3 tips to boost your AUF game
AUF, for those of you who don’t know stands for “Adjust the U Face”, and is the final true “step” for 3x3 solves
More importantly, AUF is one of those things I see people mess up at all levels, but primarily the early intermediate level of solving
And it’s a damn shame, because it’s actually a very important step when you realize that 3x3 is a very fast event compared to most, so there’s no reason why you should be bad at it when it could be costing you half a second and potentially be the difference maker between average sub 20, and just over 20
Tip #1
Predict your AUF ahead of time
This is BY FAR the most crucial and fundamental AUF skills you NEED to have down if you want to avoid wasting time!
Here's how it works for PLL, though this can just as easily apply to 2x2 CLL, ZBLL, whatever you want
Let's take this Rperm for example
Do this on a solved cube: U' R U' R' U' R U R D R' U' R D' R' U2 R' U'
Now, the PLL algorithm we use to solve this case is just the above algorithm with the starting and ending U' moves removed
The key thing to note, however, is that you want to know exactly what AUF you need to do after the algorithm so that you don't pause before AUF...
The way we do this is simple. We find a reference sticker to use
For this case, I would see that the FUR sticker is matching with the front face, and that's what I use as my "reference sticker" to know what kind of AUF I have coming
In this case, because it's aligned with the right colour, I know that I'll have an AUF skip
However, if I were to apply a Dw2 to the cube, I would now see that I have to do a U2 as my AUF
If I did a Dw on top of that Dw2, I would now have to do a U turn, because that "reference sticker" is a U turn away from being aligned with the correct colour face
Every PLL case no matter what should have at least one reference sticker you can use
The sticker will be something correctly matches the face either in front of you or on the right face (for example the UBR-UR block in the R' d' F Gperm)
This reference sticker tricks works just as nicely for CLL, ZBLL, even OLL cases where you KNOW it's going to PLL skip AHEAD of time
There are some rare algorithm dependent cases where you won’t have a reference sticker, like the 14 move Nperms or the M2 U M2 U Zperm
For these cases you’ll need to do “AUF math” if you want to use these algorithms (and realistically you should just learn different algorithms like the M’ U Zperm, or literally any other Nperm)
However, let’s assume you’ve done your due dilligence and know for a fact that these are the best algorithms for you (or maybe you want to learn AUF for niche 2x2 EG cases, or ZBLL cases etc)
Basically, you need to find a sticker that’s easy to see (something in the front ideally), and if possible choose a sticker that does a U2 because U’ and U make AUF math a lot harder
Assuming you can find a sticker that fits both conditions, then all you have to do is do the “opposite” of what you would normally do for AUF
A sticker that’s a U’ away from solved will now equal a U AUF (and vise versa), and a sticker that’s solved will now equal a U2 AUF (and vise versa)
Bottom line, no matter the case, you should never go into your AUF blind, because it wastes unnecessary time
Tip #2
Once you know how to predict AUF like it's nothing, the next step is learning how to flow into your AUF without having to do an awkward re-grip
This will likely take some creativity on your part, as well as requiring you to learn a new fingertrick or two for at least a few cases
However, in the long run this will be well worth the effort spent learning new fingertricks, especially since they'll end up being useful during F2L and other algorithms
Some alternative AUF fingertricks I would suggest being able to do
1. U2 double flicks with both hands (should be something you’re already comfortable with, because if you’re not then your problems probably don’t end there)
2. U with left index push and flick (I find the flick works great for the F’ U’ F Gperm when it’s a U AUF)
3. U with right hand "drag". This one is kinda hard to explain with words, if you do a Tperm ending with right thumb F', just try and do the U move with your right hand on the top and you'll kinda get the idea.
4. Eido U2’ where you start by doing a normal U’, but continue it in an exaggerated fashion by using your left index finger to push the LUF sticker to the FUR position. These are fantastic for RUDgen PLL’s with U2 AUF, or any case where you have U2 AUF and are out of position for a doubleflick
Tip #3
The magic of "Pre-AUF", where you decide beforehand that Tip #2 just ain't gonna cut it, because your grip is in too weird a place
There’s a few ways that this can be approached, and I’m going to start with the easiest and most obvious way
Basically, using the knowledge from Tip #1, you do whatever U turn is necessary to align for the AUF skip case, and then rotate into PLL knowing you'll get an AUF skip
I personally like this for A perms since AUF is on the back face, as well as the R' U L' U2 R U' R' U2 R r Lperm for the same reason
It could even work well for the R perm in the very first example for the U AUF case depending on your turning style, just be willing to experiment with both Tips #2&3 (ideally you should be using Tip #2 more though)
I would be careful with the rotations though, because they are quite slow and typically there will be a better option
Even if that option isn’t what I covered in Tip #2, I’d recommend that you continue reading and understand some other approaches you can take before resorting to a rotation
To give an example of some other things you should try first, do U2 R2 U’ R U’ R U R' U R2 U D’ R U’ R’ D U2 on a solved cube
Instead of doing U2, Gperm, U2 using the normal Gperm, there’s a few things you could try
The first is to simply do the Gperm like normal after the first U2, but instead of starting with R U R’ U’ D, start with D’ R U R’ D
This will make the final U2 a LOT easier
If you’re clever enough, you could also start with a Uw2 instead of a U2, making the last D’ a D instead and also eliminating the U2 AUF entirely
If you don’t like the sound of either of those, one thing you could try is replacing the final U2 D’ with U E where you execute the E with left middle finger (similar to a D ring turn), and U with your right index, thus allowing you to stick with the algorithm you generally prefer without the mental overhead that the Uw2 can cause
And finally, if all else fails, as long as you’re mindful of the fact that you’re choosing an algorithm that isn’t slower overall, just pick a different algorithm for that specific AUF so that you don’t get awful AUF lockups
U’ R2’ F’ R U R U’ R’ F’ R U2’ R’ U2 R’ F2 R2 could potentially be a great choice, though for me personally I find that it’s faster to just do the standard algorithm with either the Uw2 trick or the U E stick
For you however, this algorithm might just be the key for that one annoying AUF case (and even if it isn’t, there are definitely other PLL’s where alternative algorithms can make a big difference, like learning to master the lefty Aperms)
Summary
Learn Tip #1 if you don't already know it, it's by far the most important
Learn when to use Tip #2 and learn when to use Tip #3 instead (you should mostly be using Tip #2, but don’t underestimate the tricks from Tip #3, because I certainly have made great use of them in my solving)