By ALBERT RONG

What is the best Tetromino?
This is the definitive tierlist and if you disagree with me, you are nitpicking and biased.
 
Now I can already hear all of you guys complaining “Top tier? Oh, it’s the I piece. Tetris for Jeff is a funny meme” or if you’re an elitist ********, “Haha, it’s the T piece you plebians. T-spin. Haha, it’s a funny meme”. You are all objectively wrong.
 
Now this tier list is not for what Tetris piece has the funniest meme but for the buildability with a certain block. This means that an I piece is not going to the top of the leaderboard because you can get a Tetris with it. I consider T-spin creation a part of buildability because of 2 factors: . With the wide array of T-spin build guides available to the Tetris community, many players have become rather proficient in implementing them into their own gameplay. T-spins can often be a higher value option compared to pure burning(removing holes in your Tetris stack) as it usually maintains clean garbage (holes in board) on the opposing side of the board rather than covering the rest of the board upstacking to clear out a mistake.
 
D tier:
#7 – O block: This piece is just like the popular Tetris player Wumbotize. It’s an absolute piece of trash that has no place in the game. It’s useless because it can’t fit in with the others. It also has a huge ego just and should retire from Tetris.
 
Speaking solely in terms of buildability with this piece, it’s the worst. After building above the 1st base row, you will have to ensure that you can provide a space to place the O piece. It doesn’t even serve as a good anchor even though it looks most similar to what you want to be building towards: segmented rectangles. It can only accommodate an L or J piece effectively
 
O’s are also terrible for burning through garbage as they are too large.
 

• Forces options
• Medium overhang functionality
• Terrible burning piece
• Decent comboing piece.

 
C tier:
#6 – I block: Besides the ability to get a nice amount of points from a Tetris, this piece just doesn’t have much functionality. It can be useful in extending your giant T-spin builds (see supplement) if you possess a big brain but in most cases, can’t provide a good overhang for a T-spin. 
 

• For placing on the sides of the map to create an inwards sloped pit
• Almost 0 overhang functionality
• Good for wall building
• Niche burning and comboing piece

 
NOTE: S/Z and L/J are functionally the same but on different sides of the board. Pieces that perform better for dependencies on the left side of the board are ranked higher as rightward wells are generally better if completely optimal gameplay is utilized due to the piece generation which gives a 1 block space advantage moving a piece to the left compared to the right side.
 
B tier:
#4,5 – S/Z block: Placing these blocks flat is the most important part about their buildability as it allows for easier maintenance of a segmented rectangular shape. When placed upright, it can easily lead to giant 2 wide towers with piece dependencies into S and T. Their flat orientation is best, leading to the Z block being marginally better than the S block as it can fit in nicely to a 2/1 jagged top on the left.
 

• Flying T-spin material

• medium-burning potential
• Best overhang piece
• medium/bad anchor.

 
B tier tldr: Best overhang piece. Best for flying t spins. Top tier burning potential
 
A tier:
 
#3 – T block: The main reason why this is placed under the L and J block is because ironically, this is one of the worst pieces for T-spinning. The T block creates one of the worst overhangs with its 0 degree rotation worse than the 0 degree rotations of the L and J and its +-90 degree rotations worse than the overhangs of the s and z piece in either the 0 or 90 degree rotation. The main problem with its overhangs is a lack of continuation past the overhang. It’s only feasible continuation is a possible infinite T-spin triple from my knowledge. If converting into a well, most times you will be forced into a pseudo dependency if you want to play 100% optimally (I block wall building), or be forced to burn to level the sunken wall with the rest of your map.
 

• Good for 2/1 to ½ conversions

• Excellent burning potential
• Bad overhang piece
• Medium anchor

 
S tier:
#2 – L block: This block is orange. Orange block bad.
 
#1 – J block: This is hands down the best tetromino. It has the blue color. It has the cool curved shape. This block cannot be beaten.
 
These blocks are top tier material. They are able to fit into both flat 3 and 2 wells which gives them their excellent buildability. Continuations past their placement are also excellent as they provide a 2 wide space for other L/J/S/Z/O pieces. They can also generate tall overhangs for tspins and fit in well to 90 degree rotated S or Z blocks for tall T-spin builds
 

• Good wall building potential

• Top tier burning potential.
• Excellent overhang functionality
• Excellent anchor

 
Now you’re probably suffering from an existential crisis after reading this garbage article. In the end it doesn’t even matter. You’re still going to get every piece every 7 blocks if you play a garbage game like Tetris 99 or Puyo Puyo Tetris. 
 
Note: This review is based on the guideline Tetris standards