Next, in your speech (which was great btw), you said " I quashed Gavin's attempt at chaos by handing Ikah my partial idol to save himself at the final 10". I have to question this. Because ironically enough, I was targeting, and you saved, the guy you sit next too right now. I suppose chaos is a fair word, but at the time I was genuinely trying to take out someone I believed could win. He very well might. So why was keeping him around the better move? Why is sitting next to him and protecting him a winning move for you? Because the way I see it, it may just be your biggest flaw.

It's true, in hindsight you could say that me saving Ikah was a mistake because he's now my biggest threat sitting beside me, but I still truly believe it was the right move at the time. I mentioned my strategy that I was put all my chips into working with the majority and keeping them in power. Brandon was essentially my source of knowledge I shouldn't know for the entire game so I was nearly certain you were flipping and like you said yourself, not everyone was willing to go to rocks there. If I had just let that happen, the game would have been out of my control and you yourself Gavin would suddenly have all the control. I knew I was using a risky strategy that meant when my alliance control of the game, I was likely to be one of the first targets and simply, given your reputation and how we've played together in the past, I did not want to put my entire game in your hands which is why I gave Ikah a partial idol that tribal. It wasn't like I intended to go to the end with Ikah considering I voted him at the final 3 tribals, one of which he literally had to have someone sacrifice themselves to save himself when it was very likely going to be him going if Marto had cared about making the end. I play with the assumption that everyone wants to win in the end, and that apparently was my error in my logic. That's why Ikah sits next to me here in the end.

Hey Brandon,

I just want to first say I havent tried Sucking up to people for a jury vote and I really wanted to avoid coming off that way But whether I wanted to or not I can see how it came off that way. I have just practiced being a decent person when being a not so decent player because it's just a game and I had no reason to shit on anyone. At this stage I wouldn't want to come off as patronizing or disrespectful but there's truly no way for me to Really make up for that if you do feel that way because I can't be an asshole to people in game and then kiss ass here because that's fake. I was being honest and real and meant no disrespect for anyone. If I wished you good game I meant it. If you see it as fake then that's okay but I'll know I played the way I wanted to.

For Brady because I think this is probably the only incident that might be seen as kissing ass. It's when he came to me after the vote(I dont go to a jury member after a vote to suck up). He had said something about me and Hufus always getting our way. I told him how I really felt about it. Why would I be happy I got saved by a rock and someone at the bottom that fought left when they weren't the ones to put it into a tie. I would've been happy if someone that made it a tie against who we voted would leave in the rock lmao.

You are right that you tipped me off about the vote and I know it's shitty for me to say I wasn't told the plan but I felt like you were telling me without telling me which was enough, I understand you didn't want drawback from it. But I did my own thing trying to make sure and from the talks I had with others it became more clear. I really didn't know though what was going to happen for sure because nobody told me I was getting majority of votes or 5 just that it was clear I was getting Atleast some votes and that was enough for me to play. It's not a great move and I'm not hyping it up to be.

When it comes to being egotistical, I do have a big ego and I've never been one to hide that. I'm not trying to take complete control of the narrative. I told it from my perspective and I'm trying to own the game a little bit as I saw it. I had ALOT of help I'm not saying I didn't. Probably the most help out of anybody. Nobody could make it here by themselves completely though. And I didn't do much by myself but the things I did do by myself were very important in the way this game shaped up to be.

I did try to give as much credit to people in the game when everyone else was saying I had complete dominance over this game because I meant it.

I'm sorry I said all this but I have to defend myself a bit and I owe you that much

Alright so Brady, I'm hoping to convince you that you can vote me with both your head and your heart here because I truly believe I played a better game than Ikah, but I'll get to that.

1). If you didn’t have  that runestone, do you honestly believe that you’d be sitting at the end?

It's really hard to say. While it never actually negated a majority of the votes, it's impossible to deny the simple fact of everyone knowing I had it definitely changed the dynamics of the tribe and where I might have stood in it. Yes, the runestone was the centerpiece of my game with most things centering around it, but if I never had it then I also would have played a very different game come merge where I wasn't intentionally trying to upplay my threat status. So to actually answer your question, no, I don't think it's likely I'd be sitting here but I'm confident in my capabilities as a player and you can be sure as hell I'd be fighting my ass off either way to make it here. I think it should also be mentioned that this runestone wasn't a handout either. While I agree that it is a bit overpowered, everyone on Nkuma had the ability to find one but I was the one who put in the effort to gain that power. The person (PegasusZ) was nearly impossible to find but my effort in finding it was why I reaped the benefits of it in my game.

