Posted in: eSports, Games, Video Games | Tagged: deadman, Deadman Summer 2017, HRL, Jagex, runescape

Going Old School With Runescape's Deadman Tournament

RuneScape went old school with their Deadman tournament, as always. The final few Deadmen faced off in Burbank this weekend to crown one of their own as last man standing.

The old-school version of RuneScape being used is probably one of the most familiar versions of the game, harkening back to the heyday of early FTP MMOs. So this should be familiar territory even if you haven't touched the game in about 10 years — it got a recent makeover thanks to the Menaphos update, but that was not the version in play this weekend.

The 2000 Deadmen participants were fighting to the death for a $20,000 prize. The tourney was hosted by Mods Archie and Shauny and shoutcasters PureSpam and Skiddler.

Deadman Mode is the risk-it-all PvP mode that turns the whole of Old School RuneScape into a battlefield, with incredibly fast XP rates, participants can build their adventurers into a mighty warrior to compete against over 2000 Deadman Mode players worldwide. You can check out more information on the Deadman tournaments here.

The show was a short one, clocking in at about 45 minutes of pixelated violence, but there's a certain charm to RuneScape, even in a massive free-for-all. Its amusing as hell to watch an eSports tournament's final minutes that tick by with limited animation and almost no drama as the final two faced off.

If you'd like to check out the tournament, you can pick up the stream on Twitch.

The final hour of Deadman was an absolute madhouse, but what else would you expect from a 2000 man battle roayle? Guilds are in play in Deadman, and throughout the show, one guild managed to make the absolute best of it. By the time to worst of the PVP fighting was over, it came down to Reign of Terror. RoT was down from about 70 players to 44, losing less than half their number. It does drive home the point that Deadman is not a place for solo players, but as guilds are legal, there isn't much to be done. From that point on, it was a bit of a massacre, with ANONYMOUSE00 taking home the win. He has won for RoT before, so not much of an upset here, but still — was a hell of a fight.

Meanwhile, Big Bicep took home the $5000 MVP prize.

With the summer finals now over, the Deadman Autumn Season has started and there have been a few changes made to the tournament. Now, participants will have to deal with a daily XP cap, so even the most casual solo players can make it to the intense Final Hour for a chance at winning the $20,000 prize. Other changes to the Deadman Autumn Season include a buff to the Normal spellbook, a one-minute grace period for kills deemed reasonable, and an even higher rebuild XP rate. You can find out more about all the changes here.

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