Introduction and Some Basics: Sending Lines and Combo-ing

INTRODUCTION

Good day! Many of you perhaps already know who I am, but for those who only happen to click my link, I am Jasper Andrew Adjarani. You can call me Jasper for short. I believe that you are reading this at the moment because you and I share something in common – we both are addicted to Tetris Battle in Facebook. Tetris Battle, which originally stemmed from the famous Tetris Friends, is perhaps the most popular game now in the social networking site with more than 12 million players. And notice that the number just keeps on growing every day. So I decided to write a little guide about the game for both beginners and intermediates alike. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not doing this because I got credentials and stuff like that, or I am better than you. I’m writing this to share what I know about the game which may be useful on your part. So much for my introduction, let’s begin...

1.       THE BASICS

By basics, I do not mean how to move your pieces to the left or to the right, or the difference between a soft drop and a hard drop. What I mean by basics are the basic strategies behind the game. Like any other game, Tetris Battle maybe just for fun or a past-time for some, or it can be a strategic and serious game for others. In this guide, we are going to tackle about the strategic and serious part of Tetris Battle. Take for instance the sport basketball. Many know how to shoot and dribble, but among them, only a few really know the proper and strategic way of doing it. In Tetris Battle, the same principle applies.

1.1 The Basics: Sending a Line (Line sent)

Some of you will perhaps argue with me right now that sending lines to your opponent is only secondary. What’s important is knocking him or her out. As we all know, in Tetris Battle, you do not win by your lines sent. You win by the number of your knockouts (how many times you knocked out the opponent). You can have only 30 or so lines sent, and your opponent has, say, 80, but if you get a knockout and he or she does not, you still win the game. The only time your lines sent matter is when you and your opponent’s knockouts are at par. Well, that’s true. But one critical yet obvious factor about knockouts that most of us often forget is that it is interdependent with your lines sent. Of course, it is impossible to knock an opponent out without sending lines, unless he or she is the one knocking himself or herself out. Simply put, a high lines sent assures you a knockout, and a high number of knockouts is a result of a high lines sent. Both are inseparable.

By removing a line on your game board, you send a line (called a concrete line) to your opponent. But how does this actually work? Many of us once thought or perhaps are still thinking that the number of lines you remove on your game board is the same number of lines you send to your opponent. This is NOT the case in Tetris battle. To illustrate, the number of lines you remove and the number of lines you send is related in the following manner:

Illustration 1.1

Number of lines removed	Number of lines sent
1 (one)	0 (zero)
2 (two)	1 (one)
3 (three)	2 (two)
4 (four)	4 (four)

Putting aside the concept of combo and the rule on successiveness (which we will tackle in awhile), and assuming the manner you remove lines is done normally (without doing spins, e.g. T-spins), experience will tell you that the above is true.

1.2 The Basics: Concept of COMBO

This is perhaps the most fundamental concept in Tetris Battle, and it is what gives power and advantage to various gameplays such as four-wide, three-wide, two-wide, and even one-wide. Everyone of us know that the reason why we do a high building on the first few seconds of the game before sending lines rather than building low and sending lines immediately is because we want to utilize this technique. Do you know: Because of combo, you can send four lines to your opponent even if you are only removing one line on your game board. Doing a combo also assures you a knockout as far as our experiences are concerned. But how does this technique technically work? Some of you may ask “Which is better, removing one line at a time as you proceed with the technique, sending a low number of lines to your opponent at first but reaching a 10-15 combo, OR, doing a triple, a double or even a TETRIS as you combo, giving you a line sent advantage on the first few phases but making only a 5-7 combo?” These questions are what we want to answer as we move along.

