Introduction:Hey jury! I can’t articulate in words how excited I am to be sitting here after this long crazy journey, it was such a blast playing this game with yall and with the finalists. Knowing we all got this far out of freaking
40 people is insane and I think we all should be proud of how well we played no matter how this ends tonight. To Bret and Shirin, I wish you both good luck, and may the best of us win!
To the jury- I had a lot of fun meeting and playing with each and every one of you, you are all amazing people and amazing players, and I hope that this speech will help shed some light on my moves and the thought process behind my decisions. If anyone is uncertain about anything I’ve done- please ask me and I’ll answer it all, I hope we can patch things needed patching, and I am truly sorry if anyone feels hurt. I played this game for myself and not for anyone else, and I did everything in my power to make sure I am sitting on this side of the final tribal council, and I hope you can respect that.
This is going to be long, because so much happened in this game, but I’ll break it into topics and tribes, so feel free to skip everything you feel is irrelevant to you or your decision. I was playing hard from day 1 and I would appreciate you reading it all but I understand if it’s too long. So let’s get to it-
Lato:I started the game focusing mainly on being social and friendly with people, this landed me early on with a core trio with Jacob and Dom, and an F2 deal with Jacob. The challenge was social based and I was one of the last 3 to be picked, and chose to give individual immunity to Dom which solidified a good amount of trust between us. I was invited to a majority alliance with James, Bradley, Morgan, and Stephanie, and Laurel was supposed to join as well, but some talks between her and Chris blew it all up when it leaked and got exposed- but I was safe from the accusations, while James was pinned as the leader. These 2 alliances kept me in the middle of the tribe, which slowly became more and more split, while I just tried to push the point of choosing a side to as late as possible. I found an idol on day 2 (after only 1 clue and a lot of guesses), and I just wanted to have as many allies as I can get- voting out everyone who didn’t help my game, without burning any bridges while doing so. The 2nd vote where Laurel was voted out over Chris, left Dom and Jacob very unhappy and they knew they are not part of the majority running the tribe- willing to make a move now to take control with Chris and me. But Chris was my ideal target, and the only person I felt didn’t trust me or benefitted my game, but I knew voting out Chris would mean betraying Dom and Jacob, so I came up with a plan to vote with them and tie the vote, but tell the others I’m doing it and will flip on the revote “because I don’t want to go to rocks”. I always wanted Chris out, but with Dom and Jacob willing to go to rocks, I needed to soften the blow rather than just vote him out with the rest. I trusted Dom and Jacob more than the others and I planned to flip to their side by pushing a split plan if we went again and flipping to them, or to use the idol to blindside James. Fortunately, we didn’t end up going to another tribal so I left the tribe with 6 allies who all trusted me.
Lato 2.0:I swapped into a 4-3 minority based on original tribes with Jacob, and Stephanie from my tribe, and Jay, Jessica, Taylor, and Ken from the other. Jacob and Stephanie threw each other under the bus the moment we stepped into the new tribe, knowing one of us is probably leaving and wanting to have the upper hand over the other, while I was focusing on forming new relationships, and found myself in the middle of all of it. The tribe seemed to agree that voting Stephanie would be the smartest decision because of her association to the majority alliance, but I trusted Stephanie the most out of that group and I didn’t want to see her go, so tried to push the vote on Ken who was inactive, but to no success. So me and Stephanie started working together on the new idol clues and after a bit of brainstorming we solved the answer and Stephanie got her idol (I told no one about mine, and I planned to save it to merge for myself). When we went to vote, I leaked to Stephanie she was the target and wanting to make no enemies, I pushed the vote on Ken to her, knowing he was the most expendable to the other three. After Jacob lost his vote for being a Jacob and not reading something in bold red letters, I was asked to vote for Ken “to throw a vote” in case of an idol. That was my plan all along to keep my trust with Stephanie going, and now I was credited and thanked for keeping them all safe by voting Ken to protect them from being idoled out. I knew it put Stephanie in a sticky position, but I also knew we’re merging soon and this way I had literally everyone in the game wanting to work with me and having some amount of trust in me.
