Difference between revisions of "Robot Combat League National Championship"

Latest revision as of 01:20, 18 October 2026

The Robot Combat League National Championship is the yearly championship of the Robot Combat League (RCL). The top-ranked robots from hundreds of independent local events across North America are invited to fight for a national title in each of the League's ranked weight classes, from 150 g Fairyweights to 30 lb Featherweights. The first championship was held in 2023. This page lists every championship and its top three robots in each class, with links to each robot's profile on RobotCombatEvents.com (RCE), where the full results are kept.

How it works

Qualifying. Robots earn League points by placing at participating local events during the season, which runs from March 1 to the last day of February; the championship is held a few months after the season ends. Each robot's season score comes from its best three events, and the top-ranked robots in each class are invited to the championship (see how points are calculated).[1] Current rankings are on the RCE rankings page.
Bracket sizes. Since 2024, the target has been 32 robots each in Fairyweight, Plastic Antweight, Antweight and Beetleweight, and 16 each in Hobbyweight, Featherweight and Sportsman. If a ranked robot can't attend, the next robot in the rankings is invited.[2] Because fewer robots compete in the bigger classes, the 12 lb and 30 lb classes have had open registration since 2025, with rankings used for seeding.[3]
Format. Every class is a double-elimination tournament, with standard SPARC rules and a few event-specific additions, such as a 250 mph weapon tip-speed limit (since 2025) and stopping a match if a robot's batteries are fully exposed. Robots that earned their points under other rules must be updated to meet SPARC rules. If two robots from the same team meet, they must fight, or the winner is decided by a coin toss.[4]

Championships

Year	Dates	Venue	Classes	Results
2023	May 5–7, 2023	Seattle Center Exhibition Hall, Seattle, Washington	6	Top three · RCE event
2024	April 18–21, 2024	San Jose Event Center, San Jose, California (alongside RoboGames)	7	Top three · RCE event
2025	May 2–4, 2025	Discovery Cube Orange County, Santa Ana, California	7	Top three · RCE event
2026	June 19–21, 2026	Salt Palace Convention Center, Salt Lake City, Utah	7	Top three · RCE event

Champions by class

Class	2023	2024	2025	2026
150 g Fairyweight	Root MEAN Square Team Allennella	Ditto Level 5 Robotics	Splinter Shadow Combat Robotics	Spam Plan Complified Creations
1 lb Plastic Antweight	Fully Dogga Painfully Obvious Robotics	Axolotl Questions Treacherous Robotics	Pac Attac RoboWarner	Kingpin Phosphor Robotics
1 lb Antweight	Dulce de Lucha Rayze Robotics	Flippin the Bird Striped Might	Ishtar Impulse Robotics	Fission Shadow Combat Robotics
3 lb Beetleweight	Lynx IBA LABS	Tut Station 68	Droopy Surrenderbotics	Strikepoint Team Thagomizer
12 lb Hobbyweight	Quicksilver The Bot Brothers	Full Court Three Point Robotics	Creature Combat Ready Robotics	Full Court Three Point Robotics
30 lb Featherweight	not held	Jubileu	Lil Lash Team Whiplash	HSS High Energy Failures
30 lb Sportsman	Grill Master Food Fight	Meme Theme! Capybara Biggus Piggus Robotics	Ralph RoboFreaks	HS1 Sport Team Wedges

2023 – Seattle

A match in the large arena at the 2023 championship in Seattle

The first championship was held at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall, next to the Space Needle, with robots that qualified in the League's first season (March 2022 to February 2023, 98 local events). Featherweights were ranked that season, but the class couldn't run because no suitable arena was available. Hobbyweights and Sportsman robots fought in a 12 × 16 ft steel-floored arena with a pit, and magnets weren't allowed in the Plastic Antweight and Sportsman classes.[5]

Class	Champion	2nd	3rd	Robots	Results
150 g Fairyweight	Root MEAN Square Team Allennella	Dark Bullit Dark Forces	Jolly Rancher Team Allennella	18	RCE · bracket
1 lb Plastic Antweight	Fully Dogga Painfully Obvious Robotics	The Captain Revelation Robotics	Mod Bot Orange Eyeball Slicers	17	RCE · bracket
1 lb Antweight	Dulce de Lucha Rayze Robotics	Mudskipper y_0 Robotics	Super Space Turtle y_0 Robotics	32	RCE · bracket
3 lb Beetleweight	Lynx IBA LABS	Firecracker Slam Dunk	Thunder Child Mutually Assured Destruction	32	RCE · bracket
12 lb Hobbyweight	Quicksilver The Bot Brothers	Son of Kram Team Small Robots	Sling Blade Bax Attack	7	RCE · bracket
30 lb Sportsman	Grill Master Food Fight	Llama Sheen Canadian Carnage Robotics	Storm Rider Team Bad Ideas	10	RCE · bracket

