Freshman Fight League Power Rankings and Predictions

Madman · Post by **Madman** » Sun Apr 11, 2021 11:22 pm

Oi! Noobs! This thread is mostly just for fun... at first. However, the final rankings that we compile, once all of the entrants have been submitted and finalized, will determine the initial seedings, which'll determine your first match. After that, Swiss bracket mayhem will take over.

Rankings: April 11

The Contenders
As things stand, one of these four is gonna win it all

1) Tiamat (Team Ignition) - As long as Dylan gives it decent stats, this thing flips the overheads and the one wedge, and outlasts Black Lagoon weapon to weapon. Dylan will probably give it decent stats. If he still has it after a long time out of the game and RPs, there's not much than can beat him.
- likely wins: Green Eggs & Slam, Perfect Perfect Perfect Phoenix, Charlotte: The Astonishing Shelob, Crash Test Granny
- likely losses: none
- tossups: PuriN II, Black Lagoon

2) PuriN II (The Candy Store) - Simple: unless Tiamat has an extremely defensive stat build, this big brutal pink deathspinner beats everything else weapon to weapon. It doesn't have many 100% win matches, but it's above 50% against everything except Green Eggs & Slam and possibly Tiamat.
- likely wins: Black Lagoon, Perfect Perfect Perfect Phoenix, Charlotte: The Astonishing Shelob, Crash Test Granny
- likely losses: Green Eggs & Slam
- tossups: Tiamat

3) Black Lagoon (Interrobang Robotics) - This... loses on stats to the other spinners, but it's still fundamentally a 15 power vert with strafing ability and a skilled veteran driver. It is likely the hardest counter to Green Eggs & Slam in this field and, if it lasts long enough, has a shot at flipping PuriN and stealing the win.
- likely wins: Green Eggs & Slam, Perfect Perfect Perfect Phoenix, Charlotte: The Astonishing Shelob, Crash Test Granny
- likely losses: PuriN II
- tossups: Tiamat

4) Green Eggs & Slam (Team Taco Hell) - Welp, here we have it: the wedge. With more pushing speed than most of its opponents have total speed, a 13 armour plow, and a thwacking tail to give some of the weaker armoured bots a bit to worry about, this rookie brick should mow through the pretenders. Its only bad matchups are the two verts, which could flip it and render its wedge useless.
- likely wins: PuriN II, Perfect Perfect Perfect Phoenix, Charlotte: The Astonishing Shelob, Crash Test Granny
- likely losses: Black Lagoon, Tiamat
- tossups: none

The Pretenders
Unless something changes, these have too many shortcomings to be title threats

5) Perfect Perfect Perfect Phoenix (Team ShellShockers) - Tanky overhead spinner which is going to be nearly impossible to KO on damage... in theory. This bot's crippling weakness is the sheer length of its blade, which is going to make it very vulnerable to hitting walls and the floor. Its weapon is also kind of underpowered for this field.
- likely wins: Crash Test Granny
- likely losses: Tiamat, Black Lagoon, PuriN II, Green Eggs & Slam
- tossups: Charlotte: The Astonishing Shelob

6) Charlotte: The Astonishing Shelob (Team Questionable Strategies) - Lots of cool, novel ideas, but it's trying to do too much and is going to be very hard-pressed to deal damage in a field full of bigtime spinners before getting obliterated itself with a maximum of only ten armour.
- likely wins: Crash Test Granny
- likely losses: Tiamat, Black Lagoon, PuriN II, Green Eggs & Slam
- tossups: Perfect Perfect Perfect Phoenix

7) unknown (Jorji) - Whatever it ends up being, it'll at least be better than Crash Test Granny. Can't rank it any higher until it exists, though.
- likely wins:
- likely losses:
- tossups:

8) Crash Test Granny (Not Your Average Team) - Granny gonna die! Gerontocide gonna happen! This thing's a shitpost and the builder knows it.
- likely wins: none
- likely losses: Tiamat, Black Lagoon, PuriN II, Green Eggs & Slam, Perfect Perfect Perfect Phoenix, Charlotte: The Astonishing Shelob
- tossups: none

Madman · Post by **Madman** » Sat Apr 17, 2021 4:15 pm

Rankings: April 17

S-Class Heroes
These have the most good matches. Probable winners here.

