This Week in Tetris: May 14-20

Two more weeks remain until CTWC, and while just a few months ago there seemed to be an elite group of half a dozen or so world-beaters, everything seems much more open now. This week contained even more shock results in CTM and CTL, and we'd expect nothing more going into the last week of the CTL regular season and the final two brackets of the CTM Masters Event.

The numbers next to the players are their May Premiere Poll rankings, not their tournament seeds. Scores in the tables are given in thousands; an (i) or (a) next to a score indicates that the topout was intentional or aggressive, respectively. As always, let me know if you found this entertaining or useful, or if there's anything else you'd like to see. I'm incredibly grateful for everyone who's given me feedback or encouragement so far.

Classic Tetris Monthly

Brackets two and three of this month's Masters Event are in the books, and they were both compelling for completely different reasons. Many were wondering which Artiaga brother would win the orange bracket and were stunned by the answer being "neither", while Lazer's return to competitive tetris made the blue bracket a big draw.

CTM May 2024 Masters Event Round 1 (Orange Bracket), May 18, 2024
3 DOG def. 19 ALLENBOT (3-0)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3
DOG	1,061	1,509	1,212
ALLENBOT	1,041	966	948

Allenbot's prize for winning challengers was a spot in the Masters bracket, yet somehow he qualed exactly 16th anyway. In any case, he got a first-round date with Dog. Things started off with Allen staying a tetris or two back until the killscreen transition, where Dog went in with his stack way too high and couldn't get it burned down. He got lucky, though, that Allen hung a J almost immediately, and Dog was able to take the game. Allen was digging through post in game 2, and though sometimes he was able to do the impossible, his score suffered as a result, and he couldn't come close to matching Dog's 1.5. Allen wasn't able to get the max in game 3, either, going into transition with a 931 and never really gaining control of his stack before a level 30 topout.
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CTM May 2024 Masters Event Round 1 (Orange Bracket), May 18, 2024
17 IBALL def. 4 PIXELANDY (3-2)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3	4	5
IBALL	1,245	793 (i)	1,148	631	1,106
PIXELANDY	1,302 (i)	789	1,056	733 (i)	1,065

iBall's high-risk, high-reward playstyle paid off in dividends here. Both players brought it pre-29 in game 1, with Andy hitting the 1.2 and iBall just barely missing it, but iBall could only nab one killscreen tetris before a rough couple misdrops ended his run. Andy was able to develop a six-figure lead in game 2 after iBall suffered though 18 and the early part of post, but seemed to look away from his board while he misdropped a T, resulting in a level 24 topout and an easy iBall chasedown. iBall developed a healthy game 3 lead by capitalizing on Andy's dig late in post. Though iBall hung a bar on 30 too high to recover, Andy suffered from cascading misdrops and couldn't get close to chasing it down. Andy switched strats in game 4, standing up behind his chair to play DAS through 18 and then sitting back down and tapping when he hit post. iBall was able to keep up with Andy despite some big digs with the help of some filthy tetrises, but some less-than-optimal RNG after iBall's stack got a little too flat led to a level 21 topout and a decider. Both players made it to the killscreen with a maxout in a dry game 5, Andy by cycling through all three playstyles and iBall by conquering even more death-defying digs. Andy had a level and a half of lines in pocket, but iBall was able to survive and score in post-post long enough to be ahead when both players topped out at the same time, securing the huge upset.
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CTM May 2024 Masters Event Round 1 (Orange Bracket), May 18, 2024
17 IBALL def. 3 DOG (3-2)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3	4	5
DOG	291 (i)	287	1,216	1,186	1,124
IBALL	242	296 (i)	1,199	1,605 (i)	1,268 (i)

