It was Day 2 of CTWC 2024. After getting off the bus, I walked to the SoCal Retro Gaming Expo. As I approached the building, there was a line of people that wrapped around the block. Since it was the first official day of the expo, they were waiting in line to get the convention wristbands or badges. Fortunately, I already had the wristband from the previous day. So, I was walking past all the people in line as if I had a Disneyland FastPass.
Since I arrived at the Expo early, I took some time to take photos. A sign at the entrance to the Tetris area informed visitors that they were filming a documentary and that anyone that enters consents to being in documentary.
If you are curious about what it exactly says, here you go.
Meeting The New Generation Of Tetris Players
Since it was early, the room was nearly empty. Two kids (Lucas and Elias) and their father (Kirklan13) occupied the audience seats. I recognized the kids from the news coverage of the 2024 CTWC Heart of Texas Regional. News outlets around the world extensively covered Blue Scuti’s achievement, inspiring them to play NES Tetris.
With the room being nearly empty, I decided to take the opportunity to speak to them. I asked them about what their Personal Best (PB) was in NES Tetris. One of them mentioned having a 300K PB. Since I have experience with the game, I let them know that they had a good score and that they will get their first 500K score soon.
It was fascinating to meet a new generation of players that came from the Blue Scuti media frenzy. I am glad these kids are able to be a part of an amazing community that will support their Tetris journey.
Becoming a Tournament Judge
There was one more qualifying session before the tournament started. I went up to that Stats team table to see if I was needed to handle scorecards. Since there were only 9 people qualifying in this session, Pumpyheart decided to make me the judge for this qualifying session.
So, I grabbed a deck of blank scorecards from the table and put them in my CTWC fanny pack. From there, I headed over to the stage.
It was a very special moment for me to be able to go up on stage, especially since this was my first time at CTWC. I sat on the chair that was positioned directly behind Chris Bidwell. This was my opportunity to be on the livestream, so I looked at the giant LED screen behind me to see if I was on the stream. I was somewhere in the background, which was good enough for me. With my appearance on stream, I will be able to pull a “look Gary there I am“.
I took the opportunity I had on stage to take a photo of the rows of empty chairs in the audience section. It gave me an idea of what the people on stage see when the tournament starts.
Who Is In The Last Qualifying Session?
Eventually, 8 of the players came up on stage and started practicing before the session started.
Four players were featured on Stage Left for the ClassicTetris2 (CT2) Twitch channel. They were Jaws, Steve Deluca (TotalRADNes), Kim Moore, and Ryan Hamburger.
Another group of four players were featured on Stage Right (right side of the stage from the competitors’ point of view) for the main ClassicTetris (CT1) Twitch channel, which was also being simulcast on the YouTube channel. The 4 players on that stage were Ansel, Chris Bidwell, Ben Mullen, and Jeff Moore.
Ansel was the only roller in the session, everyone else was a DAS player.
Chris Bidwell was a 2015 Nintendo World Championship competitor. At that competition, the players played while standing. Bidwell has kept that tradition when he organizes the Dr. Mario Championship. With that, he decided to play out his qualifying session while standing up. He put 2 small boxes under the CRT TV to tilt the screen up, making sure that he can see the game while standing.
To give you an idea of what I was seeing on stage, the CT2 players were on stage left, and the CT1 players were on stage right. I sat on a chair behind Chris Bidwell on stage right. From looking at the giant LED screen behind me, I could see that I made it on the livestream.
It was very cool to see these players in person. I took the opportunity to take some more photos, including blurry selfies.
Getting The Scorecards Ready
When I got back to my chair, I let the players know that I was the judge. They probably already knew this, but I let them know that they needed to raise their hand if they wanted to submit a score.
To prepare for my role, I took out a few scorecards from my fanny pack. My online name is Wingfryer, so I wrote the initials, “WF”, on the top left corner of the card. I also took my phone out, ready to take photos of the CRT TVs.
