"Dinosauro27

Scott and Daniel, two of my close allies. I'm so tremendously proud of both of you. You both played very different games but fun games to play alongside and later watch from the jury bench.

Scott: I definitely am a little sad to learn you had a vote steal at Final 10. Once Daniel left, can I hear more of your thought process as to not use it, especially when I thought we had a very strong and UTR working relationship in comparison to other known duos and trios? Just to clarify, I'm not hurt at all. It's a game. Just sad that there was a universe that I could have survived that vote.

Now enough about me. I wanna hear about your games through these questions:

1. What is one thing that only you know about something that happened in this game?
2. What were your opponents WORST move of the game?"

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Dino,

As I stated a few times above, it was something I would change if I had to do it over again. We definitely had a UTR relationship and you were one of the top 3 people I trusted in the game at this point. I oddly trusted you even without much prior game between the two of us. As far as saving my advantage one more round, it was solely because Daniel decided to not go to rocks for our side. I know I was willing and several people on both sides were. To me, it was a cop out. It also led me to believe that something else might be up that I didn't know about and I decided that I needed to save it another round incase something funky was going on. It was self-preservation for me. Looking back, I should have used it because I know you would've been down to go after Daniel in crunch time if I needed you to.

1. I am not sure if there is something that only I knew besides that I had my idol. I didn't tell a single person I had the idol. Daniel suspected it but he didn't know for sure. If he did, he would've tried to get me to flush it sooner so I purposely did not tell him. I also did not tell Kellen. I wanted it to be my own secret and to never allow people to try to guilt me into using it for whatever reason. I was pretty much aware of everything going on in the game besides Deshon not voting for Matt and voting Kellen.

2. Matt's worst move was aligning with Daniel. If he had worked on talking to more people on the other side than his, he could've had more leverage toward the end and a jury would have respected him if he had been there with big moves under his belt.

Daniels worse move was using his advantage when you went home. He should have showed allegiance to our side and gone to rocks as everyone was ready to do. Sure it's always a risk but come on. He said he came to make big moves and then to me took a coward move out in that situation. If he had not used that advantage, I would have most likely gone ahead and used mine so we didn't have to risk rocks but he made the first move. I also think he underestimated Matt a bit too much and took him for granted at the end. We could play out scenarios all night but that is just my opinion.

"lhooper902976
Since the jury wanted it, I'll ask a third question . It's whoever does the best job on all three that gets my vote

I and the jury want you to compare each of us jurors to a real Survivor player and why. Preferibly CBS version but, could do Australian Survivor as well"

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I have only watched the first 8 seasons of survivor and Heroes vs. Villains so I will only give players for the seasons I have watched. This might be difficult only knowing 1/5 of the total seasons worth of knowledge and types of games played. Nonetheless...

Josh - Alicia Calaway (Australian Outback). Alicia was a target due to her tough reputation in the game thus far. She was a physical threat and had the know how to turn things around if she had been given the chance. Josh has played countless group games and I recognized how many he had played in so he knew what needed to be done to make it to the end. Alicia was voted out soon after merge like Josh and both had the potential to make it far due to their brains.

Logan - Clarence Black (Africa). Clarence didn't really establish a good relationship with many people in the game and it came back to hurt him at merge. People didn't trust him that much and it was too late to save himself. This was like Logan in this game when because Logan didn't appear to have many relationships built with people and it cost him at merge.

Andrew - Alex Bell (Amazon). Andrew used his charm/looks to navigate through this game just like Alex did in his season. He had a few close allies but it wasn't enough for another group to take a shot at him when they got the chance. Had he been kept in another round or two, then he definitely had a good shot at going far...same as Alex would have.

Dino - Jeff Varner (Australian Outback). The vote tied twice and Jeff was evicted due to have a previous vote. He had played a good game and the lines were drawn right down the middle 5-5 as was the case in this game. He unfortunately went due to an unfortunate reason as Dino did in this game. Two advantages (one being played and one not being played) led to him goin home instead of possibly having a chance to stay. Up until that point, Dino played a pretty loyal game to those he was with as Jeff had.

Tyler - J.T. (Heroes vs Villains). J.T. played a very honest game for the Heroes in this season and was idol'd out at final 10 not expecting the move. Tyler played a pretty honest game himself and was aligned with his group and didn't waver. My advantage was played that blindsided Tyler and he went. In both scenarios, they were victims of people battling for power and honestly didn't deserve to go.

