Michael “Dog” Artiaga entered the 2021 Classic Tetris World Championship (CTWC) as a defending champion. After qualifying with 12 Max-Outs, he became the #1 Seed.
In his journey to get to the Top 8, he defeated 2 Rollers. The most notable game was the one where Dog managed to win by beating Pokenerd’s 1.3 Million Score; this became the first double 1.3 Million Game in a CTWC match.
Dog Enters The Top 8
The Top 8 were reseeded based on the performance on the early rounds. Dog entered the Top 8 as the #2 seed.
In the Quarterfinals Match, Tristop (#7 seed) won the first game after scoring a Max-Out. Game 2 ended in a Double 1.1 Million, with Dog getting the higher score to tie the match. In Game 3, Dog scored another Max-Out to put him at match point. In Game 4, Tristop has an early top out which allows Dog to win the match.
Brother Vs. Brother Rematch In Semi-Finals
The Semi-Finals Round became a rematch, from last year, between brothers, Dog and PixelAndy (#6 seed). Game 1 ended in a Double Max-Out with Dog winning the game, after Andy missed an S-Spin going into Level 29 (aka Killscreen/Thrillscreen). Dog loses Game 2 after a having a misdrop on Level 22 and does not get any extra points for his artistic masterpiece. In the next two games, Andy got a back-to-back Max-Out, but Dog got a back-to-back 1.1 Million to defeat his brother.
The Final Showdown
The Finals was also a rematch from last year, this time it was Dog versus Huff (#5 seed). In Game 1, Dog won by scoring a Max-Out. In Game 2, Huff won the game with a Max-Out, as Dog was unable to do so despite reaching Level 35. Game 3 ended in a double 1.1 Million, with Dog getting the higher score despite Huff reaching Level 33. In Game 4, Dog scores a 1.2 Million. Huff tries to beat that score going into killscreen, but was only able to reach Level 32 and get a 1.1 Million Score. With that, Dog wins defeats Huff, 3 games to 1, to become the winner of the 2021 Classic Tetris World Championship.
Dog’s Victory also means that he is the third person to become a back-to-back Classic Tetris World Champion.
You can find him livestreaming on his Twitch channel, dogplayingtetris. He is also creator of the tournament, Classic Tetris Brawl, which also has it’s own merchandise.
