TBIC, or The Bird’s Island Challenge, is a tournament ran by BirdBoiGames on MCC Island. With a charity special concluding the season this weekend, we spoke to Bird about the tournament and reflected on the highlights of Season 2.
“I started TBIC in February of 2024 as a way to cope with my frustration about my applications for Crown Quest: Pantheon and MCC Rising 2 not having worked out,” Bird says. “Since then, it’s grown into an event which connects the MCCI community, drawing in established streamers and creators, as well as more casual Minecraft players who want to experience what an event is like. I run it now because of how much passion there is in the MCCI community for events to play in, and I am more than happy to oblige.”
While MCC Island is a public server that anyone can join and play at any time, TBIC uses the custom lobby tools provided to create an opportunity for players to compete in the games of MC Championship in an event format similar to the actual event. “Actually being in a VC with your other teammates, going against other teams doing the same allows for the gameplay to be much more reliant on strategy,” Bird tell us, “instead of the luck and RNG one might encounter whilst solo queueing.”
“I’ve noticed that most events aren’t built for people who don’t stream, or make content regularly, so I aim for TBIC to be the event that does,” Bird says. “My main hope for the player base is that I want them to have fun, and gain an understanding of what the Minecraft event sphere is like as a participant, and not just a spectator. Hopefully they’ll get to apply that to the custom event scene if they haven’t already!”
This season has been full of iconic and memorable moments for Bird. One such moment was when the Diamond Deer team in TBIC #9, made up of Nigusi, Ottels, Stuww, & FawnAardvark, won ten out of ten rounds of Battle Box. “Stuww didn’t die a single time in the process,” Bird says. “They got forty kills as a team during the game, and gapped second place by 952 points. This performance also pushed them from last place into second place.”
This wasn’t the only impressive display of skill this season. “CalcuLuZ scored 3,500 points in TBIC #12 while on the Golden Geese, who placed last as a team.” Bird says. “His score is the third highest individual score in TBIC history, behind Ironic and NotSherpa in TBIC #7, who scored 3,687 and 3,625 points respectively. He accomplished this feat by placing top two individually in four out of five games.” In part due to CalcuLuZ’s notable performance, this Golden Geese team became the highest-scoring last place team in TBIC’s history.
Another memorable player achievement is for GamerEthan23, who won two consecutive events – TBIC #10 and TBIC #11. “He is currently the only player to have accomplished this feat,” Bird says.
In addition to these player achievements, there’s been plenty of highlights for Bird on a more personal level as an event organiser. “The highlights as an organiser are definitely having been able to partner with AJX and Heart of a Hero to put on TBIC x HOAH, working with CdogThePro to run TBITG, and having our scoring standardised to the point where we have only had to do a single rescore,” Bird tells us. “I’m really happy to see how far the event’s come since TBIC #1, where I didn’t even have a scoring sheet or a staff team. Additionally, getting to see new team dynamics form in every event is just cool, with some teams strengthening existing friendships or making new ones.”
“I’m really proud at how far TBIC has come in its year and a half existence,” Bird continues. “I didn’t expect it to last past our third event, let alone past TBIC #5, which was the end of Season 1. To see it surviving and thriving like it is now fills me with so much joy. It feels like I’m a proud parent, if that makes any sense.”
This isn’t quite the end of Season 2 though – there’s still one final event left to go this Saturday, 21st June, and it’s a special one: TBIC Pride 25, which will be fundraising for The Trevor Project, an American suicide prevention charity for LGBTQ+ young people. “Our Pride events are in general meant to be lower-comp, and for TBIC Pride 25, we’re putting special emphasis on prioritising people in the LGBTQIA+ community getting to play,” Bird says.
That won’t be the end of TBIC though. “There will most certainly be a TBIC Season 3!” Bird says. “It’s likely going to be in early September, but it relies on when MCC Rising #4 is, presuming there is one. Additionally, TBIC Season 3 will probably have our rendition of an All-Stars event.”
You can watch TBIC Pride 25 on Saturday 21st June. The event starts at 8pm BST / 3pm EDT, and you can donate to the fundraiser here.
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