[Help Thread] F2L Discussion and Help

[blgentry]

also, i notice sometimes that an edge and a corner are connected but the edge is the wrong orientation, should I move the corner away and reinsert next to the edge in the correct fashion

Yes. I call this transforming from a bad case to a base case.

or should I just learn the algorithm that flips the edge once the corner and edge is in place?

Definitely not.

Speaking of base cases, do you know the 7 basic ones? If you do, you can transform any "bad case" into one of the 7 and easily solve it.

1,2: Cases R8 and it's mirror, F5:
http://www.cubestation.co.uk/cs2/index.php?page=3x3x3/cfop/f2l/frr
http://www.cubestation.co.uk/cs2/index.php?page=3x3x3/cfop/f2l/frf

3,4: Cases R5 (or R7) and it's mirror F8 (or F6):
(Same 2 pages as above)

5,6: Cases R3 and F10:
(Again, same two pages as above)

7: Cases U5, U6, U7, and U8. They're all functionally the same thing. They use the same technique to solve them:
http://www.cubestation.co.uk/cs2/index.php?page=3x3x3/cfop/f2l/fru

Don't get me wrong. Don't go memorizing the solutions to these cases. See the *mechanics* of how these cases work. Once you understand that, you'll solve R5 and R7 with the same thought in your head and you *won't* be doing some memorized algorithm. Ditto for U5 - U8, etc.

If you don't quite have the mechanics of these 7 base cases down, go watch badmephisto's F2L videos, or the one I linked to above.

Good luck!

Brian.

 

[minsarker]

ya, the u cases ive got down easily!

the first two cases I have down also since its just a basic trigger move

and obviously i have r3 and r10 lol, the only ones I have problems with is the r5 or r7 and their mirrors

i just dont get them intuitively, i think im just gonna look at the algorithm and see whats happening

 

[Ellis]

the only ones I have problems with is the r5 or r7 and their mirrors

But these are the exact cases that I just explained to you. If you have an edge whose top color is the same color as the corner's top, then move the corner into some place that you can hide it while simultaneously bringing an open slot to the top, make sure you do this without putting the corner's cross color on the D face. Then you can just use any type of U move to put the edge next to where the corner was so that you can restore the corner to pair them.

 

[blgentry]

the only ones I have problems with is the r5 or r7 and their mirrors

Ellis gave an accurate description of what needs to be done, but I think it also shows just how difficult it is to describe cube mechanics with words. I understand what Ellis said, but I've been doing F2L for a long time, so I already "got it". If his words don't click for you, spend 4 and a half minutes watching badmephisto's video on these cases. Start this video at the 5:24 mark, and watch until the end:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-xbcAMfWwM

If that doesn't work for you, again, try Synper's video that I referenced earlier in the thread. ...and ask questions here if you need more help.

Brian.

 

[minsarker]

I get it now, Thanks guys (or girls)

I dont have a problem with any of the cases, its just r5/r7 and mirrors are a problem at times if they are like the last one left. I have a hard time finding a good way to hide the corner, while leaving the adjacent edge there to swap and keeping the already correct pairs out of the top layer

maybe practice will help this

 

[Ellis]

I have a hard time finding a good way to hide the corner, while leaving the adjacent edge there to swap and keeping the already correct pairs out of the top layer

The way I remembered how to do it when learning was this- put the corner above the slot that you're solving (at the front-right). If the cross color of the corner is on the front face, do (U' R) to hide the corner. If the cross color of the corner is on the right face, do (U F') or (y' U R') to hide the corner. Then just use any U move (U, U', U2) to move the edge. I think you'll find this works for any situation where the edge's top color is the same as the corner's top color.

 

[minsarker]

THANKS SO MUCH! The u' r was the biggest help!

I get it now!

Now i just gotta do it like a zillion more times till its faster, ima start timing my F2L, how long do you think a beginner's OLL/PLL 2look takes? depending on that im gonna grind my F2L down

 

[Ellis]

how long do you think a beginner's OLL/PLL 2look takes?

Looking at your times I'd say maybe under 20 seconds would be reasonable after a little practice. 4LLL can often yield individual step skips. 2-look OLL can be quite fast, its just when you have to do the PLL in 2 steps where it gets kinda slow. I actually really recommend going on to full PLL immediately after getting comfortable with your 2-looks. I learned all of PLL together with 2L-OLL, but I regret not doing all of it sooner because it isn't all that hard other than a few weird algorithms.

 

[Kieran]

I swapped to Fridrich not long ago and at the moment,

I average about 8-10 seconds for the cross, 30ish seconds for the F2L and the I use 3LLL because I think it's a bad idea to just jump into the 57 OLL cases, and it doesn't make it as much fun because after you have learned F2L and 3LLL you can solve the cube lots till you get sub-30 (I am getting closer) I can do the LL in normally about 6-10 seconds. So average is around 45ish. I have been working on it for about a week and a half.

Just practise, practise and practise some more. And you should check out badmephisto's page: http://badmephisto.mine.nu/site/pll.php for the PLL and the others as well. He has a great way of explaining it and also a good step to learning them.

Good luck.

 

[minsarker]

Ahh I see, Well I cranked out the 4LLL and I can get the cross down in about 4seconds average, F2L prolly like 30-35 or so and LL in like 10-15 depending on number of steps and which case comes up

so my average is around 52ish right now (4 + 35 + 15)

 

[crosman boy]

F2l Algorithms?

hello once again, i am here to ask where can i get f2l algorithms? i only want to know the special cases when they are connect and oriented wrong. Also i dont want just any f2l algs. My friend found a website. (he wont tell me) and he said this place is know for its f2l algs. Most of the people (speedcubers) use them.

 

[byu]

http://cubestation.co.uk

 

[soccerking813]

There are many sites. I will find a few of them:
http://solvethecube.110mb.com/f2lalgorithms.html
http://www.cubefreak.net/Fridrich/F2L.html
http://www.opticubes.com/cubing/f2l/

But really there is no need to learn any algorithms at all for the F2L stage. It is very easy to do it all intuitively. I would suggest waiting until you are around 15-20 seconds average, if you aren't already, then maybe learn some of the algorithms. I average around 30 seconds after only about 2 months of serious cubing, and I don't know any algs for f2l. I am going to try to keep it that way too.

I hope you were talking about the Fridrich method.

 

[Tiw]

Erik's page: http://erikku.110mb.com/F2Lalgo.html

Watch his video, he explains pretty well how to solve the F2L part.
I think this is a good start learning the F2L.

 

[mystera]

F2L speed up?

I've just started to use F2L for a few weeks. And learned 6 Olls and 2 Plls. How can I get my speed to be faster. My record is 44.56 seconds. My average is about 55 secs ~ 70 secs.

 

[Vulosity]

Go slow and look ahead. Looking ahead during F2L is very crucial for fast times. At your speed, you don't need to learn all OLLs and PLLs yet. Work on F2L.

I suggest that you watch badmephisto's F2L videos, as they will help you get faster.

 

[mastersinsa]

yeah i learned from him and i was a 45 sec. avg. out of 5 and now i am a 25 sec avg. out of 5 i learned 2 weeks ago but i know 2look oll and pll so that may help

 

[byu]

Badmephisto's videos+Macky's famous line=Fast F2L

 

[Ethan Rosen]

Badmephisto's videos+Macky's famous line=Fast F2L

nice one nitwit

 

[jcuber]

*speaks in peter griffin voice* Hehehe. Nitwit.