Minecraft wiki entry for Tricks_and_Traps, associated text: Once the runner has advanced far in the game, It will be important that you have more loot than them. This is because if you lose a fight to the runner late game, the runner will have all your loot and you will have no way to recover, leaving you helpless as the runner finishes the game. It is suggested that you have a chest or a specified hunter carrying gear similar in strength to what you had when you died. That way, if you die, you will be able to get right back in the game immediately without frantically having to mine all over again. It is worth it to do this in the early game rather than later, because the runner will be staying in relatively the same place also gathering resources, so you won't lose ground.