Andrew Artiaga

Last updated

P1xelAndy
Andrew Artiaga 2022 CTWC.jpg
Artiaga competing in the 2022 Classic Tetris World Championship qualifying round
Personal information
NameAndrew Artiaga
Born2004or2005(age 18–19) [lower-alpha 1]
Career information
Games Classic Tetris
Playing career2018–present
Career highlights and awards
  • CTWC runner-up (2020)
  • CTWC third place (2022)

Andrew Artiaga, known online as P1xelAndy, is an American Tetris player from Texas. Competitively, Artiaga has placed second in the 2020 Classic Tetris World Championships (CTWC) and third in the 2022 CTWC. On January 4, 2024, Artiaga also became the third and most recent person to ever "beat" the game, only days after his competitors did so for the first time.

Contents

From a young age, Andrew and his younger brother Michael Artiaga experimented in coding, computing, and gaming, with their father being a web developer. Practicing classic NES Tetris only occasionally before on their home Nintendo Game Boy, both brothers would be inspired to pursue the game further after 16-year-old Joseph Saelee's victory against the 37-year-old and previous champion Jonas Neubauer on YouTube in the 2018 CTWC, marking the beginning of a new generation of Tetris players to the competitive scene. Artiaga has continued to remain competitive since, placing high in his seed for every CTWC since 2020.

Personal life and upbringing

Andrew was born to Van and Randall Artiaga, and is from Fort Worth, Texas. [3] He and his brother, Michael Artiaga, grew up around electronics, with their father being a web developer. [3] [4] Artiaga further learned to experiment in computing, coding, and gaming in elementary school, [3] [4] practiced the skills he learned with his brother by creating characters and music for several of their father's gaming apps. [3]

Tetris career

Artiaga was introduced to Tetris alongside his brother in elementary school, after playing it on the original Nintendo Game Boy at their house. [3] Andrew and Michael, at 13 and 10 years old respectively, began to play the game more intently after watching 16-year-old Joseph Saelee's victory against the 37-year-old and previous champion Jonas Neubauer on YouTube in the 2018 Classic Tetris World Championship (CTWC), marking the beginning of a new generation of Tetris players to the competitive scene. [1] [2] [3] Both brothers practiced more on separate Nintendo consoles at their home, and collaborated on their shortcomings to better their playing. [3] After purchasing twin famiclones, Andrew began to compete in tournaments under the name "P1xelAndy", while his brother Michael adopted the name "DogplayingTetris" or simply "Dog". [1]

During the COVID-19 lockdowns in the United States, both brothers began to practice more often while also learning from their competitors on Twitch. [3] At 15 and 13-years-old respectively [1] [2] both Andrew and his brother qualified for the 2020 CTWC, with Andrew obtaining the top seed in his double-elimination playoffs group after scoring 1 million points in six games. [3] [5] After beating fellow competitor Nenu Kariko, [6] Andrew made it to the final round with his brother Michael, where they competed against each other at their same house due to COVID-19 restrictions. [3] He placed second to his brother shortly after reaching level 29, but celebrated the achievement with him by giving him a high five immediately after the match's conclusion. [3]

Andrew (closest to the camera) and his brother Michael (second closest) competing at the 2022 CTWC Artiaga brothers 2022 CTWC.jpg
Andrew (closest to the camera) and his brother Michael (second closest) competing at the 2022 CTWC

In the 2021 CTWC, Artiaga placed second in his seed after achieving eleven "maxouts", a point in the game where the score becomes so high it no longer registers correctly on-screen, in his qualifying rounds. [7] In the semifinals, Artiaga lost to his brother Michael who would secure a first place in the CWTC again, [3] and finished in fourth behind his original inspiration for the game, Joseph Saelee. [2] [8] In the lead up to the 2022 CTWC, Artiaga beat three world records for highest combined score in a single game, highest losing score at 1.5 million points, and highest winning score at 2.1 million points, all within a monthly competition in May. [2] In the 2022 CTWC, Artiaga placed fourth in his qualifying seed after achieving 13 maxouts within 2 hours of playing. [7] He placed third at the end of the championship, beating his brother who came in fourth. In the 2023 CTWC, Artiaga placed sixth in his qualifying seed, but lost in the quarterfinals to Justin Yu (known online as "Fractal161") who went on to win the championship. [7] On January 4, 2024, Artiaga beat the game, becoming the third person to do so after Willis Gibson (known online as "Blue Scuti") and Justin Yu did so just days earlier. [7]

