Garf's Progression Thread - Beating Hard Levels in GD (Hardest is Bloodbath)

[Garf]

How many times have you said, I am quitting cubing just to say, ahh never mind?

Idk, you should count for me lol.

 

[Isaiah Scott]

I have good news and bad news. Good news is that I might be coming back to cubing. Bad news is that my chances of going in-person tk central might be slim due to costs and how much I can work without being overwhelmed and procrastinating a lot.

will you be attending worlds?

 

[Garf]

will you be attending worlds?

No, I will not

 

[NebraskanSpeedsolver]

No, I will not

Wait I thought you were staffing or smthn

 

[Garf]

Wait I thought you were staffing or smthn

Idk yet. I was deferred but I don’t actually know until May.

 

[Garf]

Heya Guys. It's been a few weeks since you've last heard any progress from me. I'm probably in the low 10s still for 3x3 despite little practice. I get sub-10 solves fairly often, which is pretty good. I've taken a break from Minecraft to focus on school, track, work, and a new game: Geometry Dash. At the moment I have beaten only 3 demons from the main levels (Clubstep, Theory of Everything 2, and Deadlocked) and right now I'm designing what hopefully will be a medium to hard level demon to tone out my skills and help me understand the mechanics of the game a bit more. So stay tuned for that progress and this is Garf out.

 

[Caleb Valenzuela]

Heya Guys. It's been a few weeks since you've last heard any progress from me. I'm probably in the low 10s still for 3x3 despite little practice. I get sub-10 solves fairly often, which is pretty good. I've taken a break from Minecraft to focus on school, track, work, and a new game: Geometry Dash. At the moment I have beaten only 3 demons from the main levels (Clubstep, Theory of Everything 2, and Deadlocked) and right now I'm designing what hopefully will be a medium to hard level demon to tone out my skills and help me understand the mechanics of the game a bit more. So stay tuned for that progress and this is Garf out.

garf didn’t completely drop cubing yet!!!! (i know you never will but you have to eventually when you get mature/older/ have more responsibilities as an adult)


what?!?!?!! “New game” but already beat 3 demons i used to play that game all the time and couldn’t even beat all the medium levels

 

[Garf]

garf didn’t completely drop cubing yet!!!! (i know you never will but you have to eventually when you get mature/older/ have more responsibilities as an adult)


what?!?!?!! “New game” but already beat 3 demons i used to play that game all the time and couldn’t even beat all the medium levels

Well I kinda started in 2019 and my best level back then was "Can't Let Go". There was this free version on the Chrome Web Store that had like online levels that I could play as well as the full game (including all demons and fingerdash at the time). Then I dabbled with it for a few years before I finally installed lite in Nov 2024 and started grinding hard. I got to Clubstep before I finally bought the full versions on Steam and Mobile in around February, and I've gotten a lot of time and skills out of the game.

 

[Garf]

Fourth demon defeated. It’s called Shiver and it’s an easy demon. Easier than clubstep imo.

 

[Garf]

So hi, it’s been a while since I’ve updated my progression.
I’ve beaten 11 demon levels so far, with my hardest being “Skeletal Shenanigans” the event level currently.
Right now I’m working on a level harder than that called “HeLL” by Serponge.
I’ve halted progress on my level “Boss Stereo Sigma”, but I hope to continue it soon.

 

[Garf]

I know I'm selling cubes, but uh I wanted to get these for the lols:

 

[Garf]

So good news: I got my spark v2 and other puzzles:

Bad news: my Aofu broke the same day while trying to fix a pop:

Good news: I got word from SCS that I’m getting a replacement bit for free!
Bad news: I have to spend a week with the spark
Okay okay the spark isn’t that bad, but the Aofu is my beloved. I got it two years ago, put 2.5k solves on it, and is the best feeling 7x7 that I own. The Spark v2 feels dry all the time, not smooth whatsoever. It’s fast don’t get me wrong, but it feels so weird. Plus there’s no torpedos in the edges and it doesn’t have an anti-morph mechanism that prevents the pieces from locking up.

 

[Caleb Valenzuela]

what 3x3 is down there

 

[Garf]

what 3x3 is down there

Xt3 v1 flagship

 

[Garf]

I’ve been doing 3x3. I did a coaching session with my friend Caiden Lee and he helped me find my weaknesses in my solves and developed a good practice routine to have them pop up less in my solves and get to hopefully sub-8 soon. I want to be sub-9 by my bday and sub-8 before the end of the year. Don’t know if that’s way too fast but we’ll see.

 

[Caleb Valenzuela]

I’ve been doing 3x3. I did a coaching session with my friend Caiden Lee and he helped me find my weaknesses in my solves and developed a good practice routine to have them pop up less in my solves and get to hopefully sub-8 soon. I want to be sub-9 by my bday and sub-8 before the end of the year. Don’t know if that’s way too fast but we’ll see.

nah that's reasonable because i got sub-11, sub-10, and sub-9 all in one year (2024 was crazy for me) then after like 5-6 months months i got sub-8. Also, that was with minimal help so since you have coaching you will probably reach sub-8 faster (that's if you practice like everyday)

 

[Garf]

nah that's reasonable because i got sub-11, sub-10, and sub-9 all in one year (2024 was crazy for me) then after like 5-6 months months i got sub-8. Also, that was with minimal help so since you have coaching you will probably reach sub-8 faster (that's if you practice like everyday)

Yeah. Does mean I have to law off big cubes like crazy to do that. I’ve just been practicing either smooth turning or cross+ 1. Today’s slow turning practice was kind of rough, but I know I’m bound to have those days.

 

[Caleb Valenzuela]

Yeah. Does mean I have to law off big cubes like crazy to do that. I’ve just been practicing either smooth turning or cross+ 1. Today’s slow turning practice was kind of rough, but I know I’m bound to have those days.

not really. Let's say you have an hour to practice as many events as you want. You could just spend half an hour for 3x3 and the rest for other events (like big cubes). 3x3 would have to be deliberate practice though, which isn't always fun. It really depends on your schedule but if you want, you could DM me and i could come up with a practice plan based on your schedule.

 

[Garf]

not really. Let's say you have an hour to practice as many events as you want. You could just spend half an hour for 3x3 and the rest for other events (like big cubes). 3x3 would have to be deliberate practice though, which isn't always fun. It really depends on your schedule but if you want, you could DM me and i could come up with a practice plan based on your schedule.

I just either do some chill solves on 3x3 to warm up or big cubes slow solves/timed solves, then either slow solving with a timer to work on efficiency and lookahead and then some normal solves after that, or cross+1 bld and then normal 3x3 solves with me making sure I do cross+1 with the cross in the back. After that I either do 3x3 drills or more big cube solves.

 

[Garf]

So uh I beat Nine Circles.
Not on PC, but on Mobile!

Basically, I just play with my index finger and have my phone flat on my desk. That’s how I’ve learned to play, ya know? So yeah, Nine Circles 100%
In other cubing news: I haven’t touched a cube in 3 days since work and GD basically.