Hello Jury. This game has been a whirlwind for us all. When I came into this game I told myself, go all out, and if you make if you want to make it there than the only way I'd accept myself in doing that was knowing that I played to WIN, and not for anything less. Here I can say that I did just that. I know that there is a lot unanswered about my game, and I am hoping that with this speech combined with answers to questions you understand my full complex game and how I navigated through to the best that I could.
When the cast was announced, I could not have seen myself sitting here in these seats. I was definitely one of the least connected people in this cast, and I quickly had to make connections with different people to help advance myself for at least the first couple of rounds before I found solid footing. I had good connections from the start with players like Zach, Lequisha, Jonathan, Pat, Ahmed, and Hoop mainly, and from there it allowed me to branch out to others and begin to expand on my game relationships. I had two final 2's even before the first competition, with Lequisha and with Zach. I knew at the first HOH that I wanted the win, and with the connections I had made prior to the premiere, I was able to have people trust me enough to give me that first HOH and feel good about what I would do to benefit their games. I nominated the two people that I had no game relationship with at that point, which was Adam and Sandy. I knew that by winning the first two competitions back to back that it would put a huge target on me, but I still did because I knew that even if I were to touch the block I had a solid group around me who would protect me, and I wanted to cement myself as a force in the game. I do not usually perform in challenges like I did this season, at least pre-jury. My target for round one was Adam, however when it came down to it either nominee leaving was good for my game, as both would nominate me if they had the chance, so instead of pushing a name I let the house decide amongst themselves which caused divide between different people and different opinions, which would help me blend in and be less of a target for the next round. After Patrick wins Head of Household, I knew that this would put me in a good position as Pat as a threat himself understands the need to keep other threats safe, and on top of the game connection we had built in the first round, I had a good idea of where his head was at and that it would not be in my direction, but I still wanted to make sure that everyone who I needed to keep safe, stayed safe. Zach and Jonathan were both good allies of mine, and after Zach won the POV i was hopeful that we could flush out both Sandy and her power. I trued that eviction to get the votes onto Sandy because we did not have any relationship nor had we barely talked, but due to her other connections she was able to stay safe because people believed that she would either be a vote for them or help them with whatever power she had. I also made sure to continue to talk to Pat throughout the whole week instead of neglecting him after nominations and the veto ceremony, which I saw people do during my HOH and knew that it would be a opportunity to show commitment to Pat during his HOH. Following Jonathan's eviction, that HOH was the one I could not attend, however Ahmed winning was great for me because he was one of the people at the beginning of the game I was sure to reach out too, because I know his prescience as a physical competitor and that he only had a select group of people in this game that he was working with, and being one of those few to know where his head was at and be able to establish a game connection with him was very important for myself. At this point, I was focusing on my social game to gain trust with those who I either had not spoken much game with yet, and still with those I had, just to further increase trust. Due to this whole 3 nominee and multiple veto twist, Ahmed had to name 5 nominees, but I made sure that I would not be one by continuing to talk with Ahmed, and even if I was named a nominee I could continue to further my connections with other players to keep myself safe. The Ben vs Jay vote was a hard vote for me, as both of them had showed loyalty to me in some form over the course of the game thus far, and I was the swing vote at this eviction. I had a chat with Ben, Bone, Zach and myself named "The Jews" and right before the eviction Ahmed created one with himself, Patrick, and I, in a attempt to flip my vote to Ben so he could send him home in a tie. I knew this was not best for my game at this point as Ben has shown that he is capable in competitions, and by keeping him in the game he could continue to target his targets within the game and have other people still want him out, which would keep me in the middle with options, so I kept Ben in the game and voted Jay out. The next HOH competition was one that I was very adamant to win, because although I had already been HOH before, I had to have control of the nominations this week as there were already so many rivalries and tension within this cast that for my game I had to keep in and have the opportunity to go after my targets, which were people whom hadn't really had much drama with anyone. So I did win the HOH even though I would have been safe like Kevin M, and Lequisha promised because I had to make my own move. I nominated Sandy and Adam because they were both major threats to my game that I had to eliminate as soon as possible. As for the veto this week, that was one that I had to win to ensure that nominations stayed the same. Due to all of the uprising rivalries within this cast, I knew that if someone were to be taken off, I would have to replace them with someone who had a enemy within the game, and that there would be a good chance that they would go home if I nominated them. After winning the veto, I kept the nominations the same to ensure that I could either get my target Sandy, or my other nominee who was still after me Adam out. Sandy was my target because she still had her power from round 1, and I knew that whatever it was, she would never use to benefit me within this game, so for me she had to be evicted before Adam. She would have gone over Adam at this eviction, but she played her power to keep herself safe, which fortunately at least flushed her power out of the game, which was my main priority from the beginning of my HOH.
