Mental Approach

[Corrosive]

Mental Approach
written by Corrosive.

I realized that I am still discovering new strategic components and theories about multiplayer when I play. I came up with two different concepts within 24 hours, each that came to me while playing three different players. After thinking about this for a while I had a strong urge to write another strategy piece like my one before so here it goes. When I was a noob on Tnet2 averaging around 100tpm, I was desperate for advice and answers about how I can win. Now that I'm learning and experiencing more and more I feel driven to write what I've learned so that it might help anyone else who is seeking advice.


State of Mind
I think your success in a 1v1 is 50% based on the state of mind you're in. I know that when I'm frustrated, bored, sleepy, or worried about losing or just not in the mood to play, for whatever reason, I play really shitty. Some games like that I will just completely give to the opponent without barely adding any lines.

Being in a good mood and relaxed and having fun when you play can really enhance your playing. If you want to win more, then consider this. Enjoy it when you are playing free-for-all or in a 1v1. Have a positive attitude. Play your favorite songs/music that is upbeat and happy and makes you feel good. Don't care too much about winning or losing, your mind doesn't even have to be on the game necessarily. Before the game starts think of a future event you are looking forward to or anything that is going great in your life in the back of your mind just to get you in a carefree positive state if you have to. By doing this it will likely make you less nervous, less self-conscious about how you are playing, and will most likely make it easier for you to just naturally play your smartest. Tetris is all instinct and pattern-responsive anyway. Just be in a calm relaxing state of mind when you are playing and feel confident and loose, it really does make a difference in trying to win.


Key Things
1) Try playing smart and level out your field against everyone you play. In other words try to add as much as you can while staying around the middle of the field.
2) You have to clear lines smartly and avoid downstacking on top any gaps, work around them and try to deliver as much adds as possible from your downstacking. The best player can downstack and add at the same time. Building around gaps and sending 2 lines rather than 1 or a quick tetris rather than sending 2 is what you are aiming at.
3) Remember the golden rule is do not stack over gaps/holes.
4) The formula you should always keep in your head is Intelligence > Accuracy > Speed . Do not get frustrated. Just focus on playing smart and keeping your field steady and in control.


New Term: Recovery
Sometimes I am disappointed with how I am playing, even if I win. I can tell what I am doing wrong and what I shouldn't be doing. Earlier today I realized I've been relying too much on HOLD, because I've been trying to stack around gaps as smart as possible which often requires waiting for a certain piece to arrive. At the same time this can confuse and slow me down momentarily when I abuse the holding too much. I made an effort to ease off the holding though and it worked out, although it is still extremely important. Holding is a skill within itself and is especially valuable when you're up at the very top. That was beside the point but just an example at how to analyze your own playing.

While playing about 45 games against hebo_MAI earlier, I noticed something else to be a skill within itself that I tried to work on for the remainder of the matches. The term for what I'm about to describe I will call "Recovery". Recovery is how fast it takes you to recover/rebuild after you just tetrised (recovery time). Once you've tetrised you can't add any more lines right away right? You have to build a little more around gaps or quickly build up 4 more lines in order to tetris again. The point is to eliminate hesitation and be as fluid as possible, while playing smart at the same time. This has been one of my main flaws lately. People like Blink or Trance excel at this and show very little hesitation. This isn't a speed issue, its just about hustling and not letting up on your opponent. So many times people die in a 1v1 simply because their opponent delivers a tetris or back-to-back tetris a split second right before they were about to tetris, which automatically kills them because their stack was high. Having this edge over your opponent and not wasting any time can really be valuable in close games.

practice practice practice.

-C

[Corrosive]

btw i recorded Trance a bit while he was playing ffa, its good to watch how well he stacks and downstacks throughout the video.

[TetrisdAiSuki]

Interesting post. A lot of useful advice and information. I will read the other guides later too to learn more.

State of Mind:

I only play when I'm in a good mood so no problems there. But I will have to change my state of mind dramatically when playing agains better opponents. When I'm playing elite players I tend to believe that I'm just wasting my time. In fact I make myself believe that I will lose the game before a sinlge tetromino has been placed on the field. So not only do I lose the game, but I learn little in the form of valuable playing experience against those players.


The Best Way to approach a Downstack Whore:

I'm usually playing the same way against every opponent which of course is stupid. I just stack for tetrises as fast as possible and only start concentrating on clearing garbage when the stack is already too high. So at this point I'm forced to downstack to make room for more aggressive play which is really dumb. And in almost all cases it's too late to turn the game around in my favor. I'll have to play more intelligently and make a fast assessment of the other player's playing style and adapt accordingly if necessary.


New Term: Recovery:

I don't use hold efficiently. I actually try not to use it too often. In most games I only use hold when I don't know what to do with the current piece. Sometimes without even knowing what the next piece is, just as a panic reaction. Correct use of next piece preview is something I will work on in the near future. In 40 lines I only try to look to the next piece. Monitoring 2,3 or even more pieces and clear garbage efficiently is beyond my current capabilities which puts me at a huge disadvantage against faster players.

As for recovery. I usually hesitate too much while playing and my timing is off more often than not. I never keep track of the opponent's playfield either.

So in short I need a lot of practice to become better at playing multiplayer Tetris.

[Corrosive]

I took out and edited the Downstack Whore part after a long discussion with Trance, who opened my eyes to some things.

[oliv]

I took out and edited the Downstack Whore part after a long discussion with Trance, who opened my eyes to some things.

All these things seem pretty obvious to me.
"Be in a good state of mind to play better". No shit !

[Rosti_LFC]

Add tired to the state of mind thing. I find I (usually) play awful when it's late in the day (or early in the morning), or when I've just not been getting enough sleep in general. I can feel when my mind is slightly fuzzy, and it usually knocks a good 10-20 tpm off my speed, and ruins my decisionmaking in general.

[clincher]

btw i recorded Trance a bit while he was playing ffa, its good to watch how well he stacks and downstacks throughout the video.

I'm love with the way he plays
i wonder what would happen if t spins were on

[jujube]

State of Mind
I think your success in a 1v1 is 50% based on the state of mind you're in. I know that when I'm frustrated, bored, sleepy, or worried about losing or just not in the mood to play, for whatever reason, I play really shitty. Some games like that I will just completely give to the opponent without barely adding any lines.

sometimes i make bad decisions and don't even realize i'm doing it. i can tell i'm not playing effectively but can't figure out what to do about it, and it gets frustrating. for me, the only way to remedy this problem is to stop playing and find something else to do for a few hours. it usually happens when i've been playing too much, but not always.

[heretic]

good read.

[Shizi]

isnt chad known for not being able to control his temper?
kind of ironic imo

[Corrosive]

heretic = Reveillark?

[Blink]

heretic = Reveillark?

yeah, he changed his nickname.

[clincher]

heretic = Reveillark?

I knew heretic wasnt Eyeballs i knew it!