iBall continues his miracle run by vanquishing his second Artiaga brother in a row. Dog got ahead early after iBall got droughted after blocking his well 50 lines in, but got gifted one back after Dog got too ambitious with a square spire in the back half of 18. In what seems to be a pattern for him, iBall went into 29 in game 3 with a real score lead but with his opponent having at least 10 lines in pocket. He had a huge early killscreen dig and was able to nab a few tetrises, but he couldn't keep it going after level 33, and Dog played the chasedown conservatively and tetrised into 37 to go up to match point. iBall turned it up a notch in game 4, going into 29 with a C-score and a sizable lead, forcing the decider when Dog hung two out of three bars on level 31. (iBall then flexed by not playing out the game after getting a level 34 rollover.) Game five saw iBall develop another lead, and though both players ran into some digging in post, iBall was able to maintain a six-figure advantage into killscreen. When Dog's board fell apart on 29, iBall got another signiture win. He'll look to keep his run going against the winner of the blue bracket (see below) in the semifinals.
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CTM May 2024 Masters Event Round 1 (Blue Bracket), May 19, 2024
LAZER def. 22 SUNNY (3-2)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3	4	5
LAZER	1,185	547	934	1,019 (i)	1,166
SUNNY	1,031	558	778	1,039	1,008

No one was quite sure what to expect from cubing legend Lazer, who hadn't played in CTM since 2022, but what they got was solid stacking with good 29 play. Sunny started off on the right foot with a mid-600 transition; he got stuck in the mud but still carried his lead through post. He couldn't get much done post-29 and topped out just as Lazer was pulling ahead. Game two saw both players digging through big chunks of 18, and early post wasn't great, either, with Lazer falling on level 20. Game 3 was marred by stream issues from Lazer before he turned his bitrate down, but the players were virtually tied going into the 19 transition. Sunny was able to have one crazy downstack in post, but wasn't able to extricate himself from another, topping out after going down almost 100k to a clean-stacking Lazer. Game 4 saw both players recover from a gross 18 with solid 19 play, with Sunny carrying a lead of less than a tetris into the killscreen. Neither player was able to score a tetris post-29, so when they both topped out at level 31, Sunny still held onto that slim lead. Sunny's pace problems continued into the decider, only being able to muster an 837k into 29, while Lazer played solidly and wasn't too far off from a 1.1. After the players traded a couple tetrises, Lazer's board fell apart in slow motion, leaving Sunny with a very long chasedown that ended almost immediately after he got droughted and hung a bar.
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CTM May 2024 Masters Event Round 1 (Blue Bracket), May 19, 2024
7 BLUE SCUTI def. 11 THEDENGLER (3-2)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3	4	5
BLUE SCUTI	1,187 (i)	1,286	1,260	1,195	1,345
THEDENGLER	1,029	1,070	1,302	1,349 (i)	1,253

Against the king of pace, Scuti was able to go up 2-0 by keeping clean and getting early leads. Neither player really got into trouble in game 1, but the pieces didn't come to let them pace, and Noah went into transition with a board that wasn't quite clean and hung a bar right as a result. In what would be a theme for both players, Noah defied death in 18 with a crazy dig, but ended up in a hole that only kept getting bigger as Scuti put up a monster game with 680/1.22 transition scores. He kept his 200k lead when both players were torpedoed by rough RNG in level 31. Game 3 featured both players demonstrating highlight-reel survival skills during the same stretch of 18. After a relatively drama-free post, Scuti laid on some killscreen tetrises and developed a substantial lead, but Noah put together a professional chasedown after Scuti hung a Z on 33. Game 4 stayed close pre-killscreen, with Noah holding onto a slight lines advantage. While Scuti was able to recover from a slightly-too-high 29 transition before both players traded tetrises for five levels, he saw his board develop a dirty tetris setup that he couldn't quite reach with the next bar, and Noah forced the decider. Game 5 started with good pace from both players, but Scuti went up six figures after yet another scary dig from the Dengler. Noah started draining tetrises in the killscreen and managed to make up the defecit by level 32, but a misdrop soon afterward ended his Masters campaign.
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CTM May 2024 Masters Event Round 2 (Blue Bracket), May 19, 2024
7 BLUE SCUTI def. LAZER (3-1)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3	4
LAZER	458 (i)	1,196	1,341	1,111
BLUE SCUTI	346	1,473	1,654	1,219

