Congrats max <3 I happy with either one of us winning. I really hate longwinded speeches, so I am going to try to keep this short, and cute. If I miss certain points, just ask me below!;]
Coming into this game, I really wanted to make strong connections and friendships with the people I gravitated too. Pre-merge I really loved the original Umnak tribe consisting of myself, Kim, Cam, and Colin. I tried to really get to know them and build trust within the four of us, because I wanted us four to enter merge with an advantage over the other tribes. When the tribe swap happened, and Colin went home it really left me vulnerable because I knew colin would be a solid number for me and I was probably the reason why they snaked him. During the tribe swap, I knew I wanted to work with Max, and Max came to me and expressed that he really liked Zach. So, that became a trio early-on in the game. I also really like Michael, and we honestly built the strongest relationship in the game to me. He was my truly my showmance <3, so I knew that we could easily get majority, voting Seth off.
During the Merge, it really became a clear 5-5 split between tribes Attu and Gareoli. Initially, I did not like the 5-5 split, because I knew that I still wanted to work with my original Umnak members- Kim and Cam. However, no one really wanted to waver and go against their post-swap tribes. During this time, I used this to my advantage, I became really close with Kim and I tried really hard to merge both of our game plans into one, but I knew that he trusted Alvaro/Matt to a certain extent.
The brandon vote off was simply strategic, the alliance of myself, Ze’ev, Max, Zach and Michael didn’t know who had the idol so we attempted (and failed) to flush Matt’s idol by voting off brandon.
During the Alvaro vote off, I knew that it was the right move to get him during this time because I could not fully trust him. I really enjoyed our conversations and getting to know him, but there was always a thought in the back of my head that he would come after me if I decided to flip or do anything to that benefit.
During Michael’s vote off, I was TRAUMATIZED.... my intuition really failed me. I knew that an idol was going to be played, because Kim and I messaged every single day, and the moment I woke up and saw Kim offline I knew something was up. Kim essentially felt (somewhat) comfortable to go to sleep without talking any time of game with me. I went to max, and I was like I feel it in my gut that Matt has an idol and using it. But, ultimately we just stayed safe and didn’t split the votes. Shoutout to michael IlY<3
During Matt’s vote off I knew that the minority were gonna try to flip me. I trusted Kim a lot and I promised her I would never vote her off, and it was genuine. In attempts to flip me, Kim was feeding me information. Although, some of it wasn’t true... she revealed to me that Matt basically had a second idol. At that point, I knew he was going home. Matt felt secure that he flipped Ze’ev but I went to Ze’ev last minute to confirm that he didn’t flip. At that point, I knew Matt was leaving with an idol in his pocket.
The Kim vote out was the hardest and most saddening for me. I developed a clear strong relationship with Kim that I think no one really ever noticed in the game. Max and I knew that if Kim was in F5, we would have majority going forward. We thought that if us 3 voted, and we could throw someone’s vote, that Ze’ev would get 6th. I really wanted this to work, but Max and I changed our voted last second and voted Kim off because we were scared of a 3-3 tie and exposing our game. So, we unfortunately had to vote Kim off..but I 100% regret it and if I could go back, I would have forced Max to give Ze’ev 6th.
The Cam vote out wasn’t necessarily the hardest for me, since he voted me out before. I also didn’t really respect him flipping back and forth the whole game. So, I knew that he would be a jury threat because he kind of coddled the jury... so that was kinda logical to me.
The Zach vote out, was also really sad because we worked together all game, and I initially thought he would try and give me 4th. I knew if he was in the F3, he would probably win and not take me. He was also a jury threat and I think he would 100% won this game, because he played flawlessly. At this point, I kind of had to do what’s best for my personal game and my F2 alliance with Max.
Ultimately, I knew that Max was taking me... as we were a F2 all season, so I understand why he gave Ze’ev 3rd. I don’t know if he made the right move, but I do respect the loyalty.
Although, I did not play the flashiest game or the made the most moves, I used my social game and position within my alliance to maneuver ever my way to the finale. I used my social bonds and ties with other side/tribe to make myself less of a threat. I knew by aligning myself and being a F2 with Max, that I could use him as a shield whenever we were in danger of going home. We played the most similarly, but with two totally different personalities and styles. Vote who you think deserves to win, I am happy with either of us winning!