# A Peculiar Progression Thread | Method Dev Updates



## Silky (Aug 4, 2020)

This will be a simple progress thread with fortnightly updates. May include reconstructions and videos at some point. See you on the flip side.



Spoiler: Goals






Spoiler: 2x2



Goal: Sub-3.3
Main: Tengyun 2M
Method: Guimond
Overview:

This is a new event for me. I have learned full Ortega thusfar slowly am transitioning into Guimond. I went with Guimond because it's easier to look ahead in inspection and I didn't want to learn 100+ algorithms. Sometime in the future I may want to learn HD-G but we'll see how far I get.





Spoiler: 3x3



Goal: Sub-15
Main: GTS2 M
Method: Roux
Overview:

Back in the early 2010s I started experimenting with other methods, specifically Petrus, Roux, and Heise. At my peak I was method neutral (~30 seconds) between CFOP, Petrus, and Roux. I found that block building and intuitive solving was extremely rewarding (+ I found that I hated memorizing algs) thus around 2011-2012 permanently switched to Roux and have never looked back. I never ended up learning full C*LL as I would stop cubing in 2012 for what would be 8 years. Since quarantine and my revived interest in cubing I have learned full COLL + 8 CMLL algs (4 U cases and 4 T cases). I went with COLL because I was still considering using Petrus or ZZ for OH and 4x4 and figured that it would help a lot with look ahead between C*LL and EO (which I have found it does, especially for 4x4 parity). Sometime in the future I would like to become colour neutral and or learn NMCLL.





Spoiler: 4x4



Goal: Sub-57
Main: WuQUe Mini M
Method: Meyer
Overview:

Originally used Redux back in 2010 because that's all I knew. For the first few months of my return I used 4trus (when I was still considering Petrus) but didn't find it very fun (specifically when it came to the transition from reduction to 3x3 stage). Switched to Meyer shortly after and it has been smooth sailing from thereon out. Instead of learning Lucas Parity I learned this algorithm (r U2 r' U2 M' l' U2 r U2 l' U2 r U2 l') which doesn't effect corners. This means that when I preform C*LL I can check for parity (just look for odd number of misoriented edges ) and seamlessly transition into correcting it. I can also predict/cancel into to EO because the algorithm only flips the UF edge and performs a M2.





Spoiler: OH



Goal: Sub-26
Main: Tengyun 3M
Method: Roux
Overview:

This is a new event for me. I for the first month and a half I picked up Petrus as I didn't want to relearn C*LL for Roux. However, I tried a few Roux solves and beat my Petrus PB almost immediately so I decided to just tough it out. M slices are a pain but I find it's one of the easiest events to get into.





Spoiler: BLD



Goal: Sub-59
Main: Valk 3M
Method: Orozco
Overiew:

Again, a new event. I honestly don't really know anything about this event coming in because it always seemed too daunting. Even after practicing on and off I find it to be one of the hardest events to get into due to the steep learning curve. That being said, I have ~1:30 split for corners and ~2:30 spit for edge atm (although only one successful solve) so I'm confident in improving. I only know basic OP/OP but will switch to M2 or TuRBo once I get around the 4 minute mark. Down the road I'd like to switch to Orozco and maybe play around with Ayam/freesolving.





Spoiler: FMC



Goal: Sub-29
Main: P.G.CO
Method: Heise/2GB
Overview:

Easily my most anticipated event. For me personally, FMC represents the very heart of cubing, beauty, elegance, expression, and challenge. Back in the 2010s I learned Heise for this event but never quite mastered it. For FMC I am going to focus mostly learning Heise and 2GB. Later on I plan to pick up on NISS, Domino Reduction, and psuedo block building. For now I just need to focus on block building and mastering Heise and 2GB. Depending on how far I get I may learn some SSC, HSC, and HTA. For now I'll just keep it simple and focus on consistency.





Spoiler: Square-1



Goal: Sub-18
Main: Volt V2M
Method: Lin

Another event I'm particularly interested in. Cube shape and parity I find mind bendingly fascinating. Went with Lin because I prefer intuitive solving and block building. I am focusing on intuitive cube shape and short cuts. I'm doubtful I'll ever learn full cube shape or CSP as I don't think they're essential until a very high level.





Spoiler: Megaminx



Goal: Sub-1:22
Main: Galaxy V2M
Method: Petrus

Mixed feeling about this event. I think I am going to prefer this event over 5x5+ events due to the fact that there is direct solving and block building. I'm also kind of unsure about the method I will be learning. I figure Petrus will be the easiest for me ( I can pick up on block building easily and there are only 36 LL cases which is nice ) but am pretty interested in ZZ-Spike. Spike would definitely be a nice challenge as ZZ-EO is a bit mystifying to me. We'll see how I feel when I start it.








Spoiler: Progress ( Updated )






Spoiler: Hard Reset + Return



Restarting all of progression updates since I don't really know where I left off and the organization of OP was a whole mess. Updated my PBs below. I have some new events I want to focus on (#FTO for WCA) so I'll add that stuff later. As far as my accomplishments over the last year.. there isn't much. However, I got a sub-1 FTO single and am officially sub-24 on Square-1 (Lin gang). Just got some non-WCA puzzles for casual solving The most notable are the Constrained Cube and Latch cube. They're a supper hard challenge for sure so it'll be fun to mess around with over the next few months. This is the first time I've bought non-WCA puzzle I've since I've joined the forums (except FTO). It's a nice little treat to myself and I'm glad I did it. 

N0t_Bunny and I have officially started our cubing podcast!! Will be uploading episodes on Spotify asap. Airs weekly on my Twitch 6PM Eastern. Streaming has also popped off in the last few months which is fantastic! That's where I've been doing most of my practice for this progression thread (feel free to come by and hang out here). I start school soon so I'll have to set up a new schedule for streaming. I've come really far and am enjoying it a ton. I kinda hurts that it (streaming) will be going on the back burner but I'm going to do my best to balance things out. Also made a youtube (2 actually) and am planning to upload stream highlights and cubing tutorials (and other related stuff). This is actually my 2021 cubing highlights video so check that out I guess.








