Ruination: The Omen - Finals

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Siphai
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Joined: Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm

Ruination: The Omen - Finals

Post by Siphai » Sun Feb 02, 2014 5:36 pm

RUINATION: THE OMEN FINALS

Back in October of 2013, 72 robots were brave enough to enter Ruination: The Omen. After eleven hard weeks of fights, some skilled and lucky 32 competitors still remained to battle it out in the playoffs. There the field was halved each week leading up to this, the finals, where now only 8 battle hardened robots remain. Over the next four fights, we will be set to crown and immortalize four champions, while the losers will walk home empty handed and wonder what could have been. But before we can do any crowning, we need to actually watch the battles take place. And so we begin with our lightweight introductions:


As a former finalist, Annoying Box Rush was heavily favored coming into the competition. And while Team Yellow Alert felt that it would be hard to live up to those expectations, Annoying Box Rush proved worthy. Finishing the season with an 8-3 record, he qualified third in his conference and thus was set for the quarterfinal match-up against Frequency. In their regular season meeting, Team Yellow Alert managed to win on a chance knockout, but showed that they could still beat the spinner through three minutes of hard fighting. In the semis he fought against Tornedron, a robot who had managed a win over Annoying Box Rush in the regular season. The change in arena and Annoying Box Rush's heavily armored plow proved too much, however, and Tornedron was dispatch with relative ease. Sitting now in his second final, Annoying Box Rush is hoping to take home the first championship ever for Team Yellow Alert, but needs to beat one more powerful spinner in order to achieve it.

His opponent comes from a team that is no stranger to championships, but before this tournament it would seem that Scarab would be the last robot you would expect to be one of Team Zlayerz champions. Coming into the tournament with a 7-13 record, Scarab had never performed quite how Team Zlayerz had wanted it too. Past performance is apparently no indicator of success, though, as Scarab annihilated its competition to a 10-1 record, scoring five knockouts in the process. That dominance didn't end in the regular season, as the powerful drum met the spinning shell of Fatality. One hit was basically all it took as Scarab knocked out another on its way to the semi finals. There destruction was the name of the game again when Scarab reduced Mobile Failure to its component parts. Reaching its first final has to exceed all expectations that were held for it, but Team Zlayerz is hoping it doesn't end there.

With the introductions finished, so begins the first match of the night.


Lightweight Finals

Annoying Box Rush vs. Scarab

The whir of the drum fills the arena with dread as the first final is officially underway. But to everyone in the audience's surprise, Scarab elects to lead with the wedge and charges at Annoying Box Rush. Confused but not deterred, Nick continues his cautious approach. Scarab slides into the wedge, but without enough momentum from Annoying Box Rush, that's as far as Scarab gets. Nick takes full advantage of this as he immediately drives Scarab over to the wedged walls, trying to drum Scarab onto them and high center the machine. Annoying Box Rush goes a little too far and Scarab knocks into the wall with the drum, sending Scarab off the wedge and away from the rammer entirely. This time Kody elects to lead with the drum, and bangs onto Annoying Box Rush's wedge a couple times. The wedge gets chipped and dinged but holds firm. Scarab is holding out hope that this defensively play will keep Annoying Box Rush at bay, but Nick gets more aggressively and starts to throw the wedge into the drum, letting him get underneath Scarab and eventually take control.

Annoying Box Rush delivers Scarab to the arena hammer, but the first couple of hits completely miss Scarab until one knocks him off of the wedge. Scarab drives away again, but Annoying Box Rush is in hot pursuit. In following Scarab, Annoying Box Rush gets under Scarab's rear wedge, and is now leading him drum first into the arena wall. The hit results in a huge bang and clears both of them away from each other. Annoying Box Rush is quick to take advantage of the dazed Scarab, and once again tries to use the arena hammer. The hits start connecting and put some severe dings into Scarab's chassis. Annoying Box Rush manages to trap Scarab in that area for the full allotted time, and once Nick is forced to back away, it's clear that Scarab is having trouble driving out. The drum is no longer spinning at a dangerous speed, and Annoying Box Rush is quick to pick up Scarab and dump him back under the hammers. It only takes a couple more hits before its apparent that Scarab is no longer able to move. All of Team Yellow Alert are banging on the arena walls in a frenzy.

Annoying Box Rush wins by a knockout in 1:53 to become the Ruination: The Omen Lightweight Champion!

