Plymouth Teen is World-Qualifying Tetris Player
A Plymouth teenager proved himself as one of the best Tetris players in the world. Sixteen-year-old Aidan Jerdee happened to pick Tetris to play one day on a school Ipad. He made it a goal to get good. Aidan eventually bought an old Nintendo NES gaming station because that’s what pros were using. The Maple Grove Senior High School student got hooked.
“I’ve always liked rhythm-type games like Geometry Dash or Beat Savor,” Aidan said.
Aidan’s mom, Jill Jerdee, noticed how well her son was doing online and in tournaments. He even got an online nickname – Bayfoy – through his Tetris adventures.
“When we were there I found out he was the youngest ever to max out with Tetris and I thought that was exciting. From there we continued to go to other events,” said Jill.
“Eventually I stumbled upon the Classic World Championship video and I sort of made it a goal to make it there,” said Aidan.
Aidan practiced up to an hour a day using a technique called DAS or Delayed Auto Shift. DAS is where a player holds down on the control pad to move pieces left and right instead of tapping it down.
The teen said his strength in Tetris is getting out of bad situations. After a couple years of practice, Aidan’s wildest dream became a reality. Hundreds of people tried to qualify for the Tetris World Championship. 48 made it, including Aidan.
“I’ve been working to get there for the past few years and to finally get there and beat everyone, then make top four was super exciting,” Aidan said.
The sophomore finished third place. It was a revolutionary experience, as it taught him that with hard work, dreams do come true.
“My ultimate goal was to make top eight so after that point I was happy with whatever happened,” Aidan said.
Maple Grove Senior High School