Round 5 was truly the start of what I think was truly my stride in the game. This round, Pat was the HOH and although I knew that I was safe with him, my ally Zach was not. He and Pat had been against eachother the whole game up to this point, and when the noms were locked on Kevin and Zach I knew that I had to make a big move at this eviction. Lequisha wanted Zach gone from the beginning, and Ahmed wanted Kevin to go, and I had a feeling that Ben would go with Lequisha during this vote, so my plan was to pretend to push Zach to both Lequisha and Ben, and than vote for Kevin M, and Sandy would be the deciding vote. If Sandy voted out Zach, than I could tell both Lequisha and Ben that it was us three who voted that way, bit if she voted out Kevin M, than I could possibly pin that vote on Ben, and create seeds in peoples heads that there is a secret alliance between Ben, Zach, and Bone, who Zach was working with. The easy route would have been for Zach to go, but Sandy voted for Kevin M, so the hard route we went. Prior to the eviction I had sent a fake eviction vote to a person I have not talked to in years and was not active on skype, to send to everyone if they asked for a screenshot/quote, while I sent my actual vote to JB. People knew that the vote was most likely Ben or myself, but I was able to paint Ben as a bigger target and make others believe he was more shady than he probrably really was. At this point is when I realized that I had to target Ben, because Ben now knew how sneaky of a game I was playing, and he could expose it if he gets the chance, so I had to eliminate him before he had that chance to do it. Sandy winning HOH was the worst outcome for my game at this point. I had actually thrown this comp, and would be glad for anyone to win but her, but she won, and I offered her a safety for safety which I think was actually enough for her to keep me safe for that full week, even avoiding being the renom that week. At this point in the game, Bone was a big threat to my game as I knew he had a close connection to Zach, and I needed Zach's number one ally to be me so I could have the sway on his decisions opposed to someone else like Bone being able to have part of that swing, so I had to target him. Ben being the only vote for Bone to stay was amazing for me as, that made the fake alliance I had been scheming about between him, Bone, and Zach seem more real to the rest of the cast.
My number one target at this eviction was Ben. He knew my game and how sneaky it was after I had voted for Kevin M instead of Zach at that eviction. Zach winning HOH I knew could be the perfect way for me to get that done. I already knew that Zach had won this HOH before it was revealed, as I already knew everyone's scores besides Bone, who was getting evicted. Zach nominated Lequisha and Pat, but for my game both of them had to stay this week. Everyone in the game trusted me enough to not vote in my poll once, so by virtue of just finishing my puzzle I had won the veto, and now was MY time to take the shot at Ben. Zach was threatening to nominate Logan to force me to evict Pat at the double, but I was able to make sure that he nominated Ben because logically doing Logan did no good for my game, and I needed Ben out. Using this veto on Lequisha also helped further solidify our final 2 alliance, and I could tell Pat that I was not using veto on him so that he could get HOH, when I assured him that he had the votes to stay. And the plan worked perfectly. Zach wanted me to vote out Patrick really badly but for my game that could not happen, so I stuck to my guns and took the shot and I hit, and took out Ben. This was a huge turning point for my game as it solidified me as one of if not the biggest threat left in the game, but I still had all of my connections there if I were to be in danger, so this was the perfect time to make the move.
My next target was Sandy. Sandy and I had no game relationship from the start, and taking her out would leave me in the game with Lequisha/Pat and Zach against eachother, and with Ahmed in the game as a shield and Hoop as my ally and a pawn in case I was ever against him. I knew that Pat would nominate Zach and Sandy this week, but was not sure of who his renom would be. The vote being 3-2 at the double let me be able to pin it on one of Lequisha or Hoop to Pat to avoid being the renom, but I knew that Hoop was my better option to use it against because Pat and Lequisha I knew were working together and it could possibly backfire on me. The veto went amazing for my game as, even though I would have used the veto on Zach, having Ahmed doing it for me since Zach would have went home against Sandy made it easier for me to push the narrative that I would have voted Zach out to both Pat and Lequisha, because they wanted him out. Lequisha and Zach could have flipped this vote onto Hoop last minute if they communicated, because they both were debating, but I told Zach that Sandy was going either way even though I was not sure what Lequisha would be doing. Sandy would have gone no matter what since Zach was voting for her but Lequisha did not know this, and she came to me before the eviction because Sandy is a friend for her, and I understand, it's a bad spot to be in, but in the end her vote did not matter too much as Sandy would have went home in the tiebreaker anyways.
