WCA Competition Experience

[abunickabhi]

This thread is dedicated to sharing your detailed competition experience and feedback. This can act as an informal public summary of the competitor experience. Let me start by summarizing all the wonderful things in the recent 3-day state championships I attended.

[Competition Experience]

TCC 2024 was one of the best competitions I went to. Perfectly organized by Deccan Cubing, ICF and the Vasavi college's team. Big shoutout to Pavan Akula, Gaurav Bachani and Sai Kumar Akula for doing an insanely good quality job for the speedcubing community. Cubers from all over India participated and the competition was a great success in all departments. A few of the things that made this competition a class apart from the other 3-day comps.

Some of these ideas show how much effort and quality the organizers have put in.

1) The medals and the trophy were one of the best I have gotten. In HCO 2023 and VRCO 2022, the glass trophies were also good and they still take up the front space in my medal cabinet. The medals were big in size and shaped in a very good finish. It is one of the best medals ever ( even better than Asians and Nats medals tbh)
2) A group of 20 cubers who are doing BLD events and more events get to compete in a different room in order to handle the flow in the main hall better.
3) Food and beverages were provided in a timely fashion (always the case in Hyderabad competitions which keeps all the parents and competitors happy throughout
4) Lighting was perfect in the main hall which made me get 4 PRs without any practice.
5) A lot of rounds were kept for many events but we never grew tired of competing or behind in schedule.
6) Volunteers had a lot of knowledge of regulations and were interested to stick around till the end
7) Post comp dinners for volunteers and the core team. Hyderabad is the best city for food and it makes the competition so much better that the best part is still coming up when we finish a long day of volunteering and competing.
8) Delegates doing an excellent job with transitions. The scrambling was handled perfectly with no delays on that end. Fixed seating and pre-emptive cube collection makes the competition experience even more seamless and perfect.
9) Cubing interactions. A major missing in 2024 is the olden days feel of cubing when everyone used to share everything cubing related to each other. I did see glimpses of this attitude throughout the three days and am relieved that the olden days can be revived again.
10) Cubing parents being acknowledged during prize distribution, a lot of the medal winners called up their parents on stage appreciating their sacrifice in making cubing a success for their kid. This was something that should be done more often at other comps rather than just hand out stuff to podium winners as a formality.

Always a pleasure to attend Hyderabad comps, I want to keep praising their management and hoping for more and more competitions in the future. I have a lot more points to cover, maybe I will edit the post later and add a few more things. Other competitors are free to add their feedback for the competition.

Telangana Cube Championship 2024 | World Cube Association

The World Cube Association governs competitions for mechanical puzzles that are operated by twisting groups of pieces, commonly known as 'twisty puzzles'. The most famous of these puzzles is the Rubik's Cube, invented by professor Rubik from Hungary. A selection of these puzzles are chosen as...

www.worldcubeassociation.org

 

[TheSpeedSkewber]

I have been to 4 competitions, all in the same venue- soon to be 5. All in the United Kingdom. I am not sure if some of what I have experienced carries over to the US or other countries.

Regarding the organisers/delegates:

The delegates are helpful and approachable. They have a good online presence and can be very professional when needed. They are unjudgemental and patient. There was an instance where I had spilt a drink which had been left on the floor, rendering a station temporarily unusable during someone's attempt. Thankfully the competitor was not affect or aware, but after the solve i informed a delegate who dealt with it quickly and with no judgement towards me, who was naturally quite embarrassed. Retrospectively I realise that it was a small accident and really nit big of a deal but it's that quick professionalism that not everyone possesses. They also announce NRs and special achievements, which is usually the case, but it is nice nonetheless.

Regarding the solving and judging experience

Unlike some competitions, we are not assigned a station to solve at. We go to a different station each time, with a different judge. I do not mind this. The process of submitting cubes is well organised and it is clear which 'stage' you solve on. Again- delegates are very helpful. One issue i had with judging the first time i went to a competition was the stopwatch hardware. Some were easy to start and stop but egregiously hard to reset, and i found myself in a position once where I nearly did not have enough time to reset before the next competitor's attempt (it was fine in the end). I think that stopwatches should be tested for quality.

