Saber

* Season 2
* 2019
* S1.5
* S1

**Saber** (Chinese: **骑士王**, romanized as **Qíshì wáng**, translated to **Cavalier**, **Excalibur**, **Knight King**, **King of Knights** or **The King of Knight**) was a heavyweight robot which has competed in every televised *King of Bots* event, starting with Season 1. An improved version, **Saber II**, competed in the one-off 2018 series *This is Fighting Robots*, and a third version competed in the 2019 Opening Battle and *King of Bots 2*.

As one of the only robots in Season 1 to use a flipper weapon, Saber was able to defeat two British robots in succession; Vulcan in the first round, and The Grubs in the second round. It was ultimately knocked out of Season 1 by multibot Thunder and Lightning, although Saber II fought a variation of the latter in its preliminary group battle in *This is Fighting Robots*. On this occasion, Saber II was chosen to join Sa Beining's team after flipping Wall Breaker over during said melee. However, it would endure a tough draw in the Freestyle Combat rounds, where it ended up getting thrown out of the arena boundaries by Tánshè. As a result, Saber II was eliminated from the Yellow team at this early stage of *This is Fighting Robots*.

In the 2019 Opening Battle, the redesigned Saber represented the blue team, fighting one head-to-head battle against Iron Rooster which it lost on a very close Judges' decision. Saber opened its *King of Bots II* campaign with a win against Magic Windmill, and was nominated as team leader of Di Yang's team, but opted to fight in a two-on-one battle against Drift and Storm Cut, where Saber took major damage and lost. Saber also lost its next battle to the highly improved Vulcan, in a rematch from Season 1, but earned a win by knockout over Shrederator Tiger Claw before being eliminated as a result of Di Yang's other robots losing consecutive bouts.

In Season 1, the team consisted of team captain Xuan Yuan Wen Chen, his fellow classmate of the University of China, Zhang Ji Gang, and his father Xuan Yong Sheng. The team also compete with a featherweight version of Saber at various *King of Bots* events, named Saber-X.

## Versions of Saber

### Saber (King of Bots)

The original Saber (also referred to by the team name **Excalibur**) was one of the largest competitors from the first season, adopting a wedge-shaped design. Its front wedges were attached to hinges, in order to be in contact with the floor at all times, and move when Saber is lifted up. Saber's weapon was a long, thin flipper, decorated with the design of a sword, representative of the mythological sword Excalibur. This flipper was powerful enough to reliably turn other robots over, with an air pressure of 3.5MPA, also throwing a barrel high in testing.

Saber ran on a four-wheel drive system, and was intentionally designed with a high ground clearance at the rear. The latter enabled it to reverse away if another robot drove underneath it. Saber's armor was constructed from HDPE and PC, with wedges made out of NM450.

During televised interviews, Team Excalibur captain Xuan Yuan Wen Chen openly cited Team Robots Live as his 'idols', acknowledging Alan Young's success in helping build *Robot Wars* Series 8 champion Apollo. While the Season 1 Saber features a similar weapon and shape to those of Apollo, it is unclear how much it was directly inspired by the UK heavyweight.

### Saber II (This is Fighting Robots)

For *This is Fighting Robots*, a new version of Saber was built, named **Saber II**. The robot used a new shell with a slightly steeper wedge, and its armor was constructed from NM450 instead of HDPE. The working pressure of the cylinder powering Saber II's flipper was increased from 2.5mpa to 5.5mpa, dramatically increasing the power of the weapon, at the cost of a somewhat slow retraction time. The wedges at the front of Saber were now directly welded onto the robot to prevent them from falling off. While maintaining the four-wheel drive of the original Saber, the wheels of Saber II were much smaller.

### Saber (2019 Opening Battle, King of Bots II)

* The 2019 version of Saber under construction
* Saber with a glass rendition of its logo
* An alternative design render for the 2019 version of Saber
* Saber with Xuan Yuan Wen Chen in *King of Bots II*
1/4
For the 2019 Opening Battle, and subsequently *King of Bots II*, a third version of Saber was built, inheriting the name of the original Season 1 incarnation. This featured a four-wheel drive system similar to its featherweight counterpart, Saber-X, and a revised design utilizing a steel construction with minimal external armor. The 2019 version of Saber can be equipped with a pair of side wedges to offer additional protection for the front wheels, although these were absent from the initial design render for the finalized robot. The flipper retains the arm-like shape of previous versions, but was redesigned to incorporate two fork-like tips in order to help Saber get underneath opponents.

