IsThatA4x4’s progression thread // Sub-10 3x3 // Sub-9 Squan // Road to Squan UKNR - 3-looking now !!! (OBL/PBL)

[IsThatA4x4]

After seeing the overall great reception of the tornado v3, I have decided to get one (flagship ver. which in case you've been living under a rock has mag core and springs). It should be here in a few days from now, as I actually managed to get it from kewbzUK.

Hoping it will be a new main, the extra stability without really sacrificing speed is what I've been looking for in a cube, and it's also not a GAN which I'm all for.

 

[IsThatA4x4]

Generated By csTimer on 2022-09-25
avg of 100: 3.79
Sub-4!
That's enough 2x2 improvement for now; I wanted to be sub-4 for nationals and I am now sub-4, so I can focus on potentially getting to sub-11 3x3 before nationals (a little over a month, could be doable but it's going to be difficult)

 

[IsThatA4x4]

Ok, I received the tornado v3 on Monday so I've had 2 days to break it in and do some solves.
I really like this cube; it feels very tactile to turn and has a light, crunchy feel. It's a very fast cube, but also a very stable cube and I never feel like I'm out of control when I'm turning it (I have the flagship version btw). The only criticism I could really give is that the corner cutting is a little tough, however in solves it doesn't really affect me that much because of the nature of how the cube turns; and once I work out how to get the little handle up I'll loosen the cube a bit and see how it does then.
Overall, definitely a new main, I would recommend for sure.

 

[IsThatA4x4]

Generated By csTimer on 2022-09-28
avg of 50: 10.91
Sub-11 ao50! Maybe sub-11 by nationals wasn't such a stretch after all...

 

[IsThatA4x4]

Generated By csTimer on 2022-10-15
single: 7.34

Time List:
1. 7.34 D L2 U' B2 U' F2 R2 F2 D' L2 D2 F2 B' D R U R B' D' F2 L

PB single by 0.01s; here's the recon

 

[IsThatA4x4]

Alright, here's how today's session went
I got that PB single, but more importantly here's some general progress:

Generated By csTimer on 2022-10-15
avg of 50: 10.68
Smashed my ao50 PB, really happy with this
&
Generated By csTimer on 2022-10-15
avg of 100: 10.98
A sub-11 ao100! Now I only have one average left to get sub-11, and that's my ao1000.

Overall a great session; hopefully I can be sub-11 soon and begin the final grind to sub-10.

 

[IsThatA4x4]

Had an absolutely amazing session this morning; I don't quite understand how it happened but I'll take it.
PBs:

Generated By csTimer on 2022-10-16
avg of 5: 9.35

Spoiler: ao5 times

Time List:
1. 9.57 R2 F U2 R2 B' L2 B' L2 F2 D2 F U2 D' F U F L' B' F2 D' B'
2. (11.15) F' D2 U2 R2 F L2 D2 F' R2 F2 R B' R2 U2 L' U
3. 9.70 U B2 R D F2 L2 B2 L F R U2 B2 R' D2 R F2 U2 L' D2
4. 8.77 R2 B' D2 L2 D2 L2 B2 R2 F D2 F2 R B L' U' B2 D L' D R
5. (8.73) U2 R' B' R' L2 D B' D R2 U2 B2 R F2 R F2 R' U2 F2 L F2 U

Generated By csTimer on 2022-10-16
avg of 12: 10.09 - this is incredible for me; nearly sub-10!

Spoiler: ao12 times

Time List:
1. 10.52 U B2 U' F2 U2 R2 U L2 R2 U2 R' B U' B2 U2 F' U2 L F' R2
2. 10.28 B2 R B2 D B2 U' R2 U' F2 D F2 D L2 B2 R F' L2 U R B2 L2
3. 9.57 R2 F U2 R2 B' L2 B' L2 F2 D2 F U2 D' F U F L' B' F2 D' B'
4. 11.15 F' D2 U2 R2 F L2 D2 F' R2 F2 R B' R2 U2 L' U
5. 9.70 U B2 R D F2 L2 B2 L F R U2 B2 R' D2 R F2 U2 L' D2
6. 8.77 R2 B' D2 L2 D2 L2 B2 R2 F D2 F2 R B L' U' B2 D L' D R
7. (8.73) U2 R' B' R' L2 D B' D R2 U2 B2 R F2 R F2 R' U2 F2 L F2 U
8. 10.42 F' B2 R' B2 D2 R' B2 U2 B2 R2 D2 U2 B D' U2 L' D L' F2 R D
9. (11.62) B2 L' U2 R' F2 R B2 U2 L2 D2 L B2 U F U L F2 D' R F' R
10. 9.50 F U2 F2 U2 R U2 R' B2 R' F2 R2 B2 U2 B' D L2 D' R B2 F R
11. 9.97 F' D R B2 L B2 U2 L U2 B2 F2 R D2 F' D' R F L D' R'
12. 10.98 F2 U2 F U2 R2 F' R2 U2 F' D2 F2 D' F' R' U2 L D F2 D2 R

