Sidnev wins the 2022 Classic Tetris European Championship. He became a back-to-back Tetris European Champion.
The 2022 Classic Tetris European Championship (CTEC) returned to an in-person event for the first time since 2019. The event was held in Copenhagen, Denmark.
This event uses the PAL version of NES Tetris, instead of the NTSC version used at CTWC. In the PAL version, the Killscreen happens at Level 19. This is caused by the difference in frame rates between the two versions.
For a brief overview of these two versions, check out this video.
In this tournament, the Top 32 compete in a Single-Elimination Bracket. Each match was a Best of 5, until the Finals where it became a Best of 7.
Sidnev Seeks A Back-To-Back Victory
On Friday, November 18, Sidnev entered the tournament as a defending champion. In the Qualifier, he and SV both scored a Maxout. Sidnev clinched the #2 Seed, while SV got the #1 Seed.
The Tournament Begins – Saturday, November 19
In the first 2 rounds, Sidnev swept Mitolex (#31 Seed) in the Top 32 and knocked out Roccoricci (#15 Seed) in the Top 16, 3-1.
Quarterfinals
During the Quarterfinals, Sidnev faced Markuh (Marq) (#10 Seed). In the first game, Sidnev entered the Level 19 Killscreen with a 100K+ lead and eventually won. He won the second game after Markuh had an early top out. Game 3 turned into a Neck and Neck Killscreen Battle, with Sidnev emerging victorious after Markuh topped out at Level 21.
Semi-Finals
In the Semi-Finals, Sidnev faced TetrisSchneck (#6 Seed). During Game 1, TetrisSchneck topped out at Level 20 with about a 145K lead. After reaching Level 25, Sidnev overtook the lead to win the game.
TetrisSchneck won Game 2 to tie the match after Sidnev topped out.
Game 3 went into a Killscreen battle, with Sidnev entering Level 19 with a 100K+ lead. Eventually, TetrisSchneck topped out at Level 20, which gave Sidnev his second win and put him 1 win away from advancing to the Finals.
In Game 4, Sidnev had an early top out and lost. This dragged the match to a Game 5 decider.
The Game 5 Decider went to a Killscreen battle, with Sidnev entering Level 19 with about an 80K lead. He extended that lead by scoring 3 more Tetrises and topped out at Level 22 with a 140K+ point lead. TetrisSchneck could not beat Sidnev’s score, meaning that Sidnev won the game and match to advance.
Grand Finals: Best Of 7
The Finals, which was a Best of 7, was a match featuring Sidnev and SV (#1 seed). In Game 1, Sidnev had a 90K+ lead going into Level 19. The Killscreen battle was on, SV set up a Column 8 Tetris well on Level 26, but the Long Bar would not come in time for him to score a Tetris. Shortly afterward, SV topped out and lost.
In Game 2, SV set up a Left Well, shortly before going into Level 19. Once he reached Level 19, he was unable to get the J-Piece over to the left side and topped out. Sidnev won the game and led the match, 2-0.
Lining It Out On Killscreen
In Game 3, Sidnev had an 82K lead going into the Killscreen battle. He then increased his lead by getting 5 more Tetrises. At Level 24, Sidnev double-flipped the Long Bar and topped out with a 204K lead. SV chased down the lead by lining it out to Level 38.
In Game 4, SV had a 57K lead when he entered the Level 19 Killscreen battle. Sidnev scored a Tetris on Level 20 and Level 21 to shrink the lead to about 16K. SV increases that lead by getting a Tetris going into Level 23. Afterwards, he could not get the L-Piece all the way to the left and tops out with a 34K lead, and Sidnev was able to get a Tetris at Level 25 to beat SV’s score and win the game. This put the match at 3-1, with Sidnev being one win away from winning the tournament.
In Game 5, SV had a dangerous board early on. Despite getting a Dirty Tetris, he topped out early with a 13K point lead. At this time, the Right well on Sidnev’s board was blocked, but Sidnev managed to clear out the well and got a Tetris to win the game and match, 4-1. Sidnev became a back-to-back Tetris European Champion.
The Award Ceremony
When Sidnev won last year’s tournament, he did not receive his trophy because the event was held online. So, Sidnev got a trophy for the 2021 win, as well as another trophy for the 2022 win.
To learn more about Sidnev, check out his interview from the Piece Dependency Podcast. Here is his Twitch channel.
Keep up with the latest news about CTEC by following them on Facebook and joining their Discord. Here is their official website and here is an unofficial bracket of this year’s tournament.
Watch The 2022 Classic Tetris European Championship
The 2022 Classic Tetris European Championship is available on their Twitch channel. The links below will take you to the starting points of each of the rounds.
