Hi guys. First off, I just want to congratulate Ray on making it here with me. We had insanely different paths to making it here and it wasn’t easy for either of us, but we managed to stick together throughout and I’m so glad to be here with you. We ate.

Now, onto the jury. I know a lot of y’all aren’t thrilled with me right now. I did play a pretty dirty game, but I felt like every move I made was necessary to give me the best chance to win this game. I hope that you’ll at least give me the time of day and read what I have to say before making your decision. That’s all I ask for.

Survivor is a social game. You need to build game and personal connections with people. I was able to do this throughout the game, starting way back on our original tribes and through the swaps and merge. I made sure that in every group I had people that I was close with. This way I would know what was going on in the game, as well as have my name kept safe by these people. I was never the target in this game, and that is because most people in the game thought that I was good for their game and would be loyal to them. This was also the reason that I was aware of every vote in the game and knew how it was going to turn out except 2 (Callia and Zach).

A few of the key examples of this were Ray, Jojo, and Ess. These 3 were all in very different positions in the game, and having the relationship I did with them allowed me to make the moves I wanted to make without worrying about putting my game in jeopardy.

With Ray, he was someone in the minority who would keep my name safe if it ever popped up. He was also someone I knew I could work with later in the game when I flipped on the majority. This made it much easier for me to maneuver through this game and control where the votes were heading without being afraid of being voted out after. I also knew Ray was someone that the jury also didn’t like and building a bond with him allowed me to be high on his list so that we would take each other to the end. I always felt like my best chance would be against Ray, because the jury likes neither of us and IMO I played a better game than him (love you though). That’s why I chose to take him here, as he would have done with me if he won final immunity. That’s also why I chose to idol him, because I couldn’t have him leave and end up with all people who would have beaten me.

With Jojo, we had no previous relationship before this game, but we were able to build one to the point where Jojo told me I was one of the people he trusted the most. This was in part the reason why Jojo stuck with our majority even when the other 6 were all in duos. This allowed me to be in majority early in merge and get people out who I knew weren’t good for my game later.

With Ess, she was someone I had to be close with throughout this game because I knew with her relationships she was going to make it far. Outside of her preexisting relationships, I think I was probably closest to her. This let me in on a lot of key information in the game and also helped me reestablish myself with the majority after flipping. It also allowed me to push big votes to her and get her on my side, this being evident in both the Keith and Jojo votes. Without those 2 votes, things look a lot different now, and those 2 votes are only possible with me pushing them to her and convincing her that they were the right move. Ess was also important late in the game, as she could have pulled the trigger on me and idoled me out (twice), but did so to my partner instead because of the solid relationship I had with her. As much as it pained me, though, I had to cut her before she got here. She would’ve won in the end IMO, and that’s not what I was playing for.

These are just some examples, and I had good (or at least working) relationships with many others as well. Chris, Xakim, Zach, Ali, Stoner, and Emma were all people that at some point in the merge I had a good relationship with that helped me end up here.

While my social game keyed me into everyone’s mindset, I also had to work a strong strategic game in order to make it to the end and give myself a chance to win. I knew if I was here with certain people I would basically have no chance to win, which is why I set myself up the way I did.

Early in the game an alliance chat was made between me, Austyn, Ess, Chris, Xakim, and Ali. This chat looked out for one another throughout the game and was a key piece for me being able to play the game I played. I knew that with this core I would be able to set myself up well for merge. That being said, with some of the players in this group I knew that at some point I’d have to cut them. So early on I was able to take out people who I had no real relationship with and then later in the game I had to put myself in a position to win by cutting these people. Yes, it was definitely cutthroat and I understand if y’all were upset by these moves, but without doing it I was setting myself up to lose, and my competitiveness wouldn’t allow that.

It was all about cushioning myself so that I could flip when the time was right and take who I wanted to the end, which is exactly what I did. You don’t have to love it or respect it, but that’s what I felt I had to do.

I also kinda ate the competitions? I never do well in comps, but this game I kinda went off. 4 KEY immunities that pushed me and the people close to me forward in the game, including 2 on finale night and of course, the final 3 immunity to seal the deal.

