"Be extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness. Thereby you can be the director of the opponent's fate."
Battling is usually divided into three categories. The first is luck, which, as it is out of the control of the player (for the most part) is mostly irrelevant for this guide. The second is teams. This is a combination of the preparation before the battle begins (for instance, Curselax is generally more effective than Curse Registeel or Belly Drum Snorlax), as well as how your team matches up with your opponents (if you don't have a counter for one of their Pokemon, you're hosed). The third common category is prediction. This occurs during the battle. Will they switch to Heracross or leave in Zapdos? Do I counter that with Salamence or leave my Blissey in?
"The supreme excellence is to subdue the armies of your enemies without even having to fight them."
This guide deals with the most overlooked--and often unused--part of battling: psychological warfare. This primarily occurs during the battle, when it occurs at all, but a master of the mind game can use Pokemon that allow this to be more effective. Large-scale battles, with lots of smack-talking before-hand also allow you to psych out your foe.
"Know thy enemy and know thyself, and your victory will not stand in doubt in 100 battles."
The first and most important part of any psychological attack on your opponent is to estimate not only their skill level, but their estimation of yours. If you are fighting someone who is somewhat new, who believes you to be an excellent fighter, then a mere show of prediction will often cause their behavior to become erratic. In one battle I had, I couldn't damage his Pokemon at all, as long as he kept switching. However, I remained one step ahead of his switching each time, so, instead of just doing what he was doing, and continually switching until I made an error, he Exploded his Gengar as I went to Steelix. When I questioned him about this (Gengar was walling my Hariyama), he explained it was to "try and get you out of my head".
"A military operation involves deception. Even though you are competent, appear to be incompetent. Though effective, appear to be ineffective."
If you are fighting someone who is good, but believes you to be a talentless hack, then you can use this to your advantage, as well. Such a person is far more vulnerable to sacrificial strategies, as they will not be looking ahead in the battle, for they believe you to be unable to. Many players will go for a 6-0 on you, or some other outlandish set-up, if they think it will work. "Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance." Surprises are this enemy's Achilles' Heal. I have gained a small reputation as a decent Advance player, but am rarely seen fighting in RBY and GSC. This is my favorite tactic to employ in those metagames.
Ironically, if you are fighting one who is not only good, but thinks you are good as well, the most obvious move is often the best, all things being equal (Obi's Razor), once the battle gets going. They will see traps where none exist, and 'overpredict' your moves. If your enemy sucks, and has a mutual esteem of your skills, then they are easily predicted, and will either quickly lose, or begin to think you are good, leading to the first scenario.
"What is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy's strategy."
But how do you accomplish this? How can you make your adversary do what you want? The simplest and most immediate way is to simply talk to your enemy. This is one part I don't know how to explain; you just have to test it out on a lot of people. From the responses you get, and the battle results, you can quickly determine the proper approach to deception. For instance, say it's down to my CB Heracross and some low HP Pokemon, versus a Swampert and a CBmence at about half health, and it's Heracross out vs. Swampert. Against some people, the best response is the truth (say what move you do, they think you're lying), other times, the best response is simply "Hmm... Heracross, let's do this!" If you feel your opponent has conditioned you, your best thing might be to say nothing and flip a coin, but I do not recommend this, as it's basically saying you're not as good as them, meaning you should lose, really.
In the example I gave of the GSC/RBY battle, I would do things during battle such as ask trivial questions. I could easily look up the answer if I didn't already know it (and sometimes I do know it), but by asking it, I set up a sense of superiority in my nemesis. If you play the role of a newbie, that is how they will treat you. In this case, purposefully 'wrong' predictions can actually be a good thing, as it culls that same feeling that you don't know what you're doing. Then, when the time is right, attack the enemy with a strategy he didn't believe you to be capable of, and thus never defended.
"Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win."
