This Week in Tetris: April 29-May 5

CTM and CTL had huge weeks, with both having thrilling matches with effects that reverberated throughout the scene. CTWC is only a month away, and while Fractal might have been considered a clear favorite to take home his second trophy just one week ago, the picture is far murkier now. Only one thing's for sure -- it's an exciting time to be a fan of this stuff.

I'm trying something new with the line scores this week based on reader feedback. The score given for each game is now the final topout score in thousands (including mullens), and contains a letter appended to the end to indicate the type of topout (n = natural, i = intentional, a = aggressive).

The numbers next to the player's names refer to the May Premiere Poll rankings, not tournament seeds. As always, let me know if you have any feedback, comments, or suggestions.

Classic Tetris Monthly

This month was an absolute beast in CTM, where not only the April Masters Finals happened, but also the Red Bracket for April Masters, where the quality of the competition was so high that it might as well have been another finals. Five of the six matches went to deciders, and every one was deeply memorable. One more month of CTM rests between now and CTWC, and both the Masters and Challengers brackets are absurdly stacked.

CTM April 2024 Masters Round 1 (Red Bracket), April 30, 2024
1 FRACTAL def. 10 MYLES (3-1)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3	4
FRACTAL	1,339n	817i	1,449i	1,455n
MYLES	1,366n	511n	1,059n	1,033n

Myles used the right strategy against Fractal for this match: he depressed the accelerator pedal firmly to the floor of the automobile and never took it off. It paid off in a great game 1; though Myles was already down big and couldn't do much more than survive as Fractal scored a few cautious tetrises on the killscreen, Myles survived Fractal's 35 topout and absolutely went ham, scoring four tetrises in the last three levels to take the game. The aggression backfired a bit on the next two. In game 2, he was down big in early post when he lost control of his stack, while in game 3, both players were putting up huge numbers and getting mid-post maxouts, but Myles couldn't make it much further. (Fractal's 715 transition was the highest in CTM history.) Game 4 was another good one, with Myles ahead through a good chunk of 18, but a series of gnarly misdrops in post let Fractal pull ahead, and he was left in the dust in killscreen despite a deep run.

CTM April 2024 Masters Round 1 (Red Bracket), April 30, 2024
4 PIXELANDY def. 6 BLUE SCUTI (3-2)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3	4	5
PIXELANDY	1,286n	1,581n	1,027n	1,426n	1,632n
BLUE SCUTI	1,492n	1,249n	1,087n	1,364n	1,323n

The earliest anyone topped out during this five-game match? Level 32. Game 1 started with Scuti going up 100k by killscreen, followed by a captivating back-and-forth killscreen spar. Both players got through great digs in the level 34-35 range, but Scuti got more tetrises late and Andy ran out of time, selling out the stack and topping out on 37. In game 2, both players showed off their survival skills during a huge initial drought, and in spite of it, Andy still managed to pull into 29 with a 1.2 and a big lead. He didn't let go of it through killscreen play, though Scuti put up a good fight, almost but not quite getting out of a difficult situation after not being able to shove some pieces all the way to the right. Game 3 was very dry, with Scuti almost succumbing to VITSmania before getting out of a huge dig, but a lack of bars means he didn't actually go down any. Huge lead shifts followed until Andy went into 29 with a slim lead, but a ten-high longbar hang on 32 meant Scuti would take the game. Scuti slowly developed a lead in game 4 through efficient play, starting killscreen 5k off from a 1.2, but Andy was able to get out of a scary situation and convert more tetrises to tie it back up before Scuti's level 33 topout and force a decider. Game 5 was Andy's turn to lay on the pace, starting 29 not too far off from a 1.2 and going ballistic after the 29 mark. Scuti was able to close the gap some, but was still down over 200k to Andy's F-score before he topped out.

