Tetris Matches are Getting Too Long. What's the Solution?

The solution is simple. Shorter Tetris matches, longer Scout videos.

Huff “only” made it to level 66

scout doing a true service to the community here

Man I remember talking to you about this in January. So much has changed since then, and I feel this was the perfect way to demonstrate it all. I think we're only gonna get better at the game, and it will be really interesting to see how we will adapt in response. Lots of good ideas floating around, I'm pretty optimistic about how things turn out.

I admit I often fast-forward through level 18 in many games. I do miss the good old days when level 18 was still a challenge, and only the best players could handle level 19, but these sports need to adapt. I just hope that the community stays happy with any changes.

"His opponent Huffulufugus only made it to level 66" (emphasis mine) ...which would place him third in the colored chart that was shown a few seconds before. What an insane match.

Okay actually serious comment now. This is an incredibly well put together video, not that that's surprising in any way. It can be a tricky spot when considering any "exceptional" games as outliers, because doing that in the past resulted in those anomalous marks becoming commonplace later down the line. However, the visualizations perfectly showcase what has really changed in the past year or so. If a player is good enough to go on level 70+ runs, they're more than equipped to do well on level 19 starts if the competitive scene shifts to that. That makes me wonder though, how integral is level 18 to how we view competitive Tetris? Is removing that phase of the game potentially more harmful to the structure of competition than adding a new phase via the double killscreen? That I can't answer. In any case, we will get a live demonstration of how well an in person world championship is equipped to deal with longer games very shortly, and luckily for the CTM, the level 49 killscreen isn't set in stone. I am very eager to see how that phase of the game is fleshed out as the parameters are modified, but for now, it's safe to say that we're in a pivotal time for the game of NES Tetris. Amazing video once again Scout, the efforts put into this one created such an exceptional final product.

The linecap video is out!!! The blessed day has arrived! Super super impressive how much work was put into this, with the data collection, the editing, and the sheer amount of effort behind the scenes over the year of development! I can't wait and see how the community will continue to develop in the future.

Gamescout may not be one of the master Tetris players but, just like in football, commentators and journalists can be masters on their part as well. Gamescout is undoubtedly our most beloved Tetris reporter. Thank you so much for these incredibly professional and well-made videos, keeping us up-to-date with the essentials in the now rather complex world of competitive Tetris.

My goodness, Scout, you've outdone yourself! I was a data-loving nerd gushing about the "Missing Statistic" video from last year, but this is an impressive amount of sheer grind work. The fact that the resulting data is not only useful, but also provides some counter intuitive insights about the current state of the game is amazing. I was surprised by the findings here, and the methodology was spectacularly comprehensive. This might be your greatest work ever. Loved every second of it.

The inherent problem with removing 18 play is that it takes away from a chapter of the game. A competitive game of Tetris can often be split into three chapters, each one with their own importance. 18 speeds, 19-29 speeds, and 29 speeds each have their own strategies, limitations, and importance over the course of a game. Using Transition Trainer mode to speed matches up may work well for a side event, but it takes away a significant portion of the game for many players, one that can still make a big difference over the course of those first 130 lines. They may not always be the most decisive, but they begin writing the story of the game, and without an introduction, a story is just a blurb.

This might be the best put-together video I've seen on NEStris. The data is so incredibly comprehensive that the amount of time and effort you must have put into this is mind-boggling! And on top of that, you explain everything really well so it is very accessible. Your best video yet!!

maybe one of the most impressive things about scouts videos is how he can explain what DAS, Hypertapping, and rolling over and over and I stay engaged every time despite knowing the playstyles in and out

Great analysis! No need to change the rules until the theoretical crazy-long matches become actual multiple instances of crazy-long matches in round 0 and round 1 of a tournament. Best-of-3/No Mullening/More Saturday matches will keep the 2022 CTWC moving along. Once line caps become necessary, I would propose the cap to be removed in a decider match. This is the system used in Tennis, where the tie breaker rules are different for a deciding set than in the opening sets.

The strategy part is also the first thing that came to my mind when I heard a linecap, it adds a new killscreen, and the killscreen has always been the source of aggressive strategy being a necessity to win. (After survival was no longer an issue anyway.) Great video, loving the data, and very much looking forward to the next part to this!

I think the problem with the "start post transition" is: it increases the bar of competition too much for the casual player to get into. You'd basically make Rolling a requirement to even get into the game. So yes, it would be better for top play, but the state of the competition as a whole might have to be considered

Great video, so much effort went into this I don't think people even realize. Well done man, you add greatly to this community.

Man Jonas would be so happy to see the community he left behind taking such great strides...

This was super insightful and well-researched, I had no idea how much non-29 factors were affecting the playtime of tournaments. I'm glad there's a follow-up video coming relating to the strategy aspect, cause that's a very important part of the equation in my mind: if infinite lineout is possible, pre-29 play becomes so much less relevant. Players can just go for safemax pre-29 every game and lineout forever. Even the knowledge of a 49 cap affects the chasedown potential significantly.

Another thought that just occurred to me -- if making the games more exciting for audiences is a big focus, having a loss by score gap could be an interesting way to go. For example, if at any point, one player gets more than 250k behind the other, they lose that game. Some of these endgame really aren't competition - I mean, if you're post-29 and just doing singles vs an opponent doing tetrises, you'll fall far enough behind that your chances of catching up get slimmer and slimmer, and audiences get bored -- we already know who's won, and we're just waiting for the other person to give up. Having a score gap loss would make it so that a player who is behind is gonna have to really turn on the aggression, which is what makes competition so exciting in the first place. It really puts a thumb on the scales for the "risk vs reward" mental math players do throughout the game. It's a new type of pressure that makes the game that much more intense and competitive. Implementation could be hard, since players would need to know at a glance how far back they are to be able to make those decisions quickly, but if that's solved, that could make these games both shorter and much more exciting.