2). Why should I give you my vote over Ikah who has been in the majority on every vote and never had to rely on immunities?

Ikah does have an edge over me I'll admit, Ikah managed to get here without immunities but I think it's a bit unfair to say he got here based on good gameplay alone. The only reason he was able to make the end is because he had pre-existing unbreakable relationships with multiple people in this cast. All he did was complacently sit with them and he got carried to the end by his relationships that weren't even created in this game. While it's not a great look, I can at least honestly say I made the end with my own merit by winning those clutch immunities and I tried to make a move so that I didn't need to do that, although it didn't work in the end. While I am not going to say it was the main motivation, it should also be noted that one reason I kept with my side was because I was obviously the strongest physical competitor other than maybe Brandon, if I needed to fall back on that as my plan B in the end, I was able to and obviously, my plan B came into play.

3). Say that hufus or Ikah went home on the rock draw, what would you have done in that scenario to still get yourself to the end?

I mean, being entirely honest my game from final 7 onward probably wouldn't have been that much different in reality. Final 7 I'd have definitely used the runestone on myself and, assuming you or Gavin didn't beat me in anything, that means I'd have won out my way to the end. However, this definitely wouldn't have been what I planned. I would have used my connections with both Brandon and Gavin to try and salvage my spot in the game. Both being big threats themselves I would have tried to make the argument that after I go, you and Jordan would flip to take both of them out so it's in their best interests to keep me around. Without their votes against me, voting me wouldn't have been an option. I admit that I am not that confident that this would have worked and it still required me to potentially win the final few immunities even if it did. That's why I ended up going to rocks since I wanted to actually make the end not relying on immunities but still, we all know how that ended out. Still, if Hufus or Ikah left I knew I was going to be in some hot water that would have been difficult to get out of, but Ikah would have been just as if not more screwed than me had the rock drawn gone against him which is something to consider as well.

Here was the full extent of our convo that day

Sorry for putting this on blast lmao but we still playing

https://imgur.com/a/7qLysoW

Ok I'll rank based on Gameplay

@Gavin

Hey dude, I appreciate your question and everything you said along that. I didn’t let the perception of me not winning bring me down or actually make me quit trying at any points. And I should say that I’m really glad you’re giving me this chance to speak, cause in a game like this, I know perception sometimes turns into reality for some people. But lemme tell you, after you left, this became a pretty loud narrative, even in the main chat, but I just didn’t let myself feel defeated or anything like that. Especially when that sort of talk was happening mostly to get me to flip and actually end up hurting my chances of getting to the end. Anyway, I still kept talking to people, showed up to challenges, tried my best, and kept doing whatever I needed to do to get here today, which showed by how we avoided the runestone and actually paved a way to ensure we were sitting here tonight. I came into this game with some goals and I can proudly say that I achieved all of them by now, and I did all of that while eating the peanut butter I won in the auction.

So you’re right, I wasn’t the loudest one or actually had to play advantages or even pose with a stone to ensure my safety in this game, and that’s what I think it’s the main difference between me and the other two. When it came down to the wire, I had made personal connections that actually kept me safe in this game, as the one we cherished from day 1 from being both entertainers. Also when it came down to the strategic game and moves that happened, not only I was part of the conversations that were happening, but I was also on the frontline making sure it’d happen. The perception of me, Ikah and Marto being together wasn’t that much of a secret for a long time, and the fact that we accomplished to get to a situation where other people had to win out shows that not only we were capable of doing that, but you guys had also some flaws by allowing this to happen, and I do think this should be recognized. Other than that, I do believe I managed to defeat a lot of odds to get here today. This wasn't anyone's first rodeo, we all knew at least one person in this game from previous experiences, and I personally had a lot of vendettas or unfinished business among the cast, I do think more than anyone else, and still I get to be here today presenting my case in front of the jury.

Lowkey ikahs move at finale 10 was impressive because even me and huf were telling him not to play the idol it's the wrong decision but his gut told him to and if he didn't we were gonna go to a revote and you never know someone could have flipped and ikah would have left. Also he used Max's half idol which is huge because if he didn't he 100 percent gives it back to him and since Gavin and Max both had half idols they could have worked together to form 1 to taje us out you just never know but because of Ikah that was never a possibility and i think that is great survivor instincts.

