How to practise F2L online

What the F2L trainer has

All 41 cases, each with an algorithm checked on Cubeathon's cube simulator: it solves the front-right pair and leaves the cross and the other three slots alone. The cases are grouped by where the corner and edge start:

Start here

Four short basic inserts; many other cases turn into one of these.

Corner and edge on top

Both pieces in the top layer: pair them, then insert.

Corner on top, edge in the slot

Take the edge out with the corner, or insert around it.

Corner in the slot, edge on top

The corner is already down, possibly twisted.

Corner and edge in the slot

Both pieces are in the slot, but the pair isn't solved.

Read the case diagrams

Each diagram shows the top face above the front and right faces, with yellow on top and the slot you're filling at the front right. Only the pair's stickers are coloured; grey stickers don't matter for that case. The text under each case says which way the corner's white sticker points and where the edge is, so you can match it to the cube in your hands.

1. Watch a case solved

Press Play on the cube on any case and the 3D cube at the top of the page performs its algorithm. Switch to Slow to follow each turn, and do it along on your own cube. Every algorithm also has a copy button.

2. Drill recognition

The drill is about spotting a case and knowing its solution, the part that removes pauses from real solves.

1. Press Start drill at the top of the page. All 41 cases come up shuffled.
2. Study the diagram, then choose which of three algorithms solves it. The wrong answers are look-alikes from the same group, so you have to really read the case.
3. After you answer, the case is named and the right algorithm highlighted. Press Watch it solved to see it on the cube, or Try it on the cube to solve it yourself.
4. Cases you miss come back later in the round until you get them.

3. Solve it yourself

In Solve it yourself, pick any case and the cube is set up for you. Turn it by dragging a sticker; drag the background to look around. Cubeathon checks the actual cube state, not whether you typed the listed moves, so any correct solution counts.

• Hint — a nudge towards the next turn.
• Show me — plays the solution on the cube.
• Undo and Reset — step back one turn, or start the case again.
• Check — tells you if the pair is solved; a wrong turn gets a specific correction.

When it's solved, Next case moves on. Each case card's Try it button opens that case here directly.

A sensible order

1. Learn the four Start here cases until they're automatic.
2. Work through Corner and edge on top: the cases you meet most.
3. Add the cases with a piece in the slot when the top-layer cases feel easy.
4. Run the full drill every few days; the misses tell you what to revisit.

Many cubers learn F2L intuitively instead of memorising all 41. Solving cases yourself, with Hint rather than Show me, builds that understanding.

Take it to timed solves

Case practice only pays off if it shows up in full solves. On the timer, create a session for F2L work and set its training mode to Slow solvein the drawer's Session tab: solve slowly enough that you never pause to look for pieces. Keeping these solves in their own session stops them mixing with your speed averages.

What to watch

F2L improvement shows first in your Ao12. See how to read your statistics to tell a real change from noise.