GTR (Great Tanaka’s Rensa) is a popular chaining form in Puyo Puyo devised by player Tanaka. Compared to Stairs and Sandwich, it is flatter and quicker to build, as well as having a low color conflict potential.
While most players focus on GTR as just a transition, it is also important to know how to extend off of the GTR as well. This allows GTR to be adapted to a players needs.
The Full "Base"
The GTR Itself
The Extension
GTR can be built with any set of two pairs (excluding All Clear starts.)
AA AB
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AA BB
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AA BC
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AB BC
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From there, you will want to fill in the rest of the GTR. You should attempt to finish the inner part of the GTR as fast as possible. These are the three Puyos on the inside of GTR, as shown below:
The "core" of GTR
You need to be careful of your build order when making GTR, especially if at any point your board looks like this:
This is important because now you need two more of the same colored Puyos. If your opponent sets their chain off during this time, you will be unable to counter it. See the video below for an example.
If you are starting out, you might want to avoid this build order.
Otherwise, ask yourself these questions when building:
Being able to extend off the GTR is important as knowing how to build GTR itself. This is because pieces not suited for GTR are usable for extension instead.
Now, it is possible to build GTR into sandwich, like this:
However, there are forms that are more flexible than sandwich, which are the L-shape, the Y-shape, and the Lateral I.
Most players will go for an L-shaped follow up if they get a monocolored Puyo that matches the bottom Puyo on the third column, like so:
Players complete the L-shape by building more L-shapes next to it.
Y-Shapes are one of the most flexible ways to continue off of GTR, as it gives you options on the order you can stack Puyos in.
Extend the Yellows First
Extend the Blues First
It is important that the number of colors underneath the Y-shape is two or less, otherwise the extension becomes hard to build.
Good (1 Color)
Good (2 Colors)
Bad (3 Colors)
To finish the Y-shape faster, match the bottom Puyo on the third column with the one on the fifth column, like this:
Once you have Puyos under the Y-shape, you can then place similar colored Puyos on the sides and top of the Y-shape.
A four long Y-shape is also possible to build and can be built using the same rules as above.
You can also build a variation of Y-shape that does not have the bottom (green) Puyo.
Lateral I (or Sideways I) is another flexible way to continue off of GTR. This form is useful if you want to use GTR with Stairs-like forms, or if you mess up the other two forms.
Concept
Example 1
Example 2
Pieces that can neither fit in the GTR nor the extension can be placed on top of GTR. While there are many different forms and patterns to achieve this, here are some forms to get you started.
Sandwich makes a decent form to put on top of GTR.
This is a more flexible form that can be adapted to various heights.
Concept
Example 1
Example 2
The Canopy is another flexible form that can be adapted to various heights.
Concept
Example 1
Example 2
The canopy is easier to make early if you complete both ends first, like this:
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Here are some videos that show GTR in Action. These show you how players build GTR (and their bases) in actual Puyo matches. These are organized by the order of the first two pieces.
Matches played by delta (player on the left).
GTR Scheme: A French wiki article that explains the flexibility of GTR. Available in English here.
GTR for Beginners by Stp. Fox and Andy8254 (Sections I and II): A guide that goes more detail about effectively chaining with GTR.
