Tips for Tetris 99 - Surviving the Battle Royale

Switch Online got a most unique exclusive game a while back in the form of Tetris 99 - A battle royale of 1 vs 99 other players duking it out simultaneously via the classic gameplay that is Tetris.  At first glance, this appears to be just your typical game of Tetris, tranquilly sorting falling blocks in zen-like fashion.  That is, until you're suddenly assaulted with a barrage of random blocks from the bottom of your screen.  The game unfortunately does little to inform the players of these new rules / mechanics, so if you're at a loss as to what is happening or looking for an edge to top the ranks and claim victory over the next tourney, here are some tips and tricks to help you on your way.

Drop With Authority

Let's start with the basics: Players use the left buttons / D-pad to move the blocks back and forth.  Pressing down speeds up the descent of that block, while pressing up instantly drops the block down wherever you're lined up.  Other than occasionally wanting to wedge odd shaped blocks under others, you'll want to defer to the latter as much as possible and hard drop those blocks.  The faster one plays, the quicker one can get out of sticky situations and rack up KO's.

Plan Ahead

Another key feature to be aware of are your upcoming blocks.  Doing so allows you to better consider how to arrange your blocks so that subsequent blocks may better fit, or just when sweet sweet relief is in sight.  You may also notice each block is color coded according to its shape.  Knowing this will help quickly identify blocks and their corresponding ideal match-ups.

Hold Your Blocks

An often forgotten or neglected mechanic is the ability to save / swap out blocks with the shoulder buttons.  If no block is set aside (as is the case with each new game), pressing L/R will save the current block and pull up the next block in order.  From then on, pressing L/R will instead swap the current block with whatever is saved.  No additional swaps can be made until the last swap is completed though, so make sure to pay attention what is being swapped for.  This mechanic is very useful for setting up big plays, setting aside blocks that don't fit well at the moment, or just buying some extra time if needed.

Beware Incoming Attacks

Left of your play view, you may notice gray blocks suddenly pile up, of which over time turn yellow and then red.  These are incoming attacks being sent from other players that will pile your screen with garbage blocks from the bottom up.  The amount of garbage incoming correlates to the number of bricks on this side, so be aware so as not to shoot off the screen and be defeated.  If you should clear lines and/or chain together combos while being attacked, this will counter / negate the effects of the attack.

Choose Your Target

On each side of your play view, you'll see all 99 other players fighting it out at the same time.  Whenever you clear lines in your Tetris game, you'll send garbage blocks to those other players.  The more lines you clear at once or combos of lines you string together, the bigger the attack you'll send to your opponents.  The question remains, how do you determine who to attack and when?  Using the right stick, players can select between 4 different means of attack, of which we'll detail below:

• Attackers - Targets opponents who are trying to attack you.  This is a good defensive option, though sometimes you end up just targeting each other the rest of the game because they too may have this targeting selection enabled.  If such occurs, try switching targets and your attacker may just switch targets.

• KO - Targets a player who is close to being eliminated.  This is a great means to try knocking out players and earning some badges.  Badges increase the output of your attacks against other players and are ideal for clearing the competition in the endgame.

• Badge - Targets players with the most badges.  As players with more badges equate bigger threats, this selection aims to put a stop to such before they get out of hand.  Just be prepared for dangerous retaliation if you chase the big dogs.

• Random - Targets random players.  A perfectly reasonable selection when you don't want to overthink and concentrate on other pressing concerns of the moment.

Follow the Leader

As described above, there are many means in which to choose your targets and aggressively take hold of the game.  However, by that same token, being too aggressive will make you a bigger target and ultimately prove detrimental.  The key is finding the right balance to still earn those needed KO's and badges for the endgame, but keep your distance from the leader until the time comes to sprint for the finish line.

Brace Yourselves

As the battlefield thins to the final few surviving combatants, you'd best prepare for a furious finish.  The blocks will increase in speed and the attacks will become all the more brutal as players have earned their fair share of badges at this point.  Try to keep your board clean and if you can manage, counterattack with some tenacious line clears and combos of your own.

Watch & Learn

The above tips will hopefully help your game a fair share, but if you really want to dig into advanced Tetris moves / techniques, check out some pro players in their element.  These additional tricks will allow for more options while playing, but definitely take some advanced skill to detect and execute in quick fashion when actually playing.  Below is a tutorial for what is known as T-spins, which utilize the purple T-blocks to rotate in odd nooks for unique combo opportunities.

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With any luck and a fair share of practice with the above tips, you'll be ascending the ranks of Tetris 99 in no time.  If you have any tricks or tactics not mentioned above, be sure to share in the comments below!  Thanks.  And happy tetromino sorting!