At what point do you start...

[enigmahack]

...changing your algs? (Fridrich solver here)

I've been sub20 for a little while now, (Unless you put me into a competition and then you can safely add about 5 seconds lol) and as I practice my F2L I'm getting better at the look ahead and have been getting Sub19 and Sub18 averages of 5 and 12. (Not consistently, but if I'm having a good morning, I can usually hit 16.xx or 17.xx)

I've been looking for alternative ways to start getting faster and I've been trying to identify my weaknesses. I know my Cross-F2L transition isn't that great, so I've been working on that. My F2L lookahead is OK, but it's been getting better the more I practice.

But then I started looking at the solves that I was noticably slower compared to my averages (22-25 second solves) and I noticed that I seem to be getting caught up on 4 PLL's.

V, F, Na and Nb.

I've JUST changed V and F algs to something a little more friendly to my cubing style.

(For the sake of example, here were the algs I was using for the V and F:
V: R' U R' U' (y x) R' U' R2 (x') U' R' U R' F R F
F: R' U R U' R2 (y') R' U' R U (y x) R U R' U' R2 (x') U'

I've switched to:

V: R' U R' d' R' F' R2 U' R' U R' F R F
F: R' U2 R' d' R' F' R2 U' R' U R' F R U' F

Obviously it'll take a little time to assimilate those into my muscle memory/repitoire, however the algs are extremely smooth with much fewer regrips than the former algs.

I guess my question stems around the idea: How many of you have needed to re-learn algs that were faster or more efficient? (Or maybe as your style changed for cubing, you realized you needed different algs to help you be faster?)

The "Part 2" to my question is more of a "Help me with the N perms"

I hate hate HATE the N perms, the same way some people hate the headlights OLL.

I've been looking at alternate methods of execution that would be fast and still smooth, but I have only *mainly* found variations of the R' U L' U2... (Or the same basic idea with a z rotation first, etc.)

Is there anyone that has any neat tricks that you use for the N's? My N perms are 4.5 seconds to execute each way, where the rest of mine are closer to 2-3 seconds. I realize these are the weakness here, but I'm curious about what the rest of you have done besides just saying "practice" to get these little devils a little faster.

 

[Muesli]

I have never found a nice N perm. I solve my N(a) perm with 2 look PLL at the moment because the algs are so god awful.

 

[choza244]

I also hated the N perms, so I searched for some good algs, but all are really like "anti-flow" but these are the best ones I found, maybe not the best in the world but much better that the ones I used first.

N perm (b):
R' U R U' R' F' U' F R U R' F R' F' R U' R

N perm (a):
R U' R' U l U F U' R' F' R U' R U l' U R'

 

[emolover]

I am not sure. I have only changed two of my algs. One being the Jb perm and the other being the no edges solved and two corners facing apart OLL. I average 15-17.

 

[uberCuber]

Um, your original V and the one you 'switched' to are the same alg, just written differently.

 

[Gredore]

i hate E perms if you know a good one plz say.

 

[emolover]

i hate E perms if you know a good one plz say.

z U2' R2' F (R U R' U')x3 F' R2 U2.

 

[~Phoenix Death~]

When I need to find one better...

 

[enigmahack]

Um, your original V and the one you 'switched' to are the same alg, just written differently.

Yeah, I knew that, but it's how I hold the cube and the execution that changed for me. (Like what face was mostly front to me)

I guess that also explains why I caught onto it so fast though lol

I also hated the N perms, so I searched for some good algs, but all are really like "anti-flow" but these are the best ones I found, maybe not the best in the world but much better that the ones I used first.

N perm (b):
R' U R U' R' F' U' F R U R' F R' F' R U' R

N perm (a):
R U' R' U l U F U' R' F' R U' R U l' U R'

The N perm (a) that I found was:
(F' R U R' U')(R' F R2 F)(U' R' U' R U F' R)
(Same as yours, just executed a little differently)

 

[Ranzha]

^Na-perm. I think it's bueno. Sure, it's 21 moves, but I've gotten 1.4 with it.
(R U R' U) (R U R' F') (R U R' U') (R' F R2 U') (R' U2 R U' R')

 

[Ordos_Koala]

^Na-perm. I think it's bueno. Sure, it's 21 moves, but I've gotten 1.4 with it.
(R U R' U) (R U R' F') (R U R' U') (R' F R2 U') (R' U2 R U' R')

it's just RUR'U J perm U'RU'R' but yeah, I use it too

 

[michaelfivez]

I find changing an alg is really easy. Because you only change 1 at a time it's not hard to memorize and you won't mix it up with other algs (assuming you know the other algs well).

 

[yockee]

...changing your algs? (Fridrich solver here)
Is there anyone that has any neat tricks that you use for the N's? My N perms are 4.5 seconds to execute each way, where the rest of mine are closer to 2-3 seconds. I realize these are the weakness here, but I'm curious about what the rest of you have done besides just saying "practice" to get these little devils a little faster.

Good N perms for you:

This first one is easy if you know the regular J perm. The section in parenthesis is the J perm:

R U R' U ( R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' ) U2 R U' R'

and the other one:

R' U R U' R' F' U' F R U R' F R' F' R U' R

Hope this helps.

 

[yockee]

i hate E perms if you know a good one plz say.

GREAT E perm that I use for horizontal switching of the corners:

R2 U R' U' y R U R' U' R U R' U' R U R' y' R U' R2

 

[Ltsurge]

when searching for new algs, do you look for those that have the least F or B moves and least cube rotations?

 

[joyceking]

I do not like the N perms neither. It's not good to play.

 

[MWilson]

I switched all my PLLs from the ones I originally started with to ones that always ended up with a "normal" grip at the end. That is, holding the cube with thumbs on F and fingers on B, like in normal F2L. The one exception is my N perm, which is a very slightly modified version of:

My version does not require a re-grip, because I roll the first R2 with my ring finger so I'm already set up for the next move. My fastest avg5 with Na is 1.21 including the z rotation at the start from a "normal" grip. The trick is that the N perm can be done from any starting U rotation. It ends in an awkward grip (same as in the video), but you can just adjust the U face so that there will be no AUF every time.

 

[qqwref]

I use RUD N-perms, which seem pretty fast:

z U R' D R2 U' R D' U R' D R2 U' R D' (R')
z U' R D' R2 U R' U' D R D' R2 U R' D (R)

 

[TeddyKGB]

z U2' R2' F (R U R' U')x3 F' R2 U2.

You are my new best friend...

 

[waffle=ijm]

I change my algs when Robert Yau and Thom make better ones.