{Black Buffs} {3/12 Remaining}

Gabs/LindsayMiaw
Tyler/VanHow10
Yan/Yandereboy12

Well hello jury it's nice to see you all again well first off I'd like to say it was a honor to play with each and every one of you and I'm greatful to have meet you starting off this game me and Tyler when we saw eachother we were always gonna protect eachother over everyone and obviously we did that cause here we are now XD our plan was to hide how close we was and maybe shit talk the other at times and I think it mostly worked cause people didn't see us as a automatic duo and that's also because of my social game I made a bunch of connections with most of you and the pre jury starting off: Me being able to get Scott and Harry to come together for my own interest they did not want to work together really at all and I was able to get them to come together for a few votes with me being the reason Koko went as i spear headed that move by getting my previous connections in past games: Harry Scott Tyler Kris Sag and my new connection: Cam and get them to get everyone to do that after that coming into the swap I knew Julio would be a big threat so I made connections with you Josh and got close for the first vote with you Natalie to try and take out you but also leave Tris as a back up option just incase you was able to get immunity which you did congrats. After that I wouldn't say it was my mission but rather I got people to go against you seeing you as a threat while connecting with everyone else cause on the second swap: Scott Logan Harry Josh and Cam I was sitting amazing and knew I was in it for the long hall for connecting with each and every one of you/ having old connections and making them stronger and here I'd say was my second biggest move: Getting Harry to play the extra vote was mandatory for my survival in this game cause ik Harry can be dangerous with advantages and I got him to feel like I was in danger of being idoled out by Julio so he played his extra vote to protect ME which left him vulnerable at the merge and even though Logan wasnt my target i knew he was gonna play with his head so i got him to be a backup target which protects my biggest connections on the tribe Josh Cam and Harry and its easy ride for me to the seap: and incase your confuse lemme say this
At this point I have loads of connections at the merge and there's no way I'm going anywhere cause I have:
Tyler
Dar
Cam
Josh
Harry
Sag
Now at this point I had not connected with you yet Niko but soon we are and when Harry went I was happy cause that's a big target gone and it made Calllia and Jimmy sheilds for me and with turning people against Natalie still so he couldn't get people to target me I was good: now obviously I did lose connections on the way in Josh and that did blow cause I absolutely enjoyed meeting you Josh but your boot did happen and at this point that kinda makes me in a better spot cause after learning Natalie voting you it was easier to turn the tribe against them easier while I'm building this strong bond with Gabs and Niko and at this point I have built a strong social capital with most people in the game and having sheilds in Natalie Callia and Jimmy so even if I lost allies there's no way I would go: now at f10 was probably my biggest/second strongest ability to go as I was having Niko say my name to people and so I played my auction advantage which basically got any possible way of me going ineffective and then Sag went cause people saw Sag as a threat now f9 Callia was known to have a second idol/ advantage but likely a second idol and at this point me and Tyler are trying to break the trust of niko and Natalie that's left and trying to take out Callia or the advantage and this is where I got niko to turn against Callia and send her home now f8 ik Natalie wants me out but I'm trying to make it known in main chats for these next few rounds that I'm "targeting Natalie" or "willing to throw my game away to get rid of natalie" which wasn't true as I was using this to use any way for people who wanted to keep Natalie safe by playing idols or advantages/ having himself play the idols or advantages that saves me and at f7 showed how strong my social game is when it's best for Dar to take me out of this game but instead my bond is so strong and him willing to work with me he throws away the chance to send me home while I was the initial vote that sent Dar into the revote which ruined even the slightest of a chance I would go and this is when I started talking to Jimmy and I will say I didn't really talk to you Jimmy and Callia but thats on me but knowing you wanted to keep "mine and Natalie's rivalry going" it helps keeps me safe that people think I'm so ready to take him out for everything and Cam went who was also strongly working with me while I'll be honest I wanted dar to go here Cam was probably the 2nd best scenario

Part 2:

Now f6 I have most of the people wanting to take me to the end or take me farther
Tyler
Dar
Gabs
Jimmy

