WoW Hardcore OTK Mak’Gora tournament shows the camerman isn’t always safe

Today I learned.

Orc Shaman standing with a totem in old Orgrimmar.
Image via Blizzard Entertainment

OTK’s World of Warcraft Classic Hardcore Mak’Gora tournament took off on Oct. 30 with a series of incredible duels and will continue on Oct. 31 with the finals. The qualifiers went by without any major incidents, except that the cameraman died in-game.

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Normally, WoW tournaments have their own designated staff of admins, camera crew, and referees who are there to make the entire event smooth sailing. On Oct. 30, one of the cameramen fell victim to collateral damage, as noted on Classic WoW’s subreddit.

So, this cameraman was just doing their job by recording the duel between two Shamans, Flixxy and Tod, when one of the contestants used Goblin Mortar, a trinket that deals 383 to 517 Fire damage and stuns the targets in a five-yard radius for three seconds. 

Naturally, this hit the cameraman, who clearly wasn’t level 60, and this damage proved to be lethal to them. The health pool of level 60 characters normally averages between 4,000 and 6,000, depending on buffs and the type of armor you’re wearing. 

Luckily, the OTK crew had a back-up plan and the event continued normally after the incident, but the item wasn’t banned from the Mak’Gora tournament.

But, still, this cracked me up because we finally know that the cameramen and PR aren’t immune to damage, and they could never know if that might be the last shot they record.

OTK’s Mak’Gora tournament wraps up on Oct. 31 with the grand finale between 64 contestants in total. Each class is represented by eight winners of the qualifiers stage. In the finale, players will be competing in full-blown duels to death and the winner is taking home the incredible prize of $50,000. The tournament features the biggest PvP icons like Ziqo, Pshero, Perplexity, Hydramist, Vitochie, and Snutz. 

Author
Image of Izabela Tomakic
Izabela Tomakic
Staff writer and World of Warcraft lead
Staff Writer & World of Warcraft lead. Izabela has a long history with writing and games like World of Warcraft, League of Legends, Fortnite, and The Sims. Before finding her home at Dot Esports in 2021, Izabela was an English teacher and a freelancer at Hotspawn, GGRecon, and Gameranx. In her free time, you’ll find her writing novels, wandering Azeroth, or inting on Summoner’s Rift.