Game 1

Opening

Solution:

Quick and easy solution, but easy one to miss.

Midgame

Starting here, you miss an easy opportunity to upstack. The board, as it stands, is super
accommodating to your pieces, so you should take advantage of this. The following is how I would
have played it, rather than clearing the line:

This accomplishes two things:

One, the stack is still accommodating for future pieces; mix of jagged and flat edges, while keeping a
clean well.
Two, it gives you the choice as to whether you want to take the TSD or to keep stacking, and you still
have any opportunity to do so. A 5-4 stack is easy to maintain and to capitalise on, so transposing
into this is not a bad situation to be in.
Here’s something a few seconds later you could’ve done. It’s very hard to see, but it stems from the
left side. When the stack cascades that evenly, you can place an S to make an immediate T hole.
Two points here:

One, the line should go in Column 2. I suspect this to be a misdrop.

Two, you cleared the lines with the T. It would be much better to 180 the piece and clear the single
line there, which essentially upstacks column 2 very effectively.
I think you confused yourself about where to put your well here, and caused yourself a few
problems. Looking at your queue, you have a S/Z burst coming, where the reality is putting the O in
column 2/3 heavily restricts where you can put your pieces. In reality, if you shifted it one to the
right you’d be in a much better position.
I don’t know if this was intentional, but placing the J here tanks the garbage while your opponent is
high up on their board, meaning what you send to them is considerably more powerful in relation to
their board state. Very ballsy move to do it, though.

Game ends in victory.

Game 2
Opening
There was no PC here, and the continuation from it you made I have virtually no disagreements with.

Midgame

I think you just panicked here, but you’re so low that taking the damage is absolutely fine. I would
put this line in column 10 to allow for the Z in queue to fill the left side a bit better. Taking the single
here doesn’t really resolve your problems, but it’s so early in the game it doesn’t harm you too
much.
At this stage, you should now consider that you will eventually need to downstack. The garbage
below is perfect for a quad, so your prerogative here should be to clear the line and then send the
quad. Putting the Z where it is now causes you a problem known as putting too much weight on your
critical points.

Weight is essentially how many blocks are on top of something. Putting too much weight on top of a
garbage hole can jeopardise your entire game, so you must be careful. Instead, lay the Z on the right,
and take the single with the line on the far left. Your pieces accommodate for this, and a line is
always soon to follow.

Same problem here, just much harder to find a solution. Given the line coming in your queue,
consider the following:
Takes the quad, only one line of garbage is left on top of your well instead of three. This also resolves
the disparity between where your pieces are.
This one’s hard to see, but your queue is once again full of S and Z pieces. In this case, they need
somewhere to go, and given your height, fast. Putting the line there instead of the L allows for you to
place the upcoming J in the bed it makes, and accommodate both of the S pieces immaculately.
Putting the L there forces you to create dependencies, which is very problematic. Very hard to see,
but you notice these things as you play more.
This point has two potential things. An instant downstack, or a TSD into a downstack.

TSD into downstack here. Very dangerous given the upcoming pieces, but definitely manageable. In
reality, if you wanted to be super greedy, you could place the J in the middle for a quad into ST
cannon.

Clean board remains, quick and effective. Skimming lines here very much helps.

(NOTE: The L piece didn’t have its colour on the board, so I used the colour in the Hold queue.)

Game 2 end, defeat.

Game 3
Opening

Huge missed opportunity here.

For a TSD to do damage, it needs lines to clear. Placing the O on the far right creates these lines to
clear, with the S just filling in a hole preventing a double clear.
Midgame

Not much you could do here, but if you put the O on the far right you can score a TSS with your held
T.
Not much you could’ve done here, but you had a good chance to survive if you placed the S there
instead of the I. Your two Is guaranteed you could reach your garbage, which would’ve saved you.

Game 3 end, defeat.

Game 4
Opening

The only thing I can really critique about your opening was this bit, where you used the T to create a
T shape. Truth be told, this is the worst way to procure a T spin. A much better thing to do if you
have no PC is to either find a TSD or upstack. No TSD, so should upstack and maintain a 5-4.
Midgame

Putting the L here was the first big mistake of this game, that leads to two more problems. Notice
that this creates an LI dependency on the far right of the screen, and the far left doesn’t have many
possible options. Generally with your stack, you want the pieces to face away from the holes in the
stack, such that the useless ends of a piece can help downstack. This move does the reverse, walling
off the edge instead. If you put this on the far left, and the hold piece on the far right, you have a
much better position.

The next issue is you put the J piece on columns 2/3, with the spike on column 3. Same problem as
before, but more detrimental since it’s two embedded dependencies, which is nightmarish to try
and deal with.
This is fantastic foresight if intended, with so much damage potential.

