This Week in Tetris: May 28-June 3

CTWC starts tomorrow. I'm going to board a plane in a few hours to Southern California, where I'll get to see some of the best players in the world practice their craft. After the recent spate of media coverage kicked off by Scuti's game crash, more eyes will be on the competition than ever before. I told my waiter at a pizza place the other day that I was going to a Tetris tournament and he asked me if I rolled. It's going to be big.

The field to getting the trophy is wide-open. Alex T and Blue Scuti certainly have momentum going in, but at least half a dozen other players could knock them out without it being considered an upset, and CTWC has a long history of players coming out of nowhere and making Cinderella runs. Whether you're there in person or hanging out in Twitch chat online, it'll be an experience like no other.

The numbers next to the players are their June 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. If you'd like updates as I'm writing each week's TWiT, want to talk or argue about anything written here, or just like hanging out, please join our Discord server.

Classic Tetris Monthly 

Three of the four semifinalists for this month's CTM Masters event were the usual suspects, but iBall's run after taking out both Artiaga brothers was a huge story, and there were huge question marks about how he would continue to perform. Turns out that the answer was "well", and it's hard not to look forward to his future tournaments.

CTM May 2024 Masters Event Semifinals, May 30, 2024
4 BLUE SCUTI def. 12 IBALL (3-2)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3	4	5
BLUE SCUTI	1,180 (i)	258 (i)	467	981	1,390
IBALL	1,128	170	497 (i)	1,005 (i)	1,298

iBall's Cinderella run comes to an end, but not without giving a scare to a surging Scuti. iBall had a great 600k/1.1m transitions in game 1 and was a couple tetrises up on Scuti, but he couldn't quite stick the landing into killscreen and Scuti was never in serious danger during the chasedown. iBall coughed the second one up early when he couldn't handle an O/S/Z burst up high, but Scuti gave it right back when a hole in his stack turned an attempted J skim into a tragedy. Game 4 was a little rough for both players, but Scuti was able to develop a six-figure lead by the end of post. Unfortunately for him, a misrotated T on top of an already high stack made surviving the 29 transition impossible, and though iBall's chasedown got scary as he sold out the stack for a tetris, the bar came in time for him to take the set to a decider. Game 5 was a tense back-and-forth up until the 29 transition, where the two were virtually tied. iBall then went on a blistering run through the first four post-post levels, getting a six-figure lead by keeping clean and scoring tetris after tetris, but was brought to a screeching halt after hanging a J in 33. Scuti then lined his way out to the finals.
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CTM May 2024 Masters Event Semifinals, May 30, 2024
1 ALEX THACH def. 6 SIDNEV (3-1)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3	4
ALEX THACH	1,536	213 (i)	1,141	1,432
SIDNEV	973	127	1,768	1,309

Sidnev can't go a set without putting up a huge score, but Alex T showed why he's currently the top-ranked player. Alex T took a six-figure lead game 1 in post after Sidnev, while never in any danger, kept shedding pace cleaning up after her misdrops. Despite a fantastic early-killscreen dig and a crazy dirty tetris, she couldn't break a million points, while Alex mullened on to level 40. Sidnev gave the next one up early when some very uncooperative RNG punished her tuck setup. Alex went down six figures in game 3 when he wasn't able to resolve his digs quick enough, and Sidnev carried that lead into 29 with a 1.2. Alex fell not too fr into killscreen play, but Sidnev was able to mullen to a massive 1.7 into the DKS. Game 4 saw Sidnev go up big yet again after Alex kept getting stuck digging, and though it looked like the points total was more-or-less even close to the 29 transition, Sidnev's two levels in hand meant she had a 150k pace lead. Alex T turned his game around with an outstanding killscreen performance where every risk paid off for him, whether it be a setup, dirty setup, or high stack. Sidnev was still scoring and had the D on 34 by eht time she misrotated an L and topped out, but Alex was 100k ahead by then.
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CTM May 2024 Masters Event Finals, May 30, 2024
1 ALEX THACH def. 4 BLUE SCUTI (3-0)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3
ALEX THACH	1,537	1,361	1,626
BLUE SCUTI	1,292	1,188	1,596