Regarding the people at the competition

I am not sure if this translates to other competitons across the globe, but there is a hierarchy over here. The tables are populated by what some dub the 'Cubing Elite', (fastest people and record holders), incidentally usually the ones who talk on the various discord servers. They aren't unkind, but it does make a first time competitor feel slightly 'unworthy' (for lack of a better word,) to be at the competition. It is hard to explain without being there yourself. Other than that, the people you sit with are normally talkative and nice. Parents are usually happy to talk with eachother.

That is just a short summary, and i will edit in anything that i have forgotten. Overall, the competition experience is very good!

Spoiler: Competition Links

Wiltshire Spring 2023 | World Cube Association

The World Cube Association governs competitions for mechanical puzzles that are operated by twisting groups of pieces, commonly known as 'twisty puzzles'. The most famous of these puzzles is the Rubik's Cube, invented by professor Rubik from Hungary. A selection of these puzzles are chosen as...

www.worldcubeassociation.org

Wiltshire Summer 2023 | World Cube Association

The World Cube Association governs competitions for mechanical puzzles that are operated by twisting groups of pieces, commonly known as 'twisty puzzles'. The most famous of these puzzles is the Rubik's Cube, invented by professor Rubik from Hungary. A selection of these puzzles are chosen as...

www.worldcubeassociation.org

Wiltshire December 2023 | World Cube Association

The World Cube Association governs competitions for mechanical puzzles that are operated by twisting groups of pieces, commonly known as 'twisty puzzles'. The most famous of these puzzles is the Rubik's Cube, invented by professor Rubik from Hungary. A selection of these puzzles are chosen as...

www.worldcubeassociation.org

Wiltshire February 2024 | World Cube Association

The World Cube Association governs competitions for mechanical puzzles that are operated by twisting groups of pieces, commonly known as 'twisty puzzles'. The most famous of these puzzles is the Rubik's Cube, invented by professor Rubik from Hungary. A selection of these puzzles are chosen as...

www.worldcubeassociation.org

 

[Cubingmadness123]

Honolulu Haulelau and Hippocampus were good I got 3rd place in 2x2 and got a SQ-1 average

 

[BVCuber13]

Honolulu Haulelau and Hippocampus were good I got 3rd place in 2x2 and got a SQ-1 average

Nice job, but please don't bump old topics/threads if you have nothing meaningful to say.

EDIT: I worded that completely wrong, so sorry. I believe I am just asking for more clarification about how the comps went, what specificallystuck out to you about the experience of being there?

 

[Cubingmadness123]

1 got to meet Matty for the 2nd time
2 Delegates were helpful
3 met many others that I raced
4 close to food locations
5 Unfortunately judge touched the cube in Skewb Finals so I had to get an extra
6 Kahala mall Cube Meet Up! This was fun
Overall the Cubing Comp went well

 

[Davian]

I went to Dutch Nationals 2024 and here was my honest experience:

This competition was pretty good organized, I'd say, but first of all, there were 3 stages and when a new group could compete, there would be an annoying loud bell troughout the whole venue and one time i literally had to close my ears because it was that loud. This bell hasnt (luckily) distracted me during solves.

The competition was in Arnhem, the venue was pretty big with an average size cafetaria. It was pretty reachable from full netherlands, it was an 45 minute drive (probably because i live around utrecht which is pretty central) The venue for the championship was easy to get to, there was a big parking lot and a bus station nearby.

The competition self was really fun, I ended up getting 3rd in clock and also getting some nice PRs. There was a livestream with 2 pov cameras which was pretty cool.

Id say I would go to this competition again, but just get rid of that bell.

 

[Lord_Oscar]

Ooof, this is a tough one.

I've had multiple comps where the experience was amazing for a variety of reasons.

My 4th competition: Only Cubes in Wellington 2024. I particularly enjoyed this one because of my double PRs in 3x3, but also how I spent a lot of time staffing, including doing data entry for most of the second day.

5th competition: Kubing in Kapiti 2024. I loved this competition because I broke demolished my previous PRs in Pyraminx.

 

[abunickabhi]

My 101th WCA comp was in a villa. It was my 13th this year and I enjoyed this Christmas comp a lot. In the picture about is the feet eternal world record holder Aiman Koli who graced the Mumbai speedcubing community with his presence after a year.