The last thing I wanted to touch on is my duo, my ride or die, my king, Austyn. Without him, I would never have made it here, and I acknowledge that. I don’t think that’s a pitfall in my game though, and I actually think it’s something that boosts my resume. We were able to get further than any other duo, and without an idol play we are very likely both here in FTC. We worked together so well, and had so many relationships with everyone in the game. It was only near the very end that people started to distrust Austyn, and even then it was only a select few. We had ears everywhere and would report back to each other about everything so that we knew where everyone’s head was at. This was obviously very key to my game. Love you papa.

Overall, I feel like I was a very well rounded player, dominating the social, strategic, and physical elements of this game. I built solid relationships with people I knew would help my game short and long term, I made the moves I had to to make sure I had the best chance possible to win, and I won 4 immunities while having 3 idols just in case anything went wrong.

And of course, thanks Mike for hosting another fun game! I appreciate all the effort. That being said, fuck you, you’re fucking CRACKED.

Thanks jury for reading through this. I’m gonna give each of you a few words in another post to explain myself to you and tell you how I honestly felt about you in this game. I’m now ready to be blasted by your questions.

Good luck Ray <3

My speech will be up shortly

Steve: We never talked this game and I wanted you out because I felt like it would get me closer to some of the people on your side. I also thought you had the potential to take me and Austyn’s spots as the middle people in the game. You had a lot of people low key protecting you and even had someone quit over the guilt of voting you. Not bad.

Stoner: Honestly I felt like we could’ve potentially gone further in the game together, but after you lied to me and Austyn about the first vote after you came back it was just kinda hard to trust you. And considering how you play the game I knew there was always the chance you’d try to take me out.

Emma: I know you didn’t like how I kept giving you false hope, but it legitimately was not false. I was always planning on flipping and I did want to work with you. You seemed pretty upset about me not flipping early though and to me it sorta seemed like you weren’t having any of what I was saying, so I felt like it was best for me if you were gone at that point. But I wasn’t lying to you earlier. It was nice to get to know you though!

Lexey: We kinda never talked all game except the Keith vote which was actually huge for me. I knew you had a lot of people you were loyal to before me so I didn’t really want you to stick around too long. You were very hard to get out though.

Jojo: King. I know you’re probably pissed at me still, which is understandable. The timing was just too perfect with the 1 day tribes and the ability to get 1 person on each side out. I also think you were a bit closer with others in the majority than me, although we did build a good relationship and I loved getting to know you.

Ben: You always spice up the game and make things interesting. I just didn’t trust you because I knew a few votes down the line it would be easy for you to cut me, plus I was just closer with Ray and Zach. You did predict a lot of things correctly about this game, and honestly you do have good intuition on a game level regardless of what you/others say.

Ali: I know you hate me rn, and I get why. You were the only person in the majority that I didn’t have a solid relationship with, and honestly that’s on both of us, not just you. It just made it easier to cut you and it had to be done to further me and Austyn’s game. You were playing well and had a lot of say in what was going on most days. I think you would’ve had a lot of votes if you got here, so I couldn’t let it happen.

Austyn: My everything. You already know everything I’d say here so.. love u.

Zach: You were a lot closer to Ray and Austyn than you were with me this game, but I still felt good with you. I’m glad I flipped to help keep you in the game and you getting idoled out when you did was very tragic. I will say though, I did not plan on having you in finals. You had all of the jury on your side, and I get it.

Xakim: Sighs. Look, I get it. I’m a huge snake and a dirty player. It’s true. I can admit it. But I was as honest with y’all as I could be throughout the game. I know you hate me on a game level and I get that, but on a personal level I’m glad I got to know you better king. You also played a very good game and ran a lot of votes.

