Caleb Valenzuela
Legend
Hi, I’m Caleb (obviously), and this is my “official thread” for my own curated 4x4 method also known as Caleb Valenzuela’s Optimized Block (CVOB for short). It is heavily inspired by APB and OBLBL.
Abbreviations that I use in the explanation:
Overview
The method is divided into 5 distinct “phases”, namely, F2C, 133, Expansion, Edge Pairing, and 3x3 stage. Here’s how each of the steps will go in detail:
Phase 1: F2C
This is the shortest phase out of the five. F2C is short for first two centers. In this step, you will just solve two opposite centers of your choice. I would suggest using red and orange or blue and green as the opposite centers. You may do it Yau-style (this requires a z move after creating the centers), or keep the two centers on the left and right and solve it from there. I personally do Yau-style F2C then rotate to the blue center on the left. In that case, i would have blue on the bottom and green on the front then do a z move to place them on the left and right.
Phase 2: 133
133 is short for 1x3x3. In this step, you start by forming the DL edge then solving it into it’s slot intuitively. Afterward, you would form the BL edge then pair it up with the DBL corner, then solve it into the back-left. If you choose to do the same set-up as me (blue and green as opposite centers with orange in the back), then the steps would go like this:
Find the blue-white dedges and pair them up to form an edge. Solve it into the DL slot.
Find the blue-orange dedges then pair them up. Find the blue-orange-white corner then form an “F2L pair” to solve it into the back-left. This phase is similar to Roux FB except you don’t solve the FL pair.
Phase 3: Expansion
This is the key step of this method. In this phase, you will “expand” the 1x3x3 into a 2x3x3, then from a 2x3x3 into a 3x3x3, hence the name Expansion. Here’s how it works:
To expand from the 1x3x3 to the 2x3x3, solve the left half of your bottom center (for most solvers it would be white), then form the left half of your B center (in my case it would be orange), then pair it with the lB dedge to form an F3L pair to solve into the lB slot.
To expand from a 2x3x3 to a 3x3x3, repeat the process from the previous step but for the right side. So solve the right half of the bottom center, then solve the right half of the B layer center, pair it up with the Rb dedge to form an F3L pair, then solve it into the rB slot.
Lastly, L2C. For L2C in the CVOB method, you would also form an F3L pair to insert into the front while solving the last two centers. The steps are similar to the previous ones. Form the left half of the F center then pair it up with the lF dedge, then solve it into the lF slot. Form the right half of the F center, pair it up with the rF dedge, then solve it into the rF slot.
Phase 4: Edge Pairing
Now that you’ve finished the key step of the CVOB method, we will now move onto edge pairing. You should have 4 solved edges in the BL, DB, DL, and DF slots. This will leave you with 8 unsolved edges. I suggest solving a random edge first then solving it into the DR slot first for simplicity. This will leave you with 7 unsolved edges. I suggest doing edge pairing in the following order:
do a Uw move while tracking the Lu dedge, then find it’s “dedge pair” and solve it into the Ld slot. Now, look at what dedge is in Lu slot, find it’s dedge pair, then solve it into the Rd slot. Before doing a Uw’, make sure to track what dedge was in the Ru slot, then do a Uw’. Before doing a Uw again, remember what the dedge in the Ru slot was, then find it’s corresponding dedge pair and solve it into the Rd slot. Track the new dedge in the Ru slot then do a Uw. Find the dedge pair of the new dedge from earlier (it should be in the Lu slot now) then solve it into the Rd slot then do a Uw’. Repeat until you have solved all the edges.
Phase 5: 3x3 stage
The final stage of the CVOB method. Just solve the rest of the cube as you would on a 3x3. You may use any method you wish, but i suggest using CFOP or, if you are good at it, APB.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
It only requires about 3 rotations for an entire solve (1 rotation for Yau style-centers, 2 rotations for 3x3 stage), and can even be rotationless if you choose to not use Yau-style centers and if you use APB.
Mostly consists of R, Rw, U, Uw, and L moves which makes it ergonomic
Lookahead is fairly simple during edge pairing as you don’t have to pay much attention to the back slots (aside from being careful not to break the 3x3x3 and the last edge pairs)
Cons:
Lookahead during the Expansion phase is more difficult than other methods as most of the work is being done in the back
The method may be more complicated to learn for beginners because of it’s concepts
This method uses a lot of slice moves during the Expansion phase
Algorithms and move count
The average solver only needs 80 algorithms (OLL, PLL, Parity algs), However, this may vary from cuber to cuber. The average movecount of this method is around 172 moves, but that is a calculation from 2 months ago, so i need to update it.
Notes:
Some of the notation might be wrong as i’m not familiar with middle slice move names on 4x4
This tutorial/overview might be confusing, so if you have any questions please ask me
Please let me know if something like notation is incorrect
I will be providing weekly example solves
Once i have created a youtube channel i will give a video tutorial there
Some grammar may be incorrect
Feedback is much appreciated!
Abbreviations that I use in the explanation:
Dedge: the smaller edge in a 4x4
lower case notation (like u or l): the edge on the inner slice. I used this only for location naming.
UB (Upper Back edge, UR (Upper Right edge), UF (Upper Front) and UL (Upper Left).
