King of Bots (Season 2)/Episode 11

Season 2 title card

The **eleventh episode of *King of Bots II*** aired on September 22nd 2019. It continued the rotation stage introduced in the previous episode, resulting in Zhu Zheng Ting and Di Yang's teams being eliminated from the competition.

## Competing robots

* Black Rabbit
* Boxing Champion
* Cracked Sword
* Flaming Wheel
* Megabyte
* Rhino
* Spectre
* Two BBQ
* Vulcan

*NOTE: Snake was also eliminated following its loss to Megabyte in the previous episode.*

*NOTE: Saber, Switch and The Hounds were also eliminated in this episode without being selected to fight.*

## Setup

This episode began with the conclusion of the previous episode, where Zhu Zheng Ting chose to eliminate Snake from his team following its loss to Megabyte.

This episode continued the rotation stage introduced in Episode 10, where celebrity managers would compete against each other in a series of head-to-head battles. Each fight would lead to one robot being knocked out of the competition, gradually depleting each celebrity's roster. If a celebrity team was reduced to three robots, and lost again after this, the entire team would be eliminated, regardless of whether all of their robots had been selected to fight in this round.

## Rotations

### Spectre (Ye Hong Li) vs Boxing Champion (Di Yang)

"*I'm very excited to get the opportunity to face Spectre. They're one of the best robots here. They're very, very, very hard to beat. But I hope we can at least punch off a tooth!*"
— Aren Hill

Boxing Champion entered the battle with very lengthy forks, but Spectre planned out its approach and breached straight under the forks by turning into them sideways. The robots separated and circled around each other, scheming out how to win the ground clearance game again, but upon Spectre's approach, Boxing Champion fired its punching disc and tore away Spectre's single tooth from its crusher. This left Spectre purely as a grabber, with limited damage output. Spectre was still able to ram Boxing Champion into the arena wall, where the hammer fell down, but struck Spectre instead. Unfazed, Spectre drove back under the side of Boxing Champion and clamped down, then rammed the American machine into the Grinder.

After this, Spectre maintained its grip and rammed Boxing Champion into opposing arena walls, for a high level of impact ramming damage. With Boxing Champion making its escape, Spectre caught it almost instantly, and swerved it over the housing for the arena saws. Boxing Champion's lengthy forks slotted right down the arena hazard, and pinned it in place, with its wheels positioned high off the arena floor. This completed the game plan that Spectre had conceptualised from the beginning of the match, with Boxing Champion's wedge modifications backfiring drastically. Spectre backed off and the referee counted Boxing Champion out, awarding the win to Ye Hong Li's team.

"*We knew that we had to outdrive them, we couldn't go head-to-head. One of the key things we noticed is that with the really long forks, we could try to use that to our advantage, we could try and get them jammed down there. I think it was a big mistake to use the long forks, because we did exactly that.*"
— Grant Cooper

**Winner: Spectre**

### Result

At the end of his first fight in this stage, Di Yang was forced to eliminate Boxing Champion, which had enjoyed a strong run in the "Attrition War". Aren Hill, Boxing Champion's team captain, promised a return with a new version of his machine, and remained optimistic that Yang's team would still be competitive without it.

"*This has been my first ever trip to China, and I have been treated amazingly. I'm very excited and happy about the fact that I got to join Yang Di's team. I could not have asked for better teammates. I joined late, I was able to fight for him, did well. But then, I got the opportunity to face two of the greatest robots here. Made it a good fight, but not quite there yet... I wish this team nothing but the best. I think we'll get the next fight - [Yang's] got it!*"
— Aren Hill, following Boxing Champion's elimination

**Eliminated: Boxing Champion**

### Rhino (Di Yang) vs Flaming Wheel (Huang Jian Xiang)

Rhino entered the battle with its thick plough wedge designed to combat horizontal spinners. The battle proved to be extremely quick, as Rhino chased down its opponent which had quickly spun up to a reasonable speed, while Rhino was not spinning its own blade at all. Upon contact near the arena wall, Flaming Wheel struck the hardened wedge of Rhino and deflected high into the air, unbalancing while airborne, and landed on one of its weapon teeth. This rough landing caused Flaming Wheel to gyrate over, and onto its back. Rhino was keenly aware that its win by KO had been secured by its hit landed in the first five seconds of the match, and it backed off while the referee counted Flaming Wheel out.

**Winner: Rhino**

### Result

Following its loss, Huang Jian Xiang solemnly chose to eliminate Flaming Wheel, but not without giving its team captain hugs and words of encouragement following its performance throughout the season.

**Eliminated: Flaming Wheel**

### Megabyte (Ye Hong Li) vs Two BBQ (Zhu Zheng Ting)

Before the battle, Song Peng of the Two BBQ team went over to wish Robotic Destruction Company well; in return, John Mladenik anticipated a ‘good fight’ between the two spinner-wielding robots. Megabyte entered the arena in its regular configuration, minus the front fork and minibot.

In a very brief fight, Two BBQ immediately rushed towards Megabyte, but lifted onto one side as it spun round near the wall spikes. Megabyte momentarily lifted itself as well while getting its shell up to full speed, at which point Two BBQ rammed and sent it recoiling into a grinder. However, the impact caused Two BBQ to flip over and spin on its side towards a control booth, where it was left driving in circles against its own weapon mount. Unable to right itself, Two BBQ was counted out, having smoked its right-rear tire and maneuvered closer to the wall spikes in the process. Megabyte, which spun up its shell again but declined to attack further, was declared the winner via knockout.

