Will Feliks’ GOAT status be challenged?

[Thomas.Caleb]

Once a goat always a goat

 

[OtaMota]

Once a goat always a goat

Me in 2004:

Shotaro Makisumi is the goat of cubing. He will always be the goat. Once a goat, always a goat

 

[abunickabhi]

Me in 2004:

Shotaro Makisumi is the goat of cubing. He will always be the goat. Once a goat, always a goat

Shotaro was not good in bigcubes, so he is not goat in overall speedcubing

He just broke 3x3 based(edited) world records.

 

[OtaMota]

He just broke 3x3 world records

He also got 2x2, OH, and 3BLD

 

[Caleb Valenzuela]

let’s see when yiheng starts getting good at big cubes thpugh i don’t think TPS spam will be very useful there

 

[Filipe Teixeira]

In the end the GOAT is all the friends we made along the way

 

[FenTheGoat]

Shotaro was not good in bigcubes, so he is not goat in overall speedcubing

He just broke 3x3 based(edited) world records.

I think that was kinda the point

let’s see when yiheng starts getting good at big cubes thpugh i don’t think TPS spam will be very useful there

i have an odd feeling that Yiheng will never get to his 3x3 level with big cubes. I think that he would’ve had to have been doing big cubes since he was a wee tot to see the same improvement that he’s seen on 3x3

 

[abunickabhi]

I think that was kinda the point

i have an odd feeling that Yiheng will never get to his 3x3 level with big cubes. I think that he would’ve had to have been doing big cubes since he was a wee tot to see the same improvement that he’s seen on 3x3

We will see what happens when Yiheng becomes an adult and has good physique to do 7x7 fast.

I feel if he remains a full time cuber, he can get all the WRs

 

[Sion]

In his prime, Feliks shattered record after record back to back in the same competition extremely often.

As good as Yiheng, Tymon, or even Max are, they'll never EVER hold even an inch of the dominance Feliks held over the hobby.

For people who weren't around or couldn't remember it:

Imagine if Yiheng managed to get a 3.01, 2.98, and then a 2.93 with one of his averages being a 3.73 all in the same competition. Then, two competitions later, he strikes a 2.89, 2.86, and a 2.84 with a 3.69 average, and it kept on going on and on until the wr single was a 2.73

If that seems impossible to believe, that is basically what Feliks was like 10-15 years ago. He was truly a force of nature.

Considering how utterly formidable and pioneering he was for the hobby, I have to call him the GOAT. Yiheng is good, don't get me wrong, but the hobby will never revolve around someone as heavily as it did for Feliks again.

 

[OtaMota]

I think Yiheng is more dominant in 3x3 now than Feliks was, at least for any specific point of time. Yiheng's current WR average is 3.91, WR100 rn is 6.10. This is 1.56x difference. I think Feliks's 6.54 was probably his most insane Ao5 WR for the time it was set. WR100 average at the time the WR was set was 9.91. Only a 1.52x difference. Feliks's 5.80, another of his impressive averages for the time, only 1.41x difference from the WR100. At no point did Feliks have an average 1.56 times faster than WR100, and was he in a time when cubing was not as competitive as it is today.

 

[Garf]

My view on Feliks:
He broke 121 WRs and podiumed who knows how many times.
He’s a two time world champion.
He broke barriers that no one could’ve ever imagined, such as sub-6 seconds on 3x3 and sub-1 minute on 5x5.
He did coaching and critiques of many solvers
He has a website dedicated to teach cubers how to get faster across 3-7, OH and mega
He took part in two speedcubing documentaries, possibly more.
He’s had one of the best friendships and rivalry with Max Park. Feliks could’ve been cold with him, due to Max’s autism and the way he functions. Instead, Feliks bonded with him and made way more memories than what could’ve been imagined.
He’s one of the most humble cubers out there, and enjoys meeting new cubers and inspiring everyone around him.
AND he did all of that while being in school, being with his fiancé (now wife I believe), and managing a job in accounting.

Everyone points out that people are faster than him, and this is true. However, you can’t stay on top forever, and Feliks knew his time was coming. Being able to accept shows that he has a lot of heart for it and wants other people to push times down farther than what he could’ve done. He owned it, yet continued to push people in ways no one could’ve imagined. So yes, in my eyes, Feliks is truly the GOAT of speedcubing, and there will be many more that inspire future cubers.

 

[BirdCubing]

Yes! I fully believe that Feliks is really the real GOAT. When I started cubing, it was when Ruihang Xu broke the WR average breaking Feliks' streak of records. I didn't see his dominance but when I first cubed, I truly thought that he was one of the best cubers out there. Sure, right now he doesn't have any records and Max and Tymon also have some records as well. But really, Feliks had a lot of dominance in lots of events for around 10 years and even from the very beginning, he was already breaking OCRs!
So is he still in his peak? No he already knew that someday, he wouldn't have records
But is he still the goat? Yes! His dominance in a lot of events is impressive and unbeatable. He was the reason I started cubing.
Even though it's outdated, Chris' documentary about Feliks' puts everything in perspective. He really is just that good.

 

[FenTheGoat]

In his prime, Feliks shattered record after record back to back in the same competition extremely often.

As good as Yiheng, Tymon, or even Max are, they'll never EVER hold even an inch of the dominance Feliks held over the hobby.

