Recognizing Block Combinations

[Anonymous1]

Block Combinations are one of the key elements to being a good player. But before I begin, you may be wondering, what is a Block Combination?

Block Combinations are groups of pieces that sort of just seem to "fit together". For instance, the L and Z piece fit together well, and the J and S piece fit together well. LO, JO, LOJ, JSL, etc. There's lots of piece combinations that fit together, and if you want to get good, you should try to discover as many as you can!



Whenever you stack up, you need to think of the pieces and previews in terms of these "block combinations". (You won't always be able to do this, but you should try!)

It's hard to explain in words how to think in terms of this, but I attempted to make some fumens that accurately represent my idea.

First, thinking in terms of these Block Combinations make stacking flat incredibly easy.

http://harddrop.com/fumen/?m110@7eF2MWKAqn88AwUrGEi3BAA0aBSWPKAMd88AwUrGEi?3BAATSPAAJeBXMPKAMd88AwUrGEi3BAA9bC3ae16NEAo3Mo?DqbUKnbWKke16NAA7eGKIPKAsn88AwUrGEi3BAAsTB3GPKA?zP88AwUrGEi3BAAGSBJ7OAAzQBVOB

The reason why these Block Combinations are so effective is that when you can recognize when your stack needs a certain block combination, you don't really need to focus on that part of the stack because you know what pieces you need (the Block Combination pieces). This statement is kind of confusing, so I'll give an example. In the fumen below, the stack isn't necessarily the best. However, I can recognize that when I have an O shaped hole in my stack, that there are a few piece combinations I can do to fix this.

http://harddrop.com/fumen/?m110@rdA3obB3kbB3gbC3hbD3gbC3hbD3gbI3gbI3gbI3qb?AoUaAzKZeDy488AQcTDEloo2AJG98AQ5drDMnBAA7eD7hqJ?AjHfhDvoo2ARAAAAAgb6BPJAjHfhDvoo2ASAAAAOSB3dpU5?GmboU4GnboU4GMcAwNAA7eCqBPJAjHfhDvoo2ATAAAAcNBA?wNkAjHfhDvoo2Azno2AFbOcDO388AQLtkEFs0rDFbUOCToA?VBwdwNmboUxNmboUwNnbpUMcAwNAA7eCeCPJAjHfhDvoo2A?UAAAA9MBAAArdAAhbUKlbBAVK4GhbBAgbCAUK4GDAgbGY9e?EYBAEYkzJYBAEYkzAAnbA3hbAAlbA3pbAQprAB2STASYDeD?T/EvEFb82Dmoo2A5H5TAyCxrDFbEmDvj5aE0Sg/DJmhCA7e?DUTB/zc3YBAAA

If in my preview, I can see that L Z are the next two pieces coming up, I don't need to worry about the square hole because I know that the LZ combination will fix the square hole. Instead of focusing on the square hole now, I can focus on how to fix the other parts of the field.

Furthermore, if you can keep recognizing piece combinations, you'll be able to recognize the shape it creates after you place down the pieces.

http://harddrop.com/fumen/?m110@rdA3obB3kbB3gbC3hbD3gbC3hbD3gbI3gbI3gbI3qb?A4G7eCqBPKAsn88AwUrGEi3BAAcNBAwNsAX9zdEFbsYEoit?rDFbEmDvY0TASY91DpN98AwUrGEiH98AwDc/Dl46ACld9em?b9eqcAAA7eAAwNAA

So what can you do with this knowledge? You can recognize pieces that will be able to fit into your stack.

http://harddrop.com/fumen/?m110@rdA3obB3kbB3gbC3hbD3gbC3hbD3gbI3gbI3gbI3qb?A4G7eCqBPKAsn88AwUrGEi3BAAcNBAwNsAX9zdEFbsYEoit?rDFbEmDvY0TASY91DpN98AwUrGEiH98AwDc/Dl46ACld9em?b9eqcAAAldFYmbFYqcXzOAA7eBOHBAAAjd5GdDlb4GdDmb4?GicAwNCAP8BAA7eEincfXqAAFnc7ic7ic

Anyway, if you can learn this, you'll become pro in now time. And if I have time, I'll post some Block Combinations that I do. You can feel free to post any that you do a lot too.