Top 10 Robot Wars Series 8 Competitors

Carbide looked like a mean machine as soon as it debuted. Its bar spinner was capable of mass destruction, though in its first couple of fights it had teething issues, even causing it to lose to Terrorhurtz. However, once they were ironed out, it was wanton destruction all the way.

It made wrecks out of Nuts 2 and Thor, and it even beat Apollo in mere seconds. However, in its fight against TR2, the weapon clutch broke, causing it to lose on a judge's decision. Then in the Grand Final against Apollo, the weapon broke again, meaning Apollo won the title, and Carbide finished a respectable second.

Even though it came runner-up, it had the Hypno-Disc effect of being the bot everyone was afraid of, and it would only get deadlier in the series to come.

A group of holiday park entertainers from North Wales entered a robot with an almighty launcher. At first, it looked like it would be going out in round 1 after it got its wheel ripped off by PP3D. But Dave Young, being a skilled driver, was able to move Apollo using only one wheel.

It then was able to show off its power by taking out PP3D, having a great fight with Storm II, flipping over three of the four House Robots, and getting an out-of-the-arena flip on Storm II. In the Finals, it looked impressive, beating the highly fancied TR2. However, in its first fight against Carbide, the link fell out, and it lost in a disappointing way.

It did, however, get to the Grand Final, where it flipped Carbide all around, causing its weapon to break. While it couldn't finish it off, it took the fight to the judges. Apollo was given the win and declared the champion of the first of the rebooted series.

While it is up for debate whether Apollo was actually the best robot in the series, I do think it was a deserving winner.

At first glance, TR2 looked like your average wedge flipper bot (along with a humorous "bum-axe"), but simplicity aside, it proved very effective. Driver Alex Brown proved very adept at the controls, beating the likes of Big Nipper and Dantomkia, and also being the only robot to win its heat without losing a fight.

It was one of the favourites going into the Final, but against Apollo, it got out-wedged. Apollo won the ground game and was able to get underneath it and flip it to the point where it couldn't self-right. The situation looked hopeless against Carbide until Carbide had a weapon failure, and TR2 was able to boss it around the arena. Failing to get the knockout, however, meant TR2 couldn't get enough points to go through to the Grand Final, but it did end its series on a high.

Shockwave was a pretty cool design. A plough that could flip 360 degrees, meaning it could work upside down and still have an effective wedge. It felt like a modern-day Tornado, the way it pushed other bots around and into the pit.

It lost in a good fight against Thor in its heat but pitted all its other opponents. Then, in the rematch against Thor, it won as Thor mysteriously lost power. In the Finals, however, it got its side drive badly torn up by Carbide, and even though the fight was stopped prematurely (due to the arena being damaged), the damage to Shockwave was too much to repair.

Even though its run ended on a bit of a low note, the bot still performed well and is underrated in my eyes.

A robot that had brief appearances in the classic series returned with a much more refined design. In its heat, it showed great aggression and control from driver Jason Marston. Its axe was powerful enough to knock out Tough as Nails, punch a hole in Mr. Speed Squared, and break Shockwave's front plough.

It looked like a cert for the Final, but a technical fault in the Heat Final caused it to lose to Shockwave. It was brought back as a wildcard, where it got past the first melee. But against Carbide, it got absolutely battered. Jason made a great effort to keep putting the bot back together again for the later fights, but it seemed damaged beyond repair, and as a result, TR2 and Apollo had a couple of easy wins.

Pulsar boasted a nice compact design, along with a spinning drum that made a frightening death hum. It actually got eliminated in its first-round melee but was reinstated after Chompalot had to pull out.

It got quick knockouts against Beast and Ironside 3, and then won a tough fight with Gabriel in the Heat Final. The lucky streak ended in the Final when it lost its melee against TR2 and Thor. It certainly was a nicely designed and powerful robot, but it had too many reliability issues to truly excel.

A highly successful flipper bot on the live circuit had a lot going for it. It looked well-built, and the flipper was powerful. Michael Oates is also hailed as one of the best drivers in robot combat.

Its heat, however, proved to be quite difficult. It lost a close judge's decision to Storm II, then lost in an underwhelming fight with PP3D. It did redeem itself by winning its fight with Apollo, but by that point, it was too late, and it didn't get enough points.

It was definitely unfortunate to go out as early as it did, but at least they can claim a victory over Apollo.

Old Robot Wars favourite Behemoth returned with an upgraded design. It was a lot quicker than before and self-righted more effectively. It did well in its heat, beating Nuts 2 and Terrorhurtz, and I thought it had the beating of Carbide. However, the bar spinner proved to be too much for Behemoth, as Carbide broke its scoop, then caused the drives to not respond.

If you liked Behemoth in the classic series, then chances are you'll enjoy this newer iteration even more.

Ironside 3 had a great start in its heat, doing heavy damage to Chompalot in its opening melee, then taking out Beast. It didn't manage to knock out Gabriel, but it did win a judge's decision and was favourite to win the heat. Then it fell afoul of the reinstated Pulsar when it got flipped, and the self-righting mechanism couldn't get it back in fighting.

Despite impressive victories against Beast and Gabriel, that still wasn't enough to get it through to the Heat Final. In my eyes, Ironside 3 had to be the most unlucky robot in the series. It rightfully should've done better, but it'll get another chance in the following series.

At first glance, Gabriel is very unassuming. It just looks like a giant thwackbot with big plastic wheels. However, that's where the simple but genius design lies. When it fought bots like Ironside 3 and Pulsar, the wheels were all those bots could attack. And the HDPE was good at absorbing the impacts, bending but never breaking.

Its giant sword doesn't do the most visible damage, but if it hits hard enough, there's always a chance it could knock something loose. For such a wacky and unconventional bot, it proved really well-driven and really difficult to beat.