Sitting out to the winning round: how not to be removed early

The closing part of "Mafia in the Style of Zen" is called "Qualitative raising of the level of play". The author opens it with a quote from V. Butkov that open opportunism and time-serving are relics of the accursed Darwinism, and remarks: the tastiest pieces are left for last. The skills of good communication, survivability and influence on those around are forged before the tournament, and the place taken is only a reflection of personal mastery and a consequence of your preparation. He highlights the word "skill" deliberately: nothing described is innate, everything is worked out by any person who wishes.

Three principles on which everything stands

The author recalls the foundation on which any individual style is built. These are three main principles.

1. Become red for the whole table: do not be voted out.
2. Understand the game: determine whom to remove for the win.
3. Collect votes against the opponent: make your opponents leave in the votes.

This lesson is devoted to the first principle; the other two are covered in the lessons "Influence and empathy" and "Five stages of influence and non-verbal suggestion". According to the author, mastery of these skills lets you win games that before using them seemed certainly lost.

The main idea: you are left at the table while you are needed

So that you are not voted out before time, you must make players feel your usefulness. It is desirable to really have it, or at least to give those around tangible and understandable benefits from your presence at the table. The author singles out four ways.

Way 1. Give good speeches

Be understandable to everyone. Speak clearly and evenly so that speech speed, tone and delivery match the ability of those around to follow what you say. If you naturally think fast and gabble, such a speech will not be absorbed by those who think more slowly. The author links this directly to the next way: speed and style of speech are part of your similarity to the table.

What this means in practice (the Academy's clarification):

• One thesis per phrase. If you explain a chain, repeat player numbers and key words, do not refer to what was said a minute ago.
• Pauses after important words give the table time to "catch" the thought.
• If you see players cannot keep up with your tempo, slow down. This is not weakness but matching.
• Prepared outlines (see "Preparing for a tournament") make speech even and flowing.

Way 2. Match the table

People tend to trust those who are like them. The feeling is born from a sense that they can predict your actions, because they have much in common with you. You are safe. The author compares two players: one differs substantially from those around in mentality, values, speech speed, motor skills and pattern of movement, and the other roughly matches them. Any player will tend to vote against the one who is not like him, against an outsider. With a substantial difference it is hard to reach and buy a vote.

The author's image: when we go fishing, we take not what we like but what the fish likes. So, he writes, you surely try to behave in line with the surroundings. More on this, including matching and leading, in the lesson "Influence and empathy: the basis of winning a tournament".

Questions for self-observation (Academy): with whom at the table do you speak at the same tempo? Whose words do you repeat? Which of the players is not like you at all and what can you take from his style without losing yourself?

Way 3. Invest in every game

This point merges smoothly with the ability to understand the game. The more you notice, the better you explain things, the more information you give your team, the longer your life, unless the black team cuts it short with an accurate shot. The author stresses: the real benefit of your presence at the table determines the round in which you may leave the game.

For the red this means: every minute give verifiable observations (who voted how, who defended whom, where the logic is broken), not just "I feel". For the black: give the town a "tangible benefit" that people do not want to take away, for example a neat version about someone else's slot.

Way 4. Give people emotional benefits

Use humour to make the atmosphere friendlier, but do not overdo it. Cheer those around, be full of life. With cheerful, charismatic people one does not want to part. The author sets a measure: a joke must relieve tension, not take time from the table and not mock others (the last addition is the Academy's).

What the one who masters these ways gets

One who has the skills above can sit untouched to the critical round. Two typical phrases are said about such players, which the author gives close to verbatim:

• "Let the circle sit, even if he is black, we will lift another one for now."
• "I understood he is mafia, but I had to remove a player as counterweight first, only to have the chance to take him off the table later."

To say that this is a help in the game is to say nothing, the author remarks. And everything considered further in the chapter in one way or another affects your survivability in a positive direction.

How this works in terms of the count (Academy clarification)

The town almost always removes players in turn, and the order is determined not only by suspicions but by convenience. A player who is unpleasant to remove, who has allies and from whom there is benefit, ends up at the end of the queue. If you are red, this means living to the round where your vote decides. If you are black, it means staying in the game until the critical round, where you either lift a red or stand against the sheriff. Do not confuse survivability with invisibility: a passive player does not live long, because the town sees no use in him.

For the red

1. Check what you bring in every round: a version, a verifiable observation, readiness to say something unpleasant.
2. Watch the tempo: if the table cannot keep up, slow down.
3. If you are removed, leave a will so that your benefit keeps working after you leave.

For the black

1. Play a useful player, but not too bright: usefulness is easy to notice, and excessive brightness attracts the don and the sheriff.
2. Choose a manner like the table's, not your natural one: matching lowers suspicion.
3. Watch emotional benefits: a good mood behind you makes removing you less pleasant.

If a player seems "too pleasant"

Ask: is this my trust in the person or his benefit to the town? What has he done for the red victory in this round? Emotional benefits can hide absence of content. It is useful to run this check on yourself too.

Example (written for the Academy)

The round at nine. Player no. 4 speaks slower than the others but clearly: "Look, no. 2 changed his version twice, no. 6 supported him. This is a link." He jokes at his own expense when he slips: "Sorry, this is me checking who is not asleep." The table laughs. In the vote no. 4 is named among the last, although no. 8 has questions to him: "Let him sit, he speaks to the point." A round later no. 4 uses the accumulated trust and collects three hands against the real mafia.

Self-check questions

1. What three principles does the author name as the foundation of mafia?
2. Why can fast and complex speech harm even a strong player?
3. How are similarity to the table and voting against an outsider connected?
4. What does "real benefit determines the round in which you leave the game" mean?
5. Where is the boundary between emotional benefit and empty charm?

Practice

Write the four ways in a table and give yourself a mark from one to five on each. Choose the weakest and invent an exercise for two weeks: for example, speak 15 percent slower or end every minute with one joke at your own expense. After every game note in which round you were removed and what you brought to the table.

Typical mistakes

• Speaking faster than the table can understand.
• Fencing yourself off from the table and playing "for yourself".
• Joking at the expense of others.
• Thinking charm is enough without usefulness.
• Substituting usefulness with demonstrative activity.

Source of the idea. The chapter "Qualitative raising of the level of play", section "Sitting out to the winning round", from Dmitry Novik's book "Mafia in the Style of Zen" (2020). The author gives the guiding quotes by meaning, and the fishing image belongs to him. The clarifications on the count, examples, questions and practice were written for the Academy.