why is cfop "the best method"

[genericcuber666]

i was reading the pole on what speedcubing method people used and i started to think
"what makes cfop a compelling method?"
i use zz and in my very very VERY biased opinion zz is cfop but without rotations and an easier ll
and roux has less moves and better ergonimics than both of them

SO WHY DOES EVERYONE USE CFlOP?
p.s dont say "development" noone uses cfop so that they can learn more alg sets...

 

[Rcuber123]

It isn't... for 3x3

Most ppl go into CFOP not understanding this but it's the most universal method. It will help u solve/get good at the most cubes.

Roux? Good luck getting good at mega,pyra,bigcubes with that

Same with ZZ

 

[Y2k1]

I, myself being a zz ct user, think cfop is clearly the majority because of
A. Popularity
B. Look up how to get faster, guaranteed cfop
C. No "daunting" steps (although honestly, from being a beginner to now, eoline has always been much easier to be efficient at than cross)
D. Oll/pll recog compared to say Coll/cmll (again, coll is all I can see conpared to oll)
E. Elitist mentality

TLDR Cfop is just that accessible and not many people will take the time to understand other methods (or even realize their exist)

Personally, I still have to meet a cuber that has heard of zz or been on these forums

 

[turtwig]

zz is cfop but without rotations and an easier ll

Personally I think that solving for EO first isn't that worth it since I feel that RUL gen feels restrictive. Rotations aren't that bad especially at lower levels and there are a lot of F2L tricks to prevent or mitigate the effect of rotations. As for LL, unless you learn full ZBLL, OLL/PLL is not that much slower than Edges Oriented OLL/PLL or COLL/EPLL.

noone uses cfop so that they can learn more alg sets...

I do. I haven't spent much time learning blockbuilding tricks and I enjoy learning algs, so I like that CFOP is more algorithmic.

Personally, I think CFOP is the most popular by a huge margin since:
1. It's the closest to the beginner LBL method so naturally people will advance to CFOP
2. It's already the most popular
3. It has the most resources: videos, algs, etc.
4. It's (arguably) better for big cubes, OH, feet and F2L knowledge can transfer to other events like Megaminx as well.
5. Most people don't bother switching for many reasons, they don't think the possible advantages of other methods are worth ditching all their CFOP knowledge, they're too lazy to learn a new method, they aren't a serious 3x3 solver anyway, etc.

 

[Umm Roux?]

i was reading the pole on what speedcubing method people used and i started to think
"what makes cfop a compelling method?"
i use zz and in my very very VERY biased opinion zz is cfop but without rotations and an easier ll
and roux has less moves and better ergonimics than both of them

SO WHY DOES EVERYONE USE CFlOP?
p.s dont say "development" noone uses cfop so that they can learn more alg sets...

ZZ-CT>ZZ
Shorter F2L stage because of final slot, short and sweet last layer(not a last layer but it is a last layer).

 

[shadowslice e]

It isn't... for 3x3

Most ppl go into CFOP not understanding this but it's the most universal method. It will help u solve/get good at the most cubes.

Roux? Good luck getting good at mega,pyra,bigcubes with that

Same with ZZ

I don't agree with your point of view that it's harder to get better at mega or pyra with it (big cubes maybe but only for 5x5+). It certainly hasn't impeded me as far as I'm aware and may actually be better as my Mega method (similar to Yu Da Hyun) is very much based on blockbuilding and i really don;t see why CFOP shoudl be better for Pyra at all.

Also, most people go into CFOP for the following reasons more than anything else:
1) It is a natural progression from the beginner's that most people learn.
2) Very limited exposure to other methods until later.
3) Everyone uses it.

 

[Rcuber123]

I don't agree with your point of view that it's harder to get better at mega or pyra with it (big cubes maybe but only for 5x5+). It certainly hasn't impeded me as far as I'm aware and may actually be better as my Mega method (similar to Yu Da Hyun) is very much based on blockbuilding and i really don;t see why CFOP shoudl be better for Pyra at all.

Also, most people go into CFOP for the following reasons more than anything else:
1) It is a natural progression from the beginner's that most people learn.
2) Very limited exposure to other methods until later.
3) Everyone uses it.

Explain to me how that style of blockbuilding is more related to ZZ or Roux than CFOP. what ur talking about is just FreeFOP which is a VARIATION OF CFOP. for pyra all the sledges and price inserts are similar to F2L

 

[shadowslice e]

Explain to me how that style of blockbuilding is more related to ZZ or Roux than CFOP. what ur talking about is just FreeFOP which is a VARIATION OF CFOP. for pyra all the sledges and price inserts are similar to F2L

Because in CFOP in general you don't blockbuild, especially 1xnxn blocks which is what the S2L i use is made up of.
Also, you do realise that the inserts are really no more like F2L inserts than the ways in which blcoks can be built? If anything they are more like CF methods and guess what roux is based off of.

 

[GenTheSnail]

4. It's (arguably) better for big cubes, OH, Feet and F2L knowledge can transfer to other events like Megaminx as well.

I use ZZ for (3x3) OH and Feet. My blockbuilding knowledge transfers to Megaminx, for which I use an EO->Blockbuilding method.
Albeit, I'm not that great at any of them, but I do have the Illinois state record for Feet Mean and Single.
And while I really suck at big cubes, iirc, someone said that (Hoya?)->ZZ isn't that bad for 5x5+.

