Mafia: there are no losing situations

A team can win almost always if there is planning and an accurate shot on civilians. The mafia is strong. Almost any negative situation, and even a black player's mistake, can be turned in your favour, because in the eyes of a red player there is no objective information except checks. Let us take seven nearly stalemate situations and compose a winning argumentation for each. The question everywhere is the same: do we give up? No.

1. The sheriff removed an unchecked player at nine and seven

In the deciding round the mafia lost by the count of the game. We explain to the town that the false sheriff removed his own black player to strengthen his position. The "real sheriff" (we) played not in the best way, but we are not comparing experience here, we are working out the mafia.

If the sheriff has no two found blacks, we kill him and sit out the game, asking our own for a check. If only one mafia player is not found and it is impossible to run over the real red leader, we kill the real sheriff and pray that they do not find you.

2. You wake up as the don with an absolutely weak team

You know the players are finished, they will not float up. You give the sheriff role to a weak player who can sit it out, and assign him your black as a red check. At nine they sit, a civilian leaves. You shoot the sheriff and win the guessing round after two of your players are removed.

3. Your black misses and does not look for the shot with his eyes

You suspect there will be a miss this night too. You vote this player with the hands of both lines. Later you will say: "Considering that the false sheriff put hands against him, this player was leaving as a civilian, so now it is the critical round". One miss in this case is not fatal. We win without this player.

4. Six players, one line, three found reds lift two

Create a situation in which it is convenient to break on a civilian.

1. A civilian is nominated under the first hands.
2. He is voted by two civilians and a black player who is put against him as a counterweight.
3. The remaining black adds the third hand.

Much depends on the rules. If in the guessing round at four two are not lifted, the black can break on himself, and the last mafioso later "runs over" the suspected red.

5. A black removed you with the deciding hand in any round

A terrible mistake, but we do not give up, we continue the fight. The remaining players stress that the team proposed by the real sheriff cannot exist because of the deciding vote. Your false sheriff's line holds, but with time your leader will probably not be able to buy votes. How do we fight? A self-shot or mixed colours.

6. A black plays against someone who cannot be lifted

He does not understand this and buries himself. He can be defended with a speech: "Only a badly playing red can be so wrong about player no. 3. Moreover he has no plan for the win, that is clear. So he is a civilian, and we do not vote him".

7. The civilians understood they had won

Civilians understand that they have won, in most cases, not when they made the right choice in the critical round but when they see that a player or the team as a whole has given up. You must fight to the end. A win "through a fool" is not excluded: a civilian will not nominate the mafia or will mix up the order of votes.

If you could not win, it means a lack of preparation. Yes, a game can be not won because of many factors, but you must never be defeated. What matters in a fight is not the size of the dog but the size of the fight in the dog.

Analysis of the situations: why it works (commentary of the Academy)

The author gives compressed recipes. Below we unfold the logic of each so that you can apply it in similar but not identical positions. These are our explanations, not quotes from the book.

1. The sheriff removed an unchecked one at nine and seven. The reds see only the result of votes, not the reasons. Your task is to explain the reason: "He removed his mafia to strengthen the line". The reds have no objective information except checks, so an argument about motive can outweigh. Most important: do not show panic and do not give the real sheriff time for a second check.
2. A weak team for the don. When the layout is clearly losing, the goal changes: instead of winning as a team you build a "win through the guessing round". A weak player who got the sheriff role must not be conspicuous: his task is to sit to the round at nine and not give himself away. A red check on your black pulls the black out from under the blow.
3. A black who misses. If a partner does not look for the shot with his eyes, you cannot count on the night move. It is better to remove him at once by a vote of both lines: this colours you and rids you of an unreliable link.
4. Six, one line, lifting two. The break must look like a mistake of the reds, not of the blacks. So the order matters: the first nominated gets hands from civilians, and the black put against him as a counterweight is needed so that the third hand looks like a natural addition.
5. A black removed you with the deciding hand. If your false sheriff was removed by "his own" hand, the gain is that the reds see chaos in the mafia team. So the real sheriff refers to the impossibility of such a team because of the deciding vote. A self-shot or mixed colours help shift attention.
6. A black plays against someone who cannot be lifted. Defend him yourself, without waiting for the partner to bury himself: you show the town that the player is "too weak to be black".
7. The civilians understood they had won. The main thing: do not give up aloud or with a look. Many reds err on the last step simply because they see the opponent's surrender and relax.

The general algorithm of struggle (recommendation of the Academy)

1. Count how many red votes the mafia needs for the win and whom they can give.
2. Determine the weakest link among the reds and the weakest among your own.
3. Choose one of three plans: two to two, the guessing round, mixed colours. Write down the spare plan too.
4. Do not show doubt: your appearance and speech tempo must not change.
5. If your own cannot be saved, decide whom to sacrifice, and do it beautifully (colouring the others).

Example (compiled for the Academy)

Six players. The town plays one line, three reds are found. The mafia team has two players, the false sheriff among them. The blacks do this: red no. 2 is nominated under the first hands, he is voted by two reds and black no. 5, put against him as a counterweight; the second black, no. 8, adds a hand. No. 2 leaves, the mafia stays in the game, at night kills one more red and wins the guessing round at four. The reds erred because they did not notice that the counterweight and the added hand make up a ready scheme of a break.

For the red

The lesson is useful to you too: show the blacks that you are not giving up the position. If you are red and it seems to you that victory is near, keep counting: blacks who do not give up look on the table for the hand that will mix up the order of votes.

Application

1. Always look in the situation for the seeds of your win.
2. Fight.
3. If your own players cannot be saved, give them up or sacrifice them.
4. Save your players.

Self-check questions

1. Which strategies should have been used so that situation 1 would not arise?
2. Give your plan for the game if you yourself decided to play the sheriff in situation 2. Your mafiosi will surely fly out in the vote.
3. How to avoid the situation from example 3?
4. At four two are not lifted. Will a break on your own black colour you?

Practice

For each of the seven situations compose one version of a one-minute speech (up to 60 seconds) and play it out in training.

Typical mistakes

• Giving up in a position where there are still resources.
• Not warning a partner about a miss.
• Abandoning your own without trying to squeeze an argument out of the situation.

Source of the idea. The chapter "Mafia. There are no losing situations" from Dmitry Novik's book "Mafia in the Style of Zen" (2020). The explanations were compiled by us.