Cubs - Danielle DiLorenzo (Heroes vs Villains). Danielle had a good thing going and then a couple of people flipped on her in the game to work with the other side similar to how Deshon flipped to not go to rocks and instead evicted Cubs. Cubs played a very smooth game and honestly had himself set up well to go far. Danielle also had played a good game and put her trust in people who didn't just have her best interest in mind.

Kellen - Rupert Boneham (Pearl Islands). A likeable guy and someone who was well respected for his gameplay and honesty but also loyal to his people. He was blindsided in this season by everyone but his two closest allies and I sorta feel the same thing happened here. He was loyal to Zach and me and then the other people turned on him.

Zach - Deena Bennett (Amazon). Deena had firm control over her side. She aligned with the young girls and with Rob at merge. She was in a good spot and deemed a huge threat due to her relationships with many people in the game. She was smart enough to eventually go after the other big threats so she had to go early. Same boat for Zach here in this game. He had many connections and had a good grasp on the game.

Mickle - Sean Rector (Marquesas). Sean was loyal as fuck to Vecepia and also worked well with her even when they appeared to not be together. Sean was in a minority spot at merge with his back against the wall. Mickle got 6 votes out of 11 and had his back against the wall. Sean and Vecepia were like Mickle and myself.  It was us two together at the end against a group of 3 who had voted together before. Sean was voted multiple times at tribals before he was actually voted out aswas Mickle in this game.

Deshon - Paschal English (Marquesas). Paschal was loyal to Neleh as Deshon was to Daniel. There was no breaking them up no matter what was said. Paschal got out due to a 2-2 rock draw at Final 4. Deshon got out due to a tiebreaker loss. Their games were similar. They had their alliances but also knew when to take out threats. As when Paschal decided to get John out, Deshon got Kellen out even though they were "friends/acquaintances".

"Dinosauro27
Question for you all based on something Scott said:

Clearly both of you had connections previous to this game. I really did not and thus I feel like I had to work harder to find my path (especially at the swap when I was by myself basically). Do you think people should be rewarded for pre-game connections giving them more opportunities? It just reminds me of when white people have advantages in life just for being white.

Secondly, how does Daniel gamebot challenges? And how is it any different than Zach who also gamebots challenges (we discussed this on Paro how Zach seemed like he hacked the website)?"

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1. So, nowadays with group games especially in a season of Second Chances, I find it hard to not know anyone at all with a cast of 24 people. Like I had just played a season and there were 3 other people who were in this game. Looking at the other 23 people, I would say I felt I was on good terms with 6 people. On bad/iffy terms with 5. and then I had never interacted with the other 12 people or it was brief at best. So, yes I had some prior relationships that benefited me but also some that hindered me. I made sure that no matter what, I was in a position to not be targeted early in the merge. That meant getting out people I didn't know well and also making amends to those I didn't get along with. Sure, it helped that I had known a few people but who doesn't. I also would've tried over and over to make amends with someone even if they refused to work with me. I wouldn't have just given up like others did.

2. I don't think there's a difference in Daniel and Zach "gamebotting". I'll put it this way. Daniel had access to a group of people outside of this game that not only have a wealth of knowledge on group games but always help each other out with games and blogs and getting tags and stuff. I didn't have that luxury set up for me. I definitely think Zach and Daniel had similar games on opposite sides. Both stayed with who they were and didnt deviate or try any alternative strategies whereas I adapted and couldn't rely on immunities.  To me a gamebot has played so many group games and perfected so many types of challenges that they win a majority of possible challenges available to them. Again, just my opinion.

@Desh

please tell me why you deserve to win when you blindly sheeped zach ALL of merge, and neglected to talk to people on the other side.

There were times when this game when I didn’t sheep Zach. Ultimately, I was very loyal to my alliance of Myself/Zach/Kellen/Tyler/Mickle.

At final 11, my goal was to send Mickle home as one of my main priorities was to protect Daniel. This was my plan until the perfect opportunity to take Andrew out arose.

At final 7, I went against Zach and took an opportunity to get Zach’s biggest ally Kellen out.

Regarding the communication issues, my days were 100% and I mean 100% occupied. I know it doesn’t look good in group games like this and I do understand how it looks like I’m “ignoring” everyone but that’s not true. Those I talked to frequently this game know I run 5-6 tutoring sessions daily in an area with an unstable connection, typically not getting home until 6:30 at the earliest and some also know that there was a day where my phone charger ended up not working so that made the day even messier. So, no I was not intentionally ignoring anybody this game.