It may have ended in a sweep, but this match was high entertainment between two of the best tetris players at the moment. Alex kicked things off with a monster game 1, going into 19 just shy of a 700k and hitting a 1.4 in level 32. Scuti got stuck in digs in post but otherwise wasn't having a bad game, but he found himself in a six-figure hole in level 35 anyway, being forced into setting up for a dirty tetris and topping out as a result. Game 2 was Scuti's turn to sip from the Fountain of Efficiency, though he got in digs and shed pace mid-post. He still ended up 100k up going into 29, but he was only able to tack on a single killscreen tetris before hanging an L on a high left during a dig. Alex needed until level 36 to chase down Scuti's score, but he got there. Game 3 was virtually everything you want to see as a Tetris enjoyer. Both players had beefy 600k/1.1m transitions, with Alex able to stay a little bit cleaner in post to go up by a tetris or two. Scuti transitioned into 29 very high with a blocked well and proceded to have an out-of-this-world dig, recovering from an 8-high T misdrop to get his stack down. He then dusted himself off, scored tetrises, and surged past Alex, building a six-figure lead. Alex caught back up very late in post-post, though. Scuti went into killscreen with a 1.596, and Alex set up center-well and got the bar to go into 39 just barely crossing the rollover threshold. As an encore, he made it to level 40 for the second time in two sets and did his normal thing of dousing himself in dairy products.
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Classic Tetris League 

Season 25 of CTL has felt like a pretty big journey, and the topsy-turny eight-person playoff bracket was a fitting end to the season. It only takes a couple shock quarterfinal losses to prove just how close these players are in skill level and just how easy it is to slip when you're not 100% on your game.

CTL Season 25 Championship Quarterfinals, May 29, 2024
4 BLUE SCUTI def. 10 THEDENGLER (3-1)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3	4
BLUE SCUTI	1,195	1,494	1,499	1,572
THEDENGLER	1,227	1,487	1,405	1,207

It's tough to lose a set where your score never went below a 1.2, but Dengler made Scuti work hard to advance to the semifinals. Game 1 featured very solid pre-29 play for both players, and both had a scary downstacking situation right around the killscreen transition; Scuti in particular had to contort his board to avoid burning into 29 too soon. Noah got got by multiple misshifts on 32, but Scuti hung a bar on the left and got droughted soon afterward without being able to complete the chasedown. Game 2 saw Noah going up by six figures before 29 by staying relatively clean as Scuti kept getting stuck in digs. While Noah traded tetrises with Scuti and kept his lead mostly intact, a dig very late in post-post meant Scuti was able to bag just a couple scaled tetrises to chew up the gap and take the lead just as 39 approached. Game 3 saw Scuti build up a huge 200k lead on the back of excellent 18 play, with both players managing a long drought well mid-post. Noah was able to catch up a bit in post-post, but Scuti scored enough to hold onto an almost 100k lead by the time both players hit the DKS. Both players were unphased by technical problems in 18 and still got 600k transitions. Noah had a tetris-or-so lead going into killscreen but stumbled into a topout soon after getting in. Scuti took his victory lap mullen to a 1.5 and hit 39 for the third time this set.
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CTL Season 25 Championship Quarterfinals, May 29, 2024
7 GERALD FREEMAN def. 1 ALEX THACH (3-0)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3
ALEX THACH	1,384	2	284
GERALD FREEMAN	1,403	95 (i)	380 (i)

