New to Roux. Blockbuilding tips?

[Jaycee]

Hi there. I average ~25 with CFOP and I'm starting to get bored. After watching some videos of Roux solvers I decided it looked fun. Using Waffle's written Roux tutorial I had my first try at solving with Roux.

One problem.

I CAN'T BLOCKBUILD.

Here are 3 examples of my Roux solves.

U2 R' F L U2 B' U' D2 R2 F' B2 R' B' R' F R D' R' F2 U F' U2 D' L' D

Spoiler

y x'
R' L' U L U L2 y U2 R' u R U L F L' u - Probably the most efficient 1x2x3 I've ever done.
r' U' R' U' R' M2' U2 D' R U R' D U2 R' U R U f R' f' - Definitely the most efficient second 1x2x3 I've ever done.
U2 x' F U' R U L' U2 R' U2 R - CMLL (had to look it up) ..... lead to 6 bad edges >.<
M' U M' U2 M U M U M' U M' - Fixing bad edges.
M2' U' M' U2 M U' M2' U - Permuting UL and UR.
M U2 M' U2 M2' - "L4E".

L D' L2 U' L' U' B L2 F' L2 U D2 L' R F2 B U F R' F' L' R2 D' U2 L2

Spoiler

z2
u2 F' R F U F' R' U B U2 L U L' - ..... There's no way I just did that. O.o WTF easy.
U R2 U2 B U' B' U2 R' U' R - ..... :fp ......... Lol.
U2 R U2 R' U' R U R' U' R U R' U' R U' R - CMLL (from Waffo's site..... sexy alg. And it lead into no bad edges!
M' U2 M' U2 M2' U M U2 M' U2 - L6E.

This solve was just very lucky. O.o

D2 B R' D F2 B L' B F2 R' L U2 L2 R B' L B2 D2 B2 L' F' U' B2 F L2

Spoiler

z2
F U' L' U' R U R' L' B' D L' U' L D' y - Okay, maybe I'm ever so slowly getting better than I was.
U2 M' R' U r' R' U R U' R' U' R d' M' U2 M y' - Decent for me now, I guess.
U2 R U2 R' U' R U' R' F R' F' R U R U' R' - CMLL into easy bad edges case.
M' U M' U M U M' - Fixing bad edges and skipping UL+UR permuatation.
U2 M U2 M' - "L4E".

So clearly, my biggest weakness lies in my 1x2x3 blocks. If I could get over that then I'd go through the process of learning CMLL and L6E recognition. Do any Roux pros have some tips for getting better at blockbuilding? And not to seem ignorant, but I already know "Practice." is the most common answer. Thanks,

~Jaycee

 

[Pandadudex96]

that second reconstruction was sick!!!!!

 

[Jaycee]

that second reconstruction was sick!!!!!

Lol thanks, just a bit lucky for me.

 

[danthecuber]

protip, always link to the animations of the solves for people who don't want to get a cube out
clicky solve 1
clicky solve 2
clicky solve 3

 

[Athefre]

The best thing you can do is to not worry about inspection time and try to find the shortest/fastest block solutions for every solve.

 

[MostEd]

limit rotations in the solve to 0,
then, just do blocks cmll, and re do that lots of times

 

[Phlippieskezer]

Without even looking closely to the scrambles, here are the common ones (don't have time; I'll probably edit this tomorrow with more specific advice):

Do zero rotations, they're unnecessary in Roux solves.
Treat "cross edges" as viable pairs as well.
When you have the first block done, never break it outside of CMLL. If you have a pair for second block, use either R or r. No F or B turns necessary for the second block.
Don't worry too much about time. Rather, take as much pre-inspection time as you want and try to see nice, efficient solves.
When you do start thinking about time, I often referenced the following page for getting faster (I average ~13 now): https://sites.google.com/site/schweitzerpatrick/getting-sub-20-for-noobs-using-roux (you might even want to use that if you're still getting the grasp of the method. Some good advice in there. :3)
Look at Waffle's example blocks. Personally, those videos helped me the most out of anything. I also found block-building difficult at first, and I found examples to work better than straight "advice" (lol - what I'm doing now ).

 

[waffle=ijm]

Stop speedsolving and start slowsolving. blocks don't rely on TPS but on low move-count.