Whether they thought I wasn't a threat or as a sheild to continue the me VS Natalie storyline and this was probably the hardest vote for me cause after getting this close with Dar me and Tyler knew we had to get out Dar if we wanted any shot of us sitting against Gabs (love u queen) in a f3 scenario cause we thought they wouldn't vote eachother so we used Tyler's extra vote he got from the urn and convincing Jimmy while I'm making it "known I'm always voting Natalie etc etc" which made Natalie waste his idol and advantage which also ruins any chance of a swing vote for Natalie and Jimmy to use for me/Tyler and Gabs/Dar and hopefully you don't take that personally Dar cause I did enjoy playing this game together again but continuing me and Tyler are bonding very close to Gabs so there's no way she's going against us and we've made Natalie and Jimmy these such big targets that need to go now or they'll win which resulted in Jimmy going at f5 but also getting Natalie to believe I'm still head strong against Natalie incase there was some other idol or advantage found at this point but you never know so call that stupid but that's me making sure there's no other possibility of something going wrong and at f4 it's everyone vs Natalie and again due to me getting everyone anti Natalie when Natalie lost the ball challenge Natalie was instantly voted out by us

If you think I sat around and did absolutely nothing your dead wrong was there things I needed for Tyler? Yes did I execute my plans correctly? Also yes my social capital is what got me to this f3 season and ik for a fact I am deserving of being called sole survivor?

And if you think social game isn't enough lemme tell you this!
I won 2 immunity challenges which proves my physical game!
And getting people to make decisions that's not in their best interest and playing a game most don't usually!
That's my strategic game

If you wanna say I didn't do all these 3 things I outplayed I outlasted and lastly I outwitted to sit here and that's why I should be voted to be the winner of C&A Survivor Season 17: Rivals

Hey y’all!

It’s going to take me at least a few hours to put all my thoughts together for a proper opening statement so while I’m working on that I wanted to stop by and say some extremely sincere thank yous. First, I’d like to extend major thanks to the hosts of C&A Survivor, Ali and Chandler. Thank you for bringing me into your series, thank you for bringing me back, and thank you for all the work you’ve put in for not just this season, but the 16 prior seasons that made this one possible.This is only the second time I’ve made a Final Tribal Council in all my tengaged experience, and without each and every player in this game I wouldn’t be here. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you! I know this is a jury loaded with players who played hard and to still be here when so many phenomenal people fell by the wayside is deeply meaningful to me.

I’ve scrapped, I’ve clawed, I’ve fought, and I’m still standing. If I’ve already done enough to earn your vote, I thank you for your support. If not, I thank you for the opportunity to convince you of the quality of my game. And if there’s anybody here whose vote is beyond my reach, I still thank you for the part you played in this game and on this jury. I’ll be breaking down the game from my perspective shortly and I cannot wait to answer your questions!

Thank you for your patience.

You're probably all asleep

I wish that I could stand up here and tell you that I exerted total control over this game, but that wouldn’t be honest. I did everything I could to amass power and keep myself safe, but this was a game that refused to be controlled. Second to second, minute to minute, and day to day this has been a chaotic, writhing mass of individuals pushing and pulling in different directions with all their might! We learned last season that I don’t know how to do the speech - but I genuinely believe I’ve earned this and I’m hoping I can demonstrate that to all of you. My aim here is to tell you honestly about my experience, warts and all. My game is not perfect, but it is far and away the best game I’ve ever played, and I would be absolutely thrilled if you would give me your vote to represent this season!

::::::::PRE MERGE:::::::

Before the Koko vote, I really didn’t have much going on at all. Yandere and I had had excellent rapport on our previous season. Starting on the same tribe, I knew it would be easy for us to work together and over the course of this game we became a completely inseparable duo. As Yan mentioned, we knew it was crucial to the two of us making it this far that we manage to go undiscovered for as long as possible. I worked extremely hard throughout the game to distance myself from Yan. Just about every time that Yan’s name came up in private conversation I would make it a point to say something negative about him or paint him as unreliable somehow. This would come into play in a major way post merge, as everybody who wanted to vote out Yan was willing to try involving me in the plan.

