ZZ Progression Tips

[Christian Penguin]

Hello! I started ZZ just a couple of days ago and even though many pros don't recommend the method I have really enjoyed it. I will probably end up switching to Roux (I have learned all of the Big 3) but I would like some tips on how to progress in the method.

My EO isn't horrible, I can identify the bad edges and I can solve 4. But when solving it I have trouble keeping track of the pieces. If you have any tips or drills to help that would be appreciated.

My EO Line is solid.

My Block Building F2L is not bad but I have trouble knowing what to do since I used CFOP for about a year so all of it feels really weird. Videos, forms, websites, anything would to help me would be helpful.

I don't know any ZBLL yet but if there are videos, forms, or anything else to help me that would also be helpful.

Overall I haven't done a timed solve using ZZ but I think I solve in about 1 minute-ish. When using CFOP I solve around 30 seconds. If you have any other methods beside CFOP that you think would be better for me I will look into it. Thanks!

- Christian Penguin

 

[abunickabhi]

What factors are making you choose ZZ over Roux?

ZZ is not mainstream solving method in 2025.

 

[Fred]

For two-handed solving, EOCross is preferred. EOLine is long out of date due to worse ergonomics, but it's still ok for one-handed solving. I'd recommend the Crystal Cuber trainer for practicing EO, EOLine, or EOCross. When there's a lot of bad edges, I like to plan out a quick way to orient four of them and then only worry about the rest of the bad edges.

With EOCross, F2L is similar to CFOP F2L but with no need to rotate or do F or B moves. There may be a case or two where you're tempted to rotate, but you'd end up rotating twice to solve that case, and if you can solve the case with two rotations you can solve it with zero rotations.

EOLine's blockbuilding F2L is similar to the Petrus step where you extend your 2x2x3 to 2x3x3, but some of the pieces might be hiding on the other side of the cube. Also looking for Petrus resources might be even harder.

I wouldn't recommend learning ZBLL just yet unless you love learning tons of algs. OLL/PLL is good enough for now.

Also check out ZZ method discord.

 

[Swagrid]

ZZMethod.com and this video are pretty good

 

[PapaSmurf]

What factors are making you choose ZZ over Roux?

ZZ is not mainstream solving method in 2025.

This, this, and this. I'm not saying it's mainstream, but neither is pure CFOP.

Hello! I started ZZ just a couple of days ago and even though many pros don't recommend the method I have really enjoyed it. I will probably end up switching to Roux (I have learned all of the Big 3) but I would like some tips on how to progress in the method.

My EO isn't horrible, I can identify the bad edges and I can solve 4. But when solving it I have trouble keeping track of the pieces. If you have any tips or drills to help that would be appreciated.

My EO Line is solid.

My Block Building F2L is not bad but I have trouble knowing what to do since I used CFOP for about a year so all of it feels really weird. Videos, forms, websites, anything would to help me would be helpful.

I don't know any ZBLL yet but if there are videos, forms, or anything else to help me that would also be helpful.

Overall I haven't done a timed solve using ZZ but I think I solve in about 1 minute-ish. When using CFOP I solve around 30 seconds. If you have any other methods beside CFOP that you think would be better for me I will look into it. Thanks!

- Christian Penguin

Firstly, great idea to learn all of them. It gives you a good knowledge of the cube. The main thing with EO is to practice. Scramble the cube, solve EO and repeat. As people have said, EOCross all the way. Go to zzmethod.com like Swagrid said. It has loads of good info on all things ZZ, especially EOCross and F2L. Fred's recommendation of the Discord server is also a great one. There are quite a few people there who will be willing to help you if you just ask. Feel free to ping me (Dr_JT on Discord) if you want any ZZ tips.

On other methods, check here: https://www.cubinghistory.com/category/methods - a great resource by the method guy Athefre. The main thing to do is to choose what you enjoy the most, and if speed is your highest priority, stick with any of the big 3.

Happy cubing!

 

[WarriorCatCuber]

Hello! I started ZZ just a couple of days ago and even though many pros don't recommend the method I have really enjoyed it. I will probably end up switching to Roux (I have learned all of the Big 3) but I would like some tips on how to progress in the method.

My EO isn't horrible, I can identify the bad edges and I can solve 4. But when solving it I have trouble keeping track of the pieces. If you have any tips or drills to help that would be appreciated.

My EO Line is solid.

My Block Building F2L is not bad but I have trouble knowing what to do since I used CFOP for about a year so all of it feels really weird. Videos, forms, websites, anything would to help me would be helpful.

I don't know any ZBLL yet but if there are videos, forms, or anything else to help me that would also be helpful.

Overall I haven't done a timed solve using ZZ but I think I solve in about 1 minute-ish. When using CFOP I solve around 30 seconds. If you have any other methods beside CFOP that you think would be better for me I will look into it. Thanks!

- Christian Penguin

Hey! Props to you for trying more than one method and exploring your options Definitely go over what everyone else has already mentioned, they have some great advice and are some of the fastest ZZ solvers.

Eo is fully practice. As a CFOP solver and beginner, this is a hard concept to grasp, I was in the same situation. There's no secret trick here, it's just to practice as much as you can and you'll quickly get the hang of it

Other people have mentionned trying EOCross - meaning you'd essentially make a cross as in CFOP instead of an EOLine, reducing your blind spots, making solving easier and avoiding regrips as compared to using EOLine. This is definitely the path to take if you want to maximise speed. If you're looking to learn more about how the cube works and blockbuilding, or simply enjoy it more, there's nothing wrong with using EOLine either. It is what I use, and at my peak I averaged about 13 seconds with it. Other cubers have been even faster. ZZ with EOLine is not the FASTEST method, but it's not a slow one either. I would recommend trying both EOLine and EOCross, and deciding which one to use based on how much you enjoy them and whether speed is your priority or not.

For different methods, there are many others you can check out. The "fourth largest method" would probably be considered Petrus, and although nowadays it is not considered to be as fast as the big 3 and is thought to be somewhat outdated, it's a great way to learn about blockbuilding while having fun. There are also several new solid methods that have been developped during the last few years, as well as many older methods that are still documented. As @PapaSmurf has mentioned https://www.cubinghistory.com/category/methods is a great resource to find different methods, as well as the speedsolving wiki. Just keep in mind that the wiki is an open to edit resource, and not all methods present are necessarily efficient and original.

If you've read this far, definitely keep cubing, learning, and most of all having fun

 

[edward_9x]

As this forum's "professional EOLine yapper", I'm gonna tell you to not jump straight into EOCross and instead weigh the advantages and disadvantages, then decide for yourself if you really think it's more fun. To me, it seems unfair to tell every new ZZer who just learned the method to switch to EOCross "because it's better". Tbh, it would be nice to have more blockbuilding ZZers in 2025. If you think line's just more fun, that's great. It's probably sub8-able, and EOLine definitely feels more like a different and unique method.
Also, zzmethod.com teaches just EOCross, CFOP F2L and "OCLL/PLL or ZBLL" for last layer, which makes the method seem a bit more boring than it actually is. There are many more interesting ZZ variants like ZZ-b, ZZ-c, ZZ-d, ZZ-VH, ZZ-CT and so on. Most of them suck but those five I listed are pretty neat.