At higher levels of play, players don’t need to look at the pieces as they fall. They know exactly how many times they have to turn a piece and only pay attention to moving it left or right.

For example, if you have a tall mound and you’re debating on whether you need to burn some rows or not, checking for an I piece can save you from unnecessary burning.

Games of competitive Tetris usually start at level 5 or 10, and sometimes even higher. If you’re already pretty good with the basics, go ahead and start your marathon runs from these positions.

Scoring in Tetris refers to the number of rows that you clear at a time. A single is when you clear 1 row, a double is 2 rows, a triple is 3 rows, and a Tetris is 4 rows. You get a huge set of bonus points for scoring a Tetris. In competitive Tetris, the term “Tetris rate” refers to the percentage of your points that come from scoring Tetrises. If your Tetris rate is over 50%, you’re doing really well.

As you level up in Tetris, the rate at which the pieces fall increases. This means that it’s more advantageous to lose some points early on by clearing a well out for a Tetris than it is to build Tetrises on top of a mound. Scoring singles, doubles, or triples to clear a well that you accidentally covered is called “digging” or “cleaning. ”

On the most basic level, this means that you should use both clockwise and counterclockwise rotations. Many beginning players tend to rotate pieces in only one direction, which is a huge disadvantage at higher speeds.

In Tetris, a “well” refers to the column that you leave open to score while the other cells on a row are getting filled. Lay I pieces horizontally when you get them early on to build your mound. If you start with a Z or S piece, you’ll need to leave an opening on the bottom row. Place it in the middle so that you can tuck a J or L piece into the open cell.

When you complete a row, it disappears. Making rows disappear will make your mound smaller. “Clearing,” “digging,” and “burning” have different connotations in terms of the player’s intentions, but they’re all just different ways of saying “make rows disappear. ” Sometimes, you simply won’t get an I piece for the first 20-30 turns of the game. This will require a lot of burning early on to keep your mound manageable. Adjust the amount of burning you do as you level up. As the pieces move faster with every level, the amount of space that you’ll need to move pieces will increase. RNG stands for “random number generator. ” You will hear players complain about RNG when they go a long time without an I piece and have to cover the well. Having a lack of some particular pieces is called a “drought”.

The points that you accrue over the course of a match will add up quite a bit. Soft drop whenever you comfortably can to increase your score. When you hold a button or stick down while you place a piece, you are performing a “soft drop. ”

The most popular version of competitive Tetris is played on Tetris for the NES. There is no hard drop function in this version of the game.

The only requirement for this to work is that the left side of your build is sufficiently high for the lines to actually clear. If your left side is too low, this won’t work. This technique is more suitable for versions of Tetris that do not reward bonus points for Tetrises did in a back-to-back styles, since it sometimes requires you to burn one or two lines to fill it up to a regular, single-wide well.

When you tuck a piece after performing a hard drop, it is called a zangi-move. [11] X Research source

For example, if there is a gap created by an overhang on your mound where a T brick could fit from the side, you wouldn’t be able to drop it directly in. You could, however, lower it next to the opening and rotate it at the last minute to settle the cell that sticks out snuggly into the opening. The T spin cannot accurately be performed if you don’t have the rotations for the T piece memorized. Tucking generally refers to simply sliding a piece, while spinning it refers to rotating it into a slot. The principles behind the 2 moves are the same though—you’re filling in a hidden slot by moving at the last possible second.

Hyper-tapping can cause a lot of strain on your hands and wrists. Take breaks in between practice sessions to preserve your body.