ZZ Method

History

The ZZ method was invented in 2006 by a Polish speedcuber called Zbigniew Zborowski as an efficient (for speedsolving) and ergonomic blockbuilding/LBL method for the 3x3 Rubik's cube.

Since then, a small but growing community has slowly built around it and many variations of the method have been developed, with possibilities still being explored.

Overview

The ZZ method can be used to solve a cube in 3-4 steps and an average of 45-60 moves depending on the variant. The defining feature of the ZZ method is that the first step always features Edge Orientation (EO).

Edge Orientation is a technique of changing the edges to a state where they do not require F/B or wide moves to be solved, so that the cube can be solved with purely R, U, L and D moves. The most basic ZZ steps are:

1. EOLine: Edge Orientation + placement of the DF and DB edges
2. ZZF2L: Solving the first 2 layers of the cube using <RUL> blockbuilding. It is rotationless and very efficient in comparison to CFOP F2L due to EO already being solved and the free nature of it.
3. LL: Solving last layer, usually purely with algorithms. This stage is normally solved in two steps, especially for beginners, but can be solved in one by learning 493 algorithms known as ZBLL, the most viable method for 1 Look Last Layer.