Mastina/How to Read Mastina: The Flowchart

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• Mafia with the Quickness 2 (wiki) by Zachrulez saw the birth of Mastina firmly laying out to any who cared what her meta is. First developed as a response to players unfamiliar with her style scumreading her, she went on to hone and refine the flowchart into its current form, where she will deploy it any time a player complains she is unreadable (especially if they have not encountered her before).

Given below is the flowchart in its most recent form.

Reading Mastina

Are you zMuffinMan?

Yes

Screw tells, you know mastina's alignment instantly.

No

Proceed.

Are you AngryPidgeon?

Yes

Screw tells, you know mastina's alignment instantly.

No

Proceed.

Are you a player who has hydraed or has otherwise worked well with mastina?

Yes

You likely don't need the chart, but because you're not that familiar with her, you should probably go through it anyway as a precaution.

No

Proceed.

Is/Are zMuffinMan/AP in the game?

Yes

Sheep them on their read! Never doubt it.

No

Think like them and continue on.

The Flowchart

Is it D1?

Yes

...And you're suspicious of mastina?!?

She's town.

No

Is it D2?

• Yes: She's prob-town.
• No: If D3 or later, proceed.

Does mastina look town?

No

Then she's town.

Yes

Proceed.

Trust her. What does she do?

Get paranoid of you

She's town.

Enthusiastically work with you

Probably town, but proceed as a precaution.

Nothing

Probably town, but proceed as a precaution.

Milk townread and bully you

Proceed.

Pressure her heavily. What does she do?

Freak out

She's town.

Show concern, but subdued

Probably town, but proceed as a precaution.

Brush it off

Proceed.

Is she posting up a storm?

Yes

Probably town, but proceed as a precaution.

No

Proceed.

Is she gloating how good her scumgame is?

Yes

Probably town, but proceed as a precaution.

No

Proceed.

Does mastina have delusions of grandeur

Yes

Probably town, but proceed as a precaution.

No

Proceed.

Is she waffling...
...A lot?

Yes

She's town.

...Sorta?

Probably town, but proceed as a precaution.

No

Proceed.

Does she look like she's trying to leave a legacy?

Yes

She's town.

...Maybe?

Probably town, but proceed as a precaution.

No

Proceed.

Is she antagonizing everyone?

Yes

She's town.

No

Proceed.

Has mastina rambled on MD Theory?

Yes

She's town.

No

Proceed.

Has mastina gone on long rambles in-thread?

Yes

Do scum have daychat?

• Yes: She's town.
• No/Unknown: Is there only one scum left alive?
  • Yes: She's town.
  • No/Unknown: There's no way to attach alignment to this action, then.

No

Proceed.

Is mastina making a case for why she could be scum?

Yes

She's town.

...Kinda?

Probably town, but proceed as a precaution.

No

Proceed.

Is mastina giving strong reasons why she's town?

No

She's town.

...Kinda?

Probably town, but proceed as a precaution.

Yes

Proceed.

If applicable, did she 'crumb her role and/or claim it openly and immediately?

Yes

She's town.

Maybe

Probably town, but proceed as a precaution.

No

Proceed.

Do the circumstances behind her play and/or claim look town?

Yes

She's town.

Maybe

Probably town, but proceed as a precaution.

No

Proceed.

Is she irrational?

Yes

She's town.

Maybe

Probably town, but proceed as a precaution.

No

Proceed.

Has she lost her temper?

Yes

She's town.

Maybe

She's still town.

It looks fake

She's pissed off regardless of her alignment, though there's no way to tell which she holds.

No

Proceed.

Is she spewing random, illogical theories?

Yes

Probably town, but proceed as a precaution.

No

Proceed.

Is mastina's posting wildly inconsistent?

Yes

She's town.

...Maybe?

Probably town, but proceed as a precaution.

No

Proceed.

Does her posting look intentional?

No

She's town.

Yes

Proceed.

Does she show genuine interest in finding scum?

Yes

She's town.

...Maybe?

Probably town, but proceed as a precaution.

No

Proceed.

Do her points have a town point of view?

Yes

She's town.

No

No. Really. Filtered through mastina crazy, her eyes not yours. Do her points have town from her perspective in them?

• Yes: She's town.
• Impossible to say...: Still town.
• Possibly?: Probably town, but proceed as a precaution.
• No: Proceed.

Is she spontaneous, random, and/or whimsical?

Yes

She's town.

Maybe

Probably town, but proceed as a precaution.

No

Proceed.

No

She's town. Though, proceed anyway just to be sure.

Maybe

Probably town, but proceed as a precaution.

Yes

Proceed.

Is her tone flat?

