Skill Chains

Now here's where real skill comes into play. You must create the chain AS IT'S happening! No prior planning involved! You can do so with the following techniques. Keep in mind that these techniques require practice, and you must develop precise timing. Here they are listed in the order of easiest to hardest. Keep in mind that you can feel free to come up with more techniques!! This is definitely not all of them that exist, this is just designed to take care of the majority of what will occur when you play.
  • Quick Set Up
  • Slip
  • Triangle
  • Overhead Hit
  • Late Grab
  • Late Drop
  • Double Cross
  • Stealth
  • Late Slip

  • Midair Switch 


The way you must learn to play is to use the easiest techniques the most that you can in your game, and use the hardest techniques ONLY when there is NOTHING else to do! I'm not saying that the harder techniques are just too hard to master, but it's just common sense. Pulling off a difficult maneuver to get a hit will reward you no more than pulling off a slip and getting the hit.  The "late slip" and "midair switch" are moves that you only have ONE FRAME to pull off in! In the SNES, that's 1/30 of a second, and in the N64, that's 1/60 of a second!!! Who wants to be under that pressure? I guarantee that you will screw those techniques up more than you will screw up a "slip". We all do! The idea is to get more points. However, if you're going for the most "stylish combo", then that's a different story... :)

Remember, once pieces are matched, they take about 1.5 seconds to clear (in easy mode).
Learn that timing well, because it will guide you in taking up these techniques!

I have made movies to help you understand my explanation of how you must perform these moves. I highly recommend you download them, especially on the harder techniques!

 

QUICK SET UP

A "quick set up" is basically doing what you did to make regular chains, only doing it AFTER you have made the match. For example, you clear 3 greens. As they are blinking, you quickly look and see that a blue is on top of the matched set, and it will soon fall. So now you quickly find 2 blue pieces and switch them so that they are waiting for the blue piece to fall and create your chain. Here is an example: 

Quicksetup.avi  155 KB

Remember, as SOON as it's set up, figure out how you are going to get the next one!

Note: The reason that I am saying that this move is the easiest is because there is no timing involved at all. The only thing you must do is BEAT that falling piece! You can finish the techniques as early as you want and go right on looking for your next hit! However, the rest of the moves require timing. You can't do them early. You must sit there and wait for precisely the right time. 

 

SLIP

This is the first technique you will learn that requires timing. Whenever pieces are first matched, they create a sort of "wall". You can no longer switch them because they are in the clearing process. They are in this mode for a small amount of time until they disappear. Once they disappear, gravity will force whatever's above them to fall where they were. However, this is not instant!! So what this move requires you to do is after the 3 pieces have disappeared, quickly slip a piece into the gap just before the ones above fall. The first step is to see what piece is going to fall. That is the piece we will start a chain with. So we put a piece of the same color below the match. Now, just after the pieces disappear, you "slip" the appropriate color into the gap and when the pieces settle down, it will create a chain! Below are two different examples of the "slip".  Also, check out the movie below.

 

        

 

Slip.avi 106 KB

 

TRIANGLE

A triangle move is basically a slip. The timing is the same, only with one important change. You are not slipping the piece out in order for it to clear as part of a chain, you are slipping the piece out just so that it can support the piece that is about to fall. That piece will clear horizontally with whatever ends up next to it. The reason it is called the triangle technique is because imagining the shape of a triangle will help you set this specific technique up, since that is what it looks like. Check out the example below!

 

Triangle.avi 253 KB

 

OVERHEAD HIT

This is where the techniques start to get tricky. In this technique, the idea is that while you are in a chain, you take a piece and drop it on top of two other pieces of the same color. However, rather than it just clearing on them, if you drop it JUST at the right moment, it will connect with them as the pieces are falling, and form a hit of a chain when they all hit the ground. So in a way, it is not really a chain reaction, but because you are connecting them JUST at the right moment as their falling, you get the hit, and your chain continues! If you do it too early, they will just clear in the air, and if you do it too late, they will connect too late and you will NOT get a hit for your chain!
Here is an animated picture, plus a movie below...

 

Overhead.avi 104 KB



LATE GRAB

In this technique, you must have 3 like pieces aligned vertically, but there is a piece separating the match. What you must do requires specific timing! Just before the group of pieces is about to fall, you must grab the piece that is separating the match. If done correctly, the pieces will align while they are falling, and once they hit the ground, you have a chain! If done too soon, they will just match BEFORE falling, and if you do it too late, they will match on the floor, but you will NOT get a hit for your chain. Practice makes perfect. Check out the picture plus the movie!

