People · United States
Michael Ploof
3×3 · top 6.5% of 284,439 all-time · competing since April 2019 · 2019PLOO01
Michael Ploof has been competing for 7 years. His best event is the 3×3: a personal-best single of 9.66, set at Return to Quabbin 2023, puts him in the top 6.5% of the 284,439 people who have ever been ranked in the event, and 3,597th in the United States. Until November 2007, no official 3×3 solve in the world had been that fast. Across 10 competitions since April 2019, he has put 275 official solves on the record across eleven events. Solve to solve, his 3×3 times vary about 14% around a typical one; 78% of the 35,811 competitors with ten or more counted rounds hold a tighter spread. His 3×3 best has come down from 23.18 in April 2019 to 9.66, a 58% improvement. Michael has entered ten competitions, more competitions than 92% of everyone who has ever competed.
Standing, event by event
vs everyone ever ranked| Event | PB single | PB average | All-time standing | United States | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3×3 | 9.66 | 12.38 | top 6.5% | 3,597 / 59,724 | |
| 4×4 | 37.75 | 45.68 | top 9.5% | 1,422 / 19,072 | |
| 3×3 one-handed | 19.48 | 26.98 | top 19.1% | 2,463 / 15,683 | |
| 5×5 | 1:28.30 | 1:41.18 | top 25.9% | 2,028 / 9,401 | |
| Skewb | 6.31 | 8.83 | top 28.2% | 4,613 / 18,907 | |
| 2×2 | 4.14 | 5.36 | top 28.3% | 11,184 / 40,951 | |
| Megaminx | 1:32.18 | 1:34.93 | top 29.6% | 2,077 / 7,841 | |
| Pyraminx | 8.03 | 10.55 | top 36.4% | 10,317 / 28,708 | |
| 7×7 | 5:07.08 | 5:18.40 | early days — 3 solves | 1,546 / 3,184 | |
| 6×6 | 3:53.94 | — | early days — 1 solve | 2,452 / 4,196 | |
| Square-1 | 49.76 | — | early days — 2 solves | 5,016 / 6,743 |
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
- 18 Jan 2025Three personal bests in one day at Cubing at Hampton Beach 2025.
- 24 Jun 2023First sub-10 3×3: 9.66 at Return to Quabbin 2023.
- 24 Jun 2023Three personal bests in one day at Return to Quabbin 2023.
- 22 Apr 2023Four personal bests in one day at Panthers Cube Day 2023.
- 12 Oct 2019First sub-15 3×3: 12.86 at Empire State Fall 2019.
- 12 Oct 2019Three personal bests in one day at Empire State Fall 2019.
Competitions
- UMass Spring 2026 · 28 Feb 2026 — 1 personal best set
- Cubing at Hampton Beach 2025 · 18 Jan 2025 — 3 personal bests set
- Northampton Fall A 2023 · 4 Nov 2023 — 1 personal best set
- Return to Quabbin 2023 · 24 Jun 2023 — 3 personal bests set
- Panthers Cube Day 2023 · 22 Apr 2023 — 4 personal bests set
- Northampton Winter A 2023 · 25 Feb 2023 — 2 personal bests set
- Constitution State Winter 2020 · 15 Feb 2020 — 2 personal bests set
- Empire State Fall 2019 · 12 Oct 2019 — 3 personal bests set
- Colonie Spring 2019 · 8 Jun 2019 — 3 personal bests set
- Burke Mountain Cubing 2019 · 13 Apr 2019
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.
- Derek White — met in 51 rounds, finished ahead once
- Jesse Mailloux — met in 31 rounds, finished ahead 16 times
- Elijah Rain Phelps — met in 29 rounds, finished ahead once
Next targets
- A sub-8 3×3 single — 7,931 people have one; it is 1.66 away.
- A sub-30 4×4 single — 2,388 people have one; it is 7.75 away.
Targets move as he improves.