An alternative thicker wedge could also be applied to the front of Saber in Season 2, designed to resist horizontal spinners. To compensate, the lip of the flipper would be refined to a short point when this formation is used, and the point itself would fit inside the anti-spinner wedge rather than running along the floor.

#### Etymology

Saber is inspired by the Japanese video game and anime series *Fate/stay Night*, where a female character named Saber is the wielder of the Excalibur sword, which is held by Xuan Yuan Wen Chen in *King of Bots*. This inspiration is further enforced by the blue-and-white color scheme of Saber, and a reference to the series on the team's Facebook page, and the team name Excalibur is also derived from the same character.

The team name **Excalibur** (Curry Bar in direct translation) is also written on the team's shirts, maintaining the robot's theme of a sword weapon.

## Robot History

### King of Bots (Season 1)

In the first round, Saber fought the British robot Vulcan, built by a former champion of British TV show *Robot Wars*. During the lead-up into this fight, Team Excalibur encountered last-minute issues with one of their machine's hinged front wedges, which was found to have jammed. Emergency repairs were carried out even as the robot was transported into the loading bay. While its introduction was delayed, Saber was repaired in time to join its UK opponent in battle.

"*When I heard that we'd fight against them, I was basically desperate. They have so many years of experience. I'm not a match for them in terms of experience or operation. I can't win, and I can only play by ear.*"
— Xuan Yuan Wen Chen downplays Saber's chances of a debut victory (Mech+ subtitles)

As Vulcan was initially evasive in the start of the battle, Saber chased after it, and managed to drive under the back end of Vulcan to flip it over. Vulcan quickly self-righted, but Saber had taken an early lead. Both robots met in the center of the arena, and missed with their weapons. While backing away, Saber's wedges briefly buckled, allowing Vulcan to catch up to it, and Saber also expended more gas. At this stage, Saber was almost hit by Vulcan's axe, but the British robot drove onto a floor flipper, and was turned over. This caused one of Vulcan's wheels to fall out, so Saber became the more offensive machine, pushing Vulcan back and flipping it over. Although it self-righted, Saber's pursuit caused Vulcan to overturn itself by the power of its axe, and Saber continued to push it backwards. Saber flipped Vulcan back onto its wheel, but as the latter was effectively immobile, Saber paced itself to flip Vulcan into a corner of the arena, where the hammer threatened it. Saber left Vulcan idle as it struggled to self-right over the flame jet, and once Vulcan was counted out, Saber progressed to the next round, having won by knockout with just over thirty seconds left on the clock.

"*I was wondering if I was dreaming. They are the champion of the biggest robot combat competition in the UK in 2016. They've been my idols. I won't forget this victory for the rest of my life.*"
— Xuan Yuan Wen Chen on defeating Team Robots Live (Mech+ subtitles)

"*Our opponents were brilliant, they were great, they drove really well, their flipper's really good. I think they've got a good chance, going further.*"
— Alan Young (Team Robots Live) praises Team Excalibur

In the next round, Saber fought another British entry, multibot The Grubs. While the bar spinners of The Grubs accelerated, the wedge-shaped Banger drove under the side of Saber and briefly trapped it, but Saber was able to escape before Mince and Chop could catch up. Mince waited too long atop the arena's circular saws, and Saber destabilized it, knocking it onto its own bar spinner, and this attack left Mince with limited mobility; Banger was also struggling for controlled movement. Saber also drove straight under Chop, and although the flipper weapon missed, Chop's weapon made contact with the floor and flung the whole robot into the air.

Ann Gribble activated the smokescreen in front of the Excalibur team, but Saber still threw the hardly moving Mince into the Grinder, which fully immobilized it. Chop landed an attack but caused no damage, and Banger finally displayed movement again, but was nearly flipped over by Saber's drive. Saber then reversed over the wedge of Banger, and backed straight into Chop's spinner. Damaged, Chop fled, and erroneously hit its own partner in Banger, immobilizing it, and it was then tossed over by Saber.

Two of the three robots within The Grubs were now immobile, so the overall machine was counted out. Saber was declared the winner of the battle, and The Grubs was eliminated in the second round.

