Over 200 people had registered for the 2021 Classic Tetris World Championship (CTWC). Players had 2 hours to qualify and post their highest scores. The Top 64 were distributed into 8 separate double-elimination brackets. The winners of each bracket advanced to the Top 8.
They were placed in a single-elimination bracket and were reseeded based on their double-elimination performance.
(Update: The 2021 CTWC Was Completed, Find Out Who Won Here.)
The Top 8 Players are:
Joseph Saelee
- Age: 19
- Location: California, USA
- Years Qualified: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
- Playstyle: Hypertap
- Twitch: JdMfX_
- Other Facts:
Joseph is no stranger to the CTWC scene. He won the tournament in his debut appearance in 2018, which inspired a new generation of players. In 2019, he became a back to back Tetris Champion. I wrote about his performance at the 2020 CTWC which can be found here. Since that tournament, his story was featured in The New Yorker.
He registered for the 2021 CTWC, seeking his third CTWC Victory. During his 2 hour qualifying session, he got 10 max-outs, which gave him the #3 seed.
In Joseph’s Group E Bracket, he swept Tsuki (#62 seed) in the first round.
In the second round, Joseph faced Alex T (#30 seed). For the first 2 games, the match was tied 1-1. Joseph won the next game to put him at one win from advancing. Game 4 ended in a double max-out, with Joseph winning the game to win the match.
For the Group E Winner’s Bracket Finals, Joseph swept Rhubarb (#19 seed) by getting 3 max-outs in a row.
In the Group E Grand Finals, he faced Benjy (#35 seed). Benjy dominated Game 1 with a score of 1.1 Million. However, Joseph won the next 3 games to win the round and advance to the Top 8.
In his journey to get to the Top 8, Joseph only lost 2 games which earned him the #1 seed going into the Top 8. He will be facing Richy in the Quarterfinals.
Dog
- Age: 13
- Location: Texas, USA
- Years Qualified: 2020 and 2021
- Playstyle: Hypertap
- Twitch: dogplayingtetris
- Other Facts:
- Reached Level 33
- Has a PB (Personal Best) of 1,401,460
- 2020 CTWC Champion
- Founded Classic Tetris Brawl
Dog discovered the CTWC from watching the 2018 Finals. He started playing Tetris in the Summer of 2019.
Since then he has founded Classic Tetris Brawl (CTB) which hosts various monthly events, you can join their Discord here.
Dog’s first CTWC appearance was in 2020. In that tournament, he defeated his brother, PixelAndy, to become the 4th person to win CTWC. He gives his insight in the article that he wrote for The Guardian (Fun Fact: Dog didn’t write the title for that article).
He entered the 2021 CTWC as the #1 seed with a qualifying score of 12 Max-Outs and a 944,269 kicker. This became the Best Qualifying Score in CTWC history, as it beat Joseph’s last year’s qualifying run of 12 Max-Outs and a 540,660 kicker.
(Qualifying Ranks were determined based on the number of Max-Outs a player got. In the case of a tie in the number of Max-Outs, the player’s Kicker determined the ranking. A kicker is the player’s highest score that is not a max-out.)
Dog’s Group C Bracket Run
Dog was placed in the Group C Bracket, where he swept DMJ (#64 seed) in the First Round.
(Side Fact: DMJ was featured on his School Newspaper and Local News Station.)
In the Second round, Dog faced LazerMonkey (#33 seed). Dog lost the first game, but won the next 3 games to advance.
For the Group C Winner’s Bracket Finals, Dog and Pokenerd (#16 seed) tied the match 1-1 in the first 2 games. Dog went on to win the next 2 games with a back-to-back Max-Out to win the match.
Dog had to face Pokenerd again in the Group C Grand Finals, after Pokenerd emerged victorious in the Loser’s Bracket. In Game 1, Dog won the game by beating Pokenerd’s 1.3 Million Score (This became the first double 1.3 Million Game).
Dog won Game 2 after Pokenerd topped out on Level 19. In Game 3, Pokenerd was in danger of topping out but managed to dig through it. Unfortunately, 20 lines later, Pokenerd hung an I-Piece, which caused him to top out early. With that, Dog swept the match to advance to the Top 8.
In the journey to win the Group C Bracket, Dog lost 2 games, which gives him the #2 seed going into the Top 8. (Joseph had a higher average losing score, which gives him the higher seeding rank.)
Dog will be facing Tristop in the Quarter-Finals.