Playing style

Artiaga began his Tetris career as a Delayed Auto Shift (DAS) player, which involved shifting falling pieces repeatedly while holding the buttons to increase the speed the pieces are turned at. [9] Before the 2020 CTWC however, Artiaga adopted hypertapping, a playing technique popularized by Saelee in the 2018 CTWC, which emphasizes vibrating the buttons rapidly over pressing them. [1] [10] This was done to keep up pace with his brother, who had adopted the technique earlier. [9]

During the 2021 CTWC, Artiaga continued to utilize hypertapping as opposed to rolling, [7] a new technique created by fellow Tetris player Christopher Martinez (known online as "Cheez") before the 2020 CTWC which involves rolling the back of the controller with all five fingers to faster position the game pieces. [2] [10] The success of the technique at the championship led to it being adopted by a number of top players including Artiaga before the 2022 CTWC. [2] [7]

Competitive record

YearChampionshipScoreFinishing placeRef.
2020CTM March Challengers Circuit3–11st [11]
Classic Tetris World Championship 4–02nd [12]
2021CTM March Masters Event3–21st [13]
Classic Tetris World Championship 6–14th [12]
2022CTM March Masters Event2–32nd [14]
CTM May Masters Event3–21st [15]
CTM June Masters Event3–1 [16]
CTM August Masters Event2–12nd [17]
CTM November Masters Event2–1 [18]
Classic Tetris World Championship N/A3rd [12]
2023 Classic Tetris World Championship N/Acontender [19]
2024CTWC Heart of Texas4–01st [20]
CTM January Masters Event1–1contender [21]

Notes

  1. ↑ While no exact date is given, Artiaga was 15 years old during the 2020 CTWC on December 6, 2020. [1] [2]

Related Research Articles

<i>Tetris</i> 1985 video game

Tetris is a puzzle video game created in 1985 by Alexey Pajitnov, a Soviet software engineer. It has been published by several companies for multiple platforms, most prominently during a dispute over the appropriation of the rights in the late 1980s. After a significant period of publication by Nintendo, in 1996 the rights reverted to Pajitnov, who co-founded the Tetris Company with Henk Rogers to manage licensing.

<i>Tetris Plus</i> 1996 video game

Tetris Plus is a puzzle video game developed and by Jaleco for arcades in 1996, and ported to the Sega Saturn, PlayStation, and Game Boy later that year. The game would be followed by a sequel, Tetris Plus 2, in 1997. Ports were to be developed for the Atari Jaguar and Nintendo 64 but these were never released.

<i>Tetris DS</i> 2006 video game

Tetris DS is a puzzle video game developed and published by Nintendo. It was released for the Nintendo DS on March 20, 2006, in North America, April 13, 2006, in Australia, April 21, 2006, in Europe, and April 27, 2006, in Japan. An installment of the Tetris franchise, the game supports up to ten players locally, and supported online multiplayer of up to four players using Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection prior to its discontinuation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jimmy Robertson (snooker player)</span> English snooker player

Jimmy Robertson is an English professional snooker player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sean Rash</span> American ten-pin bowler (born 1982)

Sean Rash is an American ten-pin bowler who is considered one of the top players on the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour. He currently owns 17 PBA Tour titles, including two major championships, and was the 2011–12 PBA Player of the Year. Rash has rolled two of his 30 career PBA perfect 300 games on television, making him the first player in history with multiple perfect games in the TV finals of a PBA Tour event. Canadian François Lavoie and American Chris Via, and Australian Jason Belmonte have since joined Rash in this exclusive club. Sean also owns ten PBA Regional Tour titles.

