• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 14:36
CET 19:36
KST 03:36
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
ByuL: The Forgotten Master of ZvT30Behind the Blue - Team Liquid History Book19Clem wins HomeStory Cup 289HomeStory Cup 28 - Info & Preview13Rongyi Cup S3 - Preview & Info8
Community News
Weekly Cups (March 9-15): herO, Clem, ByuN win02026 KungFu Cup Announcement5BGE Stara Zagora 2026 cancelled12Blizzard Classic Cup - Tastosis announced as captains17Weekly Cups (March 2-8): ByuN overcomes PvT block4
StarCraft 2
General
Potential Updates Coming to the SC2 CN Server Blizzard Classic Cup - Tastosis announced as captains Weekly Cups (March 9-15): herO, Clem, ByuN win GSL CK - New online series BGE Stara Zagora 2026 cancelled
Tourneys
2026 KungFu Cup Announcement [GSL CK] #2: Team Classic vs. Team Solar [GSL CK] #1: Team Maru vs. Team herO RSL Season 4 announced for March-April PIG STY FESTIVAL 7.0! (19 Feb - 1 Mar)
Strategy
Custom Maps
Publishing has been re-enabled! [Feb 24th 2026] Map Editor closed ?
External Content
The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 517 Distant Threat Mutation # 516 Specter of Death Mutation # 515 Together Forever
Brood War
General
ASL21 General Discussion BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ Gypsy to Korea BSL 22 Map Contest — Submissions OPEN to March 10 Are you ready for ASL 21? Hype VIDEO
Tourneys
ASL Season 21 Qualifiers March 7-8 [Megathread] Daily Proleagues [BSL22] Open Qualifiers & Ladder Tours IPSL Spring 2026 is here!
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Soma's 9 hatch build from ASL Game 2 Fighting Spirit mining rates Zealot bombing is no longer popular?
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Dawn of War IV Path of Exile Nintendo Switch Thread PC Games Sales Thread
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion The Story of Wings Gaming
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Five o'clock TL Mafia Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas Vanilla Mini Mafia TL Mafia Community Thread
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Mexico's Drug War Russo-Ukrainian War Thread NASA and the Private Sector
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Movie Discussion! [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Tokyo Olympics 2021 Thread Formula 1 Discussion General nutrition recommendations Cricket [SPORT]
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Laptop capable of using Photoshop Lightroom?
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Funny Nicknames
LUCKY_NOOB
Money Laundering In Video Ga…
TrAiDoS
Iranian anarchists: organize…
XenOsky
FS++
Kraekkling
Shocked by a laser…
Spydermine0240
Unintentional protectionism…
Uldridge
ASL S21 English Commentary…
namkraft
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 2065 users

The Secrets to being good at Mafia

Forum Index > TL Mafia
Post a Reply
1 2 Next All
Ace
Profile Blog Joined October 2002
United States16096 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-03-25 12:21:12
March 25 2013 12:17 GMT
#1
Being newb or "vet" (lol) in this game has a low correlation with skill level. It honestly doesn't matter. Here are the 2 essential skills to being good at Mafia whether you roll Town, Scum or something else. Amazingly these 2 things are important for getting by in real life also.


1.) Critical thinking - stop the stupid meta arguments. I've talked about this in the past but this is the biggest reason why most people suck. They are too lazy to think about what's going on in the thread. There is an entire essay that I could, but won't write about why "meta" is terrible. You're doing it wrong and should be aware of sample size and context. For a bunch of people on a Starcraft forum you should know better. Of course it fails in part because people also fail at...

2.) Knowing how to read. Yep, a 3rd grade reading level will make you a formidable player. Who knew! Stop trying to be a hero and be a team player no matter what side you end up on. It really is as simple as following lines of thought.

Many "new players" in their first or second games had shown promise in these 2 areas and gone on to have successful Mafia careers. Don't be a jubjub, read the thread and use your head. Stop being lazy.

Math me up, scumboi. - Acrofales
Oatsmaster
Profile Joined October 2012
United States16628 Posts
March 25 2013 12:23 GMT
#2
I thought it was

1.) Be Ace
No gg, No skill.
Dandel Ion
Profile Joined November 2010
Austria17960 Posts
March 25 2013 12:33 GMT
#3
1.) Don't suck.
A backwards poet writes inverse.
Mocsta
Profile Joined December 2012
Australia9388 Posts
March 25 2013 13:23 GMT
#4
Thnx ace. I think a third would be the usual "lessons learnt" post game. Think about about what went well and more importantly what could have been done cleaner or even never again.
Kurumi
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Poland6130 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-03-25 14:20:52
March 25 2013 14:20 GMT
#5
you are wrong ace
also AMERICA
I work alone. // Visit TL Mafia subforum!
Acrofales
Profile Joined August 2010
Spain18234 Posts
March 25 2013 14:36 GMT
#6
Ace, you mention "reading" as a skill to have. Isn't writing an equally important skill nowadays, with mafia games regularly exceeding 200 pages of thread: writing well so that the people who are reading actually look at your post rather than heap it in with the rest of the thread that they can only skim over due to time/concentration restrictions.
Palmar
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Iceland22633 Posts
March 25 2013 14:42 GMT
#7
You forgot "you get what you sow".

