Note: This is a truncated version of book 4’s T-spin to 4-line PC chapter, which is nearly twice as long. The full book chapter contains 3 more openers.
Many years ago, when I first started playing Tetris, I collaborated with Cosin, one of the founders of Four.lol, to devise T-spin double to 4-line perfect clear openers (technically, they are 6-line perfect clear setups since a total of 6 lines are cleared).
These patterns are marvelous, as they create a quick T-spin double to cancel incoming garbage. You can then use the borrowed time to solve the 4-high perfect clear pattern left by the first T-spin. This addresses the central issue of normal perfect clears from the PCO (Perfect Clear Opener), which is their susceptibility to interruptions, leading to a failed perfect clear.
In addition, the 10 lines of garbage that they send in most Tetris games add an immediate burst that can heavily pressure opponents. This makes them quite viable for quick games like those on Puyo Puyo Tetris 1, 2, and 2S. In games with garbage blocking like Tetris Effect: Connected, their success rate is even higher.
However, their follow-ups can be tricky. Therefore, I have streamlined their many solutions to just the most practical ones.
The List of Openers
Here is the list of openers. Many names end with PC, which stands for perfect clear.
1) Albatross PC
This is a derivation of the standard Albatross opener. It works for an early incoming O in the first bag:
| Diagram Set 20-1 | |
| 1 | 2 |
| Complete the first T-spin double. |
| 3 | 4 |
| Make a 4-block-high perfect clear from step 3. |
The Albatross opener can thus be adapted for a subsequent perfect clear.
If you do not wish to make the perfect clear, you can follow up step 3 with the following:
| Diagram Set 20-2 | |
| A | B |
| T-spin triple. | Freestyle T-spin double. |
B is freestyled and is just a suggestion, without using all of the next bag’s 7 pieces.
For the perfect clear option, in step 4, you would like to stack the second bag, after the first T-spin double, like these:
| Diagram Set 20-3 | |
| A | B |
| C |
Notice how easy it is to stack the L, J, and O on the far right of each diagram. All A, B, and C have the same shape, regardless of how you orient L, J, and O.
After that, you can solve the 3 patterns with a reasonably high, perfect clear chance with the following solutions. The following solutions involve adding additional pieces to reduce the number of solutions.
| Diagram Set 20-4 |
| 90.48% |
.
.
Hence, the above involves placing Z and I pieces to streamline the solutions.
| Diagram Set 20-5 |
| 73.81% |
.
.
The above is the solution set if you place the I and S pieces in the left columns. If you put only I, you have this:
| Diagram Set 20-6 |
| 96.83% |
.
.
If you cannot place L, J, and O in the standard manner above for the second bag, do this:
| Diagram Set 20-7 |
| 90.48% |
.
.
The above has many solutions. However, it is typical to fill the right side with the O and J pieces to reduce the number of solutions, like this:
| Diagram Set 20-8 |
2) Perfectross PC
This opener works for early L or J pieces, depending on whether it is mirrored. O must not come early.
It was researched by me and Pwn_by_numbers many years ago. This opener goes like this:
| Diagram Set 20-9 | |
| 1 | 2 |
| Complete the first T-spin double. |
| 3 | 4 |
| Make the 4-block-high perfect clear. |
If you do not wish to make the perfect clear, you can follow up step 3 with the following:
| Diagram Set 20-10 | |
| A | B |
| Freestyle T-spin triple. | T-spin mini to T-spin chaining. |
A and B are freestyled and are just suggestions, without using all of the next bag’s 7 pieces.
What is so elegant about this method is that you can make the following shape using the second bag from step 3, which resembles the perfect clear opener:
| Diagram Set 20-11 |
| 85.71% |
.
.
| Diagram Set 20-12 |
| 57.14% |
.
.
If it is not possible to make the PCO shape, you can use the following follow-up, which has a near 100% chance to perfect clear with minimal solutions:
| Diagram Set 20-13 |
| 96.83% |
.
.
3) TKI Castle Top PC
This sub-section will be in the actual full chapter in Book 4.
4) Viper PC
This sub-section will be in the actual full chapter in Book 4.
5) Pelican Punch PC
This sub-section will be in the actual full chapter in Book 4.
Summary and Conclusion
The openers in this chapter are mighty, protecting themselves with an initial T-spin double. Many may include a second T-spin line clear incorporated within themselves, boosting firepower.
The firepower and initial burst that they have can catch many players off guard. However, the perfect clear chance is not 100% certain. Therefore, one should use many of the follow-ups mentioned to sustain firepower with T-spins or Tetrises if the perfect clear fails.
How to Tetris 