I love to play Tetris, and I play a lot on www.tetrisfriends.com. My favorite Tetris variation is the Marathon setting where the goal is to clear 15 levelswhile accruing as many points as possible. To move forward to higher levels, an increasing number of lines have to be cleared.
Tetris terminology
Now before we can start the insightful Tetris discussion, we first have to cover some Tetris basics.
Mino - the building block units to build tetromino pieces (four minos to one tetromino)
Tetromino- the geometric Tetris shape formed by joining four Mino pieces
 |
| All seven geometric Tetris Tetromino |
T-Slot - a block formation with T-Tetrimino shaped hole in the matrix, allowing a T-Tetrimino piece be spun into the space
T-Spin - the action of rotating a T-Tetrimino into a T-Slot
Play to win BIG
To win the Marathon setting, you must be able to beat all 15 levels. But if you want to win properly, you need to be able to beat the levels while scoring as many points as possible. A lot of people think that clearing lines with simple I-Tetrimino Back-to-Backs is the way to go for big points, but the Tetris game rewards a lot more points with T-Spin actions.
There are different types of T-Spins. A T-Spin Single is a T-Spin that clears only one line in the matrix. A T-Spin Double occurs when the T-Spin action clears two lines. And a T-Spin Triple clears three lines. On Tetrisfriends, a T-Spin single rewards as many points as a Tetris and a T-Spin double rewards 1.5 times the points of a Tetris.
Another bonus for clearing lines with T-Spins over clearing lines with Tetrises is because Tetrises clear the maximum number of lines (four) at once with less points (this is important because the Marathon variation of the Tetris game has a finite number of lines to clear before the game is over).
How to set up a T-Spin
To set up a T-Spin, you must prepare the matrix with a T-Slot block formation. If you are new to T-Spins, it is helpful to visualize a T-Spin set up by imagining the space where the T-Tetrimino would be and then placing one more Tetrimino piece where one Mino would just be in the way of the T-Tetrimino pathway (like an overhang).
Below are examples of T-Spins.
 |
| T-Spin double (rotate counter-clockwise) |
 |
| T-Spin triple... this will only work if the matrix block formation has an overhang for the T-Tetrimino to slide to the T-Spin single |
There are many ways to set up Back-to-Back T-Spin maps. The easiest set up to follow is the LTJT pattern, although the heavy T-Tetrimino dependence of this set up makes this block formation heavily flawed. A very reliable set up is the OZJ formation because it reduces the number of T-Tetriminos needed.
 |
| LTJT pattern |
 |
| OZJ pattern... if you set up the formation to the right, it would be OSL instead |
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVzKVVgy0Mg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xBNcYO3FGA (for funky music)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f81zUq14M8c (T-Spin Doubles)
Setting up T-Spin maps may seem hard at first, but it's pretty easy once you get the hang of things. In Tetris, there are seven reflecting tetromino pieces up to rotation, with nineteen total rotations overall... which isn't so bad. Once you get the hang of all the rotations, playing Tetris with T-Spins will become natural.
IMAGE SOURCE: http://www.thedailycrate.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/tetris-usa.png, tetrisfriends.com
SOURCE: wwww.tetrisfriends.com, www.tetris.wikia.com
