What exactly is AvG method for edges? Is it just 2pairing? I think I'd be good with it since I have a pretty fast 4x4x4 time but I suck with freeslicing ;_;.
http://www.speedsolving.com/forum/showthread.php?1447-Arnaud-s-5x5x5-Edge-Pairing-method-Examples
It's basically 2 pairing, but with the concept of a semi-pair always being maintained and a few simple tricks that make it very efficient.
The surprising thing about AvG is that its move count is really almost as good as freeslicing, provided you've learned to do it at the advanced level ("expert" level is not necessary). (In fact, Arnaud usually had better move counts than the really fast 5x5x5 solvers using freeslicing in most of the threads when we've counted such things!) In my opinion, the only reason freeslicing can beat AvG on move count is because it's more likely with freeslicing that you can get lucky cases. It seems like it's really hard for freeslicing to beat AvG on movecount by much (if at all) on 5x5x5, but as you get bigger, it seems like the lucky cases become more common, so it seems intuitive that freeslicing would get a little better on movecount as the size of the cube goes up.
The real benefit to freeslicing is probably that you have more options (which can improve lookahead); with AvG, unless you "freestyle" it (as Mátyás may have done back in the day when he ruled - I'm not sure anyone really knows for sure how his method worked, but on videos, it sure looked a lot like AvG), there's generally only one correct piece to be looking for at any given time, while with freeslice you can choose from several possibilities.
That's actually what seems to kill me with freeslicing - I get indecisive when I see two or three possible pieces to go for next, and so I pause - often badly. Lately I've been trying to be less "smart" when freeslicing, and my times have improved.
Is there an standard color scheme for Megaminx?
I think it's fairly safe to answer "no" to this. Here are a couple of threads that have possible answers for color schemes:
http://www.speedsolving.com/forum/showthread.php?22168-good-color-schemes-for-megaminx
http://www.speedsolving.com/forum/s...Conventional-Color-Scheme-for-the-QJ-Megaminx
http://www.speedsolving.com/forum/showthread.php?15725-Cubesmith-Megaminx-Color-Order
But my old Chinaminxes and my new MF8 both have a color scheme that's different from those, and the Chinaminxes and the MF8 have essentially the same color scheme. When solving, I always remember "Bypgr", which is the order of colors counterclockwise around the white face (blue - yellow - purple - green - red).