FTC Closing Arguments
Mar 11, 2019 20:58:18 GMT
Post by Deoxys on Mar 11, 2019 20:58:18 GMT
Well, here we are. We've reached the end of this long and complicated journey, and now all that is left is one last round of voting. However any of you vote, thank you all for having been a part of this wonderful game of Survivor.
This certainly was a very thorough FTC due to how well you as a jury did at asking questions, probing, and providing insight to how the three of us were perceived in this game. And while I think the strategic and social portions of the game are the two most important facets of a good Survivor player and therefore rightly dominated the discussion we had over the last two days, I would like to bring up the third 'pillar' of Survivor play and talk about that a little here: the physical game. I mentioned my performance in the tribal challenges a bit during my opening speech, but that's not where I want to focus here - both because that didn't I think turn out to play a huge role in the game and since it's very hard to compare myself to the two other finalists in that regard given I wasn't on the original Valor tribe with them and the swap-challenges were unique. Instead, I'd like to look at the individual immunity challenges, and two challenges in particular that I think were pivotal to the outcome of this game.
To start with what might seem like the more important of the two, I was able to win the final immunity challenge by surviving the mini-guantlet at the end unscathed. I do think that put me in a very strong position to shape the final three that would take place, not only because by winning it kept me safe and left everyone else as an option on the table, but because of the sway it afforded me during those discussions. Regi was pushing Celebi and Celebi was pushing Regi leaving Tapu and I to be the decision-makers, and despite the fact that timezones prevented Tapu and I from talking as much during the tribal council, she told me that she would probably vote whichever one I wanted given that I had immunity. By morning (my time) I had woken up decided that I wanted to vote Celebi, but still ended up debating the vote with Tapu until right up to the deadline as was seen when the vote was originally tied but then Celebi went home on the re-vote. Having won immunity at final four was definitely a big plus for me and helped me ensure that the outcome of the last vote was the one I wanted.
Having said all of that, by far the more important challenge in this game came at final six and that's the one I would like to focus on if you'll indulge me. At that point in the game, Meltan had just gone out which left six people that were three distinct pairs: Hoopa and Celebi, Regi and Tapu, and Poipole and myself. It was complicated further by the fact that the lines were blurred - Regi/Tapu thought it was a 3-2-1 breakdown with me in their trio, while I viewed it more as a 4-2 breakdown as I tried to be the glue that brought Regi/Tapu/Poipole/Myself to the final four. The one topic that seemed to dominate discussion among the four people I wanted to work with was that Hoopa was a huge threat to win the game, though Poipole also felt strongly about wanting to vote out Regi. Given all of that, the F6 immunity challenge was very important given that if Hoopa won she's be at five and two challenges away from a presumed win. And yet - despite all three of Regi/Tapu/myself agreeing that Hoopa needed to go given her threat level both in challenges and at the end, I was the only one of the three of us to not drop out of the challenge. Had Hoopa won immunity at six, I think the odds are extremely high she would have been a runaway winner of this game. Based on how the lines were drawn, I think one of Regi/Poipole/Myself would have gone home at six, Hoopa would have idoled out another at five, and then been one challenge away from winning the game - and even if she did lose the F4 challenge then at minimum Celebi and possibly Poipole would be sitting at the end; and I think either of them would also beat whichever 1-2 of the three current finalists made it to the end. It was a super pivotal challenge for myself, the three of us sitting here, and the game as a whole, and Hoopa/Celebi/myself were the only three people to not drop out and instead continue on until either we finished or the mods stopped us.
I don't think there's anything left for me to say about my game, anything that led to me getting here, or why I think I should win the game that hasn't already been said either during FTC or in talking of those two challenges above. Instead, what I'd like to do here at the end of my speech is address the jurors directly. As I said in my opening speech, nothing matters at this stage of the game except what all of you think and what you decide makes a winning player. And this final tribal council was very difficult for me - not because of any criticisms of my game or how I played - but because of the feedback I received about who I am as a person and how you felt I interacted with you all throughout our time in this game. It wasn't fun to hear some of the stuff I did, as it rarely is to get criticism aimed towards us, and so at first I got defensive about it. As I heard it from more and more people though, and as I had time to process it, I realized that I clearly didn't come across in the way I thought I did, and that there's clearly some truth to it. This was a new experience for me; after every other game of Survivor any advice or comments I got were always about things I had done poorly in the game, but this time due to having made it this far it was about me personally. Just as I took the feedback from previous games and from the start of this one and applied it in order to play a much better game of Survivor than I had previously, so too will I take the comments from you over the last two days and do what I can to improve socially, be less robotic, and not come across as cold and uncaring as much as I did in this game (or ever, ideally!). I came into this game hoping to learn from other experienced players how to be better at Survivor; I never thought I would be walking away with more than that, how to hopefully be a more open, social, and warm person as well - skills that matter in life much more than they do when playing a MS LSG. So for that - thank you again, jury, very much.