CTM April 2024 Masters Round 2 (Red Bracket), April 30, 2024
4 PIXELANDY def. 1 FRACTAL (3-2)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3	4	5
PIXELANDY	1,442n	1,762n	1,770n	1,149n	1,396i
FRACTAL	1,684n	1,542n	1,577n	1,185n	1,116n

The streak ends at 19, but wow, what an effort it took to do it. Fractal went up 250k over Andy with a 1.1 into killscreen despite Andy avoiding big digs, and after Fractal barely got his stack down on 29, he scored tetris after tetris to get a 1.3 on 31 and a rollover on 37; Andy simply ran out of time to make up the gap. Both players had high 600k transitions and 1.2 killscreens on game 2; Andy burned away some level 30 misdrops and waved goodbye to Fractal on level 35 as he mullened to a 1.7. Another huge game followed with more 600k transitions, and though Andy missed the b2b 1.2 killscreen (Fractal got it and took in a 100k lead), Fractal's board fell apart at around the same linecount and same score as Andy cruised to a back-to-back 1.7. Game 4 featured a double topout soon after the 29 transition, but Fractal was able grab it after overturning an early deficit in post. The decider featured an uncharacteristically diggy 18 from Fractal, and Andy was able to get up to a 600k by transition for a fourth time in a row while Fractal limped into 19 with a 408. Fractal was able to cut into the lead a bit late in post, but he never really got close before topping out halfway through killscreen play.

CTM April 2024 Masters Semifinals, May 5, 2024
2 ALEX THACH def. 7 SIDNEV (3-2)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3	4	5
ALEX THACH	1,271n	1,764n	1,548n	1,000i	1,286n
SIDNEV	1,484n	1,482n	1,554n	949n	1,248n

Thriller. Sidnev went into 29 a 1.1 in the first game, with Alex T a tetris and change behind. Though her stream cut out for most of post-post, and though Alex was able to grab another 200k in post, it wasn't too surprising when Sidnev came back already beating Alex's topout score, mullening into 39 with a 1.5. A Sidnev win felt inevitable in game 2, going into killscreen with a 1.2 and building on her lead while Alex T was stuck in a nervy dig up through level 32, but she wasn't able to make it much further, and Alex had a great late-killscreen performance. Sidnev was a little bit behind in game 3 and was able to survive and score through killscreen play. While Alex also had to keep corralling an unruly board back in, he pushed his lead to six figures by level 36, when neither player looked like they were going to survive much longer. Sidnev had a borderline miraculous dig and started cramming tetris after tetris; Alex topped out on level 38, and Sidnev, one line away from the DKS and needing one more tetris to win, built up three off the bottom, got the bar, and lit up the crowd. Sidnev wasn't able to capitalize on her 2-1 lead: she didn't get the taps for two pieces late in post in game 4, and despite a run into level 34, Sidnev was only ("only") able to tack on 150k in post-post before Alex was able to chase her score down in a clutch dig that showed why he's the score record holder.
Twitch

CTM April 2024 Masters Semifinals, May 5, 2024
3 DOG def. 4 PIXELANDY (3-2)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3	4	5
DOG	1,169n	1,760n	1,273n	387i	1,351n
PIXELANDY	1,633n	1,219n	1,648n	235n	1,189n

If you like crazy 18 digs, you'll love this one. The 30th match between the brothers started off with both players having a low-scoring 18 but turning it on to double-max into 29 anyway. Dog held onto a slight lead, but Andy ended up taking it after Dog couldn't quite get a bar over an 8-high column 3. In game 2, Andy went into killscreen almost 100k up thanks to a prolonged dig from Dog, but he topped out after a bar hang immediately after the level 29 transition, and Dog chased it down on his way to a 1.7. Game 3 was Andy's turn to survive a tough 18 dig, which he turned around for a rollover of his own when Dog wasn't able to do much more than survive before topping out on level 33. Game 4 was one of the most impressive 18 topouts you'll ever see; Andy hung a piece on line 41 and somehow survived right up near the top for 53 lines. Both players had killer pace in game 5, but Dog's was just a hair better, going into transition with a 1.25 and claiming his finals spot after Andy couldn't quite stick the landing into killscreen.
Twitch

CTM April 2024 Masters Finals, May 6, 2024
2 ALEX THACH def. 3 DOG (3-2)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3	4	5
ALEX THACH	1,337n	1,932n	1,248n	1,651n	1,709n
DOG	1,275n	1,661n	1,450n	1,794n	1,136n

