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Fifty Streamers, One Cube, One Million Dollars: How the Elimination Gauntlet Played Out

MrBeast ミスタービースト · ▶ 49:26 · 14 min read
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Overview

MrBeast locked fifty well-known streamers inside a large cube with one rule: don't leave. Whoever was left at the end would win $1 million to give away to their own viewers on a livestream. Over two days the field was cut down through a series of games, several of which let the streamers vote on, sabotage, or directly target one another. What follows is a game-by-game account of how fifty became one.

14 min read

The Setup and the Early Mood

Alliances formed before any game began. One group asked whether a Spanish-speaking alliance was forming and called it "the power of friendship." Others said the whole thing was about strategy. MrBeast teased the group as lazy people who only know how to go live, and one participant agreed that "the IQ is a little lower" inside the cube.

Game One: Shoot the Streamer You Hate Most

The first challenge set the tone. A wall held a photo of every contestant. Each of the fifty got one paintball shot and was told to hit the photo of the streamer they "hate the most." After everyone fired, the five most-hit targets would be eliminated.

Sketch volunteered first and missed, then said, "I'm a nice guy." Ludwig went next and hit a photo the others pointed out wasn't a streamer at all: "that's the CEO of Twitch." Someone joked Ludwig was about to get banned, and Ludwig said they would "take the ban." Dan then aimed at Ludwig for revenge, but missed.

The game turned into retaliation. Someone predicted that one accidental hit would snowball, and the narration confirmed it: streamers began aiming at whoever had aimed at them. Arky became an early target. Poki said they didn't want to take anyone out and aimed at the ground, but the shot still hit Arky's photo. Marlon was urged to "clap back" and instead shot their own photo, which the room celebrated. Others deliberately shot photos that already had hits, so they wouldn't make new enemies and would lower their own chances of elimination. As one contestant put it, "I can't make enemies out here."

xQc's shot set off an outburst in the room. One response was "Now, we're really finna get you out," and the narration credits that moment with exposing the five most-targeted streamers. The lights turned red, five were eliminated, and xQc left shouting "You're going home!" at the others.

Game Two: The Optional Lamborghini

A Lamborghini was brought into the cube with a twist: the game was optional. Volunteers would be blindfolded with a hand on the car, and whoever removed their hand closest to ten minutes would win it and give it away to a viewer live from the cube. Every other volunteer would be eliminated. Contestants had two minutes to step into a circle.

Most declined. One said, "I'm afraid." Another said they were thinking about how the clips would look. Only four entered, including Sketch.

Spectators shouted wrong times at the blindfolded players: "Two minutes," "Five minutes," "Seven minutes," "Six minutes, y'all." The first player to let go believed about five minutes had passed and was shocked to have lost. Per the narration, sabotage made it almost impossible to focus.

The final two had an edge the others missed. Each had an ally tracking the real time on a vlog camera and calling it out. MrBeast called it "good strategy." One player asked whether it counted as cheating, and the answer was "This is called comms." One eliminated player called it "the lamest way to lose a game."

The finish came down to milliseconds, and the two hands appeared to leave the car at the same moment. Camera footage settled it: the runner-up's hand came off first, and French streamer Rebeu's came off five frames later, closer to ten minutes. The other three volunteers were eliminated. One said they hadn't known they could "cheat," and another replied, "Bro, I love cheating." Rebeu gave the car to a viewer named Mr. Zou, who was described as a follower of six years.

Game Three: Sports or Video Games

The remaining players picked a side, sports or video games, without knowing the specific game. Ten from each side would advance. Rubius steered clear of one side. Some chose by self-assessment ("I know my strengths. And it's not that"). Lacy claimed to be "a top ten gamer in this room." One player said they were great at both and was choosing based on whom they'd least like to eliminate.

The Sports Side: Crossbar Challenge Against Speed

The sport was a crossbar challenge with IShowSpeed in goal, introduced as one of the greatest soccer players in the world and "Ronaldo's biggest rival." Scoring meant advancing. A miss or a save meant elimination.