Earning its first title in its second showing in the finals, Annoying Box Rush was able to use its versatile design to deal with all challengers. Ultimately it was the heavily armored scoop that allowed him to withstand all measure of attacks and eventually overpower the powerful spinning weapons it faced. In seven seasons of CFL, this is Team Yellow Alert's first championship, and a long overdue one as the team had possessed the most career wins of any team without a title.

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Our next match requires us to take a trip in a time machine back to June of 2009 when these robots last fought. While the designs remain the same, the internals and the competitors are certainly different. To understand more, let's take a look at our middleweight introductions:


The Green Hornet, like Scarab, is a robot for who success seemed like a pipe-dream. It was only entered once before in ARC: Carnage, and achieved a measly 3-6 record. Like Scarab, this tournament has helped Team Blood Gulch to completely erase that record. Aged like a fine wine, The Green Hornet was able to come back in a dominant fashion scoring a 10-1 regular season record and finishing on top of his conference. The playoffs saw continued success as The Green Hornet faced off against the former champion Braveheart, managing to score enough damage in order to squeak by a split decision. The semi finals, however, weren't so close. The Green Hornet fought Fidchell and, in a much more convincing display, won by a knockout in under a minute. I'm told that they were still removing pieces of Fidchell from the arena minutes before the lightweight finals.

The only thing standing in Green Hornet's way is Force Feedback. A previous champion, Force Feedback stormed through the competition with little resistance, piling up a 10-1 record to add to his 37-8 lifetime record. Force Feedback made his way to the playoffs qualifying in second place in his conference, matching up against the flipper March or Die. There he took a unanimous judges' decision to make his fifth consecutive semi finals appearance, and facing off against Merry Hampton BR. While it was closer than it was during the regular season, Force Feedback still took the judges' decision by a healthy margin and reached the second final of his career. The match-up is far more interesting though, as Force Feedback and The Green Hornet had both fought in the first week ARC: Carnage using the same designs (though with different internals). In that match, Force Feedback scored a dominating knockout using the spinner killing ramming bar. But that was almost five years ago, and Force Feedback will need to drum up some more tricks if he can hope to win a second time.

But enough back story, let's watch and see how this match will play out.


Middleweight Finals

The Green Hornet vs. Force Feedback

Feedback is out of the box in quick order: swiftly moving across the arena as Green Hornet spins up and sidesteps, taking a longer, curvier route to the center. Feedback turns to match and we have some maneuvering, and an interesting little standoff occurs. Feedback begins to turn in place as it waits for Hornet to present the disc just beyond Hornet's reach. Hoping to get that bar to make sweet love to the disc on Hornet, Feedback plays it safe. Meanwhile, Hornet keeps itself facing somewhat sideways, with the disc just beyond Feedback's comfortable range, as it drives around Feedback, taking breaks to back off and then turn to come in for another approach. A very tense driving battle is afoot as Josh knows he can cause some serious damage if he can get that disc into the sides of Feedback, while Alex knows he can give that disc granite to bite on if he can get his bar into it.

Sensing an opening, Alex pushes the trigger and Force Feedback's bar smacks into the side of Green Hornet as Josh quickly reacts to protect his disc. Hornet tries to spin around to land a hit and manages to catch one of the endmost front forks on Feedback with its disc, tearing it clean off, but Feedback is away before anything more serious gets damaged. Backing off and then coming in with another shot from the bar, this time Feedback meets the rear end of Hornet with the bar, as Hornet has once again tried to shield the disc from the hit, but turns back around, and exactly three yellow sparks are emitted as the tiniest sliver of the edge-most part of the tooth on the disc touches the end of the bar, briefly. Backing off, using that small speed advantage, Feedback comes back in yet again with the bar and again Hornet is sideways, but this science is inexact on both sides, and Alex's bot goes in further than intended. Hornet spins as it gets smacked by the bar, and the fully spinning disc makes clean contact with the other endmost fork on Feedback, which gets bent inwards but not torn fully off.

