Who said a week can't be 24 days long? The biggest post-CTWC storyline has been Tristop's rise, but with the CTL season in full swing and more live events coming up, there will be plenty of Tetris to talk about.
Some big news: starting with this week's post, TWiT is now a collaborative project! Huge props to stolenshortsword and catsugiri for being the first to have their match writeups featured. We're always looking for new contributors, so if you're interested, join our Discord server and say hello.
The numbers next to the players are their July 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.
CTWC Philadelphia Regional
CTWC Philadelphia Finals, June 29, 2024
3 TRISTOP def.
8 GERALD FREEMAN (3-0)
| Lv 18 (330 DKS) |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| TRISTOP |
1,233 (i) |
1,105 (i) |
1,052 (i) |
| GERALD FREEMAN |
939 |
979 |
925 |
Two top-ten rollers came together in the finals of the Philly regional, but their battle may not have been as suspenseful as one might expect. In game 1, both players started off with moderately messy 18, while on 19 Tristop slowly but surely built up a sizable 200k lead. All eyes were on Gerald at the beginning of the post-post segment as he made his way out of a heart-stopping dig, but Tristop continued to play like a madman. Two hung squares and two bars on the right and Gerald was done with less than a maxout, while Tristop was already at 1.2 million. Game 2 saw Gerald with another messy start that instantly dropped him into a huge deficit with a sub-400k transition. Unfortunately, Gerald was never able to make up this gap and topped out early into 29 after misdropping an L. Despite keeping up with Tristop during the entire 18 portion of game 3, Gerald made a brutal misdrop on level 24, sending him into a nasty-looking but extremely impressive dig that left him behind by 100k before finally getting clean at the end of level 25. Unfortunately, his stack was up to the sky by then, and an untimely lack of bars brought the tournament to a close. One can cut Gerald some slack, as this was his first ever in-person tournament, but Tristop was the one to come out on top with a well-deserved first regional win.
-catsugiri
Twitch
CTWC Philadelphia Semifinals, June 29, 2024
8 GERALD FREEMAN def.
19 COALBUCKET (3-0)
| Lv 18 (330 DKS) |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| GERALD FREEMAN |
239 (i) |
1,173 (i) |
1,734 |
| COALBUCKET |
225 |
1,162 |
1,187 |
Gerald's two-chair couch replacement trick worked wonders as he advanced past a solid Coal to make the finals. Coal gave the first one away in 18 after not being able to slot a bar into a high column 1 dependency. Though he had a bit of a flat 18 in game 2, he made the deficit up in post and impressed after the killscreen, keeping pace with a clinical Gerald until a one-high setup did Coal in on level 34. Gerald had a great mid-600 transition in game 3, but Coal had another impressive post and sliced the lead down to only 10k by 29. Neither player went into the killscreen cleanly, but Coal lost the battle against the ensuing dig after a level and a half, while Gerald downstacked efficiently and went on to be the first one of the tournament to see 39 in an eye-popping mullen.
Twitch
CTWC Philadelphia Semifinals, June 29, 2024
3 TRISTOP def.
5 BLUE SCUTI (3-2)
| Lv 18 (330 DKS) |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| BLUE SCUTI |
1,263 |
134 |
1,472 |
1,315 (i) |
1,196 |
| TRISTOP |
1,455 (i) |
154 (i) |
1,154 |
1,277 |
1,263 (i) |
Tristop helps solidify his newfound status as one of the top players in the world by taking down Scuti in a thrilling five-game set. Scuti was able to keep game 1 within a tetris or two pre-killscreen, but Tristop was absolutely ruthless after 29, going up by almost 200k by the time Scuti's board fell apart. Tristop moved to match point when Scuti suffered from a misdrop while up very high on 18. Scuti wouldn't be vanquished so easily, though, and outsurvived Tristop in game 2, who survived getting droughted with a deep column one bar dependency far longer than he had any right to. Game 4 saw Scuti get into a long dig and go down by six figures before the 19 transition, but he made quick work of the deficit when Tristop misflipped a bar and got caught in a dig in post. Close scores into the killscreen led to thrilling back-and-forth play, with the game breaking in Scuti's favor when Tristop's board crept up a little too high on 34. The decider saw Tristop build up a solid lead in post, as a series of super-quick solves allowed him to capitalize during Scuti's digs. Tristop wasn't too far out of sight by the time 29 rolled around, but Scuti's killscreen run was cut short when nothing good came to fill out a left-side bar dependency.