Some positive things about this competition:

• The organizers Cubenama have been the backbone of the Mumbai community for many years and they did an excellent job in making the experience seamless and memorable.
• This was the second comp at this venue and it just got better than before with perfect ambience, indoor-outdoor space and natural environment.
• The competition was kept short with 4 sprint events and just two finals, this made sure everyone had time to spend the rest of the day doing fun things and enjoying socializing in different ways.
• Complimentary drinks and snacks were handed out to busy volunteers and participants nicely by Soham which added an extra factor of care and comfort. We can comfortably say that such WCA competition experiences are hard to find anywhere in the world (considering I have attended comps in 20+ cities in 6 countries)
• The volunteering was top notch with everyone willing to help out more in running the competition smoothly and provide a helping hand.
• The lighting being outdoor worked out well, there was some issues with sunlight and tree shade creating inconsistent lighting across 8 solving stations, but the solving condition was fair across the station.
• Soham and his team did a great job in making sure everyone got the drink they wanted and satisfy everyone.
• The competitiveness was decent with a sub-7 average (by Aamir) winning the competition and everyone giving their best.
• This villa in Mumbai is in a remote area inside a national park which gives a unique aspect to exotic venues where WCA competitions have taken place.
• Team Cubenama always goes the extra mile in providing cubing memories and building the community.
• The Mumbai city is one of the best and busiest in the world with people finding opportunities and moving in-out frequently and it is good to know the cubing community is sustainable growing and getting younger. A lot of the fast competitors were in their early teens and well practised which is good to see!
• The prizes and the medals were top notch and a big shoutout to James for doing the job perfectly!
  
  Long live Cubenama and happy to be a part of the Mumbai speedcubing community in 2025!

 

[abunickabhi]

MCC 2025 was epic!


The best venue for a cubing competition. This was my 104th comp and I have attended comps in 5 countries.


I have seen 70+ venues personally and hundreds of more via delegate reports and this one is the best for mid sized competition 50-125 or even small sized competitions like PBQ. I bet we matched or surpassed the best banquet venues that have ever hosted a WCA competition across the world.


The schedule and volunteering was good, and the community building post Covid is on track. A lot of young cubers stayed till the end which shows their enthusiasm for the WCA format and wanting to get PRs.


The prizes were well designed and had a similar theme to Oculus and Korum comps in the past. Loved the designing. The lighting at the competition was good and the sound levels were too low because of the good building design and room design. There was some issue with the network as we were in a heavily concretized and custom made billionaire's house.


Team Cubenama was perfect and professional at all times. It was good to see good communication between first timers, seasoned cubers, delegates and the volunteers.


The cafe inside the sports lounge was an excellent idea and it enhanced the user experience when cubers were not competing. Round tables for practising was good and it reminded me of Worlds 2013 and Worlds 2017 when round tables space led to nice community interaction. The 30+ floor building in which the competition was held reminded me of Asians 2018 where the venue was in a skyscraper in a posh locality and a prime location.


I am grateful to Sharan for working towards making this venue possible and take the speedcubing experience to the next level.
I am looking forward to the competition coming up at this venue in a couple of months.


I want to write out a more detailed description of the competition so that organizers from other cities and countries can take cues and learn from the quality and user experience this competition provided.


On a wishful note, I would love it if Gautam Singhania (the guy who founded the Raymond group) takes interest in cubing and gives the monetary boost to make it an entertaining experience for Indian audiences and worldwide audiences .


For example, Chess changed a lot when Rex Sinquefield decided to sponsor a lot of top players, give huge prize money and hold elite tournaments.

 

[DA_BOY]

I met JR cuber at the New England Championship 2024 and got my mat signed by him

 

[Tabe]

I met JR cuber at the New England Championship 2024 and got my mat signed by him

Spent a fair amount of time talking to Jesse at NAC last summer. Super nice guy. We were in the same group for 4x4 and ended up next to each other in the waiting area among other things. I told him I missed him making videos - he told me he didn't

 

[BirdCubing]

I've been to many comps but one of the ones that I would probably won't forget is NAC 2024. That was where I got my NAC mat signed by Max Park, Cube Master, Rowe and JR Cuber, Zayn, Tymon and many others. It was a great experience. The one thing that I do regret is not having a hotel near to the venue as my hotel was around 1 hour by subway while there are many hotels near the venue.

