An Interview with Laurentus on the Mafia Championshipsby taulover
In late May/early June, we were invited to participate in the Mafia Championships, an international tournament of forum Werewolf/Mafia. Laurentus, one of our most feared Werewolf players, was nominated to participate. After his game's conclusion, I spoke to him about the experience.How were you first introduced to the game of Werewolf/Mafia?Back when Colby was still around, he was New Hyperion's ambassador to Wintreath, and invited us all to join them for what, at the time, was a completely unknown game to me. The way he described it sounded very interesting, though, so I decided to sign up. I studied the first 2 games before playing, and then got the role of defender, along with Sapphiron. I loved the game, as I've always been fascinated by games of lying/bluffing and trying to see through people's mind games. That one experience cultivated a lasting love for it- and a lasting rivalry with Sapphiron, because I know just what he's capable of.
What was it like to be thrust into the competitive Mafia scene?Exciting and overwhelming. I was not quite prepared for the level of activity the game required, and it was tricky to get used to the jargon and set strategies they employed, while still trying to come across as not suspicious. It proved to be a fruitful endeavour, though, because I learned a lot from the guys there.
The trickiest thing for me to overcome was that the roles were not tied to alignment, and we were allowed to freely reveal our roles.
In your assessment, how did the game go, both for you and overall?I did quite poorly, in my estimation. My instincts were generally pretty good, but my strategy for trying to stay below the radar more than usual actually ended up getting me killed by the vigilante of the game, probably because I looked like a scary Wolf who would have been hard to get lynched with the Town cred I'd earned.
My estimation of the game itself is a lot better. Town lost in the end, but they did so against perhaps the most skilled Wolf I've ever had the pleasure to see in action. I would love to take part in another, when an opportunity presents itself again.
What have you learned or taken away from this experience?I've learned how little I know, and how much I still have to learn.
Watching Lady Lambdadelta in action as a Wolf felt like the final, perfected form my natural play style should probably try to evolve into, because a big disconnect for me personally has always been that I am not quite as brazen as a Wolf as I am as a Townie, probably because subconsciously, the fact that I know I'm lying holds me back from truly going all out.
I don't think my playstyle and Lady's are identical, as I am never
that that aggressive, but it has served as an example for how I can approach the game if I ever end up being the Wolf again.
I also learned quite a few new ways to try and engage with players who are strangers to me, as I typically rely a lot on metagaming, and I've also learned that an over-reliance on meta isn't good either.
If you're interested, you can follow the game for yourself on the Mafia Universe forums. 