• Ma Su can only use "Winning Hearts" if his hand size exceeds his maximum health. He looks at the top three cards of the deck, places any hearts into his hand, and arranges the rest.

• If Ma Su is killed as a Rebel, "Bottomless Tears" activates before the bounty is claimed. This forces the killer to discard all their cards and then draw three.

• If Cao Pi kills Ma Su, "Unnatural Death" takes effect first, allowing Cao Pi to take all of Ma Su’s cards before "Bottomless Tears" forces him to discard all of his cards.

• "Winning Hearts" allows Ma Su to acquire key heart cards, such as Peach and Draw Two, providing healing and card advantage.

• "Bottomless Tears" serves as a strong deterrent. Players are often reluctant to kill Ma Su if they are holding a lot of cards, as they will lose them all.

• "Winning Hearts" grants Ma Su limited control over the deck and judgment outcomes, which can disrupt the plans of enemies.

• Compared to similar abilities, Ma Su's "Winning Hearts" is restrictive. He needs to maintain more cards than his maximum health, limiting his ability to play aggressively or respond to threats.

• Although "Bottomless Tears" can punish his killer, the penalty is not overwhelming. In some cases, players may be willing to discard all their cards if the timing is right, especially if they have few cards remaining or can easily recover.

• Ma Su needs careful hand management to maintain more cards than his health for "Winning Hearts" to work. If his health is low or his cards are reduced, he struggles to utilize his ability.

• Supportive Characters:
  Characters like Liu Bei, Guo Jia, Xun Yu, and Lu Su are excellent at supporting Ma Su by giving him extra cards, allowing him to maintain the hand size needed to activate "Winning Hearts." For example, Liu Bei can transfer cards directly to Ma Su, while Guo Jia and Xun Yu can help by providing additional card-drawing opportunities.

• Card Destruction Specialists:
  Characters such as Gan Ning, Zhang Liao, Zhang He, and Xu Huang specialize in destroying hand cards, making it difficult for Ma Su to activate "Winning Hearts." By consistently removing cards from Ma Su’s hand, they can prevent him from maintaining a hand size large enough to use his ability.

• Characters Who Discard Cards:
  Yuan Shu is well-suited to deal with Ma Su's "Bottomless Tears" because his "Trite Rule" often forces him to discard all his remaining cards at the end of his turn. Similarly, Lu Xun and Sun Shangxiang can capitalize on losing all their cards. Lu Xun’s "Linked Camps" activates when he discards all his cards, and Sun Shangxiang draws two cards for each piece of equipment she discards, making them less vulnerable to the effects of "Bottomless Tears."

• Negligence Damage Characters:
  Zhang Chunhua is one of the few characters who can kill Ma Su without suffering the effects of "Bottomless Tears." Her ability "Unfeeling" treats her damage as health loss, meaning she does not have to discard her cards after killing him.

• Manipulative Characters:
  Diao Chan and Xun Yu can manipulate other characters into killing Ma Su. This forces "Bottomless Tears" to activate on one of Ma Su’s teammates, which can be particularly devastating if the affected teammate is holding many cards.

King

• • Ma Su is arguably one of the worst choices for King. "Bottomless Tears" offers no protection in this role since the game ends upon his death, rendering the ability useless. Additionally, his maximum health increases, making it even more difficult for him to use "Winning Hearts."

Loyalist

• • Ma Su is a mediocre loyalist. His abilities offer little to support the King, and "Bottomless Tears" might keep him alive temporarily. However, enemies can deal damage to weaken him without killing him, leaving him ineffective.

Rebel

• • Ma Su is a poor choice as a Rebel. The bounty system in Sanguosha gives the killer three cards, which almost cancels out the punishment from "Bottomless Tears." His overall abilities do not contribute much to the Rebel cause.

Spy

• • The Spy role is Ma Su’s best chance to be effective. If he can manipulate both sides to keep them evenly matched, neither side will be inclined to kill him, allowing him to survive longer. However, "Winning Hearts" offers only limited help in shifting the balance, and he struggles to gain significant advantage.

Ma Su is one of the more difficult characters to use effectively. His abilities offer some strategic value, but they are not as powerful as those of many other characters. "Winning Hearts" provides limited card advantage, while "Bottomless Tears" can be easily worked around by enemies with proper timing. Despite his weaknesses, Ma Su can still be a fun character for players who enjoy careful hand management and card manipulation.

Ma Su is remembered primarily for his role in the Battle of Jieting, where his poor judgment and disobedience led to one of Shu’s most significant losses. Despite receiving warnings from Zhuge Liang, Ma Su chose to position his forces on high ground without securing a water supply. The Wei general Zhang He took advantage of this strategic blunder, surrounding Ma Su’s forces and cutting off their water supply, leading to a devastating defeat for Shu.

Zhuge Liang, who had highly valued Ma Su for his talent, was deeply disappointed by his failure at Jieting. As a result, Zhuge Liang was forced to order Ma Su’s execution, a decision that caused him great personal anguish, symbolized by the famous image of Zhuge Liang wiping his tears as he signed the order for Ma Su’s death.

In the game, Ma Su’s abilities reflect both his potential and his downfall. "Winning Hearts" represents his intellectual talent and ability to think strategically, while "Bottomless Tears" captures the tragic consequence of his fatal mistake at Jieting, where his failure caused irreparable damage to Shu and his life was forfeit in the aftermath.