There is a very strong correlation between success in mafia and the time you invest in the game. The more you read the better you will understand the thread. This is highly useful as both scum and town. It's hard to post convincingly as scum if you don't know what's going on exactly in the thread and making your posts and story good is of critical importance. Even more so as town you get returns based on what you invest.

Time = Success

Computer says mafia
Ace
Profile Blog Joined October 2002
United States16096 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-03-25 14:47:37
March 25 2013 14:46 GMT
#8
On March 25 2013 23:36 Acrofales wrote:
Ace, you mention "reading" as a skill to have. Isn't writing an equally important skill nowadays, with mafia games regularly exceeding 200 pages of thread: writing well so that the people who are reading actually look at your post rather than heap it in with the rest of the thread that they can only skim over due to time/concentration restrictions.


Yea I probably should have added that but I hold reading to such a high regard. I'm also not sure if writing is that important when you're in a game with a bunch of players that will ignore it no matter how many colors you put in it
Kind of difficult to bend people to your way of thinking if they aren't smart enough to begin with.

*nod at Palmar. That goes well with the laziness/meta argument.
Math me up, scumboi. - Acrofales
gonzaw
Profile Joined December 2011
Uruguay4911 Posts
March 25 2013 17:06 GMT
#9
Well, there is "meta" and there is "meta"

"Meta" is helpful if you know how to analyze it. Some times it's obvious, some times it's not (and when it's not people usually fail at it).
kitaman27 *
Profile Blog Joined April 2009
United States9245 Posts
March 25 2013 17:08 GMT
#10
On August 07 2011 00:13 kitaman27 wrote:
There Ace goes again, flaunting his literacy in front of all of us.

I'm better than dirt. Well, most kinds of dirt. I mean not that fancy store bought dirt. That stuffs loaded with nutrients. I... I can't compete with that stuff.
Promethelax
Profile Joined February 2012
Canada7089 Posts
March 25 2013 19:29 GMT
#11
Meta is surprisingly useful. While reading and analyzing the thread are a big deall analyzing the player as an individual is a much better skill. There was a lot of talk about this in the post game of personality since Foolishness wrote a very large post about using reaction to know that Acrofales was town and Yamato was scum when in fact both those reads were incorrect. The ability to read a player is much more important than reading a play.

As Palmar said, its all about the amount of time you have. If you have the time to analyze each player individually you will do better than if all you do is analyze the thread. But to analyze the thread as a whole is still better than to not analyze at all.
TL Mafia. Love it. Play it. http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/index.php?show_part=31 I find Kennigit really attractive. If anyone has a picture of him please feel free to PM it to me.
GGQ
Profile Blog Joined July 2008
Canada2653 Posts
March 25 2013 20:22 GMT
#12
Putting the time into the game is the most critical part.

Meta shouldn't matter. Just read the posts critically and decide who's making sense in this particular game.
Caller
Profile Blog Joined September 2007
Poland8075 Posts
March 25 2013 21:01 GMT
#13
i thought it was
1) always shoot night 0
Watch me fail at Paradox: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=397564
Palmar
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Iceland22633 Posts
March 25 2013 21:24 GMT
#14
On March 26 2013 06:01 Caller wrote:
i thought it was
1) always shoot night 0


Shoot early, shoot often.
Computer says mafia
Chezinu
Profile Blog Joined February 2008
United States7466 Posts
March 26 2013 00:31 GMT
#15
On March 25 2013 21:17 Ace wrote:
Being newb or "vet" (lol) in this game has a low correlation with skill level. It honestly doesn't matter. Here are the 2 essential skills to being good at Mafia whether you roll Town, Scum or something else. Amazingly these 2 things are important for getting by in real life also.


1.) Critical thinking - stop the stupid meta arguments. I've talked about this in the past but this is the biggest reason why most people suck. They are too lazy to think about what's going on in the thread. There is an entire essay that I could, but won't write about why "meta" is terrible. You're doing it wrong and should be aware of sample size and context. For a bunch of people on a Starcraft forum you should know better. Of course it fails in part because people also fail at...

2.) Knowing how to read. Yep, a 3rd grade reading level will make you a formidable player. Who knew! Stop trying to be a hero and be a team player no matter what side you end up on. It really is as simple as following lines of thought.

Many "new players" in their first or second games had shown promise in these 2 areas and gone on to have successful Mafia careers. Don't be a jubjub, read the thread and use your head. Stop being lazy.