 

[5BLD]

Be efficient. If you're just starting out try about fifteen move limit for the first block. Dont use rotations. Be efficient.
In the second block for the moment don't break the first block at all.

And read through example solves in the example solve game thread. They will help too.

 

[bamilan]

2nd solve, last 6 edges.
Solving the 2 (UR+UL) edges could be done with M U2 M U' instead M' U2 M' U2 M2' U.

 

[jms_gears1]

L D' L2 U' L' U' B L2 F' L2 U D2 L' R F2 B U F R' F' L' R2 D' U2 L2

U'M' xy M2uM'B'(R2r')B'
R U R U2 R2 U' M' U' M2 U' r'
U2 R U' L' U R' U' L
M'UMUM'U2MU'M2UM'U2MU2M2

 

[Kirjava]

Stop speedsolving and start slowsolving.

HEED THIS WARNING, MORTAL.

But yah, try and see the shortest solution for a given group of pieces. Take as long as you need. Then use a solver to find out how to do it better.

 

[irontwig]

I don't use Roux as my main method, but here's what I would do anyway:

U2 R' F L U2 B' U' D2 R2 F' B2 R' B' R' F R D' R' F2 U F' U2 D' L' D
x' B Build another pair
R' U' R' D' Build a square
U y r' U x' Complete block

L D' L2 U' L' U' B L2 F' L2 U D2 L' R F2 B U F R' F' L' R2 D' U2 L2
y2 z' F2 r' U2 L U' Square
x F2 U R2 U2 F' Block

D2 B R' D F2 B L' B F2 R' L U2 L2 R B' L B2 D2 B2 L' F' U' B2 F L2
y z U2 R2 r' U' Square
x F U R r U' x Choosing to complete the block with that "tangled pair" for lookahead reasons

 

[Dan456]

If you make the second block with R, M, r, and U (and their inverses) than you don't need any rotations in it.

 

[gogozerg]

I may have speedsolved them this way...

U2 R' F L U2 B' U' D2 R2 F' B2 R' B' R' F R D' R' F2 U F' U2 D' L' D

z2M'B'F'RUM'F'R2Ur2Ur'UR'Ur'UR
UR'FR'F'R2U2B'RBR'
UM'UMUM'UM'U2M2U'xU2MU2M'

L D' L2 U' L' U' B L2 F' L2 U D2 L' R F2 B U F R' F' L' R2 D' U2 L2

LRB2UBx2U2r'U'x'B'RBr'R2UM2Ur'
U2R'FR'F'R2U2B'RBR'
M2U'M'UMU'MU2M'Ux2U2M'U2M'

D2 B R' D F2 B L' B F2 R' L U2 L2 R B' L B2 D2 B2 L' F' U' B2 F L2

x2y2F'U2RB2FR'FRrF'x2
U'RUM'U'RU'RU2R'U'RUR'
R'U'RU'R'U2R
U2M'UM'UMUMU'M2Ux2U2M'U2M

Some tips:
- Practice.
- Be lucky.
- Use the force.
- Practice.

 

[NeedReality]

Here are my solves, if they happen to help you:

U2 R' F L U2 B' U' D2 R2 F' B2 R' B' R' F R D' R' F2 U F' U2 D' L' D

z L U' F' D2 R U2 R2 y
R r U' R2 U2 M R' U R
U R U2 R' U' R U' R2 U2 R U R' U R
M' U M' U M U' M' U M U2 M2 U

alg.garron.us

L D' L2 U' L' U' B L2 F' L2 U D2 L' R F2 B U F R' F' L' R2 D' U2 L2

z' R' U R' D2 y' R U' B
U' M' U' M' U' R2 U2 r U R2 U2 R
U2 R' U' R U' R' U2 R2 U R' U R U2 R'
M' U M' U' M U' M U M U2 M U M' U2 M' U2

alg.garron.us

D2 B R' D F2 B L' B F2 R' L U2 L2 R B' L B2 D2 B2 L' F' U' B2 F L2

z' U' L' U R' U2 R U R' F U'
z' y U2 R' U' R' M' U' M U R'
R' U L U' R U' L' U' L U' L'
U M U M U' M2 U M2 U' M' U2 M' U2

alg.garron.us

Hopefully this will add to the variety of solves you can look at to try and improve at Roux/blockbuilding. My blockbuilding itself isn't that great most of the time, but I think I'm alright.

