Tetris Concept

Creating a temporary gap and then soft dropping a piece under it allows players to get out of some tricky situations. In a way, it functions similarly to holding a piece. Players are able to place pieces out of order. Examples of sliding It is not always necessary to have a plan in advance if you have a good feel for it. This is an interesting dilemma. The first is fine--if you happen to get another L- or J-piece in time. The second one forces you to depend on the J-piece instead of either J or L. However, the second is not a bad choice since it allows you to connect the 7th and 8th columns to the left side of the field. This gives you additional options to stack over. Below is a very useful tactic, pioneered by player Integration. It is more useful to have nine connected columns compared to eight. If you create a 4x1 indention next to the Tetrising column, you will always be able to fill in that I-piece later. In the meanwhile...

To "skim" means to clear Singles, Doubles, or Triples over the Tetrising column. You can lower the stack's height without covering the Tetrising column. It also helps in handling awkward pieces that may not fit otherwise. Leave an empty nook alongside the edge. This provides a safety net against overstacking. Even a shallow notch enables skimming opportunities. Here are some examples. It is usually better to maintain a notch even after you skim. Avoid raising the surface next to the Tetris column when possible. You don't always need to immediately clear away residue when covering the Tetrising column. Sometimes you know a piece will work, but you get early in the sequence.  But there is a trade-off between temporarily covering the Tetrising column and ensuring skimming ability. You must weigh the risk of not being able to Tetris (should an I-piece come) against the risk of not having placed a fail-safe skimming piece when yo...

Some attacks send more than others, but it's not so simple as to say "the more you send, the better." Evaluating performance Suppose that you had a number of game replays in front of you. You can't watch the games, and you don't know who won. You do have various data such as how much garbage each player sent, game length, how many pieces used, etc. How could you use this data to best predict who won? To simplify this problem, assume that when the game ends, only garbage remains. One commonplace statistic is "Tetrominos Per Minute" (TPM).  It simply measures playing speed. Would the faster player more likely win? What if they play thoughtlessly and wastefully? Maybe they clear too many Singles. A slower player, who makes better use of their pieces, can still win. Over the years people paid more attention to "Attack Per Minute" (APM). It takes skill to play quickly, but it also takes skill to convert those pieces into attacks. APM correlat...

Upstack refers to the pieces dropped onto the playfield.  Upstacking  refers to "stacking up" pieces to score larger line clears, usually on the bottommost rows of the stack. Aim to keep the stack open to multiple placement choices, since you won't always get the right piece. Pieces not fitting result in holes and gaps. When you can't clear lines because of the holes, you must stack even higher. This ultimately leads to topping out. Build surfaces that will maintain good spots for any piece, and even any next piece  after receiving any piece. Note: I have ignored holding and soft dropping for this article. Their use can make some ideas difficult to explain. Contents The Basics Good and bad surfaces Creating options for S- and Z-pieces Smoothing things out Prioritizing lower placements The jagged corner Surface connectivity Piece-specific planning S- and Z-pieces O-pieces I-pieces T-pieces Parity ...