**Winner: Megabyte**

### Result

For the third time in this round, Zhu Zheng Ting was required to eliminate one of his robots, with Kevin Cleasby immediately believing that he would try to drop Switch again. During a team discussion, and in wake of its defeat, Two BBQ captain Song Peng volunteered to eliminate his own robot from the competition, transferring its captaincy of Ting's team to Black Rabbit. This decision was met with sadness and support from Two BBQ's teammates, including Cleasby and Ellis Ware.

"*He wanted to put himself up and leave, and whilst that is... he's a very strong member of our team, I completely understand that position. It's very honorable, and I supported him in his decision.*"
— Ellis Ware, on Two BBQ rescinding its team captaincy

**Eliminated: Two BBQ**

### Black Rabbit (Zhu Zheng Ting) vs Rhino (Di Yang)

"*Black Rabbit is such a difficult robot to beat, its weapon is very strong, but he hasn't yet met Rhino. When he fights us, he's gonna feel the full force of our driving power and our weapon. I'm planning to shoot that rabbit!*"
— Robert Pickford

Although Rhino was quicker off the mark, it was Black Rabbit that delivered the first hit, tossing Rhino into the air. Black Rabbit followed this up by pursuing Rhino and breaching its opponent's wedge with its own front forks. This allowed Black Rabbit to smash Rhino into the Grinder, causing it to flip through the air, especially after landing spinner-first into the arena hazard. Rhino initially landed on its front end, but Black Rabbit knocked it down, and Rhino used its self-righting mechanism to quickly turn itself back over. Black Rabbit still maintained its advantage, nipping at the sides of Rhino and edging it into a corner, where it became clear that Rhino had lost drive on one side.

Black Rabbit backed off and spun up its drum while Rhino attempted to swerve its way across the arena, giving Black Rabbit ample time to measure up its attacks, pushing Rhino across the floor, and knocking it up with a frontal hit. Rhino did intercept Black Rabbit's next drive, landing a hit with its vertical spinner, although this proved to be its only attack of the match. In a sudden turn of events, Black Rabbit attempted to circle around Rhino, which was turning back and forth over the arena saws, and one of Black Rabbit's front forks fell through the slots for the arena hazards. Black Rabbit was completely stuck in place, and Rhino moved away, waiting for Black Rabbit to be counted out. Rhino and Di Yang then emerged as the all-important winners of this battle against Black Rabbit and Zhu Zheng Ting.

"*I knew we were in trouble, but Paul kept moving around. We had a couple of hits, but nothing major. Wow, that was close. I'm so lucky that he got stuck in the arena.*"
— Robert Pickford

**Winner: Rhino**

### Result

Following a second consecutive defeat in this episode, Zhu Zheng Ting was eliminated along with his three remaining robots. In addition to Black Rabbit, Switch and The Hounds were also knocked out, despite neither of them being chosen to fight at this stage.

**Eliminated: Black Rabbit, Switch, The Hounds**

### Vulcan (Huang Jian Xiang) vs Cracked Sword (Di Yang)

Vulcan darted across the arena to face Cracked Sword, which slalomed its way out of the blue corner to dodge the UK machine’s charge. Some time elapsed before Cracked Sword lunged at Vulcan, only to drive across the arena towards one of the control booths. As it spun round a few times, this allowed Vulcan to drive underneath and push Cracked Sword spinner-first into the wall spikes. The impact flung Cracked Sword into violent aerial spins, causing one of its wheels to shear off and sparks to fly as its bar spinner hit the floor. Landing upside-down, Cracked Sword’s weapon was severely damaged by this attack, with half of its spinner almost completely broken off as Vulcan began pressuring it again.

Moments later, Vulcan twice got underneath and threw Cracked Sword into the grinders, the first flip causing Cracked Sword’s spinner to snap in two as it hit the upper wall. Cracked Sword attempted to spin up the remains of its weapon, but soon powered it down again after shaking violently and damaging part of its own internals. Vulcan drove to the far side of the arena while Cracked Sword weaved away from the grinders on its remaining wheel, before scooping up, shepherding and throwing Cracked Sword around in the corner. Cracked Sword was momentarily flicked upwards by a grinder upon being steered into it by Vulcan, and was thrown four more times in the corner by the Team Robots Live entry. Eventually, Vulcan threw Cracked Sword onto and over the wall, securing an emphatic knockout victory for Huang Jian Xiang.

"*[Cracked Sword] joined the fight even though he had a lot of damage, he couldn’t drive properly and his weapon had more or less stopped. He was still trying to move and he was still trying to fight. We got him in the corner, and once I got him in the corner, I knew I just wanted him out of the arena.*"
— Alan Young, commenting on Cracked Sword's perseverance

**Winner: Vulcan**

### Result

Cracked Sword's defeat resulted in Di Yang's team - by that point reduced to three robots - being eliminated. This also saw the elimination of Rhino, despite its two victories earlier in the episode, and Saber, which had not been selected to fight at this stage. Several roboteers who competed for Yang - including Robert Pickford and Aren Hill - praised him for his leadership, while Yang and his team received a jubilant send-off as they left the arena for the last time.

"*Yang has been a fantastic celebrity leader. He is interested in what we're doing, he's learnt a lot about robots, he's interested in us as people as well. I loved doing this with you, and I loved doing this with the team. It's been brilliant, I want to do it again, so hopefully we can try another time.*"
— Robert Pickford, complementing Di Yang's leadership

**Eliminated: Cracked Sword, Rhino, Saber**

## Teams

With the elimination of Zhu Zheng Ting and Di Yang's teams, Ye Hong Li and Huang Jian Xiang were left as the remaining celebrity leaders going into the final episode, with five robots each.