Ess: Honestly I didn’t expect to get as close as we did. I had you pinpointed from the start as someone who was gonna go far and play a great game, and you did. I’ve told you everything already, but voting you out is probably the hardest thing I’ve had to do in a survivor group game. I adore you and I hope we can continue talking outside of this game. WHY DID AHMED HELP YOU FIND THAT IDOL SMH

Sean: I mean you got to final tribal and there’s something to be said for that. Your path was much different and you played a messy as hell game, but IMO you win this game if you make it here so hey, it sorta worked for ya. Congrats on making it this far.

I would not be able to start this off without thanking the hosts (Mike & Newz) for bringing me back to play again. I’ve won this series twice already so coming into this game as a two time winner definitely played to my detriment and I can confidently say I worked my ass off to get here.

Now to the members of the jury, I’d like to focus on the two different aspects of my game that I stuck true to and overall defined my gameplay this season. Those two aspects were my loyalty and my courage throughout the game. Those who I gave my word to can say I never broke it and was one of the most straightforward and honest players in this game, even till the point that it hurt me sometimes. And when the opportunity presented itself to make moves and take risks to advance myself in the game, I took every single one.

My strategy vastly consisted of finding ways to minimize my target from the start, I was capable of doing this by putting everything out there so that while people knew I was a threat, at the same time they were simultaneously aware that I was being genuine and at least knew what to expect from me. Most people throughout the game would mention how I was continuously blunt about my decisions and choices in the game, which definitely hurt me at the time, but also played to my benefit. On top of this, I didn’t rely on challenges or powers to advance me in this game (besides shooting out Absol for personal reasons at the start) and never had an idol of MY OWN to save me from possible elimination. Besides my connection with Matt which provided me with safety at the final 5 tribal council. I played a raw, but simple social game that required me to rely on my connections with others to survive day by day.  My social prowess was beneficial in building relationships with important members of the other side such as Matt and Austyn, when it came to the merge.

I also made crucial moves this season, but what differentiates my style of gameplay from other big players this season, is that I made them behind the scenes. I was the one to bond our side together at the start of the merge to vote together throughout my various connections with different members in that alliance (Emma, Zach, Lexey, and Stoner) who brought me other allies through them. I garnered Steve’s loyalties because of my connection with Emma. And I had Kelly’s loyalty through my connection with Zach and Stoner for their durations of the game as well. This was all while maintaining close to Austyn & Matt who were even willing to change the game around to save me and a close ally in Zach when we were in danger. However, the other side always voted for someone else and I was able to deflect my name at most tribal councils during the merge.  I displayed an incredible amount of courage throughout this season. I can say my defining moments were making the chat of 7 at the start of the merge to solidify our position in the game against what eventually turned out to be the majority alliance, keeping close ties with important members the opposition and forming a close connection to two of those members, and voting out big players (Kelly, Ali, Ess and Hisoka) without hesitation in order to benefit my game. I had to turn my back on Kelly because I was the bigger threat because of my relationship with Austyn & Matt and Ali & Ess both realized that. Which later resulted in me voting them out as well. During the finale I had to make tough calls because of how deep we were into the game and how risky it was to allow members of the dominant alliance Ess and Xanny were part of to make it to the end. I quickly realized I stood no chance against them because of how threatening the grasp they had throughout the game was in a jury vote. Consequentially, I played my heart out and at the end of the day people may underestimate me because I wasn’t the flashiest player, that they may have expected me to be, but that is criticism I am more than willing to handle for how fluid I was in this game and willing to work with whoever benefited me. I won 1 immunity challenge and was never voted out of this game, and with all the twists and turn that we all had to endure this season, that is something I can say I am really proud of and own as part of my gameplay.

