Icewave

Icewave in World Championship VI

Overview

Icewave is a heavyweight robot which competed in the first two seasons of ABC's BattleBots reboot Its main feature was a 15-horsepower internal combustion engine (hence "Ice") housed on top of the robot which powered a 54-inch spinning steel bar. Icewave was a fan-favorite for its destructive design and intimidation factor, but it lost in an upset defeat to Ghost Raptor in the quarter-finals.

Icewave was built by Marc DeVidts, who also built Edge and Vault for previous BattleBots competitions. Icewave is not a new design for DeVidts either, as he competed with a middleweight version of the design back in the mid-2000s. This version of Icewave also competed in a BattleBots-sanctioned event, the 2004 NPC Charity Open.

Robot History

BattleBots World Championship I

Icewave in World Championship I

Icewave's first ever match was against Razorback. Despite early aggression from Razorback, Icewave was able to get its weapon up to speed and carved up Razorback, eventually knocking off the front wedge. A few hits later, and Razorback's entire front apparatus was gone, along with its right front wheel. Soon after this, Icewave began to smoke heavily (this was due to a loose battery which had been damaged by the impact forces), but Razorback had stopped moving while parked on Icewave's wedge, and thus was counted out. Icewave was given the knockout victory and advanced to the round of 16, where it faced Chomp.

In its fight against Chomp, both robots avoided each other at first before Icewave made a tear in the front of Chomp's wedge. The next three attacks caused some damage to the left side of Chomp, loosening the armor on that side. Icewave's next attack torn front of the left chassis with a following attack hitting the rear of Chomp. The right side of Chomp was then hit and damaged by Icewave. The next three hits caused two of Chomp's wheels to fall out and Chomp was immobilized, Icewave winning by knockout in a minute. This win put Icewave to the quarterfinals, where it faced Ghost Raptor.

Before the match began, Team Raptor added an arm atop Ghost Raptor to keep Icewave's dangerous blade at bay, which they named the "De-Icer". Once the match started, the arm proved successful in keeping Icewave away. Ghost Raptor pushed Icewave, causing its blade to hit the ground and fall down on the floor. With no means of self-righting, Icewave was counted out of the fight and Ghost Raptor won by KO in what was perhaps the biggest upset of the season.

Icewave wasn't finished, however, as it went up against HyperShock in a grudge match. Despite getting its spinning blade jammed with HyperShock's spinning drum, Icewave managed to destroy HyperShock and won the match by KO.

BattleBots World Championship II

Icewave's first match in World Championship II was against SubZero. Icewave got its spinning blade going and SubZero went straight at Icewave, which it almost got flipped onto its back from the impact. After this, Icewave continued hitting SubZero with its spinning blade. At one point, Icewave left a huge gash into the right side of SubZero. Unfortunately, Icewave's blade stopped spinning toward the end of the match and pushed SubZero around the BattleBox. Before the time ran out, Icewave pushed SubZero under the pulverizer for one final blow. In the end, Icewave won on a unanimous 3-0 judge's decision and advanced to the round of 32.

Here, Icewave fought Nightmare. This match started out rather well for Icewave as it managed to tear off one of Nightmare's wheel guards and leave Nightmare bouncing around from a bent weapon shaft. However, Icewave quickly started to suffer from radio interference and stopped moving. Icewave was counted out, eliminating it from the tournament again, despite the fact that it started moving again straight after being counted out.

BattleBots World Championship III

Icewave in World Championship III

Icewave's first match in the 2018 season was against newcomer Jack Tweedy and Vanquish. The match started out well for Icewave as it was able to strike Vanquish a few times. Icewave continued its attacks, even getting on top of Vanquish's wedge, which prompted the robots to be separated (this was cut from the TV airing). Icewave got its weapon up to full speed and started dealing bigger hits to Vanquish, including leaving Vanquish without drive on one side. One particular big hit tore Vanquish in half with one half being little more than two drive wheels and the other half containing everything else. Vanquish was unable to continue and was counted out, giving Icewave the win by KO at 56 seconds.