Gyaros:We merged and I decided to take the necklace. Merge votes are always scary and unpredictable and I didn’t want to be a casualty since I knew that I am already perceived as a big threat for playing all sides all game long. I ended up in the new mixed tribe with Dom and Jacob and Rachel who I first met. We were immune both times so I just focused my time to form new relationships with the new people and trading information about what happened. I got really close to Genie from the new people and I wanted to work with her, Tyler, and Rachel if we ever went to tribal in that tribe (and Dom and Jacob of course). When me and Dom met, I found out that he and James compared notes and found out I was playing all sides, so Dom confronted me about everything I did and I had to do a massive amount of damage control with him. He was my number 1 but I kept a lot away from him and Jacob, so I admitted to all my gameplay in Lato to both of them, in hopes to start a new page. Knowing James and Morgan knew about me planning to flip on them if we ever went again, made me worried about where I stood with that old majority alliance, and I knew that I need to finally pick a side and pick my allies, and I picked Dom and Jacob, which meant I also wanted to work with Jay, Taylor and Jessica from the Crete side of things. To prove that I’m with them I admitted I have the idol to Jacob and Dom, only to find out 2 hours later that it is expiring and I can send it to anyone in the game. Looking at the Crete tribe, it looked like the Jay/Taylor/Jessica trio could be in trouble so I decided to send my idol to Jay and let him know it was me, in hopes he would use it to take out James and Morgan, which ended up even better since he also used it on Stephanie which I was very close to as well, and I believe this move completely changed the course of the game in my favor, while I didn’t even get the heat for it, since the transfer was private (only told Jacob and Dom).
Zakros:We swapped to a new tribe with an even 5-5 split in terms of Rhodes/Crete, but our luck wasn’t on our side when Jessica and Stephanie were both together on the same tribe again. Jessica still had Stephanie blocked so the other 5 used it to have the vote go their way and vote Stephanie out. I wasn’t hiding being close to her so people chose to leave me out, but Taylor was telling me everything (he knew about me giving an idol to Jay too) and I just acted out of the loop because- A) I knew I couldn’t save Stephanie here, and with how much people were against her, I knew I need to let her go at one point. B) I didn’t want to paint Taylor as a leaker or us as too close to let the others still have trust in him, even though he also told me they suggested Erikas name after Stephanie, and we knew we could have numbers to vote one of them out next. C) I felt like I was playing too hard, and seeing how much more game is left to play, I wanted to lower my threat level by being seemingly on the bottom of the tribe.
Erika left me out of the Stephanie vote as well, but me and her started growing really close to each other, and we knew that if we don’t keep each other safe we will be just picked off one after another. At this point me and Erika were number ones and told each other everything, and I also made a deal with Taylor, which I intended to keep, to go to the end together and not vote each other out. I felt like the tribe lying to me, gave me the excuse to change the way I play, and create sides. I wouldn’t be blamed for lying since they did it first, and indeed when we got our way with a close 4-4 vote with Carolyn ending up leaving, I wasn’t getting any heat, since I simply protected myself. Jessica was the deciding vote here as well, and after that she only wanted to vote either Erika or Hali, so we had to go with the Hali vote, even though I thought Tyler would be a smarter move, to break up him/Shirin as a duo, and him having all the idol clues. Hali did throw my name, and was very social and close to Lindsey, so it did benefit me, and kept me in a power position, while the players on the bottom blamed others more than me for their spot. At the next challenge I was voted as the most important tribe member and after seeing Dom voted out right after being the top of his tribe as well, I got spooked and I knew I need to lower my threat level when we merge, or the other tribe will try to use it against me. After Hali was gone, I was growing closer and closer to Tyler and Shirin, and I felt like Jessica was a bit unreliable as she lied to me about the Stephanie vote, was extremely undecided between Erika and Carolyn, and then would only do Hali, even though it made more sense to vote Tyler there. I felt like she was with me, and I adored her on a personal level, but it was getting hard to work together. I couldn’t really flip on her without burning Taylor and Bret, who were very valuable and good allies to me. So me and Erika came up with a plan (the same one I had in original Lato) to try and split the vote on Shirin and Tyler and let her flip to vote Jessica. This way I could keep my trust with Taylor and Bret and get my way as I act innocent, but we never ended in another tribal so it didn’t happen.
Delos (Merge):F14:
Coming to merge I knew I needed to take a step back to not get targeted for running anything or being a big threat. I knew I had a lot of solid allies from both tribes that could keep me safe for a few votes, so I just focused on building and maintaining relationships. Jay and I finally reunited after sending him the idol, and we shared almost everything we know about our tribes. I started getting to know the new people and I had really good and fun conversations with Will, and we already felt comfortable enough with each other to even talk game and start to build some foundation that we would keep on the down low- he proposed a 6 person alliance with 3 from each “side” with Me, Jay, Jacob, Will, Lindsey, and Erika. I wanted to wait after the first vote to see how things pan out before we pushed it, but I felt good in my spot so just followed the easy Tyler vote I was told. Obviously it didn’t go this way, and I was pissed I was kept out of the loop because I was open with others about me not trusting Jessica too much, and I felt like they unnecessarily burned bridges with me- the people I was open with about it and felt hurt by being lied to was mainly Erika and Genie.
