Understanding The Petrus Method: Solving Rubik’s Cube (2024)

Are you tired of using the same old methods to solve the Rubik’s Cube? Have you been searching for a new and innovative approach that can help you improve your speed and agility?

Look no further than the Petrus Method.

Developed by Swedish speedcuber Lars Petrus in the late 1990s, this block-building method has gained a lot of attention in recent years for its flexibility, creativity, and faster solve times.

Using this method, Lars Petrus won the 1981 Swedish championships and finished 4th in the first world championships in Budapest in 1982.

In this blog post, we’ll explore the Petrus Method in detail, including its history, key features, and benefits for speedcubers. Whether you’re a seasoned speedcuber or just starting out, the Petrus Method is a method worth exploring and learning more about.

History of the Petrus Method

The Petrus Method was developed by Lars Petrus, a Swedish speedcuber, in the late 1990s.

Petrus was motivated to create a new method after realizing that the traditional method for solving the Rubik’s Cube, known as the Fridrich method, had limitations that prevented him from achieving his desired speed.

He spent several years experimenting with different techniques before ultimately settling on the Petrus Method.

Key Features of the Petrus Method

The Petrus Method is a block-building method, which means that it involves solving the Rubik’s Cube in layers, one block at a time.

This approach is different from the Fridrich method, which involves solving the cube in layers based on colors. The Petrus Method has several key features that set it apart from other methods:

• Fewest moves: The Petrus Method requires fewer moves than other methods, which can result in faster solve times. The method is designed to minimize the number of moves required to solve each block, which in turn reduces the overall number of moves required to solve the entire cube.
• High flexibility: The Petrus Method is highly flexible and allows for a lot of creativity in solving the cube. The method gives cubers more freedom to choose their own block-building sequences and to adapt to different types of cube configurations.
• Focus on intuitive solving: The Petrus Method relies heavily on intuitive solving, which means that cubers use their own problem-solving skills and insights to solve the cube. This approach allows for greater engagement and creativity in the solving process.

Benefits of the Petrus Method

The Petrus Method has several benefits for speedcubers. Here are a few of the most significant advantages:

1. Faster solve times: The Petrus Method is designed to minimize the number of moves required to solve the cube, which can result in faster solve times. Many speedcubers have reported that the Petrus Method has helped them achieve new personal records and improve their overall speed.
2. Greater flexibility: The Petrus Method is highly flexible and allows for a lot of creativity in solving the cube. This flexibility can be especially useful in competition settings, where cubers may encounter unexpected cube configurations that require creative problem-solving skills.
3. More engagement: The Petrus Method relies heavily on intuitive solving, which can make the solving process more engaging and rewarding. The method encourages cubers to use their own insights and problem-solving skills, which can lead to a greater sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.
4. A rotation is required after Edge Orientation to solve the rest of F2L ergonomically.

Petrus Method Speedsolving Tutorial

Petrus was the second most popular speedcubing method behind CFOP.

The Petrus Method uses fewer moves than the CFOP method and most, if not all, other non-block-building methods.

Used as a beginner method, Petrus requires much more intuition but also involves learning fewer algorithms. For example, the last layer can be split up into three steps, CP, CO, and EP.

The following steps below is an approach suited for beginners, more advanced users might combine steps 1 and 2 and/or 5 and 6 (COLL) or use a Fridrich type last layer and do OLL and then PLL.

If the fifth step is skipped the last layer can be solved with a 2GLL algorithm.

Solve this cube layer-by-layer:

1. Build a 2x2x2 block anywhere on the cube.
2. Expand the 2x2x2 block to a 2x2x3 block, three ways are possible.
3. Fix the “bad edges” or orient the remaining seven edges on the cube that have not been solved.
4. Finish the First Two Layers (F2L) by only turning 2 sides. The pure Petrus approach is to create a 1x2x2 block and expand it to a 1x2x3 block to finish off the F2L, not to solve the cross piece and two corner/edge pairs, two ways are possible.
5. Permute the last layer corners, or put them in their proper places (they do not have to be oriented.)
6. Orient the last layer corners, making the whole last layer a solid color.
7. Permute the last layer edges, without disturbing the other pieces, to solve the cube.

You solved it!

Full Video Tutorial: Petrus Tutorial – You Can Always Do Petrus

Petrus Variations

Petrus-W: ZZ-EO is used to finish to final two CE Pairs with only R U L moves while not placing the Down-Front edge. COLL and L5EP are then used to finish the cube.

Substeps like EJLS, WV, COLL, ZZLL, and ZBLL can be used to finish the last layer in a single algorithm

Instead of starting with a 2x2x2 block, the 2x2x3 block can also be built using a 1x2x3 block followed by a Line of edges, also called a “Stripe”.

The first three steps can be combined into one EO223 step.

Pyraminx: Petrus method (Pyraminx)

Megaminx: Petrus method (Megaminx)

Conclusion

The Petrus Method is an innovative and flexible approach to solving the Rubik’s Cube. It has many benefits for speedcubers, including faster solve times, greater flexibility, and more engagement in the solving process.

While the method may require some practice and experimentation to master, it can be a valuable tool for improving your Rubik’s Cube-solving skills.

Whether you’re a seasoned speedcuber or just starting out, the Petrus Method is a method worth exploring and learning more about.