Spoiler: Records ( Updated )




SingleAo5Ao12Ao25Ao50Ao100Ao2502x2*2.39*4.215.15.26*5.84*5.91*6.09*3x313.4118.0319.1120.1221.1922.1823.064x41:03.661:12.111:17.541:19.641:22.821:24.24FTO58.761:14.391:21.131:24.17BLDFMCSquare-116.2223.8923.0824.1925.426.34Megaminx3:18
4:25.81
4:14.41


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## PetrusQuber (Aug 4, 2020)

Dedication


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## Silky (Aug 4, 2020)

PetrusQuber said:


> Dedication


How do you mean? Haven't even started lol.


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## Username: Username: (Aug 5, 2020)

Silky said:


> This will be a simple progress thread with fortnightly updates. May include reconstructions and videos at some point. See you on the flip side.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Wow, you use a lot like a lot of methods, makes my a bit jealous and wanting to try out a few more methods like 2GB, SSC and HSC (not HTA cuz I already tried that, domino reduction during a speedsolve is a nightmare lol) and practice them a little bit like doing an ao50 for 3x3 but good luck! and, I'm also almost method neutral


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## Silky (Aug 5, 2020)

Username: Username: said:


> Wow, you use a lot like a lot of methods, makes my a bit jealous and wanting to try out a few more methods like 2GB, SSC and HSC (not HTA cuz I already tried that, domino reduction during a speedsolve is a nightmare lol) and practice them a little bit like doing an ao50 for 3x3 but good luck! and, I'm also almost method neutral


Thanks! I'm not using 2GB, HSC, SSC, or HTA for speedsolving so it isn't that impressive ( plus I haven't even started learning most of the methods yet ). Check out this post for some really interesting methods. Of the methods listed above, SSC has the most potential for speedsolving ( shadowslice used the EZD variant to achieve sub-13 averages ). SSC is beaming with potential and IMO could go toe to toe with the Big 4 ( as well as Waterman, PCMS, and LMCF ).


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## PetrusQuber (Aug 5, 2020)

Silky said:


> How do you mean? Haven't even started lol.


I mean the original post’s amount of writing


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## Silky (Aug 5, 2020)

PetrusQuber said:


> I mean the original post’s amount of writing


Tyty. I wanted to write more but I got lazy. I'm trying my best to keep a as detailed log as possible so that (a) there's more engagement in the tread, (b) anyone who uses this as a basis for improvement will have a better foundation, and (c) that I may catch blindspots/weaknesses in my own improvement ( the more knowledge I acquire about the knowledge I acquire the more I can acquire knowledge ).


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## Silky (Aug 20, 2020)

First Fortnightly Update is out. Check OP for details.
A few notes:

Over the next two weeks I would really like to work on BLD. I have splits on corners/edges but I need to start working on full solves. My issue thusfar is that I've been to afraid to fail. I really just need to get over it and get used to getting slow times and DNFs, I'll improve with time.

For OH I'm going to be taking a substantial hiatus. I'm really conflicted method wise as I don't want to relearn CMLL for OH, I'd much rather learn a new alg set. At the same time Roux is my fastest OH method even with knowing 0 CMLL cases ( for reference I knew half of the PLLs for Petrus and still beat 2 months of PBs in two weeks with 2 look Roux ). I though about LLOB/ZB Roux but just came to the conclusion it's a worse version of Roux ( for it to be as efficient as vanilla Roux you need to learn full ZBLL, plus you can't really use phasing like in ZZ and Petrus to cut back on algorithms ). I've briefly thought about ZZ for OH but I'm not great at EO or ZZF2L. However, ZZ-LOL is very similar to Lin and you can use some advance techniques, specifically psuedo-block building and phasing, which could be a nice challenge. 

This first update was very slow moving but I'm going to do some weekly SSF and Cubetime comps. It helps to give me motivation for consistent practice and in general keeps me on track ( plus it helps with nerves and builds more confident solving) . I may add a section for comp records as well. We'll see..

Catch you on the flip side !


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## Kaneki Uchiha (Aug 20, 2020)

Silky said:


> First Fortnightly Update is out. Check OP for details.
> A few notes:
> 
> Over the next two weeks I would really like to work on BLD. I have splits on corners/edges but I need to start working on full solves. My issue thusfar is that I've been to afraid to fail. I really just need to get over it and get used to getting slow times and DNFs, I'll improve with time.
> ...


why are you learning coll for roux cmll is way better


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## Silky (Aug 20, 2020)

Kaneki Uchiha said:


> why are you learning coll for roux cmll is way better


There's a few reasons. When I was returning to speedcubing I was playing around with petrus a lot so I decided to go with COLL so that I could learn both. COLL is overall more useful because it can be implemented in all of the Big 4 + a bunch of other method ( IMO COLL is overall the besst alg set you can learn in general ).

Personally I don't think CMLL is way better than COLL. At least half of CMLL is COLL already( and I have already learn full COLL ). Efficiency wise they're about the same average move count given you use Kian's spreadsheet. One advantage of COLL is that it preserves EO which means that looking ahead becomes much easier ( plus edge permutation for BD + FD if you want to do some fancy EO + UR/UL ). Since I'm a relatively slow turning look ahead becomes more important/useful. If you learn how each COLL effects permutation you can predict EO during COLL. The last reason I use it is because I use Meyer and ( if you look at my 4x4 section under goals ) COLL allows you to predict parity much faster as I can be done during COLL.

I have learned 8 CMLL cases ( 4 U + 4 T ) which I consider to be the worst cases ( specifically efficiency wise ). Maybe if I was learning from scratch I'd go for CMLL but as I stand I think COLL fits me the best, all things considered.