<i>Tetris Effect</i> 2018 puzzle video game

Tetris Effect is a block-dropping arcade-styled puzzle video game developed by Japanese studios Monstars and Resonair and published by Enhance Games. The game was released worldwide exclusively for the PlayStation 4 on November 9, 2018, and features support for the PlayStation VR. A Microsoft Windows version, with support for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, was released on July 23, 2019. A version for the Meta Quest standalone VR headset was released on May 14, 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thor Aackerlund</span> American professional esports player

Thor Bjorn Thorlei Aackerlund is an American competitive gamer, considered one of the first to go professional.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tracy Fleury</span> Canadian curler

Tracy Fleury is a Canadian curler from Sudbury, Ontario. She joined the Rachel Homan rink as skip for the 2022–23 season, and now plays third on the team. With Homan, she won the 2024 Scotties Tournament of Hearts and will represent Canada at the 2024 World Women's Curling Championship. In 2021, she led her team to a silver medal at the 2021 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials. She has competed at the Canadian national championship seven times and was the Northern Ontario women's junior champion skip from 2005 to 2007.

<i>Tetris Classic</i> 1992 video game

Tetris Classic is a 1992 puzzle video game developed and published by Spectrum HoloByte for DOS systems. It is an adaptation of the 1985 Soviet video game Tetris, which was first released in North America in 1988. Spectrum HoloByte subsequently developed a series of annual spin-off titles for Tetris, and intended to take advantage of improvements in computer technology since the original game's release; for Tetris Classic, they showcased the Video Graphics Array (VGA) standard via illustrations depicting scenes from Alexander Pushkin's poem Ruslan and Ludmila, as well as a soundtrack consisting of selections from Mikhail Glinka's opera adaptation of the poem. The game additionally includes competitive and cooperative two-player modes and an option to set a time limit on games. The game received mixed critical commentary; while reviewers appreciated the enhanced presentation and new multiplayer modes, they noted that the gameplay was unchanged from the original version.

Ecstasy of Order: The Tetris Masters is a 2011 American documentary film that follows the lives of several gamers from around the country as they prepare to compete in the 2010 Classic Tetris World Championship held in Los Angeles, California. It recounts the development and rise of Tetris as one of the most-played video games of all time, the role it has played in shaping the lives of the gamers it chronicles, the mystery surrounding the whereabouts of former Nintendo World Champion Thor Aackerlund, and the conception and execution of the first-ever Classic Tetris World Championship by gaming enthusiast Robin Mihara.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kerri Einarson</span> Canadian curler

Kerri Einarson is a Canadian Métis curler from Camp Morton, Manitoba, in the Rural Municipality of Gimli. Einarson is a four-time women's national champion in curling, skipping her team to victory in the 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 Scotties Tournament of Hearts. She previously won silver in 2018. Einarson has won five Grand Slam of Curling events: the 2016 Boost National, 2019 Players' Championship, 2021 Players' Championship, 2022 Champions Cup, and 2022 Masters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Classic Tetris World Championship</span> Video game competition series

The Classic Tetris World Championship (CTWC) is a video game competition series, hosted by the Socal Gaming Expo. The competition launched in 2010, during the filming of Ecstasy of Order: The Tetris Masters to determine the world's greatest Tetris player. Since 2021, the champion of each tournament has received the Jonas Neubauer Memorial Trophy, named after the seven-time record setting champion who died in 2021. In its first two years, the competition was held in Los Angeles, California, but was moved to Portland, Oregon, in 2012, and was held there annually through 2023. The 2024 edition will be held in Pasadena, California.

NRG Esports is an American esports organization based in Los Angeles, California. It has rosters in League of Legends, Overwatch, Rocket League, Valorant, Counter-Strike 2 and a number of streamers on the internet platform Twitch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sentinels (esports)</span> American professional esports organization

Sentinels is an American esports organization based in Los Angeles, California. The organization was founded as the League of Legends team Phoenix1 and competed in the North American League of Legends Championship Series. In June 2018, Phoenix1 rebranded to Sentinels. The company currently fields teams in Valorant, Apex Legends, and Halo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kyle Troup</span> American professional bowler (born 1991)

Kyle Troup is an American professional ten-pin bowler from Taylorsville, North Carolina, now residing in Mt. Washington, Kentucky. He uses the two-handed shovel-style delivery with a dominant right hand. Troup says he needed two hands when learning to throw the ball as a young child, calling himself self-taught in that regard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonas Neubauer</span> American classic tetris player (1981 - 2021)

Jonas Neubauer was an American Tetris player, seven-time champion at the Classic Tetris World Championship, Twitch streamer, and a taproom manager. Neubauer is widely considered to be one of the greatest Tetris players of all time.