At this point in the game I was not going anywhere. I had set myself up where no one was looking at me, but rather eachother because they all believed that I was not after them. Ahmed, this is why I could not fully own my game, because I was playing with so much fire and if people realized, my game very much could have burned if it got exposed. Most people's BB strategy is to lay low and then dominate, but I was the complete opposite. Due to all the work I had done prior to the final 6, I had to win none of the competitions as my social game was able to prevail me to the final, however we are still at the final 6.
Zach winning HOH was great because I knew I was in the final 5, however I was not sure how I would get what I wanted done this week. Pat had been a great ally for me, but I needed him out. I knew that him and Ahmed were a duo and them together would be too much to go up against if I did not take the shot now. Pat would have went against Lequisha most likely, so Lequisha winning put a big wrench in my plan, because with Zach putting up either Ahmed or Logan I was not sure that I would have the votes to get Pat out. When Zach nominates Hoop, I know that I have to talk to Lequisha to get her to flip with me against Pat.
Lequisha originally really wanted to vote out Hoop and keep Pat. We had a alliance chat with Pat, and she thought that it was best for us to vote out Hoop and keep him to protect us, however we called that evening, and I was able to successfully flip her to vote out Pat by outing the alliance that Ahmed had created between himself, Pat, and I at the jay vote. I pushed the importance of getting out a pair and that Pat had thrown her name around at the double to get her to think that voting out Pat was better for her. It worked, and we sent Pat home 2-1 in a blindside. Pat, this is the one thing I feel bad about in this game, as I always give people the courtesy of knowing if im evicting them beforehand, and you were the one exception to that, so I'm sorry if I hurt you but that is what I needed to do to move forward with my own game.
And now we were left down to the Final 5. I still at this point was in a position where throwing this HOH was the OPTIMAL strategy for my game, and I knew that Lequisha was looking at her targets Zach and Ahmed for this round, as we had just made a big move together to take out Pat and keep Hoop. I gave her this HOH, and after Ahmed used veto on Zach, I was still able to stay off the block because of my final 2 with Lequisha. I knew that Ahmed was banned and would most likely be booted, but I also knew that he was not a quitter or would not go down without a fight, and I knew there was a strong chance that I could just vote to keep him and then hed be unbanned and back in the game like that. I knew that Zach and Ahmed were close at this point and that to position myself best to win this game, I had to keep Hoop and evict Ahmed, and I knew that LQ would with me too, and that is exactly what we did here, and Ahmed went home.
The final 4 was a tough spot to be in. I was left with Hoop, Zach, and Lequisha, the final 4 that I had been trying to set up since nearly the Final 9 of the game, because I knew that Lequisha and Zach were rivals by now, and that Hoop would be a easier competitor to beat in a competition, plus I had a final 2 with both Lequisha and Zach still. I was left to fight against Logan for my life here, and I was able to beat him for the whole reason that I had kept him why he was nominated all those times. And I also knew that Zach/Lequisha would not evict me over eachother, except for the small chance that LQ would because Zach told me that before she had told him that I would win if I made it to the end. I knew I would go to the end with Zach when he won, and the whole season hiding myself and him as being a duo had paid off for me when it counted.
So now I sit here in the final 2, and when I see Big Brother I think of Social, Strategic, and physical game. This game, I always had more social avenues than Zach did, my strategic moves have made me a force, and I controlled half of the pre jury physical game this season, and did not have to win ANYTHING after the final 7 because of how well off socially I was.
Highlights of my game
- Hiding my Duo with Zach
- Flipping my vote from Zach to Kevin M to paint Ben as a larger target
- 2 HOH's and 3 Veto's
- Flipping Lq to vote out Patrick at the final 6
- Backdooring Ben at the Double Eviction
- Being the last player to be nominated and never be nominated in this game
Jury, I hope you can respect all the moves I made within the game and know that I did it all in the name of strategy, and to those I hurt I am sorry, but I came into this game saying if I made the final 2 I would make it there knowing I played to win and that I played the best game and that I feel I did. I would appreciate any questions asked, and thank you.