Lazer was able to make deep killscreen runs but couldn't keep clean early on, failing to transition to 19 above 500k in any game. Scuti suffered hard in game 1, finally being put out of his misery when one of his high-up digs bridged the 19 transition, but recovered in game 2, putting up a mid-1.1 into 29 and getting a clutch bar for a center-well tetris to keep his game alive until the double killscreen. Lazer got behind big in the third game when he had to defy death in 18 and Scuti kept piling it in post, and though both players put up big post-29 points and made it to 39, Lazer simply couldn't catch up to Scuti's eventual rollover. Scuti was caught in some digs in gamr four's middle third, so the lead was slimmer. Lazer was able to erase it in post-post, but Scuti took it back after a couple level 31 tetrises and right before both players' boards fell apart. Scuti's win sets up a semifinals showdown with iBall.
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Classic Tetris League

Plenty of big matches were played this week in the Classic Tetris League, but the only player who has secured a playoff berth is Alex T. While the top contenders of Divisions 1A and 1C aren't super-surprising, DanV is shedding his status as a dark horse and emerging as a top contender to take a stacked 1B.

CTL Season 25 Division 1B, May 14, 2024
8 DANV def. 5 GERALD FREEMAN (3-0)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3
DANV	1,189	1,174 (i)	1,154
GERALD FREEMAN	1,017	950	1,124

Dan avoided his early topout foibles to put together a consistent set and an impressive win. Dan's game 1 post was very rough and he limped into 29 with an 876k. Gerald was suffering through the game as well, but he was able to put together a sizable lead before losing control on level 31. Dan's chasedown included a drought and a tough misdrop, but he was able to pull through it to take the game. Game 2 saw Dan turn it on a bit, with solid 600k/1.1 transitions, while Gerald was stuck in a lower gear and was taken down by a brutal square misshift right before killscreen. A clutch but long dig from Gerald early in post gave Dan a 100k advantage in game 3. Neither player had a lot of success staying clean long enough for a killscreen tetris, and though Gerald was finally able to nab one before the simultopout on level 32, it wasn't enough to erase the deficit.
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CTL Season 25 Division 1A, May 14, 2024
4 PIXELANDY def. PEEKAYRIC (3-0)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3
PEEKAYRIC	858	293	663
PIXELANDY	912 (i)	370 (i)	783 (i)

Peek was able to keep pace with Andy score-wise, but couldn't dig out after high misshifts or misrotations in all three games. The first game came 25 lines from hitting the killscreen, but that's the furthest he was able to push it.
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CTL Season 25 Division 1A, May 15, 2024
21 COALBUCKET def. PEEKAYRIC (3-0)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3
COALBUCKET	895	425 (i)	899
PEEKAYRIC	875	418	789

Peek still couldn't hit killscreen, but he was able to get big leads and push the games a bit further this time around. He built a healthy lead in 18 off of a very efficient 18, but Coal clawed it back in post. When both players entered a high-up dig after a rough RNG sequence in 25, Coal was able to get a couple tetrises after keeping his well open and having the bars come just in time, whereas Peek couldn't get it done. Game 2 saw another Coal in an early dig, though it gave him an opportunity to show off his adjustment game. Peek kept hanging bars on the left, though, and couldn't make it out of 18. Game 3 was the unluckiest, where Peek held onto an almost 200k lead after great 19 play, but got a brutal S/Z burst after an S misrotation blocked his well late in post.
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CTL Season 25 Division 1A, May 15, 2024
2 ALEX THACH def. 11 SV (3-0)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3
ALEX THACH	1,269	342 (a)	1,614
SV	1,177	338	1,338

SV was mostly able to keep up with Alex in the first frame up until mid-post by doing his classic strategy of setting up for dirty tetrises instead of taking burns, but Alex was able to get ahead before killscreen when SV got into a dig he couldn't tetris his way out of. Both players topped out at the same time chronologically, but Alex was able to score a good number of tetrises before his spire-induced topout. Game 2 was an early topout from SV, who formed a bar dependency after blocking his well up high, but he brought it in game 3. Both players got caught in digs during the front half of 18, but for SV, digs don't necessarily mean he's not scoring, and he put together a mid-600 transition while Alex limped into 19. Both players poured it on during post, and Alex chewed into SV's lead with early killscreen tetrises while SV was stuck in a dig. SV lost control on 34 with a 1.3, while Alex zoomed off on his way to getting a rollover.
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CTL Season 25 Division 1B, May 16, 2024
5 GERALD FREEMAN def. 16 SODIUM (3-0)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3
GERALD FREEMAN	1,602	1,128 (i)	1,253
SODIUM	1,117	1,121	925