<i>Tetris</i> (NES video game) 1989 video game

Tetris, also known as classic Tetris, is a puzzle video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) released in 1989, based on Tetris (1985) by Alexey Pajitnov. It was published after a legal battle between Nintendo and Atari Games, who had already released a Tetris NES port under a license that was found to be invalid. Bullet-Proof Software had previously published Tetris for the Family Computer in December 1988, while Nintendo had published Tetris for the Game Boy earlier in 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willis Gibson</span> Tetris player from Oklahoma

Willis Gibson, also known online as Blue Scuti, is an American classic Tetris player from Stillwater, Oklahoma. He is best known for becoming the first person to "beat" the game on December 21, 2023, after he triggered a killscreen on the previously-unreached level 157, crashing the game.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justin Yu</span> Tetris player from Texas

Justin Yu, known online as fractal161, is an American student and Tetris player from Texas. While also a student at MIT, Yu has competed in several competitive Tetris tournaments, and is the current Classic Tetris World Champion. On January 3, 2024, Yu became the second person to "beat" the game and first person to achieve the earliest possible game crash on level 155.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Artiaga</span> Tetris player from Texas

Michael Khanh Artiaga, known online as DogplayingTetris or simply Dog, is an American Tetris player from Texas. He is best known for back-to-back victories in the 2020 and 2021 Classic Tetris World Championships (CTWC), the former of which Artiaga would become the Guinness World Record holder for the "Youngest Tetris World Champion" at only 13 years old.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Sweet, Jacob (March 26, 2021). "The Revolution In Classic Tetris" . The New Yorker . Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Karnadi, Chris (July 21, 2022). "Teens are rewriting what is possible in the world of competitive Tetris". Polygon . Retrieved January 20, 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Schonbrun, Zach (December 28, 2021). "A New Generation Stacks Up Championships in an Old Game: Tetris" . The New York Times . Retrieved January 17, 2024.
  4. 1 2 Artiaga, Michael (November 5, 2021). "Experience: I'm the best Tetris player in the world". The Guardian (Interview). Interviewed by Linton, Deborah. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  5. ↑ Tate, Dylan (December 8, 2020). "13-year-old defeats brother to win Classic Tetris World Championship". upcomer.com. Enthusiast Gaming . Retrieved January 23, 2024.
  6. ↑ Shaver, Morgan (December 7, 2020). "Classic Tetris World Championship Ends In Brother Versus Brother Showdown". Prima Games . Retrieved January 23, 2024.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Fractal and PixelAndy become the Second and Third Players to Beat NES Tetris". Tetris Interest. January 7, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  8. ↑ Guinness World Records 2023 (in German) (Deutsche Ausgabe ed.). Ravensburg: Ravensburger. September 15, 2022. p. 105. ISBN   978-3473480555 . Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  9. 1 2 2020 Classic Tetris World Championship Grand Final! (YouTube video). Classic Tetris. December 18, 2020. Event occurs at 0:48. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  10. 1 2 Pape, Sam (October 7, 2022). "The Portland Retro Gaming Expo—And Its Tetris Competition—Returns". Portland Monthly . Retrieved January 21, 2024.
  11. ↑ "Past Tournament Results [Challengers tab]". Classic Tetris Monthly. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  12. 1 2 3 "Results". Classic Tetris World Championship . Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  13. ↑ "Past Tournament Results [Masters tab]". Classic Tetris Monthly. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  14. ↑ "CTM March 2022 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. March 2022. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  15. ↑ "CTM May 2022 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. May 2022. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  16. ↑ "CTM June 2022 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. June 2022. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  17. ↑ "CTM August 2022 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. August 2022. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  18. ↑ "CTM November 2022 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. November 2022. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  19. ↑ "Fractal Wins The 2023 Classic Tetris World Championship". Tetris Interest. October 19, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  20. ↑ "CTWC Heart of Texas 2023 Gold". Classic Tetris Monthly. January 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  21. ↑ "CTM January 2024 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. January 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.