Hey everyone :-) I was not expecting to make it to final 2 because I went to every tribal except 1 this entire game. First things first: I joined alone. I had no clue who the cast was coming it and the only people I had established relationships with were stuart and sameed (who I hadn't spoken to since 2019). Every tribe swap I was at I managed to be in the majority alliance, even when it had more of the original talofofo.

I was honestly down to make relationships with people on original talofofo but when merge came none of you really replied back to me and then I was the first vote on that side at merge. I was extremely loyal to the people I was with and didn't vote against them at all during merge (gabriel, willie, stuart). I do admit I could have had better jury management but I am not going to lie to someone about the vote. I had to be more under the radar at merge too so I wouldn't keep getting votes because premerge I was cutthroat (voting off sam from my og alliance). I told minimal lies during merge, even towards the end of the game I was telling people how I was voting. Everybody knew where I stood.

I believe I had a good social game and won a couple of immunities that were literally hard af. Everyone here played a really good game and considered everyone threats every time I was in my confessionals. I really did want to make friends out of this so my DMs are still always open and I will answer all questions thrown my way. You may drag me as well.

Dakota - you were the last person I met in this game which sucked. It was hard to establish a relationship with you because you were talking to everyone. However, I was doing exactly the same as I am someone who does better at social aspects in the game. I wanted you out because you seemed like a social threat to me. It was also super easy to get votes to go against you.

Brenden - I really liked getting to know you. It was just hard to trust you during merge because you had voted me the round prior and if I gave you any info than I was worried about an idol being played, and at this point I thought I would be getting votes again.

Gabriel - I was so sick when you were voted off. I loved working with you and if you were here in the end you would have 100% won. Would I have cut you later down the line? Absolutely! I just wasn't prepared for people in our alliance to flip flop so often.

Nolan - You were my biggest threat imo. You seemed intelligent, strategic and social. Oh ya, and did good in comps. I was pushing for you so hard this tribal. You were a really cool person and I loved getting to know you. You gave off loyalty vibes too and I think at that point we weren't gonna be loyal to each other.

William - WILLIE!! I was so sick you were voted off. You would have slaughtered everyone at finals, though.

Stuart - I had every intentions on you, me and sameed in final 3. I was loyal to you the whole time if that counts for anything and I loved our chats about random topics unrelated to game.

Rick - I really liked you. I loved our f4 premerge but you were such a big threat. If I was on jury I would have voted for you to win. You were better at comps than joey and brady imo so you had to go.

Joey - you were an enigma in this game and we didn't really talk much. I honestly wanted you in final 3 because I feel like we played similar games as to be loyal to one side.

Brady - you would have won 100% like let's ask the jury. I would have voted for you to win. I think you played the best game in the cast imo.

Sameed. My ride or die. Even though we fought over every vote lol. I would be honored to lose to you. Good luck, we did it !

Hey jurors :)

For starters, I want to congratulate Nichole, you were an incredible ride or die and even though we did not have the same path to final 2, we still made it here!!

I definitely did not expect to make it this far, coming in I really did not have any hopes of doing well as most of this cast I was unfamiliar with besides Nichole and Brady. I knew Nichole prior to this and hadn't spoken to her over a year so it was nice to reconnect and make a pact with her. Brady and I came off another group game and not on the best terms so I did not know where I stood with him.

-PRE JURY PORTION-

Starting from Day 1, I was on the Dededo Tribe. We lost, and almost everybody wanted to vote out Brady. A 5 person alliance chat was created, with Stuart, Nichole, Sam, Willie and I. Personally, Brady is someone who I saw myself playing the game long-term with despite our rocky past. As Brady and I bond, he tells me he has an idol. This was music to my ears, and we had to take the opportunity to get a threat out. We decided on Drew and yes, I was the second vote on him. However, I could not risk people questioning it was me, so I did my best to pin it on Brandon. Shortly after, people saw Brandon and Brady as a duo and Brandon went home right after.

On my original Dededo tribe, I built strong connections with Willie and Nichole as well. At one point, that’s who I wanted to go to the end with. Willie and I bonded a lot, and he was someone who I could trust completely. He was loyal, and an amazing ally anyone could ask for.  Eventually he did find an idol when we swapped to Talofofo and the first person he told was me. After I swap to Talofofo, I meet Rick, and him, Brady and I bond and establish a final 3 alliance. From here on out and for the rest of the game, we would go on calls to strategize and discuss votes for the remainder of the game. 

