Fight Breakdown
Jonathan Schultz
HUGE vs. Sawblaze - WCVII Fight #9 - Finals!

There isn’t much that can prepare you mentally for actually having an opportunity to fight for the Giant Nut. Many members of Team HUGE have had opportunities to win events in the past, whether that be local events or NHRL tournaments. And we’ve even actually won some of them! But the specific stresses, the atmosphere, the effort level, and the costs of Battlebots just make it something exceptional compared to anything else. This is the moment you dream of.

HUGE vs. Sawblaze - WCVII Fight #9 - Finals!
Fight Breakdown
Jonathan Schultz
HUGE vs. Copperhead - WCVII Fight #8 - ...

With a win in the Round of 8 over Witch Doctor, we realized that World Championship 7 was crossing from “a great year” into something even more magical. To be fighting for a spot in the finals, after the last 2 seasons HUGE had, served to show how far we had come and how much we had learned.

Copperhead would be our third opponent in a row that was a very short, compact, and highly-competitive vertical spinner. For lack of a better term, we had talked a lot of smack talk for a long time about the small-vertical-spinner type of opponent. And in our last two fights, HUGE lost the use of its weapon due to getting punched very hard upwards (MadCatter) and hitting a very solid object (Witch Doctor).

As for Copperhead, looking at the bot, they appear to have two main design goals:

  • Punch things upwards very hard

  • Be a very solid object for people to hit

Crap.

HUGE vs. Copperhead - WCVII Fight #8 - Semi-Finals!

HUGE vs. Hydra - 2020 Fight #2

HUGE vs. Hydra - 2020 Fight #2

Well, what can be said that already hasn’t been said. The fight that sparked a thousand arguments. The fight that even Discovery hated.

This was a really interesting fight, and an interesting attachment to try to solve. We went into the fight with a number of plans for how to attack the bike rack, the most successful being our attempt to lift it with the rear support legs of the robot. But after our promising first attempt at that strategy, we were pinned in the corner for the remaining 90 seconds of the fight.

HUGE vs. Mammoth - 2020 Fight #1

HUGE vs. Mammoth - 2020 Fight #1

HUGE’s first fight of the 2020 season, and one that we think bot-fans everywhere were waiting for! We’re good friends with the Mammoth team, and knew a lot about the changes that they made leading into the 2020 season. We expected them to be flying around the box (both driving, and launching themselves), and knew that it surprise fans. This match certainly did not disappoint!

HUGE vs. Whiplash - 2019 Fight #6 - Top 16!

HUGE vs. Whiplash - 2019 Fight #6 - Top 16!

To the Top 16! Next we fought the versatile Vasquez family, and their bot Whiplash. It's lifter-spinner combo has been a deadly weapon in the past, giving us worry about hitting our frame. Plus the lifter can control us and their tough armor is a formidable wall to break through. But HUGE always has some tricks up its sleeve!

HUGE vs. HyperShock - 2019 Fight #5 - Top 24!

HUGE vs. HyperShock - 2019 Fight #5 - Top 24!

On to the Top 24! This was against the speedy vertical spinner of HyperShock, coming off a very strong season. With identical 3-1 records, we felt quietly confident due to our height advantage. But anything can (and will) happen in the BattleBox!

HUGE vs. Jasper - 2019 Fight #2

HUGE vs. Jasper - 2019 Fight #2

Jasper was a test of our offensive capabilities. They’re a tough brick of a robot, and aren’t afraid to jam their hammer/lifter into a spinner and take the hits. As one of the lightest spinners in the field, this was a big worry to us. We make up for not hitting as hard by hitting where nobody thinks they'll need armor (top), too bad Jasper was all armor!

HUGE vs. Son of Whyachi – 2019 Fight #1

HUGE vs. Son of Whyachi – 2019 Fight #1

What went right, and what went wrong? We knew this was going to be a big test for the new design and it delivered against one of the biggest spinners in the game. This fight was going to plan initially, with our wheels being able to take the hits from Son of Whyachi’s spinning hammers, bouncing us away, and letting us come back in for more…..

HUGE vs. Bite Force - 2018 Fight #5 - Top 16!

HUGE vs. Bite Force - 2018 Fight #5 - Top 16!

And just like that, HUGE sneaks into the playoffs as the #14 seed in our rookie season! This exceeded our expectations massively, as our whole goal for the season was just to win a single fight. For our first round matchup, we faced the 2015 champion Bite Force. Bite Force came in as the #3 seed off of a 4-0 season, and was another extremely experienced team for us to fight.

HUGE vs. Icewave - 2018 Fight #4

HUGE vs. Icewave - 2018 Fight #4

Icewave was a veteran competitor in their third season, and had a reputation as one of the most damaging horizontal spinners in the competition. They were riding especially high after splitting Vanquish in half in an earlier fight.

As part of our design for HUGE, we knew that it would be weak to a sideways hit….