1) Jack (Team Eagle) - Against a pretty slow field and plenty of non or weakly-invertible bots, Jorji shows up with a 7 speed flipper with a plow and good armour. The lack of optional wedge teeth might hurt it a little, but overall, this plays the field and the arenas perfectly. Really, this'll be a litmus test for its rookie team captain's driving ability. RP well and I don't see much taking this out.
- likely wins: PuriN II, Green Eggs & Slam, Perfect Perfect Perfect Phoenix, Charlotte: The Astonishing Shelob, Crash Test Granny
- likely losses: none
- tossups: Tiamat, Black Lagoon, Airbornificator 9000

2) Tiamat (Team Ignition) - Assuming Dylan gives it decent stats, this thing flips the overheads and the wedge, and outlasts Black Lagoon weapon to weapon. Only Jack might be a problem, but Tiamat still has the slightly better wedge. If Dylan's still got it after a long time out of the game and RPs reliably, there's not much than can beat him. There are a lot of questions hanging over this bot, though.
- likely wins: Green Eggs & Slam, Perfect Perfect Perfect Phoenix, Charlotte: The Astonishing Shelob, Crash Test Granny
- likely losses: none
- tossups: Jack, PuriN II, Black Lagoon, Airbornificator 9000

3) Black Lagoon (Interrobang Robotics) - This... loses on stats to the other spinners, but it's still fundamentally a 15 power dual vert with strafing ability and a skilled veteran driver. It is likely the hardest counter to both Jack and Green Eggs & Slam in this field and, if it lasts long enough, even has a shot at flipping PuriN and stealing the win.
- likely wins: Green Eggs & Slam, Perfect Perfect Perfect Phoenix, Charlotte: The Astonishing Shelob, Crash Test Granny
- likely losses: PuriN II
- tossups: Jack, Tiamat, Airbornificator 9000

A-Tier Contenders
These have a few bad matchups, but with some luck and inspired driving, they could still win it all.

4) PuriN II (The Candy Store) - Simple: unless Tiamat has an extremely defensive stat build, this big brutal pink deathspinner beats everything else weapon to weapon. It doesn't have many 100% win matches, but it's above 50% against everything except Green Eggs & Slam, Airbornificator, and possibly Jack. Sometimes sheer brute force is the way to go, and this thing has it in spades.
- likely wins: Black Lagoon, Perfect Perfect Perfect Phoenix, Charlotte: The Astonishing Shelob, Crash Test Granny
- likely losses: Jack, Green Eggs & Slam, Airbornificator 9000
- tossups: Tiamat

5) Green Eggs & Slam (Team Taco Hell) - Welp, here we have it: THE WEJ. With more pushing speed than many of its opponents have total speed, 13 armour, and a thwacking tail to worry the weaker armoured bots a bit, this rookie brick should mow through the pretenders. Its only bad matchups are the two verts and the flipper, which could flip it and render its wedge useless.
- likely wins: PuriN II, Perfect Perfect Perfect Phoenix, Charlotte: The Astonishing Shelob, Crash Test Granny
- likely losses: Jack, Tiamat, Black Lagoon, Airbornificator 9000
- tossups: none

6) Airbornificator 9000 (Team Design Flaw) - This is that rare shitpost that's actually really dangerous. Due to the nature of flipping damage and wheel damage, it actually has one-shot KO potential against any bot in the field. This comes at the cost of a sluggish drivetrain, questionable armour, and a wedge that screams "angle in on me, PLEASE!" Still, a scary weapon is a scary weapon and a scary weapon in the hands of Maxi is... scarier. This thing has a puncher's chance in every fight. It's an absolute wildcard and a huge darkhorse.
- likely wins: PuriN II, Green Eggs and Slam, Charlotte: The Astonishing Shelob, Crash Test Granny
- likely losses: Perfect Perfect Perfect Phoenix
- tossups: Jack, Tiamat, Black Lagoon