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## Silky (Sep 4, 2020)

Second Fortnightly Update is out. Check OP for details.
Notes:

A note on punctuality. This is the second update in a row that I have been late, which I'm unhappy about. I plan to post promptly on Sept 15, help hold me accountable. 

I have recently come to a consensus regarding OH. I have finally settled on learning Souxp for OH here-on-out. I think that it's a very good balance since I still get to keep that progress of Roux while also learning a new algorithm set ( 6CO/6CP ). I was very lucky that @Devagio generated these algs for the Mehta Method so that I didn't have to. I'm really excited to test out and develop my own method ! On the topic of methods, I actually accidentally created a new method. I'll add a tab later for both of these methods with example solves.

Final note. Although, since last update, I haven't done any forum comps, moving forward I plan to do at least one every week. I'll add a another tab to track progress on that as well.

Catch you on the flip side !


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## Silky (Sep 23, 2020)

Third Fortnightly Update is out. Check OP for details.
Notes:

So this update is a week late but definitely worth it. Lots of PBs ! I've been rather busy so I don't have a ton to say but I'm feeling pretty motivated. For next update I just want to release it on time and continue consistent practice.

Catch you on the flip side !


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## PetrusQuber (Sep 23, 2020)

GJ


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## Silky (Oct 1, 2020)

Fourth Fortnightly Update is out. Check OP for details.
Notes:

A completely impromptu week ! Randomly decided to do some OH solves with LLOB and it was a huge success, broke all of my PBs. I also stumbled onto a new algset, OCELL/CPLL. Seems interesting; may pursue, may not.

Catch you on the flip side !


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## Silky (Nov 5, 2020)

Have been on a Hiatus for the last month and a half or so. Will be updating when I get a chance. The only cubing I've done was a Square-1 26.34 average of 100.


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## abunickabhi (Nov 5, 2020)

Nice progress expected.


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## qwr (Nov 5, 2020)

PetrusQuber said:


> I mean the original post’s amount of writing


easier to write long posts than to actually practice. from experience. lmao


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## Silky (Nov 5, 2020)

qwr said:


> easier to write long posts than to actually practice. from experience. lmao


Not really. It's a bit of a pain to update OP given all of the organization required + the analysis/reflection I'm putting into each session. Motivation for practice is harder but writing posts is contingent on practice so..



abunickabhi said:


> Nice progress expected.


Yes. It still may be a while until I fully update ( probably around mid-November ) but I'm planning in putting in a lot of work. I'm shooting for sub-20 ( Respectively ) in OH, Square-1, 3x3, and 4x4 by the New Year.


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## PetrusQuber (Nov 5, 2020)

qwr said:


> easier to write long posts than to actually practice. from experience. lmao


I don’t know what I’d be averaging if I converted all the time I’ve spent on the forums to actual cubing practise


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## Silky (Nov 15, 2020)

Hiatus Fortnightly Update is out. Check OP for details.
Notes:

Have been an on hiatus for a while. Should be returning next week. Only update is a bunch of Square-1 PBs. Easily becoming one of my favorite events. Want to work on 2x2 and 3BLD for next update.

Catch you on the flip side !


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## Silky (Nov 29, 2020)

Eighth Fortnightly Update is out. Check OP for details.
Notes:

Still haven't gotten around to 3BLD, as usual. Will try to do better for next update, no promises. Mainly focused on 2x2 but have really been struggling. I detailed this more in OP, pls check it out and give any advice you'd think would help.

Catch you on the flip side !


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## BenChristman1 (Nov 29, 2020)

Silky said:


> Eighth Fortnightly Update is out. Check OP for details.
> Notes:
> 
> Still haven't gotten around to 3BLD, as usual. Will try to do better for next update, no promises. Mainly focused on 2x2 but have really been struggling. I detailed this more in OP, pls check it out and give any advice you'd think would help.
> ...


I think that I am qualified to help, since a lot of people would consider my Ortega above average. If you don’t already, use these algs for OLL and PBL:


Spoiler



Sune: R U R’ U R U2 R’
Anti-Sune: R’ U’ R U’ R’ U2 R *OR* R U2 R’ U’ R U’ R’ (I use both, depending on the angle)
H: R2 U2 R/R’ U2 R2
Pi: F (R U R’ U’)2 F’ *OR* R U2 R2 U' R2 U' R2 U2 R
L: F R U’ R’ U’ R U R’ F’
T: R U R’ U’ R’ F R F’
U: F R U R’ U’ F’

Adj/Adj: R2 U' B2 U2 R2 U' R2
Adj/Diag: R U' R F2 R' U R
Diag/Diag: R2 F2 R2
Adj/Solved: T-perm/J-perm
Diag/Solved: Y-perm
Solved/Adj: modified T-perm (first move is an R’ and the last is an R2)
Solved/Diag: R2 F2 R2 (Y-perm)



After you’re about sub-5, you should try to start predicting OLL during inspection. At first, only do it on easy scrambles (2-3 pieces already built), then work your way up to doing it every scramble. Then, you’re pauseless between the first side and OLL. This should eventually carry you to at least sub-4.5.

To increase your TPS, you basically just need to spam T-perms and Y-perms hundreds or even thousands of times. PBL is (IMO) the strongest part of my solve, because I can still get 3s with the longest algs (1 solved layer).

More important than any of these tips is to _be color neutral_. You are never going to be good at 2x2 if you can’t start on any color.

Most of these tips you’ve probably already seen, but let me know if you need more specific tips later, after you’ve improved a little bit. Feel free to PM me a video of an ao5 or ao12, and I might be able to help you even more.


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## Zarxrax (Nov 29, 2020)

Silky said:


> Mainly focused on 2x2 but have really been struggling. I detailed this more in OP, pls check it out and give any advice you'd think would help.


