How Powerful is Bluffing in Pokemon?

[Scoopapa]

In UU I have a Sunny Day team that focuses on Taunt, setting up sun, Sleeping the opponent, then moving in Specs Typhlosion with no damage. because Scarf Typlosion is so much more popular, and because the sun increases damage anyway, people will often think it's a scarf and try bulky pokemon to eat Eruptions rather than revenge killing me. Specs Sunny Eruption 2HKO's all sorts of walls that get switched in, such as Milotic and Chansey.

The biggest problem with bluffing imo is that on Shoddy you will always see the same people over and over again. It's very powerful for the first match against someone, and after that it's almost useless. Unless you play in a lot of tournaments, you aren't going to be able to bluff successfully that often. As such, the best bluffs use pokemon that are perfectly viable anyway. For instance, you could switch a Starmie who doesn't have Thunderbolt in on a Gyarados and force him out, or bring Latias in on Scizor after a kill, making him think you have HP fire, even if you don't.

 

[Staraptor Call]

Bluffing is essentially a high-risk, high-reward strategy. The risk in this case is that by making a set non-optimized, you lose some of the KOs / outspeeds / survivals that you would be able to get using the more common set. But the reward is that because your opponent thinks you are running a different set from the one you actually are using, your opponent will potentially lose one or more Pokemon. Bluffing is best used on an offensive team, one in which if your opponent sees that you are bluffing and knocks out your lure Pokemon, you will have an opprotunity to get a free turn for another threat. For example, let us examine what is possibly the best lure Pokemon in OU:

Tyranitar@Expert Belt
Hasty 252 Atk / 48 SpA / 208 Spe
-Crunch
-Pursuit
-Superpower
-Flamethrower / Fire Blast

The bluff here is that after your opponent sees you use your Dark move, especially Pursuit, and that you have not taken any Life Orb damage or recieved Leftovers recovery, your opponent will potentially lose a Pokemon. Due to the huge number of Pokemon this Tyranitar can draw out and OHKO, including Scizor, Blissey, Lucario, Forretress, and opposing Tyranitar, this set has a potentially huge reward-- getting to KO one member of your opponent's team.

The trick to using this bluff, or any other bluff, is to minimize the risk. If your opponent uses Scizor's Bullet Punch instead of the expected U-turn, you will lose Tyranitar. But this can potentially be used to set up another sweeper on your team, like Gyarados. If your plan is not ruined when your bluff fails, you are reducing the loss and using your bluff effectively.

 

[MrIndigo]

@Scoopapa: That's not the case. You won't be able to surprise them with your set, but you can still bluff them, by making decisions based on their knowledge of your team; when you repeat a combination of moves/scouts/switches/whatever from a previous battle, they will predict it, so if you start said combination, then change, you have successfully bluffed them.


@Thread: Keep in mind, it's not a bluff to make the play that is a dominant strategy for you. If it's a win for you regardless of what your opponent decides to do, you are not bluffing them. It is only a bluff if you deliberately play to give your opponent a false impression. e.g. switching in a SubTran against something that is only outsped by Scarf Heatran, to induce them to switch thinking you'll outspeed and KO when in fact you can't; you're bluffing them into switching to allow you to set up a Sub. It is NOT a bluff if Heatran outspeeds regardless of item.

 

[Wikey]

@Scoopapa: That's not the case. You won't be able to surprise them with your set, but you can still bluff them, by making decisions based on their knowledge of your team; when you repeat a combination of moves/scouts/switches/whatever from a previous battle, they will predict it, so if you start said combination, then change, you have successfully bluffed them.

I hate this about Shoddy. I must look like such an idiot when I get into a rematch with someone I just played. It's like; "Why did you just switch your Gyarados into a Zapdos's Thunderbolt?"

"Well, the first time I played him, I switched my Gliscor in to absorb it, so the second time we played each other he double-switched to his Swampert..."

