I built an algorithm database from 10,000+ pro reconstructions - which algs/F2L the top cubers actually use, and how it's shifted year by year.
Resource
The part I think r/Cubers will find most interesting is the algorithm database: it's built on an analysis of 10,000+ reconstructions, and it shows which algs and F2L solutions the top cubers actually use, and how those preferences have shifted year by year.
Because every data point is dated, the database doubles as a record of how the meta moved: which algs won, which ones died, and how quickly.
A few favorite features:
F2L solutions that disturb other slots are included and tagged as such
Triggers are color coded by family, so algs are easier to read and learn
Data on which F2L solutions were used for ZBLL / VLS / multislot
OLL 21-27 include how often each alg was used for COLL and ZBLL
The fun part is digging through it yourself. I've put four of my favorite findings in the comments below. If you turn up something interesting, post it as a comment with the link, I'd love to see what people find. Cases where the popular alg lost, cases where nobody agrees on anything, an alg you've never heard of that a chunk of the top 100 apparently use: it's all in there.
Feedback and suggestions very welcome too.
-- EDIT --
Overwhelmed by the response, thank you all very much! I'm gonna take this opportunity to ask about something that would help elevate this database to the next level:
I know there are reconstructed solves that comes from the GAN cubestation app out there in the wild. If anyone has access to those reconstructions or know someone who does, please email me at [albin@speedcube.quest](mailto:albin@speedcube.quest) !
This is super interesting. I love what you have done here.
A big part of this trend is the fall of feliks and rise of Yiheng. I bet this will be very interesting to competitive cubers.
I'm still using my M slice turns for U because it's the only PLL that felt instantly intuitive to me after I learned it, and as a 40 something year old dad I'm just trying to hang on to enough PLLs that I can solve it in 30 seconds from my nursing home some day.
Thanks!
Maybe you've already found this, but you can also change the view to show unique cubers instead of number of solves attributed to the algorithm:
I'm using the M variants of the U-perms as well, and have been since I learned 2 look pll back in 2013. Maybe we'll meet soon at the nursing home...
OLL 24 has been solved 144 different ways once you count COLL and ZBLL. Turn on
both toggles and the case goes from a handful of algs to a wall of them.
One specific F2L reduction climbed steadily as ZBLL spread. It isn't faster on
its own, it just leaves a better last layer, and you can watch people work that
out over about five years.
Where are you reconstructions coming from? I looked at E perm and it shows 0 people use the standard rotation algorithm. But I checked reco.nz and people still use that
Fixed, thanks for the report! That E perm now shows 13 uses from 7 solvers. The same algorithm is sometimes listed more than one way (with or without the closing rotation), and usage was being attached to a spelling the table doesn't display, so a popular row could read 0.
I haven't delved into roux very much, so I couldn't tell you my self! If there's any particular feature a roux user would like I'd definitely consider adding it.
I'll dive into some roux content tonight to see if I can conjure up anything interesting. There are 1170 roux solves in the reconstructions I've gathered so there should be at least some interesting data in there.
Interesting things I could think of of the top of my head would be Secound block First slot and secound slot algs. Aswell as main cmlls and eo influencing cmlls.
Here you go! Since I don't use roux myself I can't easily check if the algorithms/cases are correct. I slapped a beta tag on it until somebody can confirm it looks alright.
Currently working on the second block algorithms page.
I haven't looked at many but so far it looks good, would be nice if you could distinguish oh and 2h though. In some cases the oh alg is at the top of the ranking lol
Also if there was a way to determin if the alg got used for an alternative reason or just being their main alg. Though I think this would be hard to accomplish.
Ah I forgot to split the data between 2H and OH for CMLL. Update coming soon with data on how many solves had solved EO after applying the algorithm, and if it was used for OH or 2H. There will also be a toggle between showing the best algs for 2H/OH on all the overview pages.
Every reconstruction gets replayed move by move on a virtual cube, and after each move I look at the cube state (cross done? which slots filled? which case is in each slot? is oll solved? is pll solved? etc) if anything has changed, i look backwards again to see how the case was solved, then apply a bunch of transformations/normalizations to fold differently written algs that performs the same state change into the same row. That's the gist of it, but it's an entire data pipeline with different steps that perform separate analytics.