 

[Eric4112]

I helped with a giant mosaic in my first comp

 

[abunickabhi]

Comp #105 experience


This was my 7th time competing in DAIICT. The institute where I did my masters in. The student group which organizes competitions here are one of the best in terms of cooperation, management skills and cubing knowledge. This is also one of the rare cubing competition in India to be held during a college fest without any slacks or bottlenecks from the college management making it harder for organizers and delegates do the basic things right. This was the first two day competition in DAU which was sweet. A total of 11 WCA events were organized with FMC being kept in Gujarat after 8 long years. The medals handed out were of excellent quality and the coupons and cubes handed out for sum of ranks positions were necessary for aspiring speedcubers.


The lighting was good with a lot of natural light in the lecture theatre. Since there were over 300+ benches oriented towards the podium, a few of them in the front corner were allocated to solving area. The waiting area was at the back of the theatre. There were enough scramblers and runners at all times throughout the two days so there was no hiccups in the flow of the competition.


The sponsor of this competition, Cubelelo setup their store somewhere in the middle of the auditorium. Mohan did a good job vending out new products to aspiring speedcubers. The core team ensured judges were available at all times so that the competitors did not have to stress about volunteering above their comfort zone, which would affect their speedcubing performance. Gujarat as a speedcubing region is healthy and it would be great to see competitions happening in more populous centers like Ahmedabad, Rajkot and Baroda. Gandhinagar city is easily accessible with good tourism spots for the speedcubers to unwind. I have seen a lot of change happen in the infrastructure of this city since 2005. This is a much self sustaining cubing club that I started in 2017 and I am happy to see its longevity of cubing activities even post corona. I wish my other the college cubing club that I founded in SRM would function as continuously and actively as well.


The potter themed fest was feel-good and the mosaic made by the cubing club at the cafeteria was a nice show of artwork. Manish Rathod, a well known puzzle creator showed his new creations to the community and also gifted his cubing shirts merch as consolation prizes to the winners. The core DAU CC team has a good mix of experience and early undergrads to function well for the coming years.


I am looking forward to the next DAU competition and experiencing a good vibe as well as getting a lot of PRs. Attending well known Indian singers' concert in the evening was a treat. Shaan and Mohit Chauhan left everyone spellbound with their beautiful voice.

 

[Exmestify]

I got 13th place in sq1 in my most recent comp, 14th in 2x2, and 15th in pyra. top 12 makes finals.

 

[Caleb Valenzuela]

I got 13th place in sq1 in my most recent comp, 14th in 2x2, and 15th in pyra. top 12 makes finals.

that’s so painful

 

[Caleb Valenzuela]

I made finals for all events in my most recent comp, and got 3rd in 3x3 finals! But i also DNFed out of my first comp win in 2x2, by somehow yeeting my 2x2 over my head and not starting the timer

 

[Lord_Oscar]

I'll write a whistlestop tour of my competitions because why not?

My first competition was New Zealand Nationals 2023. The only things that stick out in my memory are seeing the delegate (Alex) struggle with a speaker system that blurted out static at random and being incredibly nervous before my first ever official solve (weren't we all), and having my parents get me a new 2x2.

My second competition was Welcome to Wellington 2024, where I broke literally all of my PRs, which isn't saying a great deal, as all the PRs I set at Nats 23 were terrible. I also set a 2.78 2x2 PR single, which is my longest-standing PR.

Third competition: Solve Well In Wellington 2024. I double PR'd in 3x3 (...again), and got my first sub-5 2x2 average with a 4.91.

My fourth competition was Only Cubes in Wellington 2024, the things that stand out are having my friend being made a trainee delegate shortly before the competition, having the delegate who was planned to delegate being unavailable and having to fiy a delegate from Auckland in (who was a great delegate, I'll add), spending most of the second day doing data entry, and of course, continuing the trend of double PR'ing in 3x3. At this comp, my 2x2 results were...not great, but everything else seemed to go really well.

My fifth competition was Kubing in Kapiti 2024 (see what they did there?). I double PR'd in Pyraminx, which was an amazing feeling.

My sixth competition was the Rubik's WCA Oceanic Championship FMC 2024, and I don't have anything to say about it apart from it made me hate FMC. (I'm totally not salty.)

My seventh competition was New Zealand Nationals 2024, and while my results were awful, I had an amazing time at the comp.

