Tetris Sailboat Opener
Overview
The Sailboat Opener is an opener in Tetris that sets up a T-Spin Single in the first bag, a T-Spin single in the second bag, and a T-Spin Triple in the third bag. Beyond this, there are multiple, viable continuations.
What to see from the video
- It was able to effectively counter the opponent's Stickspin opener, which is a very common opener you will face in competitive Tetris.
- After the opener, the board was ready to receive attacks and I was able to handle early attacks effectively.
- I used a T-Spin double as my continuation which cleaned up my board even more, preparing me to receive attacks.
- As a result of having three T-Spins from the start, I was quickly able to build up a Back-to-Back bonus (A feature in Tetr.io)
Today, we will be discussing the possibilities of the Sailboat opener!
Steps
The following are the steps to execute the Sailboat Opener (Remember that this can be mirrored):
First Bag
Second Bag
Third Bag
- Note that when pursuing the T-Spin Triple, there are multiple ways to stack the pieces that may come before the T-Piece.
Now, once you have these three steps completed, this is where the fun part begins. You have a lot of options for how to continue after the opener, and it is up to you to decide which one is best for your playstyle and the pieces you get. In this case, I went with a T-Spin Double.
Continuations
On the topic of continuations, there are multiple viable continuations after executing the sailboat opener. I would recommend practicing multiple different routes and playing around with the possibilities! Remember different continuations work for different situations...
For example, while the opener has a 77.38% chance of resulting in a perfect clear, this is not necessarily the best continuation from my experience since by the third bag, it is highly likely that the opponent has already sent at least 1 line making it impossible to fully clear the board. A color clear is not necessarily a bad thing, since that means your board is clean, and it will not be too difficult to access garbage sent by your opponent. Most of the time though, especially in higher level play, going for the perfect clear will break your back-to-back letting the opponent gain an advantage.
The most common continuation for me is some variation of a T-Spin Double, I will give a few examples:
Fractal:
Various T-Spin Doubles:
"Floating" T-Spin Doubles:
Yes, I know, there are so many T-Spin continuations, but I find that beginners find it harder to spot these "Floating" T-spins compared to the other variants.
Also, T-Spins are seriously important for a competitive Tetris play :).
Final Thoughts
Overall, the Sailboat Opener is a very strong opener that has given me a lot of success in my competitive games. It may seem daunting at first, but with practice, it will come naturally.
If you are interested in learning more, it is always a great idea to visit the wikis!
In these wikis, you can find more details about the sailboat, and other continuations/setups that may better fit your playstyle.
As always, practice is key, and I hope you have fun learning about my favorite opener!