I’m Nikhil Soares, the Indian NR holder for Megaminx Single and Average and current Megaminx Asian Champion. If you have ever seen a video of me solving a Megaminx, you know that I prefer to keep the cube resting on the table (table solving) rather than holding it in my hand and solving it (hand solving).
I’m the fastest Megaminx table solver in the world so I feel qualified enough to write this blog about it. The main purpose of this blog is not to determine which technique is better but to point out the pros and cons of each technique and help you decide what to choose.
Table solving
Pros -
- Your left hand is finally free enough to do lefty f2l inserts or algorithms.
- You can potentially see more of the cube by leaning in front in order to improve lookahead.
- You are in a more relaxed state while solving since there is less weight on your hands.
- It is better for larger cubes. The Yuhu V2M is in my opinion the best Megaminx in the market right now. It’s larger size and bubbly feeling makes it easier to turn when table solving.
- The cube’s stability barely matters since most of the cube remains aligned by the flat table and you are enabled to use as fast of a cube as possible.
- Although it is the better solving technique for everyone, I’d definitely recommend you to try it if you are younger or have smaller hands.
- Rotations are faster as you can kind of spin the cube along the y axis
- You probably haven’t given it a fair shot so why not?
Cons -
- Takes a while to switch to and has a much different turning style.
- Bad for smaller cubes but it is manageable.
- Many World Class solvers have tried it and don’t recommend it (except me ofc).
- Some people find it very awkward to reposition your elbows
Hand solving
Pros -
- More widely used and algorithms that you will learn are more favourable to Hand solvers.
- Might be easier for smaller cubes.
- The majority of people don’t have to spend time switching to it since they already use it.
These were honestly all the plus points I could think of for hand solving but I’m sure there are quite a few more that I’m missing out on; probably because I don’t use it.
Cons -
- Could cause acute pain in the left pinky finger and might even make your wrists hurt during longer sessions.
- Your left palm covers up a big portion of the cube that can negatively affect lookahead and your left hand is too busy holding the cube to make a lot of turns.
- Sometimes you need to adapt to less efficient algorithms involving longer RUF only algorithms.
