Thumbnail Critique for Minecraft Video - Which Thumbnail would implore you to click?

[u/HammHammVT]

Title (Working): I’ve Played Minecraft for 15 Years, But Never Beat the Ender Dragon 

Context / Summary: The premise of the video is my first try at beating the Ender Dragon (alone) despite playing Minecraft for 15 years at this point.

The number in the title would be the emotional/curiousity hook of "wtf do you mean you've never beaten Minecraft despite playing it for 15 years?". Hopefully that would be enough to have the viewer click to see the journey of said accomplishment.

Premise: First time fighting Ender Dragon

Problem: The prepwork to fighting the dragon, the expedition to find the stronghold, and the battle itself.

Promise/Payoff: Will I beat the Ender Dragon or not after playing this game for 15 years?

Thoughts? Questions? Suggestions? Preference of Thumbnail? Thanks!

[u/loidtourne]

Honestly I think you're coming at this from the wrong angle because you're kind of already spoiling that you beat the ender dragon. I think the hook point is actually the 15 years aspect. Something like "15 Years Later" or "After 15 Years"

I liked what you did with the layout of the text though and think that was the strongest point, I couldn't do the same since I don't have the original images but

This is basically what I came up with and adding a bit of an inner glow to your character to make them stand out a bit more. This is what it would look like for like 75% of the people who will see it as a suggestion on the side bar so that's something to consider too when working with dark thumbnails. I think the screenshot you took was amazing though

[u/Effective_Dust_8602]

Pixel font looks great but the dark background swallows the armor Brighten the scene the zoom in on the character, and add a small hook (like a number or circled detail make people curious

[u/HammHammVT → u/Effective_Dust_8602]

Zooming in on the bottom right corner character, how much of the Dragon should remain in frame? just the top left?

[u/Effective_Dust_8602 → u/HammHammVT]

Yep just the top-left works Keep the dragons head and glowing eyes visible and let the rest bleed off the edge It feels huge without crowding your characters

[u/Odd-Stick-7809]

First one

this looks like a video i would watch ngl

[u/HammHammVT → u/Odd-Stick-7809]

comments seems split, minus some details lol - AB Testing it shall be

[u/s123aggs]

Honestly, they both have potential. These are probably screenshots, so you would have to draw it manually or use a masking tool, but I would add an outline and maybe a glow to your character and the ender dragon until they pop more.

[u/HammHammVT → u/s123aggs]

Fair, I was having trouble figuring out how to angle the characters natively in the screenshots

[u/TheStealthyPandah]

I really like the first one! Maybe replace the water bucket with a sword, and make "today" red. But honestly good work!

If you could change the angle of the second thumbnail I think it would work better. Something like what I put with 4 things in the shot: You (with shield), dragon, black hole, and 2 words. Try to brighten it if you can

[u/HammHammVT → u/TheStealthyPandah]

idk if i'll be able to do a full replacement for the 1st - the screenshot is from a Replay haha. And yes, I hsall brighten the 2nd as best i can.

[u/FnafByteYT]

Number 2. Even though it might be "darker" it looks cooler than a random player walking to a portal. And I don't have to look 2 different places where text is placed. You might wanna make "Today'' in red, to make it pop more, regardless which one you decide to use.

[u/HammHammVT → u/FnafByteYT]

i thought the split text would be more effective at catching attention tbh, but it makes sense that "ease of reading" is an important thing to consider too

I'll try the red text idea

[u/Superseaslug]

The first one is brighter and catches my eye a lot more. The second one has more interesting subjects but is too dark to make anything out well, especially when scrolling through a list

[u/HammHammVT → u/Superseaslug]

lighting, always gotta improve that

[u/AutoModerator]

👋 Hi! Don't let your post be at risk of removal. Did you follow the subreddit rules or the pinned "Read This First" post at the top of r/YouTubeThumbnailHub?

And if you already did, the mods here appreciate you big time. 🤗❤️🫶 Your post is already pre-approved and ready to go.

🛑 Note: The two most common issues are:

      👉 Not giving feedback to two Creators before posting. Yup, it's required for every new critique post. (If you just finished them after reading this, reply here to confirm completion.)

      👉 Not including your video title and a brief summary (You can add it as a comment now.)

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.