 

[umyeahhi]

I used to use fridrich and when I switched to Roux and my average has gone down about 20 seconds and the 2 blocks take me about 20 seconds. Help?

 

[Jaycee]

Thanks everyone. I've tried to reduce movecount and rotations, but I still have trouble with not using F or B moves. I've never actually timed a Roux solve yet because I'm just slow at blockbuilding. After watching Waffle's video tutorials (Thanks for being awesome, Waffo!), Here are 3 more solves of mine.

L B2 F2 U B L2 F' B R2 B' D' R2 U R F' L U2 F' B L U2 F D L B2

Spoiler

R S F2 U y x' U L U L' - Relatively easy 1x2x3
R' U M' r' U' r2 U' R U2 r2 U R U2 R' M2 U' M' r U R' - My first second block using only <R, r, U, M> turns!
R U R' U R U L' U R' U' L - Duh...CMLL.....Nothing important here xD
M U2 M' U M' U M U M' - EO.
U' M2 U2 M2 U M2 U2 M U2 M - L6E.

Solve Animation

R L F2 U' F2 L' D' F L' U2 D' R2 U L U' B2 R L2 D R D R' D2 U B

Spoiler

y
R E2 R' u D R U R U2 B M2 U' S U2 S' - I kinda just went for the first thing i saw...
U' R U R U2 R' U2 R U2 R' U' R U2 R' U S' U' S - BORING. >.> Kind of fun to execute while turning fast, though.
U R' U' R U' R' U2 R U' L' U R U' L U R' - Still nothing special. >.>
U' M U M U M' U M' - EO.
U2 M U2 M U M2 U M2 U2 - L6E.

Solve Animation

L2 D2 L B F2 U2 F U D R' F' L2 R F U B' L' B2 L D L D2 F' D' U

Spoiler

B' R' B L2 D2 - Lol.
R2 M' U' R S' U' S r U M' U R' U' r U R' - Moar lol.
U R U R' U' R' F R F' - Easy CMLL. Or I guess it's COLL. I use this alg for CFOP. >.>
M' U M' U2 M U M U M' U M' - EO.
U M2 U' M2 U' M2 U2 - L6E.

Solve Animation

I'd say solves 1 and 2 are more characteristic of my normal Roux solves. I lol'd at solve 3 because everything was easy except EO! (6 bad edges)

Anyway. Thanks for all the tips! All I should do now to improve my blockbuilding is practice and learn, right? Also, how do you think I am at Roux for only my second day? I have to look up CMLL algs (Thanks again, Waffo :rolleyes But I can do all blockbuilding and L6E stuff on my own. When I practiced last night I just did 2-look-COLL.

Thanks,

~Jaycee

 

[Phlippieskezer]

It's fine to use F and B moves during first block. You have maximum freedom for first block. Just avoid them during second block.

Also - S turns are generally lolzers and should be avoided unless you get a really easy case (IMO).

I suggest keep practising, stop rotating the cube p), stop breaking the blocks, and simply use 2LCMLL (or, I guess, 2LCOLL). You're still a nouxb, so you don't need to know full CMLL (yet).

Quick solve breakdown done for the first scramble. I'd probably do this as a speedsolve, so this isn't meant to be FMC gold or anything.
50 moves STM - pretty bad for me (I average 45 moves, give or take). I don't think I did the first block particularly well, but at least you can see a basic strategy (plus, I think I didn't do too bad on the second block )

PS: I personally do white/yellow on bottom rather than on L/R.

And another example...

 

[Jaycee]

Sweet, I've gotten responses from Thom, Waffle, and even Mr. Roux himself! Thanks to you all!

As for cube rotations, I just realized I only did 2 at the same time in the first solve during the first block O.o Not counting inspection, of course.

At the end of the second block on solve 2, instead of doing S' U' S, what should I do to get the edge piece in its correct position while not breaking up any of the 2 CE pairs I already had? I just use S moves to keep the movecount a little bit lower xD

These all had white on D and yellow on U - I scramble with yellow U, orange F, and blue R. I can go the opposite way though and put yellow on D and white on U.

~Jaycee