For a guy who's broken so many records lately, it figures that his fourth Masters win would claim another. The first game was a dead heat at killscreen, with the players separated by less than a thousand points, when Alex couldn't get a pair of bars five-tapped on level 31; luckily for him, Dog was in the process of topping out as well, and Alex was a tetris ahead. Game 2 was another pacer pre-killscreen, with both players swallowing up a huge post S/Z burst in about a level or so. Dog played great after 29, rolling over the score and getting an extra tetris or two to boot before hitting 39, but Alex was absolutely ruthless, getting a 739k killscreen score and pushing for a 1.9. This game set a new combined score record for a 39-DKS competitive match. Game 3 went from a dead heat early in post to a massive Dog lead seemingly out of nowhere, though he also gave Alex a whole level of lines in pocket. Alex ended up hanging some bars on 32 before being really able to get anything going. Game 4 was the first game where the RNG was bumpy enough to cause the players a little grief, with Alex surviving a great dig in 18 and living to get a 1.1 into killscreen anyway. Dog transitioned not too far behind, and it was his turn to push the speedometer into the red, grabbing his own 700k and taking the set's second double-rollover by over 100k. The decider felt a bit more measured at first, with players transitioning in the low 500s and showing off their adjustment game, but both players pushed their scores up in post. Dog was ultimately unable to get very far into post after a gnarly S misdrop on level 31, and Alex crossed the 1.7 mark yet again and almost made it to level 40 in his victory lap.
Twitch

 

Classic Tetris League

The CTL season is roaring along, with sixteen matches, and some of them were absolutely gigantic. I'll give a mid-season update post later in the week, going into how the division tables are starting to take shape and looking ahead to the playoffs.

Because this week was busier than usual, the recaps for the Sunday night matches (4 PIXELANDY v TIMMYKIM, 21 COALBUCKET v TIMMYKIM, 1 FRACTAL v 11 THEDENGLER) will be included in next week's edition. Suffice it to say that there's at least one big upset.

CTL Season 25 Division 1A, May 1, 2024
21 COALBUCKET def. 22 SUNNY (3-0)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3
COALBUCKET	753i	1,177n	1,299n
SUNNY	674n	1,101n	561n

Game 2 was a good one, with both players surviving some weird RNG to reach a double-1.1 level 31 simultopout with Coal 70k ahead. In the other two, though, Sunny couldn't keep his board clean and, despite surviving some scary digs, fell in mid-post. Coal was impressive, showing off his adjustment game and mullening for an almost-1.3 in game 3.
Twitch

CTL Season 25 Division 1B, May 1, 2024
6 BLUE SCUTI def. TUGI (3-1)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3	4
BLUE SCUTI	440n	1,186n	1,043n	1,202n
TUGI	516i	1,132n	998n	699n

Tugi started the set off right, making quick work of a piece sequence that eventually got the best of Scuti. Tugi went into killscreen ahead in game 2 and almost got his stack down, but if Scuti is given the opportunity to chase you down on 29, he will. Game 3 was back-and-forth until Tugi misdropped just before getting the max and just before 29, while game 4 was a suffer game for Tugi, going into post-post 300 down.
Twitch

CTL Season 25 Division 1A, May 2, 2024
4 PIXELANDY def. 22 SUNNY (3-0)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3
PIXELANDY	1,114n	131i	1,266n
SUNNY	831n	104n	928n

Sunny wasn't able to put up much of a fight in the first two; prolonged digs in game 1 meant he was down big before not quite being able to stick the 29 transition, and game 2 was an early topout. He kept in close in game 3 before having his game ended by a drought when his stack was high late in post.
Twitch

CTL Season 25 Division 1B, May 2, 2024
7 SIDNEV def. 16 SODIUM (3-1)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3	4
SIDNEV	1,310n	1,539n	691i	1,133n
SODIUM	1,335n	1,055n	615n	1,050n