Well, that was something. The first game fit the bill for these two; Gerald went into the killscreen with a 90k lead, but Alex caught up three or four levels later. Both players traded tetrises until level 36, when both players became locked in huge up-high digs while the score was virtually tied. Alex blinked first and Gerald went up 1-0. The rest of the set was very quick, as Alex had two uncharacteristic early topouts in a row: game 2 ended just three lines in after Alex T hung (?) a J on a spire, while game 3 saw Alex get into a fatal dig after having to stick a couple awkward pieces on the left side of his board.
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CTL Season 25 Championship Quarterfinals, May 30, 2024
8 DANV def. 3 DOG (3-1)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3	4
DOG	1,280	991 (i)	1,258	1,318
DANV	1,303	852	1,326 (i)	1,342

DanV gets yet another big-time win and knocks the defending champ out of the playoffs in a banger of a match with some big killscreen digs. Dog was able to dig himself quicker to take a six-figure lead by 29, but Dan turned on the jets on the killscreen and got himself caught up a few levels in. After trading tetrises for a while and keeping the game tight, both players had huge high-up digs on level 36 and survived for what seemed like forever, but Dan was the one who was able to dig all the way down and clutch out the victory. Dog evened up the set in a suffer game for Dan that ended during a level 26 square burst. Game 3 was close, with Dan holding onto a slim one-tetris lead into killscreen. Dog tetrised himself out a situation on 32 but hung a couple bars to the left immediately afterward and topped out. Game 4 featured big pace from both players, and although it was tempered a bit by mid-post droughts, DanV was still able to max in level 26. Dog made up the two-tetris deficit but then had to get through a miracle dig mid-post-post. Though DanV had a hard time keeping himself set up long enough to score during Dog's dig, he was able to retake a slight lead, which earned the win for him when both players hung pieces and topped out around the same time.
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CTL Season 25 Championship Quarterfinals, May 30, 2024
5 PIXELANDY def. 2 FRACTAL (3-2)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3	4	5
FRACTAL	1,166	1,088	1,040	1,142	893
PIXELANDY	1,112	1,190	1,130	1,133	1,038

We didn't see the sorts of numbers we're used to seeing from these players, but every game made it to the killscreen as Andy ground out the win and advanced into the money. Fractal had very good 600k/1.1m transitions in the first game, while Andy suffered through post and fell 200k behind. Fractal couldn't make it very far into the killscreen, topping out on level 30, but Andy struggled with the chasedown, only being able to get one tetris before 36 and hung a bar setting up for the second. Game two saw both players recover from big digs in 18 enough to max out before 29, with Andy being ahead about 80k. Andy held onto the lead for a few levels while Fractal's stack went through a bit of a roller coaster, where a topout looked inevitable, then it didn't, then it did, then it happened. Game 3 saw a monster 677k 18 from Fractal, but he got stuck in a dig through most of post and misdropped too much to handle a rough transition, with Andy having a six-figure lead by that point. Game 4 saw another lackluster post from Fractal, not being able to crack 900k before 29 and going 150k behind. Andy played very safe on killscreen, allowing Fractal to catch up substantially, but lost control of his board anyway on 32 and left Fractal with a comfortable chasedown. Fractal suffered through post again in the decider, topping out on level 29 without cracking 900k, letting Andy advance to the semis.
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CTL Season 25 Championship Semifinals, June 2, 2024
7 GERALD FREEMAN def. 8 DANV (3-1)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3	4
DANV	1,125	1,069	1,507	1,078
GERALD FREEMAN	1,141 (i)	1,216 (i)	1,428	1,378

Dan had a monster game 3 but couldn't get a whole lot else going on 29 as Gerald finally got a win against Dan and advanced to the finals. Game 1 saw both players exhibit great drought survival skills in post. Dan went into killscreen with a two-tetris lead, and though he was able to tack on a few more afterward, he couldn't get burnt all the way down after hanging a J as Gerald closed the gap with relative ease. Game 2 saw a close game up until post, where Dan's rolling just didn't get pieces over quick enough to set up for tetrises or survive for more than a few levels. He found it again in game 3, though, hitting the killscreen with almost a 1.2 and going up big while Gerald spent a lot of time cleaning up after his misdrops. Dan survived a fantastic dig through levels 32 and 33, and while Gerald closed a huge 200k gap with valuable late-killscreen tetrises, his stack crept up just high enough where a S hang killed him while Dan still held onto a slim lead. Game 4 reverted to the script earlier in the set, though, with Gerald's tetris-or-two lead going into 29 was enough as Dan's slow-motion topout ended on level 32.
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CTL Season 25 Championship Semifinals, June 2, 2024
4 BLUE SCUTI def. 5 PIXELANDY (3-0)

