Just got to rank 16 (platinum) on tetrisfriends, any advice?

bluedoom57 · August 04, 2014, 01:14:00 PM

After many months of playing and getting better, I've finally made it to platinum on TetrisFriends. So far, it's a *lot* harder than gold, and I'm interested if there's any particular advice anyone can give. I have minor knowledge of t-spins, and can use them every now and then, but I'm not particularly good at making setups for them. I wasn't particularly fond of learning them, so I've instead taken to using combos instead. I learned 2-wide, as well as 3-wide (which is primarily what I try to use), but I'm not very good at 4-wides yet. I do need to get a bit better at upstacking, but otherwise, I feel like speed might be my main issue. But I figured I'd make a post here to see if anyone has any other advice for me for my journey to rank 20.

FieryLight · August 04, 2014, 02:39:30 PM

Get faster (learn to rotate both Clockwise and Counter-Clockwise, learn finesse: http://harddrop.com/wiki/Category:Fast_DAS...ovement_Finesse )

Practice setting up T spins and try out some setups: http://harddrop.com/wiki/Category:T-Spin_Methods

In particular, try to learn these:
http://harddrop.com/wiki/STMB_Cave
http://harddrop.com/wiki/Kaidan_Setups
http://harddrop.com/wiki/Donating

Comboing is hard because you recieve lines. Remember, the higher the combo, the stronger it is. So if someone sends you 5 lines, you lose out on the last 5 line clears of comboing which means you lose 5* 4 = 20 lines that you wanted to send. Do not learn JUST how to combo.

perfectclear · August 04, 2014, 04:44:13 PM

to get pro, learn everything here http://harddrop.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=4143 everything here http://harddrop.com/wiki/Main_Page and then practice them daily for at least a year.

to get decent, just learn how to downstack and be quick.

bluedoom57 · August 05, 2014, 08:24:39 AM

I do use t-spins every now and then when I have an opening to do so, and I might look through some of these t-spin guides in the future, though I was curious as to whether or not there was maybe anything else I could focus on? I don't intend to become like, a world champion at tetris or anything. My goal at the moment is solely to reach rank 20 on tetris friends, and I'll go from there. As far as t-spins go, whether it's learning them, pulling them off, or watching other people use them, I just generally find them pretty boring. Maybe I'm just a filthy casual who doesn't have the brain power to comprehend them or something, I dunno, but I really don't like them at all.
Like I said, I might look through them at some point, and I do appreciate it, I just want to know if there's any other kinds of skills or techniques or anything that I can learn, aside from just getting quicker of course

agizzlefizzle123 · August 05, 2014, 09:24:48 AM

Quote from: bluedoom57
I do use t-spins every now and then when I have an opening to do so, and I might look through some of these t-spin guides in the future, though I was curious as to whether or not there was maybe anything else I could focus on? I don't intend to become like, a world champion at tetris or anything. My goal at the moment is solely to reach rank 20 on tetris friends, and I'll go from there. As far as t-spins go, whether it's learning them, pulling them off, or watching other people use them, I just generally find them pretty boring. Maybe I'm just a filthy casual who doesn't have the brain power to comprehend them or something, I dunno, but I really don't like them at all.
Like I said, I might look through them at some point, and I do appreciate it, I just want to know if there's any other kinds of skills or techniques or anything that I can learn, aside from just getting quicker of course

A few months ago, me and you were in the exact same boat. What I learned from experiencing platinum is that there are going to be a lot of people that T-Spin and I think that you need to learn how to do T-Spin openings (I mostly use TKI) and you need to learn how to use T-Spins mid-game. You don't really HAVE to know how to do 4-wide but it can be very useful. 3-wide should be ok at least for now. Work on downstacking because that will be important and work on finesse and upstacking.

