Metatricks

[V 0 1 D]

Just to avoid any confusion first, when I say metatrick in this article, I'm not referring to tricks that are in the current meta of pen spinning (as of 2022 it would be like, PD FL Around, knuckle tricks), I'm talking about this new discovery.

So, a while back last year when the Fen Spinner Wiki was getting started, I was putting some work into the theory articles that I felt the site needed. However, I didn't publish much to the actual site, as I kept running into roadblocks, differing opinions, or in this case, I started to realise my approach was wrong.

What article am I referring to? This one: https://wiki.fenspinner.net/index.php/User:V_0_1_D/Draft:Categorizing_Hybrids

In it, I start by trying to categorize hybrids, and quickly stumble upon different rules that can be used to create entirely new hybrids that share similarities. When I was writing them up, I called them minor categories, but I found this a bit vague. Instead, I believe they are metatricks, higher level abstractions of tricks that are defined by rules.

Meta tricks can be broad or narrow.

Some broad metatricks would be:

• Counters
• Taps
• Zwischenzug
• Repeatable

Some narrow metatricks are:

• Powerpasses
• I-O charges

Whether it is broad or narrow depends on how finite the resulting amount of combinations is. In the case of powerpasses, the metatrick rule is a half around followed by another half around of the same type, continuing in a direction up or down the hand. Factoring in the modifiers of reverse, mirrored, bust/bak (tilt) and palm up/down, the total amount of powerpasses numbers at 32. However, the total number of counters, where the rule is a sudden direction change, even if restricted only to fingerless, can quickly number in the tens of thousands of variations.

Metatricks can be made from the combination of any amount of rules, in the article I linked, I created "Zwischenzug":

Meaning 'Inbetween Move' in German, Zwischenzug comes from Chess, where it refers to having an intended move, performing an additional move, then completing the intended move afterwards. In the context of pen spinning, a Zwischenzug hybrid is a sequential or combinational hybrid that starts with an interruptible intended trick, interrupts into an intermediate trick, then continues to complete the second half of the intended trick. Practically a Zwischenzug hybrid starts and ends in the same slots as the intended trick, while adding thoughtful complexity. The rules for a Zwischenzug hybrid are:

    It must consists of two tricks or hybrids, and one of them must be interruptible. e.g. a Half Tap is not interruptible
    Half or close to half of an intended trick is to be performed, then interrupted with the intermediate trick, then lastly the second half of the intended trick is to be performed after the intermediate trick is finished.

It may be annotated 'zwz' to highlight its use in notation.

The benefit of Zwischenzug hybrids is their use in connecting tricks, where the goal is to find some connecting method between two links that start and end in different slots. A single trick e.g. sonic 12-34 could be used to transition, but it lacks depth, while a Zwischenzug hybrid offers a way to accomplish the original goal while adding an extra layer of complexity without much need for experimentation.

This new metatrick allows the exploration of many new hybrids that all meet the new rule, and they can be combined to make a cohesive linkage or combo. We are already used to seeing "themed" combos, such as OhYeah!'s tipped charge/sonic combo, or i.suk's powerpass focused combos, metatricks allow greater flexibility by guiding you to building new, more complicated rulesets for themed combos and linkages.

[raiz]

This is really cool! I love seeing new pen spinning concepts like this that try to reframe the lens through which we see pen spinning.