Tear Tier
Unless something changes, ain't none of these doing much

7) Perfect Perfect Perfect Phoenix (Team ShellShockers) - Tanky overhead spinner which is going to be nearly impossible to KO on damage... in theory. This bot's crippling weakness is the sheer length of its blade, which gives it the reach to snipe Airbornificator, but is otherwise gonna make it very vulnerable to hitting walls and the floor. Its weapon is also kind of underpowered for this field.
- likely wins: Airbornificator 9000, Crash Test Granny
- likely losses: Jack, Tiamat, Black Lagoon, PuriN II, Green Eggs & Slam
- tossups: Charlotte: The Astonishing Shelob

8) Charlotte: The Astonishing Shelob (Team Questionable Strategies) - Lots of cool, novel ideas, but it's trying to do too much and is going to be very hard-pressed to deal damage in a field full of bigtime spinners before getting obliterated itself with a maximum of only ten armour.
- likely wins: Crash Test Granny
- likely losses: Tiamat, Black Lagoon, PuriN II, Green Eggs & Slam, Airbornificator 9000
- tossups: Perfect Perfect Perfect Phoenix

9) Crash Test Granny (Not Your Average Team) - Granny gonna die! Gerontocide gonna happen! This thing's a shitpost and the builder knows it.
- likely wins: none
- likely losses: Jack, Tiamat, Black Lagoon, PuriN II, Green Eggs & Slam, Airbornificator 9000, Perfect Perfect Perfect Phoenix, Charlotte: The Astonishing Shelob
- tossups: none

Post by **Hooray For Lexan** » Sat Apr 17, 2021 10:27 pm

1: Black Lagoon. This is a weird friggin statline, but actually a 4-speed circlestrafing vert is gonna be hard as hell for most of this field to avoid, it has unironically good wedgelets, and it hits so damn hard basically nobody but Fustercluck's meme plow can avoid getting bent to shit by it. The only genuinely bad matchup this has is Purin but even that could be a mutual weapon kill except BL has another drum on the back.

2: Fustercluck. Controlspinner vert with a good wedge that can actually fight the deathspinners and... may damage a couple of robots?

3: Purin. There's unironically only three bots in this event that are even remotely designed to fight a horizontal spinner, and two of them I don't trust much in other matchups. Due to its low armor and ability to get uppercut Black Lagoon's actually difficult for it, though.

4: Crime Scene. Uh oh wee woo wee woo it's the popo. 2WD verts with longish forks are a good combo in general, and this has a decent drivetrain and hits hard enough to bring serious ouchies to the lower-powered bots in the field.

5: Tiamat. There's three verts with very similar statlines. This one has Dylan's RP skill but it doesn't have either the long forks gimmick or the mecanum drive gimmick.

6: Jack. Drawing is not in fact self-explanatory. Statline looks decent in theory but nearly every aspect of the design, including wedge geometry, self-righting / invertability, and vulnerability to corner hits, is either ambiguous or not that good. Without forks it may struggle in a controlbot heavy field despite its invertability.

7: SpookyMonth. Not an amazing drivetrain, wedge geometry is as usual questionable because Lego Ambiguity. This is a heavily-armored field and a 6-power saw will have a lot of trouble hurting things.

8: Green Eggs and Slam. This. Is. Going. To. Wheelie. In theory has the best drivetrain here and can withstand most of the verts, but I'm not seeing it actually winning those matches with any consistency.

9: The Amazing Shelob. Okay-ish drivetrain, but only barely better than the verts in this field, weapon can hurt, uhh... Crash Test Granny and that's about it, not good enough drivetrain to be a good controlbot, and 7 armor is low enough that any of the spinners here can kill it pretty quickly.

10: Crash Test Granny. Assbot with abysmal speed and no armor.

Madman · Post by **Madman** » Sat Apr 17, 2021 10:29 pm

1) FusterCluck - minmaxed multiconfig bot is good. Can deal damage and flip. It also has configs for the big hitters and a good driver. This is the odds-on favourite.

2) Black Lagoon - A bit of a glass cannon, but its weapons have great coverages, it has sneaky wedges with a good driver, and just hits too damned hard.

