The Newcomers' Tempest
Where have those days gone? “It’s amazing they stayed in playoff contention until ’22 with nothing but piloting skill.” “Now it’s back to being a Hawaiian-style volcano…” “You know even the weakest volcano erupting in the middle of a city is a catastrophe, right?” There was a time in Hawaii when lava burst right in the center of a village. “Even against weak teams you can still take a hit, Cheong-hyeon senior.”
The Daejeon Mechatronics Arena holds 1,200 seats. Starting this year it became the home stadium of Diafle Monarch. “The stands are way too empty.” Only about 40 percent of the seats are filled. “Our side is even emptier.” Roughly 77 percent of those present appear to be Seyoung fans. That means Diafle fans make up only 46.2 percent. “Seyoung isn’t exactly a hugely popular team either. We’re even less so.” Diafle Monarch is a brand-new team founded this season. Seyoung Volcanoes are not particularly popular themselves.
A handful of Diafle fans who came to cheer with everything they had.
Still, the Seyoung fans outnumber them and have even brought bread.
“Picking the first pick against a weak team is arrogant. We’ll go second.” Even world-class powerhouses have suffered crushing defeats after carelessly choosing the first pick. There is no reason for the new team Diafle to do so.
> Set 1 — Diafle chooses… second pick!!
Set 1: SYV Doublewing VS DFL Hapagornis. [Hapagornis, self-proclaimed second pride of New Zealand.] [The name comes from the scientific name of the legendary giant bird in Māori legend.]
Why does a legendary giant bird have a scientific name? 1. It was a real, massive bird of prey that the Māori drove to extinction. 2. After extinction, people thought it existed only in legend. 3. After Europeans arrived, they found fossils (or bones?) and gave it a scientific name. Those three lines sum it up.
> Doublewing — a robot with two horizontal spinning disks, one front and one back.
> Against a 4WD vertical spinner like Hapagornis, it looks disadvantaged.
> 3, 2, 1. Match start!
[Doublewing has a weakness when it comes out in that form.] [What is it?] [Its center of gravity is exactly in the middle, so it wobbles when it moves.] The phrasing feels odd, but it simply means it rocks back and forth. Doublewing leads with its tall rear disk, clearly trying to knock off the opponent’s axle the way V-Killer once did. [It aims for the axle… but it’s the one that goes flying!!!] Doublewing is sent flying helplessly by Hapagornis’s attack, like a leaf blown away by a gale. [It can’t aim properly because it keeps wobbling.] [I already told you—the center of gravity is the problem.]
The ideal center of gravity for a battle robot is slightly forward of the drive axle. Too far forward makes it extremely difficult to control. Exactly on the line causes wobbling; too far back and it tips over. Because of the front-back symmetry, you cannot even add counterweights.
> Doublewing goes flying again—it looks like someone blowing leaves with a fan!
> I wonder what would have happened if it had only one disk on top.
Already at a disadvantage due to the matchup, the center-of-gravity issue makes it worse. [It hit the axle cleanly… but it doesn’t feel very strong!!] Disks have less recoil but also deliver less impact. [Doublewing keeps getting launched like a leaf… whoa!] [One wheel just popped off Doublewing!!] Hapagornis has now destroyed one of Doublewing’s wheels. [Is it stopped now?] [It’s stopped!!] [10! 9! 8! 7! 6! 5! 4! 3! 2! 1! Doublewing KO! Hapagornis wins!!]
“Yes!! Victory!!” “Eun-ha, first match and an immediate win—well done.” “Thank you, unni.” Jo Eun-ha secured her professional debut victory right in her first match.
1:41. A straightforward win for Hapagornis. To overcome an overwhelmingly unfavorable matchup and still win—how high must one’s class be?
> Set 2 — Seyoung chooses… second pick!!
Set 2: DFL V-Killer VS SYV Volcanwing. [Set 2 is a clash between horizontal spinning blades.] [Both use horizontal blades, but V-Killer’s is low while Volcanwing’s is in the middle.] [Volcanwing looks like it is made of nothing but bones, while V-Killer is wrapped in carbon and steel.] [Because it is so well protected, Volcanwing probably cannot just pop the wheels.] [Even though V-Killer’s blade is short, it is extremely sturdy.]
> 3, 2, 1! Match start!