Icewave's next match was against Yeti. At the start of the match, Yeti attempted to charge Icewave to keep it from spinning up its weapon. Despite this Icewave did manage to get its weapon up to speed, but Yeti kept it under pressure. Icewave then landed a blow that sent itself flying, but landing upright. However, this hit left its opponent incapacitated, and Yeti was counted out. After this hit, Icewave accidentally hit Yeti's tires, prompting a reaction from the opposition team.

Icewave's third opponent was against Skorpios. For this fight, Icewave added an orange beak designed to counteract the addition Skorpios made to itself. When the match began, Icewave was doing well, as it managed to disable Skorpios' saw arm. On the second attack, Icewave started to tear off the front extensions on Skorpios, but was thrown into the air. Icewave was then pushed into the screws before being released. Icewave struggled to spin up its weapon due to Skorpios's speed, but still managed to dish out hits, eventually tearing off another of Skorpios' front extensions. Icewave found itself again being shoved around by its opponent but managed to last the distance. Time ran out and the judges awarded a split 2-1 decision for Skorpios.

Icewave's last chance to make the Top 16 was against HUGE. The match was off to a good start as the first hit from Icewave tore into one of HUGE's wheels, causing that wheel to lose some mobility. HUGE kept going so Icewave attacked it again, causing less damage than before. The third assault brutally tore HUGE down the middle, and each half fell as the bot had been incapacitated. HUGE was counted out, giving Icewave the win by KO and a place in the last sixteen.

Icewave had done enough to make to make the Top 16, where it faced Rotator. The match started poorly for Icewave as the first hit on Rotator caused its weapon motor to stall, enabling Rotator to tear into the engine housing with its disk. Icewave tried to push Rotator around, but Rotator's speed combined with Icewave's inability to defend the engine housing caused it to take more damage, eventually losing its entire gasoline engine. Time ran out and Rotator won on a unanimous 3-0 judges' decision.

re:MARS all:STARS BattleBots Challenge 2019

In spite of not competing in Discovery World Championship IV, Icewave still competed as one of 10 robots in the live streaming event in Las Vegas, Nevada. At this event, which happened after Season 4, it was placed against the 3-time champion Bite Force. Things were off to an okay start for Icewave as they were avoiding damage from Bite Force and even managed to get underneath Bite Force's wedge. However, Icewave started to take a barrage of hits that tore into its wedge and its weapon, leaving it unable to spin up due to an imbalance issue. As the match wore on, Icewave had pretty much no wedge left but soon both tips of its weapon were torn off, allowing it to spin up to speed normally. Unfortunately, Bite Force didn't give it any room to mount an attack so its weapon couldn't land any hits. Making matters worse, they ended up stuck against the arena barrier near the pulverizer. Luckily, Bite Force's weapon chain came off, resulting in a pushing match but this didn't favor Icewave at all due to their lack of a front wedge. Eventually, Icewave stopped moving and was counted out just before the end of the match. Icewave wasn't chosen by the crowd to compete in the championship match so it was eliminated from the event.

BattleBots: Bounty Hunters 2020

Icewave during Bounty Hunters

While Icewave didn't compete in Discovery Season 5, it did compete in the Bounty Hunters competition as one of six Bounty bosses where other bots fought each other to earn the right to fight a BattleBots icon for a chance at a piece of the $25,000 prize. For its Bounty match, Icewave faced Skorpios, which was a rematch from a Main Event in Discovery Season 3. Unfortunately, Icewave had trouble delivering any big hits to Skorpios as it was shoved across the arena and eventually took damage to its ICE from the pulverizer. Icewave had little drive power left and its ICE had been too badly damage to function so Icewave took one final hit from Skorpios as time ran out. The judges awarded Skorpios the win and a pieces of the $25,000 prize money.

