OLL and PLL - why bother? Petrus and Fridrich Hybrid is better.

OLL and PLL by Bob Burton

OLL and PLL youtube by Pestvic

I find it ridiculous to memorize so many algorithms solely for the purpose of decreasing the time it take to solve the cube - it's a no-brainer. Rubik Cube competitions won by memorizing tons of algorithms is a test of memory - not a test of skill and intelligence. What's the fun in that?

57 algorithms for OLL and 21 algorithms for PLL - a total of 78 algorithms - just to speedsolve the last layer (LL) is ridiculous.

To me, the joy of solving a cube lies in its intuitive methods - eg Petrus Method.
Use your brains and think... that's where the fun is.

I have greater respect for those who solve cubes by thinking rather than by memorizing steps.

But I realize that the LL cannot be solved intuitively - so I still have no choice but to memorize algorithms and in this respect, I would prefer to memorize as few algorithms as possible. And as such, Dan Brown (pogobat) method is the way to go - only 4 algorithms for the last layer. Another LL which I recently fell in love with is Petrus' LL, which has only 3 algorithms, i.e. Niklas, Sune and Alan (in that order).

Even the Fridrich LL is way too many algorithms for me to memorize.

So, my technique is:

either:

(1) Fridrich F2L - no algorithms
Dan Brown's 4 LL only 4 algorithms to remember, or Petrus LL, only 3 algorithms
Note that, if using Petrus LL, if no cross on LL, may need to do this first:

F R U Ri Ui Fi

[ FRU Rigid Unzipped Floppies ]

Combining Fridrich F2L with Petrus LL is what I call Fridrich + Petrus LL (Fridrich Hybrid).


(2) Petrus F2L - no algorithms
For LL, only 3 algorithms to remember


So to solve the Rubik Cube, I only need to memorize 3 algorithms (Petrus) or 4 algorithms (Fridrich)!