 

[Aura Guardian]

My bluffs are usually to not do the same thing twice. If I switched to Tyranitar to counter Threat X, then I switch to another the second time because he will switch to his Tyranitar counter/check. I use one strategy, then bluff it again while switching to a different strategy. I've turned the tide of many battles by bluffing the use of one attack, then turning around and doing something different.

 

[Unohana]

Bluffing is just plain deadly. You can win some battles just because of good bluffs.

 

[tup]

Bluffing is just plain deadly. You can win some battles just because of good bluffs.

Well here's something I found out about the general shoddy population. Here I'm going to bluff my infernape with focus sash as infernape with Choice Scarf. To aid in that, take this tip, NAME the pokemon CS Infernape.

It sounds stupid, but trust me, sometimes it works. It's as though your opponent expects you to be that stupid. :D

 

[Atomos]

Yeah, if your trying to bluff, most times expert belt>Muscle band, as an alternative, you could for example bluff CB on vire,instead of expert belt

 

[Rikter]

Well here's something I found out about the general shoddy population. Here I'm going to bluff my infernape with focus sash as infernape with Choice Scarf. To aid in that, take this tip, NAME the pokemon CS Infernape.

It sounds stupid, but trust me, sometimes it works. It's as though your opponent expects you to be that stupid. :D

I named a Scizor "GENERIC SCIZOR" Once who bluffed the CB set to some degree of sucess

Then there was a Latias I named "Pursuit Bait" and it was able to lure in Scizor frequently by spamming Dragon Pulse and kill it with HP Fire.

 

[Skytt]

Tyranitar@Expert Belt
Hasty 252 Atk / 48 SpA / 208 Spe
-Crunch
-Pursuit
-Superpower
-Flamethrower / Fire Blast

The bluff here is that after your opponent sees you use your Dark move, especially Pursuit, and that you have not taken any Life Orb damage or recieved Leftovers recovery, your opponent will potentially lose a Pokemon. Due to the huge number of Pokemon this Tyranitar can draw out and OHKO, including Scizor, Blissey, Lucario, Forretress, and opposing Tyranitar, this set has a potentially huge reward-- getting to KO one member of your opponent's team.

The trick to using this bluff, or any other bluff, is to minimize the risk. If your opponent uses Scizor's Bullet Punch instead of the expected U-turn, you will lose Tyranitar. But this can potentially be used to set up another sweeper on your team, like Gyarados. If your plan is not ruined when your bluff fails, you are reducing the loss and using your bluff effectively.

Using a Babari Berry instead solves the proplem of Scizor using Bullet Punch. Other berries, especially Lum Berry, are extremely useful on bait poke, as Pokemon such as Blissey will usually use T-Wave or Toxic on the switch which means you can stay in safely and KO.

 

[Staraptor Call]

It can also work to name a Pokemon something associated with one set, but sounds like it's just someone's idea of a cool name for their Pokemon. Things like "Joshua" for a Salamence that really isn't a wallbreaker, "Spunchy" for a Breloom that's actually Scarfed, or "Draco Rocket" for a Calm Mind Latias.

 

[Aminar]

I have to say, using a name to bluff is just silly, half the time I ignore my opponents names. And I would never assume anybody was foolish enough to name a pokemon after it's set. It's a 50/50 shot(assuming two common sets) Like that scene from the princess bride.

 

[skorpion123]

naming something works when it is passed a substitute as you can't really know what Pokemon it is. Unless i am doing something wrong. Though this is not bluffing .

 

[panamaxis]

naming something works when it is passed a substitute as you can't really know what Pokemon it is. Unless i am doing something wrong. Though this is not bluffing .

You can always tell what pokemon it is as the generic message "panamaxis switched in Sparky (lvl 100 Jolteon)" will appear when playing on shoddy. If you're talking about wifi then it shows you the sprite of the pokemon that is switched in before it turns into a substitute.

 

[LT_AMBR0SE]

Eh, bluffing seems to be something that I'd use as part of my team building, and I'm not ready to incorporate that quite yet. One of these days, though. Bluffing can be damn handy, and I've given it a few shots where oppourtunity provides, like Expert Belt Weavile.