Lv 18 (330 DKS)	1	2	3
BLUE SCUTI	1,396	281	1,595
PIXELANDY	1,004	270	1,247

Andy's ongoing equipment issues might have been a factor, but there's no denying that Scuti is on a roll. Andy kept having to clean up his game 1 misdrops in post and only mustered 749k by 29; though he was able to convert more tetrises afterward, Scuti matched him step-for-step and kept his 300k lead through Andy's level 36 topout. Game 2 saw both players fall to a 40-piece drought 60 lines in, with Andy lasting a bit longer but not quite being able to reach Scuti's score. Andy kept himself in the last one, ahead at the 19 transition and only falling behind by less than two tetrises at 29, but Scuti was absolutely merciless in killscreen play and flew into the DKS just shy of the rollover.
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CTL Season 25 Championship Finals, June 2, 2024
4 BLUE SCUTI def. 7 GERALD FREEMAN (3-1)

(330 DKS)	1: Lv 18	2: Lv 19	3: Lv 18	4: Lv 18
BLUE SCUTI	1,540	1,224	1,293	1,356
GERALD FREEMAN	1,482	760	1,434	1,295

Scuti takes home his first CTL title with a bang, playing lights-out against Gerald, who was hardly a walkover. Game 1 started off very close, with only 1k separating the two into 19, with Scuti opening up a little bit of a lead by 29 only a tetris off from a 1.2. Both players kept scoring as the game went deep into killscreen, but Scuti was able to stay just a hair cleaner and defended his lead up until a level 38 drought kept both players from hitting the DKS. Game 2 was the set's only 19 start and the only pre-29 topout, where Gerald suffered though most of the game and was over 300k down by his level 28 topout. Scuti started off game 3 majestically, getting the max in level 25, but he slowed down a bit later in post and let Gerald back in the game. The score had become a dead heat in level 33 when Scuti couldn't get an S over six-high, letting Gerald stay alive in the set. Game 4 saw players trade the lead back and fourth in post as they survived several droughts. They were only 2k apart when the killscreen hit, Scuti at 1001k and Gerald at 999k. Both of them put up numbers in post-post, but Scuti was able to outlast Gerald's 35 S misshift to take the lion's share of the biggest prize pool in CTL history.
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CTL Season 25 Division 1/2 Playoff, May 28, 2024
ANSEL def. DOODLE (4-3)

Lv 18 (no cap)	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
ANSEL	1,138	428	161	663	908	101	641
DOODLE	1,044	811	62	767 (i)	986 (i)	76	410

Ansel overcomes the hardware limitations of playing on an emulator on an LCD screen to squeak past Doodle and remain in Division 1. The double-maxout game 1 was the best effort from both players, with Ansel being a tad bit more efficient to take a small lead into 29. Ansel got his stack down right before transition and added a bit of padding with a killscreen tetris, while all Doodle could do is burn through a couple levels. Game 2 saw Doodle open up a huge lead as Ansel simply couldn't stay clean and finally went down mid-post. Neither player was off to a great start on game 3, but Ansel was able to open up a six-figure lead before fighting for his life forty lines in; fortunately for him, Doodle wasn't able to tap a couple pieces up high over into the well and topped out very suddenly. Post was rough in game 4 for both players, but Doodle was able to leverage his lead from 18 play and outsurvive Ansel to even up the set. Both players hit the killscreen again in game 5, though not with fantastic pace, and Doodle had a slim lead and a few lines in hand when Ansel hit 29 with a thud. Ansel took the last two games after Doodle couldn't extract himself from digs on 18.
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CTL Season 25 Division 2A/2B Playoff, May 29, 2024
TETRISTIME def. OSCAR GODINEZ (3-1)

