F2L the Easy Way

I've decided to post some tutorials in cubing. There are a lot of how-to cubing pages out there but in this tutorial I will attempt to teach the First-Two-Layers method (F2L) in a manner that is hopefully easier to understand.

If you're new to cubing then this tutorial isn't for you. If you can solve a cube in an average of two minutes using the vanilla layer-by-layer (cross->corners->second layer edges) method, F2L should save you about 30-40 seconds depending on how fast you can actually pull off the moves.

Vanilla layer-by-layer can be pulled off pretty fast, but is inherently slower because you build the first layer, then you have to destroy it to join it with the second layer. It is the choice for beginners because it has the fewest cases needed to be memorized to be able to solve the cube.

F2L was pioneered by Jessica Freidrich among others, but looking at her web page can put off anyone looking for an introduction to F2L.

When performing F2L there will be two pieces of interest, the corner piece and the matching edge piece. Before F2L you should have your First Layer Cross already solved.




This is an attempt to teach the moves in terms of relative colors, and not absolute face turns. This has the advantage of automatically learning the "mirror" moves. There is no mention of clockwise or counterclockwise. As long as you follow the steps, it shouldn't matter if you get a mirrored case or a normal case.

Instead, I will be referring to the "base", "top" and "side" colors of a cubie. The edge cubie will be used as a reference. With the edge cubie in the top layer, the top color will be the sticker of the cubie showing on to top, and the side color will be the color of the other cubie's face. The corner cubie will then either be "oriented" or "flipped".

Oriented - Corner cubie's top color same as Edge's top color

Flipped - Corner cubie's top color is the same as Edge's side color

Some people (my girlfriend) seem to find this method more intuitive and easier to understand.

In each case the goal is to unite the Edge (E) and Corner (C) cubies in the top layer in a series of quick, smoothly flowing moves. Once united, it is a simple matter to place them into the proper corner of the cube.

Case 1: Corner and Edge are both in Top Layer.

A) Corner and Edge colors have same orientation.

Identify: The corner cubie will have have the base color on one side, and the top and side colors of the edge and corner cubies will be the same. The edge and corner will be separated from each other.

Step 1: First, turn top layer so that the corner's side color is aligned to its center cubie. Here the side color is orange. You should have something similar to the one of the cubes below. This is merely a setup step. As you practice more, you will be skipping directly to the next step.

"side color is orange, align side color with orange center"



Step 2: Turn top layer to align corner's base color (white) with side color's center face (orange).

"side color is orange, align base color of corner with orange center"



Step 3: Turn side color's center face to place corner in bottom layer




Step 4. Rotate top layer to place edge cubie opposite top color's center cube.

"place edge opposite top color's center"



Step 5. Turn side color's center face back to place corner in top layer

"bring back corner"



Corner and edge should be joined.

B) Corner and edge colors have flipped orientation.