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Simple Mafia Guide

over 9 years

Talent is Overrated is a book by Geoff Colvin. Basically he argues that what makes people successful in their fields is not natural talent or hard work. It is a "deliberate practice" However I have bad news to break.

THIS DOES NOT APPLY TO MAFIA

So what makes a great mafia player? I will tell you. These tips can turn a crappy fancy pants player into an expert player. Now you may argue that ur good because you win 60% of your games. No you still suck. To truly be a dominant player you must be able to win at will. This means that any game in which u decide you wanna win, you can win. Obviously there are circumstances that prevent this from happening such as n1's etc. Anyways here are some Principles off the top of my dome to make you a better player.


Understand that being right is only half the battle.

I have seen many great players who are very bad because they have an abrasive personality or vice versa a very submissive personality. You could be right everytime but remember people will only listen to you if they think you are town. Also remember to present your thoughts in a credible matter. Nobody listens to that guy who doesn't talk.


Balance your town/scum play.

Guess what u dummy. Wonder why you're so bad at being scum? It's because you are an easy townread. Sure being an easy townread is nice when youre town. But it will haunt your scum play. It is better to be a difficult read. People will respect you as a tough read. You will not be lynched for being null. Your scum and town play will balance.


Know when to be a (female dog)

Sometimes there's just nothing you can do. The clear is mad he wants hammer he refuses to listen. In this case, as either alignment you just gotta stop arguing and make the man happy. It's better to let him random hammer than to him off and hammer you.


Don't bus, why are you bussing?

Honestly, this is the most disgusting thing in the world. I have had many times where the town was ready to give me the game and then a partner pointed me out. When this happens the town rallys around and often time mafia doesnt even get townread. Bussing is almost always stupid. Having more mafia is always better. Heck, buddying your partner is a great strat. Everyone always says "Mafia would never buddy like that" If people are gonna be dumb just buddy your partners. There's strength in numbers. Remember that when voting.


Learn EpicMafia Mechanics.

I really shouldnt even have to write about this but every day I see scum throw away wins by not kicking/blitzing. Likewise, I see people fos those who have been cleared cuz they had hammer and didnt blitz etc. Stop throwing away wins. Don't be dumb. Learn simple game mechanics.


People who talk first / immediately vote at start of day are usually scum.

Not even joking. Go back through your last twelve games. I guarentee this is true more often than not.


Find patterns, find absolute truths.

I am always looking for new tells. Both town tells and scumtells. I have several things stored in my head that only scum say or only town say. I cannot share them here because they are too valuble. Observe patterns.


Reread every game.

Pick up tips from the graveyard. If they call you an idiot figure out why you were dumb. Look at people's roles see where they messed up, see where they towntold. Check out votes and night actions. READ GOOD PLAYERS GAMES. I can not stress this enough. If you know a good player who has a similar playstyle as you. Read their games, pick up strategy.


Be a likable person, be friendly.

You will not believe how much this helps. You will be n1'd less. People will listen to your reads. This next part will be controversial but in a 3 way people hammer whoever they dislike more. It's true. Most players can't develop good reads so they choose who they want to lose too. Win with class. Act like you've done it before. Try not to freak out at people when you lose.


Ask questions, get people to explain, apply pressure.

If you do these three things every game you will become a master scumhunter. Most people have learned how to fabricate a simple towntell and how not to look scummy. However, when you make a mafia explain his scumread he's dead. So many mafia will tr people to look towny. Just call them out dude. If they give a crap reason they are scum. On the other hand someone might have a really stupid reason to tr somebody. But it's genuine so you can know they are town. Always ask questions, why did you do this, why did you to that? The answer doesn't really matter, you're looking for legitimate thought process. Apply pressure by voting people, see what happens.


Destroy / Create

So many games end up with two people talking and everyone else tabbed out playing games looking at ** etc. Get people involved early by saying/doing something that creates controversy. Drawing an early fos is a small price to pay for a game where everyone participates up the wazzo. As mafia do the opposite. Let people be idiots and not talk. Destroy town order, dont let clear have selfvotes, talk in caps, make people pissed at each other. Do everything in your power to destroy an semblence of order.


Participate and Be Confident.