Generated By csTimer on 2022-10-16
avg of 50: 10.57 - solid improvement over yesterday

Generated By csTimer on 2022-10-16
avg of 100: 10.77 - really good

Generated By csTimer on 2022-10-16
avg of 1000: 11.37 - broke the 11.4 barrier finally

 

[IsThatA4x4]

Ok I have a few updates here
Firstly, nationals!

I didn't do very well in 3x3; for some reason my nerve control was much worse than it has been in the past and I got a 12.38 average for r1, and a 13.37 (funny number though) in r2, so I didn't make semis sadly.
In 2x2 I got a 4.22 and then a 4.19 average, which I was happy with.

The main highlight of the comp for me was the 3x3 improvement I had because of the insane amount of grinding solves I did in between rounds. Here are my PBs as of now, bold = new PB:
Generated By csTimer on 2022-11-01
single: 7.34
Generated By csTimer on 2022-11-01
mean of 3: 8.57 - sub 9!
Generated By csTimer on 2022-11-01
avg of 5: 9.26
Generated By csTimer on 2022-11-01
avg of 12: 9.94 - sub 10!
Generated By csTimer on 2022-11-01
avg of 50: 10.51
Generated By csTimer on 2022-11-01
avg of 100: 10.70
Generated By csTimer on 2022-11-01
avg of 1000: 11.13

I think with a little more grinding, I'll be sub-11 in no time; I'm really happy with where I'm at here.

 

[LBr]

Sorry to hear about ukc. Nerves at comps can just erupt unexpectedly from my experience. My nerves were better as I already had an insane pr average lol. I only broke 1 pr though. Well done on becoming sub-11.

 

[IsThatA4x4]

I have a very weird issue with my tornado v3; apparently a magnet fell out of a corner and I have no idea where it went...

Anyone got any idea what I could do here, or do I just have to buy a new tornado now?
Maybe I can get the corner piece specifically (I ordered this from KewbzUK if that helps)?
Edit: It appears kewbz does sell spare parts, so I'll try to get the piece from there

 

[gsingh]

Still Cubing?

 

[IsThatA4x4]

Still Cubing?

Yes! I've just been away from the forums for a while for no particular reason.
Got a comp coming up at the end of this month so I've been practicing 3, 3OH, and squan and I have made quite a bit of progress:
Current PBs (single/mo3/ao5/ao12)
3x3 (7.34 still/8.57/9.13/9.74) ao1000: 10.62
3x3 OH (14.35 5 second improvement from last single/17.56/18.78/19.82) ao100: 22.83
Squan (10.40 still/12.73/13.26/15.13) ao100: 16.63

I find OH really fun now that I've developed good turning, and I've had some insane improvement in the past few weeks; 3x3 is getting closer and closer to sub-10 which is always nice.

 

[IsThatA4x4]

Generated By csTimer on 2023-02-07
avg of 5: 9.04

Time List:
1. (10.27) R2 D2 B2 L2 U2 R B2 F2 R' D2 R' U' F D2 B R D L R
2. (8.15) D' R F2 D2 B2 L2 D' L2 R2 D2 L2 D' R D2 L' D U F L'
3. 8.39 D' B' L2 F2 U' R2 U R2 D F2 U B2 D' R F' D2 L' U' B' U'
4. 9.20 R2 U2 F2 L2 D2 R2 U' L2 R2 B2 L' F D2 R U R2 F' R' U'
5. 9.53 U R F' L2 B L2 D2 B2 U2 B' U2 L2 R2 F' L F' D' L B2 D' R'

Very close to sub-9 ao5, I'm very happy with this.