"*It was a good match. We hit him hard a couple of times, he hit us hard and broke one of our robots! He's a tough driver, it's a tough machine, he deserves to win! Well done!*"
— Ian Watts on Saber

Saber then fought another clusterbot, Thunder and Lightning, which used their usual tactic of remaining stationary to power up their spinners, but Saber slammed into the blue half (Lightning) and turned it over with a charge. Lightning retaliated by hitting Saber's back plate with its disc, before proceeding to hug the side of Saber, limiting its movement. A big hit from Lightning threw Saber up into the air, and caused part of its top armor to break loose, only staying on via a rear hinge. Saber backed into the wall, while the red half (Thunder) attempted to use gyro-dancing to right itself, albeit without success, as Thunder became stuck on its left-hand side. While Thunder continued to attack the side of Saber, the larger machine was careful to avoid putting Thunder back on its wheels. Lightning drove into Thunder, but did not succeed in righting its partner, while Saber intentionally remained close to the stranded multibot to keep it immobile. Through its own gyro-dance, Lightning flipped itself over to collide with Thunder, but again did not knock it down until it finally drove into its partner and revived it.

Saber missed a flip, and Lightning struck its wedge, causing damage. Lightning then drove into the Grinder, while Thunder again attempted to gyro-dance back onto its wheels. Lightning then delivered a direct blow to the side of Saber, creating a visible tear. With an aggressive charge, Saber turned Thunder back onto its neutral position. Saber missed its next flip, and neither robot attacked each other for a period, with Saber driving over the floor rods, and Thunder eventually landing a small hit. After Lightning also drove over the rods, it struck the front wedge panel of Saber and damaged it, pushing the heavyweight robot across the arena. Saber also drove into the Grinder while trying to lead Lightning into it. Thunder briefly stopped moving, but Lightning was able to rip off Saber's loose wedge panel entirely.

Saber focused its efforts on the more active Lightning, while Thunder remained passive, and Saber rammed Lightning into the wall. Thunder managed a small attack, driving under the wedge of Saber, but without causing damage. Saber fought Lightning atop the flame jets, but Thunder asserted itself at the right moment to rip away Saber's other front wedge panel, leaving it with only the flipper at the front. Thunder started to dominate, hitting Saber's back end before driving under its front, while Saber's balance was too upset for it to drive under Thunder properly. Towards the end of the battle, Thunder hit the back of Saber, and Lightning attacked the side one more time, finishing with a big hit to Saber's front. The battle went to a Judges' decision, which went in favour of Thunder and Lightning, eliminating Saber at this stage.

Saber also fought in a two-on-two battle alongside Greedy Snake, battling Tánshè as well as facing its first opponent Vulcan for the second time. While the four robots gathered, a sandwiched Saber fired its flipper at thin air. Vulcan capitalized by striking the side of Saber, barely missing the main body. In this time, Tánshè launched Greedy Snake into the plexiglass wall, and then flipped Saber in the same manner. In doing so, Tánshè exposed its back end to Greedy Snake, which picked it up and held it aloft. While Greedy Snake held Tánshè up, Vulcan fought a private battle with Saber, until Greedy Snake turned Tánshè over and released it, forcing Tánshè to self-right powerfully.

Vulcan pressed into the back of Saber, but missed with its axe blow. Tánshè then caught Saber from behind and threw it over, where it slid towards the wall. Greedy Snake charged in to assist it, but Tánshè and Vulcan both trapped the Chinese team there. Vulcan landed two axe blows on the chassis of Saber, while Snake once again grabbed Tánshè, prompting Vulcan to pound the top of Greedy Snake. Saber desperately tried to escape, but the spikes along the wall were holding the robot in place. Greedy Snake was able to pick up Tánshè and turn it over, but Vulcan continually prevented Saber's self-righting by trapping it under the spikes. Vulcan changed targets and pinned Greedy Snake against the arena wall, so Saber struggled its way out of its current position, although this allowed Tánshè to launch it into the corner of the arena.

From there, Tánshè flipped Saber onto the arena wall, under the hammer, before releasing it from the wall in a sportsmanlike move. While Tánshè flipped Saber again, Vulcan slammed into Greedy Snake, and the Chinese robot responded by driving it across the arena, towards the Grinder. Tánshè was still hounding Saber in the corner of the arena, but Saber eventually escaped, and Tánshè drove onto the floor flipper, which threw it over. In a head-to-head collision, Saber's wedge breached Tánshè's, but Tánshè pinned Saber against the wall, with Greedy Snake also making the same move on Vulcan. Saber lightly flicked Tánshè up, but Tánshè then threw Greedy Snake into the air powerfully.

