Mago (Third Party): Overview and Strats

 

The Mago is a high-risk, high-reward third-party role in Deck Mafia whose objective is to infiltrate and manipulate the scum faction to achieve a personal victory. The Mago has the unique ability to convert players into the scum team every night, but there are dangerous consequences if they target certain players, claim their role, or break the rule of secrecy. Ultimately, the Mago wins by reaching parity with the innocent faction while having at least one of their converts alive, which results in the Mafia dying and the Mago leaving as the solo winner.

Here’s a breakdown of the Mago’s abilities, win conditions, and strategies for success.

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Primary Objective:

• Goal: The Mago wins by converting players to the scum faction and achieving parity between scum and the innocent faction. When parity is reached, all scum players die, and the Mago leaves the game as the winner. For this to happen, at least one of the Mago’s converted scum members must still be alive at the time of parity.
• Challenges: The Mago must carefully choose targets for conversion while avoiding targeting existing scum members or other third parties, as either mistake results in the Mago’s death.

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Key Abilities:

1. Factional Convert (Night Action):

   • Mechanic: Every night, the Mago must target a player to convert them into the scum faction. If successful, the target joins the scum chat and receives the scum faction’s win condition.
     • If the target is a scum player or a third party, the Mago dies.
     • The Mago must be cautious about who they target, as missteps will lead to their death.
   • Strategic Use: The Mago’s power lies in growing the scum faction with converts who will assist in the scum’s goals. However, unlike typical scum, the Mago’s true win condition is to eliminate the entire scum faction after reaching parity, so their strategy must involve both supporting and manipulating the scum team to ensure their converts remain alive.

2. Scum-Aware Mechanic:

   • Mechanic: The scum faction is aware of the Mago’s presence in the game. They are informed that there is a Mago, making them cautious of newly converted members. The Mago is also at risk of their converts being killed by the scum’s factional kill, which is allowed to target any converted scum members.
     • If the scum team doesn’t have a factional kill, the host will assign one for the purpose of eliminating converted scum members.
   • Strategic Use: The scum faction will be incentivized to kill Mago converts, so the Mago must work cleverly to keep their converts alive and influence the game. The key is to keep the scum faction guessing and protect the converted scum members long enough to reach parity.

3. Death Conditions:

   • Mechanic: The Mago dies if they:
     • Target an existing scum player.
     • Target a third-party player.
     • Claim their role, as any public claim results in immediate death.
     • Strategic Use: The Mago’s need for secrecy is paramount. They must be extremely careful in choosing their conversion targets and never openly discuss their role, as revealing their identity will result in automatic death.

4. Day 3 Bulletproof Vest:

   • Mechanic: The Mago gains a bulletproof vest on Day 3, which offers protection from one kill attempt. This vest provides the Mago with a defensive advantage as they approach the mid-game.
   • Strategic Use: This vest grants the Mago a bit of extra security as they navigate the growing tensions between factions. The protection helps the Mago survive potentially lethal attacks from both the scum team and town, allowing them more time to work toward their victory condition.

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Win Condition:

1. Achieve Parity with Scum Converts Alive:
   • The Mago wins when the scum faction achieves parity with the innocent faction (meaning the scum team and the innocent faction have an equal number of players left), as long as at least one of the Mago’s converts is alive. When this happens, all scum members are eliminated, and the Mago leaves the game as the solo winner.
   • Strategic Considerations: The Mago’s win condition is unique because it involves temporarily assisting the scum team by converting players into their faction while secretly planning their downfall. Once parity is reached, the Mago ensures the demise of the scum faction, achieving a solo victory.

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Optimal Playstyle and Strategy:

1. Early Game: Careful Targeting and Secrecy

• Choose Targets Wisely: The first task as the Mago is to pick conversion targets carefully. Since targeting scum or other third parties results in death, you must try to identify players who are likely innocent (but not too obvious, as they may be protected) and convert them into scum. Avoid targeting anyone who seems to have ties to the scum team or is acting independently like a third party.
• Keep Your Identity Hidden: Never claim your role or hint at your true identity. The Mago’s survival depends on secrecy, and any suggestion of being the Mago could lead to immediate suspicion and elimination. Instead, blend in and appear to be working toward a standard win condition.
• Early Defense with the Scum Team: Early on, you may need to work with the scum team while pretending to be one of them. Since the scum team knows there’s a Mago, they may be suspicious of new converts, but you can use this early phase to blend into their ranks.

2. Mid-Game: Influence the Scum and Protect Converts

• Manage the Scum’s Suspicion: As the game progresses, the scum faction will become more suspicious of newly converted members. You need to carefully manage how the scum perceive your converts to keep them alive. Encourage the scum to target town or other threats instead of focusing on your converts.
• Use the Bulletproof Vest to Your Advantage: With the bulletproof vest gained on Day 3, you have a layer of protection against potential scum kills or attacks from other factions. This gives you a bit of breathing room to continue working toward your win condition without fear of immediate elimination.
• Influence the Game State: Try to subtly influence the scum team’s actions while protecting your converts. You may need to help scum achieve their goals temporarily to maintain trust, but your long-term focus should be keeping your converts alive until parity.

3. Late Game: Secure Parity and Win

• Aim for Parity: As the game progresses and the number of remaining players shrinks, your primary goal is to ensure the scum team reaches parity with the innocent faction. You need to manipulate the game state to keep the scum strong enough to reach parity without letting them discover your endgame.
• Protect Your Converts: In the late game, ensure that at least one of your converts survives until parity is achieved. If your converts are killed, you lose your chance at victory. Use whatever influence you can to guide the scum team away from eliminating your converts.
• Solo Victory at Parity: When parity is reached, the scum team dies, and you leave the game victorious. Make sure you are still alive at this point, and one of your converts is intact to trigger your solo win.

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Strategic Considerations:

• Avoid Claiming and Stay Secretive: The most important rule for the Mago is never to claim your role, as this results in immediate death. You also cannot claim your converts, which makes subtlety and deception essential to your survival.

• Balance Conversion and Protection: The Mago must walk a fine line between converting enough players to weaken the town and protect their converts from scum factional kills. Influencing the scum team while secretly plotting their downfall is a challenging but rewarding strategy.

• Use the Bulletproof Vest Wisely: The Day 3 vest provides some protection but won’t save you from all dangers. Use it as a safeguard to survive the mid-game while continuing to convert and manipulate.

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Final Thoughts:

The Mago is a unique and dangerous third-party role that relies on conversion, secrecy, and manipulation of the scum faction to achieve a solo victory. By converting players to the scum team and guiding them to parity with the town, the Mago can eliminate the entire scum faction in one move and leave the game as the winner. However, the role requires extreme caution, as a single misstep in targeting or revealing identity can lead to the Mago’s death. Play carefully, deceive expertly, and use your converts to secure your path to victory.