F13:
Erika and I started drifting away after being number ones in the previous tribe, but Will was the first one to apologize and explain to me what happened, and he still really wanted to work with us 6. Jay threw out Genie's name as she was seen as a social threat and although I was pessimistic at first about our chances, it looked like Will and Lindsey were willing to make a move with us, and Genie indeed ended up going home.
F12:
At this point I felt like I’m in a good spot, I had shields around me (Taylor for flipping pre merge, Jay and Jacob for pushing names more actively, Will and Lindsey for making a move on Genie already, Rachel and Tyler for being challenge threats), and I was down to move forward with that new six + Taylor, but Lindsey had other plans and flipped on us by targeting Taylor and playing the idol on Rachel. Taylor was my number 1 there, and it was a hard hit to my game, but there was not much I could do, especially with the idol play.
F11:
Will feeling betrayed by Lindsey got him even closer to me and we managed to sway the next vote against Lindsey, almost unanimously, but RICARD had other plans too, and pulled an impressive idol play on Lindsey. Jay was the original other target, and after losing Taylor I was NOT about to lose Jay too- so I worked hard trying to flip it on Lindsey and I believe I was a major reason for Shirin to flip to our side (Shirin and Tyler were the swings, and once they flipped almost everyone knew and followed). Even though our voting history was not the best, me and her had a very close and good personal bond, and I tried giving her assurances for the future, to feel comfortable to work with me, so she agreed to vote Lindsey with us after originally wanting Jay out, and then Tyler did as well, which pissed off Lindsey and Ricard, and they ended up idoling Tyler out.
F10:
Tyler out of the game was my opportunity to solidify a duo status with Shirin, and from this point we agreed to work together to the end as it will benefit us both as no one would think we are that close. With Shirin on our side, Me, Her, Will, Jay, Jacob, and Bret, formed a strong 6 who planned to vote Rachel, Lindsey, and Ricard back to back to back. There was a lot of back and forth between who we should target, and I personally preferred Ricard, as I felt like he was the least visible threat even though he just pulled an amazing blindside. Rachel's challenge prowess was starting to go against her and she would have probably been the vote, but she managed to win yet again, and I got my way when we voted Ricard out.
F9:
I felt like we could trust this new six for a few more votes, and I wanted to vote Lindsey next as I felt like there was no potential in working together. At this point I already had a F3 deal with Bret and Jacob, and one that Will suggested with Him and Shirin (and Bret as a 4th) so I felt in a good spot within the 6, since I didn’t feel like I was standing out or having a lot of control in the early stage of the merge which helped with my threat level. But touchy subjects totally changed my perspective and view of myself as I saw that I’m being viewed more positively than I thought as I was chosen as “most likely to win”. This was a turning point in the game for me, and after hearing from Jacob that Jay is flipping on me (and probably Bret too) I tried everything I can to give Bret the sense of security that I am with him and I want to go to the end with him (see Bret I kept my promise hehe), which kept me in the game with a very close vote.
F8:
But me being in majority still didn’t give me the sense of security I needed, and I couldn’t see a good path to the end still, as I felt like the only person I could trust at this point was Shirin, while others are using me more as a shield. So at F8 I took a major risk- after hearing about 4 different FTC deals Will made, I felt like sticking with that side would just mean I’d be picked off at F5 or F6 and I couldn’t do anything about it. So I came up with the plan to flip to the other 3 that voted me, and tie the vote on Will, knowing that Bret having the idol unplayed would mean he is more likely to not risk rocks, when he can guarantee himself F6 with flipping. To make it work I needed it to be a blindside, so the idol wouldn’t be played and we get our way. I felt like Bret, and maybe Jacob both wanted to go to the end with Will, so telling them, or even just Jacob would mean it would probably leak- and I could definitely see Bret play the idol on Will, and if it would’ve happened- I would have probably be gone next for flipping on them. The only problem with the plan was that I was expected to blindside Shirin as well- but Shirin was my ride or die and I knew that I can’t burn the trust with her, or else I probably have no shot at getting to the end with my threat level after making this move. So I took another risk, and told her the whole plan before the vote, asking her to still vote Lindsey to better hide our duo, and because I thought that Bret could flip on the revote and she doesn’t have to, but this way we can ensure we avoid rocks, since Shirin would know by whispering with them if anyone flips or not, and if they wouldn’t she would flip, so this way I guaranteed Will going no matter what and me getting my way, while I tried to let them all feel comfortable to not get the idol played (me and Jay also fabricated a fight and they all thought I was the one receiving votes again so they won’t suspect me flipping). I also wanted a tie to have that window to explain myself and “expose” all of Will’s FTC deals to the tribe, and get a headstart with damage control with Bret and Jacob. The tribal got indeed heated and after Will was gone I ended up from being a target to being in the middle and the swing vote of 2 groups at F8 and F7- as the confessional questions said “Goats vs. Goliaths”.
