Puzzle_fighter_lesson3

Outline:
I. Introduction/goals
II. Strategy #3
III. Crash gems strategy
IV. Conclusion

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I. Introduction
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The goals of lesson 4 are:

* Become familiar with Strategy #3, another main way I prefer to build a huge single color block.
* Become familiar with one way to strategically place crash gems to automatically blow up a huge single color block.

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II. Strategy #3
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This strategy is primarily designed to supplement what the opponent drops in the leftmost column.  In this example, I am building to supplement the green that will fall in the leftmost column (i.e. Sakura or Feilicia).
 
 

G R

G    R

B G     G    R

G G    R B

 
This is my ideal way to start Strategy #3.  By dropping at least one block of the color I'm building in the 3rd column (from the left), I guarantee that there will be way to blow up my main color (in this case, green) even if the rest of the 3rd column gets blocked off by non-green colors.  This solves the problem of Strategy #1.

Here is a continuation of the example:
 

G Y       G G    R B

G Y    G G    R B

G B     G Y    G G    R B

G B    G Y    G G    R B

G G      G B    G Y    G G    R B

G G    G B    G Y    G G    R B

And so on.  Note that I do not drop any non-green blocks into the leftmost column.

When a block gets too high (past the halfway point), it will become difficult to place any further blocks on the top due to limited space.  Thus, any "green-pairs" I get should now be dropped down the leftmost column.
 
 

G G   G G    G B    G Y    G G    R B

G G    G B    G Y  G G G  G R B

G G   G G    G B    G Y  G G G  G R B

G G  G G B  G G Y  G G G  G R B

 

And so on.  Although the opponent will drop green counter gems in the leftmost column anyway, it may be a while before I get 5 columns worth (I may be dead by the time I get that many).  Basically, Strategy #3 is designed to 1) build off the opponent's counter pattern and 2) be capable of building a huge block even if the opponent does not drop many counter gems.

Advantages:
Supplements what falls in the leftmost column.
Somewhat solves the problem of Strategy #1.

Disadvantages:
It is difficult to drop the main color in the 3rd column if no same-color pairs fall down.
The 3rd column can get blocked off by "junk" colors easily.

Conclusion:
This is a risky strategy, so use it at your own risk.  I began using it when I began having trouble VS Ryu, Felicia, & Sakura.

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III. Crash gems strategy
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Going back to the last example, when a block becomes so high (over half the screen), it is time to think about how to blow up the block.  Instead of waiting for the block to get high enough and then try to blow up, I like to set up a crash gem that will blow up automatically when the block gets high enough.  Here is how I do it (g = green crash gem):
 
 

R g   G G  G G B  G G Y  G G G  G R B

g    R    G G  G G B  G G Y  G G G  G R B

 

Thus, when the opponent drops 3 more counter green counter gems, the green crash gem will automatically blowup all of the green I have collected =D  Note how a non-green gem is placed between the green block and green crash gem.  If I just place the green crash gem on the green block without this separation, I will do less damage than if the green was built up 3 rows higher.

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IV. Conclusion
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In the next lesson, I'll discuss character specific strategies.

kerrichan