For people who weren't around or couldn't remember it:

Imagine if Yiheng managed to get a 3.01, 2.98, and then a 2.93 with one of his averages being a 3.73 all in the same competition. Then, two competitions later, he strikes a 2.89, 2.86, and a 2.84 with a 3.69 average, and it kept on going on and on until the wr single was a 2.73

If that seems impossible to believe, that is basically what Feliks was like 10-15 years ago. He was truly a force of nature.

Considering how utterly formidable and pioneering he was for the hobby, I have to call him the GOAT. Yiheng is good, don't get me wrong, but the hobby will never revolve around someone as heavily as it did for Feliks again.

I don’t think dominance should really be considered due to the optimization of the sport

 

[SpeedCubingLord]

My view on Feliks:
He broke 121 WRs and podiumed who knows how many times.
He’s a two time world champion.
He broke barriers that no one could’ve ever imagined, such as sub-6 seconds on 3x3 and sub-1 minute on 5x5.
He did coaching and critiques of many solvers
He has a website dedicated to teach cubers how to get faster across 3-7, OH and mega
He took part in two speedcubing documentaries, possibly more.
He’s had one of the best friendships and rivalry with Max Park. Feliks could’ve been cold with him, due to Max’s autism and the way he functions. Instead, Feliks bonded with him and made way more memories than what could’ve been imagined.
He’s one of the most humble cubers out there, and enjoys meeting new cubers and inspiring everyone around him.
AND he did all of that while being in school, being with his fiancé (now wife I believe), and managing a job in accounting.

Everyone points out that people are faster than him, and this is true. However, you can’t stay on top forever, and Feliks knew his time was coming. Being able to accept shows that he has a lot of heart for it and wants other people to push times down farther than what he could’ve done. He owned it, yet continued to push people in ways no one could’ve imagined. So yes, in my eyes, Feliks is truly the GOAT of speedcubing, and there will be many more that inspire future cubers.

EXACTLY, and people say he is not the GOAT in cubing? He is not the only the greatest but one of the kindest and most influential people I can think of. He inspired me to start and pursue my cubing journey as he did to thousands of others. I know multiple noncubers that know Feliks showing how much he grew the cubing community. Honestly guys, I can't think of any cuber who has reached this level of greatness. My respect for him stands, as to me, his GOAT status will not waver.

By the way Feliks and Max still exists. This means after 15 years of greatness he stil tries his best to help aspiring cubers. Mad respect to you Feliks.

 

[stoic]

I don’t think dominance should really be considered due to the optimization of the sport

That’s interesting. In most debates of this kind I’ve seen in other sports, it’s usually acknowledged that equipment/knowledge/training has improved over time, and as a result dominance in a particular era tends to be weighted more highly than almost anything else.

 

[Adm_cb]

That's why he's the MVP that's why he's the GOAT THE GOAT

 

[FenTheGoat]

That’s interesting. In most debates of this kind I’ve seen in other sports, it’s usually acknowledged that equipment/knowledge/training has improved over time, and as a result dominance in a particular era tends to be weighted more highly than almost anything else.

Well, in something like basketball, it’s a team versus another team. It’s how you perform against others. Cubing is more you against everyone else ever. Imagine if we compared players based off only the highest scoring games of all time. Obviously the game looks much different years and years after the fact. Not to mention, when Feliks was cubing, there was a lot of room to improve and it wasn’t as popular as it is now. This is a new generation of cubers that were inspired by Feliks. I’ll agree that he’s the most influential, but in terms of dominance, I feel like it’s hard to compare someone who was cubing when it was significantly easier to dominate to now

 

[stoic]

Well, in something like basketball, it’s a team versus another team. It’s how you perform against others. Cubing is more you against everyone else ever. Imagine if we compared players based off only the highest scoring games of all time. Obviously the game looks much different years and years after the fact. Not to mention, when Feliks was cubing, there was a lot of room to improve and it wasn’t as popular as it is now. This is a new generation of cubers that were inspired by Feliks. I’ll agree that he’s the most influential, but in terms of dominance, I feel like it’s hard to compare someone who was cubing when it was significantly easier to dominate to now

Hmm I didn't mention basketball, or indeed any sports team though.
There are plenty of examples of individual sportspeople who significantly pushed their sport forward with their personal dominance, whose records have been crushed many times over but who are still in the conversation for GOAT. I'm thinking Roger Bannister, Mark Spitz or Eddy Merckx would all satisfy your "you against everyone else ever" criteria.
In team sports, there are good shouts for say Pele, Babe Ruth, Ayrton Senna or Don Bradman in their individual positions, while in individual sports players such as Rod Laver or Joe Davis would easily satisfy your "there was a lot of room to improve and it wasn’t as popular as it is now" criteria but still frequently get a GOAT shout.

 

[Filipe Teixeira]

Me in 2004:

Shotaro Makisumi is the goat of cubing. He will always be the goat. Once a goat, always a goat

GOAT is a strong word and don't make justice to anyone. Maybe GOHT (Greateast of His/Her Time) is a better title.

for me Yu Nakajima will always be the Gresteast of His Time and I don't care mainstream opinion.

Yu was a legend when Rubik's DIY were the state of the art speedcubes and he has done sub7 singles with that cube.

Feliks broke tons of records and started a new era in cubing, I think his time has ended.

 

[CraZCubing]

I feel like this is just gonna be a Michael Jordan vs Lebron James debate, where it comes down to peak vs longevity. Feliks stayed dominant for a much longer period of time than likely anyone will ever again. Max has set a ridiculous amount of records, and his sheer dominance in some categories give him a case for being the GOAT. There will be arguments for both, but I feel like there will never be a consensus.