Yes I am now back from the Isle of Wight. It was awesome. However, I can't get to sleep. Here a battle for you to appreciate

ANNIHILATOR FINAL
Axe To Fall vs. Metallic Doom

AXE TO FALL VS. METALLIC DOOM

Booth #1: Lian W
Booth #2: Martijn B

Roboteers, stand by!!!

3€¦2€¦1€¦activate!!!

And the final of the first E.O.T.R Annihilator is underway. And Axe To Fall is starting off as the aggressor, as he charges at the right hand claw of Metallic Doom€¦Lian looks pensive as he€™s unsure as to what will happen€¦but we can see what has happened now: Axe To Fall is underneath the shufflebot, and is driving him across the arena into the wall! Lian looks worried, and he should be, as Martijn activates his horrific hacking device that has been responsible for taking out so many machines in this Annihilator€¦SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! A continual stream of hits, as the axes head slices cleanly into 6mm Titanium shell! And Martijn is trying now to finish here - remember that if he can immobilise one of the pads, it€™s ALL over - but now has to back-off due to pinning. Martijn backs into the arena centre€¦FOLLOWED BY METALLIC DOOM! The axe clearly didn€™t hit anything major, as Lian comes driving in on the attack, but Martijn is ready€¦RAMS STRAIGHT INTO THE SIDE AND BRING THE AXE DOWN! What a performance so far from Martijn, and the axe comes down€¦ONTO THE PAD!! This is now all going wrong for the surprise package so far in this Annihilator, as a hole in formed in the pad, but Lian is quick to spin away. Good stylish 180 spin to get away from further damage, but so far, Lian has a lot of catching up to do. Axe To Fall makes another charge€¦and Lian is now on the run, but is a bit slower at 15mph to the 18mph of this pursuer. Axe To Fall catches up, but Lian is done yet€¦a quick spin whacks Axe To Fall off-course€¦and over the flipping spikes!! FLIP! Axe To Fall does a barrel roll against the wall. That was a poor attack from Axe To Fall, and now Metallic Doom is in on the side of overturned machine. The axe pushes away the machine, so now Axe To Fall is the right way up, but Lian is finally on the attack, and is now able TO GET THE CLAWS INTO PLAY!! And there are the claws slicing through the 15mm Polycarbonate body like nothing: this is the first - and so far only - damage sustained by the Dutch hammer throughout this Annihilator. This is painful to watch for Martijn, but great for Lian - this is the attack he€™s been waiting for! Martijn is now allowed to drive away and does so very speedily, but we don€™t know the full extent of that damage aside from the large gaping crevice in the side of Axe To Fall. Martijn is now on the run, as Lian comes in on the attack again, doing a headlong assault on the axe machine. And this time it works, as Axe To Fall is driven back onto the spike strip hard. The spikes haven€™t come through the shell, but Axe To Fall is still pinned. Martijn fires the axe€¦which is surprisingly limp. The axe barely hits down with enough force to hit the Titanium, unusual for a machine that has been as destructive as this throughout the Annihilator. BUT WE CAN SEE WHY; NITROGEN IS LEAKING FROM THE CREVICE!! This means Lian has done all he needs to! Axe To Fall has gone from being the most dominant machine to being on the back foot. Metallic Doom goes to the pit release button, with the axe machine in his clutches€¦but Martijn is able to get away! Good control now from Martijn€¦and suddenly some aggression as he rams into the claws, and performs the attacking trick from the start once more€¦Metallic Doom is now once again caught on the body of Axe To Fall€¦SMASH into the pit release button, as the fight goes into the final 10 seconds!!
10€¦9€¦
Martijn seems so close to victory, but he can€™t seem to move Metallic Doom around yet€¦
€¦8€¦7€¦
Axe To Fall is now wriggling, but further closer to pitting him!
€¦6€¦5€¦
Axe To Fall drives forward, and Metallic Doom is knocked from the wall, but has his back exposed to Axe To Fall€™s final shove!!
€¦4€¦3€¦
Metallic Doom can€™t seem to get any more grip, as he is shoved€¦ONTO THE EDGE OF THE PIT!!
€¦2€¦1€¦CEASE!!