BattleBots World Championship VI

After two seasons away from BattleBots, Icewave returned for the 2021 season. Its first opponent was against last season's semi-finalist Black Dragon. As the fight began, Black Dragon attempted to charge down Icewave before it got up to speed, and successfully unbalanced the bot. It then got underneath the rear of Icewave as it tried to spin up again, sending it weapon-first into the Upper Deck. Though Icewave’s internal combustion engine was still firing, the primary weapon itself was no longer spinning, allowing Black Dragon to bully it into a corner. Icewave was still able to drive as it returned to the center of the BattleBox, but Black Dragon again slid underneath, forcing it into the pulverizer where it lay dormant. Icewave was counted out soon after, giving  Team Ua!rrior and Black Dragon their first win of the 2021 season.

Icewave's second opponent came in the form of RoboGym Robotics and Deadlift. For this fight, the team opted for the original Icewave model which saw the bulk of their BattleBots success in seasons past. Icewave's front plow had also been swapped out for three thick wedges. From the first few seconds, Deadlift looked to charge down Icewave, but Marc DeVidts evaded its opponent and found space to spin up. Deadlift tried to deter Icewave with its flamethrower, but took a hit to their front. Icewave attacked again and pieces of its opponent flew away. Although the weaponry of Deadlift was functional, the drive was not. Deadlift was counted out, putting Icewave to 1-1 for the season and earning Marc DeVidts a valuable knockout win in the 2021 season.

Icewave's third and final fight came against Fusion in their first Main Event since the 2018 season. For this fight, Icewave was equipped with three wide, hinged wedgelets as opposed to a single static plow. Both robots spun up their horizontal weapons as they approached, and Fusion led with their wedgelets. The bots collided, but this impact appeared to break Icewave's weapon and it slowed and was no longer spinning. Fusion slowed its horizontal spinner in favor of leading with its drum, but struggled for bite on Marc DeVidts' bot. Icewave then shoved Fusion into the Upper Deck as it tried to spin both weapons at the same time and Icewave found itself picked up by the screws and unable to escape. Fusion, however, had stopped moving all together and began smoking as the screws eventually spat Icewave out. Despite losing its weapon early, Icewave returned to the center of the BattleBox to celebrate as Fusion was counted out. Icewave took the win by knockout and made the Top 32 as the No.30 seed.

Now in the Round of 32, Icewave met the No.3 seed and 2020 season runner-up Whiplash, again equipped with its hinged wedgelets. As the match began, Whiplash charged at Icewave as it tried to spin up, but became caught up on the floor as it tried to give chase. This allowed Icewave the time and space to spin up to speed. The two robots met head-on in a collision which spun them both around but more importantly for Matt Vazquez, halted Icewave's weapon as it tried to use its arm as a grabber. Whiplash tanked another hit directly to their front before Icewave found itself caught between its opponent and the screws of the Upper Deck. Icewave was snagged by the screws and eventually overturned by Whiplash. Without a self-righting mechanism, Icewave was counted out and Whiplash advanced to the Round of 16.

Results

Series	Round	Opponent(s)	Results
BattleBots World Championship I	Qualifier	Razorback	Won
	Round of 16	Chomp	Won
	Quarter Final	Ghost Raptor	Lost
	Grudge Match	HyperShock	Won
Battlebots World Championship II	Qualifier	SubZero	Won
	Round of 32	Nightmare	Lost
Battlebots World Championship III	Undercard Matches	Vanquish	Won
		Yeti	Won
		Skorpios	Lost
		HUGE	Won
	Round of 16	Rotator	Lost
re:MARS all:STARS BattleBots Challenge 2019	Preliminaries	Bite Force	Lost
BattleBots: Bounty Hunters	Boss Fight	Skorpios	Lost
BattleBots World Championship VI	Undercard Matches	Black Dragon	Lost
		Deadlift	Won
		Fusion	Won
	Round of 32	Whiplash	Lost

• Wins: 9
• Losses: 8