I’ve historically avoided long posts in post game, but this experience has moved me, so I’ll give into the desire this one time.
The past 18 months have been tough for me. So tough. The pandemic. Death. Life. Failed dreams. Devastated finances. I have no doubt many of you have had similar horrible experiences. It is often difficult to verbalize the type of harrowing stuff we can often go through, and due to the nature of the past 18 months, there hasn’t always been the means for me to verbalize it either.
So moving into champs this year, all I wanted was for something to go right. Something for me to look back on, amongst all the difficulties, and be happy. Did that mean achieve? Maybe it just meant to achieve happiness. Anyway, I remember telling my mafia buddies this back when the season first started. Of course, they were supportive. As I moved into finale, I knew what it meant. It meant: have a good time, and enjoy the time with others. It’s not often I pat myself on the back or look for praise, and more often than not, I am self-critical, with the goal of improvement. However, here, I can say this loudly and proudly: every single moment this game was dedicated to not ruining anyone else’s experience. Every word, every post, every second of my sleepless nights that I spent solving, I asked myself whether I would look back at this and regret the experience.
No, this did not mean that I was afraid to be wrong, it just meant that I was mindful of enjoying the moment, and I hope, with all my heart, that I played a part for my fellow finalists to enjoy the moment as well.
Anything you’ll do will have it’s highs and lows. The high’s I associate with my time on Mafia Universe generally revolve around the great @
YOLOSWAG, the innocent @
LordQuas, the friendly @
Percy, and the awesome @
El-ahrairah. Y’all swag. I love a life outside of mafia, though when you’re vibing this online world, you do make it a laugh. Many others have had an impact by just being awesome and supportive, such as my man @
Macdougall and @
Justplayingitcool - you know who you are. As for the lows, let’s just say most of them aren’t welcome on MU anymore. Cya Kami x.
Anyway, my first champs experience was a number of years ago, and I had the fortune to actually come up against @
Pilica and @
Ampharos when I was a wolf. It’s awesome that things have come full circle, with Pilica and I meeting again as players in finale, and Amy writing the flavour. Never lose your fun attitude Pilica, you were a joy to play with when I both did and did not know your alignment.
Funnily enough, i’d played against Gorf before as well. Also having wolfed against him in a fun off-site game. This dawg named himself Donald Trump, and whilst I had the last laugh there, you’ve certainly shown to me as we’ve met again why Mr. Swag is good mates with you and throws praise at you so happily. Your honesty and balanced insight both in and outside of games is something I thrive off, and i’m excited to just keep the good vibes going in our own time when we feel like it. Swag out boyo.
This year, I didn’t get to finale alone. @
Thunal33, i’m so glad that you got the recognition you deserved in qualifiers and the semi finale to make it here. Your dedication in every game i’ve seen from you, and also from what you’ve said about your path to represent PerC - it’s what i’ve tried to bring, though you’ve put me to shame on that front yet again. We must also thank CaptainGrimlock for us converging here, thank [1] you [2] for [3] making [4] your [5] ten [6] posts [7] to [8] help [9] us [10]. Nah, seriously - as I said in game, your game was spectacular, and me being able to paint a story that says “agenda” takes nothing away from that.
@
Hornet, you’ve taught me a lot in spec chat, and now you’ve taught me a lot in finale. I hope you look back at this experience with a clear lens: you played well in the finale with other amazing players, you deserved your spot here, you brought fire (good fire), and your perspective was valuable. You were incredibly important in helping my own thread view and always helped settle me. Can’t wait to play with or against you again.
And oh boy, the semi final. What an absolute joy of a game. Alexa - when we first got fully acquainted around the ‘Jack Anonymous’ game, and you correctly identified my wolf game, I had no idea that I was about to play with one of the most dedicated and considered players i’ve met in my entire mafia career. I know things got stressful for us all, but you handled it amazingly, and you’re always going to be a player I associate with good memories with this experience. You made things fun. But you also were someone I thrived off when it came to solving, even though you were a wolf! Hold onto your independence and steadfast attitude when you’re confident, you’re normally right. And enjoy the moment when you’re a wolf.
