So, first off – Infernape absolutely loves being mafia. He enjoys playing on the evil side much more than playing V, and it really shows. As a villager, he tends to rely on gut reads a lot, to the point of not reading people in different ways whatsoever. Infernape is not above re-evaluating, but because of his insistence on gut reads and reaction tests, he’s definitely challenging to understand. Infernape can’t explain his own reads (because they come from the gut 99% of the time) and has lower investment and motivation when he’s a villager. His play always comes across as chaotic, he frequently lacks direction and can change his opinion on a dime. Because his village play can come across as nonsensical, opportunistic, and unhelpful, he’s frequently mislynched when he’s a villager. It’s really not difficult to find a reason to push him. In general, a village Infernape does still try to do something, but is generally less motivated, has less confidence, and more frustration. One thing I should note is that he KNOWS THIS – and here is where we go to his wolf play.
Infernape LOVES wolfing. Infernape loves being mafia, he loves performative and wacky plays. As a wolf, he has a tendency to be present in the thread when required. He is definitely not a passive wolf and busses frequently. When he has no need to bus, he takes every opportunity to push villagers and never relents. Infernape definitely plays to win as a wolf and is more adaptable than people think. If people start to wolfread him because of his confidence, aggression, and the mindset of „I will vote ANYONE!” – he will switch up his play accordingly. Many things can seem similar at first glance when he is wolfing. Infernape retains his chaotic playstyle, constantly switches votes, barely ever explains his reads. The difference lies in what he tries to accomplish, I believe. As a wolf, Infernape is far more likely to go for risky plays. Like I said, he wants to do things, and he plays to win – as a villager, he lacks the confidence to do so, and comes across as a little more reserved. Historically, he’s generally had smaller WiM as a villager and higher WiM when wolfing. Because he’s so adaptable, it can be difficult to catch him when he is a wolf, especially since he’s aware of his meta and capable of switching things up.
With Infernape, there are a few things that generally mean he is a wolf. Those things are the following: purpose, direction, a motive, opportunism, possibly hidden genius. If you see any of those things in Infernape’s play, then he is more likely to be a wolf. If you see multiple, then it becomes almost guaranteed. As a villager, Infernape comes across as more silly, more challenging to understand, less inclined to shift the direction of the thread. As a wolf, he does things with a general idea of what he wants to accomplish. He can be loud, unorthodox, ruthless, but he tries to get the job done. As a villager, Infernape doesn’t really know how to lynch wolves – and because of that, while he may still be inclined to experiment, he is less likely to be hardcore. And because he won’t do anything significant (as a general rule of thumb), his play comes across as disjointed (because he’s going to try and mostly fail to get somewhere on occasion). And he can get mislynched because of it. He will try to do things and fail, and it can look wolfy because he doesn’t think about what he looks like. And he can get mislynched. Rinse and repeat.
Village Infernape knows he is capable of less as a villager and plays accordingly. He still tries to win, but he does not overextend. Village Infernape is always going to speak his mind and perform, play his own little game, but he won’t have a full-fledged plan in motion. His village play is much more similar to throwing sticks and stones until something hits – when you look at it holistically. Wolf Infernape knows he is capable of plenty as a wolf and plays with that knowledge in mind. He definitely plays to win, and he will do flashy, performative things to get there – or hide in the shadows and relentlessly bus if things get dicey. Wolf Infernape knows what he’s doing. Village Infernape… frequently doesn’t.
Vul wrote this post about me in another game