Nenu
- Age: 24
- Location: Indonesia
- Years Qualified: 2020 and 2021
- Playstyle: Hypertap
- Twitch: ZefanyaNenu
- Other Facts: Has a PB of 1,305,980
Nenu found the CTWC from watching the Boom! Tetris For Jeff! meme video. From there, he participated in the Classic Tetris Monthly (CTM) tournaments.
He competed at the 2020 CTWC, where he made it to the Top 4. Since then, his story has been featured on IGN SEA.
(Fun Story: During the 2020 CTWC Semi-Finals, Nenu lost power in his home before he could compete in his match. He then had to rush to his friend’s house and get his video stream set up to compete in the match against PixelAndy.)
In Nenu’s Qualifying Run for 2021 CTWC, he got 8 Max-Outs to give him the #9 seed, which was the same rank he had last year. He competed in the Group A Bracket.
His Round 1 opponent was Night (#56 seed). Nenu lost the first 2 games, but overcame the deficit to advance further in the Winner’s Bracket.
Nenu went up against Jesper (#24 seed) in Round 2, where they were alternating wins between each other to drag the match to a Game 5. In that game, Jesper hung an I-Piece, which caused an early topout. With that, Nenu won the deciding game to advance.
In the Group A Winner’s Bracket Finals, Nenu swept HydrantDude (#8 seed).
For the Group A Grand Finals, Nenu faced Luis (#57 seed). Luis won the first game, but Nenu won the next 3 games to win the match.
With that Nenu advanced, with 5 games lost along the way. This gave him the #3 seed going into the Top 8. He will be facing PixelAndy in the Quarter-Finals.
TetrisTime
- Age: 16
- Location: Nevada, USA
- Years Qualified: 2020 and 2021
- Playstyle: Hypertap
- Twitch: tetristime_
- Other Facts: Has a PB of 1,248,580
TetrisTime discovered the CTWC from the Boom! Tetris For Jeff video. He then watched the 2016 Finals, which was where “Boom! Tetris For Jeff” originated from.
In 2019, he watched aGameScout’s CTWC 2018 Experience Video, where TetrisTime realized how cheap the NES was. From that video, TetrisTime bought an NES. On the 30th of November 2019, he started playing NES Tetris.
TetrisTime entered the 2020 CTWC, where he finished in the Top 48. You can watch his first 2 matches here and his third match here.
TetrisTime’s Journey At The 2021 CTWC
At the 2021 CTWC, TetrisTime enters the tournament as the #20 seed, by getting 6 Max-Outs in qualifying. With that, he was placed in the Group H Bracket.
In Round 1, he went up against Longboy (#45 seed). TetrisTime takes Game 1, but loses the next 2 games. In Game 4, Longboy passed up on a double line clear, which caused the match to drag to a Game 5. TetrisTime won the deciding game to advance.
For Round 2, TetrisTime competed against Ben/Opaux (#13 seed). Ben won the first 2 games. But, TetrisTime won the next 3 games to overcome the deficit and win the match.
In the Group H Winner’s Bracket Finals, TetrisTime took the first 2 games against Fractal (#4 seed), while Fractal won Game 3. In Game 4, Fractal was in danger of topping out on Level 20, but quickly switched from Hypertapping to Rolling to save himself. But, the dig cost Fractal to burn a lot of lines that could have been used for Tetris Line Clears. In the end, TetrisTime got a Max-Out to win Game 4 and the match.
In the Group H Grand Finals, TetrisTime and Fractal faced each other again. TetrisTime won the first 2 games, while Fractal won the next 2 games to force the match to go to a Decider Game 5. In that deciding Game, TetrisTime won the game and match.
TetrisTime’s Journey to the Top 8 involved 7 lost games. This will give him the #4 seed going into the Top 8. He will be facing Huff in the Quarter-Finals.
Huff
- Age: 18
- Location: United States
- Years Qualified: 2020 and 2021
- Playstyle: Roll
- Twitch: huffulufugus_
- Other Facts:
Huff found out about CTWC after watching the 2016 Finals. He played NES Tetris on an emulator in 2019, but did not play it that much since he did not like the emulator.
In January 2020, he started playing NES Tetris on a CRT and Console. That’s when he started playing seriously. And it showed when he got his first Maxout in February.
He competed at the 2020 CTWC as a hypertapper. In that tournament, Huff defeated CTWC Champions, Jonas Neubauer and Joseph Saelee, to advance to the Semi-Finals. He finished in the Top 4.
In late 2020, he started practicing the new playstyle of Rolling. Eventually, it became a permanent switch in early 2021.
In August 2021, Huff won the World Puzzle League CTWC Qualifier Tournament. This gave him free entry into the 2021 CTWC.