@Zach

What do you feel was your biggest mistake or error in judgement that you made?

I definitely feel like my biggest mistake was honestly not shading votes in a potential to get Daniel and Scott, my two finalists to feel the urge to use an idol. Both of their idols got used at the final 5 tribal which unfortunately sent home Mickle, a very crucial ally of mine. Same would go for final 6 tribal where an idol play sent you home.

@Cubs

Matt, congrats on making it to the end, kind of like Desh though I'm confused by your gameplay. Maybe you played this UTR genius social game, or maybe you were a sheep who was mostly inactive this game, I have no idea. Please explain to me what decisions YOU made that were solely your idea that got you to where you were.

Hi Cubs! I will admit, many decisions this game weren’t made by me. As I said in my speech, some of the merge I wanted to lay low and not deem myself as a threat this game. If I wanted to sheep Zach, then Kellen would not be sitting in 7th place. Although this move was not created by me, I kept in mind for a while that Kellen and Zach needed to be split up. The biggest move I made this game was determining who had a chance to sit in finals with Daniel and I. My two options were Scott, who I already knew Deshon and Daniel were doing or Deshon, who I knew had fewer connections than Scott but definitely closer connections.

In the end, I decided to cast my vote to save Scott after reviewing the fact that “he had quite a few connections this game, however those connections were not as strong as others thought they were”.

I will be heading to bed in the next few minutes and will complete the rest of the questions tomorrow!

@Dino part 2

Do you think people should be rewarded for pre-game connections giving them more opportunities?

I'm glad that you're the one asking this question. In our last game, I did have pre-game connections and they facilitated the game immensely for me. This time around, I had to go through the same struggle of having to navigate this game with minimal connections. The only person I was on good terms with coming into this game was Matt and even that proved to be an unreliable connection throughout most of the merge.

Regarding your question, I think it really depends. I don't think it's necessarily fair to blame people with pre-game connections as they don't pick the cast. However, I do think the people with pre-game connections should be held responsible for how they choose to play the game and how they take advantage of the opportunities that arise. More often than not, people will stick with their friends all the way to the end even when the better move involves going with people you've just met.

To use this game as an example, many people were friends with Zach prior to starting the game and Zach easily became the biggest threat in the game. A lot of people such as Matt, Mickle and Kellen landed into an alliance with Zach just based off of the fact that they were prior friends. I would understand if they had just used their early connection to gain footing in the game, and then made moves towards the end game to take out Zach who was the biggest threat. However, I'm pretty sure that most of them planned on going to the final 3 with Zach, and in this case, I don't think they should be rewarded.

On the other hand, somebody that I would've rewarded for how they used their pre-game connections is Deshon. To my knowledge, Deshon and Kellen had a prior connection and Deshon used this to stay safe throughout the merge. However, towards the end, Deshon worked with me, somebody he just met in the game, to get rid of Kellen if he wanted a shot at getting to the end. The reasoning being both because Kellen had friends on the jury and because Kellen had multiple friends still in the game. In this case, I would have absolutely rewarded Deshon because he didn't stick with his pre-game connection once it wasn't good for him anymore and pivoted away.

Secondly, how does Daniel gamebot challenges? And how is it any different than Zach who also gamebots challenges?

I can understand when people call me good at challenges but when the term gamebot is thrown around, it makes it seem like that was the only attribute that got me here. EVERYBODY was aware of my comp strength pre-merge because I didn't hide it in any of the tribe comps. If this was an issue for people, they should have tried to make a move on me when I was vulnerable in tribals. I guess gamebot refers mainly to the speed comps that I was good at. However, I won comps such as the final 5 comp which were about players in the game and anybody could have won. For some reason, Zach was labelled more of a threat for being good at comps but others have tried discrediting my game because of the immunity wins, which I don't think is fair. Some people have good pre-game connections, some people are good at comps, some people have other advantages in games and some people have nothing. I didn't have the pre-game connections so I used what I'm good at to help me in the game.

@Logan

I and the jury want you to compare each of us jurors to a real Survivor player and why. Preferibly CBS version but, could do Australian Survivor as well

I finally got around to this. I've actually mainly only watched survivor from season 20 until 40 as well as Australian surviovor.

Josh - Adam (Winners at war). Adam had a very rough pre-merge in winners at war with his name coming up a lot. Josh was also a target at several pre-merge tribal councils in this game but, like Adam, managed to use his social game to survive them. I think they both did really good jobs of surviving the premerge but at the first merge tribal were victims to other people having stronger connections than they did. Although Adam did survive the first merge tribal, he was targeted again and voted out the following day.

