Smilodon (Third Party): Overview and Strats

 

The Smilodon is a third-party role in Deck Mafia with a win condition tied to dying at night by the hands of a group scum faction or another third party. The Smilodon must navigate the game in such a way that they provoke a nighttime kill from the right source, while avoiding death during the day or by innocent factions like the Subvers or Farmers. With powerful passive and active abilities, the Smilodon can influence the game by disrupting players' actions and isolating them from group chats.

Here’s a breakdown of how to play the Smilodon effectively, ensuring you provoke the right kill and secure your win.

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Primary Objective:

• Goal: Die at night at the hands of a group scum faction or another third party.
• Challenges: You must avoid dying during the day or being killed by members of the innocent factions (Subver or Farmers). You also need to ensure that your death comes from a faction capable of securing your win.

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Key Abilities:

1. Survivor Killer (Passive):

   • Effect: If you visit any player who holds a survivor third party role, they will die, regardless of any buffs or immunities they might have. This makes you a natural predator to any survivor roles in the game, ensuring their death when you cross paths.
   • Strategic Use: Use this passive to take out survivors early, especially if they might interfere with your path to victory. This makes you a threat to players with roles like Greedy Alex or Priestess who aim to survive until the end.

2. Canceller (Passive):

   • Effect: Any player you visit will have all their actions canceled for that night. This includes factional and reflexive actions, as well as any actions targeting them. No actions will succeed for or against them during that night.
   • Strategic Use: Use this ability to disrupt key players' actions or prevent powerful roles from taking action. You can shut down major factional abilities for the night, potentially saving yourself or other third parties while causing confusion among factions.

3. Passive Ditcher (Passive):

   • Effect: Upon winning (dying at night by scum or another 3P), you will randomly ditch the entire deck of one Subver or Farmer aligned player. This posthumous ability can cause major disruption to the innocent faction.
   • Strategic Use: While this doesn't directly impact your gameplay before death, it can still weaken the innocent faction after your exit, giving your allies (or other third parties) a better chance at winning. It's important to die early enough so this ability takes effect when it can still sway the game.

4. Compulsive Mauling (Active):

   • Effect: Every night, you must target a player to maul them. This prevents them from accessing any group chats they are currently part of and blocks them from joining any future group chats for the rest of the game. Additionally, all their passive effects and modifiers are removed permanently.
   • Strategic Use: Mauling is a powerful tool to isolate players from factional discussions and group strategizing. It also permanently weakens their role by removing any passive abilities. Use this ability to target key players who rely on group coordination or have strong passive powers that could threaten your survival.

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Conditions and Limitations:

1. Death Condition:

   • The Smilodon wins only if they die at night at the hands of a group scum faction or another third party. You lose if:
     • You reach the end of the game alive.
     • You die during the day (through lynching, for example).
     • You are killed by an innocent faction member (Subver or Farmers).

2. Immunity to Day Protection and Yeet Prevention:

   • The Smilodon is immune to any protection or healing actions during the day, as well as any actions that would prevent them from being yeeted. This makes you highly vulnerable to being eliminated during the day, so you must tread carefully in public discussions.

3. Bullet Requirement for Kill Actions:

   • Any killing cards or actions the Smilodon submits, rand, or receives will require bullets to function, even if they typically wouldn’t. This restriction means you’ll need to manage your resources carefully when engaging in killing actions.

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Optimal Playstyle and Strategy:

1. Early Game: Create Disruption and Avoid Daytime Elimination

• Stay Low Profile: Early on, you’ll want to stay relatively low-key. Since you lose if you’re killed during the day, avoid drawing too much attention to yourself. Participate in discussions, but don’t make yourself an obvious target for yeeting (elimination via vote).
  
• Maul Key Players: Use your Compulsive Mauling ability to weaken influential players, especially those who are part of group chats. Isolating them from their faction can reduce their ability to strategize and communicate effectively. Maul players with strong passive abilities to permanently remove their powers.
• Target Survivors: If there are survivor third parties in the game, take advantage of your Survivor Killer passive ability to eliminate them early. This reduces the number of players competing for survival, making it easier for you to focus on provoking your own night kill.

2. Mid-Game: Increase Tension and Try to Attract Night Kills

• Focus on Provoking a Kill: As the game progresses, you’ll need to start making moves that draw attention from scum factions or other third parties. You want to provoke a kill action directed toward you during the night, but not from the innocent factions.
• Cancel Actions to Protect Yourself or Allies: Use your Canceller ability to protect yourself from dangerous players by visiting them and canceling their actions. You can also use this ability to protect potential allies or neutralize threats from powerful factional actions.
• Avoid Being Too Passive: While you don’t want to be overly aggressive, it’s important not to stay entirely passive. If you don’t make any moves that provoke scum factions or third parties, you might be overlooked and make it to the endgame without dying—which leads to your loss.

3. Late Game: Seal Your Fate by Manipulating Factions

• Push Scum or 3Ps to Target You: In the late game, you need to push for scum or another third party to kill you. This can be tricky, as factions may start focusing on eliminating each other. You’ll need to position yourself as a threat to certain factions without making yourself a target for the wrong killers (like Subvers).
• Utilize Your Ditcher Ability: If you manage to die at night, your Passive Ditcher ability will weaken a Subver aligned player by removing their entire deck. This is especially useful in the late game when every card counts, giving the scum faction an incentive to kill you.
  
• Make Yourself a Target: Consider publicly throwing shade at scum or third parties in a way that doesn’t provoke a day kill but draws their attention to you at night. You want to be seen as a problem they need to deal with, but not so early that they eliminate you before your plan comes together.

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Strategic Considerations:

• Balance Mauling with Survival: While mauling players can weaken and isolate them, it can also make you a bigger target. Balance your use of this ability with the risk of drawing too much attention to yourself. Target players that will significantly lose power without making yourself an obvious enemy.

• Be Mindful of Daytime Voting: Since you’re immune to protection during the day, be careful about how you participate in voting discussions. It’s easy to get yeeted if you’re seen as a threat or disruptive. Focus on surviving day phases to make it to the night.

• Avoid Innocent Kills: Make sure you don’t provoke Subver or Farmers into targeting you. Their night kills will result in your loss, so it’s important to steer their attention elsewhere.

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Final Thoughts:

The Smilodon is a strategic third-party role with a unique win condition tied to dying at the right hands. By disrupting key players and provoking the right factions or third parties into targeting you, the Smilodon can secure their victory through careful manipulation and calculated risk-taking. However, the Smilodon must avoid day kills and innocent faction actions, as these lead to their downfall.