 

 

Lategrab.avi 233 KB

 

LATE DROP

In this technique, you have 3 pieces that are clearing, and there are 2 horizontal pieces side by side on top of them that are about to fall. What you must do is drop the matching piece at JUST the right time so that it falls and is waiting for the 2 that are about to fall. If done too early, they will just clear where they're sitting, and if it's done too late, they will just clear on the ground WITHOUT adding a hit to your chain. Here are 3 of the many ways a "late drop can be performed, plus a movie below to help get you started!

 

         

 

Latedrop.avi 110 KB

 

DOUBLE CROSS

This is an awesome move reported to TetrisAttack.net originally by Kirbmaster.  This move is best described by the animated gif below.  This technique is performed if you wish to create a chain with a chain block that is on top of a group of pieces that are clearing vertically, but the only pieces of that color that can be used are in the position pictured below.  

You have to be very fast, but what you can actually do is swap  both necessary pieces into the gap BEFORE the chain block lands.  You must start with the bottom-most block and then do the one on the second row.  A sure crowd pleaser!

 Check it out!

 

 

STEALTH

A newly discovered treasure, this move is.  Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you need to move a piece over to complete a chain, however you realize that by switching the piece it will clear with pieces completely different than wanted or intended?  (AKA Clearing Bullshits, or Premature Poppage)

 

Usually this situation would cause the premature ending of a chain….well now, TetrisAttack.net introduces the STEALTH.  The timing of this move is a bit tricky at first, but once practiced, you can get it to work every time.  The stealth is pretty much switching a piece 2 spaces over, but you do it SO fast that it simply does not have TIME to clear with ANYTHING after the first swap!!  The way we recommend pulling off the stealth off is positioning your thumb in a way it can just slide over the 2 “switch” buttons on your controller.  Practice switching a piece in and out of a match until you can do that pretty easily.  Then, when ready to perform the move, simply slide your thumb over the two switch buttons, however, as SOON as your thumb taps the first button, tap the direction you are going to move the piece (either right or left).   So if your plan is to move a piece 2 times to the right really fast, simply slide your thumb over the 2 switch buttons, but tap the “right” direction on your directional pad between the thumb slide. 

 If you perform this maneuver correctly, what will happen is the following.  You will switch the piece so that it aligns vertically with two pieces of the same color, however, before the game registers the match, you actually switch it again! 

 It is VERY helpful whenever you want to move a piece a few spaces over WITHOUT it clearing on something else along the way, or if you just want to move something over 2 spaces as FAST as possible!! 

It may SOUND difficult, but we can assure you that with about 2 minutes of practicing the thumb slide, you can get it to work practically every time!

Here is an example of what a stealth looks like.  It would not normally be used for this situation, but the idea of the move shines through.

 

 

* LATE SLIP

This is a hard one!!! The span of time you have to pull this one of is 1/30 of a second (SNES) or 1/60th of a second (N64). Try to ONLY use it when there is NOTHING else to do!!
This technique consists of the following. When a piece is switched into a gap, it falls.  However, it takes about 1/6 of a second to actually begin to fall (the gravity is not instant). So when a piece is falling, you must slip a piece out just below it, as if you are trying to support it in the air. It must be done at the LAST POSSIBLE MOMENT, without missing the slip. If done correctly, the falling piece will be supported in midair by the piece you just slipped out, and while in midair, it will clear on blocks that are next to it. If you do it too early, you will just slip the piece out and it will not support it long enough. If you do it too late, you will just miss the slip entirely. Please check out the animated picture and the video! They are sure to clear things up a bit!

 

Lateslip.avi 126 KB

 

* MIDAIR SWITCH

Just as the last one, the timing is VERY difficult. Simply put, this move consists of switching a piece into a match WHILE it is falling! Although it sounds easy, one frame is all you'll get!  In the second animated picture, you can see an example of a midair switch performed at ground level...strange huh? 

Check 'em out! 

     

Midairswitch.avi 388 KB



You must practice these techniques as much as possible if you want to develop CHAIN BRAIN ©. Once you do, your life will be complete...