Your First T-Spin: The Double Setup

One shape, three columns wide, worth more than a four-row clear. Learn this before anything else advanced.

A T-spin double scores 1200 base points against 300 for a plain double, and sends four rows of garbage instead of one. It needs three columns, not a whole well. It is the best return on learning effort in the game.

The shape you are building

You want a notch two rows deep, one cell wide, with an overhang covering one side of the top row. The T slots in sideways and rotates into place.

Concretely: pick three adjacent columns. Build the outer two up. Leave the middle one empty for two rows. Then cover the top of the middle column on one side with a single overhanging cell.

The classic way to create the overhang is an L or J piece placed so its foot sticks out over the gap.

Executing it

1. Bring the T alongside the notch, rotated so its flat side faces the wall of

the notch.

1. Move it into position beside the opening.
2. Rotate it into the notch. The kick pulls it under the overhang.
3. Let it lock. Do not slide it afterwards.

That last point is the one everyone gets wrong. Rotation must be the final action, or the game does not score it as a spin.

Why it counts

The detection rule is three of four corners occupied plus rotation-last. The notch, being surrounded on both sides and covered above, supplies the corners automatically. If you built the shape correctly, the spin registers.

Making it clear two rows

For a double rather than a single, both rows the T occupies need to be complete apart from the notch itself. So while building the setup, keep the rest of both rows filled.

When to build one

Any time you have a T in the queue and a reasonably flat stack. The setup takes three or four pieces, and unlike a nine-column well it does not require you to keep an entire column empty for a long stretch.

Once this is automatic, learn a second setup. But learn this one first.

Common questions

How much is a T-spin double worth?

1200 points times your level, compared with 300 for an ordinary double. With back-to-back live it is 1800, and it sends four rows of garbage in versus.

Why does my T-spin not register?

The most common cause is sliding or hard dropping the piece after rotating. The rotation has to be the last successful action before the piece locks.

Read next

• Use Hold on Purpose, Not as an Undo ButtonThree good reasons to hold, and one very common bad one.
• The T-Spin Triple and the Kick That Makes It PossibleThree rows from one T piece, using the most extreme offset in the kick table.
• Finesse: Placing Every Piece in the Fewest InputsThere is an optimal number of keypresses for every placement. Using more costs time you need later.
• Openers: Why the First Ten Pieces Can Be MemorisedThe board starts empty and the bag guarantees the pieces, so the opening is a solved problem.
• Rematches, Tilt, and Playing the Next GameThe most common way to lose a set is to let the previous loss into the next match.
• The Look of the Game, and Why It Stays ReadableNeon and particle effects are only acceptable if the board stays legible underneath them.