DECIPHERING THE SCISSOR ANGLE: Using Body Language to get the Edge
by Julian O'Shea
At a brief glance, the game of Rock Paper Scissors appears to be a game based entirely on chance. There are three throws, each of which can beat, draw or lose to your opponents throws. For a novice with this attitude, it most likely comes as a shock when they consistently are getting beaten by veteran players. In this article I expose some of the information that an in-tune rps player can gather, simply by examining the body language of the player, to give themselves the edge.
This guide first looks at the major styles of play that your opponent could fit into. Of course virtually no player perfectly suits one general strategic style, it is a helpful way of gaining some sort of insight into the type of gameplay you can expect from them.
1) The Aggressive Player: Often a younger player, they are someone who tries to use speed to quickly win the game, before their opponent gets settled and starts to comfortably use their own strategies. They tend to use the hard hitting throws, with major emphasis on Rock, with the next-aggressive Scissor throw as the secondary choice. Expect Rock-heavy gambits, with Avalanche being a sign of an obviously aggressive player.
2) The Sly Competitor: a player who uses deep skill, rather than raw aggression throughout the match. Something the Sly Player will often do, is try to play out long matches (as this situation is when this tactic is best) so watch out for this. Also, look out for plenty of paper and a few paper/scissors switches. The Sly Competitor often calls upon the great eight gambits, especially Scissor Sandwich, Paper Dolls or even a Bureaucracy.
3) The Meta-Gamer: someone who uses non-conventional tactics in their game. This often is someone who will decide their throw depending on the result of the previous round. Common strategies include making a throw that is different from the two (or one in case of a tie) that have just been played or a mirroring technique.
The Scissor-Angle
The 'Scissor-Angle' analysis is a technique really only used by experience rps players, as it is difficult to make judgements quickly and accurately; although with practice it is a deadly tool to add to the competitive rps player's arsenal. The 'Scissor-Angle' is defined by the International Dictionary of RPS Terms and Terminology as "the angle made between a player's index and middle finger on the throw of scissors." Something which is great about the Scissor-Angle, is that although players have fingers that differ greatly in size, there is little difference in the actual angle formed when making this rps throw. In a report conducted in the early nineties about this topic, which surveyed over 1,500 rps players worldwide, (Stewart and Smith: The Scissor-Angle and it's place in Modern RPS), it was concluded that the average angle thrown is 18.4 degrees.
They gave some suggestions to the meaning of this angle and did some statistical correlations about whether the angle did have any relation to the style of play. More research has been done since and the following is a simplistic guide about what the angle can mean.
| Angle |
Possible Conclusion |
| < 15 |
Opponent is experience, confident, expect deceptive throws |
| 15 - 22 |
Average throw, hard to tell - expect a set of common throws/gambits |
| 23 - 30 |
Average to aggressive. Expect in increase in rock throws. |
| > 30 |
A Hyper-Aggressive player - After this throw expect an Avalanche or more! |
Statistical anomalies were commonplace, the most notable 'Righty' Richardson, who was known for his incredibly large Scissor-Angle, it was approximately a full 90 degree right angle, and yet his favourite throw was actually paper!
There are many other exceptions to this rule and care must be taken especially with decoy angles or players that are under pressure. Stress tends to increase the angle cast (so in high stakes tournaments, take this into account). The converse is also true - which is why experienced, confident players often prefer the energy-conserving smaller angle when casting the scissor throw. This small bit of advice could give you a subtle edge next time your opponent leads with a scissor throw!
There is an equivalent sign (to the scissor angle) that can be seen on the throw of rock, although it is much harder to detect. It is only visible in an aggressive player (who tend to use more rock throws, which is fortunate). This throw is called a 'White-Knuckle Rock', where the player is so tensed in their hand muscles that they actually do get white knuckles. I remember an inter-state tournament I was competing in, where my opponent had won every match of the day in record time. He defeated my opening scissors with a powerful rock throw, noticing the light colour of his knuckles, I modified my strategy (increasing the paper content) for the remainder of the match - and did manage to scrape through!
Eye-Contact
Timing is the key when dealing with eye contact in rps, if you wish to gain knowledge about your opponent. To be precise, this deals with the time spent looking at the throws after each round. The aggressive player tends to spend little time checking the throws, past working out who exactly won that round. Both the tendency to work out their throw in advance, combined with a desire to get the game over quickly means they are the players most like to get ready for the next round. By starving their opponents of this analysis time it does give the aggressive player an edge. At the other end of the spectrum is the Meta-Gamer who determines their throw on the result of the last round and will be inclined to spend a longer than average time looking over the throws and mentally determining what they will cast next. If your opponent lies in between you can expect that they are not seeking the quick kill, but also they are not deeply analysing your last throw.
In your next few rounds of rps, pay careful attention to these small details and the body language of your opponent to see if you can gain some key insights into their style and see if you can truly get the edge. Also my major tip for the article is have a look at your own style and see if you are giving away too much information about the way that you have been playing the game, and be prepared to make some serious changes to help keep your tactics a secret! Until next time - happy RPSing!
mbits:
RPP-Fistful o' Dollars
PPP-Bureaucrat
PSS-Paper Dolls
SSS-Toolbox
The middle throw, paper, exists only to form the first throw of the Paper Dolls. It does not take part in any other gambit. I consider this sequence as the most ideal of all chained gambit sequences. It combines and concentrates the power of four gambits into the shortest possible sequence. We have all chained together gambits, say, by appending a Scissors Sandwich with a Bureaucrat (PSPPP), but all but three of the throws in the "Super Seven" above are part of two different gambits. This provides superior mobility and optimal efficiency. We can all benefit by putting this "Chain Gang" to work for us."
