The longest known hardcore run in Minecraft has come to an end. Player and streamer Philza has passed away after 5 years in hardcore mode. And this happened in a situation where he could have still survived.
This is the most important rule for a hardcore run: The simplest and yet most important rule states: If you die, your character is gone.
Therefore, it is also so extraordinary that Philza’s hardcore run in Minecraft lasted over 5 years.
This is how Philza died: Philza was deep underground in hardcore mode of Minecraft, gathering materials. In an underground cave, he encountered zombies, baby zombies, and spiders.
As he was killing some zombies, he fell into the cave and was immediately attacked by a baby zombie. These babies are already faster and deadlier than normal zombies. But this baby was also wearing enchanted golden armor.
With a resigned, “I knew it,” Philza confronted the baby and struck it with a burning sword. The flame sword additionally set the baby zombie on fire: as a result, the baby was able to inflict further fire damage on streamer Philza.
As Philza attempted to flee from the baby, he was surprised by some spiders and met his end.
This is how he could have prevented his death: Philza was not wearing a chest plate during his expedition, but “elytra,” wings that allow players to glide. Due to the use of the wings, no chest armor can be equipped, which provides important protection.
In the corresponding reddit thread some players point out that Philza could have survived even without his chest armor:
- He could have used a shield. The players wonder why he has none.
- Philza has both an enchanted golden apple and a water bucket with him.
- He could have placed the water bucket in front of him to push the enemies away.
- While the enemies are distracted, he could have eaten the apple, which heals him almost completely and makes him invulnerable.
- He could have used his totem of undying.
In his stream, Philza explains that he knew that something like this would happen and why he did not prevent his death:
I knew it, of all things it would be something stupid that I would die from. I knew I was done for and still reached for the golden apple. I should have used the totem.
I told you, didn’t I? I said I would never use a totem of undying. I’m too stubborn. I didn’t want to admit that I was so close to dying.
What is the hardcore mode? In the hardcore mode of Minecraft, there is the so-called “permadeath” mechanic. If you die, you are permanently dead on this server:
- in single-player, the world is deleted
- in multiplayer, you can only watch the world, not interact with it anymore
Moreover, the hardcore mode is always played on the highest difficulty, which is why most players tend to play more defensively.
Now that the 5-year run is over, the current ongoing survival record, according to users on reddit, is just “a few weeks.”
What do you think of this frustrating death?
Are you still looking for the best survival MMO of 2019?
