Learn English – Whats a word for manipulating someone into doing stuff against you to where it is exactly what you wanted

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Like above, I saw a word before which was used to call someone or actions of someone who led other people into action which in their minds would cause them to win against you, and it is exactly what you wanted thus manipulating them into doing it.

TL;DR: Someone does stuff against you and they win, but, it is exactly what you wanted and the win benefits you in some way (eg. partial truth is uncovered).

Best Answer

You could say that they were playing/planning/executing a Xanatos Gambit.

A Xanatos Gambit is a plan for which all foreseeable outcomes benefit the creator — including ones that superficially appear to be failure. The creator predicts potential attempts to thwart the plan, and arranges the situation such that the creator will ultimately benefit even if their adversary "succeeds" in "stopping" them.

TVTropes

So for example:

"John wanted to get Peter fired. As such, he planned a Xanatos Gambit by proposing to revitalize the HR system. If it succeeded, it would remove the need for Peter in the company. If it failed, John made sure that Peter would receive the blame and be fired for it"

However, it is not a single word, and is difficult to use as such.

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