This game truly has been an unforgettable experience for me on so many levels, and I both had an absolute blast playing it and am also glad that now it is over. I look very forward to the ID reveal in 1-2 days to both learn who all of the new and familiar faces in this game were, and continue chatting with many or all of you postgame.
Deo <3
This certainly was a very thorough FTC due to how well you as a jury did at asking questions, probing, and providing insight to how the three of us were perceived in this game. And while I think the strategic and social portions of the game are the two most important facets of a good Survivor player and therefore rightly dominated the discussion we had over the last two days, I would like to bring up the third 'pillar' of Survivor play and talk about that a little here: the physical game. I mentioned my performance in the tribal challenges a bit during my opening speech, but that's not where I want to focus here - both because that didn't I think turn out to play a huge role in the game and since it's very hard to compare myself to the two other finalists in that regard given I wasn't on the original Valor tribe with them and the swap-challenges were unique. Instead, I'd like to look at the individual immunity challenges, and two challenges in particular that I think were pivotal to the outcome of this game.
To start with what might seem like the more important of the two, I was able to win the final immunity challenge by surviving the mini-guantlet at the end unscathed. I do think that put me in a very strong position to shape the final three that would take place, not only because by winning it kept me safe and left everyone else as an option on the table, but because of the sway it afforded me during those discussions. Regi was pushing Celebi and Celebi was pushing Regi leaving Tapu and I to be the decision-makers, and despite the fact that timezones prevented Tapu and I from talking as much during the tribal council, she told me that she would probably vote whichever one I wanted given that I had immunity. By morning (my time) I had woken up decided that I wanted to vote Celebi, but still ended up debating the vote with Tapu until right up to the deadline as was seen when the vote was originally tied but then Celebi went home on the re-vote. Having won immunity at final four was definitely a big plus for me and helped me ensure that the outcome of the last vote was the one I wanted.
Having said all of that, by far the more important challenge in this game came at final six and that's the one I would like to focus on if you'll indulge me. At that point in the game, Meltan had just gone out which left six people that were three distinct pairs: Hoopa and Celebi, Regi and Tapu, and Poipole and myself. It was complicated further by the fact that the lines were blurred - Regi/Tapu thought it was a 3-2-1 breakdown with me in their trio, while I viewed it more as a 4-2 breakdown as I tried to be the glue that brought Regi/Tapu/Poipole/Myself to the final four. The one topic that seemed to dominate discussion among the four people I wanted to work with was that Hoopa was a huge threat to win the game, though Poipole also felt strongly about wanting to vote out Regi. Given all of that, the F6 immunity challenge was very important given that if Hoopa won she's be at five and two challenges away from a presumed win. And yet - despite all three of Regi/Tapu/myself agreeing that Hoopa needed to go given her threat level both in challenges and at the end, I was the only one of the three of us to not drop out of the challenge. Had Hoopa won immunity at six, I think the odds are extremely high she would have been a runaway winner of this game. Based on how the lines were drawn, I think one of Regi/Poipole/Myself would have gone home at six, Hoopa would have idoled out another at five, and then been one challenge away from winning the game - and even if she did lose the F4 challenge then at minimum Celebi and possibly Poipole would be sitting at the end; and I think either of them would also beat whichever 1-2 of the three current finalists made it to the end. It was a super pivotal challenge for myself, the three of us sitting here, and the game as a whole, and Hoopa/Celebi/myself were the only three people to not drop out and instead continue on until either we finished or the mods stopped us.
I don't think there's anything left for me to say about my game, anything that led to me getting here, or why I think I should win the game that hasn't already been said either during FTC or in talking of those two challenges above. Instead, what I'd like to do here at the end of my speech is address the jurors directly. As I said in my opening speech, nothing matters at this stage of the game except what all of you think and what you decide makes a winning player. And this final tribal council was very difficult for me - not because of any criticisms of my game or how I played - but because of the feedback I received about who I am as a person and how you felt I interacted with you all throughout our time in this game. It wasn't fun to hear some of the stuff I did, as it rarely is to get criticism aimed towards us, and so at first I got defensive about it. As I heard it from more and more people though, and as I had time to process it, I realized that I clearly didn't come across in the way I thought I did, and that there's clearly some truth to it. This was a new experience for me; after every other game of Survivor any advice or comments I got were always about things I had done poorly in the game, but this time due to having made it this far it was about me personally. Just as I took the feedback from previous games and from the start of this one and applied it in order to play a much better game of Survivor than I had previously, so too will I take the comments from you over the last two days and do what I can to improve socially, be less robotic, and not come across as cold and uncaring as much as I did in this game (or ever, ideally!). I came into this game hoping to learn from other experienced players how to be better at Survivor; I never thought I would be walking away with more than that, how to hopefully be a more open, social, and warm person as well - skills that matter in life much more than they do when playing a MS LSG. So for that - thank you again, jury, very much.
This game truly has been an unforgettable experience for me on so many levels, and I both had an absolute blast playing it and am also glad that now it is over. I look very forward to the ID reveal in 1-2 days to both learn who all of the new and familiar faces in this game were, and continue chatting with many or all of you postgame.
Deo <3