How Tetris 99 can help you improve at Smash

WHERE WE DROPPING TETROMINOES?

I totally didn't steal that from youtube comments...

Ok I made a whole post about alts, but for some reason I think this might be a bit harder. Oh well let's get into it. (Somehow yes, this is actually a serious post.)

Do people still do the table of contents?

~Reaction time~

~Fast inputs~

~Getting use to multiple things happening at once~

~Thinking ahead~

~Dealing with pressure~

~Safer play/understanding how much mistakes hurt~

Reaction time

Tetris

Both Smash and Tetris 99 benefit from having good reaction time, and if you've gotten towards the end of a Tetris 99 match, you know how fast it can get. You have to be EXTREMELY quick to constantly react and put the tetrominoes in the right places. It isn't just occasional situations either, when it gets fast it stays that way which is even better for improving your reaction time. Once the pace picks up it only stop when you... die? I mean it does say K.O.

Smash

To be good at Smash you need a good reaction time for multiple reasons, like punishes. Reaction time could be the difference between winning and losing a match. If your reactions are good, you can get damage on the opponent or avoid taking damage, so it is definitely useful to try and get good at reacting as fast as possible.

Fast inputs

Tetris

Like I said, Tetris 99 gets fast, so naturally you have to act fast. Similar to the fast reactions, you need to move incredibly fast and put the tetrominoes where they need to be. While it may not be frame perfect combos, changing the direction of the blocks and getting them in the right places can require you to be very fast. Speaking of frame perfect combos...

Smash

In Smash, especially Melee, being able to do inputs quickly is necessary. In Melee there is a lot of tech that has really tight timing, but other Smash games also have some tech that requires you to do fast inputs. In all Smash games optimising precise combos is important. If you can't do inputs fast it will hurt your gameplay.

For all you Melee players, a great Melee content creator I'd recommend is Myrrusz.

Getting use to multiple things happening at once

Tetris

There are more things going on in Tetris 99 than you might think. You have to play Tetris which takes enough skill and focus, and try to attack people while not getting attacked yourself. You also have to think think ahead, but that's a different point entirely.

Smash

Smash has tons of things happening at once. You and your opponent are constantly throwing out safe moves, trying to make reads and find patterns, doing footsies etc. Getting used to multiple things happening will help you out in Smash tremendously.

Thinking ahead

Tetris

It shows you the pieces you are going to get in Tetris 99, and you can save a piece. You can also plan ahead by placing pieces and leaving a gap waiting to get the tetrominoe/tetrominoes you need.

Smash

Thinking ahead in Smash is a good skill to have. For example, if you notice your opponent is always rolling from ledge, you COULD punish with a forward tilt, but if you do that the opponent probably won't choose the option again. Instead, you can wait until high percent and get a kill with a smash attack, throw, etc.

Dealing with pressure

Tetris

In the end game Tetris 99 can actually be really stressful since it gets insanely fast and other people can attack you with gray blocks. If you play enough you will slowly get better at dealing with the pressure.

Smash

Similar to Tetris, when Smash gets towards the end the pressure can really get to you. In Smash though there are also tournament nerves and the pressure to perform well. That's why the ability to deal with pressure is a good one to have.

Safer play/understanding how much mistakes hurt

Tetris

This game could actually help you play safer in Smash. If you make ONE mistake in Tetris it can cost you the whole game. Having the feeling of one mistake costing you the whole game makes you really want to play the best you can.

Smash

So after playing Tetris and losing because of mistakes you're going to understand how much 1 mistake can cost you. This could make you play safer and realise maybe approaching with a random dash attack isn't the best idea after your opponent punishes you for it.

The main point here is in Tetris 99 it is easy to understand when you've made a mistake. It can be harder to understand what you are doing wrong in smash, but now you might be more aware why your opponent punishes you since you've known the mistakes you made in Tetris and it will seem familiar.

Forgot my new outro and had to fix a spelling mistake so uhh.

Bi.