ROUND-BY-ROUNDS:
On our original tribes, the socialising on Tawitawti in general was a minimal for the first few days. In this time I won 2 fire token challenges, whilst being a significant competitor for the tribe in challenges. The one tribal I did attend, the votes were between Brian and Tyler, and I voted in a 7-3 minority. Whilst Brian gave me his token, I already knew this season would likely consist of a lot of ‘playing from the bottom’ for me considering I didn’t have many allies to begin with.
The SWAP actually worked out really well for me. Jimmy and I played in Rome together, and I had a healthy relationship with him, and we both did with Keith. James S. and I connected well simply for the reason we share the same name, and I also covered over voting for Tyler at the previous tribal. The one tribal we did attend, I personally knew I was not going to be at risk due to the fact that I had a healthy relationship with Eric and Kellen, so even after the two idol plays and when Eric informed me he had thrown a rogue vote, I felt secure. I also purchased an Extra Vote during the premerge, this was first done just as a precaution for the double-tribal night, but also to set me up with some extra comfort upon entering the merge.
F13: When the merge began, I had the opportunity to meet new people and also reconnect with some people I’d began forming relationships with already. The merge round was my first individual immunity win of the season, and following immunity there was a chat made consisting of Chandler, James S., Jan, Jimmy, JJ, Travis and myself. I threw out Daniel as a possible vote because I know Daniel is a smart and strong player, though we found out that that had been leaked. Once it was detected it was James S. who leaked, a NEW chat was formed. Plan-Z. This consisted of those same 7 people, just subtract James S. and add in Hufus. After talking with Jimmy, I went around to confirm with numerous people that voting James WORKED for them because it made sense to take out a leaker, and James became the merge boot.
F12: The second merge round was the ONLY round the entire game I received votes. And where did these votes come from? Chatzy. The Plan-Z chat was still in full motion, and the name of Skyler came up as someone who people generally didn’t have close ties with, and was a less predictable name. I went with it, despite it not being my preference, as BEFORE hearing it was Chatzy that selected me to be the vote, I HAD been informed that my name was going around regardless, so with my neck on the line it was too risky for me to try do something else, and I ultimately just had to go with the flow.
F11: The next round the minority began turning on one another. Despite me formerly wanting Daniel out, I had talked to him and made the offer with him that I was going to give him one of my fire tokens, as I had like 3 at this point, so that he could purchase the Safety Without Power, and in return he was going to be loyal to me. This made sense for ME personally because I had communicated less with Tyler. Unfortunately, the SWP had already been purchased by someone else, and despite me voting Tyler, Daniel ultimately left in a 7-4 vote. I didn’t feel on the bottom at this point though, as I had good connections with those still in the majority.
F10: This round had one of the worst-case scenarios to my game happen. I won my second immunity win, and the initial plan had just been to vote for Tyler. Some of the Plan-Z alliance [Jimmy and I] had voted for Tyler the day before, so it seemed simple enough. Then, after talking with the minority, I learnt that JJ had been basically playing both sides to the point he ensured that he was comfortable with them, and I believe also told them what we were doing. Jimmy and I decided that the best thing for us would be to flip and take out JJ, because it was similar to the James vote in the regard JJ was possibly just going to become the breaker of the alliance. However, despite discussing with most of the alliance, ULTIMATELY only Jimmy and I DID, which resulted in a 6-4-1 vote after [I believe] JJ voted Jimmy.
F9: To begin with, I found the merge idol. I was just about to give up too, so it like felt like a breath of fresh air. I also purchased the idol nullifier, just because I had the tokens and they were about to serve no purpose anyway. After the F10 vote, Chandler suggested he wanted Jimmy gone, so I knew Jimmy was likely to be a target. Jimmy caught wind of this, and subsequently wanted to target Chandler. I knew Eric was willing to work with us, as Eric was the one who said the vote was Jimmy like for confirmation, but I knew overall we would be in the minority. I knew I was going to idol Jimmy that night, and knew Eric and Jimmy were doing Chandler, so I threw a vote onto Travis as I lacked a relationship with Travis and did this for the scenario that Chandler ALSO had an idol. However, people knew Eric had leaked, so took the opportunity to blindside Eric. This was the one round in the game I was most unaware I would say.
