Dragon Special

The Dragon Special is a T-spin build designed for early S/Z starts. It is an Air T-spin Double much like the Albatross Special or Pelican. While those builds were created by Japanese players, the Dragon Special was instantiated as an Opener by the western player ZHL.

The Dragon is designed as an efficient T-Spin build for certain piece orders incapable of creating many other T-spin builds, such as TSZIO. No soft Dropping is required for the first bag, unlike the Dodo, making it a viable Anti-Perfect Clear setup.

Placing the first bag

STSD continuation

The STSD continuation is the most viable option for following up the Dragon Special. Given the following setups, it has a 100% chance of success, and in most cases, a clean board left afterward.

Standard STSD continuation

Most bags can be placed into the following arrangement. In this case, it opens up the gap obscured in the first bag, making it easy to complete the STSD. Only one requirement is necessary: S after Z.

If S comes before Z, then it may still be possible to create a clean STSD if L comes before S. This case can easily be followed up with a Fractal.

If S comes before all pieces, however, then use the following setup. A Z spin may be required, but it can be placed like so:

To execute the required spins, rotate the Z piece clockwise to place it in the first position, then rotate clockwise two more times.

STSD + Perfect Clear continuation

In this setup, S is required before J, and Z after both. It is a good continuation when possible, although the standard followup has a much better chance of completion.