[Member Intro] Returning to cubing after a very long break

[pi³]

Hello members of the speedsolving forum,
I've recently been attempting to return to cubing after a long break.
Before that, I was cubing with a sub-10 in Pyraminx and 2x2, and a sub-30 in 3x3. I think one of the reasons I wandered away is because I was struggling with color neutrality and getting sub-20. I never thought to make an account on Speedsolving and to ask my questions. I only viewed it. I was also doing it with a cube that wasn't the best (a YJ Sulong). After I take several months off of cubing doing other things (programming, building things, experimenting with flexagons, playing chess, etc.) , I decide to pick up that cube on my desk. I find out a sticker has stuck to the table and fallen off. This discourages me even more. Another broken cube is my Square-1, which is stickerless but has plastic pieces for the colors, for which one of them fell off. Now I've made an account on the forums and tried to get back into it, but I'm pretty sure that I've forgotten at least some of my algorithms. Any tips?

 

[ProStar]

Welcome to the forums! Owen has good advice, but depending on where you live speedcubing.org may not be the best site. Here are the best stores to buy from:

SpeedCubeShop.com - US
TheCubicle.com - US
CubeDepotUSA.com - USA
CanCube.ca- Canada
speedcubing.org - UK
KewbzUK.co.uk - UK
cubezz.com - China(cheap though)

 

[pi³]

Welcome to the forums!

I think you will have to relearn most of the algs you forgot, but you should only have to spend a minute or so on each algorithm because you have already learned it.


A great cube to get is the Qiyi MS magnetic 3x3(https://speedcubing.org/collections/3x3x3/products/qiyi-ms-3x3x3).

You can also get a bundle of 5 Qiyi MS puzzles that are all very good and not very expensive (https://speedcubing.org/collections/3x3x3/products/qiyi-ms-series-bundle)


Shameless self promotion incoming:

You can also use the discount code 'OWEN' at the checkout to get a discount on your order.

Welcome to the forums! Owen has good advice, but depending on where you live speedcubing.org may not be the best site. Here are the best stores to buy from:

SpeedCubeShop.com - US
TheCubicle.com - US
CubeDepotUSA.com - USA
CanCube.ca- Canada
speedcubing.org - UK
KewbzUK.co.uk - UK
cubezz.com - China(cheap though)

Do you have any tips for color neutrality and sub-20?

 

[EvanTheCuber]

If you want to stay interested in tubing, learn 4x4-6x6. It helped me a lot. I have the Mystic Aosu Gts 2m 4x4 (54$). It's a little bit expensive, but its worth. Only available on Cubicle

 

[pi³]

If you want to stay interested in tubing, learn 4x4-6x6. It helped me a lot. I have the Mystic Aosu Gts 2m 4x4 (54$). It's a little bit expensive, but its worth. Only available on Cubicle

I got the Meilong 4x4, which is a lot cheaper, but still good.

 

[OreKehStrah]

As an alternative to color neutrality and relearning algs you could consider learning the Roux method!

 

[Zubin Park]

Roux... I'm CFOP all the way! The MS line is good for 3x3, but if you have money, I would recommend either the GTS2M or the Gan Air M, coming in a couple of weeks

 

[EvanTheCuber]

To be Honest Zubin, I think that the GTS3M and the GAN 356 M is a better choice. It's like a upgrade but around the same price

 

[Cubingcubecuber]

To be Honest Zubin, I think that the GTS3M and the GAN 356 M is a better choice. It's like a upgrade but around the same price

Wrm is much better, but I would recommend the Dayan Tengyun V2 M

 

[Zubin Park]

true true

 

[ProStar]

The best are the Moyu GTS3M/WRM, the Valk 3 Elite M, the Dayan Tengyun V2 M, a Gan puzzle(356X, 356XV2, 356XS, etc.), and some people really like the Qiyi MS 3x3(which is much cheaper)

Wrm is much better

Completely subjective; the WRM is just weaker magnets w/ no ridges

 

[Cubingcubecuber]

The best are the Moyu GTS3M/WRM, the Valk 3 Elite M, the Dayan Tengyun V2 M, a Gan puzzle(356X, 356XV2, 356XS, etc.), and some people really like the Qiyi MS 3x3(which is much cheaper)



Completely subjective; the WRM is just weaker magnets w/ no ridges

The GTS3M has rounded corners. If they both had square corners, I would agree, but most people prefer not to cornertwist, and also the WRM is more customizable, and ridges at best aren’t noticeable, and at worst are infuriating, they never help. Also they make the cube suck for OH

it is good for feet tho, if u like that

 

[Micah Morrison]

I have the Mystic Aosu Gts 2m 4x4 (54$). It's a little bit expensive, but its worth. Only available on Cubicle

Wrm is much better, but I would recommend the MGC 4x4 or the Qiyi MS 4x4

 

[PetrusQuber]

Do you have any tips for color neutrality and sub-20?