Full respect to all 3 of you, ya'll played amazing i am very happy with anyone of you becoming this seasons Champ

@Brady

Well Brady, since you left me with the option of answering to that, I guess I will. While you’re right in some parts, I don’t think you’re being completly fair in your statement. I was genuine about wanting to work with you and I don’t think I was being vague in my opinions in the chat we were in. I always stated what I wanted to do: when it was JP/Brittany and even when it was Omar, who was part of our alliance back then. You on the other hand wasn’t really truthful about the Nick vote, and actually acted just like the way you’re accusing me of right now. And about the Omar thing, as I told you, he not only told me you were telling him that me and Harry dated, but you were also targeting me, which I admit that made me completly shut down the thought of us being allies or anything like that. You saying I didn’t even get to know you in this game it’s funny since we’ve known each other for 2 years now, and when you also say you didn’t feel like wasting your time because you thought I was closed off to you, I can go ahead and say the same abot you. You can’t seriously go ahead and say you telling Omar that me and Harry dated came from the goodness of your heart of letting him posted and not for strategic reasons, especially if the question was how you felt about us 2. lol

If I had tried to work with you after that or even tried to talk to you and ask about your day and anything like that, then we’d have a different narrative here: as how I kissed your ass, lied to you, acted like your friend and then backstabbed you or something like that, just like it happened in every single game we played together. But you’re right, I wasn’t expecting your vote whatsoever and tbh? I never will. When it comes to me, for you it’s never enough, you always take things personal and then try to justify it with whatever reason you think you have. It wasn’t enough in other games and certainly wouldn’t be enough here.

And talking about here especifically, I already told you in PMs what I had to say and you’re 100% right on that. I couldn’t expect your vote, even if we were best friends, considering how I acted. I know it was completly out of hand and even disrespectful what I did, it was a complete cunty move, and I apologized to you and to the other people in the chat because I meant it and I recognized that was so uncalled for and actually went way beyond the game. I’m far from being perfect or even trying to act like that. I think that the trickiest part of playing these days is that we basically have played with everyone by now, so you do carry some amount of baggage with each person, and in our case we do have a LOT among some bad blood which I don’t think it’ll ever go way, so you’re right when you said once that we can’t play together at all or it’ll bring the worst of us and we expect the worst from each other. Either way, on a personal level, I wish you the best and I hope we still can talk at least out of games, cause in the end its what they are, games, and that’s what I lost sight of here.

Hey Finalists!

I didn't do much this season besides survive the Azande tribe which was absolute hell In itself but hey I get a vote, which is pretty cool.

I really don't have any questions imo but I have a statement

Ikah - WHY IDOL ME OUT OVER ANYONE ELSE. I WOULDNT WIN ANYTHING LMFAOOOOO

Thank you for that hufus, I do appreciate what you had to say

Well its not just that hufus. I genuinely think you played the weakest game out of the three which is just my opinion.

Can you go through each of the jurors and rank them on how much you valued them in the game, and why you placed them there? Please show the rest of the jury how intricately you thought about the game and all of our roles in that in the way I know you have!

Alright, I do want to clarify that just because this is how much I valued everyone in
the game, this definitely isn't my ideal bootlist.

1. Brandon, obviously this isn't to butter you up or anything but, despite us being on opposite sides in the late mid game, you we're my closest ally. Your selective leaking of information enabled me the play the game I did by shifting things in my favor whenever necessary. Despite being huge threats in the game, we kept each other safe for the most part other than the final 7 which I understand you were desperate. I do want to come clean and say I didn't intend on taking you to the end though. I don't think I would have beaten you and I think the jury would have severely criticized whoever brought the other to the end so it just wasn't going to happen.

2. Marto, one thing nobody can deny is that Marto is loyal. Loyal to a fault in fact. While I might not have been his number 1, I knew I was his number 3 and that was something I just ran with. He wasn't going to vote me until the very end and that was very valuable to me. In a crazy game like this, having that bit of stability is worth going to rocks over.

3. Gavin, he embraces the chaos in game so he's kind of the exact opposite of Marto in a way. But Gavin always plays hard to win and I knew I could use that to my advantage. I always kept myself open to Gavin and presented myself as potential tool to him which was enough for him to keep me around. While obviously not the most reliable vote ever, I utilized that chaos he generated when needed to benefit my own game.

4. Omar, this pick probably will shock people but I saw opportunity with Omar. He was pretty much the tribe lepur and absolutely nobody wanted to even be associated with him. I honestly wanted to utilize this to secure a vote for myself in the game but when my alliance wanted to target him, I felt like my connection wasn't strong enough to make the waves to save him so my plan never came to be.

