Color Neutrality, Pros and Cons

[Bamboo Cuber]

So what do you guys think of the pros and cons of color neutrality? I know that its harder for ZZ users, so if you are or have used ZZ with Color Neutrality, what was your experience? I'm personally color neutral using kind-of Cfop and it took me about 2 weeks to get used to it. Please answer the poll, thanks!

 

[willtri4]

I use ZZ and I'm x2 y neutral. It's really not that hard and it often makes a big difference.

 

[VenomCubing]

I used to be color neutral, but after a while I noticed that most if not all of my inspection time was used just figuring out where to make the cross, and not actually planning it. Now that I only make the cross on white, I use my inspection time much more efficiently, and can even look ahead to a pair once in a while.

 

[Bamboo Cuber]

I wish I was color neutral but I don't want to put all the effort into switching now. I have tried a time or two and just didn't make any progress.

I know it's REALLY hard after you become sub 10.

 

[GenTheSnail]

As I was switching to ZZ but still using CFOP, I was sort of making the transition to DCN. But then I fully switched to ZZ and can't CFOP for the life of me.
With ZZ, I worked on being y neutral for a while but I never felt that my eolines were bad. Thus, I never switched because I never saw any particular need to switch. I've been thinking about trying to be y2/z2 neutral so I can take advantage of different free pairs, but free pairs are really hard to preserve through eoline so I haven't been making any recent efforts.
I might try again now though.

E: Grammar and I did some solves x2/y2/z2 and they are so gross but I'm going to try and be z2 neutral so that I keep blue front.

 

[ChrisBird]

I think color neutrality is extremely valuable to becoming great at 3x3. Yes it is very possible to get sub 10, and maybe even sub-8 with Single color cross (or maybe single color + opposite), but there are just so many extremely good cases presented to you when you're color neutral.

Pros of Color Neutrality:
-6 chances at a good cross case rather than 1
-6 chances to find fast/easy x-cross rather than 1
-OLL/PLL stage are not heavily impacted by color neutrality due to the pattern-based recognition system most use

Cons of Color Neutrality:
-Hard to learn if you're already consistently fast with single/opposite color
-Searching for F2L corners on the fly becomes tricky to wrap your head around at first
-Must choose cross color first during inspection, so you have less inspection time for x-cross (in theory)

I think in general, color neutrality is 'strictly better' than not color neutral, as all the cons of CN seem to be based on practice/changing old habits. I can't think of any downsides (assuming equally good with both) to having 6 different chances at a fantastic cross/xcross case. The point made about inspection is relevant because you are technically adding one more step to your inspection phase (choosing cross color then doing the cross/xcross planning), but overall I think that would be minimized with practice. If you look for good/bad edges you can pretty quickly decide which is the best and go from there.

I should add that this is in regards to CFOP and CFOP-related methods. I have limited knowledge on the others and don't feel qualified to speak to color neutrality in regards to those.

Just my 2 cents.

Chris

 

[Bamboo Cuber]

I think color neutrality is extremely valuable to becoming great at 3x3. Yes it is very possible to get sub 10, and maybe even sub-8 with Single color cross (or maybe single color + opposite), but there are just so many extremely good cases presented to you when you're color neutral.

Pros of Color Neutrality:
-6 chances at a good cross case rather than 1
-6 chances to find fast/easy x-cross rather than 1
-OLL/PLL stage are not heavily impacted by color neutrality due to the pattern-based recognition system most use

Cons of Color Neutrality:
-Hard to learn if you're already consistently fast with single/opposite color
-Searching for F2L corners on the fly becomes tricky to wrap your head around at first
-Must choose cross color first during inspection, so you have less inspection time for x-cross (in theory)

I think in general, color neutrality is 'strictly better' than not color neutral, as all the cons of CN seem to be based on practice/changing old habits. I can't think of any downsides (assuming equally good with both) to having 6 different chances at a fantastic cross/xcross case. The point made about inspection is relevant because you are technically adding one more step to your inspection phase (choosing cross color then doing the cross/xcross planning), but overall I think that would be minimized with practice. If you look for good/bad edges you can pretty quickly decide which is the best and go from there.

I should add that this is in regards to CFOP and CFOP-related methods. I have limited knowledge on the others and don't feel qualified to speak to color neutrality in regards to those.

Just my 2 cents.

Chris

I find that there is almost no way to scramble and find a pair matched with at least one color.

 

[ChrisBird]

I find that there is almost no way to scramble and find a pair matched with at least one color.

They don't necessarily have to be already matched to be an easy case. If when you solve your cross the way you normally would you have a set of 2 pieces belonging to a pair that can be matched/inserted in a few moves, that's also an easy case. Similarly, if you can modify your cross by a few moves to end up with an already solved pair in place (x-cross) that's also an easy case.

The point was mainly that there are a finite number of scrambles that can be put on the puzzle. X% of them have an fast/easy cross/X-cross or easy first pair for white, X% have afast/easy cross/X-cross or easy first pair for blue etc. So for every color you can start on, you are adding a percentage chance of getting a case that is faster than if you couldn't start on that color. If we assume it's equally likely to find a good cross/x-cross case per color, you're essentially giving yourself 6*that percentage to find a good case if you can start from any side.

It would be hard to find what this percentage actually is, because the definition of 'easy cross' 'easy x-cross' and 'easy first pair' are all very liquid, but it stands to reason that having 6 possible starting sides is 6x more likely to find a good start.

Chris

 

[GenTheSnail]

Yes it is very possible to get sub 10, and maybe even sub-8 with Single color cross (or maybe single color + opposite), but there are just so many extremely good cases presented to you when you're color neutral.

I think lucas solved only white cross for a really long time and only recently switched to w/y cross, if even.
I know that drew solves(ed) on w/y, though he might have changed.
Just sayin'.

I do think cn is the way to go, especially if you haven't invested a lot of effort into one cross color yet.

 

[Underwatercuber]

So what do you guys think of the pros and cons of color neutrality? I know that its harder for ZZ users, so if you are or have used ZZ with Color Neutrality, what was your experience? I'm personally color neutral using kind-of Cfop and it took me about 2 weeks to get used to it. Please answer the poll, thanks!

That’s a con for ZZ, not color nuetrality