In short, I believe I portrayed the heroic role countless times throughout the game such as revealing my powers and ability to my tribe/alliance at the start, telling people that I was voting out when I was doing it and why I was doing it. Essentially, I wanted to avoid indulging in the role “Demon” that I was assigned at the start, instead chosing to play a loyal yet strategic game that allowed me to grow not only as a player, but as a person throughout all the Darkness that this season shed upon us. Emma, Stoner, Kelly, Zach, Lexey, Steve (quick shout-out to you all because when I made that chat I had no idea any of us would be able to get to the end) can attest to how instead of trying to dominate our alliance, I was consistently open to ideas and was determined to come across as an approachable player and in doing so not being naive of the fact we were still playing a game. My opponent, Matt, was a huge reason why I made it this far and the loyalty that we both showed each other throughout this game is not something I”ll regret and can definitely own up to. I would’ve taken him over Sean had I won that final 3 challenge without hesitation because as I continuously kept losing allies this game (a lot of the pre-jury included) he managed to stay loyal to me and that’s something I appreciated and valued more than ever this game. I have no ill will towards Matt or his game because the loyalty that I showed him was always reciprocated and I believe it’s part of the reason we are both sitting here. So best of luck to you buddy. It was one hell of a season and I’m glad to be able to have partaken in it with you all.

Good luck when casting your vote for the winner.  I’m fully prepared and pleased to answer any questions and/or address statements sent my way.

My question to ray, how can you sit there and say you played an honest game when you have promised me multiple times that I was in your final 3 and after all the loyalty I’ve given you, you decided to throw me away at final 7 when you thought I was out and when I still stayed and slayed Zach and Austyn you still kept to yourself, you clearly didn’t feel like you needed my jury vote

So why should I vote for you?
And why do you feel you played an honest game when on the contrary..you actually didn’t?

My question to Matt

Why do you think you deserve my vote for the dishonest and dirty game you played? I want a concrete answer, although I adore you on a personal level and outside of this game, I believe your gameplay was so repulsive that I don’t feel you earned a win and that’s a valid feeling I should be having

‘More questions will be asked to each finalist later on

My question is to Matt:

You said I leaked everything you said in the game, when it was actually you who leaked to Hisoka about me telling you about the Ray Vote as I told you to play it accordingly.. You did this to benefit you (all to attain his jury vote instead of leaving it up to me to defend position if I had made FTC).

Also you said you think I would have won which I know is far from the truth, even if people may not wanted me to make it to the end (ess/ray) because they would rather see people who endured the whole mess or merge and the aftermath prior.. I still would prefer you to just own up fearing a bitter jury instead of acting like I would of won hands down. As you said my game was messy and my strategy was very dry because I was anticipating a F3 and not a F2, so congrats on it being that cuz maybe I would of had a better shot in a F3 but a F2 of an original vs SR comeback lets be honest here and not lie saying I would of beaten you..

Ray at least admitted to the reasoning as to why he was going to take you over me if he had won.

I am just having trouble if I can vote for you when you were pondering a jury member (Xanny) about a move right after he got voted off... like its my responsibility to face those repercussions if and when I made FTC or in ponderosa. I am just like to see you own up to what you mean by all of this that I leaked stuff when I was pretty clear about hisoka/ess coming to me each round on a vote and how we should of split the votes in case an idol would come.

Funny thing is you and Ray could have gotten your closest allies (Zach and Austyn) in if you had listen to me about splitting, but thats a different story.

Hello!

Matt - I skimmed ur jury speech and I noticed something that piked my interest, you treated Zach like complete shit and are lying in your jury speech about the circumstances regarding his boot… you gave him the wrong idol clue you let ess idol him out. You essentially set him up and made him feel like he was nothing more then a number and then a jury vote for you…  so my question for you is 2 things:  1. I dont want you to BS I want you to cop up to exactly what you did and why you do it and not beat around the bush like you did in ur BS jury speech and 2. Tell me why should I vote for somebody who treats other people like that?




Ray - idk… I mean you are like disgusting and fake and honestly you probably hate my people but its what I kind of expect from you… I mean quite frankly I dont like you very much so if I voted you it would be a vote against Matt who for all intents and purposes I like more then you… so my question for you is I want you to pick 5 random jurors and compare them to a random object found in a home.


GL!

Xakim:

Yeah, I do understand you feeling that way. I think on a purely game level I deserve your vote because I did play a very solid game. If we want to look at the 3 pillars, outwit/outplay/outlast, I was able to do all 3 very well and unfortunately that meant turning on some of my closest allies. I felt that I had to do what I did in order to succeed in this game, and like you said I do put winning first a lot of the time.