If you simply give an effort for a complete game you will dominate over the lurkers. People have trouble hammering those who try, remember that. Also be confident, if your town make your reads and give them. So many people are afraid of being called bad for outing their reads. It's better to be wrong than to sit silent and see that you fos'd two mafia but didnt say anything. Remember, scum is trying to make you feel like a bad player. BE confident! People want to townread you!


Know the strategies; play the odds.

Don't go into a game blind, know the situation each day. Know when to claim and when to hide. Know nl, ml, mylo, lylo. Preperation is everything.


Use the role markers.

Not sure if everybody even knows about these but you can mark players as scum or town. It helps keep things organized, when you have a sure townread mark it. Makes scumhunting easier. I don't use the notes. It would be nice if they saved from game-to-game. Oh well.


Some Thoughts regarding Meta.

Be very, very careful. Do not abuse meta, never ever abuse your meta. Never claim meta clear as scum, only do it in extreme cases as town. Also, learn others meta. Formulate player specific reads, not everyone plays the same.


Control your town.

Have you ever wondered why you cant control your town? Some player will be listened to, other will not be. Why is this? Let the town know you will not be f'd with. Also make them feel like you will listen to them (dont). Don't ask for selfvotes immediately. Let the day play out and be present. Dont sit there and lurk like an idiot. When useful content has ceased. You can be a man and lead or you can ask for selfvotes. Every game is unique decide which town will follow.


Quality over quantity.

You get 10 red hearts and 5 gold hearts per day with a max of thirty. Don't bother playing them all. Focus on taking time to play good quality games. Long games are almost always good games. If you are doing homework of watching tv don't play you dingus. Avoid playing mafia just cuz you have nothing to do. Play mafia with a desire to play mafia.


Some thoughts on running.

Stockpile hearts. Being at the top is never great. People play differently; some will throw. Try and find quality tables. Avoid players hat don't participate or players that hate you. If you lose a couple games in a row then take a break. Try and run on one setup, helps you be consistent. Don't give up on a run if you start 1-4. 10 days is plenty of time to come back. Remember you only need about 60% to trophy. That's going 3-2 everyday. Don't talk about your run in-game or use trophy AtE. Expect to go on losing streak and winning streaks. Only 10-15 players even play all their hearts so if you play em all you have a legit shot.


Final thoughts.

Have fun but not too much. Yes it's a game and the purpose of a game is to have fun. But what's more fun than winning?


If enough people like this I may make a more in-depth strategy guide. This guide only scratches the surface.


tl;dr dont be an idiot

about 9 years
Preach! Except bussing is definitely sometimes a good play, granted it will likely hurt your winrate if it's your go-to scum move.
about 9 years
This is like the bible of epic mafia.
about 9 years

Apostasy says

People who talk first / immediately vote at start of day are usually scum.

Not even joking. Go back through your last twelve games. I guarentee this is true more often than not.

For real yo? This is a bad guide and I'm bumping the other one.





Keep in mind that I when I wrote this I just sat down for 30 and started typing. I am unable to edit the OP. This section is one of my regrets. I would reword it if I could. Anyways, the guide is aimed at noobs who wanna shift to a competitive mindset, it was never meant as anything else. Cyrpto's guide is excellent and at the time I wrote this is was lost to the world. This was meant to be a simple guide to new players. In my opinion, this is an solid place for a new player to start.
deletedabout 9 years
People who talk first / immediately vote at start of day are usually scum.

Not even joking. Go back through your last twelve games. I guarentee this is true more often than not.

For real yo? This is a bad guide and I'm bumping the other one.
about 9 years
It's not a bad guide, it's just not half as good as crypto's one. If everyone on EM read this the site would be a lot more tolerable.
deletedabout 9 years
This is a bad guide, and by bumping it you once again buried a good guide. Nice going, lore-chump.
about 9 years
Oh, and one final note; only 12-15 people wind up playing all their hearts, but most if not all of those have really strong winrates/are in trophy contention. So playing out all your hearts doesn't give you a free pass at a chance. (There is, however, no good reason to give up after going 1-4 or 2-3 considering you'll have heaps more losses than that at the end of the round regardless.)
about 9 years
There isn't a player in existence that can win a game at will. Busing isn't bad, I do it all the time. I do agree however that lots of people bus stupidly. (Correct busing however wins games.)
Destroy/create has a good premise but ultimately fails. You want people to be interested, but getting people pissed or anything similar is just going to wind up with an unenjoyable game. Stirring conversation via applying pressure/asking questions is much more efficient. Consistent meta is always detrimental, if there's anything you always do as mafia (habitually bussing) or anything you always do as town you need to nuke it. (You put it up in 2 sections and were fairly vague about it, but I get where you're coming from.)

