Fractal wins the 2023 Classic Tetris World Championship (CTWC) in his fourth appearance at the tournament.
He made his debut appearance in 2020 where he made the Top 16. Returned in 2021, determined to make the Top 8 only to finish in the Top 16 again.
By 2022, he had mastered the Rolling technique and was capable of lasting a very long time in the Killscreen levels. So when he competed at the 2022 CTWC, he finished as a runner-up after losing to EricICX who was also capable of surviving on Killscreen.
Fractal returned to the tournament in 2023, knowing that he had a chance to finally become the Tetris World Champion.
Qualifying for the tournament
The format for Qualifying was the same as last year. Play as many games as you can in 2 hours. The players were ranked based on how many Maxouts they could get, with their highest Non-Maxout score (Kicker) used as the tiebreaker.
Last year, Fractal had the best qualifying session ever at CTWC, with 14 Maxouts and a 961,660 Kicker. Which earned him the #1 seed in the previous tournament.
This year, his qualifying session was similar to last year, getting 14 Maxouts and a 965,380 Kicker. This did not give him the #1 seed, as two other players, Sidnev and Dengler, had gotten 16 Maxouts and 15 Maxouts, respectively. But it did give Fractal the #3 seed going into the tournament.
The #3 seed earned him a bye to Round 1, by having one of the Top 16 seeding ranks. While players with seeds 17-48 had to compete against each other in Round 0, to get into Round 1.
Who will face Fractal in Round 1?
Hydrant (#30 seed and 2022 Quarterfinalist) and Sharky (#35 seed) faced each other in Round 0, with the winner facing Fractal in Round 1. This epic battle of Roller versus DAS got dragged to a Game 5 decider (all matches were a Best of 5). Hydrant used the Rolling playstyle, while Sharky stuck with the DAS playstyle.
In Game 5, Sharky scored his first Maxout at an Annual CTWC match. He finished with a score of 1,042,825 after topping out at the Level 29 Killscreen.
Hydrant needed to score 2 more Tetrises (clearing 4 rows at once with the I-Piece) to win the game and match. He scored a Tetris at Level 28 and had set his board to get ready to score another Tetris. While waiting for the I-Piece, Hydrant misflipped a J-Piece which threw him off rhythm. This prevented Hydrant from burning lines and had to bank on the I-Piece to arrive to get a Tetris. However, there was a 22+ I-Piece drought that eventually led to a topout. Causing Hydrant to lose the game and match.
Sharky had defeated a Roller in a stunning victory and would face Fractal in Round 1.
Round 1 – Top 32
Fractal might be a highly skilled Roller, but Sharky has shown that DAS is not dead. In Game 1, Sharky finished with an 854K score after topping out at Level 27 from a 23 I-Piece drought. By that time, Fractal already had a Maxout score to win the first game.
In Game 2, Sharky’s board was messy on Level 20, but managed to dig his way out with his perfectly timed quicktaps. He finished with an impressive 962K score after reaching the Level 29 Killscreen. But Fractal had already beaten that score without having to show off his Rolling skills at the Killscreen levels (Level 29-38).
In Game 3, Fractal won the game and swept the match after Sharky had an unfortunate early top out.
Round 2 – Top 16
Fractal’s Round 2 opponent was Iball (#14 seed), who had won the Canadian Online Regional tournament that year.
In Game 1, Fractal had an impressive early Maxout at Level 25. Eventually, he entered the Level 29 Killscreen with a 1.2 Million score. Meanwhile, Iball has entered the Killscreen with a Maxout score.
The game turned into a Killscreen battle, this time the players were going for Tetrises at these levels. Since the tournament added a Level 39 Killscreen that prevented players from playing forever.
Iball had misdropped a J-Piece at Level 34 and topped out with a score of 1.2 Million. Fractal won the first game with a score of 1.4 Million.
In Game 2, Iball reached the Level 29 Killscreen again, where he misdropped an L-Piece and topped out with a 1.1 Million score. This allowed Fractal to line it out (clearing singles and doubles) on the Killscreen levels to chase down the score and win the game.
In Game 3, Iball had misplaced the S-Piece at Level 35 which caused his board to be messy. He managed to get a Tetris when the I-Piece showed up, but was unable to clean his board, leading to a top out with a Maxout score. By that time, Fractal was already ahead in score to sweep the match.
Quarterfinals – Rematch against PixelAndy
The quarterfinal match between Fractal and PixelAndy (#6 seed and 2-time Finalist) was a rematch from last year, where Fractal had defeated PixelAndy in the Semifinals.
In Game 1, both players had predictably reached the Killscreen. Throughout the Killscreen battle, PixelAndy was trailing but slowly catching up.
At Level 35, PixelAndy set up a Center well in Column 4 and scored a Tetris. He set up another center well right after that and got another Tetris.
For a third time, he set up a Center well. When the I-Piece was not showing up, his board started to get messy, and was banking on the I-Piece. After a 24-piece drought, the I-Piece finally showed up but he over-shifted the piece to the left causing him to top out.
PixelAndy needed to get one more Tetris to win the game, but that misdrop prevented him from doing so.
In Game 2, both players reached the Killscreen as usual. PixelAndy topped out at Level 36 with a 1.1 Million score. Fractal wins the second game as he already had a 1.4 Million score at the time.
From the encouragement of the crowd, Fractal continued to Mullen (continuing the game despite already winning) in an attempt to reach the Level 39 Super Killscreen. It did not happen but he scored a 1.5 Million.
In Game 3, PixelAndy topped out at Level 37 with a 1.3 Million score. Fractal wins the game and sweeps the match after already having 1.6 Million at the time.
