Gaming
Gaming
Red Bull Tetris® National Final put the iconic game on center stage in U.S.
South Florida transformed into the heartbeat of the Tetris world on Saturday, Nov. 22, as the top players in the country gathered for the Red Bull Tetris® National Final.
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From across the country, the top 32 Red Bull Tetris players descended upon the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, FL to compete for the National Championship title. On the day of the event, the competitors went head-to-head in tense, one-on-one battles, competing in single-elimination brackets throughout the day. Each pairing was decided in a best-of-three format, with deadlocks broken through solo time-attack runs.
Match by match, the bracket narrowed until it was the top eight, with the highest-scoring eight moving into the Finals. With the immersive look of the stage and four-foot-tall Tetris blocks drifting around the poolside lounge, the whole scene felt as if the crowd had stepped straight into the game itself. Attendees weren’t just watching the action; they were living inside it. The atmosphere buzzed with competitive energy as the eight best players took their seats, each one hoping to secure the ultimate prize: a ticket to the Red Bull Tetris World Final in Dubai on December 13 to represent the U.S. amongst a field of 60 other countries.
Coldless and Sodium at Red Bull Tetris National Final
© Daniel Zuliani / Red Bull Content Pool
The stage itself appeared to float, as if the iconic game had come to life and landed gently atop the water of the hotel’s swimming pool. Every contestant sat on a custom Tetrimino chair, sculpted and colored to mirror the game’s classic shapes. Between each pair of players stood a large yellow square Tetrimino, functioning as their game station. Mounted on this cube were also their monitors; screens that displayed both their own progress and their opponent’s score, making every move visible and raising the stakes at every drop of a piece.
To the left of the competitors, emcees Lestyn "BirbWizard" Brooks and Mykal "Sharky" Buster presided over the action from tall director-style chairs. In front of them stretched a textured backdrop built entirely from miniature stacked Tetris blocks, arranged in a repeating wall pattern that reached nearly four and a half feet high. The effect was immersive, as if the entire set were frozen mid-game.
Attendees and fans of the iconic game gathered around the stage to watch the finalists face off in an adrenaline-filled, energy-driven battle. On-site for the action were Red Bull Player Emily ‘Emiru’ Schrunk, who was live-streaming the event, and Ali ‘SypherPK’ Hassan, who jumped on stage for a high-energy 1-v-1 Red Bull Tetris showdown that lit up the crowd.
SypherPK plays Tetris at Red Bull Tetris National Final in Hollywood, FL
© Todd Gutierrez / Red Bull Content Pool
Pasha Petkuns flips over Emiru at Red Bull Tetris National Final
© Todd Gutierrez / Red Bull Content Pool
“The National Final has been an eye opener because I didn’t realize how passionate and how competitive the scene was for Tetris. I got to meet some of the players when I showed up, and some of them were actually fans of my content, which is cool, but you can tell they are just as competitive as any other esports,” said SypherPK.
“The crowd’s engagement was cool to see because Tetris isn’t really seen as a high intensity game, but the way they play is very intense and the crowd really gets going. Even I was surprised with how invested I was in the matches,” SypherPK added.
After nearly three hours of head-to-head playing, 20-year-old Mok Shik Thaddeaus “Coldless” Fam, took the victory, securing the championship under the glow of a stage that looked as if it had risen straight from the digital world of Tetris itself.
Coldless who is from Leander, TX and has been gaming since a young age, has played Tetris since he was 10. Going into the match, Coldless had a game plan; however, his victory still caught him by surprise.
Mok Shik Thaddaeus "Coldless" Fam celebrating his win in Hollywood, Florida
© Daniel Zuliani / Red Bull Content Pool
It just popped off. I just stick to my strategy: play super fast, try and form the multiplier til 9x.
Coldless admitted some players were intimidating when going into the competition. “I practiced a bunch against AI 9, scored a bunch of 800Ks, and I also have a younger brother who matched my scores and really helped me improve as well,” he added, when speaking on how he prepared to compete.
Coldless initially learned about Red Bull Tetris while on Discord.
Learn more about Red Bull Tetris World Final in Dubai
"I just decided to hop on the game and play it on mobile. It was pretty fun, so I ended up qualifying,” he said, adding that the most exciting part of the tournament so far was meeting some of the players. “It’s really surreal because I can put a face to the people I see online, and the experience was also very nice."
What’s next for Coldless? He’ll head to Dubai to represent the U.S. in the Red Bull Tetris World Final, where champions from more than 60 countries will face off in a showdown unlike anything esports has seen—an airborne championship match staged inside the iconic Dubai Frame, played on drones suspended in the sky.
Fans can relive the excitement of the National Final on the Classic Tetris channels. And on December 13, all attention shifts to Dubai, where Coldless will take the world stage.
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