FieryLight · August 05, 2014, 10:07:04 PM

Quote from: bluedoom57
I do use t-spins every now and then when I have an opening to do so, and I might look through some of these t-spin guides in the future, though I was curious as to whether or not there was maybe anything else I could focus on? I don't intend to become like, a world champion at tetris or anything. My goal at the moment is solely to reach rank 20 on tetris friends, and I'll go from there. As far as t-spins go, whether it's learning them, pulling them off, or watching other people use them, I just generally find them pretty boring. Maybe I'm just a filthy casual who doesn't have the brain power to comprehend them or something, I dunno, but I really don't like them at all.
Like I said, I might look through them at some point, and I do appreciate it, I just want to know if there's any other kinds of skills or techniques or anything that I can learn, aside from just getting quicker of course

You could learn timing and stalling. Other than that you've already listed all the good stuff. Tbh, when I first played TF coming from TB I just 4 wided everyone and made it to rank 20 in a day. But then again, I played so much that my first sprint game ever was about 1:05 on TF. I sub'd minute very soon after. So if you really just want rank 20, play a heck of a lot and get really fast.

Also, use the tuning link or buy full tuning. That'll take you much further =)

gerdhal · August 06, 2014, 05:57:22 AM

16 is nice achievement if your fresh to tf

well in plat you can easily meet ppl sending 100+ lines already.. so its serious business compared to tb on facebook

to get 20 need some serious tuning and speed id say ive been 19 but always i get outclassed hard before 20... so im around 18 19 constantly with my current skill. also my tuning is completely zero

good luck! deffo play some T spins adds alot of flavour into game

Ohh about 4 wide id say its great both on TB and TF ONLY if your sprint is around 50 sub 50 otherwise you get 5 KO in 30 sec

EagleLover58 · August 07, 2014, 06:24:40 AM

I'm rank 18 Guru what I did it start the game of w/ tetrises then depending on the scenario I'll change or keep the setup I have. Advice four wide try to do t spins and start out with a t spin if you try a four wide after your tetrises. Hope this helps

Paul676 · August 07, 2014, 03:57:30 PM

If I were you, I'd learn how to get T-spins and downstack properly good. I don't mean fancy hard-to-learn and hard-to-pull off setups, but good simple play. Try looking at the t-spin double guides and downstacking guides on here, and playing a lot, emulating that

gerdhal · August 08, 2014, 01:45:57 AM

oh yes.. i totally agree with Paul about downstacking..

i think before i learned how to downstack properly i wasnt doing any good progerss whatsoever in arena or tb.. even though im still less than 1 year old in tetris.. i feel improving downstacking boosted my skill most sofar..

nc4228 · August 21, 2014, 04:54:22 PM

WELCOME, to the BIG boy's playground!!!

By now, u should have a general sense NOT to run out and 1v1 a rank 19 or 20 (especially a maxed out grandmaster) as they'll eat u alive. If u want to get to grandmaster rank, ur not gonna do that without T-spins and with only combos (u will need to be significantly faster than ur opponent to win every time with combo starts). To add, most people I see that use combos every time they open are people who are about to derank from rank 16 or 17. Few people at the highest ranks will use combos each opener they perform and they are also pretty adapt at using a perfect clear build or just outrageous APM to quickly kill combo starter noobs or simply fill up their screen with enough garbege to render a combo start useless.

So what I'm trying to say is that combo starting each time will hurt u more in the long run and cannot replace knowledge of T-spins. That being said...

What u can do to get better:
-Stack faster. 100 TPM while stacking tetrises and around 70-90 TPM for downstacking will let u hang on in a match

-Learn T-spin doubles, that includes being able to set them up randomly from a random field. This is a MUST, u will be at a disadvantage if u don't.

-Improve ur downstacking ability. If u go into a 4-6 player rooms against rank 18-20's, this will be ur only hope of stealing a third or second place from multiple people who may be considerably stronger than u are.

-Familiarize with T-spin triples, do note that this won't be terribly useful. However, T-spin minis come up VERY frequently, for example if u have an S/Z start.

-Familiarize with different T-spin double setups. While this is fairly situational, it will help the more u know. The ones I have used in a handful of situations are STSD, Fractal/Imperial/Black Cross (which is essentially Fractal+Imperial Cross), King Crimson, DT cannon, TSD openers (must), Kaidan setups (must), donations (easier when Tetris column is in the middle). U can go on hard drop wiki and look some of these up.