All four robots bumped into one another, until Tánshè threw Saber over, this time leaving it idle, as Saber lacked the power to self-right. In the final ten seconds, Greedy Snake held an inverted Tánshè against the arena floor, but the battle timer elapsed with Saber having been immobile for roughly the duration of the ten seconds, and the battle was sent to a Judges' decision. Despite a strong performance from Greedy Snake, the immobility of Saber at the very end of the battle proved costly, and the Judges awarded the win to Tánshè and Vulcan.

### This is Fighting Robots (Season 1.5)

Saber II competed in *This is Fighting Robots*, although it was not chosen by any celebrity managers during their initial selection process. As a result, it was required to fight a preliminary group battle for a chance to get selected for the main competition. This put Saber II up against Blue, Wall Breaker and Polar Opposite, a redesigned successor to Thunder and Lightning.

At the beginning of the match, Wall Breaker drove up the wedge of Saber II, but reversed away, causing Saber II to fire at the air. Wall Breaker fired its flamethrower while Saber II mistimed another flip, and took an initial backseat approach to the battle. Negative Charge (Polar Opposite) drove itself underneath Blue, and Wall Breaker attempted to grab the orange multibot. However, this allowed Saber II to drive under Wall Breaker and toss it across the arena. This attack impressed Sa Beining, who chose Saber II to join the Yellow team as a result. Although Wall Breaker landed on its wheels, Saber II followed this up with a flip which turned Blue and Wall Breaker over with a single attack. Although Saber II was axed by Blue at the end of the battle, it had already qualified for the main competition through being placed on Beining's team.

"*I'm happy to be included, but the current situation is... Over there, [the Green corner] is royalty. The Forbidden City. Over here [Blue corner] is an affluent neighbourhood. Team Wu Chun: Affluent Neighbourhood. We are the ghetto here.*"
— Xuan Yuan Wen Chen jokes about the overall quality of the Yellow team line-up (Mech+ subtitles, edited)

Away from combat, the Excalibur team made further appearances in the 'learning' process aired in Episode 2. Xuan Yuan Wen Chen thanked Beining for selecting Saber II to join the Yellow team, but joked about their 'Learning Corner' being a "ghetto", in terms of fame and overall robot quality compared to others. He also opposed Beining's initial strategy of pitting Saber II against the similarly-armed Tánshè, believing that it would not suit his team's machine in the long term.

In the second battle of the first Freestyle Combat round, Beining selected Saber II to compete as his 'start-up' robot for the match. This decision was praised by fellow Yellow team roboteers including Brian Nave and the captain of Golden Hoops, who both considered it a 'well-rounded' machine. Saber II's capabilities prompted Zhang Yishan to not compete, as he did not wish to let any of his own robots get defeated by it. Wu Chun and Zheng Shuang sent in ORBY Blade and Tánshè respectively, the latter ironically making Beining fearful in light of the latter's *King of Bots* track record.

In pre-battle preparations, Sa Beining stood by the Excalibur team, wielding their sword in support of Saber II.

Fearing the spinning blade of ORBY Blade, Saber II charged straight into the South Korean machine to deflect it, but fired its flipper at no visible target, forcing Saber II to retreat. Saber II next fired its flipper in the vicinity of Tánshè, but again missed, and spent a long period retracting its flipper. During this time, Tánshè collected ORBY Blade and threw it out of the arena. Saber II reversed away from Tánshè, but was pushed along the wall while on top of Tánshè's wedge. Saber II broke free, but could not flee from the quicker Tánshè machine, which pressured Saber II towards the opposite corner of the arena. Tánshè lunged Saber II into the air, and Saber II landed on the wall in the corner of the arena, instantly eliminating it by knockout after less than a minute.

**Xuan Yuan Wen Chen**: "*This is my idol.*"
**Sa Beining**: "*Who cares about your idol! At this time, even if the opponent is Michael Jordan, you still have to fight!*"
— The Excalibur team and Sa Beining respond to Saber II's wall-stranding

Sa Beining was glad to know that Saber II emerged relatively undamaged, insisting at the time that he was using it as 'bait' against his more potent opponents. At the end of the first Freestyle round, Beining had to eliminate one robot from his team upon finishing as runner-up, out of those which had already fought under his name. To the surprise of the roboteers in attendance, who were expecting Golden Hoops to be eliminated, Saber II was cut from the Yellow team in favor of the similarly-armed EarthShaker, abruptly ending its run in *This is Fighting Robots*.