When I swapped back to Dededo, I saw an opportunity to get Sam out. I always had my eyes on him, and viewed him as a cutthroat player. He was pretty low-key and I could see his strategy and understood what he was trying to do. He had established connections with Joey, Craig, and Jimmy. Jimmy and Craig were two wildcards and I did not know where they stood. I did know Craig and Jimmy were aligned with Brenden and Nolan on the other tribe and I could see all of them coming together during the merge to establish a major alliance. Sam’s connections were very concerning, and if I did not take him out pre-merge, he would’ve been a dangerous player. After Sam was voted off, we lost again and I assumed this was the final tribal before the merge. We vote out Jimmy, and then the hosts pull a fast one on us and here we are at tribal again. I was a bit sad since I bonded with Craig and did not want to vote him out, but I knew voting out Jimmy and Craig would severely weaken the other side. I decided to abstain during the Craig vote, because I knew it would be hard to abstain twice during merge.

MERGE 

The Dakota vote →
Coming into the merge was a bit refreshing. No more tribes, we were all one. I did not know where I stood with Gabriel, Brenden or Nolan because we were never on a tribe together until now. I really liked Dakota but when my alliance with Willie, Stuart, and Nichole discussed a vote, we realized Dakota is someone who messages and talks to everyone. Dakota was someone on the other side, and was someone considered as an easy first vote. I would've much rather done Nolan or Brenden but I was not going to fight it. My alliance with Brady, Rick and I also agreed upon voting Dakota, so that is how it went.

The Brenden vote →
Brady finds the merge idol, which made me super excited. I knew everybody that had an idol which gave me great comfort and encouraged me to make some bold moves without worrying about someone having an idol. Some of the members of alliance such as Willie and Nichole had connections with Gabriel, so he was someone that would vote with us. Here my alliance with Rick and Brady decided it was time to flip and go with Nolan, Joey, and Brenden because they did not completely trust Gabriel out. However, I did not think Gabriel leaving would benefit my game so I leaked the vote to Willie, hoping he would use the idol on Gabriel. My intentions were not to only flush Willie’s idol but get Brenden out who I had barely spoken to. This also exposed Brady and Rick as liars, and made them bigger targets, and I thought it was a great way to use them as some form of a shield, and no one found out I was the one who leaked. If I do have one regret, it is not speaking to Brenden more. It was just my weird schedule and time management where I did not reach out as much to him.

The Gabriel vote →
My alliance with Nichole, Willie, Stuart, Gabriel and I were the majority. It was us 5 and them 4. I was starting to think long term and I believe Gabriel had a stronger relationship with the other 3 than me. His advantage that he received during the auction would harm me more than it would benefit. I knew Brady had an extra vote advantage so I knew the vote would go to 5-5 if I were to vote with my alliance. The other side including Rick and Joey were voting for Gabriel, and I took the opportunity to get Gabriel out alongside gaining an extra vote advantage myself. I decide to abstain, and Gabriel goes home 5-4.

The Nolan vote →
Nolan and I bonded a bit personally, I did speak to him quite a lot without talking much game with him. I did view him as the glue that was holding that fragile side. If he leaves, that whole side weakens. It was the final 8 and a 4-4 side. However, I had an extra vote and I was planning to use it here to get Nolan out 5-4. Rick and Brady were adamant on getting Willie out here. Who I considered a trustworthy ally, it was still a bit early for me. I had to come forward and tell my alliance I decided to abstain, the only ones who knew that I abstained were Nichole, Rick and Brady. I told Willie and Stuart, and even though they told me they understood, it definitely raised their suspicions.
I decided to tell Rick and Brady that I will be using my extra vote to vote Nolan out because I did not want to blindside them. I was expecting Nolan to go 5-4 with my extra vote, however it was not the case. Rick told me he abstained and had abstained during the Dakota vote as well. I was a bit alarmed because he did not trust me enough to tell me about it. Nolan goes, and I see myself at a great spot.

The Willie Vote →
This was hard to do, because I absolutely adore Willie but there’s no way in hell I would beat him at the end. My alliance decided to vote for Brady and I tried my best to find a way for Willie to be voted out without exposing where my loyalty lied. Since this was the last time Rick could use his advantage, he used it to vote for Willie. I thought the best way to do this would be a 4-4 vote with Brady using his idol which results in Willie going home. I let Brady know he is getting the votes and I voted for Brady to make it seem I was loyal to Nichole and Stuart. This move did hurt because Willie was nothing but loyal to me. (ily king <3)

The Stuart Vote →
I genuinely did not believe Stuart wanted to go to the end with me and Nichole despite Nichole believing it. His resume is not as strong as Nichole and Is and I believe his best shot was to go be sitting against Rick and Joey in the finals. My alliance w Nichole and him wanted to do Rick, however I needed Rick to take a shot at Brady. Brady, Rick, and I decide on a vote and we vote out Stuart.

The Rick Vote →
Ideally, I wanted a final 3 with Joey and Nichole. My plan was to get out Brady at 5 and Rick at 4. Brady however had a lower chance of winning F4 immunity than Rick and ultimately I decided to take the shot at Rick. I do apologize how this went down though, Rick. I did not have to do that unnecessary amount of lying and I do believe you would not be as upset, if I was just honest with you. I really am sorry.

