As a wonderful example of Sod's Law in action, the game that finally tipped me up into Master Tier was weird as all hell and involved me making a colossal balls-up.
I'd rolled Medium. In the absence of a Jailor claim, I called for TP/LO.
On N1, someone died to a Veteran and were cleaned (but not killed) by the Mafia and immediately quit.
On D2, I jokingly said "That's got to be the unluckiest Witch in Salem." During VFR, a whole series of TI claims tumbled out. When investigating the TI follow-ups during VFR, another player was clearly caught on the hop and made a cack-handed, and late, claim to be Lookout after being outed as Lookout/Forger/Witch. On being lynched, they flipped Witch - it turned out that they were the unluckiest Witch in Salem.
So going into N2, we had both Neutrals dead. Not a bad start, all things being equal. The Mafia followed-up by cleaning two of the open TI claims. Neither had any particularly critical information, and with all of the Town knowing their claims I wasn't in a great position to prove myself. The Jailor was giving us headaches by not openly claiming, and the Maf were struggling to find the TP, so they weren't wasting their efforts on me either. All I could do, like any reasonable Medium, was do my utmost to lead the Town and out the remaining evils. I managed a successful push on the Mafioso and, following up on that, *finally* managed to draw people's attention to the Janitor's sudden silence when asked to share an updated will.
The Jailor didn't take any notice, but it turns out a Vigilante who was also desperate to prove himself did. The Jailor clocked the Godfather the following night and executed him.
Although it had been a slightly rocky run, according to the notes in my will, we came into the endgame with;
Me, the Medium
A confirmed Veteran,
A confirmed Vigilante
A confirmed Jailor
A confirmed Escort
A Doctor claim
RT1 was Spy, RT2 was Invest, RT3 was Vigilante.
I knew who the Veteran and Jailor were from the dead, and the Vigilante as the only other to not claim openly, so I opened what I expected to be the final day by whispering all three to confirm myself as Medium and that I knew their roles even though they hadn't openly revealed them. I'd been acting as a Town leader up to that point, and so they were all quite happy to go with me as I pushed the Doctor onto the stand.
The Doctor wasn't impressed. He pointed out he'd cc'd the Godfather and that there were no other TP claims, living or dead. I glanced back at the graveyard and realised that...hang on...they're absolutely right. I've managed to screw this up somehow - they genuinely are an uncontested TP claim. I rapidly backtracked and told the Town to vote them down.
I knew I'd duffed up somewhere, but WHERE? I was skimming back across my notes as the Vigilante started to ask why we'd voted the Doctor up in the first place. Under pressure and slightly panicking, I managed to compound my blunder, and asked "Hold up - are we absolutely sure the Vet is confirmed?" That did it. The Doctor finally asked me to claim, and "Medium" got me inevitably voted up onto the stand.
By the time I was there, I'd realised my mistake. I'd overlooked the fact that
I was the flipping TS, and with the appearance of the Vigi I should have realised our uncontested "Escort" was actually a Consort - but I hadn't counterclaimed him at the time, since I was quite happy for the Mafia to think I might be the Jailor if it kept the Jailor alive. I couldn't have framed myself more perfectly if I'd tried.
I pointed out that I'd pushed on the Witch, Mafioso and Janitor. I admitted that my claim was unprovable and that I'd brainfarted when I skipped the Escort and accused the Doctor. And that yes, absolutely, I understood why they were going to lynch me - but once I was dead, it'd prove that the Escort was fake, and the Jailor should deal with him. After they hanged me, a couple of living Town were, understandably, pretty scathing about the "savant" Medium. But a few peeps in dead chat who I'd spent several nights with hammering out the rolelist, cross-checking suspicions and seeking ways to prove I was legit were kind enough to weigh in and point out I'd been leading the Town pretty effectively while the Jailor did his ninja impression.
Getting promoted to Master in a game where I'd mislynched myself wasn't something I'd have ever expected to happen, but at least it made for a memorable game.