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Michael Artiaga

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dogplayingTetris
Artiaga at the 2023 Heart of Texas Regional
Personal information
NameMichael Artiaga
BornMichael Khanh Artiaga
(2007-11-20) November 20, 2007 (age 16)
Career information
GamesClassic Tetris
Playing career2018–present
Career highlights and awards
  • CTWC champion (2020, 2021)
  • CTWC runner-up (2024)
  • First person to achieve "rebirth" (2024)
  • Highest score reached (2024)

Michael Khanh Artiaga (born November 20, 2007), 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 led him to set the Guinness World Record for the "Youngest Tetris World Champion" at 13 years old.

From a young age, Michael and his brother Andrew Artiaga experimented in coding, computing, and gaming, alongside their father, who was a web developer. Practicing classic NES Tetris occasionally on their Game Boy, both brothers were inspired to pursue the game further after seeing 16-year-old Joseph Saelee's victory against the 37-year-old reigning champion Jonas Neubauer in the 2018 CTWC, marking the beginning of a new generation of Tetris players to the competitive scene. After his victories in the 2020 and 2021 CTWCs, Artiaga has continued to compete in Tetris tournaments, and has started his own titled "Classic Tetris Brawl" (CTB). On October 6, 2024, Artiaga became the first player to achieve a "rebirth" of the game after successfully clearing the highest level of the game, level 255, triggering the game to restart back on level 0. The same game saw Artiaga also break the high score record at 29.4 million points.

Personal life and upbringing

[edit]

Michael Khanh Artiaga was born on November 20, 2007,[1][2] to Van and Randall Artiaga, and is from Fort Worth, Texas.[3] He and his brother Andrew Artiaga grew up around electronics, as their father was a web developer.[3][4] At 5 years old, Artiaga learned basic coding, and further experimented in computing and gaming in elementary school.[3][4] Artiaga and his brother practiced the skills they learned by creating characters and music for several of his father's gaming apps.[3] Artiaga stated in an interview with The Guardian that his school work takes precedence over his gaming, and that math was his favorite subject.[4] Outside of Tetris, Artiaga has also practiced speedrunning other retro games, including Super Mario Bros.[5]

Tetris career

[edit]

Artiaga was introduced to classic NES Tetris at 8 years old in elementary school, after playing it on the original Game Boy at home.[3][4] He collaborated with his brother on their shortcomings while they practiced the game to better their playing.[3] He was originally attracted to the game's need for quick-thinking, speed, and skill.[3][4][5] Michael and Andrew, at 10 and 13 years old, respectively, began to play more intently after watching 16-year-old Joseph Saelee's victory against the 37-year-old reigning champion Jonas Neubauer in the 2018 Classic Tetris World Championship (CTWC), marking the beginning of a new generation of Tetris players to the competitive scene.[3][6][7] After purchasing twin famiclones, Michael began to compete in tournaments under the name "dogplayingtetris" or simply "Dog", in reference to his avatar being a dog holding a Nintendo controller, while his brother took the nickname "P1xelAndy".[6] In November 2019, Artiaga created his own Tetris tournament called "Classic Tetris Brawl" (CTB),[8] which is made up of a number of events including three-player matches, level 0 to 19 speedruns, and a quarterly "Brawl Championship".[5] In December 2019, Artiaga became the youngest person to complete a "maxout", a point in the game where the score becomes so high it no longer registers correctly on-screen.[6][8]

"The key to success is watching how others play and learning what it is that makes them better than you."

Michael Artiaga, in an interview with The Guardian after winning the 2020 CTWC.[4]

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 13 and 15 years old respectively,[6][7] both Michael and Andrew qualified for the 2020 CTWC; Michael scored 1 million points in six games, making him the top seed in his double-elimination playoffs group.[3][9] Michael was the second-youngest competitor there,[4] and the youngest to make it to the top eight.[7][10] After beating fellow competitor Jacob Huff (known online as "Huffulufugus"),[9] Michael made it to the final round with his brother Andrew, where they competed against each other at home due to COVID-19 restrictions.[3] Michael won shortly after reaching level 29, winning $3,000, which he used to buy a real Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), a Donner guitar, an electric drum set, and invest in cryptocurrency.[3][4] Andrew celebrated the victory with Michael, giving him a high five immediately after the match; Michael remarked that the "great [thing] about being in the top two is that we both get great trophies".[3] At 13 years and 16 days old, Artiaga set a Guinness World Record for the "Youngest Tetris World Champion".[1]