My eighth competition was Just Solve in Johnsonville 2025, and there's a great deal I could say about it. JSiJ was the first (and so far, only) competition that I have organised, and, for the most part, I really enjoyed the organising experience. I also double PR'd in 3x3, 4x4 and OH.

 

[abunickabhi]

Competition #106 experience: Only 3x3s in Hyderabad 2025

Only 3x3s in Hyderabad 2025 | World Cube Association

The World Cube Association governs competitions for mechanical puzzles that are operated by twisting groups of pieces, commonly known as 'twisty puzzles'. The most famous of these puzzles is the Rubik's Cube, invented by professor Rubik from Hungary. A selection of these puzzles are chosen as...

www.worldcubeassociation.org

The idea of only 3x3s which comprise of 5 WCA events is a cool idea. The competition ran for 1.5 days and was a small scale competition that ran smoothly. The lighting has been recently renovated a year back, and the split ACs installed makes this venue perfect for year round competitions.

Gaurav and Harsh were the most experienced people who drove this competition. They did their jobs perfectly and left no stones unturned. Hira Hall is a unique venue which is adaptable for competition of any scale. A lot of competitions are going to be held at this venue for sure, and the junior delegate Gaurav does a massive contribution to the community by arranging the venue, enabling organizers and ensuring fair play in the competition.

This was my 4th competition at this venue. I am in love with how beautiful this venue is and the good vibrations as it is above a temple. Deccan cubing team has a lot of members who are passionate about cubing and are young. It is good to see healthy teamwork from them making the competition experience, close knit and high quality.

I am excited about the follow-up competitions with similar idea, like odd cubes only or minx only WCA competitions.

The next competition at Hira Hall is going to be fun as hell, it is Survive FMC in Hyd 2025 in a month's time. https://www.worldcubeassociation.org/competitions/SurviveFMCinHyderabad2025

Below is the photo of Vivek Mada who has produced and coaches a lot of youngsters (including me), to get inspired by blindsolving and participate in it. He has been in the community for over 14 years and has organized countless competitions. He manages Speedcubing Bengaluru since the last few years.

He has contributed many times to the WCA trying to make new competition ideas work, talk to parents and increase the sponsorship for competitions to make the user experience better.

 

[Caleb Valenzuela]

Competition #106 experience: Only 3x3s in Hyderabad 2025

Only 3x3s in Hyderabad 2025 | World Cube Association

The World Cube Association governs competitions for mechanical puzzles that are operated by twisting groups of pieces, commonly known as 'twisty puzzles'. The most famous of these puzzles is the Rubik's Cube, invented by professor Rubik from Hungary. A selection of these puzzles are chosen as...

www.worldcubeassociation.org

The idea of only 3x3s which comprise of 5 WCA events is a cool idea. The competition ran for 1.5 days and was a small scale competition that ran smoothly. The lighting has been recently renovated a year back, and the split ACs installed makes this venue perfect for year round competitions.

Gaurav and Harsh were the most experienced people who drove this competition. They did their jobs perfectly and left no stones unturned. Hira Hall is a unique venue which is adaptable for competition of any scale. A lot of competitions are going to be held at this venue for sure, and the junior delegate Gaurav does a massive contribution to the community by arranging the venue, enabling organizers and ensuring fair play in the competition.

This was my 4th competition at this venue. I am in love with how beautiful this venue is and the good vibrations as it is above a temple. Deccan cubing team has a lot of members who are passionate about cubing and are young. It is good to see healthy teamwork from them making the competition experience, close knit and high quality.

I am excited about the follow-up competitions with similar idea, like odd cubes only or minx only WCA competitions.

The next competition at Hira Hall is going to be fun as hell, it is Survive FMC in Hyd 2025 in a month's time. https://www.worldcubeassociation.org/competitions/SurviveFMCinHyderabad2025

Below is the photo of Vivek Mada who has produced and coaches a lot of youngsters (including me), to get inspired by blindsolving and participate in it. He has been in the community for over 14 years and has organized countless competitions. He manages Speedcubing Bengaluru since the last few years.

He has contributed many times to the WCA trying to make new competition ideas work, talk to parents and increase the sponsorship for competitions to make the user experience better.

View attachment 38840

a comp with only my main event!