Hi Jury!
So first off, I just wanna say that any thing I did to you all was completely, 10000% strategy. I know a few of you, namely Jordan and Michael, have a sour taste in your mouths based off of my game, but I'd like a chance to explain myself before you make up your minds.
Coming into this game, I had two connections on my original tribe: Noelle and Honey. I wanted to link up with Kennedy, Noelle and Honey, with Noelle bringing Jake for the five of us to run original Api. However, Honey and Kennedy targeted each other, and it ultimately led to two of my closest allies, Kennedy and Noelle being voted out in the first two tribal councils.
When the tribes swapped, it would originally seem like I was in a worse position, but it actually benefited me. I linked up with the Lampu members and begin referring to my previous tribe as a cult. The goal of this was to clearly keep the Lampu and Api tribes separated, and also show the Lampu members that I had zero intentions of EVER voting with the Api tribe. We didn't lose any post-swap challenges, but I'd say that this was the most important time in the game for me.
When Api lost the last post-swap challenge, I linked up with Robert, the outsider on the swapped Lampu tribe, and made a Final Two with him. Robert and I had no one, so we decided to help each other. From that point on, we had control of the game.
I decided to vote out Jordan first at the Joint Tribal, primarily because I knew he was leading the original Api alliance.
TO BE CLEAR, YES I SAID ROBBY WAS! However, that was mostly because I knew if Jordan thought I thought he was in power, I would've been voted out instead of Noelle. I had to make it seem like I was completely delusional, so I did.
I then kickstarted the Vincent vote, but it was clearly something that didn't need to be said, as it was the only unanimous vote in the merge until the Final 4.
The Ryan vote was something that I started. I knew that Ryan was a very crafty player, so I knew I had to take him out early. I pushed for a split so that way Robert could flip and vote him out. However, when the vote began migrating towards Robert, I had zero problems joining the flip to take him out, forcing people to return to Robert and I for votes.
I actually wanted Michael to go at Final Eight, but my alliance preferred Honey. This is the one time in the merge that I didn't get what I wanted. However, I joined that group when it was clear where the numbers were going, and also chose to left Robert in the dark, just in case he tried to be crafty and ruin the flipping strategy.
Voting out Michael at Final Seven accomplished a lot of things, but the biggest three were:
1. I got rid of a player that had zero interest in working for me.
2. I allowed Nolan and Robby to win the partner twist, causing Robby and I to begin breaking down our wall.
AND MOST IMPORTANTLY:
3. I kept Robert on the table as an option to get votes after the partner twist was triggered. Now, while he won immunity at F6, this kept the pressure off of me, as I knew that Robert and I were seen as a duo, and if they couldn't target Robert, I'd be targeted instead. Additionally, this is where I won immunity, the only I won in the game, and also the only one I truly felt like I needed, as I think I could've been flipped on here without it.
Final Six was not my move, all of the credit for that goes to Oliver. But I did do one thing, I made SURE Robert swapped his vote to Scott instead of voting for Oliver. And one thing I can definitely say was that I played a much more active role in the vote than Robby or Robert did.
Final Five was interesting. Robert will tout this move as his best decision in the game, but in reality this was more Oliver making a blunder than Robert making a smart decision. I would like to rant on this Tribal in a separate question later, but I'll save you all some time reading and answer it if you all ask me.
Final Four, well it was pretty simple. Either Nolan or Robby was going, depending on who won immunity. I made a deal with Robby that if I threw the challenge, which I did, he would vote with us to take out Nolan. And that he did. It was a simple, tactical decision, which is what I tried to do the entire game.
The thing I did in this game that the other two players sitting next to me was keep myself completely in the loop. I'm the only player in this Final 3 to have voted correctly at every Tribal Council this merge, and I also am the only player in the Final 3 to control multiple votes.
My game wasn't perfect. I have difficulty building social connections with people, and I know my social game was lacking. But in terms of strategy? I outplayed both of the people sitting beside me. And THAT is why I deserve the title of Sole Survivor. Because I outwitted, outplayed, and outlasted better than the other finalists here.