Before anyone kicked, Ludwig left the cube to greet Speed, explaining, "I got excited! I wanted to say hi to Speed, he's my favorite streamer!" Leaving the cube was the only rule, so Ludwig became the first of ten eliminations on that side. Speed noted they hadn't even gotten to stop a shot.

The first volunteer scored despite Speed's trash talk. Others were not so lucky, and one contestant summed up the problem: "Speed is too good. All he does is soccer." Several players hid behind the briefcase until MrBeast started drawing names. Andrea Botez was drawn and said they had never kicked a soccer ball. Maya, Steak, and Agent were among those who went out. Wendy found a loophole and kicked before Speed had walked back to the goal. It counted, and the others said Wendy had "big-brained it."

NickEh30, described as one of the most popular Fortnite streamers, explained they had picked sports expecting something like a push-up contest. Nick then scored, to loud cheers. Ray took the last kick with the round on the line, and once Ray missed, the remaining ten advanced. On the way out, Ray joked about hoping the rest would lose the next round.

The Video Game Side: Fortnite Battle Royale

On the gaming side, MrBeast said 60% would be eliminated. The game was Fortnite. MrBeast said it was chosen because Fortnite "made streaming what it is today" and launched several of the contestants' careers. They would play a battle royale until twelve players were out.

The strongest players, including Tfue, teamed up immediately. Their first goal was to get into a plane, and they stayed airborne for much of the match while another group formed elsewhere. MrBeast challenged the plane strategy, and they said they were "letting the suspense build up."

MrBeast called it the quietest game so far and said he was surprised no one had been eliminated early. As the storm closed in, players started making mistakes. One died falling off a cliff, groups collided, and Poki was eliminated. The final spot went to Tfue, which stunned the room: "There's no way we lose in Fortnite!" Tfue said the loss would "haunt me forever" and rated their sadness at about nine out of ten. That left a Top 20.

Game Four: The Shape-Memory Team Game

MrBeast called this his favorite game in the video. The twenty split into five teams of four, and two teams would be eliminated. Shapes appeared on the floor for ten seconds and then vanished. A wheel picked a shape, and the team had to stand where they thought it had been. Each player inside the outline earned a point. The star was a shared shape, and the two lowest-scoring teams went home.

The first team got square and scored one point. Jason's team got star, which a teammate called "the hardest shape." They were confident in their formation, but one player was out and they scored two. Other teams shouted wrong shapes to throw off whoever was memorizing. The Spanish-speaking team got diamond and scored two. Tyler's team got square, and Tyler insisted, "I'm in the middle." The reveal showed Tyler was not, and the team scored two. Tyler argued their toes had been inside, and teammates disputed it. Wendy memorized the triangle for their team while openly saying they weren't confident. That team also scored two.

Every team but the first had two points, so the first team was eliminated. Its members included French speakers, and MrBeast asked for "you're eliminated" to be translated for them. Rebeu was among them, and someone noted Rebeu had at least won a Lambo.

A tiebreaker round followed for the other four teams. One team got all four players inside the star. Tyler's team, again following Tyler's call of "I'm in the middle," scored zero on circle. The Spanish team, guided by Ibai, scored two on circle. The last team needed only one point. The wheel landed on star, and the already-eliminated players yelled "TRIANGLE!" to confuse them. Chris ended up outside the star, but two teammates were in, so Tyler's team was eliminated. One of its members said, "I absolutely blew it. It's my fault."

The Slumber Party and the Morning Dodgeball

The Top 12 celebrated with a slumber party, and the next game was set for morning. Players talked about late-game loyalties. One reminded another, "you said you were gonna eliminate me three different times," and got the reply "I was trolling." Rakai stood close to the red line as a joke, and others warned Rakai not to throw away the run.

In the morning MrBeast offered to let them "just hang out" and then sprang the next game. The real game: Chandler, blindfolded, threw dodgeballs at contestants wearing squeaky chicken shoes and cowbells. The first four hit would be eliminated. The plan for many was to stay in the corners.

