If you missed it, you missed out. Hundreds of challengers showed up live and across the world to vie for mountains of shiny prizes – including keyboards, switches and swag – along with the bragging rights that come with being champion at the first ever Copper Rhino Typing Contest.
First Impressions
The live component was hosted at the brand new MechanicalKeyboards.com showroom in sunny Chandler, Arizona. A handful of competitors got their matches in on demo keebs set up around the room. This beautiful space was also the base for streaming the show out to the world via CopperRhinoTV on Twitch, hosted by our own Cam and Natt. Of course Discord servers from Copper Rhino and host typing platform Keymash were on fire with competitors and couch analysts alike. It was a stress test on multiple fronts.
As first-timers throwing this kind of party, we couldn’t quite pull it off without some hiccups. We stretched the limits of the tech. We pushed the boundaries of human resolve. We put together a typing contest like no one has seen before, and that wasn’t always a good thing. We fit into two hours what could have easily filled two days. It did make for a thrilling event as we tested typists in a variety of capacities. We also learned enough that it’s safe to say, you better look out for the next one.
The Loot
Helping calm any lingering irritability was the stacked squad of giveaways we had lined up. The roster included four mechanical keyboards (from MechanicalKeyboards.com and Keychron), physical and digital swag from Keymash, accessories from Copper Rhino (including a space cat desk mat and a bling-tastic, rhino head bottle stopper that you have to see to believe), and multiple sets of keyboard switches also from MK.com.
MK Lowkey70 – Black – courtesy of MechanicalKeyboards.com
MK Lowkey70 – White – courtesy of MechanicalKeyboards.com
Keychron Q1 (Barebones Kit – Black) – courtesy of MechanicalKeyboards.com
Keymash Gata T-Shirt – courtesy of Keymash.io
Clash of Keys
On to the contest portion of our show! Typists started out with free time to submit as many matches as they wanted to the tournament ladder. The fastest time per user counted toward rankings. Out of the 48 entrants, 32 advanced to the next round. Every survivor posted over 110 wpm, with the top three – users dinkD, adeline, and Gio – blazing at over 200.
From there, we moved into the quarterfinal round and further trimmed the competitors to the top eight through Free for All play. This is the first round that featured simultaneous competition. We ran four heats of eight and advanced the first to finish typing that match’s passage. Then, we bumped that winner to the next round and reran the remaining seven to advance another competitor from that heat. Imagine an eight-person sprint where no one knows the exact course until seconds before it starts. It was hectic. The typing was either an entry of 50 random English dictionary words or a quote of random length submitted by a Keymash user. Some were as long as 30 seconds. Others were over far quicker. It was all Cam and Natt could do to hold on in the commentary booth. For an idea of the frantic pace of the ladder and quarterfinal rounds check out this video from Discord member therealdeemz who was streaming his attempts.
The semifinal round was where the big drama went down. The stage was set with two heats of four typists in the Sudden Death format. When you make a mistake, your cursor stops for good. The winner is whoever types the most characters with 100-percent accuracy or whoever finishes the match first. (We were later told that this is a bold and unconventional setup. What can we say, we like drama?) What would the strategy be? Would slow and steady win or would a rabbit sprint through the match without a hiccup? Turns out there are typists who can maintain their nerves and maintain over 120 wpm with perfect accuracy. So, I guess, fast and steady. One such skilled keeb jockey is adeline, a student from the Philippines. When it came to the sudden death rounds she was not shy about voicing her nervousness in chat. ‘Sweating,’ ‘shaking,’ and ‘clenching’ were all verbs that described her status. She was routinely putting up numbers around (and even above) 200 words per minute in all formats. Her strategy for the finals was to slow down through most of the passage (as if 140 wpm is ever slow) and then burst to the finish line. It worked perfectly and she was through to the final. There she met val. Val was something of an underdog coming from the bottom half of the ladder. They also posted a dramatic come-from-behind victory in the Sudden Death round – where val passed a rabbit who had sprinted out only to get snared – to make it through.
The final was a classic: 1v1 Duel, first to three wins, winner-take-all. The heat was on. Chat was unabashed in their predictions: adeline was the heavy favorite. And why not? She holds the Grandmaster rank on Keymash, has 200 wpm in her back pocket, and knows the platform as well as anyone. It seems val had just showed up in time for the contest. As of this writing, val only logged three minutes of user time on Keymash. That may have started and ended with this tournament. Could the dark horse muster three matches to dethrone the queen?
Adeline sprinted out to a two-match lead, and neither was close. Val would have to do something special to take three matches in a row off of adeline or it was over. Match three was intense. Val came out hot and the lead was back and forth until the end. With the same finishing burst she exhibited in the Sudden Death round, adeline took the finish, the Keychron Q2 Custom Mechanical Keyboard and the chat bragging rights. Val finished mere moments behind. The commentary booth was breathless. All that was left was to hand out the final giveaways and flip the switch on Twitch until next time.
Shout Outs
We can’t say enough good things about MechanicalKeyboards.com. Their live setup is so slick, and it was the perfect venue for this extravaganza. If you haven’t looked at their web presence, you’re missing out. From shopping keycaps to switches to frames, they are the first and last place you need to look for your mechanical keyboard needs. They even have guides for beginners and a hub for creators.
More shouts go out to Keymash.io. There’s no other typing platform quite like them in the typing community. Not only do they allow for single timings, but they provide the opportunity to race in many different formats. From 1v1 Duels to massive multi-way Sudden Death matches, their creativity will make for endless fun tournaments.
Finally, we need to throw a huge thanks to the people that make Copper Rhino happen: the community. We had 545 people sign up for the event, with almost 50 of those that were brave enough to enter the arena and compete live. We had tons of people watch the entire thing live on our brand new Twitch stream and we could hardly keep up with chat on Discord. It turns out when you invite world class typists to your server, your moderators are in for a challenge. Thank you to everyone involved for your excitement, patience, helpfulness, and general positivity.
Onward
As the Copper Rhino community continues to grow, events like these will be central to our identity. Any time we can get people together over a shared interest, we’re going to run with it. Whether it’s typing, Beat Saber, Rocket League, or something totally different: expect more. Get on our Discord and hit us with some suggestions, then come join the fun. We’ll see you there.