Fractal decided to keep playing since the crowd wanted him to Mullen it out. Everyone wanted to see him reach the Level 39 Super Killscreen. He pulled it off and finished with a score of 1,778,460. This was the highest score achieved at CTWC with the Level 39 Super Killscreen implemented.
Semifinals – Taking on 2-Time Champion, Dog
In Game 1, Dog (#10 seed) had a messy board going into the Level 29 Killscreen and eventually topped out at Level 30. Fractal already had the lead, giving him the win.
Game 2 turned into a Double Super Killscreen game as both players had reached the Level 39 Super Killscreen. Fractal won the game with a 1.4 Million score, beating Dog’s 1.2 Million score. They were separated by 2 Tetrises.
Game 3 was neck and neck going into Killscreen. Dog misplaced a J-Piece at Level 31 which caused the board to get messy and he lost with a 1.1 Million score. With Fractal having the lead.
Fractal sweeps the match. At this point, he had swept all of his opponents.
Back to the Finals
After a Flex Cam intermission, Fractal makes a back-to-back Finals appearance. He would be facing Sidnev (#1 seed and 2-time European Champion) in a rematch from last year’s Quarterfinals, where he had previously swept Sidnev.
Game 1
As expected, in Game 1, both players reached the Killscreen and were getting as many Tetrises as they could before they reached the Super Killscreen. At Level 36, Fractal misrotated the L-Piece which caused the board to be messy. By Level 37, Fractal was digging but misrotated another L-Piece on the left side. He tried to bring his stack down, but could not get the J-Piece all the way to the left, causing him to top out with a 1.4 Million.
Sidnev was ahead in points at the time, giving her the win. Fractal had his first loss in this tournament.
Game 2
In Game 2, Fractal set up for a dirty Tetris, 1 row high at Level 28, even opted to keep the Right well open instead of taking a triple into the Level 29 Killscreen. This was a risky move for players going into Killscreen speeds. Eventually, the I-Piece showed up and he got the Tetris and transitioned to Level 29.
Fractal tried to set himself up for another Tetris but misdropped the S-Piece which led to a top out with 1.1 Million points. And Sidnev was in the lead and won the second game, taking Match point.
Sidnev was 1 win away from becoming the first player outside the United States to win the tournament. Fractal was in danger of elimination, as Sidnev led the match, 2-0.
Game 3
In Game 3, Sidnev was unable to get the L-Piece all the way to the left at Level 29. This created holes in the stack that would be difficult to clear out at Killscreen speeds. She was able to get a Tetris to lower the stack when the I-Piece arrived, but her board was messy at this point.
Sidnev had the opportunity to lower the stack after pulling off an L-piece tuck. She tried to get the upcoming J-Piece all the way to the left but hung it in the middle of the stack. This caused the stack to be messier and Sidnev tops out with 1.1 Million points.
And Fractal saves himself from elimination by winning the game with a 1.2 Million. And the crowd chants, “Let’s go Fractal”! The match had Sidnev leading, 2-1.
“Game 4 has been unlocked”
As commentator Sharky puts it, “Game 4 has been unlocked” with Fractal’s Game 3 victory.
Game 4 featured players pulling off impressive moves at Level 18, with a series of tucks and spins.
Fractal had planned to cover up his right well with the J-piece as a way to set up a delayed burn (temporarily covering up the well to burn lines). But when he saw that the next piece was an I-piece, he made a last-second adjustment to the J-Piece to keep the well open and got the Tetris. Even with Rolling and at Level 18, it was a gutsy move to pull off with a stack that was 10 rows high.
Sidnev also had impressive moves, such as setting up a VITS (Vertical I Tuck Setup). This has become a common move in Tetris tournaments, and it is always impressive to see.
At 23 lines, Sidnev misplaced a T-piece all the way to the left but was able to fill in the gaps by tucking the L-piece and the other T-piece. At 120 lines, Sidnev set up the stack to accommodate an S-Spin and was able to pull it off. The move kept herself Tetris-ready for the upcoming I-piece, instead of blocking the well and burning a few more lines.
When the players transitioned to Level 19, they were eventually able to reach the Level 29 Killscreen. At Level 33, Sidnev hung the T-piece and topped out at 1.3 Million which was not enough to beat Fractal.
The match was tied at 2-2, and it came down to a deciding Game 5.
The gameplay at Killscreen was impressive, to say the least. It was one thing to move pieces at Killscreen speeds but to be able to figure out where to put the pieces to survive and get Tetrises was impressive to watch. The players only had fractions of a second to figure out where to put the next piece.
The physical and mental aspect in their ability to play on Killscreen was on another level that had not been seen before at CTWC.
On top of that, I wondered how much pressure they were feeling at that moment. I could not imagine what it felt like for them to play NES Tetris at that level in a World Championship setting.
An Intense Game 5
Knowing this was the last game, the crowd was hyped as they chanted for both players.
It got very intense once the players reached Level 29. There was no turning back, it came down to who could score the most points on Killscreen. They had 100 more lines to work with if they reached the Level 39 Super Killscreen. Fractal and Sidnev were neck and neck with each other, going for as many Tetrises as they could.
Fractal topped out first at Level 35, with a 2 Tetris lead (a score of 1,188,663). It was up to Sidnev to chase down Fractal’s score, but her board was messy at that point and she topped out as well with a score of 1,136,121.
Fractal wins the deciding game to become the 2023 Tetris World Champion. Becoming the 6th person to win the tournament.
Where to watch all of the 2023 CTWC matches?
Here are all of the 2023 Classic Tetris World Championship (CTWC) matches.