Another thing, I did attempt to be honest whenever I could. The only time I truly lied to you all was when Ali was voted out in fear of an idol being played. I was honest with both you and Ess about when I was or wasn’t voting with y’all. Also, I seriously was contemplating whether I wanted to take you guys or not. That was never a lie.

That being said, on a personal level I can understand why you wouldn’t want to vote for me. I don’t have a defense for my actions because I own it. I did what I did. I hope that you can overlook the hurt I caused and vote based on the game I played, but if you can’t I completely understand why.

Sean:

Honestly, I made that comment because I knew you were talking to Ray and leaking my messages about me wanting to take you to final 2. And I had heard plenty of times before that that my messages were getting back to people. I only leaked to Xakim because I knew you were leaking my messages and Xakim told me he was voting for you.

I do think you would have won because this jury does not like me nor Ray. It absolutely would have been a bitter jury, and I can admit I was afraid of that.

If you don't want to vote for me because of that, that is fine. I told Xanny that because you led him to believe something that wasn't true and I wanted to clear it up.

Also, I was told that you were telling people what I was coming to you and saying, so I just didn't really trust you. I think that is pretty fair.

Kelly:

That is fair. To be honest I did make a lot of this speech in a haze. I don't think I treated Zach especially poorly though and I will be completely honest about what happened.

Ess came to me and asked me for the clue to the idol. Thinking there was 15 minutes to find it and that couldn't possibly be done, I gave it to her. In hindsight this was my worst move, although it didn't really change the outcome of what I wanted to happen. You can ask her, I was very frustrated after her idol play. I did not want Zach out that vote and that was not a lie.

The reason I gave Zach a fake clue was because I wanted him out at the final 5, and he would've had around an hour to find it, which I thought was much more plausible than 15 minutes. I admitted that I wanted Zach out because he absolutely wins this game in final tribal council. I love Zach as a person and if I really did hurt him I am sorry. He is one of my favourite people in this game.

So, I guess to answer your questions more precisely, I did what I did because I did not think Ess would find the idol and I thought Zach had a much better chance at finding it. It was shitty on a GAME level, but it was never personal, as I love Zach.

Also to add to that ^ I literally had no idea Ess had the idol or was using it until it happened. She told me she found it with seconds left, I don't know if that was true or not. But I never knew they were idoling out Zach, and I told Xakim straight to his face I was voting him out, so there is the proof.

if you cared about him why not just vote him out yourself... i feel like you would have never admitted ur part in it if you werent called out for it which is honestly an even bigger problem of yours outside of this game... you claim he meant so much to you but why were you so willing to lie so hard to him and fuck him over like he was nothing to you?

So from my understanding you did not want us to split the votes on purpose because you wanted Ess to use it and cause someone to go with giving these clues out like so (Thinking ess wouldn't find an idol is kinda messy) ?

In end It caused you and Ray's best allies out with an idol, and you jeopardized your own game as you were vulnerable at f7 as well.

Also its still hard for me to understand these leaks you talking about as at F3 obviously people will relay messages but the talks about me leaking other stuff prior is somewhat of a lie as the only one I could see you mad about was when I actually talked to your buddy Austyn when I caught you wavering on wanting to potentially vote out Zach at F7 instead of splitting the known targets Hisoka/Ess at the time. Why not own up to the IDOL move and getting rid of Zach because I too know you did talk to Ess in targeting him and why I leak to Austyn that you may not be down with the plan.

Kelly:

I was going to vote him out. I didn’t want him out that round though. Again, I was being genuine that I do love Zach as a person. And I did not know he was being voted out that round. That’s all I said.

I did overlook that in my speech though, and I should have added something about it. Honestly so much happened tonight it wasn’t something I thought of right away. But you are right, it definitely should’ve been explained further. And I take full responsibility for it.

Yes, what I did to him was shitty on a game level. We didn’t have the BEST game relationships anyways, we had lied to each other about votes before that. That doesn’t mean he means any less to me. And I do hope it works the same for him, but if not I would get it.