Knocking down the reds' count | Mafia Game Academy

Redirection, discussed in the life hacks lesson, works by the rule: vote against those for whom you are black. This chapter teaches how to knock down the count and logic of the red players in order to: buy civilian hands; on the basis of the deciding vote turn the game in your favour and have the argumentation; snatch victory out of seemingly hopeless positions and make games more interesting.

The author's warning

Strong mafia play is team play: the blacks do not let each other be removed. The devices of this chapter kill skill in the long run. A player who likes the proposed strategies tends, in a critical situation, to choose splitting the team instead of fighting. Mixed colours in this sense can even be called weak play "on the finishing run". The mafia splits the teams and wins because the civilian plays by moves against the black.

Besides, knocking down the count relies on players counting the blacks at the table. Civilians have a mass of other devices for finding the mafia (speech, emotions, metagame), so the device is not a panacea. Good news: more and more players rely not on personal observations but on building teams. This means that almost always one can find which player to play under.

Device 1. Giving your own black as black

When there is a second line, the sheriff and his black check are considered as a pair-team. The false sheriff gives his mafioso as black. He plays against the civilians and discredits himself in every way, thereby condemning the real red leader and strengthening his team's line. The victim knocks down the count: by the real sheriff's version there are three mafia, but in fact two. Because of the shortfall an extra red hand is bought.

The nuances depend on the night on which you give your own as black.

At nine

Rarely applied, because there is the threat of a balance, in which one mafioso remains at the table. But who said he cannot gather two red votes for the win? He can. If the false sheriff's line is not considered at all and no balance is played, this way you can elegantly fit your black into the civilian team. The sheriff is killed, and the sweet player who received a black check from the false sheriff wins.

At seven

With two lines, on the night before the critical round the real sheriff is killed, and the false sheriff gives his own as mafia. By balance the false sheriff goes out, and his black check sits to the end and wins, because "by the logic of the game they are on different teams". At seven without the shot of the real civilian leader it is better not to give your own as black. The exception: you have no red players against whom you can play at the particular moment.

At five

It is played when there are not enough civilians against whom to play. You give up your player and in the battle of the two sheriffs snatch the win in the guessing round.

Device 2. Blacks voting against each other

The mafia votes against a member of its own team and removes him. This should be done if it is clear that the player will not be able to stay at the table to the end of the game. Removing him now is better than leaving him for the late rounds, where by his behaviour he may give the mafia away. By the logic of the game, for those who took the removed one for black, the one who removed him is red. You can rely on this, arguing your position and blackening those who did not put hands against the mafia.

Device 3. Gathering civilian hands against your own player

An option for pitiable situations. For example, the sheriff is hard to run over because of the pronounced, readable red line of the civilians' leader. Or there are not enough candidates: there must be at least four, but you can play against two, while there are four votes in the game. It happens that a black player cannot be saved in the given round. Then good play is to collect red moves at his expense: reveal illogicalities in speech, concrete shortfalls.

If you compare this device with the previous one from the civilian's point of view, gathering hands is much redder than just voting. You cannot call somebody red in the first half of the game and "change shoes" by the critical round. This gives away a mafia that changes behaviour depending on the balance of forces at the table. Such situations arise when players happen to find each other red, with a bad check by the sheriff that forces a change of the winning strategy, or with a sudden insight of key players that the one the black attacks is in fact a civilian. Then the player drops out of the candidates for removal, new ones are needed, hence the "shoe change". But a change of colour without a reason is a sign of blackness.

Relying on the rule "with time the mafia blackens, the reds colour", the author concludes: the earlier a civilian is removed, the less time the reds have to sort out his colour. So gathering civilian hands against the mafia gives a red colour because of informativeness.

Device 4. Using game dynamics

To this item belongs delivering to the table a seen reveal of your blacks, a "discovered" online. In team play the count is knocked down by buying the vote of your own mafioso, in mixed colours by a shout during the speech of your black, knocking him off his thought. Not all options are harsh: there are pleasant, comfortable ones connected with players who will not be voted. The examples in this paragraph are an adjustment to experienced players who pay attention to the nuances of communication at the table.

In a non-critical round you can gather hands against your own mafia, provided they will not be voted. The black sheriff and his red check are protected, and in the critical round the game can be turned in any direction. As the situation demands.

For the red

If you see a black player going to nomination by his own team, count not hands but motives: who gains from this vote?
Do not take a change of position "without a reason" for wisdom. Ask what the player learned between rounds.
If at the table you were told a black is red, check whether you got a shortfall in the count: how many blacks there should be by this version.

Application

When the prospects of winning the current round are not pleasing, remove your own and strengthen the position.
For growth of the level of play it is more important to "pull out" your players than to "sell" them.
Determine by which school the one whose vote you want to buy plays. Give this player what he wants.

Self-check questions

Give one more device for knocking down the count in a game.
Give two unlisted ways to split teams through game dynamics.
There are five of you, at the table is a checked civilian who uses the count: he looks at the mixed colours and makes a decision. Three suspects. What is the strategy for buying a vote in this round?

Practice

Analyse your last game where you played black: was there a moment when you could have given your own as black or knocked down the count? What would have happened in each of the three night scenarios?

Typical mistakes

Giving your own as black at nine without a plan for the balance.
Changing the assessment of a player without a reason.
Getting carried away with mixed colours instead of team play.

Source of the idea. The chapter "We knock down the civilians' count" from Dmitry Novik's book "Mafia in the Style of Zen" (2020). The wording was compiled by us.