Battle of Alberta 2024

A blistering 7.12 second final average delivered victory to Kyle Santucci in the 3x3x3 Cube, anchoring an intense single day of action at Cenovus Common on the Red Deer Polytechnic campus. The one-day cubing competition, staged on February 10, 2024, brought together 116 speedcubing entrants across eight rounds of head-to-head resolving. Santucci secured the premier title of the weekend behind a tournament-best single solve of 5.12 seconds, standing atop a massive 114-person field in the central showcase.

The weekend timeline opened with early qualifying heats as competitors tackled five distinct puzzle formats in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. Energy across the venue surged as the schedule advanced through the morning sessions, with solvers testing their limits in both classic twisting puzzles and complex dodecahedrons. Every competitor arrived aiming for personal milestones in the provincial gathering, where the official 3x3 results would ultimately define the top tier of regional contenders.

As midday approached, Lucas Kuczaj launched an extraordinary multi-discipline campaign that came to define the broader weekend. In the 5x5x5 Cube, which drew 51 competitors in a direct final round, Kuczaj captured gold with a 1:01.69 average and a best single time of 1:00.04. He outpaced Griffin Clem, who posted a 1:03.37 average for second, and Benjamin Ragan, who secured the bronze spot with a 1:04.88 average in the demanding big-cube event.

Kuczaj was not done setting the benchmark on the tournament tables. In the 48-competitor Megaminx final, he dominated the rankings with a winning mark of 34.97 seconds on average, punctuated by a best single of 30.74. Ethan Basanov took second place with a 54.00 average, while Danny Buschert placed third with 1:06.74. Alongside a runner-up finish in 3x3x3 Cube with a 7.49 average and a third-place finish in 2x2x2 Cube, Kuczaj collected medals across four separate podiums at Battle of Alberta 2024.

The tournament schedule also delivered remarkable individual breakthroughs down the running order, where competitors celebrated major performance leaps. Ethan Morrison shaved 59.3 percent off his 2x2x2 Cube personal record with a 4.96 single, down from a previous 12.20, and took his Megaminx best to 5:29.16. Shaniru Imalsha Medagedara tackled five events, slicing 56.6 percent off his 2x2x2 Cube best with a 2.51 result while logging official debut attempts in Pyraminx at 10.58 and Megaminx at 3:16.61. Simon Charbonneau improved his 2x2x2 Cube mark by 47 percent to 7.97 and logged a first Megaminx result of 4:18.87. Meanwhile, Cole Thomas took on four events, dropping his Pyraminx best by 43.7 percent to 6.24 and recording his first 5x5x5 Cube result at 3:45.30.

The momentum continued as Pranav Sunith competed across five events, taking 41 percent off his Pyraminx single down to 6.24 while registering first-time marks of 2:48.07 in 5x5x5 Cube and 2:49.94 in Megaminx. Isaiah Nixon tackled five events, trimming 31 percent from his 2x2x2 Cube best down to 3.78 and posting his first 5x5x5 Cube mark at 3:21.80. Izacc Samalio achieved a 14th-place tournament best in 2x2x2 Cube, improved his Pyraminx single by 28.5 percent to 4.72, and logged first-ever attempts in 5x5x5 Cube at 2:19.51 and Megaminx at 1:41.33. Byron Burrill recorded a 3x3x3 Cube personal best of 14.96, cutting 26.2 percent off his old mark of 20.27, while notching first-time results in Pyraminx at 11.72 and 2x2x2 Cube at 4.14.

The afternoon drama intensified as the speed cubing field narrowed toward the Pyraminx and 2x2x2 Cube finals. Danny Buschert secured the Pyraminx championship with an average of 3.24 seconds and a best single of 2.21 over 98 rivals, finishing ahead of Sam Edwards at 3.90 and Ethan Basanov at 3.92. In the 2x2x2 Cube, Ryan Yasinko took top honours with a winning average of 3.05 seconds, edging Santucci who took second in 3.18 and Kuczaj in 3.26 across two rounds of rapid-fire solving.

The single-day meet concluded with the main Rubik's Cube championship round, where Kyle Santucci put together five steady solves to claim the title over Kuczaj and third-place finisher Seamus Twyman, who recorded an 8.28 average. Across all five podium ceremonies, Canadian competitors swept every available award position. Battle of Alberta 2024 demonstrated the depth of the provincial scene, closing the book on an intense WCA competition that tested versatility, speed, and focus from morning heats to the final turn.