After his 2020 CTWC victory, Artiaga remarked that, while he would "always go down as a 13-year-old world champion", he was motivated to win again at the next championship.[4] Continued playing helped him secure a back-to-back win in the also virtual CTWC 2021, where he beat 19-year-old Jacob Huff 3–1 to secure another $3,000 prize.[2][3][11] His back-to-back win also placed Artiaga in the 2023 edition of the Scholastic Book of World Records.[12] On April 9, 2022, Artiaga set another world record for the highest scoring game on a level 29 start with a score of 2.2 million.[13] From June 8–9, Artiaga competed in the 2024 Classic Tetris World Championship, where he lost against Alex Thach ("Alex T") in the finals, having him place second in the championship.[14][15]

On October 6, 2024, Artiaga became the first person to achieve a "rebirth" of the game after successfully clearing the highest level of the game, level 255, triggering the game to restart back on level 0.[16] After achieving rebirth, Artiaga continued to play the game from level 0 to level 91,[17] where he finally ended the game with a final time of 121 minutes, a final score of 29,486,164 points, 346 levels reached, and about 3,300 lines cleared.[16][17][18] The final score of 29.4 million points beat the previous high score record set by Alex Thach by more than 12 million points.[18] The high level reached also had Artiaga achieve the first "line count overflow" in the game, which began at level 30 after the rebirth or level 285.[19] Artiaga, who had live streamed the game on Twitch, celebrated by putting his hands on his head and exclaiming "Am I dreaming, bro?" and "I'm so glad that game is over".[16] The achievement, which had only previously been possible through the use of AI scripts,[17] was completed by using a modified version of the game which prevents the game from crashing after opportunities begin at level 155.[18]

Playing style

[edit]

"A lot of people try to play it safe, but not Dog. He can be super high in his stack but he's still stacking up. He's waiting for the long bar. And when he does that, he can score so much you just can't keep up."

Andrew Artiaga, in an interview with The New York Times about his brother's playing style in classic Tetris.[3]

Early in his Tetris career, Artiaga adopted hypertapping,[20] a playing technique which emphasizes vibrating the buttons rapidly over pressing them; a technique first popularized by Saelee in his winning 2018 CTWC tournament.[6][21] His success with the technique led his brother to adopt it to keep up with him before the 2020 CTWC.[20]

Unlike the majority of his competitors, Artiaga continued to utilize hypertapping as late as during the 2021 CTWC;[8] his handling of the controller in that competition was referred to by The New York Times as one "with the breeziness of a cocktail pianist".[3] This was opposed to rolling, 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 position the game pieces more quickly.[7][21] To prepare for competitions, Artiaga typically plays for about 45 minutes to warm-up.[5]

Competitive record

[edit]

Below is a table of the Tetris tournaments Artiaga participated in and their outcome. It should be noted the table is likely incomplete, as results on the CTM website prior to February 2022 only list the name of a competitor if they won or were the runner-up, not including the names of those who competed otherwise.[22]