“Judge!”
Once the “3,2,1,Tetris!” countdown began, I settled into my seat, ready to assist any of the eight players who needed to submit a score. Scanning through the rows of gameplay as if I was a security camera.
I was looking at the players on Stage Left when I heard Chris Bidwell yell “Judge!” I looked over to see that he had his hand raised. It happened so quickly after the session started that it caught me off guard. I was sitting behind him, so I could not see his game. I took a picture of the screen. It was a 7 point game, no wonder he submitted a score so quickly. I let him know that he was good to start another game.
When I got back to my seat, I filled out a scorecard with Bidwell’s name and his 7 point score. I had 2 pockets in the fanny pack, so I placed the submitted score in the other pocket. When I took on the role as a judge, I did not think that the first score I would write down would be 7 points. (Those were pushdown points, the game gives you a few points for pushing the piece down to the floor or stack.)
Three players about to submit their score
A few minutes into the session, 3 of the players (Jeff, Bidwell, and Ansel) were past the Level 19 transition. They were all very likely to submit their scores after their respective games, so I had my phone ready in hand. Jeff tops out at 716,243, he decides to submit the score. As usual, I went up to the TV to take a picture. Once I was back at my seat, I used that photo to write down Jeff’s score.
Then, my attention went towards Ansel’s game, who was getting close to the Level 29 Killscreen. With the score that he currently had, he would need to survive the Killscreen to get a maxout. Fortunately, he was capable of doing so as a roller (he was the only roller in this session). When he reached Level 29, I watched as he placed pieces on the left side, while waiting for a long bar. The long bar never arrived, so he topped out with a score of 899,920. Afterwards, I went up to take the photo and write down the score.
After writing down Ansel’s score, I looked up to see Bidwell raise his hand. I walked over to take the photo. Now, I can settle in for a moment.
Another Score Submission
The players on CT1 were on Level 18, so I decided to look at the players on CT2 (located to my left). I watched as Ryan Amburgy played past the Level 19 transition and misdrop a piece. He tried to dig, but tops out with a score of 437,260. I was still at my seat, so I quickly walked over to Ryan to take the photo.
Later on, Pumpyheart walked across the stage. He was the score runner, so I handed the filled out scorecards to him so that he can deliver it to the stats team. (He would show up once in a while to do this.)
Ansel and Jeff at Maxout Pace
Ansel’s game was getting my attention. He transitioned with a 655K score, putting him in position maxout before Level 29.
Normally, I would be watching this game on the laptop. This time, I was sitting behind Ansel, rooting for him to get the maxout. I had my phone in my hand, ready to take the photo. When he got the maxout, I quickly went up to the TV to take the photo. On the next scorecard, I marked his score as “MAX” to make it clear that it was a maxout.
Later on, I was rooting for Jeff to get a maxout. He was on pace to get a maxout but had to burn a few lines after a misdrop. He needed one more Tetris to get a maxout, but reached the Level 29 Killscreen before he could do so, finishing with a score of 987,427. (Jeff is a DAS player, so he could not survive the Killscreen)
Ansel, who was a Roller, entered Level 29 with a 912K score. He scored a Tetris on Level 29 to increase the score to 940K. I watched as he was lining it out to reach the maxout. However, he tops out at Level 30 with a score of 966,180. It was not a maxout, but it was a new kicker.
Ben Mullen Improves His Qualifying Score
Ben Mullen had surpassed his previous qualifying score. I know this because the game reveals the top score in the session, along with the current score. This meant that he was going to submit the score of the current game. As Ben was about to reach the Level 29 Killscreen, I looked at the players’ games on CT2, checking if they needed to submit their score (they did not). When Ben finished his game with 821,253 points, I approached the TV to take the photo.
