EPTHi TL. I'm a high ranked GM poster, and I thought I'd share my strategy for a standard ASCII composition, and some common late-post transitions.
For the early post, you should definitely keep it simple. If you use anything besides keyboard characters, it should be at most a fast Bold Highlight, or maybe light comedic relief. Don't try to pressure too hard, just build slowly and consistently toward your desired post end-state.
This is where it really differentiates the most from standard ladder post play, where a quick all-in might be just what you need to stand out from the crowd. Obviously, since TL has a firm zero-tolerance stance on people trying to cheat with memes, it can be dangerously all-in to put too much pressure on in the early post.
For this build, good punctuation and spelling are really essential. You can't win a standard ASCII play with a Wall of Text, cutting corners is a Platinum move, and holds back a lot of people. The sooner you can get past this, the better off you'll be, in the long run.
Now for the mid-post, some people like to transition to an image or two, but I personally prefer to transition into an expansion with solid link micro to back it up. This keeps things fresh, and really puts pressure on the reader to keep up with what you're doing in the post. Just remember that you have to place your links in a fluid, dynamic manner, so that they don't break the overall rhythm of the build.
This is another place that a lot of lower-league posters flag. They might try to cluster links together, or forget to format the links so they flow smoothly into the post. It might save a couple of seconds, but there's nothing that kills the flow of an ASCII build more than a long URL instead of a well managed link.
Finally, for the late post: You need a strong conclusion. Remember, you've been working towards this one slow, steady late-game push the whole time. By now your intent is crystal clear, but if you've done well at drawing the reader in, there's nothing they can do to prevent you from just moving right in. You should have decent upgrades, with a few Underlined or Bolded sections, and maybe tech to bullet points if you're capable of that sort of economy with words.
Finally, don't get baited into a TL;DR, or using spoilers you don't need. That upgrade should be saved for content that might detract from the part you're really concerned about people reading. An ASCII post is all about the steady push, late-post timing, and macro. If you can't keep up your WPM, this build will never work for you. Link micro is good, Images are bad.
Thanks for reading, I hope this helps some aspiring high level posters, and if anyone wants to make suggestions so we can refine this for PostiPedia, feel free. If it's good, and you can show me some replays of solid success at a high level, I'll definitely edit this guide.
Edit:
TL Spotlight Replay
Note: In this replay, the Tech to Spoilers was inevitable to keep the Composition from falling apart in the late-post.
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