WCC FMC Under The Mistletoe 2024

Twenty-four competitors gathered across different regional sites on December 2, 2024, to test their strategic depth in a unique format. The WCC FMC Under The Mistletoe 2024 took place simultaneously across Multiple cities, USA, offering a dedicated stage for one of the most intellectually demanding disciplines in the sport. Instead of the lightning-fast turning seen in standard Rubik's Cube races, this event tested precision, theoretical knowledge, and systematic efficiency over a single focused round.

The United States secured an absolute sweep of the podium places, locking out all three top spots with remarkable consistency. Elijah Brown took the title, delivering a gold-medal performance built on thorough analysis and clean decision-making. Brown captured first place with an average of 34.67 moves, bolstered by a day-best single solve of 28 moves. That combination of a sub-30 breakthrough single and a steady average established an untouchable benchmark for the entire field.

Trailing closely behind the leader, Stanley Tran earned the silver medal for the American contingent with an average of 35.33 moves. Tran maintained a remarkably steady pace across the round, locking in a finest single of 31 moves to stay well within striking distance of the top spot. Graham Siggins rounded out the all-American podium in third place, recording a final average of 36.33 moves alongside an exceptional single solution of 29 moves.

Beyond the top three steps of the podium, the United States dominated the upper half of the standings in depth. Michael Larsen secured fourth position overall with a 36.67 move average and a top single of 33 moves. Alex Lehman followed in fifth place with an average of 37.00 moves and a single of 33, sharing that same 37.00 average mark with Dylan Govic, who registered a best attempt of 35 moves during the competition.

International representation delivered history of its own at the WCC FMC Under The Mistletoe 2024. Muhtasim Al-Farabi of Bangladesh made an emphatic mark on the proceedings, securing a National record average in 3x3x3 Fewest Moves of 38.00 moves. Al-Farabi augmented that milestone average with a single solve of 32 moves, claiming seventh place on the final results sheet and demonstrating outstanding tactical efficiency throughout the contest.

Away from the podium race, the quiet core of the weekend belonged to competitors unlocking major technical personal bests. Robert Alan Marks delivered one of the steepest single-solve improvements anywhere in the room, logging a personal best of 31 moves, which was 34 percent faster than his previous mark of 47, to take 10th place overall. Hanwen Mao took on a brand-new challenge by logging a first ever attempt at 3x3x3 Fewest Moves, finishing 22nd with a solve of 70 moves. Brendan White produced an 11.4 percent leap forward to set a personal best of 39 moves, improving on a former mark of 44 to finish 14th.

Other dedicated speed cubing veterans similarly transformed their season sheets during the single-event schedule. Jacob Vincent Vicente Mangosing advanced deep into the top ten with an 8th-place finish, putting up a 37-move single and a 39.67 average. Alvin Liu secured 9th place with an average of 41.33 moves, backed by a strong 38-move single. Alex Lehman earned 5th place with a 5.7 percent improvement to a 33-move personal best from 35, while Daniel Cho claimed 19th place and Sherry Tao secured a 21st-place finish.

The format of the discipline stands apart from any other cubing competition setup. Rather than racing the clock for raw seconds, participants spend an hour analyzing a scramble on paper, testing commutators, block-building variants, and insertions before writing down their final sequence of rotations. The resulting 3x3 results show that mastery in speedcubing relies as much on written optimization and structural insight as it does on mechanical execution.

Organizing across multiple venues in 2024 offered an efficient pathway for competitors to contribute to global rankings without extensive travel. The WCC FMC Under The Mistletoe 2024 proved how much excitement can be drawn from a single, methodical event when the field is closely matched. With national records rewritten and substantial personal breakthroughs logged, the USA contingent closed out the session having demonstrated total command across the board.