No

Probably town, but proceed as a precaution.

Yes

Proceed.

If behind...

Does she demonstrate knowledge of the current gamestate she could not reasonably have at her supposed point of reference?

No

She's town.

It's hard to say...

She probably does know, but not much, having likely skimmed offline, not logged in, and chose not to get the full context to spoiler her as probable-town.

Yes

Proceed.

Is she doing anything?

Yes

Well, go read what she's doing, dummy! Keep going.

No

She's probably fighting a flake, or some other form of meatworld distress impacting her game. Keep going with this in mind, as it'll happen regardless of her alignment.

Is she focusing on scumhunting?

No

She's town.

A little

Probably town, but proceed as a precaution.

Yes

Proceed.

Is there minimal resistance to lynching her?

Yes

She's town; defend her!

...Maybe?

You've gotten this far and the best you've got is a "maybe"?!? You dummy, run through it again! (But she's probably town anyway.)

If second time through:

• All other factors equal, if you're having this much trouble reading mastina, just freakin' assume she's town. (She likely is, anyway.)
  • FOR THE LOVE OF GODS, SHE'S TOWN.

No

She's probably scum...but you should run through the flowchart one more time just to be sure, as a precaution.

Condensed

If Mastina is scum, accept the loss; she'll win no matter what you do. Eat the loss and just treat her as town; it's less effort.

If Mastina is town, then either listen to her if she wants to be listened to or direct her if she wants someone to listen to.

More seriously

Just assume I'm town until you have a REALLY solid reason not to. You'll be right the VAST majority of the time, by sheer probability alone.

In other words, the problem of reading Mastina will usually be sorted out with enough time anyway, as she will eat a kill, be cleared, and/or prove herself town eventually.

Additional commentary

Town mastina doesn't have a clue what's going on. Because of that, her reads are in a state of constant flux, thanks to self-doubt, paranoia, second-guessing, and whatnot: she reevaluates, rethinks, and redoes stuff. In contrast, scumastina has absolute control of the game.

Whereas town-mastina is defined by inconsistency, scumastina is defined by consistent, solid, controlled, calculated play. She keeps the same reads as much as possible, because it serves to antagonize the least number of players. She is calm, collected, and cool. She is strategic. She is focused. Her thoughts are logical and precise, because she has a good handle on the game, and thus, her mind does not betray her.

Or in short, the difference between town and scum is the difference between chaos and order. I know what I'm doing as scum; I'm just taking my best guess and throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks as town.

---

Scumastina always has this laser-like focus. Losing focus has done nothing but screw me over. People like focus. They like confidence. They love to see assurance in a read. They want to have a figure be charismatic and to follow. It's an inherent part of people's nature. That's why tunneling is so prevalent, because it works DAMN good and well to get a lynch. People hate doubt. When someone is calling everyone town/scum in rapid circles, AKA circlejerking, people think it's scum trying to mislynch anyone. They see desperation and attribute it to being scum. They don't see a town player desperately trying to figure out the game. They see a scum player that is trying to find options. As scum I'd push a lynch through; as town, here I am without a clue.

On having multiple playstyles

Indeed I do. Why? Because my play in games is fluid, thanks to situational awareness. While I might not know what's going on as town, I can generally feel out the game and have an idea for what will work best, adapting to have a playstyle specific to that game. It's mildly helpful, since it lets me hone in on scum better, but situational awareness mostly helps me as scum, because as scum, adapting my play to the game when I have more info than my town self does is lethally effective.

On The Accuracy of the Flowchart

Note that the flowchart is never 100% accurate. It's literally impossible to display all of them in a single game, as many parts are in fact slightly contradictory.

The point of the flowchart is to use a general guideline, to see as many as possible and if the majority matches town or scum. In spite of no attempts to uphold it and some efforts to subvert it, the flowchart remains a dominant indicator as to which alignment Mastina holds.

Also note that some points hold stronger than others. In particular, points marked as "she's town" are going to be more valuable than "probably town"...both if present, and if absent.

Meta is Circular

The flowchart is, at its core, simply a recognition and documentation of mastina's known patterns. These change over time, and in fact, are a bit of a circular loop.

As of the time, 21:37, 2 April 2017 (EDT), for instance, mastina's reads tend to be wavering less as town (rendering that point near-moot), her confidence is being displayed more as town (rendering that point near-moot), her stubbornness has been increased as town (increasing the strength of related towntells), she insults people more as town (increasing the strength of related towntells), and she rages more as town (increasing the strength of that towntell). Though true at the time of this publication, in the future that can and will change.

Last Updated: 21:37, 2 April 2017 (EDT)