Alex T Wins The 2025 Classic Tetris World Championship

Alex T wins the 2025 Classic Tetris World Championship, becoming a back-to-back Tetris Champion.

Alex Thach (aka Alex T) got 16 maxouts and a 971,440 kicker in the Qualifying Round, to clinch the #1 seed. He broke the previous qualifying record of 16 maxouts and a 649,940 kicker. (Kicker is the highest non-maxout score, used for tiebreakers.)

The Tournament Begins

As one of the Top 16 seeds, he had a bye to Round 1 (Top 32), where he faced Hepps. Alex won the first 2 games. In Game 3, both players reached the Level 39 Super Killscreen. Alex crushed that game with a whopping score of 1,762,960 to sweep the match. That was the third highest all-time score in a CTWC match since the implementation of the Level 39 Super Killscreen. One of the Commentators, Sharky, pointed out that there was nothing Hepps could do because “Alex was a non-stop Tetris machine”. (All matches are Best of 5)

In an insane Round 2 matchup, Alex T had to face Dengler (last year’s Semifinalist). Despite Dengler’s effort, Alex T sweeps the match. So far, he won both matches in a sweep.

Top 8 Begins

Alex T’s Quarterfinals opponent was Sam Vaughan (SV), known for his aggressive playstyle in competition. This was going to be a battle between 2 aggressive players. In Game 1, SV maintains a lead thanks to his aggression. But it did not work out when an I-Piece drought caused him to top out at Level 26. Alex T chases down the score to win the first game.

In the next 2 games, SV had a small lead against Alex T going into Level 29, but topped out at Level 36 and 30, respectively. Alex finished with the higher score to win the games and sweep the match.

So far, Alex T has swept all of his matches.

Semifinals – Battle of the Game Crashers

In the Semifinals, it was Alex T vs Blue Scuti in the battle of the Game Crashers.

In Game 1, Blue Scuti topped out at Level 31. Alex T takes the first game.

Both players reached the Level 29 Killscreen in Game 2. With Alex T having a big lead, Scuti was not giving up.

On Level 35, Blue Scuti could not get the J-Piece all the way to the left. He then manages to fill up the Left well with an I-Piece. Scuti turns this into a Dirty Tetris setup and pulls it off. Unfortunately, he tops out at Level 36. Alex T reaches the Level 39 Super Killscreen and wins the game with a massive score of 1,915,820. This was the first time a player scored 1.9 million points in a CTWC match, since

In Game 3, players were neck and neck going into Level 29. On Level 35, Scuti could not get the L-Piece all the way to the left — which led to more misdrops and a messy board. He gets a Tetris to lower the stack, but could not dig the board down. Scuti tops out at Level 36. Alex T finishes the game with a score of 1,810,900.

When Alex T scored 1.9 million and 1.8 million in Games 2 and 3, respectively, there was nothing Blue Scuti could do.

Finals – Meme vs Alex T

The Top 48 players had qualified for the Gold Bracket. In the end, #1 and #2 seeds were in the Finals.

This was a rematch from the 2025 CTWC Genesis Regional back in January, where Meme swept Alex T in the finals to win that tournament. Both players have crashed the game before.

Before the Finals began, three of the Tetris players from Japan appeared on stage. They were Koryan, Greentea, and Sight.

Tetris Company Founder, Henk Rogers, appeared on stage alongside Koryan, Greentea, and Sight to countdown the first game in the Japanese language.

The Finals Begins

At the beginning of Game 1, commentators (James Chen, Chris Tang, and Sharky) explained the basics of the game so that new viewers can understand what is going on.

Once the commentators gave all the necessary information they primarily commentated on the matches as both players reached Level 19 transition.

It was neck and neck going into Level 29 Killscreen. At Level 36, Meme fails to get the J-piece all the way to the left and tops out. Alex T finishes with the higher score to win the game.

As expected in Game 2, both players reach Level 29. Alex T has the lead, but Meme catches up by Level 36.

Unfortunately, Meme’s board falls apart at Level 37 and tops out. Alex T successfully chases down the score.

Alex mullens it out (continuing to play after winning the game). He sets up a center well on the Level 39 Killscreen in an attempt to get a Tetris and reach Level 40. It didn’t happen, but he did win the game and lead the match 2-0.

He is just one game away from a perfect run in this tournament. The only other time this happened was back in 2011 when the bracket had only 8 players. That was accomplished by Jonas Neubauer.

Harry Hong was close to a perfect run in 2013, but his opponent (Jonas Neubauer) overcame the 2-0 deficit to win the 2013 tournament.

A Perfect Run?

The crowd was pumped for Game 3, since it might be the last game of the match. During Level 18, I started the chant, “Let’s Go Meme” to get the audience to chant, “Let’s Go Meme” and “Alex T”.

Alex T had the lead going into Level 29. Meme overtook the lead at Level 32 and maintains it. But then, Meme tops out at Level 36. Alex T just needs a Tetris to win the game.

With that, he accomplished the first perfect run since 2011.

Alex T wins the 2025 Classic Tetris World Championship, winning it back-to-back. The previous back-to-back victories happened in 2020 and 2021, by Dog.

“I’m the new champion! Oh wait, I’m not the new champion.”

In his victory interview, Alex T said that he had a good mindset going into this tournament. He thought to himself “I’m the best and no one can stop me”.

Host, Kingsman, let Alex T have the final word.

Alex T exclaimed, “I’m the new champion!” He immediately corrected himself, “Oh wait, I’m not the new champion. I’m the champion!” That was such a funny moment.

Parmesan Cheese?

To celebrate the victory, Blue Scuti shows up on stage with an inflatable pool. Followed by a few players holding a bag of Powerbeärs Tetris Gummies. DanV proceeds to give Alex T a cardboard that says, “It’s Staying Here”, which refers to the fact that the Golden J-Piece Trophy was staying in the United States.

Where to watch the entire tournament?

All of the matches can be found here.