All in all a good read. Lots of the stuff in here is helpful.
over 9 years
good guide, agree with most of it.
deletedover 9 years
deletedover 9 years
found crypto's guide

http://pastebin.com/iVR2i5FM
deletedover 9 years
The last thing I'd add to this is this...

Be the Positive player. You don't have to be mr. nice, but don't be Mr. Negative and say sh*t like "towns gunna lose" etc. If you havent lost yet, then you obviously still have a chance to win.
over 9 years

Nahrven2 says

Something i'd like thoughts on, is how you believe one should present their reads in a mislynch situation, as mafia. I feel like it is somewhat simple and possible to press one mislynch through, but it's always kinda awkward when you press someone really hard, after which they flip town and you have to explain yourself. On the flipside, being too null is a huge scumtell in these situations as well. How do you go about it?


People have short memories. As long as you don't death tunnel someone people will generally forget / forgive that kinda of lynch. Getting to the next day is always better than being ml'd.
over 9 years
Thanks for all the positive feedback. This is my own work. I wrote in about an hour. No sources were used, this is all my own information. If I could edit this I would add two more principles. **Don't be afraid to cc** and **Take advantage of the Night time**
over 9 years

Nahrven2 says

Something i'd like thoughts on, is how you believe one should present their reads in a mislynch situation, as mafia. I feel like it is somewhat simple and possible to press one mislynch through, but it's always kinda awkward when you press someone really hard, after which they flip town and you have to explain yourself. On the flipside, being too null is a huge scumtell in these situations as well. How do you go about it?


If I really hardpush on some1 as scum on a ML and they flip town, I would try to drag attention away from myself and defend my reads. I would maybe bus hard and hope that they lynch him, or stall and try to force NL.
deletedover 9 years

Nahrven2 says

Do you have a source on that, or are you just baselessly slandering him?


i just remember reading this somewhere else
deletedover 9 years
90% of common knowledge is crap.
deletedover 9 years
Something i'd like thoughts on, is how you believe one should present their reads in a mislynch situation, as mafia. I feel like it is somewhat simple and possible to press one mislynch through, but it's always kinda awkward when you press someone really hard, after which they flip town and you have to explain yourself. On the flipside, being too null is a huge scumtell in these situations as well. How do you go about it?
deletedover 9 years
The best thing mafia can do is manipulate town, but they have to do it stealthily. No towntell can outpower the concept of manipulation. This is why pranay's scum game is far better than his town game, because he has the art of manipulation down very well.
deletedover 9 years
The way he takes control of his team and takes the time to give people specific instructions is a very good thing, i agree. It's also his biggest downfall against strong players though, since you can very easily smell when someone is being a pranay-puppet. Yet he somehow manages to win these games anyway, since he always has a very clear sight of who he needs to win over in order to tip the game around.
over 9 years

Nahrven2 says

Funny, i don't resonate with pranays style at all. I find it abrasive and detrimental to the enjoyment of the game. Hedger and Gira are probably the people whose styles i respect and learn from the most.


I think Pranay is the best strategist on this site and often if your confident in your strat, other things work out. My mafplay esp improved massivly from reading Pranay, since I think having good strats and know how to not look scummy is the hardest part. Being townread as town shouldnt be that hard IMO.
deletedover 9 years
Funny, i don't resonate with pranays style at all. I find it abrasive and detrimental to the enjoyment of the game. Hedger and Gira are probably the people whose styles i respect and learn from the most.
over 9 years
READ GOOD PLAYERS GAMES

I can't state how important this is since you need to find a playstyle that fits you. At my first time here I started to reread Brownpimps games because he often won when I played with him or against him. After a while I realized his playstyle was nothing for me.

Then I started to read Eloquences games for the same reason, I also found out his style wasn't fitting me at all.

Then I started to read Pranays games and found that his playstyle was simliar how I played myself, just that he was much better than me. So I started to read his games more and more and eventually I found myself able to read him and I was able to find his tricks and schemes and started to use similar stuff myself to my advantage.
deletedover 9 years
Do you have a source on that, or are you just baselessly slandering him?
deletedover 9 years
this was copy and pasted from somewhere