The Crash & Burn Tournament 5

[kodster]

Sigh.

Well I know I'm going to get some complaints for even mentioning this, but... there's basically nothing holding up the Fanfic section anymore. Martijn, I know you keep saying that this place dies and revives in cycles, but I don't think it's reviving this time. Unless some sort of MIRACLE happens, that is. Who even cares about this area of the forum anymore?

This in itself has made me lost the motivation to complete this tournament fully. There is absolutely no more interest, save a few people from other forums. OTHER FORUMS. And with this, I'd like to hereby announce my official retirement from FRA Fanfic after I do something quick with this tournament. It's been a slice. Really.

If any of you really feel that this is unfair, drop me a message and I'll explain my reasoning in further depth. I don't bite. But right now, pretending that FRA Fanfic is going to suddenly boom would be optimistic to the point of foolishness, I fear.

[kodster]

(continued from previous post)

Heat O
Achilles (4) vs. I.A.N.

Remember I said Alex Holt was done making noise? He wasn't. He really wasn't. Achilles actually managed to get I.A.N. beached on top of one the Casino Night bumpers. He then activated the roulette which let Sir Killalot into the arena. Killalot then grabbed I.A.N. and let him down... only for Achilles to barge back in and flip I.A.N. into another bumper, knocking its failsafe out!

Vertigo vs. Frustum

Vertigo racked up an "OOTA" as well. The Lumina Cloth spikes popped up and would have prevented Frustum's demise had Vertigo not sent him so high.

Heat O Final
Achilles (4) vs. Vertigo

Two similar robots... Achilles went with the hydraulic system this time. It allowed him to control Vertigo and send him to hazards efficiently, netting him and the seed team the KO and win!


Heat P
Wedge Devolution (2) vs. Eye of Ran II

Both Steve and Joey have one bot left in the competition, and everything for them depends on this match... it went to a judges decision, who gave it to Eye of Ran II based on damage.

Back to Rock III vs. Shego

The S3-lookalike was lifted over the fence by Back to Rock late in the match, after taking some heavy damage from Shego's blade.

Heat P Final
Eye of Ran II vs. Back to Rock III

Back to Rock's front holds up well to the spinning blade and eventually Martijn gets it stopped and dumps EoR II over the edge of the Lumina Cloth arena, thereupon ending Joey's tournament run.

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Series Semi-Final 1, Round 1
CrOoKeD EvO vs. Achilles (4)

Achilles goes with the pneumatic system and gets another OOTA down to record in his personal records. The seeds haven't given up on championship glory yet!

Kraze vs. Apocalypse II

The battle of four-bar flippers! However, Apocalypse's better controlling of the opponent led to massive flippings which managed to take their toll. Not on Kraze's drivetrain, but its own flipper. It didn't run out of gas, but ceased to work. Once inverted, it was counted out.

WhipCoil vs. Flick of the Wrist

WhipCoil ends the rammer's reign of terror by getting around the forks and grabbing the front corners to deliver Flick's wheels to the Casino Night bumpers. Flick's control was compromised after that and WhipCoil easily won the JD.

All Bar Some vs. Wedga Ennea

Andy himself even thought he was doomed, but his robot proved him wrong as Wedga managed to stack All Bar Some in the DeGroot Keep arena just a minute into the match.


Round 2
WhipCoil vs. Achilles (4)

Major upset - after being flipped around for most of the match, WhipCoil pulls off a Battlegrounds pitting with 10 seconds in the match! Dylan moves on.

Wedga Ennea vs. Apocalypse II

Another late-match win. Apocalypse tosses Wedga all around the arena, but loses gas for the flipper. Wedga then tosses it over. As Apocalypse tries to use its lifting barbs, Wedga pins it against the Land of Confusion arena's wall. Wedga is the pin master! And master of this match, as Andy gets his second Grand Final appearance in a row.

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Series Semi-Final 2, Round 1
Maelstrom vs. Cryoseism

Do you remember what X-Terminator 3 did to St. Agro's wheel? Well Cryoseism completely removed Maelstrom's wheels here, removing them from the tournament.

Revenge of Theseus vs. Munch

Munch was flipped and then flipped over Lumina Cloth's wall of spikes before it even had a chance to self-right! Samuel Park moves on and Jordan Brown, sadly, is out of the tournament...

