazing show for the audience, and that's what we're here for." — Post-match interview All three judges' score cards, including Derek Young's after the Appeal. During the appeal process, Derek Young reassessed the Aggression points he had given out to both machines. Feeling that Riptide was not as aggressive as he originally thought, Young rescored the category 2-1 in favor of Copperhead, converting the existing decision into an unanimous one. Thus, Riptide was eliminated from World Championship VII following a destructive, yet highly controversial run. Riptide after its loss. Post-fight, Sid Prabhakaran revealed the team used the same eggbeater bar in consecutive matches against HyperShock and Copperhead, and believed excessive wear to be the reason for it to fail and crack in this quarter-final defeat. "In hindsight pretty obvious to swap it, but we just didn't have the man hours to do it the night before." — Sid Prabhakaran on Discord

Results

Competitive Wins/Losses

• Wins: 10
• Losses: 3

Exhibition Wins/Losses

• Wins: 2
• Losses: 0

Total Wins/Losses

• Wins: 12
• Losses: 3

Season	Wins	Losses
World Championship VI	HUGE (Undercard Match) DUCK! (Undercard Match) Shatter! Uppercut Bloodsport (Exhibition Match) JackPot (Exhibition Match/Main Event)	Defender (Undercard Match) SawBlaze
World Championship VII	Glitch (Undercard Match) MadCatter (Main Event) Captain Shrederator (Undercard Match) Black Dragon (Main Event) Shatter! HyperShock	Copperhead

Faruq Tauheed Introductions

“From Tarzana, California, keep out! This water is not fine at all, it’s RIPTIDE!”

"When this Riptide takes over the BattleBox, no lifeguard can save you. Not even Hasselhoff. No Pam Anderson or Carmen Electra running in slow motion. Just you getting devoured by a murderous ocean. It's RIPTIDE!"

"From Tarzana, California, shore, he'll drag you to your doom, but there's no use fighting it so you might as well just go with the flow. It's RIPTIDE!"

"The water's not warm, the water's just scary. You don't need a plot when the ocean's your cemetery. Swimming parallel to the beach will still get you dead because if the water doesn't kill you, you'll get a hole in the head from RIPTIDE!"

"Going up against this team, captained by Ethan Kurtz, chances are you're gonna scream "Ow, that freakin' hurts!". The fight will just be getting started and the next thing you know, he'll be standing over your bot's dead body screaming "LETS GOOO! LET'S GOOOO! AHHHHHH!!". Seriously, man, this dude is insane... anyway, give it up for RIPTIDE!"

"From Tarzana, California, stay out of the water against RIPTIDE!"

"There's plenty of reasons to stay away from the ocean, if we're keeping it real. Like a jellyfish, for instance. I mean, what the hell is that thing's deal? But deep in the sea, the water's had the most violent of notions to grab you and pull you down to the depths of the ocean. Give it up for RIPTIDE!"

"Whoa, dude, this bot is, like, totally sick. I'm stoked on his vibe. Bro, he rips. If you can't hang, you better bail fast because he'll like straight shred the gnar, it'll shred your ass. Cowabunga, dude. It's RIPTIDE!"

"From Tarzana, California, Kurtz and the team will make you hurt and scream, it's RIPTIDE!"

"Most of the members on this team are part of Gen Z. But I'm totally cool, too. Here, check it out and see. A highkey stand for this bot fam. This thing definitely slaps. This weapon just hits different. It passes the vibe check. That's no cap. Call it a BattleBot, their drip ain't sus. See, I can relate to these teams. No, I'm just kidding. I Googled all this. I have no idea what it means. Give it up for RIPTIDE!"

"From Tarzana, California, unfortunately for you, there's no lifeguard in the BattleBox. Watch out for RIPTIDE!"

"He'll take you Under the Sea but you won't meet Flounder or Ariel. You're a Poor Unfortunate Soul receiving an aquatic burial. Pain's Part of Your World if you make this Ocean King lose it. He's got gadgets and gizmos to tear your whatzit from your whozit. He's gonna kill... what that's word again? YOU! It's RIPTIDE!"

"From Tarzana, California, all the pool noodles in the world couldn't save you from RIPTIDE!"

Trivia

• As Riptide progressed through the competition, Team Break32 updated the left-side graphic which typically bore their own name. Break32 became Break16 ahead of their win over Uppercut and Break8 prior to fighting SawBlaze.
  • This team name reset to Break32 ahead of Riptide's second season.
• Riptide was the only robot in the 2021 season's Top 8 to have both a rookie robot and team captain.
• Riptide's 2021 season Rookie of the Year win was the first time a best in show award had been shared among multiple teams.
• Riptide's weapon has become notorious for being impossible to survive against: even DUCK! and Black Dragon couldn't endure its intense punishment despite their reputations as being immortal. Amazingly, the only robt Riptide won by judges decision is currently Bloodsport.