Sodium couldn't push the game too far into killscreen here. Game 1 went the furthest, as he almost made it out of level 30 after both players laid down a solid pre-29 score, but Sodium couln't keep clean in post as Gerald drained tetris after tetris on his way to get a rollover. Game 2 was super-close until a late Gerald dig, but he didn't end up down all that much, and he was able to use his ten lines in pocket to have advance warning of big killscreen drought that caused Sodium to hit 29 way too high. The third game was very dry, but Gerald managed those droughts and survived a scary mid-post dig to already be up big before Sodium's rolling wasn't quite able to handle 29 speeds.
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CTL Season 25 Division 1C, May 16, 2024
3 DOG def. 11 THEDENGLER (3-2)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3	4	5
DOG	1,586	1,209 (i)	216	1,604	1,374
THEDENGLER	1,343	963	361 (i)	1,760	782

Another classic match in a season already full of them. Dengler suffered in game 1, suffering misdrop after misdrop and limping into 29 over 200k behind Dog. Though both players put on an impressive display, scoring tetris after tetris before a simultaneous level 37 topout, Dengler was never able to eat into Dog's lead as the latter finished 14k short of the rollover. Game 2 saw both players digging though good chunks of 18, and the score stayed close all the way to 29, but Dog did pocket quite a few extra lines. Dengler dead-dropped an L on 28, and though he was able to get the roof burn, the resultant dependent stack meant he couldn't stick the landing into 29. Dog was on match point, but Noah finally brought the pace that he's known for while Dog kept getting in digs and succumbed to a long drought halfway though 18. Game 4 saw the Dengler perfect through 56, and though later digs meant his high-500 transition was tied up with Dog's, he was able to edge out a tetris before 29. What followed was a thrilling killscreen fight where Noah was able to eke out a few more tetrises while Dog kept having his well closed when bars came. Dengler ended up going into the DKS with a 1.7 in CTL's first-ever double rollover game. The lead was traded a few times in the decider before Noah skidded out after being unable to get a J left in mid-post. This match sets up a winner-take-all set between Dog and Fractal, but the loser has to be careful -- if Noah can take care of Myles and Portal, he has a better-than-even shot of knocking the loser down to third.
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CTL Season 25 Division 1C, May 18, 2024
11 DENGLER def. NEK0 (3-1)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3	4
NEK0	1,218	1,371	841	576
THEDENGLER	1,306	1,157	887 (i)	644

The match started off with Dengler turning it on during post and getting the 1.2 into 29 to go up by six figures. Those extra points came in handy when he topped out on 31 after a bar hang and Neko never got the pieces needed to build out his left during the chasedown. The 18-speed phase of game 2 was parched, with Neko's board seemingly constantly a mess, but a combination of droughts and dirty tetrises meant he never went too far down. Both players made up for lost ground to get maxouts before killscreen, and once they crossed the threshold, Neko went up big by getting tetris after tetris. Noah was compelled to go aggressive in response and hung a bar when trying to fit it into a left-side well. Neko gave the next two away before 29: it was his turn to be bitten by the left well bug on game 3, while on game 4, he suffered the consequences of a very unbalanced stack late in 18 play.
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CTL Season 25 Division 1A, May 18, 2024
11 SV def. 22 SUNNY (3-2)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3	4	5
SV	1,266	1,345	770	363	1,045
SUNNY	949	1,106	1,432	445 (i)	877

Sunny continues his habit of playing up to competition, and was almost able to take down SV on an off day for him. SV lucked out after a mid-post topout in game 1 when Sunny's controller broke and the game was replayed. In the real game 1, SV was able to handle a bursty RNG sequence very well, transitioning with a high-600 and a big lead. He built on that lead while Sunny suffered through post, and took the game when Sunny had a good effort but ultimately fell to a 29 dig. SV moved up to match point after erasing a 100k defecit late in post and surviving longer into killscreen. He gave one back in post after tempting fate one too many times in a game 3 that saw Sunny mullen to a 1.4 on the back of great killscreen play. Sunny forced the decider when SV got droughted late in 18 play after attempting yet another miracle dig. Game 5's 18 phase was a quagmire for both players, with neither crossing the 500k mark, but SV was able to turn it around in post and hit the maxout mark by 29 while Sunny continued to suffer. Neither player made it far into the killscreen, but SV's big points advantage let him take the set.
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CTL Season 25 Division 1A, May 18, 2024
3 DOG def. NEK0 (3-1)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3	4
DOG	1,388	774	1,152 (i)	1,305
NEK0	1,018	857 (i)	1,067	1,073

