Skip or Die

Skip or Die in the pits at BattleBots Rochester R3

Skip or Die was a Middleweight robot that competed at BattleBots Rochester R3 in 2005. It was a brown, two wheeled, invertible robot that had a unique fighting style. It would spin in place at a very high rate of speed, and team members would run around the box with a laser pointer to get the spinning robot to move into its opponent. Unfortunately, this never really worked and Skip or Die acted as a regular thwackbot for the majority of the tournament.

Skip or Die did not do that well in the main tournament as it was besieged by reliability issues, and lost both of its matches. It did eventually manage to fix these issues, and proceeded to win the Middleweight royal rumble at the end of the event where it proved itself to be quite destructive and aggressive.

Robot History

BattleBots Rochester R3

Skip or Die clobbers Green Wave

After receiving a bye in the first round, Skip or Die's first opponent would be Green Wave. This fight started with both robots spinning up, Skip or Die then got a large hit in on Green Wave that sent it into a Mauler Dance, and it landed on its wheels under the pulverizer. This hit disabled its spinning bar, however Skip or Die was worse off from this hit, as it was completely immobilized. Skip or Die then tapped out meaning it was now in the losers bracket where it faced Bouncing Betty.

Skip or Die goes flying after charging up Bouncing Betty's wedge.

This fight started with Skip or Die immediately charging at Bouncing Betty, and driving onto its wedge. The speed of this charge caused Skip or Die to go flying, and when it landed it was obvious something inside it had broken. Bouncing Betty then shoved Skip or Die to the center of the arena where it was counted out, and eliminated from the tournament.

Skip or Die disables Whirlee's weapon.

Skip or Die was not done however as it was one of four robots that entered into the Middleweight Royal Rumble along with Whirlee, Terminal Velocity, and Royd Rage. This rumble started with Skip or Die immediately spinning up, and slugging Whirlee, taking out its weapon belt before temporarily stopping in the middle of the arena.

Royd Rage then attempted to flip it, but failed, and Terminal Velocity attacked it with its spinning bar. Skip or Die then attempted to spin back up but Whirlee slammed into it, preventing it from doing so. Terminal Velocity then attacked it again before being flipped by Royd Rage. Skip or Die then slammed Whirlee into the wall as Terminal Velocity self destructed.

Skip or Die slams Royd Rage into the wall.

Royd Rage then flipped Whirlee before taking a blow from Skip or Die which had gotten up to speed. This immobilized one half of Royd Rage's drivetrain, Skip or Die then rammed into the now immobilized Whirlee, and freed Terminal Velocity, which was barely moving at this point so it attacked Royd Rage again.

However, it missed and got stuck under the wall, and Royd Rage attempted to push it into the pulverizer. However Skip or Die got free, and proceeded to slam Royd Rage repeatedly against the wall as the clock ticked down, causing further damage. Due to its aggression, and the damage caused by its weapon, as well as being the only fully mobile robot in the arena Skip or Die was crowned the BattleBots Rochester R3 Middleweight Royal Rumble winner.

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 0
• Losses: 2

Competition	Wins	Losses
BattleBots Rochester R3	None	Green Wave Bouncing Betty

Trivia

• Skip or Die (along with Kaibosch) is one of only two Royal Rumble winners to have never won a single battle in the main competition.
• Skip or Die's name was likely a pun on the phrase "Skate or Die" taken from the video game of the same name.