Sodium needed a big game 1 to beat Sidnev. Both players had huge pace, and Sidnev got to killscreen with a 1.1, though a slight dig meant she was down by 100k anyway. She made up the difference in 29 play, but a misdrop on 33 when the score was tied let Sodium go up 1-0. You can't keep doing that sort of thing against Sidnev forever, though. She got a 1.2 transition and 1.5 mullen in game 2 while Sodium couldn't make it past level 29 down big, and game 3 was an early top. Sidnev was down a bit in the fourth game, but lined it out after Sodium couldn't make it past 29.
Twitch

CTL Season 25 Division 1B, May 2, 2024
10 MYLES def. SOMALIAN (3-2)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3	4	5
MYLES	763n	867i	524i	1,231n	1,234n
SOMALIAN	768i	758n	498n	1,235n	1,081n

Somalian was able to put up some good games and give Myles a run for his money, but his early topout habit ultimately did him in. He took game 1 after Myles' board got out of hand pretty quickly mid-post, but gave it back in a post topout of his own after not being able to handle an S/Z burst. Game 3 was a suffer game for both players, and though he had some good solves, Somalian got a little too cute with his tuck and spin setups and topped out right before the 19 transition. The next game was a banger -- Myles went into 29 with a 1.2 but sold out his stack in order to get that final Tetris. Though he almost got away with it, he topped out on 30, and Somalian completed a clutch chasedown to force a decider. The set ended with another game with big pace, but Somalian couldn't switch playstyles fast enough to get out of a dig late in post.
Twitch

CTL Season 25 Division 1B, May 3, 2024
6 BLUE SCUTI def. 16 SODIUM (3-0)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3
BLUE SCUTI	1,510n	200i	1,636n
SODIUM	1,178n	185n	956n

Some sort of switch has been flipped in Scuti's head. He extended his seven-in-a-row 1.3 steak from his Wars performance with a 1.5 in game 1 (a massive killscreen game for him with a crazy last tetris -- he was under 500k for the first transition and under a maxout for the second one) and a rollover in game 3 (he survived a couple scary moments in this one to put up a killscreen score over 600k). Both games made it all the way to 39. Despite a game 2 early topout, Sodium played well, keeping pace pre-29 and suriving a crazy killscreen dig in game 1, but Scuti has gone supernova and has put the top four on notice.

CTL Season 25 Division 1B, May 3, 2024
8 DANV def. CHILLER (3-1)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3	4
DANV	553i	768n	397i	408i
CHILLER	379n	1,001i	352n	350n

Chiller was able to max out in level 26 and put away a limping Dan in game 2, but their troubles continue, with none of their other games seeing level 20.

CTL Season 25 Division 1C, May 4, 2024
10 MYLES def. NEK0 (3-2)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3	4	5
MYLES	1,076i	605n	1,321n	1,114n	1,163n
NEK0	906n	641i	1,191n	1,131i	1,160n

Banger of a match. Myles took the first one as Neko slowly hemorrhaged pace through misdrops pre-29 and was only able to nab one more tetris post-killscreen before topping out. Game 2 was spire city as both players had to deal with multiple huge S- and Z-bursts in 18, but Myles was unable to accommodate a Z piece early in post and lost control. Myles had a big game 3, going into killscreen with a 1.2 and almost 200k up despite less-than-ideal RNG. He was able to add tetrises and keep most of his lead in the resulting spar that made it halfway to 39, and by the time he topped out, Neko's board was too messy to get anything done. In game 4, Neko got down big in 18 after a perpetual dig caused by him continuing to set up for dirty tetrises and rarely having them pay off, but the script was flipped in a big way in his killscreen chasedown, where he scored not one but two crazy dirty tetrises. The decider was back-and-forth, as the lead was constantly changing and both players were surviving droughts and scary digs before transitioning into killscreen only 4k apart. Neko got more killscreen tetrises, but Myles was able to outlast him and complete a nervy lineout to take the set.
Twitch

CTL Season 25 Division 1C, May 4, 2024
1 FRACTAL def. 18 PORTAL (3-0)