F7:
On paper, the smarter move was to get rid of one of the “goats” since they also had an idol, which made F6 tricky if they stayed all 3 of them, but the thing behind my thought process that I couldn’t really explain to others, was that the key here was keeping Shirin's trust. Shirin wanted Lindsey out since F10 and it kept going other directions, and I didn’t want to strongarm her or let her feel unheard. We already had a path to the end figured out ever since I told her about the Will plan (the path was F8- Will, F7- Lindsey, F6- Jay, F5- Jacob, F4- Erika), and I trusted Shirin to stick with me and that plan, and I knew at F5 Erika would vote with us to Jacob as he was the biggest challenge threat, and I was Erika’s best shield to get to FTC. So when Jacob won again, when he was the other target against Lindsey, I didn’t really try to lie to the others about preferring voting Lindsey here which ended with me receiving two thrown votes on me, even though I had the power to decide where the vote was headed.
F6:
At F6, the vote seemed to be between Jay and Jacob, and I planned to tie the vote with Erika and Jay on Jacob and flip Shirin on the revote (as we would be the only ones vulnerable to rocks after Bret also plays an idol), but it all was dependent on who won immunity. Once Jay won, I knew I needed to take out Jacob, and suddenly Bret and Shirin were on board as well, so I knew we had the numbers. It felt a bit weird to me that Bret wanted Jacob out as I thought they were extremely close, and they needed each other at the end to have the better shot at winning, so I felt like Bret might be trying to put the majority on Jacob to play an idol on him and make a move to let him stand out and take a bigger target out like me or Erika. So I came to Erika asking to throw two votes on Bret and it worked perfectly- if Bret was playing the idol on Jacob, Bret would have been gone over me.
F5:
At Final 5, I knew me and Jay were the biggest threats left, and I knew Jay was my biggest challenge competition. So I trusted Shirin, Bret and Erika to vote him over me, and I already felt good with my relationships with them to keep me safe- plus I truly believe Jay would have won against anyone, so I felt like this move just made sense for everyone.
F4:
I entered Final 4 with my ideal 4, knowing I have a good shot at immunity, and I prepared a lot by searching and playing previous FICs of Stranded, and gathering every bit of information I can about our season. I knew I could at least get fire-making with Shirin if I hadn’t won immunity so I didn’t totally rely on it, but I WANTED to win so badly. I never won a challenge before, and I wanted to win this most important one, to make sure I have control over who I sit next to in the end, and have the best chance at winning. As much as I loved Erika on a personal level and we had an amazing arc of being ride or dies to getting more and more distant to the point she voted me, but then we got closer again, I just knew that her being in the end would be my fatal mistake and I’d lose a lot of potential jury votes. Erika was underestimated in Season 41 of Survivor, and I didn’t want to pull a Xander. At the end of the day this game is an individual game, and I have to think of myself first.
Conclusion:So here I am, sitting with the 2 people who I was working with for the majority of the game- my secret duo and ride or die, and the person that never went against me, even when I was not the best ally to him (when I threw his name at F10 even though we had an F3 deal, and when I threw a vote on him at F6 to make sure if he’s idoling out someone it would be himself). I am more than proud of my game, I think I played the strongest strategic, social, and maybe physical game (if we count finding idols as physical game too lol) out of the 3 of us. I took risks, decided votes, and managed to get here with a high threat level. I hope this will be enough for you to give me your vote, and I’ll be glad to elaborate more in answering your questions.
LOVE YALL PEACE 
I definitely could’ve won that challenge. Wendell winning is so CLICHE’ (that is if he wins), and I think I would’ve been a non-traditional winner if I were able to plead my case correctly. 4th place just suckssssss.
disregard, wrong thread.