5. Brady, I'll admit that everyone who voted me at that first merge tribal had made them lose almost all their value in the game to me, I dropped communication with pretty much all of them which people likely have mixed views on. That being said, I value Brady the highest out of this group because he didn't actively break his word to me. We still talked occassionally and if needed, I do think something could be salvaged between us though, for better or for worse, the game never went down that path.

6. Jordan, trust was broken quite early on for us after the Ben vote and it never recovered. I feel a bit bad since Jordan always tried to make an effort to talk to me but I absolutely hate being fake to people and it felt like I needed to be fake every time I talked to Jordan since it was so evident that we weren't on the same page for majority of the game. This lack of trust between us is likely what caused the snafu at the final 6. That being said, we stayed in contact which is more than can be said for the next few people.

7. Billy, I was actually hoping to make it far in the game with Billy. He was the only person I told about my partial idol in the premerge and despite voting against him on Nkuma, I wanted to play the game with him. However, whatever we had going kind of crashed and burned when the merge hit and I don't believe we talked a single time after the merge vote. He was on one side, I was on the other, and we both seemed to accept that for what it was. Trust was broken and it never recovered.

8. Harry, very similar situation to Billy, but I rank him lower because his betrayal hurt more. Harry led the charge against me at the merge vote when he was one of the people I was closer to at that point in the game. He was the one who drew the lines in the sand after the merge vote, I didn't need nor did I want to work with Harry anymore. It's one thing to go against someone in a vote, but since he explicitly targeted me at the merge it was clear he had no intention of working with me in the game either. I don't know why this whole situation still stings as much as it does but it just hurts.

9. Bekir, so I'll be straight up. I hadn't talked to Bekir a single time this entire game. There was no relationship between us and we weren't on the same side. Should have I talked to her a bit? Probably. But most of you know my philosophy of not just talking to people for the sake of buttering them up and making them feel better. Bekir and I were never going to be working together in this game, and I think we both just inherently understood that.

10. Natalie, oh boy. I think I've mentioned to some people but Natalie and I had such a petty rivalry going on for most of the premerge after the Ben vote. Trust was broken but Natalie still wanted me to trust her so we kept talking with a shakey connection. Then I flipped to take out Julian, Natalie didn't trust me at all at this point, I didn't trust Natalie at all, we continued to talk and continued to confirm that we were both good with each other when we both obviously knew we weren't. While there's no malice between us, it was evident that we were both itching to pull the trigger on each other which is what defined that first merge vote. In a weird way I kind of look back on this whole saga fondly for the comedic elements of it though.

RANKINGS BASED ON GAMEPLAY:

This is how I see it based on results. Dons are high because their votes went through.

1-Ikah

If this is gameplay then based on the votes, based on what Everyone has said, based on the fact I was targeted the most based on end threat level, based on everything I think I had the best game. I've never in my life voted majority every single time.  I've never ever went 24 hours for an immunity. I think I gave a lot for this game. My biggest discredit is the fact the game was so close and that I could've went home in a rock draw. I think also F4 when Max won final immunity was obviously not the best only because I wanted the people that got me this far to be at the end with me which is Marto and Hufus.

2-MAX

Max played a good game and I've been saying this for a while. He did what he needed to in order to get to the end but I'm afraid why he is 3 is because he was able to hide behind his runestone which wasn't played right three times, he gave up his half idol to me, he failed to vote me out three times, and relied on immunities in order to get to the end. The F6 vote we completely countered him, and he didn't even really try talking to us during that vote so it was very hard to believe he wasn't flipping and I think you just have to make an effort with people if you plan to flip. But he made it and as far as I'm concerned if you need to win an immunity then they are there for a reason. He was able to get out of a bottom situation on NKuma with the swap and work with the Dons to take over the game. He was leaking to the minority. His mistake was getting caught and being overconfident about his position. I think that if Brandon had a runestone then he could very well be up here instead.