While I wouldn’t see many votes in the premerge, that didn’t mean I wasn’t playing the game. Early on, I started forming relationships with Callia, Harry, and Jimmy but Scott was my first major ally in the game. Along with Callia, we put together a group chat and this was basically my only source of information in the OG tribes. In addition to the group chat, I started having much more frequent and delightful personal conversations with Callia, which was another relationship that would define my end game. And in addition to my burgeoning social game, I picked up the game’s very first advantage! At the puzzle challenge, I saw a block of text offering an extra vote so I sent that in and was lucky enough to be the first person to do so!

Once the tribes swapped, I knew I was in a great spot! Yan stayed by my side. Harry went from liking me (hopefully) to needing me. Natalie and I immediately got along so well! Dar was my rival, but also somebody I knew that I would be able to work with in a very significant capacity. Coming into this season, I wanted to play as much of the game as possible with the other people from season 15, even if they didn’t always want to play the game with each other! This tribe would go to Tribal Council before long and Yan and Harry immediately wanted to vote Natalie out. For me, this tribe was a great opportunity to start making significant bonds that could open doors down the line. I saw Natalie and Dar as much more useful to me (and ultimately Yan) long-term than Harry or Tris but I absolutely could not convince Yan that voting for Natalie was the wrong call. This would be one of the only times that we had differing strategic opinions, and it would be the last time that I let Yan talk me out of following my gut.

It was decided that Natalie would receive our votes. Harry had an extra vote from the challenge, so as much as I wanted to shake things up I was forced to go with the group and write down Natalie’s name for the first time. Of many. And many. And many. But I didn’t settle for just writing Natalie’s name down. I wanted this vote not to work, so I set about attempting to cancel it. Yandere mentioned that he thought he could get a few safety votes so I encouraged him to pick up as many as he could. I also asked my few cross-tribal connections to give me their safety votes, which I ordinarily wasn’t willing to do. Though my efforts were small, they were significant as Natalie was safe from our four votes and Tris left instead. I had a lot of damage control to do, but I knew deep down that I would be able to work with both Dar and Natalie effectively in the future. I recovered my relationship with Natalie by telling the truth: I had never, ever wanted to cast that vote and the only reason I did so was because I couldn’t have changed the result. Harry and Yan had handcuffed me into the vote, and it wasn’t one I would be repeating. Fortunately, I wouldn’t be forced to test this promise.

I didn’t go to Tribal again in the pre merge phase, but I stayed as active as I could. Even though I hated the immunity vote, I was a key figure in deciding several of them. During the combined Tribal that my group of five dodged, I was a swing vote between two sides and knew that I couldn’t commit to either. So I threw a hissy fit about hating the twist and insisted that we burn our votes, creating an emotionally believable reason for making a shrewd game move. I also gave my immunity vote in turn to both Harry and Natalie, currying favor with two players who I thought could prove extremely useful in the post merge. And in addition to the game activity, I continued to cultivate the relationships that would ultimately get me to the end. Jimmy and I swapped together the second time, and the camaraderie between us was instant!

Overall, despite not having a lot of opportunity to play the game directly and meet new people, I made the absolute most out of the pre-merge phase and I came into the merge very optimistic! This optimism would not last long.

:::::EARLY MERGE (AKA THE DARK DAYS):::::::

From the very first merge vote, I found myself on the back foot. At the merge I was told that the vote was definitely going to be Callia. Not Callia! I think. She’s one of my people! But I was convinced that Callia was getting the votes and it wasn’t close, so I went where I thought the votes were. Callia (of course) played an idol and Harry left in a 5-4 vote. If I had known it was going to be as close as it was, I probably would have just voted for Harry and attempted to ride through the merge with Callia, Dar and Gabs.I’m certain that if that had been my path, I wouldn’t be here right now so while I didn’t vote for Harry, I am forever grateful that he left when and how he did. Harry played a dominant premerge game and if he had been allowed to continue, his snowball would have turned into an avalanche and none of us would have had a shot at stopping him. Harry exited the game, and I was standing at the tatters of a burnt bridge.