F8: This round was a MESS. My third immunity win, touchy subjects, which demonstrated that I had a good read of social awareness throughout the game. Basically, Jimmy and I’s duo linked up with the Kellen and Tyler duo, and together came to the conclusion to vote for Jan. I didn’t WANT to do Jan because Jan was one of my closest allies, and knew he was protection for me from the other side, but ultimately that’s what had to be done. Jimmy had also convinced Travis to FLIP and play his 50/50 on him, so the vote WAS 5-3. Now right. I did not 100% know that Jan had a Vote-Steal. Nor did I scream to play it. I DID warn Jan that their group would likely need to vote together otherwise fireworks could happen, but I ensured that I did not tell Jan he WAS the vote. Once Jan played the vote steal and the vote tied 4-4, my personal realisation was that Jan staying for me WAS better than Tyler. I WANTED the tribe to go to rocks with hopes that one of the duo of Chandler/Hufus would be taken out as they were a threatening duo, but ultimately that didn’t occur and Jan left 5-1 on revote.
F7: My fourth immunity, and arguably the first one I ACTUALLY needed. Jimmy and I talked and decided it would be best to try separate ourselves, and this would be done in the style of me going over to the Chandler/Hufus duo, and Jimmy grouping with Kellen/Travis/Tyler. The aim here was for there to be 4 votes on Chandler, then 3 votes on Kellen. Because at F7 I knew Kellen was a massive threat for me and like the one I NEEDED gone. However, Chandler and Hufus believed I was lying to them and had instead been involved on a split plan, and instead chose to vote Jimmy. This was really rough for me because Jimmy was my closest ally for the vast majority of this game, so losing him in a 4*-2-1 vote was rough, and made my mindset change how I was going to play going into the finale.
F6: So this round of finale, I did three key things. FIRST: I linked up with Travis. There were 2 duos remaining [Chandler/Hufus and Kellen/Tyler] so Travis and I pairing up was going to be the correct move. SECOND: I threw immunity to Hufus. In Rome I threw F6 immunity and it ended up costing me. I wanted to throw an endgame immunity to prove that I wasn’t RELYING on them and actually had a social game to back me up. I threw to Hufus, Kellen left 4-3 over Chandler. I didn’t even receive votes. THIRD: I had saved my double vote for most the game, and used it this round to eliminate my biggest threat to win [based on what I believed].
F5: I created a chat of 3 with Travis and Tyler and preached we needed to go to the end together and that we were against a duo. I won my fifth immunity which tested knowledge of the season. For me when I compared the gameplay of Chandler and Hufus, both had suits they had performed stronger than the other, but ultimately I went with my gut which told me that Hufus leaving was the right move. This was DIFFICULT because
#RomeWave for starters, but because I really had enjoyed properly working with Hufus, but yeah at this point it wasn’t anything personal, strictly what gave me the best chances in this game. Hufus left 3-2, with Chandler voting with Hufus for Tyler.
F4: I won my sixth and final immunity, and for me it was as simple as this. Travis, Tyler and I needed to all vote for Chandler, because if Chandler made the end, he was winning the game. I preached that in our F3 chat, but ultimately Travis opted not to. His reasoning for it was that I had been a beast, and that he believed he needed to make a move and by voting for Tyler instead of Chandler WAS the move he was going to make against me. I did know that wasn’t the correct move, but it happened. Tyler ultimately won the FMC, which meant Chandler got 4th. I didn’t have pleasure giving Chandler 4th, and I explained before voting him that it was simply just a game decision, and I feel it really was the right thing.
Ok that’s my round-by-round summary, I hope that can give you some insight on the game I played, and as stated with my opening, I’m happy to answer any and all questions. Cheers to Ben for an amazing season, best of luck to Travis and Tyler.