Questions concerning Tetris Competitive play

[DarkERocker]

Hi, I have some questions concerning competitive play,
I was just wondering what do you think of before starting a match ?
Do you focus on something special, or just try to be relaxed before starting ?
Do you react differently depending on your opponents level, if you know or not your opponent ?
Do you practice a lot before your match, or just try be be calm and think of something else during the whole day and practice 30 minutes before the match ?

 I was just thinking of that because of my match yesterday, I couldn't really concentrate knowing that my opponent was really stronger than me, I practiced during the whole day and when I was in front of him I was like stunned and couldn't think efficiently like I would if it was a game for fun.
What would you suggest doing during a match ? and before the match ?
Or is this just a question of getting used to by playing a lot ?

 I know this is a fail today, but I won't give up and continue practicing and playing to be more confortable about competitive matches =)

[XaeL]

[!--quoteo--][div class=\\\'quotetop\\\']QUOTE[/div][div class=\\\'quotemain\\\'][!--quotec--]I was just wondering what do you think of before starting a match [/quote]
Anything, it doesnt really matter, you should be focusing on the game and what strategies your opponent is known for so you aren't caught off guard.

[!--quoteo--][div class=\\\'quotetop\\\']QUOTE[/div][div class=\\\'quotemain\\\'][!--quotec--]Do you focus on something special, or just try to be relaxed before starting ?[/quote]
Should be focusing and relaxed.

[!--quoteo--][div class=\\\'quotetop\\\']QUOTE[/div][div class=\\\'quotemain\\\'][!--quotec--]Do you react differently depending on your opponents level, if you know or not your opponent ?[/quote]
Yes, if they are clearly better you will be downstacking a lot more. If you "know" your opponent you can exploit their weaknesses.

[!--quoteo--][div class=\\\'quotetop\\\']QUOTE[/div][div class=\\\'quotemain\\\'][!--quotec--]Do you practice a lot before your match, or just try be be calm and think of something else during the whole day and practice 30 minutes before the match ?[/quote]
Should be practicing alot anyway, so that it won't matter if you dont practice on the day.

[!--quoteo--][div class=\\\'quotetop\\\']QUOTE[/div][div class=\\\'quotemain\\\'][!--quotec--]What would you suggest doing during a match ? [/quote]
During the match find out why you are losing games.
If you are misdropping, concentrate on not misdropping first.
Next, if you are placing pieces in relaly bad places, stop doing that next.
Third, If htey are sending too much garbage, focus more on downstacking.

[!--quoteo--][div class=\\\'quotetop\\\']QUOTE[/div][div class=\\\'quotemain\\\'][!--quotec--]and before the match ?[/quote]
Playing.

[!--quoteo--][div class=\\\'quotetop\\\']QUOTE[/div][div class=\\\'quotemain\\\'][!--quotec--]Or is this just a question of getting used to by playing a lot ?[/quote]
If you play alot you will be more calm when you play against stronger opponents.

[!--quoteo--][div class=\\\'quotetop\\\']QUOTE[/div][div class=\\\'quotemain\\\'][!--quotec--]  I know this is a fail today, but I won't give up and continue practicing and playing to be more confortable about competitive matches =)[/quote]

Good attitude

[DarkERocker]

Thank you for that clear answer, I'll think about it in the future and just continue playing x)

 Also one thing, should I be practicing multiplayer before the match (Arena) or practicing sprint or both ?
I know I should get used to lots of different oppenings, fast stacking, t-spins, combo,  but there is so much to think of, that I don't really know where to start, should I just focus on one type to another to get them all good, what most efficient practicing should I go through to do all that without having to think about it ?

 I don't really think about it in regular matches, it's just that I noticed I was too confused while playing yesterday.
I think I should I take it as a regular match and giving it all I can to be more calm, because thinking about it as a competition just messed my mind up lol

[XaeL]

Thank you for that clear answer, I'll think about it in the future and just continue playing x)

 Also one thing, should I be practicing multiplayer before the match (Arena) or practicing sprint or both ?
I know I should get used to lots of different oppenings, fast stacking, t-spins, combo,  but there is so much to think of, that I don't really know where to start, should I just focus on one type to another to get them all good, what most efficient practicing should I go through to do all that without having to think about it ?

 I don't really think about it in regular matches, it's just that I noticed I was too confused while playing yesterday.
I think I should I take it as a regular match and giving it all I can to be more calm, because thinking about it as a competition just messed my mind up lol

Well, split up the key areas of your multiplayer style and work on them:
Downstacking
Downstacking with tspin
Downstacking with combo
Tspin
Combo
Turning Triples into tetris
UpStack
Upstack t-spin

Sprint isnt required. SHould play it once in a while when you fee like your faster tho.

If you really want to speedwhore you should alternate between sprint and driller.

Try and concentrate on just one of the things at a time.
Somethings can be haxed, for example downstacking and downstacking with combo can easily be trained by blockbox's driller mode.

Tspins you have to know how to downstack tspin and upstack tspin, which are different skills. Try not to train them at the same time otherwise u'll do stupid things like use 20 pieces to set up a tspin double.

Upstacking (making tetris's) is pretty straight forward.

Turning triples into tetris's - just something to remember, doesnt need to be trained.

[Kitaru]

Aw, bummer. :< It sounds like you might have zombied out a bit with all of that extra play beforehand, making the tough match-up even more difficult. It is tough to keep pushing game after game. After playing a long session, people tend start to zone out and make mistakes or give less thought to their placements. A bit of warm-up before the match can help get you in the right mindset, but a whole day packed with games probably does more harm than good.