I went into the next round feeling totally alone and desperate for a group. Thanks to my burgeoning relationship with Sag and some of my earlier connections, I was able to get into my second alliance of the season! A four formed between myself, Sag, Niko, and Jimmy. While it would have been great to ride this down, it was quickly clear that we wouldn’t be able to work together in a very serious way. Among other things, both Niko and Jimmy indicated that Yan was high up on their hit list way back here around final ten or something, which meant that I was not going to be able to keep them off of him for the whole rest of the game. Also, Niko was giving conflicting information to myself, Dar, and Yan. Not badly conflicting, but just little inconsistencies. I realized that Niko was playing exactly the game I wanted to be playing, but better. And even on top of all that, we just couldn’t make it happen as an alliance! We agreed on Natalie as a target at this vote and then decided to split one vote off onto Josh based on where we thought things were at. We were way off! Bad split, Josh went home. Even though I didn’t get to play much game with Josh, I’m thrilled to have met him. Tengaged and the internet in general can get so slimy and dark. Josh was a beacon of positivity at all points in this season and this bad split could not have happened to a nicer dude!

The next vote was also the official end of this group of four. RIP. Despite the fact that Callia had a second idol at her disposal and several clearly unbreakable allies, Sag was somehow popping up as a major threat in people’s minds. To this point in the game, I had only cast votes for Koko, Natalie, and Callia so I figured that I might as well keep that trend alive instead of alienating someone new. Natalie used the Safety Without Power advantage and Koko had been out already for like a week at this point, so that meant my only real option this round was Callia. I went into the vote convinced it would be Callia once again and once again was I bamboozled.

Sag had all the makings of an excellent ally for me in this game! He was also interested in playing long term with Yan, he was also being left out of the final decisions seemingly everywhere, he was also getting fed up with the way the game was being played. He was everything I needed in the game at this point. Sag being eliminated here was devastating! I was dejected after this one. Furious! People were letting Callia walk all over this game! I felt like I had no hope of ever having power. I was at a place where in many other games I would have given up. But here, I did the opposite. I dug all the way in, I found a gear I’ve never found before, and I decided that if power wasn’t going to come to me I was going to make one last push to take it!

:::::THE FAST FORWARD::::

I went into the Fast Forward guns blazing and by the end of the afternoon, I had gone from the absolute bottom to the most powerful position in the game! Natalie came back into the game in a very, very, very bad spot. This was my chance. As soon as Natalie reentered, I unloaded! All my frustration, all my information. Everything I knew about everybody. For the second time, I was able to get myself back into a position to work with Natalie just by being honest and for the second time, I capitalized fully on that ability. For the next two hours, Natalie and I would work together as effectively as any partnership that’s ever been in one of these games. The first vote in the Fast Forward was quickly coming Natalie’s way, but I didn’t want that and neither did Yan so we got to work. I went to everybody I could and threw a temper tantrum about Callia not having been voted out yet and it worked! The first vote of the Fast Forward went against Callia, and this was huge for me! My season 15 friends in Dar and Gabs had been Callia’s tightest allies, but without her they needed me in a way they hadn’t previously. Jimmy also was extremely tight with Callia and I was able to bring Jimmy in much tighter with me by removing her from the game. Not only that, but we were at final eight and all four of us from season 15 were still around! Even though Yan and Dar had both said each other’s names repeatedly by this point, Season 15 had gotten to a point where we comprised half the cast! For the first time, there was a light at the end of the tunnel. I had a clear path to the final! And we weren’t even done for the day!

In the first vote of the Fast Forward, I’d managed to eliminate someone with a ton of power and slide into their spot. My other goal in the Fast Forward was eliminating the person who was connected to everybody so I could take that role over as well. Niko was clearly a great player and I was terrified of him. I knew that launching a campaign against Niko would only get me voted out. I knew I needed to create extraordinary circumstances if Niko was going to leave. So I created. The celebrity elimination challenge was basically the only challenge this season that I was really, really good at. I personally eliminated three of the 5 players en route to the semifinals of that challenge, and I’d made sure that the last three would be myself, Yandere, and Natalie. Yan’s name had come out of A LOT of mouths in the recent past at that time, so I was worried enough for him that I would have liked to see him immune. But in order for me to do what I needed to do, I needed Natalie immune. In the last two rounds of the challenge, I didn’t even take a shot. I let Natalie eliminate Yan and myself and then I seized the opportunity I’d made! I knew Nat was upset with Niko from before the Safety Without Power advantage, so I went to Natalie with a plan: we draw the votes onto Nat, those votes get canceled, and Nat and I vote out whoever the Hell we want! There was a late push to get the votes on Cam, but I put my foot down once again and insisted that we stick to the plan. Knowing the plan wouldn’t work. This was the only scenario where Niko was going to leave this game, but I had loved the time I spent talking to Niko. This was one of the hardest votes emotionally and technically and also debatably the biggest move that was made in this whole game.