3) Jack - it knows there are OOTAs here and it knows how to use them. Good balance of speed, armour, and weapon.

4) Tiamat - solid vert is solid. If Dylan tries, it should do well. What more is there to say?

5) PuriN II - the only traditional horizontal left and the biggest hitter here. It'll muller some bots, but being non-invertible will hurt it.

6) Spooky Month - The control ratio's a bit worrisome, but it has good configs and a decent drivetrain. There are places to pin in these arenas too, so its saw can go to work.

7) Crime Scene - solid vert, just doesn't stand out. It gets ranked lower than the near-identical Tiamat due to this team's lesser experience and a slightly more vulnerable weapon.

8) Green Eggs & Slam - This thing has a GOOD drivetrain and is tough as nails, but weak invertibility is going to be tough in a field full of verts and flippers.

9) Charlotte: The Astonishing Shelob - hey, it's cool, novel and ambitious but a bit outmatched in terms of weaponry and armour.

10) Crash Test Granny - shitpost. Gerontocide gonna happen here and the driver knows it.

[attackfrog on Tinkercad] · Post by **attackfrog** » Sat Apr 17, 2021 10:30 pm

"Rankings" in signups order:

Crash Test Granny 1/10
Meme tier robot. Needs more doilies

Jack 6/10
This robot is not at all self explanatory, what the heck am I even looking at? Stats seem fine at least and the name gets props from me

Spooky Month 4/10
Decent "render" for a lego bot but suffers from unfocused stats

PuriN II 8/10
Solid Icewave clone, pretty good render

Charlotte: The Astonishing Shelob 5/10
I am certainly astonished. Some cool concepts going on here but suffers from unfocused stats and doesn't really do any one thing well

Green Eggs & Slam! 9/10
Well rendered, solid design, good stats. Good control bot

Crime Scene 7/10
Looks like an RA2-optimized design with those long front forks but should do reasonably well in ARC

Tiamat 8/10
An ARC-optimized vert, more or less

Fustercluck 9/10
A vert with fancy tricks which should help it out probably

Black Lagoon 10/10
A wackier vert with even fancier tricks.

Madman · Post by **Madman** » Sat Apr 17, 2021 10:36 pm

TurtleBack's Rankings

1: Black lagoon - Minotaur with strength enhancing drugs
2: Jack - THATS IT IM TAKING YOU OOTA
3: Timat - vert is good
4: PuriN II - bout to pull a endgame
5: Spooky month - no bias here guys
6: FusterCluck - good bot but too many config s
7: Crime Scene - Good bot but not appealing to me tbh
8: Green eggs and slam - “If you don’t have a self righter in battlebots, your in big trouble” - Chris Rose 2021
9: Charlotte - Outmatched
10: Crash Test Granny: Only defence is its retirement plan

DJ's Rankings

Fustercluck
Black Lagoon
PuriN II
Tiamat
Jack
Green Eggs & Slam
Spooky Month
Crime Scene
Charlotte: The Astonishing Shelob
Big Booty Granny Box

Madman · Post by **Madman** » Sat Apr 17, 2021 10:57 pm

Combined Seedings

Black Lagoon
Fustercluck II
PuriN II
Tiamat
Jack
Crime Scene
Green Eggs & Slam
Spooky Month
Charlotte: The Astonishing Shelob
Crash Test Granny

Madman · Post by **Madman** » Sat Apr 17, 2021 11:58 pm

Week One Predictions

You should make your predictions below. Wuss out and I'll break your kneecaps. Keep in mind that my predictions don't mean I've already decided the outcome of the match. This is just my opinion before you've posted your strategies. A good strategy can change everything.

(1) Black Lagoon vs. (10) Crash Test Granny

Odds: (100) Black Lagoon : Crash Test Granny (0)

Lock for Black Lagoon

There's nothing Granny can do. I hope she has life insurance, because this is a victory lap for Sio.

(2) Fustercluck II vs. (9) Charlotte: The Astonishing Shelob

Odds: (90) Fustercluck II : Charlotte: The Astonishing Shelob (10)

Lock for Fustercluck II

Fustercluck's got just enough weapon power and too much armour for Charlotte, as well as a drivetrain that won't be completely outclassed. There's a chance that the rookie can leverage its better speed, versatility, and the arena, but it's a slim one.

