Hey guys, this is a very surreal moment to be sitting here in the final 2, in a deep 24 person cast, one where we all came in here with our eyes on the prize, 24 of the best of us, heroes, villains, gamebots, scary ass players.
I came in here with one set plan and t that was to make my way to the end again and to win for the 2nd time. I was not here to be flashy, not here for the hosts to love the way i play either. I was not here for redemption, not here to prove myself, not here to be a hero or a villain, or anything in between. I was going to gather my militia, and I was going to power my way to the end and do whatever means necessary with my people to get us there. It is what me and Ikah did in Iraq, we bounced ideas off of eachother and we crushed that season together, and I needed to find my person or people to do that again.
This game was flooded with pregame alliances, past relationships, and a lot of history between all of us. I did not pregame with anyone before the season started because I knew that would put me in a weird level, i play the game one day at a time. There was an IRAQ alliance, but it was never anything concrete. Kevin was my first connection, I know him, we mesh well, his way of thinking matches mind and instantly we knew exactly what we needed to do. X was someone whom i wanted to work with, and so did kevin, and we became a 3. Me and Kevin knew X and Nik were at eachothers throats which is why we needed to win the immunities so much. Had we lost another tribal council, we were going to side with X, Josh, and Nathan, and Nik would have gone that round, but we knew that Nik trusted us, but we needed to play the long game. Kevin can confirm this.
I play a very old schooled strategy, keep everyones intentions and motivations similar, and if you can power a group of people to the end of this game, and feel that you are in the top of that group, you take that day in and day out. I feel I was a strong force in pushing for the winners to all stick together. I constantly would say things like, "when do you ever see winners run all stars, or even see 3+ of them make the merge". Not even to keep us all stuck together like glue, but to have a mutual understanding to keep eachother safe, and make sure the targets are not on us.
In the game of survivor, youve got to be ruthless, I play by a specific set of standards that I pick my person or two, and we do whatever to whomever to power ourselves. This was Kevin and X, we were the kingsman, and I believe Nik viewed me as their only life line this entire game. Josh Sergent was a go to guy as well, and the livingston tribe was the best draw for me.
Zacped targeted me, but i was so well protected it fell on deaf ears, and there was no physical way I could have gone home. Birks went after Kevin, and Kevin was doomed, X and Nathorix were gonna vote him out, and instead of letting Kevin sink, i lifted him up and me x kevin nathorix made a 4 majority and thats where we started to run the game.
In the swap, livingston had a nice majority and I knew we needed to keep it, boring but effective, everyone in that group i felt extremely confident about, and all the threats to my game were on the other tribe. This resulted in Rob and Brian being easy yet effective voteouts.
At the merge, I reunite with a lot of familiar faces. My BvW final 3 with Ikah and TJ, my good friend Kyle of many years now. A lot of avenues, but as much as I wanted to team up with these people whom i knew so well, and who knew me, they were bad for my game and they had their own people and I had mine. I felt extremely comfortable within the group I was in and I could not throw my game into a freefall to help them out, as I wouldnt want them to do that for me. Josh Carrot was the first casualty of finding hard lines because I needed to protect Kevin.
The Kevin blindside was the one vote where I didnt know how it would face and fall. It was looking to be a 6-6 tie, and i would have gone to rocks because I had full intention of pagonging the other side with the exception of 1 or 2 blindsides within the main group of ours inbetween. Nik misvoted and is probably one of the worst decisions of the game. Losing Kevin seemed like I was fucked but i had people who were willing to protect me still and people on the other side who i wanted to make myself seem useful and get the vote off of me as much as I could.
The Nathorix blindside was all harry's plan, one of those times where you have to let others lead and know when to sit and when to stand. Nathorix quickly jumped into a very formidable position but was taken down by harry and new majority. Although harry was our saving grace, i realized that harry was going to try and make this game as fluid as possible, and that is what i try to avoid at all costs. He was a winner, but i knew he was a threat.
The AJ blindside is when the game started to slip into my favor. I got the half idol, but i knew i had to play it correctly this vote. X was constantly wheeling and dealing with the other side, making fake plans, and doing a lot of leg work, a great partner to have. James also told me the vote was on Nik, so it was an easy idol play and one of the bigger threats in the game was knocked off and a minority and a majority was created.
The Ikah boot was tough, me and Ikah talked as much as we could and tried to game as much as we could, but in the game of survivor, sometimes even though you love a person as much as you could, it wasnt in our best interests to drop eachothers people and just try and run the game, we probably could have, but it wasnt optimal. I knew he had to go here because Ikah is a force, and i think we all know that.
James was the first casualty of the majority because me and X were worried of his challenge prowess, his connection with sergent and their extra vote, and i knew james would probably make a flip on me soon. At this point everyone was already to call me the biggest threat round after round, i constnatly was being filled in from other people that people wanted me gone, but that it was not going to happen.
TJ boot is probably the most riskiest position I was in, my name was being drug harddd and they had every right to target me. X and Sergent were supposed to flip allegedly, but i knew of the chats made and the promises made behind the scenes. I applaud Sergent because the plan was to get harry to fully think he was going home and blindside Tj, and it worked to perfection. I was in a desperate position, and my allies came through for me there.
Kyles boot was a simple vote split, Josh R's double votes, we get 2 votes on harry, worst case it comes to a 2-2-2, and we power through. Kyle was my friend, and i definitely owe him for getting the vote off of me a lot and it was just inevitable that this had to be done.
Harrys boot was clear cut, me and X were on call and X suggested throwing a vote on Nik, and I said he should, continuing to fuel the fire between them two. Harry was a threat who needed to go, and it took a hell of a while for that to happen lol .
Sergents boot sucked, cannot say a negative thing about him, and was one of the best people to work with this game, never had to worry about him, and played the game with me straightup solid and we just think a lot alike. Voting for him was rough, but its the game and down to 4 shit gets real.
The X boot was by far the toughest vote out, we talked through the entire finale together, blindside after blindside, and he was my partner throughout this entire game. We would talk about how much we wanted for me and him to get 1st and 2nd, and it gutted me to do it, but the gameplay he showed being arguably the biggest threat from the getgo to the finale, especially me being the sole vote and not evicting him would have made me seem like one of the biggest idiots in the game. If it wasn't a final 2 i would have 100% gone with yourself and sergent in a perfect world due to us being 3 votes and decisionmakers, but with it all on the line in my decision, my gut knew i had to do it. The way i played the last 30min of the finale was dirty and goes against the way i try to play the game, but it is an evil game, and there can only be one winner, and i hope you can respect that and part of me hopes that had you won the final immunity you could have thought the same thing too.
Overall, my game was all about finding the right people and having everyone kept in check and making sure that everyone was on the same page I was in. I did not do boots that I was against doing, and I was not afraid to take the necessary shots needed. I hope you guys can see my gameplay, and see that me returning from a win from BvW Iraq, the most cutthroat season of 24 people, to return for LKB All Stars, another cutthroat season, and to make it here again, that I played my ass off and that you can all reward my gamplay. I respect all of you so much, and I look forward to answering your tough questions, bring it on .