If you are still trying to do Guimond and you havn't learned all of the OLLs yet, why? There aren't that many of them, so I would recommend just spend an hour or two knocking the rest of them out. Practice them over and over. Then do a bunch more solves to practice them.


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## Silky (Nov 30, 2020)

Zarxrax said:


> If you are still trying to do Guimond and you havn't learned all of the OLLs yet, why? There aren't that many of them, so I would recommend just spend an hour or two knocking the rest of them out. Practice them over and over. Then do a bunch more solves to practice them.


As I said in OP, I just feel that I should have better fundamentals before switching to a full intermediate method. I'm currently using a hybrid of Guimond and Ortega. Full face of opposites, OLL, separation, PBL. I know a few G-OLLs so when I get lucky I just do normal Guimond, which happens frequently enough.


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## Silky (Dec 17, 2020)

Would anyone be interested in watching me stream some cubing/video games?? When I get my FTO I'd grind that and probably play Tetris, Animal Crossing, Ikaruga, NES Tetris ( @CrispyCubing ), and maybe Doom speedruns.. Lmk what you think, I've been sitting on the idea for a while and need some motivation to pursue it. I would probably want to stream 3-4 hours every evening.


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## CrispyCubing (Dec 17, 2020)

Silky said:


> Would anyone be interested in watching me stream some cubing/video games?? When I get my FTO I'd grind that and probably play Tetris, Animal Crossing, Ikaruga, NES Tetris ( @CrispyCubing ), and maybe Doom speedruns.. Lmk what you think, I've been sitting on the idea for a while and need some motivation to pursue it. I would probably want to stream 3-4 hours every evening.


Definitely interested. That’s a good variety of things to stream!


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## Silky (Dec 22, 2020)

Mini update:

I've been working on 3BLD and 2x2 which is going pretty well. Will come out with full update next week. Also if you can please answer the poll, I'd very much appreciate it, really helps to gauge interest. Thanks in advance !


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## BenChristman1 (Dec 22, 2020)

Silky said:


> Also if you can please answer the poll, I'd very much appreciate it, really helps to gauge interest. Thanks in advance !


<insert “maybe” option> depending on whether you're fun to watch and when you stream.


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## Silky (Dec 22, 2020)

BenChristman1 said:


> <insert “maybe” option> depending on whether you're fun to watch and when you stream.


Well if you enjoy someone slowing getting less mediocre at speedcubing, go mad playing brutally difficult video games ( Cuphead, Ikaruga, Hollowknight, etc. ), play Teris 99, race @CrispyCubing to 500k in NES Tetris, and generally play puzzle games, and hang out in a laid back, friendly, chat engaged stream then I am the mans for you. I could also get my butt kick kicked by @abunickabhi in Lichess? I'd want to stream 3-4 hours 5-7 days a week in the evening/late evening.

Since the pandemic I'm a bit starved for social contact so I figure this would be a good creative/social outlet. But it's an investment and I don't want to invest a bunch of money for nobody to watch/engage. I don't need hundreds of viewers but a few dozen or so would be amazing.

It would also be a great way for me to be more active in the community since I'm not interest in going to comps. Plus I think there is currently a vacuum for speedsolving content on Twitch and I'd love to grow that some.


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## DNF_Cuber (Dec 22, 2020)

Silky said:


> Well if you enjoy someone slowing getting less mediocre at speedcubing, go mad playing brutally difficult video games ( Cuphead, Ikaruga, Hollowknight, etc. ), play Teris 99, race @CrispyCubing to 500k in NES Tetris, and generally play puzzle games, and hang out in a laid back, friendly, chat engaged stream then I am the mans for you. I could also get my butt kick kicked by @abunickabhi in Lichess? I'd want to stream 3-4 hours 5-7 days a week in the evening/late evening.
> 
> Since the pandemic I'm a bit starved for social contact so I figure this would be a good creative/social outlet. But it's an investment and I don't want to invest a bunch of money for nobody to watch/engage. I don't need hundreds of viewers but a few dozen or so would be amazing.


I hate cuphead. It is too hard.


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## Silky (Dec 22, 2020)

DNF_Cuber said:


> I hate cuphead. It is too hard.


I love it ! It's charge makes it feel a lot less frustrating, so I don't really rage. I never feel that a death is unfair and I feel each time I die that I gain more knowledge. But I'e heard that Cuphead did a very poor job at making it more accessible for people that didn't want such a harsh experience. Celeste did a much better job with that imo.


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## PetrusQuber (Dec 23, 2020)

I don’t really watch streams much so maybe perhaps


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## Jam88 (Dec 23, 2020)

Heck yes! I might not be able to catch them tho. I guess u mean US time evening?


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## Silky (Dec 23, 2020)

Jam88 said:


> Heck yes! I might not be able to catch them tho. I guess u mean US time evening?


Yes, although maybe earlier on weekends ?


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## Jam88 (Dec 23, 2020)

Silky said:


> Yes, although maybe earlier on weekends ?


That might work!


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## Silky (Dec 31, 2020)

End of Year Roundup:
Notes:
So over the last 8 months I've been updating my progress, abate slowly.. I've been inconsistent but am generally happy with my results !
Speaking of results heres my progress so far

2x2: Went from 7.13 (av50) to 5.63
3x3: Went from 23.7 (av25) to 20.76
4x4: Went from 1:41.43 (av25) to 1:27.85
Square-1: Went from 44.46 (av25) to 24.19
OH: Went from 50.59 (av25) to 37.26

Over the coming year I plan to buckle down and grind out all of these events

Goals => 
2x2: Sub-3.9
3x3: Sub-15
4x4: Sub-57
OH: Sub-31 w/ hand neutrality 
3BLD: Sub-1:06
Square-1: Sub-18
Megaminx: Sub-1:39
FMC: Sub-40
FTO: Sub-59

I plan to update this thread far more regularly and consistently. Over the next 2 months I'm going to be focusing on the Uncommon Method Competition with a goal of low-20s using ECE. If I'm able to reach sub-20 I may pursue this method as my main, well see.. I'm also going to be doing some test streams of NES Tetris to see what the engagement is and if it's worth the investment ( since I wouldn't need a capture card ). If it's successful then I will buy a capture card and start streaming some Switch games ( Long terms I'd live stream speedsolving but the investment in that is even higher than buying a capture card.. But I'll try to make some youtube videos of my progress and such ) ! I'm really striving to be as active as I can and contribute as much as possible to this wonderful community.

