The final day was less hectic than yesterday, with only 16 players left in the tournament.
Sergio performed the Tetris Anthem to commence the Top 16 matches.
The Pressure of #1 Seed To Perform At Their Peak
Sharky (#1 seed) was going up against Triskai (#16 seed). Sharky barely won his last match, so I was wondering if he would struggle again or be able to shake off the rough start in the tournament.
Well, it was a rough start for Sharky as he lost the first game. But Sharky won Game 2, after Triskai had an early shift of the Z-Piece led to an eventual topout.
In Game 3, Sharky had a low transition score going into Level 19, he was falling behind. It became impossible for Sharky to catch up once he missed a crucial J-Piece tuck. Triskai takes Game 3 and leads the match, 2-1. Triskai was one win away from defeating the #1 seed.
Sharky managed to win Game 4 to live to play another game. He was in another decider match.
Sitting in the front row, I could sense the tension in Sharky as he drank from his large water bottle.
I felt a lot of tension watching Game 5 from the front row, much more than if I was watching from a livestream on my laptop. The only thing separating me from the players was the short distance between me and the game stations where Sharky and Triskai were playing.
In Game 5, Triskai was ahead going into Level 19 transition. Triskai played all the way to the Level 29 Killscreen, finishing with a 900K score. Sharky couldn’t chasedown the score and was eliminated.
Giving Commentators Information
I was tasked with providing stats to commentators through a shared Google Doc.
Commentators had a tablet on the table with a shared Google Doc open. This is how the organizers and I communicate with them. When someone makes a large contribution to the Prize Pool via Matcherino, I would type it in the Google Doc along with the person’s message on my laptop.
Failed Countdown
The organizers wrote down in the Google Doc to introduce someone named Phil Moore. Don’t know who that guy is.
The commentators introduce him. Phil Moore, with his high hosting energy, introduced himself as the former host of Nick Arcade. Shortly afterwards, he initiated the countdown. Unfortunately, the players were not ready yet.
I looked up “Nick Arcade” on my phone and saw that the show ran in the 1990s. No wonder I didn’t know about the show.
A few minutes later, the players were ready, and the commentators did the countdown because Phil Moore had to go.
Quarterfinals
Out of the Top 8 seeded players, the #1 seed was the only one to not make the Top 8.
One of the first matches was Blue Scuti vs Triskai.
Blue Scuti won the first game after Triskai had an early topout.
The second game ended with both players maxing out, which is an impressive feat with DAS. Interestingly, Triskai did not get a maxout in Qualifying. Blue Scuti won that game with a 1.1 million.
However, Triskai had an early topout in Game 3, and Blue Scuti swept the match.
Explaining Inside Jokes and CTWC Lingo
Throughout some of the matches, the crowd would sometimes shout “Buco!” at the start of the game.
Since Diane was new to the scene, I explained the origin. Quaid failed to qualify for the first CTWC back in 2010, so he and his friends picked someone to root for. They decided to root for Matt Buco.
I also explained a relatively new term in the Classic Tetris community. Players sometimes do a VITS (Vertical I Tuck Setup)
Semifinals
Fractal taped a promo for his upcoming match against PixelAndy, involving some statistics.
He ended up defeating PixelAndy.
Finals
The finals was between Fractal and Blue Scuti. Fractal won the match 3-1, to become the first Jonas Cup winner.
Fractal’s trophy had to be shipped to him because it was fragile and difficult to take on the plane.
With the tournament over, it was time to hangout with the community at the afterparty.
