Across the Sphere News platforms, we cover a lot of different events – including many different minigame tournaments. With so many of these tournaments in the event space, and with many more currently in development, it can be difficult for events to stand out from the crowd. As the year draws to a close, we endeavour to find the best of the best – tournaments that you love for their unique and engaging gameplay, talented staff teams, entertaining player rosters, and bringing a fun experience to both viewers and players.
We nominated eighteen different events to battle for the titles in three categories: the best event to play in (as voted by the players), the best event to watch (as voted by the viewers), and the most well-rounded events (beloved by players and viewers alike). The event with the most votes in total will receive the award for the best overall event.
Without further ado, I am pleased to present… the Sphere News Readers’ Choice Awards!
Best Event To Play In
Championed by their players for their fun and exciting gameplay, these are the events you deemed the best to play in…
In third place: MC Creator Showdown
“MC Creator Showdown is an event I’ve waited for for over 2 years,” JustWoofwolf tells me. “It has an amazing and dedicated staff team, and is still improving so much!”
“This event has some of the most passionate and caring people working on it behind the scenes,” says Hunicrisp. “They have always been extremely receptive, respectful and reactive towards questions and critiques of their event, and have non-stop strived to make the event better every month. It’s by far one of the highlights of my month to attend and watch!”
“MCS is a young event but the people who run it are all top-notch, amazing, passionate, super cool people who care about creating a community where people can make friends and have fun in Minecraft,” enthuses Poj. “I love T9 and all the work they do, and plan to support MCS as it continues to evolve and grow as an event!”
“Excellent staff and dev team, communication and problem solving,” HydroMC says. “Smooth event, and best of all, crazy good games!”
“MC Creator Showdown was behind a event I loved in the past called MCSS, and I played in it 3 times,” says Skye. “I then was invited back to the first season of Showdown and loved it immensely. The staff are amazing to talk to, and are quick to give answers and clarify issues. The games are unique and involve a lot of cooperation, which adds to the fun and really makes you feel like a team – not just a solo player rushing for individual points. Seeing the old community they once had come back and join with new streamers of all sizes, makes the community they have fostered truly unique. I’ve made a handful of lifelong friends from this community and enjoy the space immensely!”
In second place: Tomeroo Tournaments
“Tomeroo Tournaments is incredibly fun, polished and unique,” says Wheezymoss, an event player and the Testing Manager for Block Wars. “With an excellent roster and talented staff team that is always willing to listen to feedback, it has been a stand out addition to the Minecraft Event scene this year!”
“I have played in almost all of the events and have enjoyed every single one,” adds Block Wars senior developer GerwinT. “The game roster is fun, with a variety of games that are very enjoyable.”
“Tomeroo Tournaments has a lot of really unique games,” says Chocolate Orange, who has playtesting experience across many different events in the space. “Over the past year I’ve made lots of friends there.”
“Tomeroo Tournaments is a really simple concept and very beginner friendly, which is really beneficial when looking for a unique roster,” VentiBeast says.
“I’ve only ever played in a Tomeroo tournaments once, but that one time was incredibly fun,” says Jokana san.
“I felt like the vibes in Tomeroo Tournaments were just so good and I love all the games so much,” says Madnes.
And the champion: Klyx Games
“Klyx Games is a very well-ran event, by a single developer and some builders,” says Rhil, who has played in the event, as well as casted the events they haven’t. “Each event they fix bugs super quick and add different maps to games like their parkour champion. They are active and are a public server for those to enjoy which is great, and they try to accept different people each time. Being a solo coder (CreepyBrawler), it’s insane how much they have done in such a short amount of time, and I can’t wait to see what else they have in store.”
“Klyx Games was the first ever custom minigame event that I played, and I think that it brought some amazing things to the Minecraft event community,” Skivie tells me, “like some incredible and original games, and a lot of new and cool ideas in terms of event costumisation and organisation. Playing in that event was the most interesting experience that I’ve had within the Minecraft event sphere, and helped me meet a lot of new people!”
“I love how well put together the event is,” says Marshy. “It’s a very professional and just fun event to play in. Even when things go wrong, the organisers are able to fix them and make up for the mistakes that may have happened. They also guarantee that everyone is able to have fun.”
“Klyx is an incredibly fun event to play in,” Elz says. “It’s only in the early stages at the minute, but it’s clear CreepyBrawler and the rest of the staff team put a huge amount of effort into coding, organising and testing the event. It’s an event which is very optimised for team play and coordination as well, allowing the teams that may not be the strongest to still have a chance to go far through good communication and chemistry.”
“The owner, CreepyBrawler, is a very nice person and has done a great job on giving creators who might not be as well known, a great opportunity to get into playing custom events,” says BubblestheFriendly. “Klyx has given me a chance and I thank the event greatly for that.”
Best Event To Watch
Through their incredible rosters, audience interaction and gameplay that’s as exciting to watch as it is to play – these are the events you voted the best to watch!
In third place: Pandora’s Box
“I think a lot of the games in Pandora’s Box are very well designed,” says MuddyPuddle, who owns Creator Carnage. “In particular, I like how Temple Lockout and Miner Mania are two unique PvP games where strategy is very important.”
“Pandora’s Box is kind of the event that lays a foundation that others follow, and I love watching every new thing they add,” says VentiBeast. “Dragon Pit also was the best event this year in terms of polish and quality in my opinion.”