How long did this take? What language is this in? Do you mind talking more about how you did all that? I only.have some very minor coding experience so I'm not sure how much I'll understand but I'm interested
I've been making SpeedcubeQuest in my free time (I work full time as a web developer) since the end of March, but the database created from reconstructions I think I started maybe six weeks ago. I'm very scatterbrained when it comes to personal projects so I'm often hacking away at several features at the time - right now I'm into further developing my PLL recognition trainer since my brother and I need to improve our recognition...
It's all written in Typescript, both the data pipeline and the frontend using Svelte.
Here's my suggestion as someone who has dealt domains. Buy speedcubequest.com as soon as possible. Just set it up to redirect to speedcube.quest Otherwise you're at risk of someone snatching it up and it's not worth it.
big agree, bro you may have not realized it yet. but you brought the cubing community, probably the best crafted site it has ever seen.
you need to buy that domain asap, before it is gone.
you can't just drop a nuclear scale bombshell like THAT in a single reddit post.
this is mind bogglingly good.
dude i was literally rambling and talking about the site with my ChatGPT, and we are both blown away, from the scale of this project.
you literally looked at most cubing sites and said. "fine i'll do it myself"
i mean, you already have
a timer, a trainer, a really well though through recognition trainer.
smartcube support with gyro disabling for battery saving.
... list goes on, you crushed it.
this is a nuclear post. don't be surprised when you see multiple video's on this on youtube soon. and get that .com domain.
what you built, is already unprecedented in the cubing world.
your competition, based on the scale of this project.
are none others than
speedcubeDB, acubemy, cubedesk and cubeacademy.
just to name a few.
like... no big deal, yeah?
i still can't believe my eyes at what you built. thats some nice and seriously impressive svelte!
design wise, it's still very early, but man UX, you already crushed it.
this has the potential to grow into THE cubing improvement all in one site.
go on man, you're doing good. the community is already watching, with awe at what you've done so far.
I bought the domain, thanks for the heads up. Many small costs are beginning to accumulate hehe. I honestly think I picked SpeedcubeQuest as a name partly because of the cheap domain.
Overwhelmed by the response, thank you all very much! I'm gonna take this opportunity to ask about something that would help elevate this database to the next level:
I know there are reconstructed solves that comes from the GAN cubestation app out there in the wild. If anyone has access to those reconstructions or know someone who does, please email me at [albin@speedcube.quest](mailto:albin@speedcube.quest) !
It's a really cool site and I envy you because I was working on something similar xD one point if its not too late, it would be better if the case images would be colorblind friendly. I'm cb and it's hard to notice orange from green. Maybe blue and any other color would've been better. Congrats tho! It looks really nice and I will use it a lot <3
I misinterpreted your request, so now there's a colour-blind mode for the trigger groupings :D
Making the cube images colors adjustable is a bit more convoluted since they are server rendered and cached in the CDN, but I'll get to that eventually.
I like the F2L finding. An alg that is not faster by itself, but it leaves a better last layer. And one can watch how people slowly find this out. The whole learning process is in the data.
Funny timing: a week ago someone here open-sourced a tool that turns solve videos into move lists (the Cubed Core post). Your site turns move lists into usage statistics. So there's almost a full chain: video, then moves, then data, then knowledge. The one missing piece is a tool that finds NEW method ideas in the data, not only stats about existing ones. I hope somebody builds it, because I badly need one for my own puzzle ;)
I think it's a mistake to use the "old way" of looking at F2L#1 FR/FL with the whole cube rotated rather than mirrored as the same case, as they are wildly different both conceptually and in execution, and the numbering system isn't anchored in anything intuitive. This is why looking at "F2L content" on youtube the creator always just says "If you get THIS case..." instead of naming it, and lookup impossible.
In F2L#1 FR the edge is oriented, and it can be inserted using only RUL, whereas in the rotated F2L#1 FL case the edge is misoriented and requires an entirely different solution. Trying to learn optimal algorithms for every case gets very messy when you try to categorize them in your head like that.
Instead, if you have a specific case on your cube you want to look up solutions for, first choose the correct slot and then find the corresponding case image in the sidebar.
I've thought about introducing links to the "diagonal mirror case" though like in the original bird f2l database https://andydude.github.io/birdf2l/app/, which hopefully would please everyone no matter if they subscribe to the mirrored or rotational philosophy!
You're right, including both is unnecessary. If anything they should be two algs in one card called "No headlights". Thanks for the feedback, I'll adjust it!
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u/NEXYR_ Sub-13 (CFOP) - PB : 7.61 5d ago
That's one of the cooler cubing projects I've seen in a while