Logan - Hali (Worlds apart). Personally, Hali always struck me as somebody that was super hard to get a read on and it’s why she was an early merge boot on both of her seasons. Logan was probably the person that I struggled the most with getting a read on in this game and it was extremely difficult to know where he stood. Hali had very strong relationships with a few people (Joe and Jenn) and I’m assuming that Logan did too, but I don’t know with who (I found out later on that Logan was also close with Zach). From speaking to people, I think many people felt the same way and it’s clear that Logan lacked strong relationships with people outside of his inner circle much like Hali did. That’s why I think people jumped on the Logan vote like people jumped on the Hali vote, because getting out somebody who you don’t know where they stand is always a good move.

Andrew - Ciera (Cambodia). At one point this merge, it really felt like Andrew, Deshon and myself were Kelley, Ciera and Abi from the Witches’ Coven in Cambodia. Ciera was a super strong player, much like Andrew, and her reputation preceded her. The round Ciera went, the girls managed to get the majority votes on Fishbach but it took an idol play by Jeremy to get Ciera out. I have now seen Andrew get idol’d out of 3 games which shows the huge target he had, like Ciera.

Dino - Aubry (Game Changers). Dino was one of the more unconnected players going into this game and had to constantly fight for the much of the game like Aubry did. Aubry has expressed numerous times how hard Game Changers was for her because many people, including one of the people with the most influence Sandra, didn’t want to play with her. Aubry voted in minority many times and to make it all the way to 5th by just barely getting by is something I respect immensely. I have the same respect for Dino, who put up a fight non stop and show cased it especially during the endurance challenge.

Tyler - Amanda (Heroes vs Villains). This one was hard, but to not repeat answers, I have to say Amanda for her loyalty to the heroes. Going into the merge, Amanda had a previous relationship with Parvati from Micronesia. Parvati tried to see if there was any possibility of working with Amanda but Amanda lied to her and Parvati realized Amanda had no interest in working with her and that she was too loyal to her heroes alliance. Parvati subsequently voted her out at final 9. I see a similar thing with Tyler in this game because there were many of us that had relationships with Tyler from before the merge but he was too loyal to his new alliance with Zach and was blindsided soon after by those that had tried working with him.

Cubs - Kimmi (Cambodia). I’ve previously said that I believe Cubs was easily one of the nicest people in the game. Kimmi was always super protective of animals and this side of her kind of reminds me how Cubs came across as a very genuine, non-controversial and a super fun person to talk to when things didn’t seem so hopeful in the game. On a game level, Kimmi was very loyal to her alliance much like Cubs was to his and in the end she was also a victim of a revote. Although the circumstances were different on the show, I do believe that both Kimmi and Cubs were in good spots and did not deserve to go when they did.

Kellen - Woo (Cagayan). Woo was very loyal to his #1 Tony in Cagayan, much like Kellen was to his allies in this game. The reason I pick Woo even though Kellen didn’t make final tribal council was because, on our season, I saw Kellen simply follow his #1 that he couldn’t beat to the end like Woo did. It seemed that he was headed in a similar direction this game with Zach, although I might be mistaken and maybe he would have made a move against him this time around.

Zach - Luke (Australian survivor season 6) - I wanted to not spoil any Australian seasons but I want to do Zach’s game justice and this is the best person that came to mind. I can’t think of any American players that had the target, played the way and made it as far as Zach did. Luke was the only returning player on this season and had huge target on his back from the very beginning, much like Zach did. He built strong relationships and worked his way out of seemingly really hard situations. Zach had unbreakable bonds with people and it’s why nobody ever wanted to flip on him and it took an advantage and 2 votes to get him out. Even though he was the biggest target, Luke barely received any votes until his vote out and I think Zach was similar, receiving only 3 votes if I’m not mistaken. He wasn’t always in control but slid by, even with the target he had, because of the relationships he had. Zach and Luke were both the clear frontrunners to win the game since the very early merge and made it extremely far before their inevitable vote outs.