Including b2b, this sends 9 lines on its own. Unfortunately, this is not what you did, and entirely
understandably so. You have to be able to see a complicated setup from a good distance away,
although ruling some things out can help. For example, usually it is a good idea to create a hole with
the L, which you do here. Discarding the O and I are no-brainers, there are no quads to score and no
easy T shapes to overhang. From there, you can use the Z to make the T shape while it’s floating for
the double TSD.

Game end, victory.

Game 5
Opening
PC blocked by opposition, and good initiative to try and build off of the garbage.

Midgame

Where you’re about to put the Z is not problematic, but is a huge missed opportunity.

It’s another classic case of simply missing the fact that you can cover holes like this to immediately
clear them for extra damage. The Z placement is simply to keep the line, and for the fact that making
a hole near your well allows for easy T formations.
Time for some more greed!

Not a bad placement for the I, but there is a better one.

Once again, the S creates the T hole, O for overhang, T forms TSD. Easy to find when you get used to
the setup, but can be difficult until then.
I like where you put the S in this position. You could place it somewhere else for a TSD instead, you
can probably work out what you mean, but it matters very little. How you score the TSS is perfect,
with only one slight problem.

Where you’re about to put the line can only cause problems, given you have no three wide pieces
coming. Instead, rotate it and clear the line. From there, every piece in the queue can easily be
accommodated.
Putting the Z here means you need another Z to clear the line above, without a very strange
combination of several pieces that would put weight on top of the garbage wells. Shift it one to the
right, the S goes in the gap you’ve just made, and you’re suddenly in a much better position. Here’s
how.

A mantra I go by when showing these games is that clearing garbage is twice as powerful as sending
in the midgame; you send, and you remove damage from your own board. If you don’t have an
immediate setup, that should be your prerogative in the midgame.

At the end of the game you panicked, but there was nothing you could do to save yourself. A slight
inaccuracy cost you everything.

Game concludes, defeat.

Game 6
Opening
Starts with a TKI this time, although starting with a bit of a questionable decision.

Using the T to make a T spin setup is a bad idea, simply for the fact that you need a T piece to
complete the spin. I suspect this was due to not wanting to use the I, but you could just shove it
either to the left or the right. The upcoming L and the S easily form the overhang for the 2 nd TSD.
Midgame

Let’s start with this. Your problems by putting the O here are twofold:
One: weight on top of the garbage column
Two: the Z can be used for a TSD.

This is particularly problematic because there is the possibility here to wait for a Z, and then send
both consecutively, putting your opponent under extreme pressure. Furthermore, the upcoming L
and J allow for quickly cancelling the TSD (spin one in, the other fills the resultant gap) should the
position get dangerous. Just remember, if you put weight on top of your garbage you have to clean it
up later.

The same thing occurs here, the J covers the garbage well, requiring four more cells be filled, one of
which being on the side of the board without a requisite piece for a while. It’s hard to notice, but it’s
a critical part of downstacking.
T spins without lines to clear are useless. You clearly noticed this when you put the O on columns 1
and 2, creating the hole on column 1, but you didn’t follow through on it. If you put your hold piece
to the far left to fill the hole in column 3, you can use the next piece to fill the hole on column 4 to
take the TSD. Remember, you’re at the bottom of the board. You have time to think, and you’re
allowed to make mistakes. You’re at the level where your opponents have only just figured out they
need to send something while you’re at the top to kill you now.
The next 10-15 seconds are free from any real issues, you play very well. You then misdrop a Z piece,
and everything collapses.

“I can’t use this O piece!”, slide it to the right where it can’t get in the way. Slight problem, it covers
some of your stack unnecessarily. Now you have to clear off the entire O piece before you can
downstack. At mid-height it’s doable, but don’t expect your opponent to make it easy.
Same problem with weight here. Your right side is very jagged, so the tile the Z piece covers prevents
you from downstacking for at least 5 pieces. Instead, rotate it and lie it on the T, so the O can come
into columns 3 and 4 to free up that space. The T shape is definitely tempting, but you can always do
that at the bottom of the board.

Game 6 end, victory.

Game 7
Opening

You seem to be attempting a 9-0 stack, but you immediately create two line dependencies.
Remember, your stack should cascade down towards your wells. It makes things a lot easier for you.

The stack becomes this, and you have a lot of options here. Fill the left side with the line and then
make a TSD, or simply fill in the middle to make way for a quad, then clearing off the left side ready
for the garbage quad. On account of board height, I would probably take the TSD, but I consistently
play above 2pps, and lose a good chunk of the time over greed. In this position, I would advise you
take the quad and then downstack as fast as you can towards the garbage quad.
Midgame

You make no misplays until here, and even then the one here is incredibly slight. You put an extra
line of weight on the impending garbage. This could even be a bonus for you, as putting a J piece on
top of the Z creates a very effective T spin formation. I suppose this calls for a rule.