On a final note I am very sadden to hear that MF Doom has passed away at 49. Rest in peace, brother.

Catch you on the flip side !


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## Silky (Jan 2, 2021)

New Year, New Grind. 

The next two weeks are going to be a grind fest.. Only going to be focused on ECE, FTO, and 3BLD. Shooting for 250 3x3 solves a week and 50 for FTO/3BLD. For the next two weeks I'm going to shoot for sub-40 in 3x3. I've been method neutral before which will certainly be an advantage but I'm much more used to block building so I'll have my work cut out for me. If I'm able to consistently get within the 30-35 range I'll transition to intermediate ECE and learn WV. I think in the next two months that will be plenty to carry me to sub-20.


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## Silky (Jan 19, 2021)

11th Fortnightly Update is out. No OP updates for this week.
Notes:

Have begun the ECE grind ! It's been a good so far, sub-35 average of 250 and sub-30 average of 25. Got a 22 single with a 3 move pairs.. wild. Exceeded my goal for the update which is great. Right now I have low TPS, lots of pauses, and am very inefficient; lots of improvement to be made. I feel like there is a tons I can work on but for now lookahead will be my main focus and trying to plan as much as I can in inspection. Once I get around sub-30 average of 250+ I'll start picking up WV, although based on what I've been doing I probably could get sub-25 with just beginners variant. I also need to learn all of the PBL cases. Going to be mainly focused on ECE for the coming weeks but plan to finish learning FTO. Feeling good. I also finally picked up a tripod so watch out for some videos !

On a completely separate note, I will be streaming on Twitch for the first time this Thursday at 4:00 EST ! I hope ya'll can join for some chill vibes and tetris stuff. Feel free to stop on in and we can talk about cubing stuff as well. Very excited  For future Twitch stuff please refer to this thread in which I'll be doing Twitch updates from now on.

Catch you on the flip side !


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## Silky (Jan 21, 2021)

Sorry for the bump but I am now live streaming on Twitch. Link


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## PetrusQuber (Jan 22, 2021)

I would follow but I don’t have a twitch account


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## abunickabhi (Jan 22, 2021)

Silky said:


> New Year, New Grind.
> 
> The next two weeks are going to be a grind fest.. Only going to be focused on ECE, FTO, and 3BLD. Shooting for 250 3x3 solves a week and 50 for FTO/3BLD. For the next two weeks I'm going to shoot for sub-40 in 3x3. I've been method neutral before which will certainly be an advantage but I'm much more used to block building so I'll have my work cut out for me. If I'm able to consistently get within the 30-35 range I'll transition to intermediate ECE and learn WV. I think in the next two months that will be plenty to carry me to sub-20.


Wow, all the best for your goals. They are bold and I hope you achieve them.



Silky said:


> Sorry for the bump but I am now live streaming on Twitch. Link


Nice stream btw.


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## qwr (Jan 22, 2021)

>Silky_Sexy

is it a stream for classy erotica?


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## Jam88 (Jan 22, 2021)

qwr said:


> >Silky_Sexy
> 
> is it a stream for classy erotica?


help, my website reporting software is going mad


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## Silky (Jan 22, 2021)

PetrusQuber said:


> I would follow but I don’t have a twitch account



Well now you have an excuse to make one !


abunickabhi said:


> Wow, all the best for your goals. They are bold and I hope you achieve them.
> 
> 
> Nice stream btw.



Tyty. Thanks for watching. Any feedback ?


qwr said:


> >Silky_Sexy
> 
> is it a stream for classy erotica?





Jam88 said:


> help, my website reporting software is going mad



It's due to all of the spicy gameplay 

Would ya'll be interested in me streaming again today at 4:00 PM EST?


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## Jam88 (Jan 22, 2021)

Silky said:


> Well now you have an excuse to make one !
> 
> 
> Tyty. Thanks for watching. Any feedback ?
> ...


would be interested but too late at night for me


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## Silky (Jan 22, 2021)

Jam88 said:


> would be interested but too late at night for me


What time works better?


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## Jam88 (Jan 22, 2021)

Silky said:


> What time works better?


4-5 gmt or 11-12 est so in 10 mins more or less.


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## Silky (Jan 22, 2021)

Jam88 said:


> 4-5 gmt or 11-12 est so in 10 mins more or less.


Do you have a twitch account ?


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## Jam88 (Jan 22, 2021)

Silky said:


> Do you have a twitch account ?


No i don't sorry.


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## Silky (Jan 22, 2021)

Jam88 said:


> No i don't sorry.


If you make one I'll go stream now, otherwise I'll see if I can do something this weekend.


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## Jam88 (Jan 22, 2021)

Silky said:


> If you make one I'll go stream now, otherwise I'll see if I can do something this weekend.


My parents won't let me make one yet so I can't. I'll try to persuade them.


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## Silky (Jan 23, 2021)

Doing a late night stream feel free to stop by


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## Silky (Jan 29, 2021)

So I just realized that I can stream virtual cube stuff. So 3x3 solves today at 4:00PM EST.


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## Silky (Feb 4, 2021)

12th Fortnightly Update is out. No OP updates for this week.
Notes:

ECE grind continues. Averaging around 28 which is on pace for sub-20. Created optimized speed algs for MGLS and will start learning this week. Hopefully will finish around next update. Again I'm just focusing on look ahead and trying to plan 2-3 pairs in inspection. Also got a nice 18.07 single ! I'm feeling good about my progress and am hopeful that I will reach my goal by the end of Feb.