Year Tournament Score Finishing place Ref.
2020 CTM December Masters Event 4–0 1st [22]
Classic Tetris World Championship 7–0 [23]
2021 CTM February Masters Event 4–0 [22]
CTM June Masters Event 4–0
CTM July Masters Event 4–0
Classic Tetris World Championship 7–0 [23]
2022 CTM February Masters Event 1–1 Contender [24]
CTM March Masters Event 4–0 1st [25]
CTM April Masters Event 4–1 2nd [26]
CTM May Masters Event 2–1 Contender [27]
CTM June Masters Event 1–1 [28]
CTM July Masters Event 3–1 2nd [29]
CTM August Masters Event 1–1 Contender [30]
CTM September Masters Event 0–1 [31]
CTM November Masters Event 4–0 1st [32]
CTM December Masters Event 2–1 Contender [33]
Classic Tetris World Championship 3–1 4th [23]
2023 CTM January Masters Event 0–1 Contender [34]
CTM February Masters Event 3–0 1st [35]
CTM March Masters Event 2–1 Contender [36]
CTM Mega Masters 4–1 [37]
CTM May Masters Event 1–1 [38]
CTM Lone Star Championship 6–0 1st [39]
CTM August Masters Event 3–1 2nd [40]
CTM September Masters Event 0–1 Contender [41]
Classic Tetris World Championship 3–1 4th [42]
CTM December Masters Event 0–1 Contender [43]
2024 CTM January Masters Event 1–1 [44]
CTWC Heart of Texas 1–1 [45]
CTM February Masters Event 2–1 [46]
CTM Mega Masters 3–1 [47]
CTM April Masters Event 3–1 2nd [48]
CTM May Masters Event 1–1 Contender [49]
Classic Tetris World Championship 4–1 2nd [14][15]
CTM July Masters Event 0–1 Contender [50]
CTM July DAS Masters Event 0–1 [51]
CTM August Masters Event 1–1 [52]
CTM August DAS Masters Event 4–0 1st [53]
CTM September Masters Event 3–0 Scheduled [54]
CTM September DAS Masters Event 0–1 Contender [55]
The Jonas Cup 2–1 [56]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Youngest Tetris World Champion". Guinness World Records. 2021. Archived from the original on January 24, 2024. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Guinness World Records 2023 (in German) (Deutsche Ausgabe ed.). Ravensburg: Ravensburger. September 15, 2022. p. 105. ISBN 978-3473480555. Archived from the original on March 22, 2024. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Schonbrun, Zach (December 28, 2021). "A New Generation Stacks Up Championships in an Old Game: Tetris". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 17, 2024. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Artiaga, Michael (November 5, 2021). "Experience: I'm the best Tetris player in the world". The Guardian (Interview). Interviewed by Linton, Deborah. Archived from the original on January 19, 2024. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d "dogplayingtetris". Guinness World Records. 2021. Archived from the original on January 24, 2024. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d e Sweet, Jacob (March 26, 2021). "The Revolution In Classic Tetris". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on January 17, 2024. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d Karnadi, Chris (July 21, 2022). "Teens are rewriting what is possible in the world of competitive Tetris". Polygon. Archived from the original on January 15, 2024. Retrieved January 20, 2024.
  8. ^ a b c "Tetris Champion: Winners of the Classic Tetris World Championship". Tetris Interest. Archived from the original on October 19, 2021. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
  9. ^ a b Tate, Dylan (December 8, 2020). "13-year-old defeats brother to win Classic Tetris World Championship". upcomer.com. Enthusiast Gaming. Archived from the original on January 24, 2024. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
  10. ^ Shaver, Morgan (December 7, 2020). "Classic Tetris World Championship Ends In Brother Versus Brother Showdown". Prima Games. Archived from the original on January 24, 2024. Retrieved January 21, 2024.
  11. ^ Jensen, K. Thor (February 11, 2022). "Beyond Dropping Blocks: Inside the Wild World of Pro Tetris". PCMag. Archived from the original on January 24, 2024. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  12. ^ Scholastic Book of World Records 2023. Scholastic Corporation. December 6, 2022. p. 86. ISBN 978-1338845129. Archived from the original on March 22, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  13. ^ Trew, James (May 6, 2022). "How Gen Z is pushing NES Tetris to its limits". Engadget. Archived from the original on January 18, 2024. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
  14. ^ a b Classic Tetris World Championship XV – Day 2 Tournament Begins! (YouTube). Classic Tetris World Championship. June 8, 2024. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
  15. ^ a b Classic Tetris World Championship XV – Day 3 Finals (YouTube). Classic Tetris World Championship. June 9, 2024. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
  16. ^ a b c McMahon, Liv (October 8, 2024). "Teenager claims first ever Tetris 'rebirth'". BBC. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
  17. ^ a b c Serin, Kaan (October 6, 2024). "35 years after the iconic puzzler's release, someone has finally beat NES Tetris' 255 levels and achieved 'Rebirth'". GamesRadar+. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
  18. ^ a b c Bailey, Kat (October 7, 2024). "Teen Becomes First Tetris NES Player to Clear Level 255 and Achieve the Mythical 'Rebirth'". IGN. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
  19. ^ Harper, Christopher (October 9, 2024). "First-ever killscreen-less "Rebirth" achieved in NES version of Tetris, 38 years later". Tom's Hardware. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
  20. ^ a b 2020 Classic Tetris World Championship Grand Final! (YouTube video). Classic Tetris. December 18, 2020. Event occurs at 0:48. Archived from the original on January 24, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  21. ^ a b Pape, Sam (October 7, 2022). "The Portland Retro Gaming Expo—And Its Tetris Competition—Returns". Portland Monthly. Archived from the original on January 24, 2024. Retrieved January 21, 2024.
