On Saturday, the most successful MRCA builders converged in Oconomowoc, WI to determine who is the best of the best. There was an air of excitement and anticipation in the morning as the thirty competitors filed in and started to prepare their bots. Each and every one of them could have brought home the gold, but a champion was eventually crowned after an incredibly tense competition featuring some of the closest matches, biggest surprises, and most destructive performances of the entire season...
3rd Place - Killa Bees Robotics & Rules of Acquisition
Brendan Metz of Killa Bees Robotics underperformed during the MRCA qualifying season. His robot, Rules of Acquisition, had a pretty good win record, and he managed to get the #14 seed at the tournament, but everyone was expecting him to take home some trophies. Everyone knew the bot had potential, but for whatever reason, it could never manage a podium. All that changed on Saturday when THE ENGINEER himself finally found some momentum. Apparently, he was saving his best tournament performance for last because he knocked it out of the park at the finals! Along the way, he put on a dynamic performance that just kept getting more impressive. Highlights include one of the most intense driving matches of the tournament against the #3 seed, FL!P, a knockout against the #6 seed, Theseus, and even a knockout against the #2 seed, Atoma! With losses to only the first place and second place finishers, Brendan certainly earned this position.
2nd Place - Bots 'n' Stuff & Atoma
In order to make the MRCA Finals, Owen Marshall actually chose to pass on attending BattleBots with his team Bots 'n' Stuff's heavyweight, Bloodsport. With that in mind, I'm sure he's happy he placed as highly as he did! Atoma kept its insane pattern of placing in the top five of every tournament its been to, this time with six knockouts, leaving no questions about its dominance. His only losses were to the first place finisher and the third place finisher, Rules of Acquisition. He took revenge against Rules of Acquisition at the top of the losers' bracket though.
1st Place - y0 Robotics & Mudskipper
Owen wasn't the only one juggling Battlebots and MRCA participation. Remy DeGuzman flew in straight from Las Vegas, where he was supporting the new heavyweight entry, Shreddit Bro!, to be at the MRCA finals. Going into the tournament, he was the heavy favorite to win based on his #1 seed and a history of destruction in the WRC arena. He did not disappoint. After a surprisingly close first match against the #32 seed, Karen, he swept the winners' bracket with very little opposition. This victory will surly cement Remy as one of the most feared builders and drivers in the MRCA for years to come.
You can see the full results of the tournament here.
That's a wrap on the first season of the MRCA! We laughed. We cried. We ripped each other's hard work to shreds. We're excited to see you in 2023 when we do it all over again!