Tutorial Videos

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The Basics

Here is a neat trick to sustain back-to-back bonuses after a T-spin triple with no soft drop. So, you get this below after a T-spin triple. What do you do?

Diagram Set 16-1
1	2

The player puts an L this way in step 2. He then upstacks the lavender area cleanly using any of the 4 permutations: JO, ZJ, LO, and LS.

3

4

Make a Tetris line clear.

The next garbage hole is exposed cleanly.

This creates a clean, 4-block-high rectangle that can be cleared with a Tetris. This method is called Anchor Set. It sustains back-to-back bonuses and minimizes soft drops.

Variations

Anchor Set has a T-spin double variation:

1. Anchor Set T-Spin Double Variant

In this variation, you place the J (L if mirrored) piece this way below to make a T-spin double:

Diagram Set 16-2
1	2

Spot this common mid-game pattern.

Put a J in it and make an overhang. T-spin double done!

This aftermath shape is dirty. So what can we do? Please see the next sub-section.

Continuations and Follow-Ups

Anchor Set can be followed up after the Tetris for extra firepower.

1. Back-to-Back Follow-Up

You can follow up diagram set 16-2 step 2’s dirty aftermath with the following method to make it clean:

Diagram Set 16-3
3	4

If you do not wish to take the normal T-spin double, you can make a T-spin single like this.

Top it with a flat J and forecast an overhang. After the Tetris, you get a T-spin.

Here, the unconventional T-spin single rotation orientation leads to a clean Tetris. You can then follow it up with a prophecy T-spin double, which brings us to the next section.

2. Prophecy T-Spin Follow-Ups

You would want to stack the lavender area with composite shapes that make the below lavender shape and ensure it is flat.

Why flat? Because they let you do prophecy T-spins after the Tetris line clear:

Diagram Set 16-4
1	2

A T-spin triple aftermath followed up by an Anchor Set method’s Tetris line clear to a prophecy T-spin. After the Tetris line clear, you get a T-spin double.

The lavender shape in step 2 can be made out of the 2-piece combinations shown at the start of this chapter (like LO, JO, SL, ZJ).

Here are other prophecy T-spin follow-ups:

Diagram Set 16-5
1	2

A prophecy T-spin triple after an Anchor Tetris.

Diagram Set 16-6
1	2

A prophecy DT Cannon after an Anchor Tetris.

In my experimentation, making the above stacks flat lets you follow up with a T-spin double, T-spin triple, or DT Cannon more easily by constructing the overhangs before the Tetris line clears.

In a Nutshell

Anchor Set allows you to follow up some T-spin triples without expending a soft drop or using skims. This lets you sustain back-to-back bonuses.

Pros and Cons
Pros	Provides a clean way to sustain back-to-back bonuses. Reduces soft drop penalties. Can sometimes be easily followed up with a prophecy T-spin.
Cons	Anchor Sets have significant piece dependencies (especially the 2-piece prop), making their construction sometimes impossible. Has a significant failure rate.