Mickle - Keith (San Juan del Sur). Although Keith did have a stronger physical game than Mickle, I found similarities in both of their characters. Mickle was very unintentionally funny in this game and Keith had some incredible one liners on the show. On a game level, Keith never truly came across to me as a threat to win until you stop and start to consider that he likely would have won in the end due to the friends he had on the jury. Keith saved himself by an idol play as well and was a target at several tribals before finally being voted out right at the end. He was also very loyal to his alliance until they were voted out and then started working with new people like Mickle did. Similarly, Mickle never really struck me as a threat to win until the very end when the possibility of him winning became more clear to me. Mickle and Keith both kept slipping by after being saved by the idol and being the target at numerous tribals until he was finally voted out.

Deshon - Cydney (Kaoh-Rong). Cydney was a part of some serious big moves and blindsides in Kaoh-Rong, much like Deshon this game. She had solid connections with people and had an overall great social, physical and strategic game. She was extremely entertaining and fun to watch and I think that Desh definitely also helped in making this game entertaining. Of all of the recent fire making losers, I think that Cydney was one of the most deserving to have a spot in finals and I feel the same way about Deshon in this game.

@Mickle

Wasn't going to ask a question but Will yelled at us to ask questions in ponderosa. That being said, my question is Can you compare your gameplay  to a famous painting?( don't be basic on this shit, impress me)and give me 5 reason why you are like that painting. Also, Give me one reason why the gameplay of your fellow finalists are not like that painting. Thank you, God Bless you and God Bless Deshon.

My choice of painting is:

https://d2gr5kl7dt2z3t.cloudfront.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/03194019/c-m-coolidge-82531-750x562.jpg

A Friend in Need - C.M. Coolidge

Also a side note like yes they’re dogs playing cards but I don’t literally think any of us are dogs this is for the sake of the painting

1. Me and Deshon are the two dogs at the front sliding the ace from one to the other. This is reflected in my game because after the Andrew blindside, we did whatever it took to help each other in this game and knew we only had each other’s backs all the way to the end. The card being passed below the table shows how we kept our moves under wraps. I’m not implying we cheated, but rather that we did literally pull aces out of our sleeves to make things work.

2. Going off of number 1, the high stacks of chips in front of both Deshon and I shows that ultimately we came out on top. The lack of chips from the other dogs and the large pile in the middle shows that the other players are fighting for power whilst we both chill with our already good amount of chips. The full hand of aces I’m about to obtain is representative of my idol, and although I told people about it at final 7, people were unaware on how I would play it and were unable to come up with a proper plan to flush it.

3. Matt is the dog across from the table in the middle peaking over to the dog on his left’s cards. The table is symbolic here in demonstrating that me and Matt were on opposite sides of this game, yet were always in each other’s sights and towards the end loyal to each other. Him peaking over shows that he would grab information from the people on the same side as him and occasionally relay it back to me. Scott is the dog on the right, trying to play the middle and trying to look over at what Deshon and I are doing but getting outmaneuvered at the final 7 and final 6 votes by myself and Deshon when we play our aces. Some of the other dogs are people on the other side that let their cards drop too far from their chest and got outplayed.

4. The name ‘A Friend in Need’ I think is appropriate to my game because that’s what I was since the very beginning: somebody desperately in need of an alliance that I was finally able to find during the second swap.

5. The clock shows the time is 1, and for the sake of this picture, we’ll say 1 am. That’s how late I stayed up for challenges to help my tribe pre merge and for individual comps post merge. It shows I put a lot of effort into this game and had to stay up until later times than most to make sure I could stay safe.

The reason why Scott and Matt’s games are not like this picture is because they would not be sitting at this table in the first place. Their gameplays are comparative to that of go fish than the five card draw that is being played in the painting. To play poker, one of the most important things that you have to do is make big moves, and that’s something that they both failed to do in this game. Maybe if the picture was a group of dogs playing tic tac toe then that would pertain more to them.

I WAS NOT JUST CALLED J*FF V*RN*R WHAT

I think I reached my decision.

Daniel and Scott: You are both fantastic players and seeing either of you win is satisfying to me. I'm glad that regardless we will have a good representative of our season in both 1st and 2nd place.

I came in leaning one way and I am leaving feeling another way. And don't worry nothing you said about me (including that hurtful J*ff V*rn*r comparison) will influence my vote. I'm voting strictly on how I see your game and how you see your game and how I feel my perception lines up with yours and the perception of the jury.

Much respect to both of you and I'm so glad that I got to know both of you through this wild ass game. Much love brothers <3

7/10 jury votes received

Dino,

I haven’t watched any of his other seasons. It was solely based on his first one. I’m aware of stuff he did on a later season but I never watched that one.

9/10 jury votes received