16-year old Joseph Saelee defeats 7 time Classic Tetris World Champ Jonas Neubaurer [video]

Deleted member 8468 · Oct 22, 2018

This is a really cool event to watch, so glad classic Tetris is still getting new players.

I've been playing arcade Tetris at a local spot this year, after most of my time spent on GB/DS the older games seem much less forgiving with spins and tucks but I'm starting to love it. I should probably get a proper NES setup going...

Briarios · Oct 22, 2018

... is it sad that this solidified my decision to get The Tetris Effect?

Slacker247 · Oct 22, 2018

Tetris comps are surprisingly interesting to watch. Seen a few videos of this guy and him Vs the Japanese champ, when they mess a drop or something, it's quite tense. Just the speed they're going at is impressive.

StiLteD · Oct 22, 2018

Replicant said:
That Asian racist comment in there though.

As far as Tetris being an esport, there is much more skill and talent here needed than the average shooter.

Think he might have said agent actually

TheBeardedOne · Oct 22, 2018

That's impressive. Congratulations to him.

Master Alucard · Oct 22, 2018

Aegis Renfro said:
Better explanation. Basically, it's "pure" Tetris with no gimmicks or exploits.
It's also an homage to the Nintendo World Championships, where Thor Aackerlund, the GOAT, played and won.

great video, thank you for linking it

Stinkinmushroom · Oct 22, 2018

Trickster said:
I feel confused as heck watching that. What's the "twist" that makes what they were doing hard? The older player just seemed to give up? I mean it can't be the speed at which they play, because you can go on youtube and find hundreds if not thousands of videos where people play tetris at a completely different speed, this looks like slowmotion compared to that

Not the same Tetris at all. 3 main differences:

- you can't hold a piece.
- you cant slide a piece after it touched the piece underneath. This is probably the biggest difference
- algoritm of wich piece comes next is way harder here for some reason. Less chances of J and L and bars i think (not sure about these exactly)

Stinkinmushroom · Oct 22, 2018

apessino said:
I've been obsessed with Classic Tetris since the amazing Ecstasy of Order documentary came out - I've followed every tournament and exhibition match for the last 6 years, seen some truly amazing moments and watched the level of the game rise to truly insane heights, and still yesterday's championship was something truly special. Jonas is a class act, and Joseph's style is going to change the game in the next few years.

Best of all, got to watch the last day with my 10 y/o son who had no idea what it was all about at the start of the day, and by the semis was yelling things like "What a tuck! He had a two frame window!" :D We had a blast.

That's really cool. :)
Didnt know about this documentary. Will watch it for sure!

Cassius Bright · Oct 22, 2018

It's amazing that a 20 year old game is still being played competitively in tournaments.

Tetris is such an iconic game.

FantasticMrFoxdie · Oct 22, 2018

that was amazing

Leonsito · Oct 22, 2018

NES Tetris is still king, incredible game.

oni-link · Oct 22, 2018

DozyHoneyBadger said:
It's amazing that a 20 year old game is still being played competitively in tournaments.

Tetris is such an iconic game.

Tetris is well into it's 30s at this point, the OG game is from 1984 (though the NES version is from 1989)

Cassius Bright · Oct 22, 2018

oni-link said:
Tetris is well into it's 30s at this point, the OG game is from 1984 (though the NES version is from 1989)

Haha, indeed, I can't keep up at this point. People will still be playing Tetris when I'm in my 60's.

Replicant · Oct 22, 2018

StiLteD said:
Think he might have said agent actually

Haha I swear I heard Asian

nib95 · Oct 22, 2018

CKOHLER said:
I had to look this up as well. Apparently, instead of holding down on the dpad to speed up your piece placement, you very rapidly tap down. I'm not sure but I think it makes more course corrections possible when the game speeds up.

Awesome. Thanks for the info.

Praxis · Oct 22, 2018

Replicant said:
Haha I swear I heard Asian

That's what I heard.

Z-Beat · Oct 22, 2018

All I see when I look at Jonas is Michael Keaton in Spider-Man Homecoming

JusDoIt · Oct 22, 2018

Are they using standard NES pads? I really hope Tetris gets added to Switch online after this.

djinn · Oct 22, 2018

This was great! Thanks for sharing!

tmarg · Oct 22, 2018

DozyHoneyBadger said:
It's amazing that a 20 year old game is still being played competitively in tournaments.

Tetris is such an iconic game.

Most competitive spectator games are decades old or more. The reliance on new releases and constantly evolving rulesets is one of the biggest things holding 'esports' back. With mainstream sports, you can get together with your grandparents and watch a game, and it will be almost exactly the same thing they learned as children.

Praxis said:
That's what I heard.

He did say asian. For context, he thought the 20 year old semifinalist from the previous match was in his 30's. Probably grabbed the wrong player bio. It actually is difficult to judge asian people's ages sometimes, I don't know that it is particularly racist to say so.

funky · Oct 22, 2018

When I think competitive Tetris I think of the stupid fast Tetris Grandmater videos with near instant drops so seeing NES Tetris is nice.

Praxis · Oct 22, 2018

tmarg said:
Most competitive spectator games are decades old or more. The reliance on new releases and constantly evolving rulesets is one of the biggest things holding 'esports' back. With mainstream sports, you can get together with your grandparents and watch a game, and it will be almost exactly the same thing they learned as children.

He did say asian. For context, he thought the 20 year old semifinalist from the previous match was in his 30's. Probably grabbed the wrong player bio. It actually is difficult to judge asian people's ages sometimes, I don't know that it is particularly racist to say so.

Oh, didn't think he was being racist.