I couldn’t believe the shift in dynamics! When I woke up last Wednesday, I was convinced that my torch was going to be snuffed by sunset. Hell, I wanted it to happen! By the time I got home from work that day, I had created and filled a power vacuum that I would defend successfully for the remainder of the game.

:::::END GAME:::::

But it wasn’t all a smooth road from there. We all knew Natalie had an idol, and every conversation throughout the next day was dedicated to figuring out how to split the votes to keep power out of Nat’s hands. Also, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Nat’s vote was going against Yan so there was a very real chance that Yan wasn’t going to survive this round. Yan wanted us to put our votes on Dar, but that would have been catastrophic! After this vote, there were still going to be six people left in the game. If Yan and I had two-voted Dar out, we would have been totally exposed. We would have been reliant on Cam and Gabs trusting us even though we would have proven to them that they couldn’t really do that. A Dar vote here would have resulted in neither of us making it to the end, and I knew that I couldn’t acquiesce to this. On the other side of things, Dar wanted me to vote for Cam. But the thing is that I’d made a final two with Cam like an hour and a half before this vote, so I knew that that also wasn’t a great idea for me. For the second time this game, I bit the bullet and cast a vote against Natalie that I knew wouldn’t count.

Yan was going to get one vote, Dar was going to get one vote, Cam was going to get one vote. I knew we were in for a world of mess, but I also knew that the mess was necessary in order to keep my game hidden. Gabs isn’t voting Dar out in a million years. That’s one vote locked on Yan. I tried to get Nat to see Dar as the bigger threat, and Nat told me she agreed. But also, she was still swearing to Gabs that she was going to vote Yan. Jimmy and I agreed that voting Dar made the most sense here but that could result in rocks. I came up with the idea to split our votes on Cam and Dar and just avoid rocks at all costs. I knew this was likely to result in Yan’s elimination, but there didn’t seem to be anything I could do. And for the first time all game, I knew for sure that I could make it to the end on my own if I really needed to.

Then something magical happened. I told Dar and Gabs that I was voting for Cam to avoid rocks, and Gabs followed me over. This was potentially disastrous. I knew Jimmy was voting Dar. If Natalie was telling me the truth, then the very move I’d made to avoid rocks was going to cause them. Natalie had lied to me, though, and by a revote of 2-1-1, Cam was eliminated from the game.Yan was completely dead to rights at this Tribal. He was supposed to leave in almost every scenario. The fact that he stayed was a huge stroke of luck, but the reason that that opportunity presented itself is because I was always looking to find an extra edge, always looking to guarantee that I would survive another Tribal Council. As Edna Mode says, “Luck favors the prepared” and once again, I was the prepared.

At the time Dar left the game, I was the only person to whom he was a genuine threat. Like Callia before him, Dar was a roadblock between me and Gabs. He was starting to develop the relationship with Natalie that I had aimed to cultivate. He had tons of close friends on the jury, mostly people whose votes I absolutely need if I’m going to win this game. And he’d repeatedly tricked me! I wanted to work with Dar so badly that I was willing to believe him when I knew he was lying to me and ultimately, that’s what undid Dar’s game. I could no longer tell what was true and what wasn’t true with Dar. For all of these reasons, Dar had grown into the single greatest threat to my game. This one hurt bad, but it was the best way by far to guarantee that I would make it to the final 3 and that I would get here in a winning position.