Feedback turns and the disc smacks the end of the static bar, doing nothing but sending both bots apart obviously. Coming in with the bar fully extended again, Feedback is able to push Hornet some distance before it turns, but then Feedback reverses and the disc hits the bar yet again, causing both bots to be separated. A third time with the bar, and Feedback gets a direct bar-to-disc slam, visibly slowing Hornet's disc, after which Alex, concerned by the damage his bot's already taken and the dwindling amount of time left in the match, decides to go all in against the partially slowed disc and it pays off. Scooping up the Hornet with its remaining forks, Feedback smashes the green machine into the spike strip, backing up and coming in again before Hornet can get away, getting under the back left corner of Hornet and taking it right to the corner where a slam into the wall is followed by 20 seconds of pulverizer, as Feedback plays goalie over the Hornet. Finally finding an exit and getting some breathing room, Hornet's disc is already mostly up but Josh's strategy is gone at this point as Feedback comes in again with the bar, getting spun as a side panel gets torn off. Re-positioning, Feedback is ready to retaliate and the bar lands on the trailing side of the disc, which stalls immediately as Feedback slams Hornet into the wall, disc holding the bar with its tooth right against the robot's body. Caught on the arm, Hornet gets pulled with Feedback as it reverses direction, before falling off as it gets pushed over the killsaws. Backing to the center, weapon moving slowly, Green Hornet has enough time to dodge another approach from Feedback as the match ends.

Both bots hurting. Hornet did some serious damage, but also faced some serious bullying. Let's look at the judges' scorecards:

Aggression: 12-3 Force Feedback
Damage: 13-2 Green Hornet
Strategy: 10-5 Force Feedback

Force Feedback wins by a 24-21 judges' decision to become the Ruination: The Omen Middleweight Champion!

Force Feedback continues his reign of dominance, winning the second title of his career. This win also pushed Force Feedback to a milestone that is a CFL first, as Force Feedback has achieved a career 50 wins. When Force Feedback was entered in ARC: Reckoning, back in 2008, the concept of a ramming bar was still relatively unproven; used first by Probot on Team Yellow Alert the hypothetical weapon proved to be more than effective. So it is no surprise that Team Targeted made the decision to retire Force Feedback at the top.

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Half the matches are decided, and so we are left with only four competitors. First up are our heavyweights, the only match in which neither of the robots have made the finals before. Without further ado, let's move on to our heavyweight introductions:


Snijmachine is the only rookie robot still remaining in the tournament. What he lacked in experience, he certainly made up for in his punch. The inspiration for the robot earned Snijmachine the moniker "DutchOUT", and while there have been many imitators for that particular design, Snijmachine proved to be one of the more successful ones. Finishing the regular season with a 9-2 record, Snijmachine qualified for the playoffs at the top of his conference and matched off against Master of Puppets in the quarterfinals. While not achieving the same brutal knockout as in the regular season, Snijmachine still managed to dominate the match and move to the semifinals. A nail biting split judges' decision against Ridley saw Snijmachine advance to the first final of his short career, being the first Team Targeted rookie to do so.

But in Snijmachine's way is a most unusual spinner killer. Klarinette actually began life as a shell spinner back in Crazy Bots: Blazing Ruin. A 3-5 record was apparently enough to convince Team Ectogasm that a total re-haul was required. The strategy seems to have worked out for Klarinette, as the bot finished the regular season with a strong 8-3 record. The playoffs are where the challenge began for Klarinette. First on the docket was the former two time champion The Dark Side of Cupid, lining up the first of two rammer vs. spinner battles that mirror the path that Annoying Box Rush took to the finals. Klarinette proved to be the superior robot, but only by the thinnest of margins. In the semifinals, S.O.T.A.R's powerful spinning ring stood in Klarinette's way. Once again Klarinette won, and once again it was a split decision. To cap off the run, all he has to do is fight yet another powerful spinner.

It's another classic spinner vs. rammer battle, and with that said let's begin the fight.


Heavyweight Finals

Snijmachine vs. Klarinette

Klarinette speeds out ready to ram into Snijmachine's massive disc. Alex does an expert job aiming the disc right where he wants to. They collide with a terrific smash and both get tossed back a bit. Lian gets his bot back in the spinner's face and is able to push Snijmachine against the wall where the disc is finally stopped cold. Klarinette holds DUTCHout there for as long as he's able and gets in some annoying shots in with the side hammers. The important thing is that Snijmachine isn't able to really do anything from this position. After being forced to back off they resume with a near perfect replay of the first confrontation. Klarinette's front wedge is now starting to show the wear and tear of the fight, but still relentlessly goes after Snijmachine. Once again Snijmachine gets pinned rather helplessly against the wall. So far it hasn't been a very exciting fight except for a couple of the hits, but Lian is doing a great job working the clock. This fact isn't lost on Alex and with now just over a minute remaining in the match he decides to turn up the heat a little bit. He's finally able to position a hit that sends Klarinette off course enough that the rammer can't quickly follow up again. Neither can Snijmachine, unfortunately, but he's still able to get in another decent shot on Klarinette when it comes back in once more. This time Klarinette pushes Snijmachine all the way over to the pulverizer area and Snijmachine has to take a few shots from the hazard before the buzzer ends the action.