### 2019 Opening Battle

Saber was one of ten heavyweight competitors to participate in the 2019 Opening Battle, held to promote the upcoming second season. There, it was selected to become part of the blue team, and faced the thwackbot Iron Rooster in its solitary head-to-head battle. Initially, Saber made its way towards the center of the arena, before circling around, chasing and throwing Iron Rooster off-balance with its flipper. In return, Iron Rooster’s blade hit the top of Saber’s flipper; undaunted, Saber drove around and underneath Iron Rooster, sustaining a blow to its wedge while flicking its opponent’s blade away. The two competitors circled round each other a few times, with Saber proceeding to drive underneath Iron Rooster and its wheels a few more times. These attacks allowed it to knock Iron Rooster off-balance and at one point launch its opponent into the air. Eventually, Saber threw Iron Rooster towards the nearby grinders, before pursuing and dodging a lunge from the latter.

Slaloming its way past the flame jet and the pit, Saber chased and nudged Iron Rooster across the arena, before once again driving underneath and tipping Iron Rooster off-balance. It proceeded to shepherd Iron Rooster into the corner, using its flipper to shield itself from Iron Rooster’s swinging blade. Saber retreated for another drive, only to bump into the floor flipper as it circled around and towards Iron Rooster. From there, it sustained a few more blows from Iron Rooster’s blade, while bumping and knocking the black and red axlebot along the arena perimeter. After driving underneath Iron Rooster once more, Saber lured the former around the pit, before turning and throwing Iron Rooster into the air with a shove. Saber chased Iron Rooster once more, only for Iron Rooster to strike its rear armor and one of its wheels. Undeterred, Saber ducked under Iron Rooster again, compelling the Team Cybermark machine to give chase.

Both competitors converged in the blue corner, where Saber again got underneath and lifted Iron Rooster a few times. Saber drove away and around the perimeter of the blue square, dodging a lunge from Iron Rooster before gingerly lifting the latter onto one wheel again. Withstanding another powerful strike from Iron Rooster, it proceeded to pursue Iron Rooster towards the red corner; there, Saber rammed and lifted Iron Rooster into the air once more. Saber continued to pressure Iron Rooster in the closing seconds, shepherding it towards the pit. However, just after the clock reached zero, Saber accidentally swerved itself in, and spent several seconds driving inside while trying unsuccessfully to lift itself out. As this occurred after the battle’s conclusion, Saber still survived to a Judges’ decision regardless; even so, the decision ruled unanimously in favor of Iron Rooster, marking a loss for the new Saber. At this stage of the Opening Battle, this also marked a second consecutive defeat for the blue team.

### King of Bots II (Season 2)

Before the main season began, Saber competed in a two-on-two battle alongside teammate Mist Lion, not included as part of the main series. The duo fought Doraemon and Agate in their battle.

At the start of the fight it was clear that Mist Lion's drum was not turning, so Saber engaged with Doraemon, which was attempting to spin up to top speed. Doraemon collided with the arena wall, and Agate missed its swing towards Saber, putting that team at an opening deficit shortly before Saber flung Doraemon into the arena wall, causing it to land upside-down. Agate bumped into the weaponless Mist Lion, but Saber caught up to it, and Mist Lion was able to slightly push Agate back. Attempting to attack, Agate pushed its defeated teammate aside and swung its hammer at Saber but missed, instead wedging under Saber while Doraemon was counted out. The three active robots circled around each other in a two-against-one scenario until Saber found its way under Agate and threw it back.

Another charge from Saber briefly buckled Agate's armor, although Agate responded with a slam of its own hammer which allowed it to drive Saber across the arena. Mist Lion and Saber then completed a pincer attack on Agate, again throwing up its loose shell, and Mist Lion then drove directly into the exposed back end of Agate. From this, Agate lost drive on one side, and Saber then threw it over. Agate had landed on the Grinder and could not swing its weapon, leaving it to be counted out by the referee, making Saber and Mist Lion the winners.

In the main competition, Saber was nominated to take part in the last fight of Episode 1 by Di Yang, who had recognized the robot from its earlier warm-up fight. This allowed Saber to fight against Magic Windmill in its first broadcast battle, where it initially impressed the audience and celebrities by throwing itself over and self-righting before the fight began.