“I watched their recent Dragon Pit event and it blew me away,” says Tomeroo, who owns Tomeroo Tournaments. “It’s incredibly easy for people to underestimate the amount of time and effort that goes into making Minecraft events, but the amount that went into Dragon Pit is insane. They absolutely nailed it and I’m very excited to see what’s next for the Minecraft event scene.”
“Pandora’s Box is the most entertaining event ever!” enthuses Raneter, the owner of Chamber Trials. “The games are all designed to be so intense, and have you at the edge of your seat at all times. You’ll always see lots of chat interaction when watching PB.”
In second place: Block Wars
“Block Wars is probably the only event I can sit through in its entirety,” says FanboyEint. “I have seen over 100 Block Wars POVs (from both Origins and non-Origins events) and I find myself enjoying them thoroughly. The quality and effort is so refreshing to watch, and the games easily produce funny/key moments in the event. Their roster choices make viewing the event so fresh, as it gives me new creators I have never heard of before, so the viewer experience feels like a brand new event each watch.”
“I often watch Block Wars in a VC with friends because we all test for it, and every time is brilliant,” says Tomeroo. “There’ve been so many hilarious / incredible moments during Block Wars events, that I know before the event even starts, we’re gonna have a great time.”
“Blockwars has been right there with MCC redefining what it means to be a good Minecraft event,” Jokana san says, “from the incredibly fun teams, the non-canons, and game roster that improves every event, it’s currently my favourite event to watch.”
And the champion: MC Championship
“The Noxcrew never fail to deliver amazing MCCs for the community,” Tomeroo tells me. “I’ve been watching MCC for a few years now, and have always enjoyed seeing what ideas they come up with for new games and content, but the Ender Cup event really took things to a new level.”
“MCC is a given. It’s been here since the start, and where else can you see some of the biggest creators cross over in the same way,” Jokana san says. “That, alongside their absolutely iconic game roster, gives them one of my votes.”
“I’ve been a part of the MCC community for almost 5 years now ,and it’s genuinely been the most quality event ever,” says Kaizo, a tester and moderator for MCC Island, and formerly for MC Championship itself. “Seeing it grow from its roots to now has been a sight.”
MOST WELL-ROUNDED SCORER
Whilst these events didn’t score the highest for either playing or watching, their consistently high scores across both categories proved they are beloved by players and viewers alike, and provide the most well-rounded positive experience for the Minecraft event community.
The runner-up: Biome Battle
“Biome Battle is one of the most unique events out there,” JustWoofwolf says, “not just with its Seasons mechanic – even utilising Minecraft attributes not usually used in other events, such as modifying player scale and using custom model data. It feels like one of the most modern events out there!”
“Biome Battle is a really unique experience,” says Errex, who has helped playtest for the event. “The minigames are fun, refreshing and original, and they’re all amazingly executed. They also have a really great approach to the community, such as hosting additional Minis for viewers, as well as little things such as stream overlays for viewers to track the progress of their streamers easier, and organised ready checks.”
“The level of polish that Biome Battle has, despite being a very new event, is absolutely amazing,” says MuddyPuddle. “The music, textures, sound effects, animations etc. are all so well-made, and you can tell that a load of work has been put into them.”
And the champion: MC Mayhem
“MC Mayhem has a special place in my heart for being my first event ever played, along with some of my closest friends!” JustWoofwolf says. “Its minigames are competitive but not too sweaty, and are fun to play – overall an amazing first event!”
“The event ran very smoothly, and was extremely fun!” FanboyEint says. “I’m excited to see what they’ve done when they return!”
“Saying that MC Mayhem is the most fun event I have participated in is not an understatement,” says Clovish, who played in MC Mayhem: Ignite. “Mayhem introduced me to some fun minigames that I had a blast playing.”
“MC Mayhem is an event I’ve been following for quite some time, and I’m happy to see it grow,” says Jokana san. “Mayhem as an event is very solid, and seeing faces more local to me play in it is great to see.”
BEST OVERALL EVENT
Collecting the highest total number of votes, the overall winner is…
Block Wars
“Block Wars is insanely high quality and very fun!” says tayluhautumn, who tests for the event as well as developing her own event, Waffle Warriors. “Block Wars is the first event where, even though I’m a tester, I can play and not care about placement.”
There’s clearly love for Tomeroo Tournaments amongst some of the Block Wars staff – and this is clearly reciprocated. “Block Wars was the first event I ever tested for so it has a special place in my heart,” says Tomeroo. “The BW team never fail to come up with fresh and interesting content, especially since Series 3 started. And with the announcement of them partnering with Twitch Rivals, I’m very excited to see what’s in store for the future! On a personal note, testing for BW has introduced me to the most amazing community of people. This has made my experiences testing the event very positive, allowing me to have a ton of fun while helping to improve an event I love.”
Tomeroo isn’t the only event organiser singing Block Wars’s praises. “Block Wars is simply casual to the core,” says Raneter. “The games themselves are incredibly simple yet so fun to play whether you’re trying your absolute hardest or looking for a good time.”
Thank you to everyone who voted, and who participated in our survey group for this article – and a massive congratulations to all the winning events! If you’d like to get involved with future surveys and opportunities to be featured in this magazine, make sure to follow us on our socials, or join our Discord.
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