If you see a 3 wide gap, you can turn it into a T spin, provided you have SZJL on hand. These are the
only four pieces in a 3 wide gap that can make the T shape. All seven pieces can make the overhang
if you use S/Z to make the shape, but using J/L is much more restrictive.

Here’s how it looks. I advise against doing it in this position simply because the garbage is quite
messy. If you get spiked at a bad time, your greed can land you at the top of the board contending
with very unpleasant garbage. It’s also not easy to make, and it’s better to not have to think for too
long on a string of pieces. Instead, stick it in the middle, nestled on the S piece.
This wasn’t a misplay, but you had a better way of dealing with it, one I suspect would’ve let you win
the game.

The I starts on the far left, creating your T hope. The Z forms the overhang (you can spin a piece on
the left later, it’s fine), and then you use the T for the T spin. The upcoming L you can then use to
clear the remaining garbage in that little segment. Powerful attack while your opponent is in danger.
Once again, weight. Furthermore, if you put that to the far left rotated, it forms the perfect T spin
setup. O to the far right, J and L slot in, TSD. There are several ways to do it, but it also clears the
path to the garbage well for you if you do it that way.
Putting the O here is problematic due to how inflexible it is. It fits perfectly on the left, you can then
use the upcoming pieces to cradle the further coming pieces. In practice, it’s really satisfying.

Nonetheless, where it’s being put here becomes really bad for your stack because it limits your
options so drastically, and your solutions to get out of it become very messy. O pieces need the most
attention of them all to prevent issues arising, so be very careful about how you use them.
Adding onto above, placing this J here creates a dependency on two different O pieces, or wild
combinations of pieces just to fill a 2x2. An O shape on the edge of the board is just about the least
possible accommodating scenario, so two of them can be lethal. If you slide the J to the far right, it’s
much more manageable, with the upcoming L filling the hole, the Z slotting itself inside, the second L
going to the far left, and from there you get a reasonably comfortable position, albeit you’ll want to
downstack for a while afterwards.
This is the point where you need to start downstacking. The T is perfect for skimming lines on the far
right, and if not used for that may result in being uncomfortably high on the board for a lethal
amount of time. When high up on the board, always consider how to remedy this, to get back down.
If you rotate such that the point of the T is facing left, you can start just clearing lines through there.

Past that, there wasn’t too much you could’ve done besides timing an attack at the end. Sometimes
that position just happens.

Game 7 end, defeat.

Game 8
Opening
The opening to me looks like a TKI with misreads and misinputs. You kinda singled it out until you
received garbage, probably out of panic knowing you had a good chance but were closing in on
throwing it away. It’s not an issue for now, but the lack of pressure may cripple you in higher level
games.

Midgame

There’s a couple things here. First of all, you want to try and avoid putting a mountain in your stack,
especially in the middle. It segments your stack, and not in a way like in 6-3 where you can simply
build a bridge. Try and look for ways to avoid this if you can, but if you must don’t hesitate.

Anyway, this J shouldn’t yet be on the board. There is no place it can go where it won’t cause a
problem. Instead, perhaps place the held T in column 1 to even that side out, since your next pieces
will not fit anywhere with where that J is planned to go. If it is to stay on the board, it should 180 and
go to the far right to keep the stack cascading down.
Z piece has to go to the far left, you have to get to your garbage and your pieces offer no other way
without instant death. It can be tough to realise in the moment, but being unable to get that Z over
sealed your fate.

Game 8 end, defeat.

Conclusions
The mistakes you make are very much understandable, and difficult to stamp out. You seem to focus
a lot more on your speed, and your stacking suffers for it. To be quite honest, I would genuinely just
recommend stacking in zen for T spins and quads for a bit, see how many you can get. It should help
you focus on keeping a flat stack.

Your garbage management isn’t the best, simply because you’re not conscious of putting weight on
top of holes. It’s definitely something to consider in future, but outside of that your management of
the garbage itself isn’t bad at all. As long as you can stay conscious of when you should switch from
sending to cleaning up your side. It’s tough to differentiate between the modes, especially so after
an opponent’s been offering zero or a lot of pressure.

Besides that and a few missed T spin setups, I don’t really see much bad about it. It’s just very slight
technicalities and slight adjustments that cause the majority of your losses. You’re above average in
a group full of Tetris sweats. Improvement from here is tough, but you’re far from bad at this.

Hopefully enclosed are a few things to focus on, and even if not the person this was written for you
can gain something from this. I’ve tried to make this readable and useful, so I hope this was a useful
resource.