How can your team help with this? Take Jirachi with Protect, Wish, Doom Desire, and some filler move, most likely Body Slam (60% paralysis keeps most enemies from setting up). If you use Doom Desire, Wish, and then Protect, you damage your enemy, nullify their attack, and heal yourself, all in the same turn. This creates the illusion of invincibility, regardless of the actual effectiveness of the set. This is most effective against the player who believes you to be better than he is, but with the occasional Body Slam added in to paralyze, even the veteran player can find himself feeling outclassed by the brick wall that inexorably paralyzes his team, creating fears, however unfounded they may be, of a sweep by something slow, like Ursaring or Marowak. However, I don't even need to do this. 8 PP for Doom Desire lasts surprisingly long.
"When torrential water tosses boulders, it is because of its momentum. When the strike of a hawk breaks the body of its prey, it is because of timing."
All of that, however, is secondary, in most battles. The single most important aspect of this fourth leg of battling is conditioning. However, this is impossible to do without the proper foundations of a team, and a basic ability to predict your enemy. Many believe that to be victorious in battle, unpredictability is a good thing. This is, by and large, incorrect. Unpredictability alone will not win a battle, and unpredictability without a purpose is tactics without strategy--the noise before defeat. No, a true master of psychological warfare will be predictable as long as is needed.
Heracross is tightening its focus!
Bob Dole withdrew Weezing!
Bob Dole sent out Snorlax (Lv.100 Snorlax)!
---------------------------------
Heracross used Focus Punch!
(82% damage)
It's super effective!
Snorlax fainted!
More later maybe, sleep time for now. :) Uncredited quotes stolen from Sun Tzu's The Art of Warfare
Battling is usually divided into three categories. The first is luck, which, as it is out of the control of the player (for the most part) is mostly irrelevant for this guide. The second is teams. This is a combination of the preparation before the battle begins (for instance, Curselax is generally more effective than Curse Registeel or Belly Drum Snorlax), as well as how your team matches up with your opponents (if you don't have a counter for one of their Pokemon, you're hosed). The third common category is prediction. This occurs during the battle. Will they switch to Heracross or leave in Zapdos? Do I counter that with Salamence or leave my Blissey in?
"The supreme excellence is to subdue the armies of your enemies without even having to fight them."
This guide deals with the most overlooked--and often unused--part of battling: psychological warfare. This primarily occurs during the battle, when it occurs at all, but a master of the mind game can use Pokemon that allow this to be more effective. Large-scale battles, with lots of smack-talking before-hand also allow you to psych out your foe.
"Know thy enemy and know thyself, and your victory will not stand in doubt in 100 battles."
The first and most important part of any psychological attack on your opponent is to estimate not only their skill level, but their estimation of yours. If you are fighting someone who is somewhat new, who believes you to be an excellent fighter, then a mere show of prediction will often cause their behavior to become erratic. In one battle I had, I couldn't damage his Pokemon at all, as long as he kept switching. However, I remained one step ahead of his switching each time, so, instead of just doing what he was doing, and continually switching until I made an error, he Exploded his Gengar as I went to Steelix. When I questioned him about this (Gengar was walling my Hariyama), he explained it was to "try and get you out of my head".
"A military operation involves deception. Even though you are competent, appear to be incompetent. Though effective, appear to be ineffective."
If you are fighting someone who is good, but believes you to be a talentless hack, then you can use this to your advantage, as well. Such a person is far more vulnerable to sacrificial strategies, as they will not be looking ahead in the battle, for they believe you to be unable to. Many players will go for a 6-0 on you, or some other outlandish set-up, if they think it will work. "Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance." Surprises are this enemy's Achilles' Heal. I have gained a small reputation as a decent Advance player, but am rarely seen fighting in RBY and GSC. This is my favorite tactic to employ in those metagames.
Ironically, if you are fighting one who is not only good, but thinks you are good as well, the most obvious move is often the best, all things being equal (Obi's Razor), once the battle gets going. They will see traps where none exist, and 'overpredict' your moves. If your enemy sucks, and has a mutual esteem of your skills, then they are easily predicted, and will either quickly lose, or begin to think you are good, leading to the first scenario.