Huff’s Second CTWC Appearance
Huff qualified for the 2021 CTWC as the #5 Seed, by getting 9 Max-Outs. He played in the Group D Bracket.
In the first round, Huff won the first 2 games against Scottobozo (#60 seed).In Game 3, Scotto won with a score of 1,016,762. This beat Huff’s score by about 6,000 points. Huff won Game 4 to win the match.
During Round 2, Huff swept Ella (#28 seed).
In the Group D Winner’s Bracket Finals, Huff took on Sodium (#44 seed). Sodium won the first 2 games and Huff won the next 2 games. Sodium won Game 5 to advance to the Group D Grand Finals. Huff advanced to the Loser’s Bracket Finals.
In the Group D Loser’s Bracket Finals, Huff swept Cheez (#21 seed) to advance.
For the Group D Grand Finals, Huff faced Sodium again. Because Huff emerged from the Loser’s Bracket, he had to win 2 matches, while Sodium only needed to win 1 match.
Huff swept in the first match to force a bracket reset. This meant that the Grand Finals came down to a Final Match since both players have lost a match in the tournament. In the deciding Grand Finals match, Huff swept again to advance to the Top 8 (Huff dominated towards the end by winning 9 games in a row, he swept his last 3 matches).
Huff had only lost 4 games despite losing a match, this gives him the #5 seed going into the Top 8. He will be facing TetrisTime in the Quarter-Finals.
(Update November 12, 2021: Huff got a NTSC World Record of 1,676,400.)
PixelAndy
- Age: 16
- Location: Texas, USA
- Years Qualified: 2020 and 2021
- Playstyle: Hypertap
- Twitch: P1xelAndy
- Other Facts:
- Has a PB of 1,382,120
- His Brother: DogPlayingTetris
- His Rival: DogPlayingTetris
- Beat Him in CTWC: DogPlayingTetris
PixelAndy discovered the CTWC after watching the 2018 Finals. He started playing NES Tetris in the summer of 2019, as he wanted something fun to do. And also to beat Dog’s high score.
Both him and Dog traded high scores, until Dog started hypertapping in his games. But, PixelAndy did get his first maxout in January 2020.
Andy was a DAS player until he scored a 1.2 Million, then switched to hypertapping.
He qualified for the 2020 CTWC. Eventually, he reached the finals where he was defeated by his brother, Dog.
PixelAndy’s Journey To The 2021 CTWC Top 8
In the qualifying run, PixelAndy scored 11 Max-Outs to get the #2 seed. He was placed in the Group F Bracket.
PixelAndy swept AdamMts (#63 seed) in the first round.
In Round 2, PixelAndy took on Asta (#34 seed). PixelAndy won Game 1, while Asta won the next 2 games. Then, PixelAndy tied the match by winning Game 4. In Game 5, both players got a Max-Out and Asta got the higher score to win the game and match.
PixelAndy’s defeat put him in the Round 2 of Loser’s Bracket. He faced Odinn (#15 seed), where both players got 1 win each from playing the first 2 games. Then, PixelAndy won the next 2 games to win the match.
In the Group F Semi-Finals Loser’s Bracket, he swept Moja (#18 seed) to advance.
PixelAndy went on to sweep Ricardo (#50 seed) in the Group F Loser’s Bracket Finals to advance.
In the Group F Grand Finals, PixelAndy took on Asta again. PixelAndy took the first game, while Asta won the next 2 games. This put PixelAndy in danger of elimination. He saved himself from elimination by winning the next 2 games to win the match and force a bracket reset.
In the Last Match of the Group F Grand Finals, PixelAndy won the first game after Asta had an early top out. In the next 2 games, PixelAndy got back to back Max-Outs to sweep the match and advance to the Top 8.
PixelAndy had lost 6 games and 1 match in the Group Bracket, which will give him the #6 seed going into the Top 8.
He will be facing Nenu in the Quarter-Finals, this will be a rematch from last year’s Semi-Finals.
Tristop
- Age: 16
- Location: New York, USA
- Years Qualified: 2020 and 2021
- Playstyle: Hypertap
- Twitch: Tristop
- Other Facts: Has a NES Tetris DAS World Record of 1,319,300
Tristop discovered the CTWC after watching Nick Robinson’s Video about Tetris Effect. From there, he started watching CTWC videos and watched the 2018 CTWC live on Twitch.
On December 2018, he played NES Tetris on an emulator. Eventually, he got a console on the 1st of February 2019.
He then competed at the 2019 CTWC East Coast Qualifier.
The following year, Tristop qualified for the 2020 CTWC, where he finished in the Top 24.