2024 – San Jose

The second championship drew its robots from 125 qualifying events. It was held at the San Jose Event Center alongside RoboGames, and added full-combat 30 lb Featherweights. It used SCAR's arenas, with metal floors and no pits, and followed SCAR's magnet rule (a robot's magnets mustn't be strong enough to hold it upside down on a steel plate).[6]

Class	Champion	2nd	3rd	Robots	Results
150 g Fairyweight	Ditto Level 5 Robotics	Slipper Turnabot	Squeezy Turnabot	33	RCE · bracket
1 lb Plastic Antweight	Axolotl Questions Treacherous Robotics	The Captain Revelation Robotics	Deatharang ADHD	33	RCE · bracket
1 lb Antweight	Flippin the Bird Striped Might	Tiramisu Terror Treats	Fission Shadow Combat Robotics	24	RCE · bracket
3 lb Beetleweight	Tut Station 68	Thunder Child Mutually Assured Destruction	Brick Station 68	18	RCE · bracket
12 lb Hobbyweight	Full Court Three Point Robotics	Son of Kram Team Small Robots	Xupa-cabra	10	RCE · bracket
30 lb Featherweight	Jubileu	Kablooey Tango Team Valkyrie	Pepe Silvia Sunny Robotics	6	RCE · bracket
30 lb Sportsman	Meme Theme! Capybara Biggus Piggus Robotics	Banana Smash Team Ice	Crunch Time Rad Robotics	6	RCE · bracket

2025 – Santa Ana

The third championship, with robots from 166 qualifying events, was held at Discovery Cube Orange County, a children's science museum, in partnership with the museum. It used SPARC v1.4 rules and introduced a 250 mph weapon tip-speed limit and a one-unstick-per-match rule; competitors who touch the arena to move a robot lose by TKO.[7]

Class	Champion	2nd	3rd	Robots	Results
150 g Fairyweight	Splinter Shadow Combat Robotics	Ditto Level 5 Robotics	Geo Doohickey Robotics	32	RCE · bracket
1 lb Plastic Antweight	Pac Attac RoboWarner	Kestrel Vollen Robotics	Legion Assault & Batteries	31	RCE · bracket
1 lb Antweight	Ishtar Impulse Robotics	Fission Shadow Combat Robotics	Claw Dragon CW MC Robotics	26	RCE · bracket
3 lb Beetleweight	Droopy Surrenderbotics	Púca Team Small Robots	Z3phyr Astro Labs	26	RCE · bracket
12 lb Hobbyweight	Creature Combat Ready Robotics	Full Court Three Point Robotics	Whomper Team Whiplash	15	RCE · bracket
30 lb Featherweight	Lil Lash Team Whiplash	Pepe Silvia Sunny Robotics	HS1 Team Wedges	12	RCE · bracket
30 lb Sportsman	Ralph RoboFreaks	Banana Smash Team Ice	Rumble Bumble Seattle Gaze	10	RCE · bracket

2026 – Salt Lake City

The fourth championship was held in Hall 3 of the Salt Palace Convention Center. 3,906 different robots competed at 214 qualifying events that season (see Growth of Robot Combat). It used SPARC v1.6 rules. The insect classes fought on wooden floors, with a push-out area in the Fairyweight arena, and the 12 lb and 30 lb classes on a 12 × 16 ft metal floor.[8]

Class	Champion	2nd	3rd	Robots	Results
150 g Fairyweight	Spam Plan Complified Creations	briklit team good team	Ditto Level 5 Robotics	35	RCE · bracket
1 lb Plastic Antweight	Kingpin Phosphor Robotics	Danger Zone Stray Cats	Dark Tide HOP Bots	32	RCE · bracket
1 lb Antweight	Fission Shadow Combat Robotics	The Darkest Timeline Mutually Assured Destruction	Appropriation Late Night Combat Robotics	22	RCE · bracket
3 lb Beetleweight	Strikepoint Team Thagomizer	Fragment X Shadow Combat Robotics	Z3phyr Astro Labs	23	RCE · bracket
12 lb Hobbyweight	Full Court Three Point Robotics	Pyre Painfully Obvious Robotics	CLIP IT Not Sure Yet	7	RCE · bracket
30 lb Featherweight	HSS High Energy Failures	HS1 Team Wedges	Maccabot Team Scrap Yard	4	RCE · bracket
30 lb Sportsman	HS1 Sport Team Wedges	Banana Smash Team Ice	HS2 Sport	10	RCE · bracket

