Opinion: Minecraft Championship is a monthly event to look forward to

Minecraft first released in 2011 and is, to this day, the best-selling video game of all time. Everyone has heard of it, millions have played it and a handful of YouTubers have made a name for themselves from the game. Despite having faded out of mainstream gaming, it’s managed to jump back into relevance within the last couple of years.

The game has brought fame to a new group of YouTubers and streamers, as well as reminded people of those they watched years ago. Dream, which had under 2,000 subscribers in the first half of 2019, has rocketed up to 13 million subscribers as of Nov. 24. He’s now one of the fastest-growing YouTube channels and strictly posts only Minecraft content. My childhood favorite channel called CaptainSparklez recently reached the 11 million subscriber mark and still uploads for the same game.

Both these up-and-coming and well-known creators can be found competing in Minecraft Championships, which pits ten teams of four against each other in a series of Minecraft minigames. Each of the eight rounds is progressively worth more points and the top two teams battle in “Dodgebolt” to determine the final victor.

A countdown signals the beginning of each minigame as all the players wait in the lobby. (Image by CaptainSparklez)

The tournament was created by the group Noxcrew and the teams are organized by Scott Smajor, who also participates in the event.

Unlike other competitions, there is no cash prize, but the victorious quartet is each sent a coin and bragging rights, according to Smajor. This lack of pressure creates a much lighter atmosphere, with many players competing mainly for fun. Of course, there’s plenty of competitive players to balance it out and create anticipation for results. 

As Dream recently pointed out in the stream of fellow player HBomb, the more ambitious players tend to pull in more viewers. Technoblade, widely recognized as being among the best players, is one of the only participants streaming on YouTube and consistently has well over 100,000 viewers. Sixteen-year-old TommyInnit leads the group on Twitch alongside Dream, both with remarkable viewer counts similar to Technoblade’s as they all tend to place high on the leaderboards.

There’s an inspiring amount of talent found in the forty contenders. They’re all absolutely entertaining, whether it be their talent at the game or the laughs their performances provide. Every MCC is filled with amazing plays, hilarious jokes and memorable moments. It’s hard to choose just one perspective to watch and I often find myself switching between streams.

The next MCC is on Dec. 12, and the various teams will be revealed on the Twitter account @MCChampionship_ leading up to the event.