Twitch
CTWC Singapore Regional
Classic Tetris has a deep legacy in Singapore, dating as far back to a tournament held there in 2016 — the details of which are unfortunately lost to time. This year’s edition (the country’s seventh) marks the opening event of the CTWC 2025 season, and is again organized by Allenbot, who further proves he is just too world class for the sake of his own event. Yobi, a veteran since 2019 and developer of NestrisChamps (which performed smoothly!) was seeded 8th but didn’t make it out of Round 0. 10 players qualified for an 8 player double elimination bracket, meaning poor NeutrisicAcid had to get swept twice by the now threepeating champ who went undefeated in 11 games and 4 matches. -stolenshortsword
CTWC Singapore Grand Finals, June 22, 2024
21 ALLENBOT def.
NEUTRISICACID (3-0)
| Lv 18 (330 DKS) |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| ALLENBOT |
953 (a) |
1,144 |
1,428 |
| NEUTRISICACID |
813 |
476 |
913 |
The Grand Finals felt like all but formality going in. Game 1 saw NeutrisicAcid keep pace with Allenbot throughout level 18, even sporting a 4 tetris lead at 100 lines, but Allen would coolly retake the driver’s seat entering the transition. He took the game as Neutrisic was plagued by misdrops on 19 speeds, a pattern that would continue all set. Allenbot would demonstrate his 18 prowess in Game 2 by playing perfectly for 97 lines and just barely missing a 700k transition. Neutrisic would have a struggle game, having his score doubled by Allen before succumbing to a 39-piece drought that Allen comfortably handled up high. The last game of the night would be a highlight for both players, even if only when judging them to their own individual standards. Allen would max on level 26 again (celebrated by a struck gong), and though he had an absurd 590k lead when he topped out, Neutrisic would post a new lines personal best of 315 while commendably trying close the distance. Neutrisic makes his first Grand Finals in 4 CTSCs, but this appearance might be his swan song, as Singaporean scholastic examinations leave no prisoners. Godspeed, kid.
-stolenshortsword
Twitch
Classic Tetris League
Season 26 of the Classic Tetris League features bigger divisions than before. In the case of Div 1, that means you'll see each player eight times over the six-week season. Div 1A features 3 TRISTOP, 5 BLUE SCUTI, and 10 MYLES, while 1B will see 2 DOG, 7 SIDNEV, and 11 DANV face each other down the road.
Featured match
CTL Season 26 Division 1A, July 7, 2024
20 PORTALLL def.
19 COALBUCKET (3-2)
| Lv 18 (330 DKS) |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| PORTALLL |
114 (i) |
557 |
523 |
58 (i) |
1,503 |
| COALBUCKET |
0 |
687 (i) |
559 (i) |
4 |
1,193 |
Record-breaking decider from Portal. After an inauspicious first four games (Coal had a club zero game and a 4k topout, while Portal couldn't take the other two games further than early post), Portal turned on the pace. His maxout on line 177 and 1,399k transition into 29 (yeah, I know) are both records in competitve play. Coal didn't slouch, either, taking a 1.1 in the killscreen, but his opponent had a truly incredible game.
Twitch
Featured match
CTL Season 26 Division 1A, July 7, 2024
7 SIDNEV def.
15 SODIUM (3-2)
| Lv 18 (330 DKS) |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| SODIUM |
1,322 |
1,102 |
1,267 |
1,053 |
886 |
| SIDNEV |
1,283 |
1,112 |
1,192 |
1,513 |
1,098 |
Sodium found another gear and put up some big games to pose a significant threat to Sidnev, but ultimately could only claim a couple points in the standings. Sodium had a monster 18 in game 1, hitting transition with a 712k and carrying a six-figure lead into 29. Sodium got a single killscreen tetris before topping out, but that ended up being just enough, as Sidnev's heroic downstacking attempt was thwarted by a couple misdrops right before she finished closing the gap. Sodium held onto a small lead through most of game 2, but Sidnev converted a couple killscreen tetrises and hopped out in front before both players fell to the same drought on 31. Sodium was the one left standing in game 3 after Sidnev suffered a series of misdrops on 32; the subsequent mullen was a great showcase of Sodium's killscreen survival skills. Sodium never really recovered from a massive drought-induced dig during the 18 phase of in game 4, falling behind by over 200k as Sidnev played efficiently. He was forced into aggressive killscreen play and managed to grab a couple tetrises, but couldn't sustain it for more than a few levels. The decider saw another prolonged miracle dig from Sodium, who could never really get himself back into scoring position. Though neither player was able to do much with what RNG was giving them, Sodium could only muster 747k before going into 29, and Sidnev stacked clean on the killscreen and never gave Sodium a chance to get back in the game.
Twitch
CTL Season 26 Division 1B, June 30, 2024
15 SODIUM def.
SOMALIAN (3-2)
| Lv 18 (330 DKS) |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| SODIUM |
117 |
805 (i) |
561 |
889 (i) |
1,081 |
| SOMALIAN |
131 (i) |
653 |
565 (i) |
838 |
1,023 |
Sodium had a bit of a wardrobe malfunction: he forgot to change into shorts in game 1 and topped out early after struggling to get a good rolling grip. Things got a bit scary for Sodium when he botched the 19 transition in game 3 and went down 2-1, but he was able to eke out the decider by being up by a tetris and change as both players topped out right before hitting the killscreen.
Twitch
CTL Season 26 Division 1A, July 6, 2024
10 MYLES def.
MASY (3-1)
| Lv 18 (330 DKS) |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
| MYLES |
151 |
554 (i) |
1,000 (i) |
1,108 |
| MASY |
199 (i) |
451 |
829 |
758 |
Myles recovered nicely from a game 1 early topout to take advantage of the fact that Masy's nerves were still settling down during his first-ever Div 1 set.
