BASC 53 recap
https://live.worldcubeassociation.org/competitions/3586/competitors/380859
Hi guys, so last weekend(8 days ago) i went to a rubiks cube competition. I forgot to write about it. At least I remembered now, its not that late lol.
2x2
I did like very well in 2x2. I legit didn't practice 2x2 leading up to the competition because I forgot to bring one to college lmao, but I gotta give credit to the scrambles man. I can sit back and be like "I was always averaging sub-6 at home!!" but like realistically speaking I forgot like 2 PBL algs and if I got them in any of the scrambles I would've been screwed.
So a crazily consistent average apart from the 12 second solve. That 12 second solve wasn't even an alg I forgot, I literally just had some random wave of nervousness and couldn't think and my muscle memory wasn't working so I messed up. But like literally al the solves are 5's which is funny. Theres still tons of room for improvement, but my previous PR average was 6.6 so like im happy with this
3x3
I'm ngl I did terrible. My main goal was and is always to get a sub-10 official single, and I didn't really have any good opportunities through my 10 solves.
My first average, I was late to the comp cuz I missed my bart train cuz I took so long to get ready in the morning. So thus, I was super not warmed up and did terrible. I misrecognized the PLL in solve #4. Terrible performance.
Then average #2 I felt more warmed up. My 3rd solve was a +2, it hsouldve been 11.69 which wouldve made like a high-12 average I think. That was super annoying, very disappointing. Idk, I've been super stagnant in 3x3 lately, its definitely my F2L lookahead.
No PRs for 3x3.
7x7
So I FORGOT TO BRING MY YJ MGC 7X7 to college which was SUPER annoying because I KNOW that if I just practice for like 1 hour, I can make the 10 minute cutoff. I literally know that, and I had some time when I was cubing to practice 7x7.
But it's whatever. I literlaly did like 2 warmup solves and got like a 10:16 and a 12 minute solve lmao. I distinctly remember being on my phone watching J-Perm "getting better at big cubes" video literally 10 minutes before I had to go up and do my solve. I actually had a good takeway and that was to start on any color. I didn't realize that I couold start building the centers on every color, cuz I use yau on 4x4 and so it's white yellow. But that lowkey helps a bit, and I'll take what I get. There were some niche edge-pairing tricks but like with 10 minutes left to go, there's no shot that I can learn that.
So it was time for me to compete in 7x7, and the objective was under 10 minutes. If I go over 10 minutes, the time is considered a DNF and it doesn't go on my wca profile.
I had a shaky start, I remember I paused for a solid 3 seconds trying to find a center piece, but like the rest of my solve was pretty solid. My 3x3 stage WAS SMOOOOOVEEE. I executed a solid F-Perm like super fast. I remember I saw the F-Perm and I could've done a T-Perm + H-Perm to play it safe, but I thought that I was close to the 10 minute barrier and wanted to risked it, and I executed it rly fast, my muscle memory clutched. AND SO I ENDED UP WITH A...
9 MINUTE AND 14 SECONDS!!!!! Apparently I had a +2 for going over the 15 sec inspection, so it was a 9:16. I'm ngl my judge is kinda dumb for that. It was like 15.3 displayed on the stopwatch and like literally I'm pretty sure I had my hands placed and everything before 15 seconds. Like, when its 15.3 seconds and it's that close, I never give them a +2. That's super dumb, I feel like most judges don't do that.
But if I'm gonna get an inspection penalty, then I'll take it in 7x7 where it goes from 9 minute 14 sec to 9 minute 16 sec, literlaly negligible difference, so i didnt rly wanna argue. I was super happy with getting that time. There wasn't even that much luck in the solve. I just never messed up and never had big pauses during edge pairing, and had a FLYING 3x3 stage. 7x7 can definitely improve a whole lot form this, but idk if i have the patience to continue this event. I just want the time on my wca profile haha
Skewb
Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with my skewb performance. The nerves didn't really hit me, and I think I found a great way to control them. Before, I would do like a quick example solve with my warmup skewb before the solve, and that helps a bit, but like it doesnt work the best for me. Instead, I put on earbuds and just listen to music for like a solid 20 seconds before I tell the judge that I'm ready. Sometimes the judge is just like staring at me, gripping the cube cover ready to release it, and idgaf I just keep listening to my music lmao. And then I take my earbuds off when I feel locked in and the solve starts.
It's also essential to make sure you don't solve at the same time as the person next to you, cuz thats sometimes distracting. I always wait until the person next to me is done.
No +2s, no major messups besides solve 5 in average #1. I'm happy I didn't choke in final round. It's just unfortunate Tommy had to pop off.
I watched two of Tommy's solves in the final round and he's just super good at sarah's advanced algs. It's kinda dumb, he can just rush thru 4 sledge/hedge combinations in like a split second. I can do that when I'm locked in, but most of the time if I'm aggressive with my sledge/hedges and rotate I end up choking so I play it somewhat safe. My man Tommy goes HAM with his execution. It's definitely from him being so good at every event. He controls his nerves insanely well, we all saw what he did at Worlds 2023 winning blind and clock.
Other than that, I got a PR skewb single from 2.69 down to 2.63 lol, captured it with a NICE camera angle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPbQN4sjuk0
This 0.7x mode angled up towards me is a rly nice angle, compared to my previous tripod angled down. I left my tripod at college so I opted for this angle, and I think I'll stick with it!
Conclusions
I can't leave without giving PROPS TO MY GUY SEOUNGJUN KANG. I watched him go from like a 5 second average all the way down to a consistent sub-4 average. I feel proud to say I sent him a ton of resources and fingertricks. It was lowkey looking like he wouldn't podium cuz he had to compete with me, Tommy, Jusun Choi, and even Zeke if Zeke popped off. But my guy kept it composed after those first 2 solves and ended up podiuming which was fire. We were all so happy.
Just overall a very fun comp, the 7x7 solve was a big highlight, along with locking in my skewb solves. I'm rly happy with how I did in skewb. Tommy beat me by .08, I could've beat him if I did better on my 5th solve tbh which was definitely feasable, but I didn't know what his average was at the time.
Obviously disappointing in the 3x3 department, but like I'll just have to see how I get better. Slow turning may help, but its relaly my f2l look ahead thats being the obstacle here.
Me Tommy and SeoungJun
Also, since this was at Berkeley I met up with Timothy from like 1 pm to 4 pm. We walked to some record store, then a chess area and played some chess(it was a vibe), people's park, and chilled in his dorm.
In hindsight, I thought playing baskebtall at people's park was a bit sketchy but also a bit fun. But.. my man timothy is so clueless I needa do my own research sometimes I was just following him but apparently people's park is super dangerous and according to my sister, "the one place to avoid" when she was going to Berkeley.
So yea....
Well, that was the comp, I came home for the weekend and had a blast. I signed up for like two more in November and December, let's see if I'll be able to go.
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