51/54 in  

NE Champs was a good comp for me! I got 45/46 on the first attempt as well, which made me feel really relaxed so this one felt a lot easier.
So yeah I recently made the switch back to a 4-pass MBLDer, meaning I only look at my long-term 30 cubes 4 times now and I go much slower. I used to do this, but since 2022 I've been going at a faster speed so I can add a 5th one. This worked at first for unofficial attempts like my WBs, but I concluded a few months ago that this is the primary reason I have been struggling so much in competition. The stress of tracing that fast under such pressure where accuracy is the main goal just hasn't been working for me. Also I feel like consistently practicing with 5 passes for that long made my memory just absolutely terrible because I began to rely way too much on that fifth pass. The transition back to 4pass has been awkward to get used to, but I'm actually pleasantly surprised just how much better everything is sticking now and I'm enjoying the event a lot more.
I did 5 pass the 46 attempt on the first day, but since it was such a low number for me I could still go at the same leisurely pace. I didn't want to risk getting a discouraging result on the first one, so it was the right decision. But yeah, I definitely didn't expect to get such an accurate result on my first 4-pass attempt in comp since 2019 (at that comp I got 24/25 and 27/28 lol). I did an unnecessary 4th review of the last 4 cubes just because I had time and I was nervous. That and the 50 second exec on the last cube probably cost me WR2, but oh well.
In case anyone is curious, my poor results throughout the year and this style change are the reasons I did not go to Nationals or Worlds. Those would have been my first 2 comps trying this out, and traveling that far to test it out under that much pressure made absolutely no sense. I felt more comfortable taking the time off to practice this some more, and I think it was the best decision I've made in years with this event.
But yeah, the journey is back on. I went pretty slow for this one, so next comp or two I'll probably be doing 56-57, and hopefully 60+ again soon.
Here’s a link to the focus goggles I wear. They block out side peripherals and the blindfold slid over them upside down blocks out the top. This combo has been really helpful with distractions:
a.co/d/dkIXYsJ