Phantasmic Slammer vs Solar Smash

[Badnik96]

PS:
Speed: 7
Weapon: 4
Armor: 7
Traction: 6
Torque: 4

SS:
Speed: 7
Traction: 6
Torque: 1
Armor: 7 (+2 Rear Plow)
Weapon: 7


Going for 8-0 against one of the biggest names in ARC history... This'll be interesting for sure. First thing I notice is that his weapon, while it has high power, has less than my armor, meaning it won't penetrate very far. Also, outside of the front he has absolutely no wedge protection and has worse wedges while inverted. 6WD means he'll turn slower than me as well. First thing I'm going to do is go for the cube charge (aka box rush) and get under him right away with my wedge forks. The less surface area and my wider design (on a head on collision I think I might be able to get under the solid wedges while avoiding the hinged ones entirely) and once I do that, launch him in the air and take control of the bout. If we end up in a wedge lock, I have a MASSIVE torque advantage, so if we do, just go for the slam into the wall or whatever hazard is closest. If he gets under me, I'll have enough ground clearance to back off or use my torque to get him to a hazard. If I get a shot at his sides, go for it. If he comes at me, try juking to the side and maneuvering around to his unprotected side plates.

Pretty much, outwedge, outmaneuver, outcontrol. We have equal speed and traction, so the only thing different is wheel count, giving me better turning. Use this to my advantage.

Good luck Chris and may the better robot win.

[Area51Escapee]

This one will be tough. It would ironic if the perpetually slumping Solar Smash manages to give Slammer his first loss of the season, but it would be awesome nonetheless (especially since SS is still very much alive in the playoff race, sad as that may be).

As solid of a design Slammer is, this will be similar to my match last week with Final Boss, but with a bit more for me to exploit. And yet I managed to make it 23-22 against Boss. While Boss didn't have a whole lot to exploit, I can capitalize on Slammer's lifter mechanism. The 4-bar lifter means that when he raises his lifter, there will be an opening underneath his elevated arm to get under. Final Boss's arm was so thin, he still had that wedge protection underneath, but it doesn't appear Slammer necessarily has that. And even if he does - I can fire my ram directly under his arm and try to do some heavy damage to it. Those "four bars" of his lifters will be exposed to my pneumatic ram and if I nail one or more of them, it's possibly I could break his mechanism. Let's try that!

When the match begins, I'll come out making absolute sure my front wedges are facing him. I'll try to aim for his front corner, though, since if he gets under me and lifts me, I can slide off easier. If so, I'll try to get under his elevated lifter as quickly as possibly before he can bring it down or wedge under him and slam him to the wall (while also firing the ram).

If I manage to get under him all together, I'll try to push him to the wall and slam him while also firing the ram. If I manage to slam him while striking him hard, the force should do a fair amount of damage. My hope is to warp his wedges a bit and hence, making him less effective at getting under me. I'll keep doing this for much of the match. I'll also try to take him to the saws or hammer when I can. The saws would be good because, they too, can tear up his wedges and make him less effective at getting under me.

Stay aggressive, and use my wedge/ram combo to exploit his vulnerable spots. If I manage to do that I can probably cause a fair amount of damage for the course of the match.

Good luck!