Jason Baum
Veteran
Hey everyone,
I now know the entire T orientation for ZBLL! I just wanted to post my thoughts on my ZB experience so far. I still definitely think this method can be faster than Fridrich, it will just take a lot of time. Right now I can execute all of my ZBLL algs sub 2.5, and I'd say half of them I can do sub 2. So factoring in recognition, I think that with a lot of practice you can have a sub 3 LL 100% of the time with this method. This is a little discouraging actually, because guys like Harris Chan and Yu Nakajima can do close to this with just a Fridrich 2 look LL. I don't think I'll ever be able to match that kind of speed though, so I guess ZBLL is my way of keeping up with them.
I'm not sure if I mentioned this here or not (I know I've talked to some people about it), but I actually think that the best use of the ZB method is to compliment Fridrich. There are solves where I know for a fact that using ZBF2L and COLL/PLL is faster than just a regular Fridrich solve, however there are also solves where ZBF2L slows you down too much for it to be effective. For example, if you come to your last pair and you have to do a y2 and then the ZBF2L case is a bad one, it is dumb to force yourself to do ZBF2L in that situation. Just finish the solve Fridrich style without the y2 rotation and have a two look LL. Honestly, if your ZBF2L doesn't flow well with the rest of your F2L it's hardly worth using. But if you get to your last pair and the ZBF2L is right in front of you at the FR slot and it's a nice case (there are only 5 or 6 ZBF2L cases that I really don't like by the way, and I've been meaning to get new algs for them), then ZBF2L + ZBLL can be very, very fast.
As for ZBLL, it's really not that bad. Before I move on to the U orientation, I'm going to go through all of my algs for the T orientation and figure out some recognition tricks for the weird cases. I'm using Dan Harris' method of ZBLL recognition, and using this it's actually VERY easy to recognize about 80% of the cases. For the remaining 20% or so though it's a little more difficult, so I'm going to try and figure out some other ways of recognizing these cases. If you're curious as to what the recognition method is, ask and I'll explain it (I don't want to waste space if no one is interested). There are also two algs that I've learned so far that I really don't like that I want to learn new algs for before moving on. If anyone wants to help, the cases are (y2) L R2 U' R U R L' U2 R U R2 U' R U R2 and L U' L' R U R' U2 L U' R U2 R' U L' U (do the inverse of the algs to set up the case). The first one is my least favorite ZBLL alg so far, mainly because of the y2 at the beginning. The majority of my ZBLL algs are from one angle so that y2 really bothers me. I could just do U2 instead, but then I'd have to add on another U2 at the end. The alg isn't that good in the first place anyway. However, these two are my worst cases. Most of the ZBLLs I know are actually really nice. So for now, my practice solves will be doing ZBF2L, then converting the LL orientation to a T (if it isn't a T already), and doing ZBLL. In competition I'll probably use ZBF2L as a compliment to Fridrich and only use ZBLL if the orientation is already a T.
I'm really excited to move on to the U orientation though. The next COLL case I am going to learn has always been by far my slowest case, so I'm excited to be able to use ZBLL for that case now. For now though... one orientation case down, six to go!
I now know the entire T orientation for ZBLL! I just wanted to post my thoughts on my ZB experience so far. I still definitely think this method can be faster than Fridrich, it will just take a lot of time. Right now I can execute all of my ZBLL algs sub 2.5, and I'd say half of them I can do sub 2. So factoring in recognition, I think that with a lot of practice you can have a sub 3 LL 100% of the time with this method. This is a little discouraging actually, because guys like Harris Chan and Yu Nakajima can do close to this with just a Fridrich 2 look LL. I don't think I'll ever be able to match that kind of speed though, so I guess ZBLL is my way of keeping up with them.
I'm not sure if I mentioned this here or not (I know I've talked to some people about it), but I actually think that the best use of the ZB method is to compliment Fridrich. There are solves where I know for a fact that using ZBF2L and COLL/PLL is faster than just a regular Fridrich solve, however there are also solves where ZBF2L slows you down too much for it to be effective. For example, if you come to your last pair and you have to do a y2 and then the ZBF2L case is a bad one, it is dumb to force yourself to do ZBF2L in that situation. Just finish the solve Fridrich style without the y2 rotation and have a two look LL. Honestly, if your ZBF2L doesn't flow well with the rest of your F2L it's hardly worth using. But if you get to your last pair and the ZBF2L is right in front of you at the FR slot and it's a nice case (there are only 5 or 6 ZBF2L cases that I really don't like by the way, and I've been meaning to get new algs for them), then ZBF2L + ZBLL can be very, very fast.
As for ZBLL, it's really not that bad. Before I move on to the U orientation, I'm going to go through all of my algs for the T orientation and figure out some recognition tricks for the weird cases. I'm using Dan Harris' method of ZBLL recognition, and using this it's actually VERY easy to recognize about 80% of the cases. For the remaining 20% or so though it's a little more difficult, so I'm going to try and figure out some other ways of recognizing these cases. If you're curious as to what the recognition method is, ask and I'll explain it (I don't want to waste space if no one is interested). There are also two algs that I've learned so far that I really don't like that I want to learn new algs for before moving on. If anyone wants to help, the cases are (y2) L R2 U' R U R L' U2 R U R2 U' R U R2 and L U' L' R U R' U2 L U' R U2 R' U L' U (do the inverse of the algs to set up the case). The first one is my least favorite ZBLL alg so far, mainly because of the y2 at the beginning. The majority of my ZBLL algs are from one angle so that y2 really bothers me. I could just do U2 instead, but then I'd have to add on another U2 at the end. The alg isn't that good in the first place anyway. However, these two are my worst cases. Most of the ZBLLs I know are actually really nice. So for now, my practice solves will be doing ZBF2L, then converting the LL orientation to a T (if it isn't a T already), and doing ZBLL. In competition I'll probably use ZBF2L as a compliment to Fridrich and only use ZBLL if the orientation is already a T.
I'm really excited to move on to the U orientation though. The next COLL case I am going to learn has always been by far my slowest case, so I'm excited to be able to use ZBLL for that case now. For now though... one orientation case down, six to go!
Where do you learn ZBLL from?
But this method seems a bit complicated..........