 

[turtwig]

I use ZZ for (3x3) OH and Feet. My blockbuilding knowledge transfers to Megaminx, for which I use an EO->Blockbuilding method.
Albeit, I'm not that great at any of them, but I do have the Illinois state record for Feet Mean and Single.
And while I really suck at big cubes, iirc, someone said that (Hoya?)->ZZ isn't that bad for 5x5+.

I agree. I was mostly referring to Roux being worse for side events.

 

[shadowslice e]

Personally I think that solving for EO first isn't that worth it since I feel that RUL gen feels restrictive. Rotations aren't that bad especially at lower levels and there are a lot of F2L tricks to prevent or mitigate the effect of rotations. As for LL, unless you learn full ZBLL, OLL/PLL is not that much slower than Edges Oriented OLL/PLL or COLL/EPLL.



I do. I haven't spent much time learning blockbuilding tricks and I enjoy learning algs, so I like that CFOP is more algorithmic.

Personally, I think CFOP is the most popular by a huge margin since:
1. It's the closest to the beginner LBL method so naturally people will advance to CFOP
2. It's already the most popular
3. It has the most resources: videos, algs, etc.
4. It's (arguably) better for big cubes, OH, feet and F2L knowledge can transfer to other events like Megaminx as well.
5. Most people don't bother switching for many reasons, they don't think the possible advantages of other methods are worth ditching all their CFOP knowledge, they're too lazy to learn a new method, they aren't a serious 3x3 solver anyway, etc.

1. yeah
2. yeah
3. I don't think this is as much a factor other than when people type in "advanced speedcubing" into google or youtube it's only really CFOP that comes up.
4. for 5x5+ yes, OH no, feet i have no experience though there are a few which say it's not too bad, blockbuilding and LSE tricks (and the idea which goes with them) are more arguably more useful for side events like mega, FMC and similar (could also be useful for K4).
5. Unfortunately yeah

 

[pglewis]

I can only speak for myself as a speedsolving n00b:

1) I originally learned LBL back in the early 80s so it was a natural direction when I took it up again
2) Being popular means a lot of research has been done and a wealth of available information

I think it's a fair balance between speed potential and difficulty to learn.

 

[AlphaSheep]

If you search for a tutorial on how to solve the cube, there's a 99% chance that the tutorial you find will tell you to start solving the cross first.

in my very very VERY biased opinion zz is cfop but without rotations and an easier ll

In the same sense that Roux is just CFOP but ignoring the M-slice until the end? And CFOP is just a structured form of Petrus but you delay the EO step until LL? Or in the sense that you just do EO-first CFOP and don't actually use ZZ.

 

[genericcuber666]

EO-first CFOP and don't actually use ZZ.

who does this? because thats a horrible idea

 

[turtwig]

who does this? because thats a horrible idea

Hyeon Kyo Kyoung does EO Cross and he has a 5.91 single, making him faster than any ZZ solver, I believe.

 

[DGCubes]

I agree with what everyone else said about CFOP. I think people use it because it's the most popular and has the most resources, which, in my opinion, stems from the fact that it is most like the standard beginner's method. After you learn a beginner's method, it's really easy to incorporate new OLL and PLL algs for the cases you learn. It would be much more difficult to have nothing in common with your original method, so people are probably put off by seeing that they'd need to start with F2B or EO line instead of cross.

 

[Loiloiloi]

CFOP is arguably one of the easiest speedsolving methods to learn with few algorithms, it can be taught to a beginner fairly easily, and the fastest solvers in the world use it. Simple and fast, what's not to like?

 

[Y2k1]

CFOP is arguably one of the easiest speedsolving methods to learn with few algorithms, it can be taught to a beginner fairly easily, and the fastest solvers in the world use it. Simple and fast, what's not to like?

Except. . I have been able to teach two people roux, 1 zz, 1 PCMS (for the lolz) , and 1 adams briggs ssc m whatever its called, showing that if beginners are open to a different mindset when solving the cube, they can learn blockbuilding just as easily as cross (try it with roux, I found it surprisingly simple to explain blocks and wht leaving the m slice is advantageous)

 

[Loiloiloi]

Except. . I have been able to teach two people roux, 1 zz, 1 PCMS (for the lolz) , and 1 adams briggs ssc m whatever its called, showing that if beginners are open to a different mindset when solving the cube, they can learn blockbuilding just as easily as cross (try it with roux, I found it surprisingly simple to explain blocks and wht leaving the m slice is advantageous)

All you need to know to learn CFOP is cross, which many non-cubers already can do. The rest is intuitive F2L and easy algorithms. I still haven't gotten around to learn Roux.

 

[TheChaiCuber]

1. easier transition from beginners method
2. definitely most popular in the cubing community (whether it should be, not my place to say)
3. this is personal in terms of both personal issue and personal commitment to cubing IRL, but I don't have time to learn a new method atm. I'm practicing very very slowly roux (I doubt I'll learn the corner orientation algs any time soon) and it'll be a long time before I can reach even close to the averages I get with CFOP.