[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/ext/alfredoramos/seometadata/event/listener.php on line 114: Undefined array key 10829780 [phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/ext/alfredoramos/seometadata/event/listener.php on line 114: Trying to access array offset on value of type null Scummies Nominations 2019 - Mafiascum.net
In my opinion this was the funniest thing that happened in a mafia game throughout the entire year. Scum had played a sufficiently good game that by the time they arrived here, the
immediate reaction of three of the remaining VTs
was to self vote to try and get out of having to be in lylo with any of the others, and to then proceed to argue about who deserved to die the most. Featuring gems such as "I'VE BEEN WANTING TO DIE FOR TWO WHOLE PHASES"
"you selfish bastards" and "No no no
GDGW has been scumreading me all fam. He was correct. Kill me and town wins"
"I’m not the towniest I just claimed acum" I challenge anyone to read the pages after day restarted here and not be deeply amused.
I thought this was a really novel approach to micros, allowing for town to have noticeable extra power if able to exclude scum for a sufficiently long time, but also having to be aware that once scum get added any plotting was redundant. Combining the importance of the order of adds to the new PT (which could have worked as a highly effective scum hunting tool had town been more effective at locating each other and townblocing in the new thread) on top of standard play made for an interesting game that, while not perfect, is definitely worthy of consideration for this award.
Honestly, I'm shocked this hasn't been done and slightly disappointed that it's necessary for me to do the write up because I doubt I'll do it justice. However, to the point:
Pine has consistently demonstrated excellent scumplay throughout the year. He's shown capability in an individual level (which we all already knew), once again displayed an excellent strategic understanding of the game and how to set up his team to win, but also has an element of daring that makes him a fun opponent and not just a solid one.
For instance, in this game he gambited, acting as if he thought he'd been hammered, and came impressively close to avoiding the D1 lynch despite his slot being in an awful position on his rep in. His play also set up his partner to make it through to 5p at which point she was caught mechanically. Pine has also demonstrated a willingness to share his knowledge without being overly domineering. I had the benefit of this first hand upon repping into Pokemon Ruby in which I was given a crash course in scum theatre, emulating townplay, and positioning, all tips which I'm convinced helped us to nearly make endgame before being mechanically caught. You may be sensing a trend here, which is that unless you get him mechanically, you're up against it when facing pine scum.
The last two games I'd like to mention are also games where I've been involved with pine!scum first hand. Firstly, Added to the Group Chat a game which should have been a town win but which was saved for scum by a last minute gamble from Pine, where he outed himself as scum but offered to concede if town was able to identify the other scum member in 5p lylo. Clearly, the correct move would be to lynch the WIFOM spewing open wolf, but Pine very nearly had me persuaded to go for it and vote who I thought his partner was, and did in fact manage to make a different towny do exactly that. The most impressive testament to Pine's scum game though, is that he was able to open wolf here and
it wouldn't even have mattered if we'd lynched him
because he'd done such a good job of setting up his partner that they were likely to win regardless.
Finally, maybe predictably, there's AvP. I haven't read the scum PT here, but I can imagine that within it there is a great deal of strategising, team support, discussion, scheming, and probably laughs. Because another point is that playing scum with Pine is, in my experience and in what I can infer from what others say, just good fun. He does what he needs to do to win, and to ensure a scum team victory, but he also does it while having a laugh. All in all, he is a thoroughly deserving candidate for DC this year.
A final point that occurred to me right before posting this is that these games also demonstrate something else: Pine is a scum player who can win and lead his team regardless of size and activity level. And lastly, none of this has come at the cost of his town game, where he's keenly analytical and able to town tell and avoid paranoia lynches despite his reputation as scum.