In June 2021, he got the first ever DAS 1.3 Million Score. At the time of this writing, this is DAS World Record.
In September, Tristop won the CTWC Classic Tetris League (CTL) Qualifier, to earn a free entry into 2021 CTWC.
Tristop’s Climb To The 2021 CTWC Top 8
In qualifying, he got 5 Max-Outs to give him the #22 seed. He was placed in the Group G Bracket.
For the first round, Tristop lost the first 2 games against Myles The Great (#43 seed). Tristop won the next game, but Myles won Game 4 to defeat Tristop. With that, Tristop moved on to Loser’s Round 1.
In Round 1 of the Loser’s Bracket, Tristop took on Mcracc (#54 seed). They both had alternating wins, which forced the match to go to a Game 5 Decider. Tristop won Game 5 to stay in the tournament.
In Loser’s Round 2, Tristop swept Ian (#27 seed).
The Group G Loser’s Semi-Finals featured Tristop taking on EricICX (#11 seed). Tristop won the first game with 900K, he then had a back to back 1.1 Million run to sweep the match.
Loser’s Finals turned into a rematch between Tristop and Myles The Great. Tristop won the first 2 games, while Myles won Game 3 to stay alive. In Game 4, Tristop won the game and match to advance.
In the Group G Grand Finals, Tristop was up against Eren (#6 seed). Since Tristop emerged from the Loser’s Bracket, he needed to win 2 matches to emerge victorious in Group G. He ended up doing that by sweeping both of those matches.
Tristop had lost the first match, but worked his way up the Loser’s Bracket to advance to the Top 8. In total, he had lost 6 games.
He will be entering the Top 8 Bracket as the #7 seed, which means his opponent for the Quarter-Finals is Dog.
Richy
- Age: 19
- Location: United States
- Years Qualified: 2021
- Playstyle: Roll
- Twitch: eRuins
- Other Facts: Has a PB of 1,504,080
Richy learned about CTWC after YouTube recommended the 2017 Finals. He was on a road trip in the Summer of 2019 when he watched the 2018 Finals, which prompted him to download Tetris on his phone. Once he got home, he played NES Tetris on an emulator. Eventually, he got a console.
Richy’s 2021 CTWC Journey To The Top 8
He qualified for the 2021 CTWC as the #7 seed by getting 8 Max-Outs. This put him in the Group B Bracket.
In Round 1, Richy took on Terence Y (#58 seed). After 2 games, they both tied the match. Richy won the next 2 games to win the match.
In Round 2, Richy won the first game against Sam Finch (#39 seed). Sam won the next 2 games, to put Sam at Game Point. But, Richy won the next 2 games to win the match.
Winner’s Bracket Finals featured Richy taking on Meme (#10 seed). Richy won the first game, while Meme won the next 2 games. This put the match in Meme’s favor 2-1. Richy stayed alive by winning Game 4, but Meme won the Game 5 Decider. This meant that Richy would compete in Loser’s Bracket Finals.
In Group B Loser’s Finals, Richy faced Koryan (#23 seed). Richy won the first game, while Koryan won the next 2 games. Richy managed to win the next 2 games to advance.
Group B Grand Finals
In the Group B Grand Finals, Richy had a rematch against Meme. Despite Meme putting up Max-Out Scores, Richy managed to sweep Meme in the first match to force a bracket reset.
Whoever won the second match advanced to the Top 8. In the first 2 games, Meme had back to back 1.1 Million. When the judges calculated Richy’s scores in those games, it was determined that he beat Meme’s Score. In Game 3, Richy rolled his way to a Max-Out on Level 31 to sweep Meme again.
In the Journey to get to the Top 8, three of Richy’s Match went to a Decider. He lost a match, as well as 8 games, to give him the #8 seed going into the Top 8.
More than a week after that match, Richy got a PB of 1,504,080.
Richy will be facing Joseph Saelee in the Quarter-Finals.
(Update November 12, 2021: Richy got a new PB of 1,626,880.)
Where to watch the Top 8 of the 2021 Classic Tetris World Championship?
The Top 8 Main Event will happen on Sunday, November 14th at 12 PM PST (20:00 UTC). You can watch it live on the Classic Tetris Twitch Channel. Be sure to follow CTWC on Social Media @ClassicTetris.
To watch all the early rounds of the CTWC 2021, check out the CTWC Archive Channel on YouTube. This is where you can find all of the unedited VODs.
If you would like to keep track of the tournament, here are the qualifying scores and the brackets from 2021.
aGameScout has also interviewed the Top 8 players, which you can view here.