3-BRANDON

Please do not think I'm just doing this to kiss your ass lmfao as far as I'm concerned you' were my biggest hype man while in the game so there's no reason for me to kiss your ass, whoever you want to vote is up to you. I know your votes did not go through at the end but they were the right moves at the time. Could you have voted me at F7? I don't know that was up to Max. But you did try taking out Hufus and unfortunately Gavin did you in. That was the right move because It would've shifted control completely to you. Then you made the right move again by voting Marto because at that point it was the three Dons no matter what. You could've once again shifted control to you but a rock did you in. And then obviously voting me out wouldve been best towards the end. You played really well and were a lot more aware about both ends than I was during F11-F10. I think you controlled the Omar vote too

4-MARTO

Y'all going to hate me for this but I know deep down that Marto played the second best game of the Dons and Dons played the best game. He did shut out a lot of people that tried talking to him and was loyal to the Dons, but can we think about how he created all those chats. He was a strong force in this game and he didn't really ever mess up because he created chats that gave us a lot in this game especially when we came together with Max because that solidified Max not using his advantages against us and only using them for us.

5- HUFUS

I mean your biggest knock would have to be the clown move you pulled by voting Brady instead of Harry lmao. Other than that I think the Nick vote was something that I feel you could've prevented. Why you are so high to me is because obviously I wouldn't be here without you. You were always calm and hardly ever panicked. I think your game was so much stronger at the beginning because you got it to flip away from people you didn't want to vote out. You were also apart of the Dons and together we all take credit for the votes we made.

6-GAVIN

I mean yeah in hindsight the Harry vote you can say was a mistake but at the time Gavin was making the move he wanted longer than anyone. His mistake was probably just not trying to stick with Max, Me, Marto and Hufus and then working with Max to flip when we least expected. He also flipped to try and get me out which at the time I was like "Why me I would've done Harry lmao" but you know what it would've been a good move. He also was well liked by the cast and was a good talker.

7-HARRY
Harry's game to me was good with errors that were probably made by other people. I'm sure he wanted and counted on Hufus' loyalty and I think that not having that and by me having that it cost him this game. He made flips. He voted who should've went each time if he wanted to win. It just got him into a bad position because the Dons were tight and he betrayed Gavin at premerge.

8-BRADY, I mean Brady knows what to say and if you go back into alliance chats of mine you're going to see me always saying "Brady talks a lot and he's dangerous" because I know In the past he's exposed me. And I thought that he was pushing all these theories to people about Hufus, Marto, Harry, Myself. Idk if that's true but it was my gut and I believed that Brady did a lot of talking that put some ideas into people's heads. But since he voted minority at merge so much I have to rank him low. I think maybe if he would've bought into me with Billy, Bekir we could've been a real force. But I couldn't cut ties with Hufus, Marto and Billy and Brady didn't get along with the two of them. I offered that as an alliance but nothing happened.

9-JORDAN

Super calm game and If Max or Brandon didnt win immunity at F6 then he probably could've had a chance like the others at taking the immunity run to the end. He did talk a lot to me and others and I think he was capable of pulling off some moves but he didn't have the right support.I think why he is low is because of the amount of times he voted minority, how his vote out went, and the fact he was still voted despite being low radar.

10-OMAR

I mean I think his strategy of being honest with everyone and being so open and then saying he was a free vote was actually working on people. I went to a lot of people about how Omar was dangerous and only Harry had thought the same. I had to wait until Harry was on the edge for people to actually want to do Omar. Omar was actually in a really good position at swap and had power. It wasn't until Brady and I forced his hand and Nick left that Omar fell out.

11-BILLY
Didn't get much of Billy from this game but premerge I know him Bekir and Brady dominated their tribe and then he somehow managed to make merge despite being so vocal and a big target. Why he is so low is because he fell into minority and he got idoled out in a tie vote after He just hosted me doing the same shit lmao.

12-BEKIR

Well same as Billy, dominated premerge tribe without trying and then managed to make it to merge despite being in the bottom. He counted himself out though already going into it and left really early so that's why Bekir is so low. Didnt get enough gameplay.

13-NATALIE

I guess I have to rank Natalie here because I didn't really see much only one tribal together. But I do think his effort to work with me and even get over the Hufus thing was good gameplay and it's just Max and Hufus weren't having it lmao.

Ikah - WHY IDOL ME OUT OVER ANYONE ELSE. I WOULDNT WIN ANYTHING LMFAOOOOO

Because I only got all the the idols last minute and it was too late to flip the vote.

The vote was on you because it was considered a low risk vote and Marto had been holding off on doing you for us for so long. I agreed that you probably wouldn't have anything played on you.

And tbh I just think it was probably the funniest idol play lmao

Because of LKB and how much I gloated to you about all my idol plays and then having three idols in that game

And using an idol to get out of a tie vote.

It doesn't get better but yeah you're right you weren't the biggest threat at that time. But it was safe