Chandler hit someone with the first throw. After that the room went dead silent, because nobody dared move. Chandler asked the contestants to tell on each other. Yonna was hit while making a run for it, and Wendy and Chris went out soon after. The fourth elimination was Abraham, and others shouted that Rakai had baited Abraham. Abraham said the problem was that Rakai "grabbed me." That incident shaped the rest of the competition.

That left a final eight. Several said what they'd do with the money: give it to their community, pay some community members' college tuition, "share the wealth." Hostility toward Rakai also became open. One player kept away from Rakai, calling Rakai "bad energy." When Rakai asked whether they were one of the most hated people there, the answer was "you up there." Another said, "If I have a chance, I'm getting him out."

The Final Eight Design Their Own 1v1s

The eight paired off and invented their own one-on-one games from a large supply of toys and games, which MrBeast said Shopify provided. Four had to be eliminated.

  • Connect Four: Ski beat Mari after blocking a near-win. Even onlookers were confused about who had won at first. Mari was eliminated.
  • Long-distance basketball: Rage faced Grefg in a first-to-make shot from far away. Grefg tried to borrow luck from someone by touching their hand. It almost worked, but Rage hit the shot first and advanced.
  • One-handed long shots: Rubius made one, Ibai missed, and Ibai said goodbye to the Spanish audience.
  • One-on-one basketball to seven: Rakai and Jason played the most physical match. Rakai fouled constantly to stop Jason scoring, and at one point the two were wrestling on the floor. Rakai led 2–0, then 4–2, then 6–3, and closed it out. Rakai trash-talked Jason afterward.

The Final: Real-Life Angry Birds

The last four were Ski, Rage, Rubius, and Rakai. They faced a giant slingshot, and each had three breakable hearts. The game was livestreamed, and MrBeast said over a million people were watching. The chat would vote on what got launched, with options including a piñata, a cabbage, a clock, and a basketball. Players chose whom to aim at, and losing all three hearts meant elimination. Ski shot first for having finished the previous round first, followed by Rage, Rubius, and Rakai.

So many people voted at once that the poll broke, so the first round's item was chosen by a die roll. Shots went wild. Ski nearly hit their own target, and others' shots went toward whoever stood nearby. Rakai hit Rubius's heart, and the others answered with chants of "Justice for Abraham." Rubius declared, "It's me against the world." Their accuracy was so poor that MrBeast said they shot for hours without landing a single hit. He insisted that everyone he tested beforehand, athletic or not, did far better, and the streamers called it "cap." All four agreed to a round of throwing items instead of slingshotting them, which didn't improve much.

Rubius went out first. A shot meant for Rakai ended up hitting Rubius's last heart, and the shooter insisted they hadn't tried to do that. Rubius left telling Rakai, "There will be justice for Abraham. Trust me. You are next." MrBeast said every loser would get $50,000 to give to their audience. Rubius would pick a Spanish viewer to receive it.

Rakai remained the clear target, and the others openly coordinated against Rakai. Rakai pleaded "I'm the youngest" and complained about being ganged up on two-versus-one, calling it "slime." Rakai was told they'd been "guilt tripping people the whole day." Unable to land a hit, Rakai was eliminated. After hearing they would still get $50,000 for their audience, Rakai lunged at the others, security was called, and they shouted that Rakai had crossed the line.

Ski vs. Rage

The final two were friends. MrBeast reminded them that one of their audiences would get $1 million and the other would not. Ski hit first to lead three hearts to one. MrBeast asked Rage whether they remembered LeBron coming back from 3–1 against the Warriors. Rage said they believed they would do the same and then missed. Ski also had a chance to end it, but the heart Ski hit didn't fall.

After being told to stop playing around and lock in, Rage finally connected and then hit again to tie at one heart each. With the next shattered heart deciding the game, Rage made the shot. Rage won $1 million to give to their audience, shouting "I WON A MILLION DOLLARS!" and thanking viewers as the stream ended.

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