Also been streaming everyday until the end of Feb. Mostly doing Tetris/VirtualCube/Celeste/Lichess. Feel free to stop by 
Doing lots of Chess today @abunickabhi 

Catch you on the flip side !


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## Silky (Feb 10, 2021)

Very excited to be streaming IRL speedsolves for the first time on Twitch today. I encourage ya'll to come hangout


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## Silky (Feb 19, 2021)

13th Fortnightly Update is out. No OP updates for this week.
Notes:

The final stretch to reach sub-20 ECE is now. I've plateaued at around 27ish. I'm finishing up learning MGLS; only around 6 algs left. All I really need to do is work on smoother look ahead, faster algs, and a slightly higher overall TPS. It's simultaneously hard and not hard, if that makes sense.. After the comp I'll grind out consistent sub-20. I'm thinking about implementing partial EO during inspection for more consistent psuedo-pairs. I'm confident that I'll get the sub-20 average of 5 and maybe sub-23 average of 12.. Fingers crossed. I'll be streaming my attempts on twitch.

Catch you on the flip side !


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## Cubing Forever (Feb 19, 2021)

Silky said:


> 13th Fortnightly Update is out. No OP updates for this week.
> Notes:
> 
> The final stretch to reach sub-20 ECE is now. I've plateaued at around 27ish. I'm finishing up learning MGLS; only around 6 algs left. All I really need to do is work on smoother look ahead, faster algs, and a slightly higher overall TPS. It's simultaneously hard and not hard, if that makes sense.. After the comp I'll grind out consistent sub-20. I'm thinking about implementing partial EO during inspection for more consistent psuedo-pairs. I'm confident that I'll get the sub-20 average of 5 and maybe sub-23 average of 12.. Fingers crossed. I'll be streaming my attempts on twitch.
> ...


Whoa you finished 131 algs in 2 weeks!!??!!


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## Silky (Feb 19, 2021)

Cubing Forever said:


> Whoa you finished 131 algs in 2 weeks!!??!!


Lol, no. You only need 16 algs so it'a technically EJLS which is a subset. It's not even technically EJLS since I'm using ' speed optimal algs ' taken from the entire set.


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## Silky (Mar 7, 2021)

Fortnightly Fortnightly Update is out. No OP updates for this week.
Notes:

The Uncommon Method Competition has finally come to an end ! I didn't meet my goal of sub-20 but did get a 21 average of 5 which I'm proud of. I'm glad the comp is over so that I can go back to doing other events. Need to de-rust but plan to get back into 2x2, 4x4, and Square-1. I'd like to get sub-5, sub-1:20, and sub-24 in each respective event. I'll also learn how to solve FTO this month and will be streaming everything over on my Twitch. I also got a capture card so I'll be doing video games as well. I finally got Affiliate so now ya'll can donate if you'd like 

Also going to be switching to ECE for 3x3. Really enjoyed it over the last month and feel that I have sooo much to improve. Feeling really motivated !!

Catch you on the flip side !


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## Silky (Mar 11, 2021)

Mini update. Going to try to get 10 Twitch Subs by the end of the month


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## Silky (Dec 31, 2021)

Welp, I'm back I guess?

No idea where I left off in this thread and haven't kept track of any data. Will probably do a hard reset. I did recently break the sub-24 ao100 for Square-1 which I think was the only yearly goal that I met, very happy tho. Also got a sub-19 ao5 with SSC which is nice..but also it did take a year, yikes. Streaming has been going super well recently and I got a ton in the works - Co-hosting a podcast, new Youtube channel, 24 hour stream next week.. crazy stuff. There will be more details in the relevant thread.

Ta ta for now !


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## Silky (Jan 24, 2022)

Here we go again..

Finished doing the hard reset/updated my PBs. Check OP for all that stuff. Really just posting to remind myself to keep up with this. I'll add all of my youtube/podcast/streaming stuff l8tr. I'm glad to be back and am looking forward to more personal/cubing growth. I appreciate ya'll so much <3

Peace !


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## Silky (Mar 11, 2022)

Well a month has come and gone. I've recently taken a break from cubing due to school so there isn't really any updates on that front. I've been messing around with my constrained cube (90 degrees) and have gotten it down to a J-perm twice now. This last alg is definitely my big roadblock. I have to come up with my own J-perm alg using Sexy, Sledge, and R' D R D'. I have access to three gen so I know it's possible. I also know if I do a rotation I have access to a bruno commutator, so maybe that would be more useful? Also thinking that PLL may not be the way to go but trying to set up for a ZBLL..? Idk, it's just a fun side project so I thought I'd share.

The major announcement/reason for this post is that there has recently been some developments in the SSRC method (other name suggestions welcome because I am tired of all the letter based names). @Athefre (thank you for all the wonderful support btw. SSRC definitely wouldn't have made it as far as it has without your help) has come up with iterative EO which should be applicable to SSRC and hopefully make L7E much better. I still haven't genned any algs for SSRC (outside of like 3) so that's the biggest part of development left for the method (or maybe smart people can come up with even better ideas?). Sometime in the next few months I'll work on making a document for the method/ genning algs. Probably going to be doing this as a big summer project after I graduate from uni. Oh yeah, I'm going to graduate from uni this semester! Very excited about that.

Really the only other things to mention are that I learned HSC for method march. Although I have no intention of speedsolving with it, it's still a fantastic method! I recommend checking it out on the wiki. If I get all of my school work done over spring break I might finish learning PLL and do some Mehta solves (or a least my version of Mehta). Oh and hopefully I can get a little bit of streaming in here and there over the next few weeks. Most likely I'd just do cooking/studying streams but I'm always excited to talk cubing stuff if anyone wants to stop by and do that.

anyway, I think that's it for now,
Cheers!


