Another little treasure hunt tip. This is obvious but it took me a while to start paying attention so: the new gem forms at the point of collision.
It’s useful for making match-3s that will trigger match-4 & match-5s on the same move.
I covered this point earlier, but it’s worth noting again that what you describe is true for the matches you make. However, when a match happens from a drop, the new Gem can be created anywhere along the match. So it’s a little harder to plan cascades from multiple drops.
But “in the middle of the match” is wrong. The point of collision could be at any position.
I’m getting better at figuring out the order of operations. The point of collision I’m sure of. I think it goes like this:
When you make your move, all the available matches fire instantly. Then the new gems drop, and the new gems may trigger additional matches.
This still trips me up sometimes, when I make a match expecting it to fit into the existing gems but they transform before it can happen.