This streamer's five-year run in Minecraft's permadeath mode comes to an agonizing end

"Really? That's how I die?"

For streamer Philza, this was the moment a world-record, five-year long run in Minecraft's permadeath hardcore mode came to an end. Years of dedication and near-misses swept aside by a flaming baby zombie in enchanted gold armor.

As you can see in the video above, it was a spider that did for him in the end, but the baby zombie dealt most of the damage. By hitting the zombie with his enchanted sword, Philza set the mob on fire, which meant he himself went up in flames when the zombie attacked. It didn't help that he was wearing his Elytra wings rather than a chest plate for the fight, which meant he could take less punishment.

It's a hell of an achievement to have lasted this long—but understandably, that was little consolation to Philza in the aftermath of his death. If you carry on watching the clip above you'll get his post-mortem take on what he should've done.

He definitely had ways of getting out of trouble. As he mentions, he could've used the Totem of Undying, an item that can stop you from dying to what would usually be a fatal blow. Instead, he tried to munch an enchanted golden apple, but died before he could finish it off. "I told you I would never use the Totem of Undying because I'm fucking stubborn...I'm such an idiot," he says.

You can watch Philza go through the full range of emotions following the death, starting with anger, followed understandably by a few tears. But at the end of the stream he's more upbeat, reflecting on the world he created—which is now lost forever thanks to the rules of Minecraft's hardcore mode—and the near misses he had along the way. Fast-forward to 2:16:40 for a montage of some near-death experiences.

As Philza says, it had to happen eventually. It's sad that his run is at an end, but I doubt anybody will be taking his Minecraft hardcore crown anytime soon. If this has inspired you to try your own permadeath run, check out our collections of the best Minecraft seeds and the best Minecraft mods. If you're hopping back into the game in 2019, see our handy Minecraft update log.

Thanks, Polygon.

Samuel is a freelance journalist and editor who first wrote for PC Gamer nearly a decade ago. Since then he's had stints as a VR specialist, mouse reviewer, and previewer of promising indie games, and is now regularly writing about Fortnite. What he loves most is longer form, interview-led reporting, whether that's Ken Levine on the one phone call that saved his studio, Tim Schafer on a milkman joke that inspired Psychonauts' best level, or historians on what Anno 1800 gets wrong about colonialism. He's based in London.