Day two of The Great Race!, Michael Deering's December 2014 Minecraft Hardcore Challenge. Basket starts where the last episode ended, underground in a tunnel with a new diamond pickaxe and almost nothing to eat. The race is to the east, and this episode is about finding a faster way to get there.
Back up to the surface
The iron pickaxe is nearly worn out, so Basket uses it up on the last of the redstone and switches to diamond. Food is low, and Basket decides against building proper stairs. Instead Basket jumps straight up through the rock, which costs hunger but saves time. A zombie and a spider are about, but a creeper is the real worry. The coast clears, and Basket comes out onto grassy hills.
A bone and an arrow lie on the ground, so Basket takes them. There's water nearby, and some of the iron goes into a chestplate for a little extra protection. Basket fills a bucket with water and goes looking for a cow.
One cow, no leather
The rules allow one passive animal to be killed for a holiday meal, and Basket has been saving that for a cow. Leather means a book, and a book means an enchanting table. Horses drop leather too, but Basket isn't sure how often and doesn't want to risk it. In a birch grove a small herd turns up. "So we'll kill one cow, this will be our Christmas feast." It drops steak and nothing else. "Just steak. It stinks."
The enchanting table is off, so the three spare diamonds could become a second pickaxe instead.
Obsidian the hard way
Basket hears lava, digs down and finds a pool of it in a cave with a solid roof. "This looks like a nice protected place." Basket pours the water over the lava and mines the obsidian a block at a time, trying to stay out of the water so swimming doesn't burn more hunger. Meanwhile the three steaks go into the furnace. "I guess I don't get an enchanting table, but I do get three steaks."
With enough obsidian, Basket builds the frame, makes flint and steel, and lights it. Basket steps through and earns the We Need to Go Deeper achievement.
A lava lake on the other side
The portal opens beside a huge lava lake, with a column of lava falling from the roof. Basket spots red mushrooms but they're in an awkward spot, so Basket leaves them and heads east. Zombie pigmen wander about, and with no bow, ghasts are something to avoid. Basket stays low, where there's at least a chance of food, and digs through the netherrack when there's no opening. Brown mushrooms turn up, then red ones.
Basket also admits to forgetting to show exact coordinates at the end of the last episode, though the diamond spot was shown.
Coordinates on camera
Guessing the day is almost over, Basket gathers the last mushrooms and shows the coordinates on screen, as the rules require, with a reminder that distance in the Nether counts for more in the Overworld. Out on the netherrack a ghast drifts far off, pigmen walk past, and fire burns near the path. Basket puts a block down and ends the day there.
The episode ends with Basket in the Nether, alive and at full health. The credits roll after that, with no gameplay after them.