Repeat podium finishers

Robots that have finished in the top three of the same class more than once:

Ditto (150 g Fairyweight) – 1st in 2024, 2nd in 2025, 3rd in 2026
Fission (1 lb Antweight) – 3rd in 2024, 2nd in 2025, 1st in 2026
Full Court (12 lb Hobbyweight) – 1st in 2024, 2nd in 2025, 1st in 2026
Banana Smash (30 lb Sportsman) – 2nd in 2024, 2nd in 2025, 2nd in 2026
The Captain (1 lb Plastic Antweight) – 2nd in 2023, 2nd in 2024
Thunder Child (3 lb Beetleweight) – 3rd in 2023, 2nd in 2024
Z3phyr (3 lb Beetleweight) – 3rd in 2025, 3rd in 2026
Son of Kram (12 lb Hobbyweight) – 2nd in 2023, 2nd in 2024
HS1 (30 lb Featherweight) – 3rd in 2025, 2nd in 2026
Pepe Silvia (30 lb Featherweight) – 3rd in 2024, 2nd in 2025

Notes

Places come from each class's results on RobotCombatEvents.com, which the organizers enter after the event. The "Robots" column counts robots with a recorded place.
A few robots that weren't registered on RCE before the event were entered under temporary records, so they have no profile link and their team isn't shown.

@@ Line 61: / Line 61: @@
 ==2024 – San Jose==
-The second championship drew its robots from 126 qualifying events. It was held at the San Jose Event Center alongside '''[[Major Competitions#RoboGames|RoboGames]]''', and added full-combat 30 lb Featherweights. It used SCAR's arenas, with metal floors and no pits, and followed SCAR's magnet rule (a robot's magnets mustn't be strong enough to hold it upside down on a steel plate).[https://www.robotcombatevents.com/events/1250]
+The second championship drew its robots from 125 qualifying events. It was held at the San Jose Event Center alongside '''[[Major Competitions#RoboGames|RoboGames]]''', and added full-combat 30 lb Featherweights. It used SCAR's arenas, with metal floors and no pits, and followed SCAR's magnet rule (a robot's magnets mustn't be strong enough to hold it upside down on a steel plate).[https://www.robotcombatevents.com/events/1250]
 {| class="wikitable"
@@ Line 82: / Line 82: @@
 ==2025 – Santa Ana==
-The third championship was held at Discovery Cube Orange County, a children's science museum, in partnership with the museum. It used SPARC v1.4 rules and introduced a 250 mph weapon tip-speed limit and a one-unstick-per-match rule; competitors who touch the arena to move a robot lose by TKO.[https://www.robotcombatevents.com/events/2503]
+The third championship, with robots from 166 qualifying events, was held at Discovery Cube Orange County, a children's science museum, in partnership with the museum. It used SPARC v1.4 rules and introduced a 250 mph weapon tip-speed limit and a one-unstick-per-match rule; competitors who touch the arena to move a robot lose by TKO.[https://www.robotcombatevents.com/events/2503]
 {| class="wikitable"
@@ Line 103: / Line 103: @@
 ==2026 – Salt Lake City==
-The fourth championship was held in Hall 3 of the Salt Palace Convention Center. Nearly 4,000 robots competed at more than 200 qualifying events that season. It used SPARC v1.6 rules. The insect classes fought on wooden floors, with a push-out area in the Fairyweight arena, and the 12 lb and 30 lb classes on a 12 &times; 16 ft metal floor.[https://www.robotcombatevents.com/events/6991]
+The fourth championship was held in Hall 3 of the Salt Palace Convention Center. 3,906 different robots competed at 214 qualifying events that season (see '''[[Growth of Robot Combat]]'''). It used SPARC v1.6 rules. The insect classes fought on wooden floors, with a push-out area in the Fairyweight arena, and the 12 lb and 30 lb classes on a 12 &times; 16 ft metal floor.[https://www.robotcombatevents.com/events/6991]
 {| class="wikitable"