2. First 2 Layers
PICA PICA
This step is crucial for every cuber. Being able to do the F2L fast, will result in a fast time and is the easiest step to improve on
The way this step works is as follows: after the cross, if you ignore the Last Layer, you will see that there are 4 'slots' left to solve of one corner and one edge. F2L consists of 4 times solving such a corner-edge pair in a slot. It doesn't matter in which order you do this of course. Like the cross: just take the easiest pair.
PICA PICA cross and slots
This step is very intuitive, but it might take a while before you get the hang of it. The main idea is to pick a corner and an edge that belong together and move them around until you reach one of the 2 cases where it can be solved in 3 moves. These 'basic' cases look like this:
PICA PICA basic cases RUR' RU'R'
It might also be a good idea to watch my Beginners F2L video, link on the right!
Example solves!
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Basic cases:
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R U R' |
R U' R' |
R U2 R' U' R U R' |
R U' R' d' L' U L y' |
R U' R' U2 y' R' U' R y |
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R U R' U R U' R' |
R2 U2 R' U' R U' R2 |
R U' R' U R U' R' |
R' U' R U' R' U' R |
R U R' U' R U2 R' |
Now after studying these cases you should get an idea of how to solve F2L in general plus be able to solve it already with some puzzling. Now some more cases for a bit more complicating stuff. Try to do pairs from several angles.
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(U') R' F R F' R U' R' |
F' L' U L F R U R' |
z F' R U' R' U R' F z' |
y L' U L F R U2 R' F' y' |
R' F' R U R U' R' F |
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L U2 L' R U' R' |
L F' L' F R U R' |
F R' F' R U' R U R' |