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## Silky (Jun 9, 2022)

Hello Forum, Silky here. This is going to be another big update. I this is going to be pretty long so TLDR below.



Spoiler: TLDR



I'm back and in action. Main highlights are the Quantitative Method Analysis ( more info here ), development of SSC, Snyder, and SSRC, working on becoming sub-15, and MOST IMPORTANTLY returning to streaming. Here are my Discord and Twitch. Any support is appreciated <3 Cheers!



25 Months of Cubing + Progress:

A few days ago I hit 25 months of being on this forum! Hurray! As always I just want to say how much I love and appreciate this community; ya'll are amazing and I wish you all speedy times. 2 years is a long time and I've been doing some reflection on my time spent in this community. For starters here's a few stats on my progress over the last few years. My 3x3 Avg of 100 has gone down from 31.07 => 21.61. A ten second improvement doesn't feel huge but heck I'm still proud of it. The best part is that I've done this after switching from Roux to SSC!! Officially being faster with a method I've know for less than 2 years versus a method I've know for 10.. I think I deserve a pat on the back ( good job me ). During this time I've also learned how to solve Square-1 and have gotten a sub-24 Avg of 100. I've also learned FTO and have a sub-1:00 solve ( FTO for WCA ). I've gotten better at other puzzle however I've lost most of the records I kept. 3x3, Square-1, and FTO are definitely my most significant, though. What I will say is that, however, is that I am not completely satiated. Although I am proud of what I've done, I think that I still have a lot I want to improve and more goals which I'd like to accomplish. The cubing dreams I've had since I began cubing back in 2008 were to (1) average sub-15 (2) develop my own method and (3) get a 24 move FMC solve. I'm proud to say that I've completed one of these goals!! So that only leaves two only two left! I don't know for how long I will continue to cube but until the day I stop I will continue forward. Hope ya'll will join me as I do.

Personal + Future

So, for those who don't follow me, I haven't cubed since the begging of the year. I can say with certainty that I've done less than 5 timed solves in the the last 4 months ( 2 of the solves were sub-20 so I still got it ). I've really been swept up in my personal and academic life and haven't had the time or motivation to cube/interact with the community. It's nothing to beat myself up over but it is something that I've really missed. Long story short, I want to make cubing part of my life again. It's going to be a slow process since I still need to find a balance in my life.. but if the thought ever crosses you mind, 'Hey, where's Silky?", DM me and help keep me motivated.

Projects + Plans

For those who are familiar with me, you know that my interests in the community span farther than just being fast. For those who don't.. well here's that part where I talk about it. Interestingly enough, despite this being a progression thread which normally focus on getting faster, going forward 'speedcubing' won't be the only thing in the limelight ( in fact it may even take a backseat -- a comfy backseat tho ). Prior to this post I've had a few projects in the works, the mains ones being, in no particular order (1) Quantitative Method Analysis ( check out the thread here and PLEASE fill out the survey ), (2) Method Development, and (3) Twitch Streaming and Youtube content ( more on this later ). The Quantitative Analysis is probably my current largest project. Given that I'll be needing some help with organizing and running things. I already have a few people helping but feel free to DM me, the biggest thing you can do right now would to be filling out the survey. Method development: over the last month or two I've been developing a few methods. Notably I've regenned the SSC algs and right now am working on Snyder algs. I'll make some full documents soon so that everyone has helpful resources in learning these methods. The other method development I plan to work on is SSRC. This is a method I purposed back in 2020, (2) on cubing dreams list. I've haven't made much progress on this for logistical reasons but now that I can use Batch Solver there's really no reason I cannot develop it now. I'm also going to rename the method because I'm really tired of acronyms. Lastly, I am planning to return to streaming/cubing content. During 2021, Twitch was my major engagement with the cubing world and the main thing that kept me active in the community. Although not my greatest contribution to the community, it is probably the thing I miss the most.. more about that below.

Twitch + Cubing Content

Here's the "More about this below" part. As said above, streaming is really the thing I miss the most and the main thing I'd like to come back to. I used to stream around 25-30 hours a month which, now that I think about it, is bonkers. Due to the whole life balance thing I won't be streaming 30 hours a month ( spoiler alert ). That being said, I do plan to stream a few hours on weekends ( Friday, Saturday, Sunday ). I can't make any commitments but I'd like to do 3-4 hours per day. Twitch/Streaming is going to be the best place to keep up with me on basically everything I've been talking about in this post. I mainly do speedcubing ( duh? ), cubing discussion, and some video games/ speedrunning. For those who are interested here is my Discord and Twitch. The best way to support me is to join, drop a follow, and come hang out. I really enjoy the community and hanging out with ya'll  As far as other cubing content goes.. I may or may not be making some youtube videos. I'm not familiar with video editing so that's something I have to learn. It isn't #1 on my to do list but several people have asked me to make videos. anyway, I think that's about it!!

Hope to see ya'll soon,
Cheers!


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## Silky (Jul 3, 2022)

Square-1 sub-25 ao5 and sub-20 single. Not bad. Will start streaming next week, look forward to that. 
anyway, new SSC variants. Really nothing crazy but 3 ideas

(1) Broken variant with TTLL. Only saves around 2 moves over Broken so around 48ish moves. Not great, not terrible.
(2) 6CP. Borrowed from Mehta. Average should be around 46 moves. Much easier to build a 1x2x3 instead of a 3x3x1. The last 1x1x3 in the Broken variant is often cumbersome so I like the 1x2x3 approach more. 
(3) TSLE in addition to SLS. Don't have to make a WV pair so bit easier in some cases. Efficiency is unclear until I gen algs.

Will update thread when I start streaming
Cheers!


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## Silky (Jul 3, 2022)

Sorry fore double post but I'm NOW LIVE ON TWITCH!! Doing some Square-1. Come hang out


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## Silky (Jul 20, 2022)

Hi guys!! So I've decided that I will being doing a 100 day challenge where I will be doing a Square-1 average of 50 every day for 100 days. Going to be a fun ride, hope ya'll will join me. I'll be streaming all of this on Twitch which can be found here => 



If I have the time I will also make some youtube highlight videos, so make sure to clip my fast solves/PBs!!

