F2L First Pair Selection

[RaresB]

Hello all, I was wondering if anyone can provide some insight on selecting the first pair. On many solves I feel that I see multiple f2l pairs that I can start the off with yet I don't really know which one to go with. For me the cross and first f2l pair really set the tone for the solve so I thought that creating a system or some guidelines to follow would be very helpful. Would it be best just to go with the easiest pair, is it just a case by case basis. Anyway I'll stop talking as I don't really have much to add about this topic, hopefully this will start a good discussion.

 

[Schmidt]

If I was a little better I would probably solve a pair that should be on the B as it would reveal hidden pieces. Now, I just take the first pair I see.

 

[Dylann]

If possible, try and find a pair which when inserted will bring out another edge/corner (one that doesn't consist of the top face colour, obviously). Usually people (like myself) do the first one they spot. I don't think there is anything wrong with this, just make sure you're keeping a good eye on the other pieces.

 

[Escher]

Hm, there are a variety of things you could train to practise getting better at first pair and setting up a good solve. Personally I try to choose pairs that have a low net effect on other pieces, which generally means the ones with lowest movecounts. The advantage of choosing these pairs is that they can often be solved fairly efficiently in a couple of ways, so even if the net effect is low, you can direct the effect fairly easily to make the next pair good - I guess this would count as multi-slotting.

Otherwise, I would recommend predicting the location of one of the BL slot pieces in inspection, and trying to find the corresponding piece during execution and immediately solving them - sometimes reducing pauses is more important than the 'optimal' pair choice, especially if you have a difficult cross... The advantages of solving BL first should be fairly obvious, ideally the rest of the solve will always just be <R, U, y> and you don't have 'missing' pieces

I really need to get round to writing up my pair selection guide.