"What is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy's strategy."
But how do you accomplish this? How can you make your adversary do what you want? The simplest and most immediate way is to simply talk to your enemy. This is one part I don't know how to explain; you just have to test it out on a lot of people. From the responses you get, and the battle results, you can quickly determine the proper approach to deception. For instance, say it's down to my CB Heracross and some low HP Pokemon, versus a Swampert and a CBmence at about half health, and it's Heracross out vs. Swampert. Against some people, the best response is the truth (say what move you do, they think you're lying), other times, the best response is simply "Hmm... Heracross, let's do this!" If you feel your opponent has conditioned you, your best thing might be to say nothing and flip a coin, but I do not recommend this, as it's basically saying you're not as good as them, meaning you should lose, really.
In the example I gave of the GSC/RBY battle, I would do things during battle such as ask trivial questions. I could easily look up the answer if I didn't already know it (and sometimes I do know it), but by asking it, I set up a sense of superiority in my nemesis. If you play the role of a newbie, that is how they will treat you. In this case, purposefully 'wrong' predictions can actually be a good thing, as it culls that same feeling that you don't know what you're doing. Then, when the time is right, attack the enemy with a strategy he didn't believe you to be capable of, and thus never defended.
"Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win."
How can your team help with this? Take Jirachi with Protect, Wish, Doom Desire, and some filler move, most likely Body Slam (60% paralysis keeps most enemies from setting up). If you use Doom Desire, Wish, and then Protect, you damage your enemy, nullify their attack, and heal yourself, all in the same turn. This creates the illusion of invincibility, regardless of the actual effectiveness of the set. This is most effective against the player who believes you to be better than he is, but with the occasional Body Slam added in to paralyze, even the veteran player can find himself feeling outclassed by the brick wall that inexorably paralyzes his team, creating fears, however unfounded they may be, of a sweep by something slow, like Ursaring or Marowak. However, I don't even need to do this. 8 PP for Doom Desire lasts surprisingly long.
"When torrential water tosses boulders, it is because of its momentum. When the strike of a hawk breaks the body of its prey, it is because of timing."
All of that, however, is secondary, in most battles. The single most important aspect of this fourth leg of battling is conditioning. However, this is impossible to do without the proper foundations of a team, and a basic ability to predict your enemy. Many believe that to be victorious in battle, unpredictability is a good thing. This is, by and large, incorrect. Unpredictability alone will not win a battle, and unpredictability without a purpose is tactics without strategy--the noise before defeat. No, a true master of psychological warfare will be predictable as long as is needed.
It is far better to create an expectation of doing something than an expectation of uncertainty. This is because the uncertain opponent is unpredictable. When they know what you're going to do, you can know what they are going to do. Then you finally do one surprising move at just the right moment to guarantee a sweep. For instance, say my Heracross uses Focus Punch, but his Weezing predicts this and uses Sludge Bomb. I am clearly forced to switch here, as he can just keep using Sludge Bomb all day with no ill effects, for I am CBed. He has been conditioned into believing me to be a very cautious battler, as my maxim is to predict only when prediction is needed. Now, I have a Jirachi, and Sludge Bomb is a great move to switch into. Only an idiot would leave in Heracross, and since my enemy doesn't think I'm an idiot, the thought of me leaving in Heracross never crosses his mind, so he switches to his Jirachi counter, Earthquake Snorlax.Sirlin said:
Heracross is tightening its focus!
Bob Dole withdrew Weezing!
Bob Dole sent out Snorlax (Lv.100 Snorlax)!
---------------------------------
Heracross used Focus Punch!
(82% damage)
It's super effective!
Snorlax fainted!
More later maybe, sleep time for now. :) Uncredited quotes stolen from Sun Tzu's The Art of Warfare