Colour neutrality isn't absolutely essential, but do it if you want to. Force yourself not to use white at all, you may want to start with yellow.

You need to refresh 4LLL, and maybe learn full PLL. Last Layer shouldn't take too long, 7 seconds is a good estimate. Drill algorithms, an get case recognition to the point where you can execute an algorithm a moment after you see the case. F2L, know all algorithms. If you learnt intuitively, make sure your solutions are all optimal, compare them to a good alg sheet. Know all the algorithms by heart, and be able to recognise a case almost instantly. After that, work on lookahead, don't look at the pair you're solving - you should be able to do that blindfolded if you know the algorithm. Look at possible future pairs. Cross should be 8 moves or less, work on it if it isn't. Try planning it all in inspection, or at least most. This will help with lookahead for first pair. Use CubeSkill's solve splits to find out what you need to work on, feel free to use online trainers and optimal solvers for solutions, and ask for help when needed!
Oh, and practise
Just spamming lots of solves will get you sub 20 (but isn't good long term).

 

[pi³]

Colour neutrality isn't absolutely essential, but do it if you want to. Force yourself not to use white at all, you may want to start with yellow.

You need to refresh 4LLL, and maybe learn full PLL. Last Layer shouldn't take too long, 7 seconds is a good estimate. Drill algorithms, an get case recognition to the point where you can execute an algorithm a moment after you see the case. F2L, know all algorithms. If you learnt intuitively, make sure your solutions are all optimal, compare them to a good alg sheet. Know all the algorithms by heart, and be able to recognise a case almost instantly. After that, work on lookahead, don't look at the pair you're solving - you should be able to do that blindfolded if you know the algorithm. Look at possible future pairs. Cross should be 8 moves or less, work on it if it isn't. Try planning it all in inspection, or at least most. This will help with lookahead for first pair. Use CubeSkill's solve splits to find out what you need to work on, feel free to use online trainers and optimal solvers for solutions, and ask for help when needed!
Oh, and practise
Just spamming lots of solves will get you sub 20 (but isn't good long term).

I already learned full PLL (but might have forgotten some algorithms) and I am color neutral with white and yellow. I think the main problem is F2L look ahead.

 

[PetrusQuber]

I already learned full PLL (but might have forgotten some algorithms) and I am color neutral with white and yellow. I think the main problem is F2L look ahead.

I suggest watching some videos on it

 

[I'm A Cuber]

I suggest watching some videos on it

Brody the Cuber has a bunch of really good videos

 

[pi³]

As an alternative to color neutrality and relearning algs you could consider learning the Roux method!

What are the advantages of Roux over Petrus (which I'm learning now)?

If you want to stay interested in tubing, learn 4x4-6x6. It helped me a lot. I have the Mystic Aosu Gts 2m 4x4 (54$). It's a little bit expensive, but its worth. Only available on Cubicle

I do feel like that doing 4x4 solves is more relaxing than drilling 3x3 ones (until you get to parity).
(sorry for bumping a 7 month old thread)

 

[Deleted member 55877]

What are the advantages of Roux over Petrus (which I'm learning now)?

Petrus and Roux are pretty much equal (in my opinion). They're both very efficient and have meh lookahead. Roux requires less algs to be efficient, but has a lot of MU stuff which means lower TPS. Petrus is more ergonomic with mostly RU but has more algs

 

[OreKehStrah]

What are the advantages of Roux over Petrus (which I'm learning now)?

I do feel like that doing 4x4 solves is more relaxing than drilling 3x3 ones (until you get to parity).
(sorry for bumping a 7 month old thread)

Roux requires very few algs, with only 42 CMLL algs and is reliant on movecount. You can turn slower than in CFOP and get similar times due to the efficiency of the method. The cube is quickly reduced to RUrM gen turning to solve the cube. MU turning is slightly lower than face turns, but it’s still really fast. Most top solvers have near pause less LSE, which negates the speed difference in turning for the most part.
Petrus is also reliant on movecount. However the recognition for EO is worse than doing at the start like ZZ/EOCross. Then you get COLL, which is worse than CMLL due to movecount being a little higher, into EPLL which lots of people use MU algs for since it’s fast. Otherwise you’ll need to do OLL into PLL which would be roughly the same as LSE, or need to learn ZB which would be hundreds of algs more than you would need for Roux. Petrus was good when hardware was bad, but it’s pretty antiquated when modern hardware allows TPS to more than compensate for Petrus efficiency vs CFOP inefficiency. Roux is a proven fast method for efficiency with a better EO step, equally good if not better moveset with block building while being efficient, and requires less algs.