> V-Killer’s blade accelerates incredibly fast. It’s short and thick!
> The contact points are quite different, so they don’t actually collide!
Volcanwing’s blade is perfectly horizontal, making it difficult to target the underside. [That is the downside of a Western-style fully horizontal center blade!] [It is stable, but weak against inclined surfaces and hard to attack downward!] V-Killer destroys Volcanwing’s left wheel. If you only attack the opponent’s vital points, victory should come easily. [That used to be Volcanwing’s signature move—now V-Killer is using it instead!!] [Because it is so well protected, it is hard to return the favor!!] V-Killer completely rips off the already-damaged wheel, leaving Volcanwing on one leg. [It lost a wheel just twelve seconds in… whoa!!!] [The opposite wheel is gone at fifteen seconds!!] With both wheels gone, what hope remains? The ten-second KO count begins. [10! 9! 8! 7! 6! 5! 4! 3! 2! 1! Volcanwing KO! V-Killer wins!!] [V-Killer uses Volcanwing’s own signature tactic against its original owner!!]
0:27. An overwhelmingly one-sided victory for V-Killer. It won by attacking only the drive components—the very thing Volcanwing was famous for. There is no copyright on tactics, and V-Killer knew how to use them well.
> Set 3 — Seyoung chooses… second pick!!
Set 3: DFL Airheart VS SYV Viper. [The heart of wind, Airheart has returned to RCLK.] [When was the last time we saw it?] [2019, before COVID even hit. How long ago is that now?] Even the COVID-19 era feels like ancient history—this is older still. [Viper moves like a snake, looks like a snake, and can bite like a snake.] [It has neither legs nor wheels, yet it is classified as a walking robot.] [That is why it weighs a hefty 220 kg—twice as much as usual.]
> 3! 2! 1! Match start!
> Airheart’s flipper can launch up to 250 kg.
> But Viper weighs 220 kg, right?
Performance far higher than what is actually used in practice—one of the fundamentals of engineering for stable operation. [It got hit by Airheart’s CO₂ flipper, but it barely left the ground!!] [There is only 30 kg of margin left!! Against normal robots it usually launches 140 kg!!] Because Viper is twice as heavy as a normal robot, it refuses to be thrown. It looks like someone trying to hurl an anaconda with their bare hands. [A KO will be difficult. They will have to throw it into the out-of-bounds zone or go to a judges’ decision.] [Viper bites the flipper arm and tries to lift it! Isn’t that a cobra?] Viper drags Airheart toward the out-of-bounds zone while gripping it. [Now it just needs to throw it out, right?] [10, 9, 8… whoa!! It shook the fence and came back out!!] Airheart, which had fallen into the out-of-bounds zone, escapes using the recoil from striking the fence with its flipper. It resembles a hooligan pushing off the arena fence to re-enter the field. [It fell back, but what is the advantage of a flipper?] [As long as the weapon works, it can right itself even if flipped!!] After righting itself, Airheart immediately sends Viper into the out-of-bounds zone instead. [Whoa!! It throws it back!!] [10! 9! 8! 7! 6! 5! 4! 3! 2! 1! Viper out-of-bounds loss! Airheart wins!]
0:42. A defender-versus-defender match that ended surprisingly quickly. Airheart has competed for world-class teams as well.
DFL 3 — 0 SYV
Set 1 | Hapagornis win 1:41 KO | Doublewing loss
Set 2 | V-Killer win 0:27 KO | Volcanwing loss
Set 3 | Airheart win 0:42 out-of-bounds | Viper loss
Total time: 2:50—shorter than a single long set. Even though Seyoung has become a weak team, they still showed impressive performance. After founding, Diafle Monarch records two consecutive match wins, six consecutive set wins, and an average victory time of 1:03. An extremely strong start.
The winner’s interview went to Moon Naru, pilot of V-Killer. The highlights were these: “Butterflies can’t cross the sea? National borders are something you can cross whenever you want.”
The loser’s interview went to Si Hwa-jin, pilot of Volcanwing. The highlights were these: “It takes a long time for a supervolcano to erupt again.”
“Team all-time win rate 100 percent—better watch while you still can. Sau, who’s the next opponent?” A 100 percent season win rate does not last long, and an all-time 100 percent will last even less. “The defending champions, RTH Crown.” “That’s my old team. It was also the team Cheong-bi liked.”