Pseudoslotting

What is Pseudoslotting?

If you're reading this, you should be familiar with keyhole and know all F2L algorithms. Pseudoslotting is like "double keyhole" - solving both a keyhole corner and edge simultaneously.

Basic Example

Simple Pseudoslot

We have a corner and edge in different slots. Instead of solving them separately, we can pseudoslot them together.

D' U R U' R' D 6 moves

Breakdown:

• D' - Misalign D layer
• U R U' R' - Solve as F2L pair
• D - Realign D layer

Example with longer pair

Longer Pseudoslot

Even complex F2L cases can be pseudoslotted. The principle remains the same - just use the appropriate F2L algorithm between the D moves.

D' R U' R' U R U2 R' U R U R' D 13 moves

Same structure:

• D' - Misalign
• R U' R' U R U2 R' U R U' R' - F2L algorithm
• D - Realign

Forcing Pseudoslot

When you have a corner solved and see a potential pseudopair, you can deliberately solve an edge to set up the pseudoslot. This can be more efficient than keyhole → pair, and in virtually all cases it's better than solving two normal pairs.

Forced Pseudoslot

We first solve the edge in the back right, then immediately pseudoslot the remaining corner-edge pair.

R' U' R D' U R U' R' D 9 moves

Two-stage process:

• R' U' R - Solve edge
• D' U R U' R' D - Pseudoslot

Decision Making

Key Insights

It is naturally a bit harder to recognize pseudo pairs. It is helpful to either plan them during inspection, or to do it when you get to the final two pairs, but in general you should use it whenever you can.

It can also be harder to see exactly what pair you have. You should get used to looking at the orientation of the edge to determine which pair it is. Like in the first example above, it might not immediately be clear that the pseudopair is the 3 mover from looking at the pair alone, but by looking at the edge you see that it is a good edge, so from that you can deduce that it is a good pair.