People · United States
James Helland
Skewb · top 7.9% of 74,164 all-time · competing since October 2022 · 2022HELL04
James Helland has been competing for 4 years. His best event is the Skewb: a personal-best single of 3.51, set at St. Ansgar 2026, puts him in the top 7.9% of the 74,164 people who have ever been ranked in the event, and 1,234th in the United States. Until February 2014, no official Skewb solve in the world had been that fast. Across 23 competitions since October 2022, he has put 833 official solves on the record across twelve events. Solve to solve, his 3×3 times vary about 14% around a typical one; 76% of the 36,406 competitors with ten or more counted rounds hold a tighter spread. His 3×3 best has come down from 28.00 in October 2022 to 10.35, a 63% improvement. James has entered 23 competitions, more competitions than 97% of everyone who has ever competed.
Standing, event by event
vs everyone ever ranked| Event | PB single | PB average | All-time standing | United States | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skewb | 3.51 | 6.62 | top 7.9% | 1,234 / 19,164 | |
| 3×3 | 10.35 | 12.24 | top 8.6% | 4,764 / 60,666 | |
| Pyraminx | 4.96 | 7.77 | top 12.9% | 3,426 / 29,168 | |
| 2×2 | 3.45 | 4.67 | top 19.7% | 7,804 / 41,674 | |
| Clock | 10.17 | 11.93 | top 25.8% | 2,034 / 9,172 | |
| 4×4 | 50.79 | 52.48 | top 25.8% | 4,024 / 19,354 | |
| 3×3 one-handed | 27.57 | 32.85 | top 40.9% | 5,539 / 15,900 | |
| 5×5 | 1:52.63 | 2:05.26 | top 44.6% | 3,715 / 9,537 | |
| Square-1 | 30.77 | 34.90 | top 50.8% | 3,379 / 6,846 | |
| Megaminx | 2:12.38 | 2:31.38 | top 52.6% | 4,019 / 8,026 | |
| 6×6 | 4:26.63 | — | top 73.7% | 2,956 / 4,262 | |
| 7×7 | 7:04.97 | — | early days — 2 solves | 2,586 / 3,236 |
Percentile against all competitors ever ranked in each event, a fairer measure than raw rank, because the pools differ by a factor of ten.
The line so far
Best single per competition, 3×3. Faster is higher — the axis is the right way up.
The story so far
- 22 Aug 2025Five personal bests in one day at CubingUSA Heartland Championship 2025.
- 11 Jan 2025Four personal bests in one day at North Star Cubing Challenge MN 2025.
- 16 Nov 2024Five personal bests in one day at SPAMtown III MN 2024.
- 19 Oct 2024Five personal bests in one day at Cubetcha MN 2024.
- 7 Jun 2024Three personal bests in one day at CubingUSA Heartland Championship 2024.
- 27 Jan 2024Three personal bests in one day at Big Cube Battle of Waterloo 2024.
Competitions
- Only Odds in Minnesota 2026 · 12 Sep 2026
- St. Ansgar 2026 · 18 Apr 2026 — 2 personal bests set
- CubingUSA Heartland Championship 2025 · 22 Aug 2025 — 5 personal bests set
- Big Cube Battle of Waterloo 2025 · 18 Jan 2025 — 1 personal best set
- North Star Cubing Challenge MN 2025 · 11 Jan 2025 — 4 personal bests set
- SPAMtown III MN 2024 · 16 Nov 2024 — 5 personal bests set
- Cubetcha MN 2024 · 19 Oct 2024 — 5 personal bests set
- CubingUSA Heartland Championship 2024 · 7 Jun 2024 — 3 personal bests set
- Minnesota Slice 2024 · 20 Apr 2024
- Minnesota Newcomer Saturday 2024 · 2 Mar 2024 — 2 personal bests set
- Big Cube Battle of Waterloo 2024 · 27 Jan 2024 — 3 personal bests set
- Race the Clock Minnesota 2023 · 30 Dec 2023 — 1 personal best set
- Side Events Minnesota 2023 · 2 Dec 2023 — 1 personal best set
- SPAMtown II 2023 · 18 Nov 2023
- Cubetcha 2023 · 28 Oct 2023 — 3 personal bests set
- Minnesota Cube Day 2023 · 23 Sep 2023 — 2 personal bests set
- Minnesota Cube Melt 2023 · 27 May 2023 — 7 personal bests set
- Minnesota Slice 2023 · 15 Apr 2023
- SPAMtown Cubing 2023 · 18 Mar 2023 — 2 personal bests set
- Frozen Lake Minnesota 2023 · 11 Feb 2023 — 4 personal bests set
- North Star Cubing Challenge 2023 · 21 Jan 2023 — 2 personal bests set
- Race the Clock Minnesota 2022 · 31 Dec 2022 — 2 personal bests set
- Rochester Fall 2022 · 22 Oct 2022
Reading this page: a single is one solve's time · an average is the middle three of five solves, best and worst discarded · a PB is a personal best · a DNF (did not finish) is an attempt with no valid result: a popped piece, an unsolved face, an over-limit memorisation · top X% compares against everyone ever ranked in that event, which is fairer than raw rank because event pools differ tenfold.
The circuit
The people whose scorecards keep turning up next to his.
- Shain Papalotl Longbehn — met in 162 rounds, finished ahead 29 times
- Carter Kucala — met in 156 rounds, never finished ahead
- Kaius Young — met in 154 rounds, finished ahead 16 times
Next targets
- A sub-3 Skewb single — 3,709 people have one; it is 0.51 away.
- A sub-10 3×3 single — 21,606 people have one; it is 0.35 away.
Targets move as he improves.