Aggression: 11-4 Klarinette
Damage: 10-5 Snijmachine
Strategy: 8-7 Klarinette

Klarinette wins by a 24-21 judges' decision to become the Ruination: The Omen Heavyweight Champion!

Seizing its first title, its clear now that Team Ectogasm's complete overhaul of Klarinette was well warranted as the team claims it's third title in as many tournaments. Team Ectogasm stated that their overall goal was to complete a career "Grand Slam" with a champion for every weight class, and this only brings them one step further. Team Ectogasm is fast becoming one of the powerhouse contenders that should be taken seriously in every competition.

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And so he we are, at the end of the night. Three champions chosen, and only two robots remain for a chance at immortality. Let's take a look at the heaviest of our combatants.


Teresa is the second robot by Team Zlayerz to make the finals tonight, but this one was the one that people expected to do so. Going undefeated in its previous tournament, Teresa came in, took names, and chewed bubblegum. Racking up no losses, Teresa advanced to the playoffs with an 11-0 record and began its post season quest for the Giant Nut against Lime-y. The mysterious spike that could pierce all in spite of its own lack of power proved too tough for the flipper, and Teresa continued onward to the semi finals. There the two time former champion Jack Frost, now with a new team, was waiting. For all of Jack Frost's experience, he was unable to slow down Teresa's roll in any discernible way. The closest he could accomplish was a split judges' decision that saw Teresa advance to her second consecutive finals.

Stopping Teresa will be a tall task for Peppernut. But Team VED are no strangers to handling tough opponents with a superheavyweight rammer. Previously the team had led Vendetta to two championships, before switching over to the thinner Peppernut that achieved modest success in FRR: Dead Zone. A regular season record of 9-2 showed that Team VED know what they're doing, placing them second in the Carnage Conference and matching them up against Reflector Shield in the first round of the playoffs. While Reflector Shield is one of the most heavily decorated robots in the history of the CFL, Peppernut showed that modern day rammers are no slouches. A judges' decision saw Peppernut advance to the semi finals, where he faced the odd design from Team Ectogasm: Curse of the Deep. While Curse of the Deep had shown an aptitude for dispatching of rammers, Peppernut's raw speed was able to purely dominate the green machine. While Peppernut has reached its first final, surely Team VED are using all of their experience in previous superheavyweight finals here to push them over the top.

Here it is, the last fight of the night.


Superheavyweight Finals

Teresa vs. Peppernut

Peppernut comes in close, with Martijn looking to make it a close combat fight. He begins having trouble, however, when Teresa gets underneath the main wedge. The wedge meets the top of Teresa's chassis and deadlocks. Peppernut immediately starts using the superior torque to push Teresa around, but Kody utilizes the lifter and starts lifting Peppernut by the wedge. With some of the wheels off the ground, Teresa begins to take advantage and begins pushing Peppernut into the nearest wall. There the punching spike starts coming into play, and a couple of pierces cause damage to Peppernut's main chassis before one knocks Peppernut away entirely. Peppernut tries to make up for lost time by avoiding the lifter entirely, and this time is able to get under a corner of Teresa's chassis. Peppernut attempts to maneuver Teresa to the nearest hammer, but too much force at results in Teresa falling off the wedge entirely. Now with a clear shot at Peppernut's side, Teresa comes in again for a little lifting and spike work.

Both robots continue to dance around each other for much of the match, with Peppernut able to direct Teresa over to the hammers, but never able to keep her there. Nor is Peppernut really able to control Teresa for much of the match. Teresa continues to use the lifter to his advantage to punch a few holes directly into Peppernut's chassis. None of them are major damage, but with Peppernut unable to do much of consequence, they count for everything in the world. Peppernut gets a few desperate wall slams in towards the end of the match, but it's becoming readily clear that it is too little, too late.

Aggression: 8-7 Peppernut
Damage: 10-5 Teresa
Strategy: 9-6 Teresa

Teresa wins by a 26-19 judges' decision to become the Ruination: The Omen Superheavyweight Champion!

It's becoming clear now that Teresa is a juggernaut, more akin to a force of nature than to a robot. When you make it to a judges' decision against Teresa, that's just Team Zlayerz showing mercy. Twenty-five straight wins is a new all time CFL record. Another championship is just a point of emphasis on how dominating Team Zlayerz has been in the Post-ARC Tournament era.

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