In non-competitive situations, it is still good practice to take breaks to split up your longer sessions. If you're totally zombied out, there is less of a chance that you'll be able to process new information and learn from your play as the session drags on. I think it is more effective to split your play up a bit than it is to slog through a solid block of games.

When approaching competitive matches, I think it is important to play to the best of your ability and not push yourself too far. While you do need to really bring out your best, you shouldn't push hard at the cost of mistakes. Another thing to watch out for is going into "tunnel vision." When you get in the zone and start making a great comeback, a common mistake is to keep downstacking or making small clears, even after reaching the bottom of the field. However, it is important to be mindful of your opponent's situation; many potential victories are lost when players fail to take advantage of their position and deal some damage to the opponent since they are stuck in that strong defense mindset.

[DAS44]

Well like Kitaru said you may have zombified yourself. I find if I play too long it gets tiring, an overload of tetris can kill some of your playing ability. I find playing for a half hour or so before, and just letting it flow, not trying to do a specific thing, helps me the most. Clearing my mind is the best.

Something to note, competitive play can be jarring at first. It may serve you well to join in a few small, even daily tournaments (like a nullpo weekly), to ease yourself into competitive play. That's what I did, and I am much steadier than when I started (I am quite horrible at competitive anything, I tremble a lot).

Also a lot of people sit on their hands or run them under hot water 9or, best option IMO, take a hot shower). It just warms your hands up nicely and my current 40L (34.8) was made in the second 40L after a shower. I find there is a certain adjustment period from frozen to thawed joints though, so do it a little bit earlier if you do do it, just so you can adjust (should only take a minute or two). this i my experience, could be different for others.

Some of the simplest most important things to remember

    -Don't overdo/overthink it
       The last thing you want to do is die trying to do a mid-game DT cannon
   - Breathe
       Flipping out and twitching is a surefire way to screw up. It is a good idea to take a second between      games to just take a few deep breaths.

   Know your opponent:
       If you can get some time in to watch them, see how they play. Compare it to your play style. Its extremley helpful to have some time playing against them.

On another semi-related note, I find blockbox survivor is the best singleplayer mode. Its a great way to learn to downstack (very important if you play games that score combos), or to simply survive (as the name implies). Someone can be very fast and not be able to downstack for their life.

I also find playing guituar before competitive play to be very helpful for me, takes my mind off things.

[KeroKai]

Who do you usually play in Arena DarkERocker?

From experience, the best method has just been to get used to playing people that are much more experienced than you. This also means getting to know the players on a one to one basis.

At least for me, when I know that someone is much better than me and I don't know them. I tend to put them on some sort of weird pedestal "the better player" and then start messing when trying to keep my ground or find ways in countering them.

Knowing them already in person removes the whole "better player" that I need to beat mentality and just puts you in a regular game (but slightly more important) with an aquaintance/friend that's usually better than you.

[DarkERocker]

wow thank you for all of these tips =)

@Xeal
Yeah I will focus on practicing those different aspects of the game, and extend my knowledge slowly to get the hang of all those techniques with time and enhance my skill ^^

@Kitaru & Das44
I think I just over tought the situation, I should've played some guitar before the match, would've been a good rest, and I will do shorter game sessions instead of being obsessed by tetris all day hoping to do better by playing too much =)
and about hot fingers, I agree it also helps, yesterday I listenend to some music while playing sprint over and over and I beat my previous record by almost 2 seconds, I was also much closer to my record instead of having games + 10 secs, + 5 secs and so on, I found the way to push my sprint to my actual limit x)
I will also be looking forward to some daily tournaments to get used to the competitive scene slowly ^^
I've been also studying good player plays, the way they react to a certain situations to be able to aply it to my own game, just by chilling looking at some games and reading some interesting infermation on the wiki & forum =D

@KeroKai
I usually try to find good opponents when I did some games with some random people and getting myself pumped up to be ready for some intense matches where i can give the best I can =)
And I agree, knowing the person or being friend with him also helps to be more confident while doing a match, which helps ^^

Reading my message back I actually think I say too much "I, me & myself" too much xD
I'm not really that kind of guy to always talk about myself and all lol
Well thanks a lot for your answers, I will be glad to play you sometime or just talk or whatnot ^^

I want to thank all of these harddrop members and tetris players to help newcomers like me get more familiarised with the different aspects of the game

[Rosti_LFC]

Probably a tad unconventional (and illegal for some people lol) but I tend to have a glass of beer or cider or something before a big game. It calms me down a little and stops me over-tensing the muscles in my wrist and hands, which means I can play faster for longer and I don't get cramp from pushing too hard.

Obviously not too much alcohol or it'd definitely stop being a performance-boosting drug =P

[DarkERocker]

Yeah too much alcohol would deffinitly be bad xD
But a little is fine I guess x)
Just need to moderate what you drink ^^

I just need to see what works best, I think playing guitar or hanging out with some friends taking a drink wouldn't be a bad idea ;P
Working wouldn't be a bad idea either, that also works to take your mind of a bit ^^ ( at least your mind of Tetris xP )

[bach_of_tetris]

Anything, it doesnt really matter, you should be focusing on the game and what strategies your opponent is known for so you aren't caught off guard.
Should be focusing and relaxed.
Yes, if they are clearly better you will be downstacking a lot more. If you "know" your opponent you can exploit their weaknesses.
Should be practicing alot anyway, so that it won't matter if you dont practice on the day.
During the match find out why you are losing games.
If you are misdropping, concentrate on not misdropping first.
Next, if you are placing pieces in relaly bad places, stop doing that next.
Third, If htey are sending too much garbage, focus more on downstacking.
Playing.
If you play alot you will be more calm when you play against stronger opponents.
Good attitude

Possible the most comprehensive, sensible and unsarcastic reply I think Xael has ever said on a forum thread.