The Joey Vote →
I win Final 4 immunity, and Joey pointed out how it may be a Final 2. Which started to make a lot more sense as the hosts never said I earned a spot in the Final Tribal Council after winning F4 immunity. I thought about getting Joey out here.. Brady and Nichole would both bring me to Final 3. If I had brought Joey and he wins immunity, he would take Nichole over me.

The Brady Vote →
I win F3 immunity, and this was hands down the hardest for me. I never really thought about taking him to the end at first, but as Brady and I called everyday, I built a special bond with him BUT there was no way in hell I could win against Brady. He had such an incredible underdog story. To almost being voted out first to winning is the best story for a season. He had two flawless idol players and overall was a well-rounded player. I would lose by a great margin if I was up against him in the final 2. I started the game with him Day 1 and to finish together would’ve been amazing.

Thank you guys for such a great season, it is always nice to meet new players in our small community and I am so glad I got the chance to meet each and every one of you. My closing thoughts are that I do feel like I deserve the title of sole survivor, I’ve worked so hard to make it to this standpoint and I hope you guys can see that too. I won 3 immunities and went through a 12 hour endurance challenge (pls..). I was always making moves that benefitted me regardless of what side. I had a hand in almost every tribal and every tribal that I went to had gone my way. I took out frontrunner threats like Gabriel, Willie, and Brady. I was aware of all the idols and advantages and knew who had them. I successfully abstained votes without getting caught. I went to 11 tribals without receiving a vote and had only received one vote this entire game.. (thank you Joey lol). I believe I was consistent in all aspects of the game. I believe I had a great social game, a great strategy and won the immunities I needed to in order to make it to this far. Thank you for taking the time to read it, I know it was a lot but I really wanted you guys to see the depth and layers into my game and if you guys have any questions, please let me know!! Thank you Will, Daniel, and Ess for such an awesome season and giving me the chance to play <3 - Sameed

if y'all dont wanna read all that I understand 😭but I hope you guys could at least read the merge or closing part

Hey Finalists!

I first wanted to start off by saying congrats! I think it is amazing that us 3 Dededo members that went to the most tribal made it to the end and I think that’s incredible. Therefore, I can relate to you guys probably the most out of everyone.

I’m going to address you guys both and ask you a question even though my vote is already set in motion.

@Nicole

Obviously we didn’t have that close of a relationship even though we were on the same tribe for practically the whole game but it was because we were on different sides. Tbh I don’t think you played a bad game but your speech didn’t really tell me anything that I didn’t already know about your game. It didn’t captivate me the way Sameeds did.

I think where your game lacked as opposed to Sameed was you didn’t nearly get as much information as he did. Sameed literally knew every tribal result whereas you seemed to be left out of the loop at the Gabriel tribal, the Stuart tribal and the Joey tribal.

So my question to you is..

Please explain to me why I should vote for you to win when knew everything that would happen at every single tribal council. Wouldn’t that automatically declare him as playing the best game? So state your case.

Congratulations Sameed and Nichole. You guys did it, you guys did a phenomenal job and either of you two winning would be an amazing end to this wonderful, crazy season. I have a couple questions and concerns to the both of you. I’m undecided to who I’m going to vote so these answers are going to reward you with my vote.
Nichole-
I think you are a phenomenal person and I’m so glad to see you here because you deserve it. What was one winning game move that you consider took you here to the final 2?

Sameed- Congratulations on making it this far, I’m on the fence in voting for you and here is why, I vouched my loyalty towards you, I was told you were the most loyal person and I got betrayed by you in a very nasty way. Yeah it was a great move because you got rid of the biggest threat but being backstabbed by you really really hurt my feelings. You were my #1 but I was clearly never your #1.
Why should I vote someone who preaches about loyalty but at the need of the day you didn’t show me any. I go to the END with loyalty not someone who schemes behind someone’s back.
My question is Why should I vote for you? At least Nichole showed loyalty and I cannot say the same about you.

@Sameed

I can’t even express how thankful I was to have you in this game. You were my ride or die, my game BFF and we conquered so many obstacles together. Everyday we went on call, our talks just got better and better. I really feel like we’ll be friends outside of this game for sure because that’s how strong I felt our relationship was. I don’t hold any animosity as far as my vote out, I think you made the best decision for your game so total respect.

My question to you is you’ve seemed to have a lot of ride or dies. Who was your real one?

@Jury

I please vouch that you vote the best game player this season. I know a lot of you are pissed off at sameed for your vote out but thats a testament to how strong his social game was.

Let’s look at Sameeds resume
- Voted Drew at f18—successfully lied about it and pinned it on Brandon.
- Orchestrated the F10 vote—he told Willie the Gabriel vote as he knew willie would play the idol on him. Therefore, he got his target out Brendan without pissing anybody off.
- Went Hard At F8— I really tried to get Nolan to go but he actively pushed against me because he wanted to protect willie.