Natalie was holding onto yet another immunity idol so a Season 15 split vote plan was in the mix. Two on Natalie, two on Jimmy. Who cares what Natalie and Jimmy do? Sponsorship Islands owns the revote. On the surface, Jimmy is a huge threat here and it should be a no-brainer to get rid of him. Upon deeper inspection, we see that the opposite is actually true. If Yan and I let Jimmy go then we’re completely at the mercy of the group in the following Tribal. Not to mention, if Nat is going to play with Dar and Gabs then they might as well just vote me out here at 6. The situation was too vulnerable for me and I wasn’t willing to be vulnerable. The plan had to change, so I deployed the ace up my sleeve. I’d collected the very first extra vote in the game. Together, we’d watched every single idol and advantage come and go. Now, the last advantage played in the whole game was going to be the first one found! Jimmy, Yan, my extra vote, and I all decided to vote out Dar and with that, I was just two votes away from not only getting to this final with an extremely strong case to win, but getting to sit with two people from my original season. People who were brought back to this season as Rivals to one another. What could be greater proof that I was the glue that held the power structure together in this endgame?

The Jimmy and Natalie votes were both pretty automatic. They were also both absolutely brutal votes to cast. Once Natalie won immunity at five, I knew I had to vote for Jimmy. Gabs was also very close with Jimmy by this point and I didn’t actually think I’d be able to convince her to keep Yan. At the beginning of our conversation, it seemed like Gabs wanted Jimmy to stay but we talked it out and decided that we had to go Season 15 to the end. Jimmy was a true buddy throughout this game. Natalie was a surprising and delightful presence throughout the post merge. I didn’t like voting either of them out, but I knew that my best chance here at the Final Tribal Council was going against Yan and Gabs.

I stumbled this season. I fell down. I got hurt. A lot. But every single time my face hit the canvas in this game, I got up again a little bit stronger and a little bit smarter until eventually I was unstoppable. I couldn’t stand the season’s twists, but I didn’t let that stop me from working to take full advantage of them pre- and post-merge. I didn’t win any individual immunities. But I also never once needed to be immune to be safe. By final 7, I was already the only person in the game who had never had a vote cast against me. While I wasn’t able to maintain that pristine record, the only vote that came my way found me much, much too late. I made this final tribal council despite repeatedly being called the biggest threat to win in the main chat and I did it without ever seriously facing elimination. I was outwitted and I outwitted. I was outplayed and I outplayed. But this entire game, the one thing that I always made sure of was that I would not be outlasted. That, at the end of the day, is why I’m here and why I believe I deserve all of your votes to be crowned Sole Survivor for season 17.

I look forward to your questions and thanks once again!

Okay hi! I’m going to keep the ball rolling with my questions for each of you.

Season 15 represent! It’s a bummer yall left me out of this Final 3.

Okay first speech & questions is for Yan.

Yan

Yan, congrats on making it to the Final 3. Now. You mentioned that you started off with Tyler from the Get Go. Or do you think Tyler fooled you into working with him because you don’t really have a great reputation coming into this game? I mean we Season 15 players know how you play this game. Also…why Tyler over me? I thought we had a few banters here and there.
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At final 7 when you were voted, I didn’t vote for you, i voted for Cam which I will take partial credits to why he was in the revote and got sent home. I also see this move as Tyler’s as he was the deciding vote for BOTH our Safety. But if it hadn’t been me throwing a vote at Cam, It was just you or myself. Do you think you will stay against me?

If you asked me again if I would take you to the end, I wouldn’t LOL. You were my initial target at Final 7. Here are my exact quotes from my confessionals:

“I would love Season 15 to make it to Final 4. But I feel like I wanna get Yan out because this season I’m more threatened of him than Tyler. He seems to be more social this season.” - You can take this as a compliment that im threatened by you LOL.

Hmmm…I would say you only talk to me when you need something. Which I don’t appreciate. And How I see this is that, Tyler has been the deciding vote for most of the votes because you were always sticking on one side. I see Tyler playing a flawless game even though I have lost my trust in him after he chose to not vote for Cam at the Final 7.

Also you wanting to sit against Gabs at the end because you think sitting beside Gabs will put you in a better position to win? Think again. Social game matters here. Jury management also matters. What did you do on your part to make the jury feel less hurt by your actions?
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So tell me Yan, which move will you solely claim that Tyler didn’t have a part in. Because if yall were a duo, that’s great but I see Tyler as the main reason why your plans worked out.

PS: Your immunity were all luck based comps, so i don’t think the jury will factor that in when they vote.

No hard feelings, I just am so conflicted with why you win at all

Next Up
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Tyler.