Lv 18 (no cap)	1	2	3	4
TETRISTIME	1,066	1,005	683	962
OSCAR GODINEZ	1,023	935	723 (i)	371

TT gets revenge on Oscar after being knocked out of multiple live events by him and earns the right to challenge Somalian for his spot in Div 1. A back-and-forth 18 in game 1 led to a very close transition, and Oscar could only get a 40k lead in post. He set up immediately after going into transition but didn't get the bar, letting TT line out to level 33 to take it. TT also won the second game on the back of efficient post play, going from 40k back at 19 to 60k in the lead in 29, with neither player able to do much after the killscreen. Oscar took a game after TT wasn't able to handle a S/Z burst in mid-post, but gave it right back after getting square-bursted high up late in 18.
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CTL Season 25 Division 1/2 Playoff, May 30, 2024
SOMALIAN def. TETRISTIME (4-3)

Lv 18 (no cap)	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
SOMALIAN	691	309	1,176	1,120	103	1,129	1,027
TETRISTIME	742 (i)	536 (i)	1,013	968	132 (i)	893	1,021

Tetristime was remarkably consistent and took advantage of Somalian's early topouts, but Somalian was able to put together some great games to prevent his fellow hybrid player from taking his place in Div 1 and cement his status as an escape artist. Game 1 was close until Somalian had a series of misdrops and saw his board spiral out of control mid-post, while in game 2 he was down big before a high-up dig left his left side vulnerable to uncooperative RNG late in 18. Somalian turned it on in game 3, though, squeezing all he could out of both 18 and post to go into the killscreen a tetris away from a 1.2. TT was 200k down and couldn't get set up, lining out until level 33 still down big. Game 4 was much the same story, with Somalian developing a six-figure lead into killscreen and TT being unable to stay alive long enough to chase it down. Game 5 saw Somalian top out early after stacking high and getting droughted, but he was back to pacing in game 6, scoring his third 1.1 as Somalian suffered into killscreen with an 840. The decider was a thriller, with TT taking advantage of Somalian's digging on 18 to carry a 55k lead into 29. Somalian was able to push a bit further into killscreen, though, and sold out his stack on level 31, with the bar coming just in the nick of time.
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CTL Season 25 Division 1/2 Playoff, June 1, 2024
COBRA def. PEEKAYRIC (4-2)

Lv 18 (no cap)	1	2	3	4	5	6
COBRA	842	1,270	565	805 (i)	1,026	1,264
PEEKAYRIC	824	1,035	567 (i)	647	1,135	1,080

Cobra dropped two 1.2's and limited himself to a single early top to take Peek's place in the top flight. Peek held onto a small two-tetris lead before misdropping an L on top of a spiky board and topping out on 26; Cobra was able to complete the chasedown right before going into 29. Both players had great pace in game 2, but Peek fell in late post again, hanging two bars on the left right after getting the maxout on 27. Cobra's twenty lines in hand made for a comfortable chasedown. Cobra gave one back by topping on 21 after a prolonged dig, but went up 3-1 after a T misdrop from Peek cascaded quickly into a level 23 topout. The next two games made it all the way to killscreen. Both players were around a beefy 600k at the 19 transition, and Peek developed around a 90k lead as both players maxed before 29. Both players were able to single their way through two or three levels at killscreen speeds, but it didn't end up affecting the result. Peek went into killscreen with a similar lead in game 6, but this time killscreen play did matter; Peek topped out on level 30, with Cobra overtaking Peek's score on level 38 and mullening all the way to level 45 in this uncapped game.
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