  22. ^ a b c "Past Tournament Results [Masters tab]". Classic Tetris Monthly. Archived from the original on December 8, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  23. ^ a b c "Results". Classic Tetris World Championship. Archived from the original on December 10, 2020. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  24. ^ "CTM February 2022 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. February 2022. Archived from the original on January 12, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  25. ^ "CTM March 2022 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. March 2022. Archived from the original on January 24, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  26. ^ "CTM April 2022 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. April 2022. Archived from the original on January 12, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  27. ^ "CTM May 2022 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. May 2022. Archived from the original on January 24, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  28. ^ "CTM June 2022 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. June 2022. Archived from the original on January 24, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  29. ^ "CTM July 2022 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. July 2022. Archived from the original on January 12, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  30. ^ "CTM August 2022 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. August 2022. Archived from the original on January 12, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  31. ^ "CTM September 2022 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. September 2022. Archived from the original on January 12, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  32. ^ "CTM November 2022 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. November 2022. Archived from the original on January 24, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  33. ^ "CTM December 2022 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. December 2022. Archived from the original on January 12, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  34. ^ "CTM January 2023 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. January 2023. Archived from the original on January 12, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  35. ^ "CTM February 2023 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. February 2023. Archived from the original on January 24, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  36. ^ "CTM March 2023 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. March 2023. Archived from the original on January 12, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  37. ^ "CTM Mega Masters 2023". Classic Tetris Monthly. April 2023. Archived from the original on March 11, 2024. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  38. ^ "CTM May 2023 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. May 2023. Archived from the original on March 20, 2024. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
  39. ^ "CTM Lone Star Tetris Championship". Classic Tetris Monthly. May 2023. Archived from the original on March 11, 2024. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  40. ^ "CTM August 2023 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. August 2023. Archived from the original on March 20, 2024. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
  41. ^ "CTM September 2023 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. September 2023. Archived from the original on February 28, 2024. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
  42. ^ "Fractal Wins The 2023 Classic Tetris World Championship". Tetris Interest. October 19, 2023. Archived from the original on January 24, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  43. ^ "CTM December 2023 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. December 2023. Archived from the original on February 28, 2024. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
  44. ^ "CTM January 2024 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. January 2024. Archived from the original on January 7, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  45. ^ "CTWC Heart of Texas 2023 Gold". Classic Tetris Monthly. January 2024. Archived from the original on January 24, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  46. ^ "CTM February 2024 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. February 2024. Archived from the original on February 28, 2024. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
  47. ^ "CTM Mega Masters 2024". Classic Tetris Monthly. March 2024. Archived from the original on March 11, 2024. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  48. ^ "CTM April 2024 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. April 2024. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  49. ^ "CTM May 2024 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. May 2024. Retrieved May 5, 2024.
  50. ^ "CTM July 2024 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. July 2024. Retrieved May 5, 2024.
  51. ^ "CTM DAS Masters July 2024 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. July 2024. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  52. ^ "CTM August 2024 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. August 2024. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  53. ^ "CTM DAS Masters August 2024 DAS Masters". Classic Tetris Monthly. August 2024. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  54. ^ "CTM August 2024 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. August 2024. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  55. ^ "CTM DAS Masters September 2024 DAS Masters". Classic Tetris Monthly. September 2024. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  56. ^ "2024 09 - USA-D - Jonas Cup 2024, Portland, OR". Classic Tetris World Championship. September 2024. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
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