Orienting Edges of the Last Layer

Orienting the last layer edges is easy because you already know the biggest part of the best algorithms for it from the beginner method.

Fastest Method

Line

The easiest case is a line of three stickers in the right colour.

Rotate the cube – or just the upper layer – so that the line is parallel to your eyes. Now turn down the front layer by 90 degrees and do the sexy move. Finally, you turn the front layer up into its initial position. You can either turn the the front layer down to the right, and then do RSexy or rotate the front layer down to the left, and do LSexy. It does not make a difference.

Attention! Depending on the orientation of the corners, you may see additional stickers in the same colour on the corners. Just ignore them!

Angle or Hook

The next case is that with three stickers in the same colour forming an angle respectively a hook.

Turn the cube – or just the upper layer – so the hook sits at the front. In the beginner method, we have used the exact same algorithm as for the line. When you apply that to the angle/hook, you get a a line, and you can solve that already.

But you can optimise that by simply replacing the turns of the F layer with wide turns because they solve that case immediately.

Dot

That is the worst case. You do exactly the same as for the other two cases. Turn the front layer, Sexy Move, then bring the front layer back.

That gives you the hook that you can already solve.

1-Look 2-Algorithms

There are slightly slower algorithms that do not rotate any corners. That has the advantage that while solving the last layer cross, you can already prepare for orienting the corners because their orientation will not change. This works quite well because the cases for the edges (line, angle/hook, dot) are so easy to recognise. But it only makes sense, when you already know the specialised algorithms for orienting the corners.

Line

You first do a Sexy Move, then one M' and finally a reverse Sexy Move but with the very last turn replaced by a wide turn:

The M' is done with the middle finger and should be relatively fast.

Angle or Hook

Unlike with the algorithm shown above, you turn the cube – or just the upper layer – so the hook sits at the back, not the front. Alternatively, always move the hook to the same side if you are significantly better with one of the two Sexy Moves.

Now you do an RSexy resectively LSexy but change the very first turn into a wide turn. Then insert an M turn which is a little awkward, and then a reverse sexy move RSexy' or LSexy'.

Again, all corners keep their orientation.

Dot

That is again the worst case and there is no fast algorithm that keeps the orientation of the corners, just use the same algorithm as shown above which gives you an angle respectively hook, and then solve that as shown above.

Picking the Right Method

Posts in this Series

This post is part of a "from zero to hero" series of posts about solving the cube. The other parts are:

1. The Easiest Method to Solve the Rubik's Cube
2. Improving the Easy Cube Solving Method
3. Learning F2L
4. Advanced F2L
5. Permuting Corners of the Last Layer
6. Orienting Edges of the Last Layer
7. Orienting Corners of the Last Layer
8. Permuting Edges of the Last Layer

As long as not all posts are written, you can solve the missing step with the algorithms shown in The Easiest Method to Solve the Rubik's Cube.