The relationship between the number of your combo and the number of lines you send is very much related to the previous table (Illustration 1.1) regarding the relationship between lines sent and lines removed. This relationship is illustrated in the following table:

Illustration 1.2

Number of Combo	Number of Lines Sent
0	0 + Relationship in Illustration 1.1
1	1 + Relationship in Illustration 1.1
2	1 + Relationship in Illustration 1.1
3	2 + Relationship in Illustration 1.1
4	2 + Relationship in Illustration 1.1
5	3 + Relationship in Illustration 1.1
6	3 + Relationship in Illustration 1.1
7 Onwards	4 + Relationship in Illustration 1.1

What is the picture I'm trying to paint in your head? 

So, if you do a Tetris (which removes 4 lines and also sends 4 lines based on Illustration 1.1), and you are on your 4th Combo, that sends a total of 6 (4 +2) lines to your opponent. Therefore, it follows that from this theory, you can actually send 8 lines to your opponent on a single drop by performing a Tetris on your 7th combo. That’s just two lines short of the lines sent you get when you do a perfect clear.  Another fact we can derive from the above table is that just by reaching a 7-combo, you send a minimum total of 16 lines to your opponent. Sixteen lines in just about 5 to 7 seconds. That’s a lot of lines in just a short period of time, and experience will tell you that 16 lines are sufficient to knock out the opponent (By the way, the height of the game board in Tetris Battle is 20 lines). Doing just five 7-combos in one game results to a minimum total of 80 lines. Now that’s ownage.

Based on these facts, we can conclude that doing a Combo in Tetris Battle is one of the most important things one has to learn in order to knockout the opponent and ultimately win. With the inclusion of bombs, Combo-ing becomes a deadlier weapon than most actually think.  The manner of doing this strategy already depends on the user. Of course, there are ways on how to utilize the technique as what I have mentioned.  We will tackle this later when we talk about various gameplay styles as we move along. 


Click the link below if you want to learn more.
The Rule on Successiveness
http://allabouttetris.blogspot.com/2012/01/rule-on-successiveness-b2b-rule.html

I would really appreciate if you'd post a comment, a feedback, or any suggestion or criticism. I would gladly reply to it and take it into consideration. :)

The Rule on Successiveness (The B2B rule)

1.3   The Basics: The Rule on Successiveness

Beginners in Tetris Battle are perhaps wondering what it means when the back-to-back (B2B) symbol appears as they remove lines and send them to their opponent. Even those who have played the game long enough perhaps do not also know the essence of a back-to-back move. Why is it that Pros stack up for Tetrises and T-spins and do them as successively as possible? Why don’t they just do a Tetris or a T-spin then do a triple or a double, then do a Tetris or a T-spin again? Why do they inconveniently wait for the T or I Tetrimino to remove lines as they build instead of removing random lines using random pieces? It’s because they are applying the rule on successiveness.  

In Tetris Battle, the term for removing a line is called a move, which is different from just stacking up. A move results to the removal of a line, while stacking up is simply building up to prepare for a move. There are various ways of doing a move or removing a line. For instance, we can remove a line using the Z-Tetrimino, or the O-Tetrimino, and the list goes on. However, there are certain moves or tricks which, when you do them successively, results to a higher line sent than the first. This is what I termed as the rule on successiveness.

It is important to note that this rule is only applicable to two distinct moves. That is – The TETRIS and the T-SPIN. The TETRIS gameplay style and the T-SPIN (Unlimited T-Spin) gameplay style are two of the most powerful gameplay styles known in Tetris Battle. We are going to discuss these styles on a later section. For the mean time, we discuss the rule on successiveness which is the very factor that makes these two styles effective.

The rule on successiveness is simply this:

If you do a Tetris AND/OR a T-Spin (Any type of T-spin) as a move, your next move, if it is also a Tetris AND/OR a T-spin, will result to a higher line sent.

To illustrate, here is the relationship.

MOVE	LINES SENT
T-Spin Mini	1
Your Next T-Spin Mini (B2B T-spin mini)	2
T-Spin Single	2
You Next T-Spin Single (B2B T-spin single)	3
T-Spin Double	4
Your Next T-Spin Double (B2B T-spin double)	6
T-Spin Triple	6
Your Next T-Spin Triple (B2B T-spin triple)	9
Tetris	4
Your Next Tetris (B2B Tetris)	6

What is the picture I’m trying to paint in your head?

