Fans React to Technoblade & Ph1LzA Meet-Up
- If you have ever played Minecraft, you probably know of Technoblade and Ph1LzA. It comes as no shock then that when these two surprised the internet with a first-time meet-up this week, their fans went nuts.
- The Minecraft community was rocked in August when Technoblade, a 22-year-old American Minecraft YouTuber, shared the news that he has cancer.
- Technoblade shared a photo of Ph1LzA to Twitter on Tuesday, which was met with funny reactions from fans. The meet-up of the two game legends was welcomed news on the heels of Technoblade’s cancer diagnosis.
If you have ever played Minecraft, you probably know of Technoblade and Ph1LzA — these two are considered veterans of the video game. It comes as no shock then that when these two surprised the internet with a first-time meet-up this week, their fans went nuts.
The Minecraft community was rocked in August when Technoblade, a 22-year-old American Minecraft YouTuber, posted a video entitled “where I’ve been” to his channel. The 13-minute video shared some shocking news: Technoblade has cancer.
It’s now been two months since Technoblade broke the news to his millions of YouTube subscribers and Twitter followers. (In August, he had just over 8 million subscribers on YouTube. He’s now nearing 10 million.) With his diagnosis still hanging over the video game community, Technoblade and Ph1LzA’s surprise meet-up was welcomed news for lovers of the game.
Technoblade shared a photo of Ph1LzA to Twitter on Tuesday with the caption: “met an old man at the park today,” which was met with loads of funny reactions from fans. (More on that later.)
met an old man at the park today pic.twitter.com/UMG0h07N0r
— Technoblade (@Technothepig) October 19, 2021
Technoblade and Ph1LzA are known for their individual Minecraft accomplishments, bravery and friendship. Technoblade is known for holding the record number of “Bedwars” (a Minecraft competition) games won, a four-time champion of Minecraft Mondays (a competition where famous celebrities gather to play different minigames) and the record-holder for the number of potatoes farmed in Skyblock (a game hosted by Hypixel). Ph1LzA is a Minecraft Hardcore player who survived in his own world for five years before ultimately dying.
Technoblade’s Cancer Diagnosis
Technoblade posted his “where I’ve been” video to YouTube on Aug. 27, and since then (as of the time of this report) it has 11.6 million views.
“In the last two days of July, I noticed that my right arm was starting to hurt a decent amount. My best guess was that it was some kind of repetitive stress injury because I’d been playing video games since the age of 5 pretty much non-stop,” Technoblade says in the video. However, a few days of rest didn’t alleviate his pain, and he noticed a lot of swelling in his right shoulder.
In early August, Technoblade went to the doctor to get scans. It was then that he was met with some shocking news: cancer. “That really couldn’t have gone worse,” he says. The type and stage of Technoblade’s cancer has not been made public.
Once the news broke, fans began using the hashtag, #technobladeneverdies, on YouTube and Twitter to show their support and love for the content creator. Some fans even went as far as shaving their heads in solidarity with Technoblade.
The same day, Aug. 27, Dream, another Minecraft YouTuber and friend to Technoblade, pledged on Twitter, “to keep things light, I’m gonna donate $1 for every coin every member of my team earns tomorrow (Aug. 28) to cancer research.” He ended up donating $21,409 to cancer research. Other YouTubers, such as awesamdude and Skeppy, tweeted that they would match Dream’s donation. “love to anyone who has cancer or knows someone that does. we are in this together,” Dream tweeted.
$21,409 to cancer research 🙂 ❤️ love to anyone who has cancer or knows someone that does. we are in this together.
— dream (@dreamwastaken) August 28, 2021
Technoblade described waiting for the official diagnosis as a nerve-wracking process: “I want to see people sprinting, I want to see some urgency. There’s this tumor on my arm, if you guys could just get rid of it right now … do what you got to do.”
He’s now receiving chemotherapy. “The first couple days were actually pretty chill, and then it kicked in and my energy levels hit zero,” Technoblade says. He notes that sitting upright for an hour a few days after his first round of chemotherapy was extremely draining.
Fan Reactions to Technoblade & Ph1LzA Meet-Up
The internet went nuts once Technoblade’s Tweet went live. Minecraft fans were so excited to see the two game legends finally meet. Ph1LzA even responded to the Tweet, saying “this was fun :)”
Most of the reactions to their meet-up were witty comments about Ph1LzA’s age. (He’s 33, and Technoblade is 22.) Here are some of the best reacts:
— Tubbo (@TubboLive) October 19, 2021
Two immortals hanging out
— SALT-ist (@sad_istfried) October 19, 2021
Two gods chillin in the park what will they do
— Mama Maoxyi 📎 art pinned (@maoxyi) October 19, 2021
I notice this old man is missing his cane? You didn’t take it did you?
Welcome back, we missed you
— BadBoyHalo (@BadBoyHalo) October 20, 2021
That’s so weird I already had this pic in my camera roll pic.twitter.com/r4AjtAVmXf
— karl 🙂 (@KarlJacobs_) October 19, 2021
The Benefits of Support During Cancer
This outpouring of love and support for Technoblade’s cancer journey is something that all cancer patients need in their lives. Whether you’re a loved one, a friend or a community member, being present for cancer patients can make a difference.
As breast cancer survivor Mindy Miller says, “I have found healing in community, I have found healing in mentorship, guiding other young women who are newly diagnosed. That’s where we build solidarity, and through solidarity we have support, and through support, we don’t feel alone anymore.”
Breast cancer survivor Mindy Miller talks about the importance of support when it matters most.
Support can come in many forms, but one resource that can be extremely helpful is utilizing support networks. These can include friends, family, spouses and even faith communities. Having a solid support system in place makes the cancer battle more manageable. It can also be a great way for loved ones to cope.
For others, support systems may not manifest themselves as a support group, as survivor Bethany Kendal explains. Ultimately, it’s about finding a community and activities that work best for you.
Cancer survivor Bethany Kendal learns to cope her own way after finding that cancer support groups didn’t work for her.
Contributing: Sophia Li
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