Columns III speedrun tutorial

My #1 tip (that I think I forgot to say somehow): Keep the game simple. Look for one colour at a time. If you need an orange gem, then shut everything else out until you find it.
If you're already familiar with how the game works, jump to 7:48, after that it becomes about strategy.

[@urbandude823]

Pretty late to this video but here are my thoughts (I beat the Sphinx for the first time yesterday lol)
I always start my rounds trying to make what I call the "X", which is getting a cross of the same gem for a 5-line double diagonal. This instantly gives you a special gem and brings you closer to getting 20 lines A.K.A the magic gem. It also gives you an upper hand early on in the game too.
Your strategy on focusing on a single gem is correct for the most part, but you definitely need to be able to adapt on later levels. Also, the strategy to just crush the opponent all the time doesn't work for every opponent, in particular the snake. The snake will only hit you once you hit them, so hitting them first without the magic gem is to your disadvantage.
The key for me to beat the Sphinx was constantly paying attention to his side more than anything. Crush his special and magic gems before he does something against you, while also making chains (and quick) to keep up with him. Easier said than done.
I've beaten opponents in under 45 seconds with the "X" strategy. It works for me.

[@Rockysbeats]

thanks for this :)
i had no idea what was going on and the demo tutorial was way to fast to read

[@Fede1o97]

16:45 I thought the scorpion used to do that strategy too

[@cimexgames5453]

Great!

[@Ebiru2387]

At what point after you get numerous sequential matches do you hold off and try to clear the board?

[@danielernsberger3771]

Hmm. I'd recently come to the conclusion that relying on a single color dependency for simplicity sometimes results in "color droughts", where you don't get anything of the color you need for a long time. Plus, it strikes me as dangerous to simply, thoughtlessly dump all other pieces, which even if it doesn't block off your combo plan, can still produce a lot of garbage and pile you up. Still, being a speedrun, you want to think absolutely as little time as possible, especially against the sphinx!!
Now, I do agree that triples are key to reliably beating that sphinx, and are also useful for getting through the earlier stages faster. They can give curses which can weaken even the sphinx's ability to fight back, especially if you give it the "no shuffle" curse which you used an antidote against in this video! I guess it's easier for me to have multiple plans if I'm only doing doubles. I'll have to try something like having a triple and a double plan, or something.
The thing about that is, though, "double color droughts" (even assuming they're different color dependent) are much harder to deal with, with much less "dumping ground" available most of the time while you wait, causing a double color drought to seem about as long as a similarly probable single color drought. So maybe keeping it simple doing triples, at least, is the best plan to keep it fast, and you can at least do some common-sense shuffles of pieces to clear something, anything, if you're focused on one triple plan at a time.
You're better than me overall. I can just beat the sphinx (2 out of 3) occasionally, I'm not as fast as it, and I usually need items when I do beat it. You're as fast as the sphinx and know how to set up triples in "real time" for a speedrun. I'm just about where I'm thinking about trying this incredibly challenging speedrun, just to see if I can do it! Anything under 30 minutes on video will go on Speedrun.com.