Opening Statement:
I would like to start my opening statement with my public thank you and appreciation post for Ethan. You were literally the best partner and extremely fun to play with and made the past 20 days the best. I knew bringing you here would be a good choice. BUT ANYWAYSSSSSSS, letās talk about my game.
I had the privelege to start my game off pretty easy, only having to go to 2 tribals before the merge, but I still made my premerge COUNT. I started the game on the returning players tribe and tried to establish social connections as soon as possible. I talked to everyone and decided to connect to people naturally to decide who I would work with rather than forcing relations with those who I assumed would be valuable. Forming relations, I was able to be a part of an alliance with Landon, Brittany, and Yung, and I grew very close connection to Tyler and Brady who were the two biggest targets and shields in the game. Being in the alliance of four gave me a lot of information. They were throwing peoples names out, Yung was in a chat with Matt, Callia, Summer, and Noelle in which heād relay information back to us, and I got to be one of the first people in the game to know that Landon had the loved one target. I was in the alliance chat when they pooled coins to buy it, but I was able to not pitch in and keep my coins for different advantages.
Brice vote: The one and only tribal I had to attend before the swap was the Brice vote and I played this vote well. I tried to use the unanimous vote to really bond with people, but before it was unanimous I was caught in the middle of two plans. I had to navigate really carefully when Summers name came from my alliance. Summer was a big target, but he was also one of the people I had found myself closest too at that point and I knew I couldnāt vote for him. I agreed with the original plan to try to get numbers for Summer, but I knew I would never do that and would have flipped on my alliance before the plan went through. The numbers werenāt there, so my alliance stayed on course with the Brice vote, especially because Brice was already throwing my name out to people.
After the Brice vote we had one more tribal and then the swap, where I once again got put on the winning tribe and was given safety for three more votes. However, during this time I never stopped playing the game. I used things that I knew to build even tighter connections with Brady and Summer, because I knew they could be the best shields and Brady especially was a LOYAL ally. However, this did not come free. I had to make a choice to against against my alliance begind their backs to establish this trust. With Brady, U had to throw someone under the bus who I really trusted in order to gain Bradyās trust. One the first few days of the game, Yung sent me a message saying we shouldnāt allow Brady and Abel to make it to the merge intact, and he said something along the same lines in our alliance chat the day or two later. At the second tribal council after the swap, worried for Bradyās safety, I decided to tell him this information. I knew he could be in trouble and I wanted him as a strong ally later on, so I warned him to be extra careful, which also served me well because it established a lot of trust between the two of us. The next day, I did the same thing with Tyler. I let him now how hard Brittany was coming for him the first tribal, and I told him to watch his back around her, establishing a lot of trust with Tyler as well.
Landon vote: This vote was actually a tricky one for me, and I was not totally happy by the outcome. I was under the influence that no one knew about the loved ones target, but because lovely Ethan told Vanessa, word spread and Landon became a huge target because of it. My ideal plan would have been to vote for Kind due to his large social connections. I knew that voting for Kind would have set off a chain of reactions that benefit me the best, but people were scared of the loved ones target and decided to vote for Landon to flush it out of the game.
Kind vote: This vote literally is just what I could not do the previous tribal. Kind was also pretty inactive and no one seemed to want to save him very much, so he became an easy vote to start off the merge.
Abel and Brady mishaps: The Abel vote for me was a weird day. It was so quiet, and I was hearing almost nothing. I didnāt want to vote for Abel due to me and Ethanās connection to him, and I didnāt want to vote for Nolan because I didnāt think it was time for him and I felt like we could have worked together in a bit, or at least kept each other at a āwe donāt target each otherā type of relationship. I was going to vote for Nolan because I didnāt hear anything better all day, but at the very last second Abel began a Callia vote which I got behind because I just could not vote for Nolan or Abel, and we all know that vote didnāt go through. The Brady vote was a lot more of a busy day. All I heard all day was Brady and Nolan, and due to my close relation to Brady I knew that I had to vote for Nolan. I pushed for Nolan all day, eapcially when on call with Tyler and Zach, and really thought the vote was going towards Nolan. Obviously I was not in on the plan, and I stayed in the game due to a coin flip going my way.
Nolan vote: The turning point of my game. This vote was pivotal for my game and it was perfect timing. This was a vote where I NEEDED to work with the other duos so singles didnāt get an upper hand at the final 8. This left us with only three options. Just around this time Ethan became very close with Matt (found out about his advantages and bonded a lot, but was told to not tell ANYONE, not even me, about them talking) so we knew matt would be extremely beneficial, which he was, in the end of the game. The next option was Vanessa, but she had been throwing names left and right, and her name had been thrown by Tyler, meaning it would be easy to turn her against Tyler when it was time to vote him out. The last option was Nolan. At this point it was clear I was not going to be able to work with Nolan, and to me it seemed as if him and Vanessa were a makeshift pair that I wanted to be split up. The other duos were very on board with the plan and it was easy to boot Nolan, opening up a lot of opportunities for us to move forward.
Tyler vote: After burning us twice in a row, it was FINALLY time for Tyler to go. All the big targets in the game were gone and the scope was set. At this point, we were able to break up another duo because me Ethan callia and guigi could still hold the majority. Getting rid of Tyler basically tied Callia and Guigi to Ethan and I, and basically didnāt allow them to turn on us at 7 because they would be picked off next. It also put us in a prime position to decide which singles would move forward with us which allowed us a lot of freedom on the fast forward and finale night.
Fast forward: The Zack vote was an interesting vote. The two duos were obviously tied together but we didnāt exactly know how all the singles wanted to vote. I personally wanted matt to vote against us because I knew what exact advantages Callia and Guigi had, and I knew the exact advantages the singles had, and I knew if matt didnāt vote with us be could flush out every advantage other than the idol and I knew me and Ethan could nullify that. Matt fortunately was lying to us and all the advantages were flushed which was great for my game. The six vote was very weird. Me callia guigi and Ethan should have all stayed together, but due to us disagreeing on which single to keep we had a large divide causing Ethan to get the votes of the other three. Thankfully due to my immunity, Ethan getting the votes, and Mattās loyalty, the other duo had to switch or else they would have most likely been split up
Finale night: The first vote was pretty obvious. The biggest threat and one of the biggest social players didnāt win the last immunity, and the trio of me matt and Ethan would have been idiots to not boot callia. She had the idol, but since I had bought the most valuable advantage in the game, I was able to remove the biggest threat. At final 4, it was devastating that guigi won immunity, especially because he needed it to get to the final 3. I could only vote for matt, and matt and guigi could only vote for Ethan. thankfully the rock draw didnāt eliminate me, so here I am.
Final remarks: I knew where EVERY advantage in the game was. I was loyal on the bottom waiting to strike, and I never needed an immunity to get where I am.