(3) PuriN II vs. (8) Spooky Month

Odds: (50) PuriN II : Spooky Month (50)

Tossup between PuriN II and Spooky Month

Spooky definitely has the big wedge, speed, and pushing power to make PuriN's life hard, but it has some sharp corners the spinner can catch, a mediocre control ratio, and little chance of scoring a KO. Plus, PuriN just hits so hard. This is a classic tossup match.

(4) Tiamat vs. (7) Green Eggs & Slam

Odds: (70) Tiamat : Green Eggs & Slam (30)

Edge to Tiamat

This is just a rough matchup for the speedy wedge. It's weakly invertible and Tiamat has both a better wedge and flipping ability. The rookie's going to have to make the most of its drivetrain and use the hazards both to deal damage and possibly right itself. Dylan probably takes this one, though an upset isn't inconceivable.

(5) Jack vs. (6) Crime Scene

Odds: (50) Jack : Crime Scene (50)

Tossup between Jack and Crime Scene

This one's a tossup. Both bots can OOTA the other and a KO by other means is unlikely. Crime Scene's prongs are probably better that the flat wedge of Jack, but the flipper is the much quicker bot here, and should be able to angle in at least a few times. This should be a tense, competitive, cagey battle.

Madman · Post by **Madman** » Sun Apr 25, 2021 7:35 pm

Week Three Predictions

You should make your predictions below. Wuss out and I'll break your kneecaps. Keep in mind that my predictions don't mean I've already decided the outcome of the match. This is just my opinion before you've posted your strategies. A good strategy can change everything.

(1) Black Lagoon vs. (2) Tiamat

Odds: (60) Black Lagoon : Tiamat (40)

Lean Black Lagoon

Black Lagoon has yet to relinquish the number one seeding that it started with, but this is no easy match. There are strong hazards here that can do a real number on the lightly-armoured 1 seed. Tiamat is quicker, can deal severe damage if it gets past the drum, and is OOTA-capable. That said, Black Lagoon is just about quick enough to keep up, and can OHKO Tiamat just like it did the formidable Fustercluck.

(3) Spooky Month vs. (4) Crime Scene

Odds: (40) Spooky Month : Crime Scene (60)

Lean Crime Scene

Spooky Month should have the armour to hold out against Crime Scene, and it's the quicker bot too. This could be a case of smothering, throwing into hazards, and dropping the saw a la Skorpios. However, a mix of the vertical spinner's OOTA capability and the sawbot's questionable control ratio might be enough to end this one early.

(5) Green Eggs & Slam vs. (6) Fustercluck II

Odds: (30) Green Eggs & Slam : Fustercluck II (70)

Edge to Fustercluck II

Fustercluck can't do a thing to the big green wedge, and it might have trouble finding space against that kind of drivetrain, but this is a large arena with an easily accessible OOTA zone. Fustercluck is built to flip, while Green Eggs & Slam is only weakly invertible. Pair that with those mecanums that offset some of its drivetrain shortfall and make it extra squirmy and you have the recipe for a win.

(7) Jack vs. (8) PuriN II

Odds: (80) Jack : PuriN II (20)

Strong Edge to Jack

The Swiss algorithms have not been kind to this big spinner so far. PuriN finds itself up against a second big wedge with the speed to smother it, and this one can flip too. While it has a large arena to play in and the flipper doesn't have enough power to chuck it out, this is going to be quite the uphill battle.

(9) Charlotte: the Astonishing Shelob vs. (10) Crash Test Granny

Odds: (80) Charlotte: The Astonishing Shelob : Crash Test Granny (20)

Strong Edge to Charlotte: The Astonishing Shelob

This is it: both bots' best chance of winning a fight this season. The problem is, for poor old granny, it's still quite a longshot. Charlotte just has too much speed and versatility. Its weapon should actually be a factor in this fight as well. Unless Granny can pull off another sly trick like it did in its last fight (and actually see it through), look for Charlotte to win convincingly.

ARC