(330 DKS)	1: Lv 19	2: Lv 19	3: Lv 18
FRACTAL	1,052n	190i	422i
PORTAL	974n	113n	392n

The first ever match in CTL history when some of the starts were 19 and some were 18! The first two, specifically, were 19 starts. Game 1 was very close, though Fractal was able to develop a slight advantage soon after the Untitled Line 140 Milestone after Portal took a little time getting out of a dig. Fractal had an uncharacteristic Level 29 topout after missing a five-tap or two, but despite fighting to hold on for a bit, Portal's killscreen stack was too messed up to chase it down. Portal got a bit too aggressive in the second game and topped out early. After slowing things down a bit, Portal was able to get ahead by a significant amount after Fractal suffered some cascading misdrops, but a very long, very unfriendly drought developed halfway through 18. Portal didn't get out of it, but Fractal was just barely able to, letting him chase down the game and take the set.
Twitch

CTL Season 25 Division 1B, May 4, 2024
7 SIDNEV def. ANSEL (3-0)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3
SIDNEV	714i	1,003i	1,635n
ANSEL	695n	624n	1,073n

Contrary to her hyperaggressive reputation, Sidnev was able to tone it back and cruise to an easy victory in this non-SPS matchup. She was plagued in the first game by droughts and misdrops in 18, but never let her stack get anywhere close to out of control, and chased down Ansel's score when he missed a mid-board five-tap mid-post. He fell in post again in game 2 without being able to get anything going after the transition, and though he maxed out in game 3 and pushed to level 30, he couldn't touch Sidnev on her way to a rollover.
Twitch

CTL Season 25 Division 1C, May 5, 2024
NEK0 def. TEGAMECH (3-0)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3
NEK0	773n	898i	982n
TEGAMECH	462n	689n	867n

Tega wasn't able to pose a huge challenges to one of the biggest surprises of this CTL season. Neko had a monster 733k transition in game 1 and a very solid game 2, and in both, Tega topped out in post down big. Neko wasn't quite able to make it out of post in game 3, but he had a sizable lead, and Tega followed him not-too-long afterward.
Twitch

CTL Season 25 Division 1C, May 5, 2024
10 MYLES def. 18 PORTAL (3-1)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3	4
MYLES	1,266n	1,161i	1,035i	63i
PORTAL	1,304n	1,072n	847n	28n

This set started off with a bang. Portal was able to handle rough RNG in 18 better and go into transition with a decent-sized lead, but ran into some digs in post, and Myles was able to get all of it back. Both players got to killscreen with maxouts, with Myles holding onto a tetris-and-a-half lead. What followed was a great killscreen back-and-forth, with Portal able to squeeze out a couple more tetrises and get a 1.3 before both players topped out on 35. In game 2, Myles was able to go into killscreen ahead in points and behind in lines, and despite a heroic survival and very dirty tetris from Portal post-29, Myles was able to keep clean and extend his lead. Portal kept running into traffic in game 3 and ended up topping out late in post after not keeping his center well burn options over, and he topped out very early in game 4 after building up an overly ambitious spire.
Twitch

CTL Season 25 Division 1A, May 5, 2024
11 SV def. 14 RAHMATIONS (3-1)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3	4
SV	1,282n	442n	1,178n	1,301n
RAHMATIONS	1,129n	931i	1,159n	793n

Game 1 started off with neither player able to handle the pieces given to them, with Rah having a mid-400 transition and still being a couple tetrises ahead. They were able to find their footing later on and get themselves into a close killscreen showdown, with SV outlasting Rah's level 35 topout. SV wasn't able to hit a 400k transition on game 2, either, and lost control on level 22 down big, but he was able to recover for game 3, getting a 600k transition on his way to a 1.1 killscreen score. SV kept his slim margin through his 31 topout, and though Rah was a tetris behind and set up, he ended up plugging his well right before the bar came and failing to get the five-tap for that same bar for a brutal game loss. Game 4 featured incredible 18 pace from both players; they made it to almost 60 lines without taking a burn and both had 700k transitions, though Rah ended up topping out early in post.
Twitch Part 1 | Twitch Part 2