@
Vandyfan402. LOL. Man, you handled this game like a king. We’ve talked about this in spec-chat, but you’re a fun fella to town against, now we just need to play a low stakes villager game together. This time I won’t hard-claim PR against you, I swear! Nah seriously, keep the good vibes.
Also, @
AXIS, @
Cape90, @
Limestone @
Nyth, @
Cuthalion, @
Psycho666Soldier, y’all swag. Missing some other cool names from my games here. @
Soneji, sucks man. We didn’t get to chat in game really, and I know things weren’t good for you in the game. I did use your energy going into D3, but that won’t really help your experience. I gotye (!) point of view now, that’s all that matters I guess. @
Holyflare you already know how appreciative I am of you broskis.
And then we get to you, the great dragonvale wolf winner, the spectacular night kill magnet in SF2, the ultimate WIM machine in finale, @
katze. You gave me so much to work off of in both games we’ve played together. Both content quantity, but also quality. I’m sure i’d be super frustrated to wolf against you, but that’s because you cover all bases as a villager. I mind-melded with you countless times here which goes to show the incredible capacity you have to wolf. Overall you just bring an element to the game that balances out the old farts like me. Honestly, I just wanna say thank you for consistently bringing *you* to the table.
@
Wiml, I was over the moon to see you have a voice here. As I said in game, you were my rock in SF2, and I do hope that you enjoyed the experience here when it comes to your own reflection time. The absolute last thing I wanted to see was anyone not enjoy this (probably) once in a lifetime experience, so I really hope that I was a part of that for you, as you were for me.
Well done on getting the solve @
Boquise. Well done on the WIM. Well done on the attitude. It pained me that at times, you weren’t outwardly vibing here man. I know you’ve had a pain-in-the-$%#! time in a lot of your other experiences, so I do hope that when the dust has settled and you look back at this, that you can look back at it with a fond memory. Your wim was a sight to behold both before and after I died, and it felt like you and I found our vibe at a great time. I hope we did. Honestly, you speaking about your experiences inspired me to prioritize enjoyment over results, and I hope that I did not take away any of your own enjoyment for much of this experience.
I truly admire your approach in the game when things were rough @
The Sun Fan. You wear your heart on your sleeve, and you do it with grace and honesty. I don’t have much to say to you here that I haven’t already in the game or elsewhere, other than that I am proud to have lived the moment with someone of your values.
@
Wisdom and @
vanity. My fellow PRs. First proper games together and even then it was only a couple days. Rand wasn’t the best given you were both well out of my scope before the claim. That’s alright. Thank you for delivering me the inspiration I needed to post through D3. Wis, your reads are consistently amazing and your intent to keep the game a good vibe is even moreso. It’s funny how we’ve both been here for years, yet the most we’ve experienced of each other is still 1 day and a night where we couldn’t talk, lol. Van, we’ve already chatted a bit, but I just really thrive off your approach to solving and keeping thread attitudes on track, and you bring an element to the game that cultivates effective solving. I know you’re a bit meh on your reads, but, who isn’t? You laid the foundations for getting a good solve.
As a whole, to @
alexa @
katze @
Vandyfan402 - as a team, you formed one of the most impressive wolf teams this game has seen. You came up against some truly amazing villagers, with excessive WIM, and you won. And you won convincingly. This was a wolf win because you were better than a village who were trying their absolute hardest to prevent wolves winning. After having read your chat, the teamwork and giving each other a voice is truly a sight to behold, given you’ve all done this as villagers in this season as well.
This was a wolf win, and a village effort. Everyone did their best. And I love that. Equally, my heart breaks for those that didn’t vibe.
Thank you.
Here’s a little something I made to remember the experience by. Just a mix of all of our songs. If you didn’t select a song, you were Ed Sheeran!
Can’t wait to jury with y’all - I hope we can be a positive part of other people’s stories in the coming years.
Swag out.