What a final!! Both machines unpitted and still working, so it€™s down to the judges to choose from Axe To Fall and Metallic Doom for the winner of the first of our two Annihilators. Who will it be?

JD - The scores:

Dominance: The beginning of the match was complexly dominated by Axe To Fall. The ending of the battle was very much in favour of Axe To Fall. The battles middle however, was very even, with moments of Axe To Fall in control, but also times of Metallic Doom in dominance. This goes slightly in favour of Axe To Fall, purely based on the match ending.

Axe To Fall: 3 x 6 = 18
Metallic Doom: 2 x 6 = 12

Damage: While Axe To Fall did create a copule of pepperpot holes in Axe To Fall at the start, and also got a hit in on Metallic Doom€™s shuffling pads, Axe To Fall lost it€™s weapon and take serious cosmetic damage.Due to this fact, and also the fact that Metallic Doom sustained no important damages, Axe To Fall scores lowly for this section

Axe To Fall: 1 x 5 = 5
Metallic Doom: 4 x 5 = 20

Aggression: Throughout the fight, Axe To Fall did become very aggressive, mostly during the beginning and ends of the fight. Metallic Doom did perfom some aggressive moves, such as pinning and also causing the serious damages to Axe To Fall. However, Metallic Doom was very reserved, hence the fact that Axe To Fall nearly clean sweeps this category.

Axe To Fall: 4 x 4 = 20
Metallic Doom: 1 x 4 = 4

Strategy: Both robots had a simple strategy of damaging the opponent while avioiding damage to themselves. Both machines managed this, but Metallic Doom managed it best. Therefore, Metallic Doom slightly edges this section.

Axe To Fall: 2 x 3 = 6
Metallic Doom: 3 x 3 = 9

Control: Both machines had very good moments of aggressive driving, but also good defensive driving. The two main deciding factors is Martijn€™s poor control by driving over the flipping spikes and allowing Metallic Doom to take out the weaponry. However, Axe To Fall nearly pitting Metallic Doom right at the end earns some credit. The section is again nearly level, but Axe To Fall scrapes it for the better overall control through the match.

Axe To Fall: 3 x 2 = 6
Metallic Doom: 2 x 2 = 4

Style: It€™s controversial how to mark this section, as both machines did use stylish forms of control and attacking. Axe To Fall did have the more interesting method of attack, but Metallic Doom had better control, and showed off the main method of attack more effectively.

Axe To Fall: 1 x 1 = 1
Metallic Doom: 4 x 1 = 4

Totals:
Axe To Fall: 57
Metallic Doom: 53

And that is one of the cloest decisions yet! It€™s a 4 point margin: the winner is AXE TO FALL!

Result:
Metallic Doom is doomed to be Metallic scrap!!
AXE TO FALL WINS THE E.O.T.R ANNIHILATOR!!!

And with this note, the first Annihilator match is done :blush: What a tiring experience it was. And now, the Challenge Belt begins. If you're still not aware of the line-up, here you are again:

Challenge Belt:
Gehenna 2 vs. Eye Of Ran III
??? vs. The Servants Assistant
??? vs. Munch
??? vs. Flick Of The Wrist
??? vs. Delirium Tremors
??? vs. Macduff The 5th
??? vs. Exotherm
??? vs. [Parassyte entrant]

If I don't have Parassyte's entrant before the 2nd match - between the holder of The Servant's Assistant - then I will kill that spot and leave it open to someone else :sad: Oh yh, I'm, also still waiting on All Star entrants...still unchanged :x C'mon peeps, I don't bite :wink:

So everyone, tactics, predictions, comments and a REALLY nice cool bed in the warm summer (Oh yeeeeah)