 

[IsThatA4x4]

Generated By csTimer on 2023-02-12
avg of 50: 10.12

Near sub-10 ao50 jumpscare

 

[IsThatA4x4]

Generated By csTimer on 2023-02-25
avg of 12: 14.10 actually happened again

Spoiler: Times

Time List:
1. (11.34) (-2,0)/ (2,-4)/ (3,0)/ (0,-3)/ (-5,-5)/ (-4,0)/ (3,0)/ (1,0)/ (-2,0)/ (-4,-4)/ (0,-4)/ (0,-2)/ (0,-2)/ (-3,0)
2. 13.82 (4,3)/ (0,3)/ (0,3)/ (-3,0)/ (3,0)/ (-4,-1)/ (0,-5)/ (0,-3)/ (4,0)/ (0,-1)/ (-2,-4)/ (0,-3)/ (6,0)
3. 14.32 (0,-4)/ (1,-2)/ (-4,2)/ (-3,0)/ (1,-2)/ (0,-3)/ (5,0)/ (-3,0)/ (-2,0)/ (5,-1)/ (0,-5)/ (2,0)/
4. 12.70 (1,0)/ (-3,0)/ (2,-4)/ (-3,0)/ (-3,-3)/ (1,-2)/ (2,0)/ (-3,-3)/ (4,-1)/ (0,-2)/ (0,-4)/ (-2,-2)
5. (16.84) (-5,0)/ (2,-4)/ (6,-3)/ (-5,-2)/ (2,-4)/ (0,-5)/ (-3,-3)/ (-3,0)/ (-1,0)/ (0,-5)/ (4,0)/
6. 15.62 (-5,0)/ (6,-3)/ (-1,2)/ (6,-3)/ (-3,0)/ (1,-3)/ (-3,-3)/ (1,0)/ (-4,0)/ (4,-4)/ (2,0)
7. 12.17 (1,0)/ (3,0)/ (-3,0)/ (-3,-3)/ (-1,-1)/ (-3,0)/ (-2,0)/ (0,-3)/ (3,0)/ (4,-4)/ (-4,0)/ (-4,-3)/
8. 15.70 (0,-4)/ (3,0)/ (-5,4)/ (3,0)/ (5,-1)/ (-2,0)/ (-3,0)/ (-1,-2)/ (-2,0)/ (-2,0)/ (-4,-1)/
9. 16.24 (0,-1)/ (6,3)/ (-5,-5)/ (3,0)/ (5,-4)/ (3,0)/ (-5,0)/ (-3,-3)/ (1,0)/ (-4,0)/ (4,0)/ (-2,-4)/ (-2,0)/
10. 16.20 (0,2)/ (0,3)/ (-2,-5)/ (0,-3)/ (-3,0)/ (5,-1)/ (-5,0)/ (-3,-3)/ (-5,-4)/ (0,-2)/ (6,0)/ (0,-2)
11. 11.78 (3,-1)/ (-3,0)/ (-2,1)/ (3,-3)/ (3,-1)/ (3,0)/ (2,0)/ (0,-5)/ (0,-1)/ (1,0)
12. 12.45 (4,0)/ (0,-3)/ (-4,5)/ (1,-2)/ (3,-3)/ (3,0)/ (5,0)/ (-3,0)/ (0,-3)/ (-4,0)/ (6,0)/ (0,-4)/ (-3,-4)/ (-2,0)

PB ao12 while waiting for 2x2 finals in lincolnshire winter (all about that after tomorrow)
Edit: again

 

[IsThatA4x4]

Squan PB single of 8.65 while waiting for squan finals:
Scramble: (0, 5) / (6, -3) / (-3, 0) / (1, -2) / (-1, -1) / (-5, -3) / (6, -3) / (-3, 0) / (-4, -2) / (0, -4) / (6, 0)
// recon //
60/04/12/03/ ## CS(5-1/L) (4/4)
6-5/-30/ ## CO (2/6)
-36/-30/-1-1/41/ ## EO(CP skip) (4/10)
03/03/-1-1/1-2/0-3/03/-1-1/1-2/60 ## EP(-/U) (8/18)

18/8.65=2.08 SPS

 

[IsThatA4x4]

Well now that the comp is over I guess I should do a comp overview:

Spoiler: 2x2

1st round
3.53 ao5 (I beat my friend by 0.01 *insert evil laugh*)
Finals
4.60 ao5

Spoiler: OH

1st round
23.27 ao5
Finals
24.65 ao5 ft. nice 18.49 single

Spoiler: 4x4 (i never practice this event)

1st round (my only round)
57.27 ao5 (global PB) ft. 51.54 PB2 single

Spoiler: square-1 (the best event)

1st round
17.96 ao5
Finals
16.86 ao5 (I got 7th because no one does squan apparently)

Spoiler: 3x3

1st round
12.08 ao5 (not good)
2nd round
11.32 ao5 (better)
Semis
10.52 ao5 (that's what I wanted) ft. 9.25 PR single
Finals
11.54 ao5 (I was very tired)

I'm really happy with this comp, I made finals and got the averages I wanted in all my events (except 4x4 but I can't complain about a PB average)

 

[IsThatA4x4]

So, I have started learning CSP now; but I'm running into some issues with tracing mirrors. It seems like for some cases when i trace the mirror i have to use the opposite alg, and for some cases even and odd algs remain the same. Is there a general rule for tracing mirrors I can use so that e.g. for 7-1/star, if I get odd parity with either star on top or bottom, I don't do a 2 move on the star to switch parity?