 For instance, you do a Tetris as your first move. As we all know, this sends 4 lines to your opponent. However, if your next trick or move is also a Tetris, it won’t send 4 lines. Instead, it will send 6 lines, as based on the table. As long as you don’t break the pattern, that is, you only remove lines by doing a Tetris, your second or so Tetris will result to a 6 line sent instead of a 4. On another note, if you do a Tetris, which sends 4 lines, then you do a mere double as your second move, a Tetris as your third move will still send 4 lines, NOT 6. Hence, the term rule on successiveness.

It is important to note that the rule on successiveness is not the same as doing a Combo, although the two share a similar theory. When doing a combo, you cannot move then stack up, then do a move again. You should remove lines continuously in order for the combo not to break. The rule on successiveness, however, allows you to stack up in the middle of your moves, provided that your next move is the same with the previous (e.g. First move, T-Spin double, Second move, T-Spin double). In other words, the rule is applicable even if you do not remove lines continuously which is how a combo functions. Now, you ask, what if I apply the rule on successiveness and at the same time, I’m doing a combo, that is, I do the same trick continuously? Here’s the amazing part about the two concepts. BOTH ARE CUMULATIVE. Yes, the lines sent you get in a combo and the lines sent you get in a back-to-back move adds up. So in theory, if you are on your 6^th combo, and you do a Tetris, and then on your 7^th combo, you also do a Tetris, that single drop results to 10 lines sent. TEN LINES SENT. That’s equivalent to a perfect clear.

You’re saying to yourself now, “I’m going to do that.” Try it.

P.S. It is impossible. Try to figure out why. But don’t worry, in theory, or the theory itself, is true. J


I would really appreciate if you'd post a comment, a feedback, or any suggestion or criticism. I would gladly reply to it and take it into consideration. :) Keep updated for more posts. 

Knowing Your Gameplay Styles and Mastering Them All

1.       GAMEPLAY STYLES

Well, so much about the basics. Most of you perhaps already know what I’ve been talking about. Now, we proceed to the more interesting part, the main chunk of this guide, that is – the various gameplay styles used in Tetris Battle. 


Chances are, you are also a DotA Player. And that’s no coincidence. Dota and Tetris Battle share a lot of things in common than you probably think. In DotA, there’s a big difference between league gaming and just public gaming, or better known as pubgaming. In a serious DotA match, especially one where something is at stake, various gameplays and strategies become more evident compared to casual matches. Some prefer to push early. Some want it slow and late. Others want it aggressive, while some prefer playing safe. Individually speaking, there are various ways of playing your hero. You can be a pusher, a support, or a carry. In Tetris battle, the same concept applies – there is also no single style of playing.

You can be the 2-wider, which is very easy and convenient.

Or, you may want to employ the 3-wide strategy.

If you’re good in finding ways to combo and spinning Tetriminos in place, the 4-wide is the perfect technique for you – a little bit complicated yet virtually unbeatable if executed successfully.

Then, there’s the bomb squad gaming. Avoid knockouts and send lines to your foe at the same time, leaving him scratching his or her head despite the number of his or her lines sent.

Good at estimates and predictions? Have an exceptional logic? Then, be the perfect clearer.

You may want to be the ST or ZT stacker, or better known as the Unlimited T-Spin gameplay. Leave the audience in awe as you perform those back-to-back T-spin doubles indefinitely, allowing you to have an approximate minimum of 100 lines sent.

Or, you can be the freestyler, making yourself unpredictable for your opponent and keeping him guessing what you’ll be doing next.  

And a lot more. On my succeeding posts, we will be discussing each strategy extensively, discover their pros and cons, know how to do them and counter them, and apply them in your actual game.