Classic 2

<- Back to Setups

7a1b65a1b57a2b12a1b75a1b32a2

Intermediate Follow the Cop

## Description

Next level up from Classic. This time around Cop needs to share notes a bit less freely in the short term to have more relevant info in the long run. An MC is allowed on this setup, allowing sided checks to be condemned with less consequences.

## Optimal play

This setup is all about Town increasing the amount of information available, and Mafia playing to reduce that information, making it a more mechanical than scumhunting setup. The centerpiece is the Cop, protected by Doctor and unhindered by Hooker or Strongman. The Cop will claim on Day 1 and lead the vote, then on Day 2, disclose the results of two reports. Combined with the three players in the graveyard, Town will work to solve the game. You will likely be taking plays on probability, i.e., condemning a player in a group of 2 that contains one Mafia, as opposed to a group of 3 that contains one Mafia.

Mafia's goal is to restrict the pool of Cop reports. If you can figure out who the Cop wants to investigate on Night 2 and kill them, Mafia's chance of winning roughly doubles. If you can figure out who the Cop investigated on Night 1, and kill them on Night 2, the result is the same. If Town have both cop reports on Day 2, it becomes very hard to win the game.

To reiterate, the critical day for this setup is Day 2. The score is, or should be, 3:2, and Town should have access to incomplete information regarding the roles of just shy of 3 of the living players. The maximum information available is three dead players, one Cop claim, one Doctor claim, and two reports on other living players, or 7 pieces for 8 players. The minimum is a dead Cop, Doctor, and a Miller that was condemned and shows Mafia in the graveyard. When reading reports, realize that two Villagers in the graveyard means your "not sided" result is Mafia, and two Millers in the graveyard means the same for your "sided" report. Otherwise, reports only move a player into one of two pools to choose between when it comes to the votes.

### Cop

Claim your role Day 1, but don't out your report yet; if you do, Mafia will kill that player at night and you'll have one piece of information fewer with which to solve the game. You'll have the final say on who Town condemns, so make sure it's someone you didn't check. Day 2, out your reports and help Town figure out the solution based on what roles are in the graveyard. Remember that given the specifics of the setup, neither an innocent or guilty report can be considered proof without corroboration from dead players.

If Doctor dies Night 1, you can't claim any more. Hide and pray you make it to Day 2 so you've got a chance to play the game.

You have a WIFOM option in outing your report on Day 1. This challenges the Mafia to decide whether to kill them or you, with the Doctor on either you or the report. The potential reward is an extra confirm, should Mafia target the report, and the Doctor takes the WIFOM option as well, protecting the report. There is a risk in them guessing correctly, and your report dies in the night, reducing the information available to town on Day 2. Your report could also be on the Doctor, who cannot protect themselves, and your gambit has doomed them. Should the report live, if Mafia elects to no-kill, the Town actually net loses information on who is a viable condemn, as their kill is a useful piece of information, and the fact that the report is alive is not proof of alignment. And further, because that option exists, if the report lives and Mafia has killed another player, it is possible that they have chosen the WIFOM option in order to make Town believe that the report is a Mafia player and thus ineligible to be removed from the data by way of murder. Summarily, this option is **NOT** recommended.

### Doctor

Night 1 is random. If you get a save, you should out it right away on Day 1, to create a confirm for Town. In the more likely case that you don't get a save, just blend in with the Villagers and help Town hunt for scum. ALWAYS COVER THE COP ON NIGHT 2. This is the night that you are at the greatest risk, but the Mafia have an out to the entire game and a license to cause chaos if the Cop is dead. If you happen to live to Day 2, always claim immediately. Godfather will be forced to CC you, and any Villager that happens to be alive becomes confirmed.

If Cop dies Night 1, hide. Try and protect someone useful Night 2, and if they live, you can claim with that piece of information and see where town takes it on Day 2. It's gonna be tough no matter what.

There is a WIFOM option on Night 2 of *not* protecting the Cop, since Mafia will essentially never hit that target, since *of course* you'll be protecting them, so you protect a Villager you think might die, and turn them into a confirm if you read right. The risk-reward analysis on this play is impossible to calculate, since it's necessarily dependent on the dispositions of the individual members of the play group. The risk is twofold: First that Mafia detect you as the type of person who might do this, and try hitting the Cop, catching you with your pants down. With the Cop dead, the game becomes chaotic and Mafia are extremely likely to win. Secondly, there is the risk of Mafia playing towards you protecting one of them. If you claim to have protected a Mafia member on a night that they no-killed, you create a false confirm, and Mafia are again strongly advantaged. Of course, both of these negative outcomes are predicated upon Mafia taking the WIFOM option as well; if Mafia simply play conventionally then you can be rewarded.

### Miller/Villager

Your only power is your voice and your vote. Work with other Town players to find and kill the Mafia. Since you can equally well be Miller or Villager, don't worry too much if the Cop says you're guilty.

### Mafia

You're a Villager, just an ordinary Villager. Guilty report? Miller then, let's keep scumhunting. You're not guilty until there are two Millers in the graveyard. That is specifically restricted to Miller, i.e., you got unlucky and nightkilled your whole claimspace, by the way; if one of them gets condemned you're laughing. That was the real Maf, says you, let's find out who they were defending with their pushes.

You have a WIFOM option in bussing your Godfather on Day 1. It is much safer if the player killed on Night 1 is not Miller, but also bears less potential reward. Because the Godfather is the only player who is demonstrably Mafia in the graveyard, you can potentially be townread if that is the player you pushed; however, you may be accused of TMI and killed Day 2. This is, so far, ordinary bus gambit. The setup-specific aspect comes only if there is a dead Miller. At that point, *because* there is a risk of killing the other Miller that night and having a Cop report on you, it can be incredibly rewarding to bus in that spot. *Of course* you must be a Real Miller, Mafia would have to be suicidal to bus in that spot!

**Godfather**

You have a lot of options in your play. You can claim Doctor or not, you can play aggressively for miscondemns or not. If Doctor claims Day 1, you're in a pickle. It means they've successfully saved someone and you've got 3 confirms to work through. It is likely for the best in this case that you CC Doctor with the same save. You can even race the Doctor if you notice that your kill didn't die Night 1 and claim to have saved that player before they can. If this happens, don't push on your CC. They're *obvious* Mafia but killing them will give their partner license to kill you, and as long as you're alive you can potentially find saves. In this situation, aggressively push for the Villager of your choice; *obviously* (once Day 2 rolls around) you wouldn't openwolf like that when it's a 50/50 between you and your CC, and eyes will be on you, right? If the Doctor claims their role *without* having saved anyone, don't CC, just kill them at night and thank them in postgame.

If they stay undercover, you stay undercover too. Your goal in general should be to look like a very convincing Doctor, should it be necessary to CC. Play like you think you would, were you the Doctor. Whether you should play aggressively to work the "Mafia" into believing you're a Villager, or play defensively to keep the "Mafia" from noticing and thinking of you is entirely up to you as a player.

Bussing the vanilla Mafia is, for you, uniquely unrewarding. If Millers turn up in the graveyard at night, you'll surely be accused of TMI and killed. If they don't, then you can't even gain towncred for pushing scum, since you have no way of knowing if that Mafia result was real, not certainly at any rate, and may be accused of TMI and killed.