 

[IsThatA4x4]

Generated By csTimer on 2023-03-12
avg of 5: 12.33

Spoiler: 1. 12.54

(-3,5)/ (0,-3)/ (3,0)/ (1,-2)/ (0,-3)/ (3,0)/ (-3,-4)/ (0,-3)/ (3,-2)/ (-4,0)/ (3,-4)/ (6,-4)/ (-2,0)

20/0-2/-23/-1-2/-30/ // CS (scallop/muffin) [5/5]
-56/ // CO [1/6]
33/-30/30/-1-1/-30/41/ // EO (L/line) [6/12]
0-3/30/-30/30/-30/ // CP (N/J) [5/17]
63/5-1/-51/03/30/-1-1/-21/20 // EP (bad U/U) [7/24]

24/12.54 = 1.91 SPS

Spoiler: 2. 13.29

(0,-4)/ (3,0)/ (-2,-5)/ (2,-4)/ (-3,0)/ (4,-5)/ (-4,0)/ (-3,0)/ (-2,0)/ (5,0)/ (-4,-1)/ (4,-2)/

/02/-40/-1-2/-30/ // CS (scallop/square) [5/5]
13/ // CO [1/6]
3-3/-30/-1-1/41/ // EO [4/10]
/33/03/33/03/33/ // CP (-/N) [6/16]
06/03/-1-1/1-2/00/-1-1/1-2/-1-1/14/-1-1/3-2 // EP (adj/W) [10/26]

26/13.29 = 1.96 SPS

Spoiler: 3. (13.30)

(1,0)/ (0,-3)/ (3,0)/ (0,-3)/ (5,0)/ (3,0)/ (1,0)/ (2,0)/ (-4,-4)/ (0,-2)/ (3,0)/ (6,0)

10/3-4/-43/-1-2/-30/ // CS (4-2/L) [5/5]
-26/-30/ // CO [2/7]
06/30/30/-1-1/-21/-30/ // EO (1/1) [6/13]
33/30/-3-3/03/ // CP (J/J) [4/17]
-3-3/03/-1-1/1-2/30/30/-1-1/-21/-43 // EP (U/Z) [8/25]

25/13.30 = 1.88 SPS

Spoiler: 4. 11.15

(0,5)/ (4,-2)/ (3,0)/ (-3,0)/ (-4,-1)/ (-2,-5)/ (5,0)/ (-3,-3)/ (3,0)/ (-1,-1)/ (-2,0)/ (0,-2)

02/01/33/ // CS (shield/shield) [3/3]
-3-4/ // CO [1/4]
44/-30/30/-1-1/-30/30/ // EO (line/L) [6/10]
30/30/-3-3/03/ // CP (J/J) [4/14]
4-2/30/-1-1/-5-2/60/53 // EP (adj/adj) [5/19]

19/11.15 = 1.70 SPS

Spoiler: 5. (10.72)

(-3,-1)/ (-2,1)/ (0,-3)/ (-4,-4)/ (3,0)/ (3,0)/ (-2,0)/ (3,-3)/ (6,0)/ (-5,0)/ (-2,-2)/ (-2,-4)

0-2/22/-10/-3-3/ // CS (star/4-4) [4/4]
0-1/-30/ // CO [2/6]
-24/-30/-1-1/40/ // EO (L/L) [4/10]
33/30/-3-3/03/ // CP (J/J) [4/14]
0-3/30/-1-1/1-2/03/30/1-1/-5-2/60/0-3 // EP (-/U) [9/23]

24/10.72 = 2.15 SPS

And also
Generated By csTimer on 2023-03-12
avg of 12: 13.36

 

[IsThatA4x4]

7.25 3x3 single PB!
Recon:
D' L2 B2 F2 D' L2 F2 R2 D' R2 D L' U F' R F2 U2 R' D
z2 R' D U R' F D F // x-cross (accidental) [7/7]
y' L' U2 L U L' U' L // pair [6/13]
U2 R' U' R U2 R' U R // pair [8/21]
y' U' R' U2 R U2 R' U R // pair [8/29]
r' U2 R U R' U r // OLL [7/36]
U // AUF (PLL skip) [1/37]
37/7.25 = 5.1 TPS