Sixfortyfive · Oct 22, 2018

tmarg said:
Most competitive spectator games are decades old or more. The reliance on new releases and constantly evolving rulesets is one of the biggest things holding 'esports' back. With mainstream sports, you can get together with your grandparents and watch a game, and it will be almost exactly the same thing they learned as children.

Absolutely agreed with this. Tying an esport to a product that's inevitably going to be discarded as the underlying tech is made obsolete leads to a lot of issues.

tellNoel · Oct 22, 2018

When the kid started crying I admittedly got a little emotional for him lol
That community seems really awesome.
Jonas was hella classy about it.
Good vibes all around

RionaaM · Oct 22, 2018

This is impressive, especially because this is pure Tetris with no helps or anything. Don't think I can go back to a version that doesn't feature drop shadows (marking where the piece will fall) or the hold feature.

Hoa · Oct 22, 2018

funky said:
When I think competitive Tetris I think of the stupid fast Tetris Grandmater videos with near instant drops so seeing NES Tetris is nice.

Yea it's two different styles of Tetris games and both require an insane amount of skill. Not too much different than different iterations of fighting games.

Heroin Cat · Oct 22, 2018

Turkoop said:
"his mom his sister? I can't tell, she's asian"

hahahaha

I was enjoying the vid up until that.

Even though I knew Joseph would win I though Jonas was winning most of the last round lol.

Philly Cheesesteak · Oct 22, 2018

Is it me or did it feel like he gave up at the end?

Windu · Oct 22, 2018

Ha awesome!

I watched a bunch of the finals matches like 6 months ago and noticed the dynasty that he had going. Nice upset! Going to be a fun rivalry.

Musubi · Oct 22, 2018

hahaha you can see him like holding his breath the whole last 30 seconds of that

Poised Turtoise · Oct 22, 2018

You can't tell me that one commentator doesn't sound exactly like James Chen.

EDIT: It IS James Chen? Oh I'm gonna love this

Kyora90 · Oct 22, 2018

Philly Cheesesteak said:
Is it me or did it feel like he gave up at the end?

You should watch Jonas' match before this one, he was mentally exhausted.

big_z · Oct 22, 2018

Surprised the kid didn't pass out from not breathing and the tension. Jonas is a good sport and this loss will make it more fun preparing for next year. Good stuff.

Yukinari said:
Whens the Tetris Effect championship?

Never, too much latency and visual effects for the game to be more than an interactive screen saver with Tetris.

Poised Turtoise · Oct 22, 2018

sibarraz said:
I'm impressed by how "mainstream" has been this piece of news.

Would be cool to see a evo of puzzle games, tetris (NES,TGM) PuyoPuyo, Money Idol Exchanger, and the likes

This is a FANTASTIC idea

apessino · Oct 22, 2018

Kyora90 said:
You should watch Jonas' match before this one, he was mentally exhausted.

He said as much in the interview after the semifinal - he was spent, you could tell from the first game against Joseph, and then the kid's play style definitely got to his head.

I have no doubt he will reassess and train specifically for the new challenge. It is actually a good thing because Jonas has been so dominant the last 4 years he probably needed a new goal to rekindle that old competitive spirit.

Next year will be even more awesome... :)

Radarscope1 · Oct 22, 2018

Awesome. Seems like such a cool community. Jonas is a great sport. He's just having fun. Thanks OP.

Deleted member 5621 · Oct 22, 2018

Whew, that last stretch. So many saves.

BasilZero · Oct 22, 2018

Wow

Didn't know they had a championship show for Tetris lol

justiceiro · Oct 22, 2018

I hate tetris, but i admit that this was impressive.

Son Goku · Oct 22, 2018

I could heat them both if we just gave me the handicap of all straight pieces and them all Z pieces

Drain You · Oct 22, 2018

Don't have time to watch this right now, so I'm really just commenting so I remember to later. Tetris videos are always amazing, I watch this one video every year or so where this guy is playing the end of tetris where is invisible or something, super amazing to watch. Competitive tetris is cool.

Edit: I see now funky already posted the video I was thinking of, sweet.

Syntsui · Oct 22, 2018

This was way more entertaining than I expected, I'll definitely look out for Tetris competitive videos from now on. As for the asian joke, it came from an asian person so... just stop.

Gundam · Oct 22, 2018

Today I learned Golf isn't a sport because athletes don't directly compete with each other, but against the wind conditions.

Fishsnot · Oct 22, 2018

Gaddamn that was tense!
His face and heavy breathing at the end...lol I was right there with him.
Congratulations indeed to Joseph. Amazing skills and concentration!

spman2099 · Oct 22, 2018

Sheepinator said:
OK.

What is with this attitude, man? I personally greatly enjoyed that back and forth match. You didn't? Cool. Move on. Don't feel obligated to post.

nded · Oct 22, 2018

justiceiro said:
I hate tetris, but i admit that this was impressive.

What could you possibly have against Tetris?

Noogy · Oct 22, 2018

What an amazing match. I like to pretend I'm pretty good at Tetris but this just boggles my mind.

Grimminski · Oct 22, 2018

I read that as Joseph Stalin beat the 7 time world champ at Tetris and thought "Yeah, that makes sense"

Gundam · Oct 22, 2018

nded said:
What could you possibly have against Tetris?

Tetris is so perfect a game it makes everyone feel insecure about their choice of favorite game. 1 weird secret game publishers HATE.

JustinP · Oct 22, 2018

Jonas' sportsmanship is so good and I wish we saw more of that in e-sports.

16-year old Joseph Saelee defeats 7 time Classic Tetris World Champ Jonas Neubaurer [video]

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