I think this is the best guide I've ever seen written. Its so true.. If you don't have time to think and read, your chances of winning drop drastically.
lol, clueless in The Prism!
dreamflower
Profile Blog Joined December 2008
United States312 Posts
April 02 2013 04:23 GMT
#16
On March 25 2013 21:23 Oatsmaster wrote:
I thought it was

1.) Be Ace


I thought it was

1) Don't be Vivi.
"When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers." -Oscar Wilde
JieXian
Profile Blog Joined August 2008
Malaysia4677 Posts
April 06 2013 20:14 GMT
#17
On April 02 2013 13:23 dreamflower wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 25 2013 21:23 Oatsmaster wrote:
I thought it was

1.) Be Ace


I thought it was

1) Don't be Vivax.


Corrected that for you
Please send me a PM of any song you like that I most probably never heard of! I am looking for people to chat about writing and producing music | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noD-bsOcxuU |
Kurumi
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Poland6130 Posts
April 06 2013 21:41 GMT
#18
On April 07 2013 05:14 JieXian wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 02 2013 13:23 dreamflower wrote:
On March 25 2013 21:23 Oatsmaster wrote:
I thought it was

1.) Be Ace


I thought it was

1) Don't be Vivax.


Corrected that for you

You don't get the joke dodo <3
dreamflower <3 forever immortalized thanks to role of her name
I work alone. // Visit TL Mafia subforum!
kushm4sta
Profile Blog Joined July 2011
United States8878 Posts
April 16 2013 02:28 GMT
#19
the problem is people write too much so it's impossible to read the thread
OMGUS.net, kush sex blogs every friday night
iGrok
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
United States5142 Posts
April 16 2013 02:30 GMT
#20
On April 16 2013 11:28 kushm4sta wrote:
the problem is people write too much so it's impossible to read the thread

Spam is just part of how some people play. Its just something you learn to deal with when you play on TL. In theory it trains your skimming abilities.
MOTM | Stim.tv | TL Mafia | Fantasy Fighting! | SNSD
1 2 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Monday Night Weeklies
17:00
#44
TKL 280
SteadfastSC235
IndyStarCraft 182
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
mouzHeroMarine 601
TKL 280
SteadfastSC 235
IndyStarCraft 182
UpATreeSC 154
JuggernautJason86
RushiSC 73
Livibee 60
elazer 58
StarCraft: Brood War
EffOrt 377
PianO 110
sorry 65
NotJumperer 55
Mini 50
Rock 20
ivOry 8
Dota 2
qojqva4659
canceldota101
League of Legends
JimRising 214
Counter-Strike
tarik_tv3068
fl0m2169
pashabiceps2146
adren_tv98
Heroes of the Storm
MindelVK14
Other Games
singsing1920
Beastyqt727
Grubby651
ceh9580
ArmadaUGS169
ToD121
C9.Mang079
QueenE78
Mew2King56
Trikslyr48
Organizations
Dota 2
PGL Dota 2 - Main Stream531
Other Games
BasetradeTV195
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 20 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• kabyraGe 127
• StrangeGG 28
• Adnapsc2 7
• Reevou 4
• Kozan
• sooper7s
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• Migwel
• intothetv
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• IndyKCrew
StarCraft: Brood War
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
Dota 2
• lizZardDota286
League of Legends
• Doublelift3673
• Jankos2317
• TFBlade281
• Shiphtur196
Other Games
• imaqtpie915
Upcoming Events
WardiTV Team League
17h 24m
PiGosaur Cup
1d 5h
Kung Fu Cup
1d 16h
OSC
2 days
The PondCast
2 days
KCM Race Survival
2 days
WardiTV Team League
2 days
Replay Cast
3 days
KCM Race Survival
3 days
WardiTV Team League
3 days
[ Show More ]
Korean StarCraft League
4 days
RSL Revival
4 days
Maru vs Zoun
Cure vs ByuN
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
4 days
BSL
5 days
RSL Revival
5 days
herO vs MaxPax
Rogue vs TriGGeR
BSL
6 days
Replay Cast
6 days
Replay Cast
6 days
Afreeca Starleague
6 days
Sharp vs Scan
Rain vs Mong
Wardi Open
6 days
Monday Night Weeklies
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-03-15
WardiTV Winter 2026
Underdog Cup #3

Ongoing

KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 1
Jeongseon Sooper Cup
BSL Season 22
CSL Elite League 2026
RSL Revival: Season 4
Nations Cup 2026
ESL Pro League S23 Finals
ESL Pro League S23 Stage 1&2
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
IEM Kraków 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter Qual

Upcoming

ASL Season 21
Acropolis #4 - TS6
2026 Changsha Offline CUP
Acropolis #4
IPSL Spring 2026
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
CSLAN 4
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
NationLESS Cup
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
CCT Season 3 Global Finals
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.