Minecraft speedrunner Skycrab came within seconds of shattering the world record but had victory yanked away in perhaps the most brutal finish in speedrunning history. After killing the Ender Dragon in an astonishing 5 minutes and 59 seconds—nearly a full minute faster than the current world record—an Enderman cut his celebration short.
The heartbreaking moment happened during Skycrab’s Random Seed Glitchless attempt in Minecraft Java Edition 1.16. Blessed with extremely rare favorable conditions, Skycrab executed the run perfectly, including nailing the advanced “zero cycle” technique that allows speedrunners to kill the dragon almost instantly.
What makes this particularly painful is Minecraft‘s specific speedrunning rules. Killing the dragon isn’t enough—players have to enter the exit portal that appears afterward to trigger the end credits and officially complete the run. Skycrab was waiting for this portal to fully form when disaster struck.
“You can see the angry enderman running to the pillar at 5:59,” noted one viewer who analyzed the footage. The hostile mob had likely been accidentally triggered earlier when Skycrab looked at it during inventory management or building.
For context, the current Random Seed Glitchless record stands at 7:01, meaning Skycrab’s potential 6-minute finish would have been revolutionary in the competitive Minecraft speedrunning scene. Such improvements are exceedingly rare due to the dual challenge of perfect execution and getting a “god seed” with favorable random generation.
Skycrab, who has previously ranked as high as third on leaderboards, faced the ultimate speedrunning nightmare. Even with flawless gameplay, the random nature of Minecraft caught him in its cruel grasp at the worst possible moment.
The video has spread quickly across gaming communities, with many calling it “the most tragic speedrun fail ever posted.” The moment really shows how quickly triumph can turn to defeat in the high-stakes world of speedrunning.