Twitch
CTL Season 26 Division 1B, July 6, 2024
11 DANV def.
SOMALIAN (3-0)
| Lv 18 (330 DKS) |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| DANV |
1,260 |
289 (a) |
1,238 |
| SOMALIAN |
1,142 |
261 |
1,117 |
Though it ended up being a sweep, Somalian was much-improved over his match against Sodium, forcing DanV to win it on the killscreen.
Twitch
CTL Season 26 Division 1A, July 7, 2024
3 TRISTOP def.
CURIOSITY (3-0)
| Lv 18 (330 DKS) |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| TRISTOP |
234 (i) |
1,177 (i) |
1,381 |
| CURIOSITY |
127 |
860 |
841 |
This was a relatively short glimpse of Tristop, but he certainly looked the part of a top-tier player, developing hefty leads over Curi without breaking a sweat in all three games.
Twitch
CTL Season 26 Division 1B, July 7, 2024
7 SIDNEV def.
NEK0 (3-1)
| Lv 18 (330 DKS) |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
| SIDNEV |
1,240 (i) |
1,542 |
1,501 |
1,094 |
| NEK0 |
1,081 |
1,673 |
1,312 |
631 |
Neko put on a great performance, getting to the killscreen three times out of four and rolling the score over with a blistering post-post display in game 2. But, in a set chock-full of 600k transitions, Sidnev was consistently relentless on 19 and 29.
Twitch
CTL Season 26 Division 1B, July 7, 2024
18 RAHMATIONS def.
SOMALIAN (3-0)
| Lv 18 (330 DKS) |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| RAHMATIONS |
239 (i) |
857 (i) |
1,061 (i) |
| SOMALIAN |
169 |
726 |
1,042 |
Somalian gave Rah the first two for free, but Rah had to earn the third game, making up a 200k deficit on the killscreen.
Twitch
CTL Season 26 Division 1A, July 10, 2024
3 TRISTOP def.
20 PORTALLL (3-0)
| Lv 18 (330 DKS) |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| TRISTOP |
1,295 (i) |
1,606 |
47 (i) |
| PORTAL |
1,254 |
1,412 |
45 |
It's still difficult to believe just how good Tristop's 29 play has gotten. Don't overlook Portal, though, who got a 1.2 and 1.4 and somehow lost both games.
Twitch
CTL Season 26 Division 1A, July 10, 2024
10 MYLES def.
19 COALBUCKET (3-0)
| Lv 18 (330 DKS) |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| MYLES |
733 (i) |
1,144 |
1,528 |
| COAL |
445 |
1,109 |
1,405 |
This set had a banger of a final game; Myles had a 1.2 and a big lead going into killscreen, and Coal was able to bring it down to 100k before both players fell on 36. Myles' 29 play has taken a big step up post-CTWC.
Twitch
CTL Season 26 Division 1B, July 10, 2024
11 DANV def.
TUGI (3-1)
| Lv 18 (330 DKS) |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
| DANV |
851 (i) |
993 (i) |
1,019 |
252 (i) |
| TUGI |
809 |
964 |
1,254 |
144 |
Twitch
CTL Season 26 Division 1B, July 11, 2024
2 DOG def.
TUGI (3-0)
| Lv 18 (330 DKS) |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| DOG |
1,304 (i) |
1,192 (i) |
1,192 |
| TUGI |
960 |
893 |
1,096 |
Twitch
CTL Season 26 Division 1A, July 13, 2024
5 BLUE SCUTI def.
MASY (3-0)
| Lv 18 (330 DKS) |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| BLUE SCUTI |
1,291 |
1,066 (i) |
1,472 |
| MASY |
1,083 |
1,055 |
649 |
Twitch
CTL Season 26 Division 1A, July 14, 2024
5 BLUE SCUTI def.
CURIOSITY (3-0)
| Lv 18 (330 DKS) |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| BLUE SCUTI |
1,209 |
262 (i) |
1,329 |
| CURIOSITY |
886 |
201 |
601 |
Twitch
CTL Season 26 Division 1B, July 14, 2024
18 RAHMATIONS def.
COBRA (3-0)
| Lv 18 (330 DKS) |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| RAHMATIONS |
823 (i) |
1,214 |
1,326 |
| COBRA |
713 |
1,032 |
1,304 |
It took him a while to get warmed up, but Cobra put together a great game 3, almost hitting 1.2 by killscreen and nabbing a couple killscreen tetrises.
Twitch
CTL Season 26 Division 1B, July 14, 2024
2 DOG def.
SOMALIAN (3-0)
| Lv 18 (330 DKS) |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| DOG |
1,659 |
904 (i) |
1,835 |
| SOMALIAN |
1,189 |
846 |
1,001 |
Somalian put in a good set, but Dog beat his PB twice. There's not a whole lot you can do when Dog is locked in.
Twitch
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