Back to Rock III vs. Mornington Crescent (11)

Back to Rock continues its reign of dominance over powerful spinners and gangs up on it with the house robots in DeGroot Keep. Despite this, it nearly lost the JD, but aggression swung it for Martijn.

Revolver Ocelot vs. Mobile Failure 2.5 (1)

Like MiDAS before it, Mobile Failure was unable to get Revolover Ocelot under control. Furthermore, it took untold beatings to the unprotected sides and was out of commission before the end, eliminating the last of the seeds.


Round 2
Back to Rock III vs. Revenge of Theseus

A very back-and-forth match between two excellent robots, but the resulting JD was given to Back to Rock, very slightly but in all categories.

Revolver Ocelot vs. Cryoseism

There was a lot more to hit on Ocelot then on Cryoseism. Eventually a wheel got knocked off and that took out Ocelot's control and any hope he had of winning. Josh, sadly, did not make a Grand Final.

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GRAND FINAL
Semis

WhipCoil vs. Back To Rock III

Both incredibly well-controlled robots, but there could only be one winner. Eventually Back to Rock managed to get WhipCoil to the pit, but WhipCoil drove over the lifter and Back to Rock nearly put himself in! As he stopped to reposition, WhipCoil barged in from the side and drove Martijn's robot in!

Wedge Ennea vs. Cryoseism

This really should have been closer, but alas... Cryoseism managed a lot of good hits, but once Wedga Ennea got in there, Cryoseism couldn't escape and it was all over. NFX watched his robot get flipped all over the place and eventually his srimech got disabled by the Casino Night bumpers. Undeterred, Cryoseism tried to spin itself onto its wheels, but in vain, allowing Andy a chance to "defend" his title!

3rd-place Playoff
Cryoseism vs. Back to Rock III

Cryoseism managed to do what no other spinners had and disabled BtR's sawblade after multiple hits. It was as far as he got though, as Back to Rock flipped him over and then took him to the Land of Confusion arena's corner thrusters. A nudge before the flip came altered Cryoseism's trajectory, and Back to Rock got an OOTA, gaining 3rd place! Well done to Nick Fisher and Cryoseism for getting as far as they did though.

FINAL BATTLE
WhipCoil vs. Wedga Ennea

We had to use the Battlegrounds for this. No way we can use any other arena for it.

Wedga gained an early advantage by flipping WhipCoil into the killsaws and damaging WhipCoil's tire a bit. After a few flips, WhipCoil then grabbed Wedga's side and fed him to the Discs of Death at the sides of the arena, damaging Wedga's side greatly. Wedga then nearly managed to flip WhipCoil over the fence, but WhipCoil stayed in. It used its plow to push Wedga into one of the hammer corners, but it didn't do much to Wedga. Wedga brought it back to the killsaws and then WhipCoil really started to lose precise movement. It was still tricky though, because WhipCoil was perfectly invertible. WhipCoil then grabbed hold of Wedga as Wedga was trying to get to the wheels, and nearly shoved it down the pit! But the loss of proper mobility meant that WhipCoil missed the pit, threw one of his OWN wheels over it, and delivered Wedga to Matilda, who lifted Wedga up with her tusks and tried to throw Wedga in the pit WITH WHIPCOIL IN THE WAY. WhipCoil miraculously managed to escape the pit, but in doing so knocked Wedga loose and allowed Wedga to get at his side, but WhipCoil survived ANOTHER OOTA attempt. As this happened, WhipCoil again managed to get its plow under Wedga's side, and SHOVE IT INTO THE OPEN PIT!!!

Tournament rankings
4th = Cryoseism (Nick Fisher)
3rd = Back to Rock III (Martijn Benschop)
2nd = Wedga Ennea (Andrew Jackson)
1st = WhipCoil (Dylan McCarthy)

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Well that's it friends. That's the last ever Crash & Burn tournament. I wish I could SAY I'm sorry it had to come to this, but... yeah. :/ I do legitimately apologize for leaving out the other-weights, but I didn't have enough entrants or stats.

I'll still be as active as ever on other forums, but here marks my official retirement from at least tournament writing. If activity peaks up again, I'll still compete, still redesign my machines. But from here on in, I'm putting the pen down.

I'm at least glad I managed to get the tournament series as far as this, and I thank EVERYBODY who entered in each and every one of them. A really big thank you to you, guys.

Catch you all later, in a far, distant galaxy. Until then, Crash & Burn.

- Kody