The world doesn’t know much about Jokerd, the first player to reach level 60 in World of Warcraft Classic.
Jokerd was basically an unknown entity before he came out of nowhere and won the race to 60.
What we do know, though, is that Jokerd is a 22-year-old Gnome Mage from Malta. Other than that, he’s a mystery.
He convincingly beat Method in the race to level 60, crushing the best guild in WoW.
When Jokerd hit level 60 just five days after the release of Classic and three full days of playing (over 72 hours), the leader of Method was a measly level 40.
Jokerd accumulated 300,000 viewers on Twitch on the day he reached 60, beating even Asmongold’s peak viewership. He’s since lost the bulk of his viewers, but he still regularly brings in over 10,000 viewers to his stream, securing a steady fan base.
To top it all off, once Jokerd reached level 60, he logged out and immediately attempted to delete his character. He would’ve succeeded too if it wasn’t for his fans. They desperately spammed him with mail, preventing him from deleting his character and forcing him to continue playing.
His race to 60 wasn’t without controversy. He was repeatedly called out for account sharing and his brother was accused, without evidence, of leveling his character when he was sleeping. Nothing came of this, but some distrusting viewers refuse to acknowledge his speedrun.
To add insult to injury, he also used layering to his advantage. The new system introduced ahead of the release of Classic was originally intended to ensure a smoother launch. But instead, players could easily abuse it.
Jokerd used layering to grind mobs in the later stages of the leveling process. From level 50 to 60, he AoE farmed before switching layers to reset his targets. This allowed him to avoid unnecessary waiting and continue to quickly farm.
Either way, layering was an intended mechanic, and despite Jokerd’s use of it, he wasn’t doing anything against the rules.
Jokerd has planted his roots in WoW private servers. He’s an avid vanilla speedrunner, having run level one to 60 on multiple occasions. Before the release of Classic, Jokerd regularly practiced his leveling routes and even became the first to hit level 60 on multiple popular private servers.
In addition to his speedrunning resume, he was the server first to 60 on Elysium Nethergarde in three days and 10 hours, as well as server first to 60 on Light’s Hope Silver Hand in two days and 17 hours.
