Order for learning full OLL on 3x3

[Eriol]

The question of in what order to learn all 57 OLL algorithms for 3x3 comes up now and then and many learning resources have a "recommended order" which just seems to be based on convenience and difficulty. In the end it will almost always be up to personal preferences anyway.

But I decided to take a little bit more scientific approach and went through all the "standard" OLL algs to count how many moves they save compared to 2-look OLL. The idea is that if you want to get quick fast, you should start with the biggest move savers. The result is in this spreadsheet:

OLL Stats

docs.google.com

The table is based on the algs I use (or should be using if I knew them, I'm still learning) and there are columns for both number of moves saved per case and for moves saved on average per solve according to the different probabilities for cases. For 2-look I have used the ideal orientation to do the algs in to get the lowest move count (an experienced 2-look-user should be able to find these by trial-and-error). I of course know that not everybody uses the same algs and that move count isn't all that important without also taking into account what type of move it is and how the alg flows. But I still think this gives an interesting comparison. Key findings according to me:

- Variations on Sune is on the top of the list when it comes to moves saved. These algs are also short and easy to learn. OLL:s 5, 6, 7 and 8 should definitely be learned early if you want to save lots of moves and time.

- Most of the dot cases are also big move savers. OLL 3, 4, 17, 18 and 19 are good candidates to learn early.

- Variations on F-sexy-F' and Fw-sexy-Fw' are easy to learn but they are a mixed bag in terms of how many moves they save and some of them are actually identical to 2-look algs.

- Awkward shapes are generally in the bottom for saving moves. Of these, only OLL 29 does save a substantial amount.

Please comment if you have find any mistakes or have better ideas for methodology to use!

 

[microchado]

good order, i just learned from cube skills and used that recommended order

 

[iguana]

i don't think any order is superior to another so long as you end up learning all the algs. personally, i just learnt the cases that i found easy, then grinded through the last 18 cases i didn't know in one evening. i used jperm's oll trainer, although i did briefly use the one on bestsiteever.net, and i think both are fine

 

[Michael Wimberly]

I doing them in order of which edges are oriented:
Cross
Dot
Line
L-shape

I’m doing dot cases before line cases because dot cases take longer to orient the edges in (f R U R U’ F R U R’ U’) than line or dot (both can be solved with F R U R’ U’), and L-shaped cases last because they’re harder to recognize imo. This order is completely subjective, but you can use it if you want to.

 

[Ordway Persyn]

Wen I learned I just looked at algs and learned what looked easiest then went to harder ones. I may have learned dot OLL's earlier as they saved more time than 2-looking them. I probably started with the two T-shapes as they are so obvious.

 

[Eriol]

i don't think any order is superior to another so long as you end up learning all the algs. personally, i just learnt the cases that i found easy, then grinded through the last 18 cases i didn't know in one evening. i used jperm's oll trainer, although i did briefly use the one on bestsiteever.net, and i think both are fine

Good points, and so has everyone else who responded. The idea was never to find the ultimate order, but more to provide guidance and a theoretical framework.

Anyway, I use solved.no for alg training and I think it works quite well too. The design and functionality has been updated a few times in the past months though, which is a bit confusing everytime it happens.