At the 2018 Classic Tetris World Championship (CTWC) Finals, 16-year-old newcomer Joseph Saelee defeated 7-time champion Jonas Neubauer to become the new Tetris World Champion. This became a major turning point in the Classic Tetris scene, inspiring a new generation to pick up the game.
2 days later, on October 23, 2018, John Green uploaded a video titled, “Why Are Humans Suddenly Getting Better at Tetris?” In the video, he talks about how players improved their gameplay in the NES version of Tetris and the Classic Tetris World Championship where players compete in that version of the game.
The video was significant because it showed a famous YouTuber, who was a major fan of the CTWC. John Green is known for his Crash Course videos on various subjects such as World History. He is also the author of the book, The Fault in Our Stars, which eventually became a movie.
How did John Green discover the Classic Tetris World Championship?
When the video came out, John Green did not reveal how he discovered the Classic Tetris World Championship. About a month later, he uploaded an episode in his podcast, The Anthropocene Reviewed, where he talks about Tetris. Toward the end of the episode, he mentions that his podcast viewer, Raphael, was the one who wrote in to suggest that he review CTWC. That led John Green to watch the tournament.
Since then, he has continued to be a dedicated fan of the Classic Tetris World Championship. Throughout the years, he posted YouTube comments on the CTWC videos.
Sponsoring Blue Scuti
In December 2023, Blue Scuti became the first player to “beat” NES Tetris by crashing the game. That story was featured across major news outlets worldwide after aGameScout uploaded a YouTube video explaining the significance of Blue Scuti’s accomplishment. The media frenzy turned Blue Scuti into a major celebrity outside the Tetris community.
The accomplishment got the attention of John Green’s brother, Hank Green, who suggested that they should use their media company, Complexly, to sponsor Blue Scuti’s Twitch and YouTube channel.
On January 23, 2024, John Green announced their sponsorship with Blue Scuti.
John Green Masters NES Tetris
On August 6, 2024, John Green started livestreaming his gameplay of NES Tetris. From watching the first stream, I could tell that he was good at the game. He had the general stacking knowledge to score beyond 100K.
CTWC competitor, Myles, analyzed John Green’s game. I recommend checking out the video because Myles had excellent tips for anyone playing the game. Towards the end of the video, Myles says that John Green is really good at the game.
My Thoughts On John Green’s Gameplay
I agree with Myles, John Green’s stacking is very good. His scores will improve as he keeps playing the game. I don’t have any additional stacking advice to give to John, Myles already covers that in his video.
From watching John Green’s latest stream, he showed that he can play on Level 15. Before I recommend doing Level 15 starts, I would recommend practicing flipping the pieces in both directions.
When John continues to practice flipping in both directions, it will eventually become second nature to him. Once he gets that down, he will be able to master Level 15 starts and beyond.
So far, John does not have a recorded score of 300K. But, I’m sure that will happen very soon. If he keeps livestreaming his Tetris gameplay, I could see him reaching the 500K mark and doing Level 18 starts.
I do agree with Myles that John Green is really good at NES Tetris. I look forward to seeing more of his livestreams, as he continues to improve his personal best (PB).
My general tips for beginners can be found here.
Where To Watch John Green’s Livestream
John Green has been livestreaming on his YouTube channel, John Green. Subscribe to him to get notifications for when he is live.
Check out his previous live streams.
Stream #1 | Stream #2 | Stream #3