RF (Right Front edge), LF (Left Front edge), RB (Right Back edge), and LB (Left Back edge).
DF (Down Front edge), DL (Down Left edge), DB (Down Back edge), and DR (Down Right edge).
lower case notation (like u or l): the edge on the inner slice. I used this only for location naming.
UB (Upper Back edge, UR (Upper Right edge), UF (Upper Front) and UL (Upper Left).
RF (Right Front edge), LF (Left Front edge), RB (Right Back edge), and LB (Left Back edge).
DF (Down Front edge), DL (Down Left edge), DB (Down Back edge), and DR (Down Right edge).
The method is divided into 5 distinct “phases”, namely, F2C, 133, Expansion, Edge Pairing, and 3x3 stage. Here’s how each of the steps will go in detail:
Phase 1: F2C
This is the shortest phase out of the five. F2C is short for first two centers. In this step, you will just solve two opposite centers of your choice. I would suggest using red and orange or blue and green as the opposite centers. You may do it Yau-style (this requires a z move after creating the centers), or keep the two centers on the left and right and solve it from there. I personally do Yau-style F2C then rotate to the blue center on the left. In that case, i would have blue on the bottom and green on the front then do a z move to place them on the left and right.
Phase 2: 133
133 is short for 1x3x3. In this step, you start by forming the DL edge then solving it into it’s slot intuitively. Afterward, you would form the BL edge then pair it up with the DBL corner, then solve it into the back-left. If you choose to do the same set-up as me (blue and green as opposite centers with orange in the back), then the steps would go like this:
Find the blue-white dedges and pair them up to form an edge. Solve it into the DL slot.
Find the blue-orange dedges then pair them up. Find the blue-orange-white corner then form an “F2L pair” to solve it into the back-left. This phase is similar to Roux FB except you don’t solve the FL pair.
Phase 3: Expansion
This is the key step of this method. In this phase, you will “expand” the 1x3x3 into a 2x3x3, then from a 2x3x3 into a 3x3x3, hence the name Expansion. Here’s how it works:
To expand from the 1x3x3 to the 2x3x3, solve the left half of your bottom center (for most solvers it would be white), then form the left half of your B center (in my case it would be orange), then pair it with the lB dedge to form an F3L pair to solve into the lB slot.
To expand from a 2x3x3 to a 3x3x3, repeat the process from the previous step but for the right side. So solve the right half of the bottom center, then solve the right half of the B layer center, pair it up with the Rb dedge to form an F3L pair, then solve it into the rB slot.
Lastly, L2C. For L2C in the CVOB method, you would also form an F3L pair to insert into the front while solving the last two centers. The steps are similar to the previous ones. Form the left half of the F center then pair it up with the lF dedge, then solve it into the lF slot. Form the right half of the F center, pair it up with the rF dedge, then solve it into the rF slot.
Phase 4: Edge Pairing
Now that you’ve finished the key step of the CVOB method, we will now move onto edge pairing. You should have 4 solved edges in the BL, DB, DL, and DF slots. This will leave you with 8 unsolved edges. I suggest solving a random edge first then solving it into the DR slot first for simplicity. This will leave you with 7 unsolved edges. I suggest doing edge pairing in the following order:
do a Uw move while tracking the Lu dedge, then find it’s “dedge pair” and solve it into the Ld slot. Now, look at what dedge is in Lu slot, find it’s dedge pair, then solve it into the Rd slot. Before doing a Uw’, make sure to track what dedge was in the Ru slot, then do a Uw’. Before doing a Uw again, remember what the dedge in the Ru slot was, then find it’s corresponding dedge pair and solve it into the Rd slot. Track the new dedge in the Ru slot then do a Uw. Find the dedge pair of the new dedge from earlier (it should be in the Lu slot now) then solve it into the Rd slot then do a Uw’. Repeat until you have solved all the edges.
Phase 5: 3x3 stage
The final stage of the CVOB method. Just solve the rest of the cube as you would on a 3x3. You may use any method you wish, but i suggest using CFOP or, if you are good at it, APB.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
It only requires about 3 rotations for an entire solve (1 rotation for Yau style-centers, 2 rotations for 3x3 stage), and can even be rotationless if you choose to not use Yau-style centers and if you use APB.
Mostly consists of R, Rw, U, Uw, and L moves which makes it ergonomic
Lookahead is fairly simple during edge pairing as you don’t have to pay much attention to the back slots (aside from being careful not to break the 3x3x3 and the last edge pairs)
Cons:
Lookahead during the Expansion phase is more difficult than other methods as most of the work is being done in the back
The method may be more complicated to learn for beginners because of it’s concepts
This method uses a lot of slice moves during the Expansion phase
Algorithms and move count
The average solver only needs 80 algorithms (OLL, PLL, Parity algs), However, this may vary from cuber to cuber. The average movecount of this method is around 172 moves, but that is a calculation from 2 months ago, so i need to update it.
Notes:
Some of the notation might be wrong as i’m not familiar with middle slice move names on 4x4
This tutorial/overview might be confusing, so if you have any questions please ask me
Please let me know if something like notation is incorrect
I will be providing weekly example solves
Once i have created a youtube channel i will give a video tutorial there
Some grammar may be incorrect
Feedback is much appreciated!
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