Need An Update On Speedsolving *Feeling Lost*

[Rama]

Dear all,

The speedsolving community has grown quite a bit since the last time I dedicated myself to speedsolving the cube. My cube hasn't seen any daylight since late 2011 and even then... I stopped practising around 2009.

Watching the World Cube Association's website has left me baffled and excited! Seeing the new and older generation of speedsolvers hitting the sub-10 barrier, and beyond, is just awesome to watch (back in my days you would receive a thunderous applause if you did a ten seconds solve).

Practising lookahead, building up speed and an up-to-date cube are currently on my to-do list. CFOP is the method that I currently use and as of now I average 12.5 seconds with it, but where do I go from here?

I am looking forward hearing from you all.

Cheers,

Rama

 

[tx789]

Look for better algs for some cases.

 

[CornerCutter]

Welcome back to the forums. Just curious what cube did you have then and is it the same one you are using now?

 

[Ranzha]

Welcome back!

Primary 3x3 brands: MoYu, QiYi, Gans.
Popular cubes include the Valk 3, Gans 356 Air, MoYu WeiLong GTS (the second version has just been released), GuoGuan YueXiao, and likely a few others I'm forgetting.
Newest hardware innovation: magnets (mainly for 3x3s, pyraminxes, and skewbs)

Primary 3x3 method is still CFOP, with people moving past ZBLL and into things like OLLCP, VLS, and various 1LLL subsets.

Square-1 hardware has undergone MAJOR improvements, with WR avg under 9 seconds.
The foremost lubrication materials are still silicone-based, but sold in syringes.

WCA events list changes: Magic and master magic removed (Jan 2013), and skewb is an official event (Jan 2014)

The competition with the most competitors was beaten in 2013 with Worlds (~580), and beaten again last October at Asian Champs (>900 competitors!). This year's Worlds registration is closed at 1000 competitors.

Just a little news

 

[efattah]

Generally speaking the Valk 3 M (M = magnetic) is the best cube according to most solvers but everyone has their preference.

CFOP with ZBLL or OLLCP is dominating, but Alex Lau did win the 2014 Euro championship using Roux and he also has some of the fastest unofficial Ao100. There are a lot of other up-and-coming methods which have extreme promise if you want to get creative with the cube.

I suppose the biggest 'problem' is the bar has now been raised so high that you need a 7.50 average to win a major competition, and a 9.50 doesn't even get you into the finals anymore.

 

[4Chan]

Oh my GOD, it's Rama Temmink

You guys, he used to be aN OH LEGEND

RAMA I REMEMBER YOU

 

[lucarubik]

@Ranzha dam, i shoudlve opened a new thread aswell, i posted a comment in the bld thread asking for these type of answers, but bld oriented
Im in your same situation friend, i didnt cube for 6 years and im back now, so icant really help you with your questions, or i shouldnt rather, i can tell you one thing tho: you will find out memory is a weird thing, the more im going for BLD solves the more totally lost memories im taking back, and not only as what letter pairs i used to go for, or muscle memory for algs i wouldnt have imagined I still had, but life memories too ^^ if you enjoy it half as much as i am you wont regret it

 

[Rama]

Look for better algs for some cases.

I will definitely do that, my F2L is ok-ish, but not perfect and I think there is where I'll be able to cut my times.

Welcome back to the forums. Just curious what cube did you have then and is it the same one you are using now?

Thank you, Rubik's DIY cubes were the "Bees Knees" back then. As of now I purchased a Gans 356 Air solely based on the reviews it has.

Welcome back!

The competition with the most competitors was beaten in 2013 with Worlds (~580), and beaten again last October at Asian Champs (>900 competitors!). This year's Worlds registration is closed at 1000 competitors.

Just a little news

It's amazing how much it has grown, I organised the The Hague Open last weekend and registrations capped in a mere span of 24 hours.

I suppose the biggest 'problem' is the bar has now been raised so high that you need a 7.50 average to win a major competition, and a 9.50 doesn't even get you into the finals anymore.

Some consider it competition, I prefer to call it inspiration.

Oh my GOD, it's Rama Temmink

You guys, he used to be aN OH LEGEND

RAMA I REMEMBER YOU

Although I managed to do some awesome things with the cube, I believe my OH method was already outdated, Takumi Yoshida came up with his superior fingertricks and I was literally baffled you were able to sub-20 OH.

 

[tx789]

I will definitely do that, my F2L is ok-ish, but not perfect and I think there is where I'll be able to cut my times



Although I managed to do some awesome things with the cube, I believe my OH method was already outdated, Takumi Yoshida came up with his superior fingertricks and I was literally baffled you were able to sub-20 OH.

There are R U D G-perms now. Also are those better finger tricks for OH using the pinky finger for R turns and index for U turns? Now used Japanese style which almost everyone uses now.

Also with newer cubes you might notice the difference the most with OH (for 3x3 events, interestingly for feet old cubes can even be better), you'll certainly be able to get a much higher TPS compared to old cubes. A greater difference than you'll have for standard 3x3. I use the Weilong GTS for OH. Also was COLL used much by fast OH solvers back then?

 

[Hazel]

If you haven't already been informed, magnetic cubes are becoming very popular. Chris Tran (4Chan) popularized them quite a bit recently. These include the QiYi Valk M (M is for magnetic), MoYu WeiLong GTS M, GAN 356 Air UM, etc.
The best pyraminxes on the market are mass-produced magnetically, the MoYu Magnetic and the X-Man Bell. The MoYu Magnetic Skewb is also arguably the best skewb on the market.

 

[DTCuber]

Feliks has all the world records.

o w8...

 

[Rama]

Was COLL used much by fast OH solvers back then?

COLL was already in use by most top cubers, I just never bothered learning it.

Thanks for all the replies, reading different threads gave me long-term and short term goals that I will most definitely need to improve. *Two thumbs up*