Saber immediately tried to chase down Magic Windmill, which was spinning its weapon up to speed. While trying to dodge Saber, Magic Windmill ended up driving flywheel-first into the spikes near the former’s control booth. Sparks flew as it hopped and reversed; seconds later, Saber got underneath and catapulted Magic Windmill across the arena. Magic Windmill somersaulted back onto its wheels as its flywheel touched the floor; after catching the edges of the pit, it responded by tearing Saber’s left sidepod open and breaking one of its drive chains.

The two competitors bumped each other, at which point Saber threw Magic Windmill onto its back. Amidst a shower of sparks, Magic Windmill kicked itself back onto its wheels a second time, momentarily coming to rest in the red corner. Immediately, it darted into the side of Saber, ripping off its right-front wheel and buckling part of its front armor. Despite this strong challenge, problems began to set in for Magic Windmill. As it dodged another attempted flip from Saber, its flywheel suddenly stopped spinning, rendering it weaponless and without any self-righting capabilities.

Saber met Magic Windmill again near the center of the arena, launching a third flip which threw Magic Windmill a full 360 degrees. Seconds later, Saber threw it onto its back yet again, the attack also causing Magic Windmill’s right-hand drive chain to break. Magic Windmill attempted to move with its left wheels, but could not gain any purchase to drive upside-down. As a result, it was counted out and eliminated from the battle via knockout, and Saber won the battle.

Moving into the next stage, Saber was nominated to be the team leader of Di Yang's roster, which also included Rhino, ORBY Blade, Mist Lion, and Cracked Sword. However, after Cracked Sword was defeated by Megabyte and the team of ORBY Blade and Rhino lost to Spectre and Cat King, Saber was left in an unusual position. While Saber was initially intended to team up with Mist Lion and fight against Drift and Storm Cut, this would not be enough to redeem Di Yang's earlier two losses, so Saber instead opted to fight Drift and Storm Cut alone. For the battle, Saber was equipped with its anti-spinner defence setup.

Initially, Saber and Drift approached each other, but Drift proved to have the lower ground clearance and repeatedly exposed Saber's front wedge while pushing it towards the hazards. Under pressure from Drift, Saber twice drove within reach of Storm Cut's spinner, the first hit resulting in one of its sidepods being torn open. Saber drove head-on into and underneath Storm Cut, steering it into Drift before spectacularly throwing it across the arena. Saber's two opponents retreated to the blue corner, at which point Saber rammed Drift again, but got steered into the wall spikes by Drift.

Storm Cut got its spinner rotating again, staying out of trouble while Drift drove on top of Saber's flipper and unsuccessfully tried to throw it against the corner. For some time, Saber remained in the blue corner, its front-left wheel buckled and the robot seemingly hesitant to drive away. Eventually, it reversed into Storm Cut, whose spinner ruptured Saber's CO2 supply and immobilized it completely. With its electronics, right-rear wheel and back panel also seriously damaged, Saber was promptly counted out, and rounded off a series of three consecutive losses from Di Yang.

In the next round, all of the team captains faced off against each other, resulting in Saber fighting against Vulcan in a long-awaited rematch from Season 1.

Vulcan initiated the Season 1 rematch by slightly wedging under the front of Saber, edging it towards the wall, from which Saber sped away - but Vulcan caught up and flipped it from behind, throwing it across the arena. Saber landed directly onto a Grinder for a painful landing, although this did put Saber back on its wheels. On its own charge, Saber drove straight under the front end of Vulcan, but mistimed its flip, and turned itself over. Although Saber self-righted, Vulcan was already pushing it from behind, and used this chance to blast Saber into the corner of the arena. Had there been more room in this section of the arena, Saber would have been thrown out of the arena for an instant KO, but it instead bounced off the outer wall, and landed on top of the arena barrier before tumbling back in. Saber fired its flipper in an attempt to self-right, but instead bounced high into the air and landed inverted again.

Saber self-righted more effectively with a follow-up flip, but Vulcan had already positioned itself under Saber, and threw it upwards again, clipping the Grinder on its way down and still landed inverted. Saber finally put itself back onto its wheels after this attack, while Vulcan was thrown off-guard by the intervening floor flipper. With Saber mostly spinning in place, Vulcan drove underneath it easily, and again launched Saber across the arena, causing it to hit the wall near the referee. Saber made its escape, but rode up the front wedge of Vulcan on its next attempt at an attack, and was chucked back into the wall where it had just come from.

