'Minecraft Hardcore' Streamer Philza Loses His 5-Year Run in a Most Unfortunate Way

What happened to Twitch streamer Philza's Hardcore Minecraft record? Here's how Phil Waston lost his a 5-year winning streak.

We've all experienced failures in life. Some blindside us, while others reveal themselves as a series of red flags. By far, the worst of these experiences are when we are keenly aware of a misstep taken and now there's nothing left to do but take the hit and move on. But moving on can be hard. Especially when the letdown involves losing a long-held world record.

This is exactly the position Phil Watson, better known by his Twitch streamer handle "Philza," found himself in last week when his five-year-long Minecraft Hardcore run came to an unfortunate end.

For those who've never played Minecraft Hardcore, let us assure you, it lives up to its name. The mode, which is a variant of the traditional survival mode, locks players into the hardest difficulty settings for the game and offers no second chances. If you die, it's a permadeath, meaning there's no respawning back. As a single-player your whole world is erased, while in multiplayer mode, you'll be stuck on the outside, viewing life in your former world as a mere spectator. Outside of Watson's incredible five-year streak, some of the current longest runs are merely a few weeks long.

So how did Watson manage to lose his record? What foul fiend managed to put an end to his truly legendary run? The answer — a tiny baby. Zombie that is.

Yep, those tricky little undead have a number of tricks up their sleeves. Combined with full armor and a little fire power, and well, as it became clear, even the best of us can end up rattled.

For Philza, the death was truly a mixture and bad luck and poor decision making due to sheer on-camera panic. In the Twitch video documenting Philza's fall from glory, the streamer is seen wearing his Elytra wings. The wings remove the ability to don protective armor and so Watson was is a somewhat vulnerable position already. Philza also had his Fire Sword equipped which, unfortunately, is quite effective for setting enemies aflame. At one point Watson finds himself trapped in a cavern where he's suddenly rushed by the quick-footed attack of a baby zombie. Watson reacted equally as quickly, hitting the baby zombie with his fire sword, but the move backfired and before long, the baby zombie was burning through Philza's armor free frame. Though Watson tried to run, he was eventually taken down by a spider. The clip is truly painful to watch as the streamer begins to realize the full consequences of his errant actions.

To make matters worse, the death could have been avoided had Watson kept his wits about him. Some viewers suggested using a golden apple to restore his health or a water bucket as a kind of shield.

When it comes down to it, Watson says he "got a bit full of himself" when the baby zombie appeared, he panicked and his judgment took a detour.

"A lot of people are laughing at it, which is fine because it's a pretty dumb way to die," Watson told the BBC.

It's a hard pill to swallow, but Watson is taking it like a champ. Though the defeat had him down for a few days, Watson told Newsweek he was looking forward to starting a new hardcore world "relatively soon."

"At the moment I'm enjoying taking newcomers on tours of the world on my Twitch stream," said Watson.

Despite his epic fail, Waston's accomplishments in Minecraft Hardcore extend beyond just his world record. The long-time Minecraft player has also created a ton of impressive builds for the game such as Ocean Monument or Sky City which you can check out here. We wish Watson the best on his future Minecraft adventures and hope he never suffers such a tragic loss again.