Road to Nats Caracas II 2025

Thirty-seven competitors gathered under one roof at the C.C. Millennium Mall on August 30, 2025, bringing an unmistakable surge of fresh energy to the floor. The single-day WCA competition highlighted the rapid growth of the local scene, with several newcomers making their official debuts alongside seasoned hands. Staged in Caracas, Distrito Capital, Venezuela, the gathering featured seven distinct events spread across nine rounds of intense play. With an influx of new faces tackling official tables for the very first time, the atmosphere showcased both high-end skill and the grassroots enthusiasm driving modern speedcubing.

The premier event of the cubing competition brought high drama as thirty-five solvers took on the traditional 3x3x3 Cube. Across two rounds of play, the final came down to fractions of a second among the podium contenders. Leonardo Andrés Alvarez Molina secured the top step of the podium with a winning average of 9.58 seconds, complemented by a sharp best single of 8.71. Leandro Paredes pushed the leader all the way, taking second place with an average of 9.64 seconds, while Victor Wu rounded out the podium in third at 9.87. These close 3x3 results demonstrated the extraordinary depth present in the Venezuelan Rubik's Cube community.

Short-format puzzles delivered rapid turnarounds and razor-thin margins throughout the day. In the 2x2x2 Cube, twenty-three competitors battled over two rounds, culminating in a victory for Miguel González, who posted a decisive winning average of 3.19 seconds and a best single of 2.97. Cristofer Azuaje claimed the silver with an average of 3.37 seconds, while Cristian David Castro Brito took the bronze spot with 3.49. Azuaje soon returned to the winner circle in the 3x3x3 One-Handed event, mastering the single-handed style to post a winning average of 16.35 seconds to edge past Victor Salas at 16.97 and Leandro Paredes at 18.62.

Beyond the standard formats, the event featured a comprehensive display of mechanical dexterity across multiple puzzle shapes. Victor Salas dominated the Skewb field of ten competitors, taking first place with a 4.92-second average and a best single of 2.99, finishing ahead of Luis Felipe Palacios Peña and Victor Wu, who both averaged 5.28 seconds. In Square-1, Fabián Villavicencio took gold with a 22.13-second average, comfortably ahead of Leandro Paredes at 37.65 and Salas at 42.24. Paredes proved unmatched on the larger puzzles, capturing the Megaminx title with a 47.56 average and taking the 6x6x6 Cube crown with a 3:18.32 average.

Away from the top steps of the podium, several competitors delivered massive personal breakthroughs that defined the character of the tournament. Samir Alexander Figueroa Villanueva led the charge with a spectacular 40.4 percent drop in his 2x2x2 Cube single, lowering his mark to 1.90 seconds and earning a sixth-place finish. Xander Carrero tackled five separate events, carving 39.7 percent off his Megaminx mark to record a personal best of 1:54.90 while also notching a 30.74 in 3x3x3 One-Handed. Simon Alberto Rangel Calma sliced 34.6 percent off his one-handed benchmark with a 25.67 single, made his first ever attempt at Megaminx with 2:32.22, and secured eighth place in the main 3x3 event with a 9.43 best.

The spirit of improvement continued across the field as Isaac Castellanos recorded his first official attempt at 3x3x3 One-Handed with a 38.69 single, while dropping his 3x3x3 Cube best by 24.8 percent to 17.11 seconds. Amarantha Valentina Rodríguez Peña lowered her 2x2x2 Cube best by 20.8 percent to 7.32 seconds and improved her 3x3 single by 17.4 percent down to 24.22. Leosbel Gabriel Briñez Zambrano took on the 2x2x2 Cube for the first time with a 4.68 single and finished sixth in the 3x3x3 Cube thanks to a 10.42 best, a 16.1 percent improvement. Carlos Bustamante logged first attempts in both Megaminx at 3:13.59 and one-handed at 28.32, while Gabriel Elias Blanco Lara tackled one-handed solving for the first time with a 35.98 single.

First-time competitors also made their presence felt across several brackets. Ahmad Youssef Hammoud Elnecer took on three events in his official speed cubing debut, logging initial times in the 2x2x2 Cube at 19.43, the Skewb at 29.71, and the main 3x3x3 Cube at 1:00.12, which earned him a tenth-place ranking in Skewb. Leandro Guzmán also stepped up for his debut appearance, recording a 4.70 in 2x2x2, a 23.56 in 3x3, and taking thirteenth place in Megaminx. Tonny Lei Zhao entered the 3x3x3 Cube for the first time with a mark of 15.20 to finish eighteenth, while Nahim Barillas launched his journey with a 7.04 single on the 2x2.

When the final solves settled, Road to Nats Caracas II 2025 proved to be an outstanding showcase of Venezuelan talent, with all twenty-one podium positions claimed by national competitors. The balance of experienced champions delivering sub-10 averages and a large crop of enthusiastic newcomers exploring varied events underscored the vitality of the local community. As the competitive year moves forward, the foundation built at the C.C. Millennium Mall sets a promising tone for the next round of challenges on the national circuit.