 

[metalrush]

Bluffing is something that horribly backfired on me almost every time. For bluffs to work in my opinion involves vague movesets on expected pokemon. However, I can't pull of something like that, so I guess it doesnt work for me.

 

[Death Watch]

Bluffing is very risky. It's not something I count on all the time, though if you pull it off right then there's a chance to win.

 

[Zystral]

I run this on many of my teams:
Scizor @ Iron Plate
[Technician]
Adamant
252 Atk / 216 Spe / 40 HP
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- U-Turn
- Swords Dance

It's amazing. Early-game, spamming U-Turn is simply amazing, and tricks them into thinking you have a Choice Band. Once I scout for Magnezone (and KO with my own HP Ground ScarfZone), Scizor can come in on the many things it does, and that's when I Swords Dance and start to Bullet Punch.

Simiarly, something that is often running Choice Band/Specs can run an Expert Belt for a drop in power only to lure in something else and OHKO that too. On CAP I run an Expert Belt Syclant with Vacuum Wave and Tail Glow. People assume I'm Focus Sashed or choiced and that's when I set up on them and KO their Stratagem.

You can bluff whole sets too. For example, Heatran. Choice Scarf is such a common and powerful threat, people are always prepared for it. It also almost always causes a switch with what it can do. Good players will either take advantage of this and run sets such as Substitute (Torment is optional), or try to predict around that and try to hit the foe's switch-in. Other people like me spam Overheat and hope they don't have a Heatran of their own.

However, it's all very well pulling a fast one on your foe. You score 1 bonus kill or rack up a switch or two, perhaps stacking the residual damage. But then again, there's not much point bluffing something if you can't immediately answer what they've brought in. The point of bluffing is to get a momentum advantage while your opponent drops the ball. And again, good players will be able to exploit this.

 

[Eggbert]

It's risky but works if your opponent has no choice, which usually you can trick by faking a revenge kill. for example, I use Sub + charge beam rotom, and whenever someone sends out a gyarados, I switch rotom, even though rotom is not scarfed. They can't possibly know, and who wants to risk losing their gyarados for nothing if they switch rotom in? I get a free sub and a shot at their revenge killer ect.

 

[kokoloko]

It's risky but works if your opponent has no choice, which usually you can trick by faking a revenge kill. for example, I use Sub + charge beam rotom, and whenever someone sends out a gyarados, I switch rotom, even though rotom is not scarfed. They can't possibly know, and who wants to risk losing their gyarados for nothing if they switch rotom in? I get a free sub and a shot at their revenge killer ect.

So... you don't run Leftovers on SubCharge Rotom? I'm pretty sure someone would notice it wasn't Scarf'd when they saw the Lefties recovery. Maybe they're switching out their Gyarados because he can't beat even non-Scarf variants. That would make this a non-bluff - assuming you actually do run Lefties on Rotom, of course.

 

[nesan]

I bluff in every single battle.
Expert Belt Tyranitar is one of my favourite.
Heatproof Bronzong is another.
Choice Banded Alakazam set from the third generation does wonders. It's fun to watch Blissey faint.

 

[SJCrew]

Bluffing doesn't mean "using bad gimmicks to fool your opponent", it's more like gambling at a disadvantage. For example, I have CB Heracross vs. a stall team. Do I really need to say anything else?

And if you're going to try and fake people out by using an inferior item (which is a HORRIBLE idea, by the way, since you're at a disadvantage right from the start and in an even deeper hole when your opponent discovers it), use Muscle Band. You know, that one item that boosts the effectiveness of all physical attacks by 10% without recoil or move restriction?

 

[Osthato]

I used to run a Wide Lens Heracross that I would occasionally play as CB.

It worked on occasion, but the WL also allowed it to work fairly well when I wasn't bluffing.

 

[Instinctive]

Bluffing EQ on Swampert by sending him in against all Heatrans has yet to fail, whether you actually run it or not.

 

[Tyranitar]

Without leftovers, people think Heatran is scarfed bringing their own heatran while u hav shuca berry and Ko the opposing heatran