With Love,
Silky


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## Silky (Jul 27, 2022)

Some exciting updates!!
Have finished the first week of my 100 day challenge and have made some significant progress!! New PBs incoming!!

Mo3: 18.04 => 17.43
Ao5: 19.56 => 17.83
Ao12: 21.98 => 19.81
Ao25: 22.75 => 20.64
Ao50: 23.65 =>21.47
Ao100: 23.75 => 22.24
Ao250: N/A => 22.63
Ao500: N/A => 23.09

Huge PBs overall especially in only 1 week!! Very comfortably sub-23. Based on this improvement sub-20 seems inevitable. Going to temper my expectation of myself for now but feeling very confident!! Probably going to start learning a bit of CMDLL (adj cases) soon. Don't think its entirely necessary since I feel like I still have a lot of room for improvement with base Lin. Not really a high priority but no reason not to. 91 Days to go!!

Some updates on method dev:

SSC => @chronondecay recently came out with some improvement/analysis for SSC which is really exciting. Have a plan to work on a megadocx and going to be genning Edge Orientation + Separation (EOS) for EZD. Also interested in genning EZD + 1 as I feel this would fix some issues with SSC-O. My main issue with the variant is that the separation algs aren't great/efficient relative to the step. EZD + 1 helps to avoid the bad separation cases like adj/adj. Also have high hopes for EOS since overall I think it should be more efficient than SSC-O. I'm also a bit interested in adapting PBL from Square-1 but I'm not sure it be significantly better than the current variants. If someone wants to help work on PBL that would be best since I don't think I'll be really focused it for a while. Also going to start learning SLS and will get back into 3x3 after I hit sub-20 on Square-1

Snyder => Haven't been working on this as of late. Kind of just tedious to make all of the visual cubes but with a bit of focus it shouldn't take too long. Just have to sit down one day and grind it out. 

SSRC => Haven't focus on this for a long time. SSC improvement is going to transfer over to this method so I'm not too worried about it for now. Main focus would be on 6CP since this could make a 4 look SSC possible. OL5C => 6CP => EOS => EZD. Wouldn't really be a consistent 4 look method but still lots of potential. Will probably end up learning these algs given the usefulness across methods. Will eventually focus on learning full SSRC but that will be down the line (I'd like to be able to option select between this and SSC). 

Streaming =>

Been streaming consistently which is really great. Been feeling super good about it and for those who are interested in following along with my improvement make sure to stop by  Want to make some highlight videos from the streams tracking my progress but it seems there's enough on my plate. Let me know if you guys want me to do this. If enough of you are interested I'll bump it up on my priority list. 

anyway,
Cheers!


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## Clock_Enthusiast (Jul 28, 2022)

That’s a really impressive SQ-1 decrease in a week! I want to get more into it—it’s such a cool event.


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## Silky (Jul 28, 2022)

Clock_Enthusiast said:


> That’s a really impressive SQ-1 decrease in a week! I want to get more into it—it’s such a cool event.


100%! Probably my favorite event. Join me on the challenge and grind it out


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## Clock_Enthusiast (Jul 29, 2022)

Silky said:


> 100%! Probably my favorite event. Join me on the challenge and grind it out


I’m on a huge pyra grind right now. But maybe SQ-1 will be soon!


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## Silky (Aug 1, 2022)

Mini-Update:

I recently got a PB single on stream for my 100 day challenge. Beats my previous PB by 1 second which I got over a year ago. Check out the video here.

I'm also glad to announce that I will being doing a GIVEAWAY for the month of August. I'm giving away a Cubing Classroom Non-NxN Set (Not including Square-1), a Cubing Classroom NxN Set, and a WuQue Mini M (with your choice of new stickers). More details can be found here. I will be releasing a new stream schedule soon so look out for that. 

As always, here's my Twitch and Discord

Cheers!


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## Silky (Aug 20, 2022)

So I just passed 30 days in my 100 Day Challenge! Here are the results from last update:

Mo3: 17.43 => 17.03
Ao5: 17.83 => 17.59
Ao12: 19.81 => 19.32
Ao25: 20.64 => 20.28
Ao50: 21.47 => 20.91
Ao100: 22.24 => 21.22
Ao250: 22.63 => 21.99
Ao500: 23.09 => 22.21
Ao1000: N/A => 22.55

Continuing with steady gains. My pace has certainly slowed from last update but that was to be expected. The overall good news is that my consistency has improved. Improved my Ao100 by ~1 second and finally hit sub-22 Ao250. I know there isn't really an official 'you are now sub-x seconds' standard but I think it is safe to say that I'm currently sub-22. That's actually an interesting question.. what do yall think? At what average would you consider yourself to be sub-x?


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## Imsoosm (Aug 20, 2022)

Silky said:


> That's actually an interesting question.. what do yall think? At what average would you consider yourself to be sub-x?


If you think you are very consistent, an ao100 would be just fine. If you're not very consistent, then maybe an ao200 or ao500 would be better. For example my 3x3 ao100 pb is 10.66, but I do also get a lot of 11s, so I would measure myself with ao200 or ao500.


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## IsThatA4x4 (Aug 20, 2022)

Silky said:


> what do yall think? At what average would you consider yourself to be sub-x?


I normally go off my ao1000 (or whatever average below that is the highest) but sometimes despite a sub-x ao1000 I still don't _feel_ sub-x.
I think a better way to do it might be off a percentage. If you looked at your ao1000, and maybe 75+% of your solves were sub-x, you would be sub-x. I don't know what a good percentage for this would be, but I like it because rather than a result of times above and below, which could be quite a close split, it tells you how often you can expect to get sub-x times, which is what I think about when being sub-x.


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