Dog started off game 1 very efficiently, but a series of misdrops and long digs meant he couldn't cross the 900k mark into killscreen. Neko ended up with a full level in picket, but Dog made most of the deficit up before Neko's level 30 topout and mullened to a 1.3. Game 2 started off very efficiently for both players with Neko perfect through 68 lines, but Dog's troubles in post continued, and Neko was able to take the game after Dog succumbed to his injuries on level 24. Things got back on track a bit in game 3, with both players getting the maxout before 29, and though they managed an early killscreen drought well, Neko hung the bar when it did finally come. Neko got behind big in score and ahead in lines after a series of misdrops in 18, and though he was able to burn his way to level 33, Dog fired off tetris after tetris and was up over 200k by the time he topped out.
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CTL Season 25 Division 1A, May 18, 2024
8 DANV def. 7 SIDNEV (3-2)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3	4	5
SIDNEV	1,551	1,313	1,001	1,147 (i)	1,120
DANV	1,252	1,576	1,070 (i)	1,020	1,277

DanV stays undefeated with yet another massive win. Sidnev brought it in game 1, going up by 100k after Dan was stuck digging early in post. Even though Dan was able to push the game into level 35 and score tetrises, he never really closed the gap, with Sidnev surviving six lines into killscreen and putting up a 1.5 on the scoreboard. The players were separated by a single pushdown point at the 19 transition of game 2, and after that it was a mirror image of game 1, with Dan building on a post lead when he popped off after killscreen. Sidnev was able get up to a 1.3, but she simply didn't have enough room to chase down Dan, who topped out one tetris from a rollover 300 lines in. Sidnev had some great early digs in game 3 but lost pace in the process, and though she was able to get some of it back by digging a little bit less than Dan in post, she couldn't get the stack down before transition and topped out going into 29. Sidnev went up big in the fourth frame with a mid-600k score, and even though Dan was able to peel some of that back by 29, it was his turn to not be able to make it to 30. Game 5 was back-and-forth, with Dan staying cleaner throughout 18 and Sidnev making almost all of it up in post, but Sidnev lost control of her stack on level 30. Only Blue Scuti now stands between Dan and a 7-0 season.
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CTL Season 25 Division 1A, May 18, 2024
2 ALEX THACH def. 21 COALBUCKET (3-0)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3
ALEX THACH	553 (i)	761 (i)	1,653
COALBUCKET	284	723	651

Having a friend clean Alex's room while he's playing a match is a good bit. The less said about Coal's game 1, the better, but his 18 play was much better in game 2, approaching a mid-600 and going up 100k over the score record holder. He hung a bar while trying to score with a dirty left well late in post, though, and while he almost got out of a mid-post dig in game 3 induced by a misroated J, a few more misdrops ended up dooming him. Alex mullened that last one to a rollover.
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CTL Season 25 Division 2A, May 18, 2024
JERPI def. BISBY (3-1)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3	4
JERPI	654 (i)	28 (i)	393	955
BISBY	527	1	419 (i)	935

Jerpi finishes her season off right and punches her return ticket to the top flight. Bisby kept himself alive through 18 on game 1 by coming up with creative solves and getting the pieces he needed to complete them, but met a dig he couldn't get out of on level 21. Bisby gave game 2 away very early after getting droughted with a low left side, but then got a game back when he paid Jerpi's dog to sabotage her. Game 4 pushed to killscreen, with Jerpi able to take advange of a Bisby dig in early post, but Bisby was almost able to catch up later. Bisby transitioned to killscreen high, and his attempted burn happened to line up with a hole in his stack. Jerpi's game left this mortal realm on level 29 as well, but her less-than-tetris lead was enough to pack her bags and get out of Div 2.
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