- He also won 3 immunities and knew where every idol in the game was. He had all the information coming to him and he maneuvered this game where he always knew who was going home at each tribal. It’s not a surprise that he only received one vote this season.

Yeah he lied but if you’re voting based on game, I think it’s pretty dang clear as to who should get your vote tonight.

Good luck guys!

Answer to Willie- Hey Willie, first off, I do get your frustration and you have every right to be feeling the way you feel right now. I just don't believe loyalty is what will get me the win. I wanted a new approach to this game because being so damn loyal has cost me the win multiple times prior to this. I could have taken the easy path to the final 3, with you and Nichole. You had a strong resume with solid immunity wins, close connections to tribe members, and an incredible idol play. I did not have to betray you the way I did, which I truly am sorry about. I'm not going to throw Nic under the bus, but she was planning to cut you off right after if Brady had left at F7; so I believe loyalty is something that cannot be tied to either of me or her. I really did try my ass off to keep you safe at Final 8 (when we were voting Nolan), and was trying to shift the vote from you to someone else. I know you considered me your #1 ally and what I did was a bit disgusting and unnecessary and I could've taken a more subtle approach but during that point of the game, it made sense to do so. I did consider you and Nichole as my closest allies but as the end game approached, I didn't see how I would be able to beat you.

Hi guys 🥰 firstly congratulations on getting to the final two! That was definitely no easy feat. Both of you played different games but ultimately your own games got you further than everyone else, so I have to commend you on that!

So Nichole- we were able to meet after the first swap and I really liked you a lot. I liked that we had similar mindset about the game so I really thought come merge we could work together. However come merge, numbers dwindled and I knew you had other people closer to me so I didn’t hear much. So much so I don’t think I really heard anything from you at all. So I don’t really know how you played during the merge at all. Give me a brief rundown of your gameplay and why it was stronger than Sameeds.

Sameed- Congrats on making it. You played the middle of the game quite well, and you really had me fooled that we were gonna work together. Towards the middle of the merge you made everyone realize that you had the most control by riding the middle, yet you still only received one vote. I feel like if I could change my game it would’ve been to get you out sooner bc like people trusted you despite how much you played that role. So my main question is What would you consider was the weakest part of your game and why

Hello you 2! grats on making to final 2. I'm not going to write essays for the question cuz im lazy and we don't need any of that... so my question for both of u is to simple.

If you could change anything, what changes would you guys make to the game?

Answer to Brady- To say I had one ride or die would be a lie. I know that defeats the purpose of ride or die lol but If I had to pick one ride or die it would be Nichole. She was someone who I never saw myself betraying and always planned to go to the end with. As I got closer to you each day, I think sitting next to you would've been very poetic especially since we've both worked so hard to get here and started the game together on Day 1. I would have lost to you obviously so I could not take you to F2.

Answer to Nolan- Hey Nolan! Thank you for asking me this because my game was definitely not perfect in any shape or form lol. The weakest part of my game was Jury management. Yes, I consider my social game strong but how I dealt when some of you guys were voted off was not my proudest moment. I felt like I lied at some points where I didn’t need to and what I need to realize is that sometimes being honest about the move I am making is better than lying, because i know myself that I would appreciate if someone just told me the truth.

Answer to Gabriel- Hey Gabriel :), Similar to Nolan's question, I should have been more honest to people about what I was doing and not have been as deceitful as I was at certain points. Another regret of mine was leading Rick on and how I wanted to go to the finals with him, just for me to vote him out at F5. I did not necessarily have to do that and could’ve just been honest and front forward about it.

Let me fact check this

- Orchestrated the F10 vote—he told Willie the Gabriel vote as he knew willie would play the idol on him. Therefore, he got his target out Brendan without pissing anybody off.

Sameed had NOTHING to do with this vote. I was the one to mention that Brenden had to be the vote and I know Stu, Nichole and Gabriel can vouch for me on that
Sameed didn’t per say say “Hey you should really play the idol on Gabriel”
I told him that I need Gabriel to stay because he was a number for ME and I need Gabriel to stay. That’s why I played the idol on him.
Sameed can be hopeful that I got my idol flushed but there is ZERO reason to credit him for the move.

I love you Sameed but don’t take credit of somebody else’s moves that you didn’t do.

Willie you may have forgot but you thought Brenden was for sure going until I told you that Rick and Brady were flipping. If I had not told you that they weren’t voting Brenden, you would not have used the idol on Gabriel, and he would’ve went home.

No I agree with you Sameed, You mentioned to me that Brady and Rick were both flipping
I CHOSE to play the idol on Gabriel to keep him safe. Not because you told me to play the idol.
Two different things.