Rooting For Kim Moore
At one point, all of the players in CT1 had just started their current games. That brought some relief to me because I knew they were not going to submit a score anytime soon. So I looked to my left to see the players on CT2, and noticed that Kim Moore was in position to beat her previous top score of the session. With that, I slowly walked over to the CT2 section. I took my phone out, ready to take a photo of the score. At the same time, I was rooting for her to get a high score. She finished the game with a score of 529,422. The score would not get her in the Bronze Bracket, but I still took the photo just so her name can be on the qualifying leaderboard.
Ben Mullen Leaves
After 45 minutes have passed in the session, Ben Mullen decides to call it quits and leaves the stage. He had a qualifying score of 821,253 which guaranteed him a spot in the Bronze Bracket. In my opinion, it was probably a good move to not spend another hour trying to beat the score. Especially if the goal is to just make it in any of the brackets.
Random Player Shows Up
A random player suddenly shows up and takes Ben’s place. I did not know who he was, neither did the commentators. That player turned out to be Matan Even, known as the “Bill Clinton Kid”.
He was starting at lower levels, so I just focused on the other players.
The General Routine Of A Judge In The Qualifying Round
At this point, all of you get the idea of what I am doing.
Once I started submitting a few scores, I got the general routine of being a judge in the qualifying round. At this point, the role got easier because players had already submitted their high scores. I only needed to focus on the players that were getting close to beating their previous best score of the session. The game display shows their top score of the session, so that made it easier for me to see which players needed my attention.
Most of the time, it was players that reached Level 19 that I needed to focus on. At the same time, I was also rooting for them to improve their qualifying score. This time, I was right behind the player instead of watching them on a livestream.
Once in a while, the score runner shows up to collect the scorecards.
Time Is Up!
When time ran out, the commentator, Chris Foryst, let the players know that their current game was the last one. This was a relief for me because I did not have to rush to take photos of the player’s game.
In Jeff’s last game, he transitioned to Level 19 with a score of 589,000. Only to top out at Level 21 with a 677K score, unable to get a maxout in qualifying.
After that, I looked over at Ansel’s game, where he was in a messy situation. He manages to clear a triple to lower the stack, but fails to get the square all the way to the left. The game ends with a low score that does not improve his qualifying score.
Jaws was the only one still qualifying, so I walked over to his station. He transitioned to Level 19 with a 500K score, could have scored higher but opted to keep his board low going into Level 19. Jaws continued to line it out to score some more points. At Level 22, he hangs the J-Piece which causes him to top out, finishing with a score of 540,260.
With that, everyone finished their last game. I took the filled-out scorecards out of my fanny pack and walked off the stage.
At that moment, I felt like a delivery person with an important message in my hand. I had to deliver the scorecards to the Stats table.
There was a crowd standing in front of the table. The crowd let me through when I said “Excuse me, scores coming through”. Once I got to the table, I handed the scorecards over to the Stats team.
Results of the Qualifying Session
There were 9 players who were in the last session. Three of those players did not make it to any of the brackets, they were Chris Bidwell, Matan, and Steve Deluca.
Jaws barely made it into the Bronze bracket with a 540,260 qualifying score. A total of 112 players made it into any of the brackets, Jaws was the #112 seed.
3 other players also made the Bronze bracket, they were Ben Mullen, Ryan Hamburger, and Kim Moore. Their qualifying scores were, 821K, 751K, and 708K, respectively.
Jeff Moore made it to the Silver Bracket with a 987K score in qualifying.
Ansel managed to get 4 maxouts and a 966K kicker. He made it to the Gold Bracket as the #46 seed, barely made it in. This ended up bumping Bland, who got 4 maxouts in their qualifying session, out of the Gold Bracket. For the first time in CTWC history, a player with 4 maxouts in qualifying did not make the Gold Bracket.
The cutoff for Gold Bracket was 4 maxouts and a very high kicker. This was very different from last year, where the cutoff was 1 maxout and a high kicker.
The Qualifying Round was over, knockouts rounds were next. Which I talk about in the next article, Part 5.