At this stage, Saber was at a huge deficit, but it was finally able to slot its forks under the side of Vulcan and flicked the British machine up, but not over. Vulcan, however, was relatively unaffected and instantly responded with a combo of two back-to-back flips, which still ended with Saber landing back on Vulcan's wedge. Saber attempted to flip itself free, but instead shook off its own side armor, and overturned itself again. The two robots separated, but Saber again drove up the front wedge of Vulcan, exposing itself to another flip. Both robots fired their flippers wildly in the final few seconds, with Vulcan completing its ninth flip on Saber in the process, when time expired on the battle. The resulting Judges' decision went resoundingly in the favor of Vulcan, costing Saber and Di Yang a point.

Saber and Di Yang next fought against Huang Jian Xiang and his American representative Shrederator Tiger Claw.

Saber sped out of the gates, arriving at Shrederator Tiger Claw only three seconds into the battle, disrupting its attempted spin-up. Shrederator Tiger Claw landed poorly, losing a collar upon landing, and was generally unstable, causing it to shed weapon teeth as it recoiled around the arena, failing to land back on its wheels. Shrederator Tiger Claw eventually reached solid ground after completely stopping its spinning motion on the arena wall, and was forced to spin back up to speed again, but struggled to move at all due to the magnets inside the robot preventing it from driving, and Saber knocked it towards the corner of the arena. When Shrederator Tiger Claw started moving again, it hit Saber directly on the front, and although it was sent sailing into the air in the process, the hit had disabled half of Saber's drive system, with one of its drive chains now hanging loosely. Saber continued to tilt into Shrederator Tiger Claw on its one working side of drive, with the American machine again motionless, and on this occasion, it did not come back to life. Therefore, Saber won the battle by knockout despite being reduced to only half of its drive.

Although Saber's final battle resulted in victory, it would later be eliminated from the competition without the chance to defend itself, following consecutive losses from Boxing Champion and Cracked Sword of Di Yang's team, which led to Di Yang, Saber, Cracked Sword and Rhino all being knocked out together.

## Results

### Wins/Losses

* Wins: 4
* Losses: 6

* *NOTE 1: Saber II's preliminary group battle in This is Fighting Robots is not considered to be a win or a loss.*
* *NOTE 2: Saber's warm-up battle in Season 2 is not included.*

## Series Record

 Season 2 | **Di Yang's team**(2-2 record)

*NOTE: The Excalibur team also entered King of Bots featherweight competitions with Saber-X.*

## Outside King of Bots

* Poison 1
* Poison 2
* Poison 3
* The team's new featherweight crusher design
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Aside from Saber, the Excalibur team have experience in building featherweight robots. The team have built three versions of a featherweight named **Poison**, all of which were armed with a vertical spinner. The third version, **Poison 3**, featured a much larger disc compared to the small spinners of Poison 1 and Poison 2, with its 270mm weapon being driven be a 3KW brushless motor, for a top speed of 4000rpm. The robot was driven by two 775 motors, and featured a front 3mm titanium wedge. At the featherweight division of *Fighting My Bots*, it defeated **Dust Alchemist** and **Killer** in the first two rounds. The Excalibur team have also conceptualized a new featherweight design, armed with a crusher.

* An early version of Saber-X
* Saber-X with its Beijing 2018 trophy
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The team have also created **Saber-X** (originally **Mini-Saber**), a featherweight armed with a broad full-pressure flipper. This proved to be a successful robot, winning the Beijing featherweight championship hosted by *King of Bots* and reaching the Top 20 at the subsequent 2018 UK International Championships. For more information on Saber-X's UK performance, see Saber-X.

## Trivia

* Team captain Xuan Yuan Wen Chen held his own replica sword in promotional shots, and his entrance to the arena. This replica was based on the game series *Fate/stay Night*, just like the robot Saber.
	+ To reinforce the anime and video game-inspired theme behind Saber, Japanese anime characters also appeared frequently in Xuan Yuan Wen Chen's builder bio.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/saberkobrobot/posts/2380682695337655
2. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/saberkobrobot/posts/1643152122424053
3. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/saberkobrobot/videos/1777143429024921/

## External Links

* Saber- King of Bots Facebook page
* Saber on the official *King of Bots* website (Chinese, archived)