Não mostre a jogada; vai que ele vence você.

It is a negative command directed at você, which is understood but not spoken.

So the full idea is:

• Você não mostre a jogada — grammatically possible in analysis, but not how commands are normally said
• Natural command form: Não mostre a jogada

In Brazilian Portuguese, commands to você usually use the same form as the present subjunctive:

• mostrar → mostre
• não mostre = don’t show

So this is basically: Don’t show the move/play.

Because standard Brazilian Portuguese uses mostre for a negative command with você.

Compare:

• Mostre a jogada. = Show the move.
• Não mostre a jogada. = Don’t show the move.

For learners, a useful shortcut is:

• você command → often looks like the subjunctive
• não + command → also uses that same form

You may hear many Brazilians say não mostra in casual speech, especially in informal spoken language, but não mostre is the standard form and the safest one to learn.

Jogada can mean several related things depending on context:

• a move in a game
• a play in sports
• a tactic
• a strategic action
• sometimes even a trick or maneuver

So não mostre a jogada could mean:

• don’t reveal your move
• don’t show your strategy
• don’t give away the play

It is not limited to literal board-game language; it can also be figurative.

Correct — vai que is an idiomatic expression. It does not literally mean something like goes that.

In Brazilian Portuguese, vai que is used to introduce a possibility, usually one you want to be careful about. Common English equivalents are:

• what if
• just in case
• suppose
• you never know

So:

• Vai que ele vence você. = What if he beats you?
• or Don’t show the move — he might beat you.

It is very common in spoken Brazilian Portuguese and sounds fairly informal and natural.

After vai que, Brazilian Portuguese very often uses the present indicative, especially in everyday speech:

• Vai que chove
• Vai que ele chega cedo
• Vai que ela descobre
• Vai que ele vence você

So vence is normal and natural here.

To an English speaker, this may feel odd because the meaning is hypothetical, but Portuguese often uses a regular present form after this expression.

Yes, Portuguese often drops subject pronouns, so vai que vence você could be understood in context.

But ele is included here for clarity:

• vai que ele vence você clearly means what if he beats you
• without ele, the listener has to infer who might beat you

So the pronoun is not required by grammar, but it helps make the sentence more explicit and natural in context.

Both patterns are possible in Brazilian Portuguese.

• ele vence você
• ele te vence

Both can mean he beats you.

Why use você here?

1. Clarity
   Using você is very clear and explicit.

2. Style/register
   Some speakers prefer full pronouns instead of clitic pronouns like te, especially in more neutral or straightforward phrasing.

3. Regional variation
   Brazilian Portuguese varies a lot. In many places, te is extremely common, even when the subject form is você.

So this sentence is perfectly natural, but vai que ele te vence would also sound natural in many parts of Brazil.

Both are possible, but they are not always identical in tone.

• vencer você = beat you, defeat you
• ganhar de você = win against you / beat you

In many everyday contexts, ganhar de sounds very common and conversational:

• Vai que ele ganha de você

Vencer can sound a bit stronger, sometimes a little more formal, or simply more direct depending on the context. But it is still natural, especially in competitive situations.

So:

• vai que ele vence você = natural
• vai que ele ganha de você = also very natural, often even more colloquial

The semicolon separates two closely connected ideas:

• Não mostre a jogada
• vai que ele vence você

The second part gives the reason for the warning:

• Don’t show the move; what if he beats you?

In everyday writing, many people would also use:

• a comma
• a dash
• or even split it into two sentences

So the semicolon is just a punctuation choice to connect the warning and the possible consequence.

It is mostly informal to neutral spoken Brazilian Portuguese.

It is extremely common in conversation and feels natural in everyday speech. In very formal writing, someone might choose a more explicit structure, such as:

• caso
• se
• pode ser que
• há a possibilidade de

But in normal spoken Portuguese, vai que is very common and useful.

The hidden subject is você.

So the sentence is really understood as:

• Você, não mostre a jogada; vai que ele vence você.

Portuguese often leaves subject pronouns out when they are obvious from the context or verb form. In commands, this is especially common.

So even though você is not written before não mostre, that is the person being addressed.