Board Thread:Season 12 - All-Stars/@comment-10863763-20140216193441/@comment-11497002-20140217080717

Hi Adam, I could have kept the idol but I weighed up my options and considered the long-term pros and cons. In the end, I decided idoling you out at final 8 was the best move for me. I respect that you can accept what I did was a move within the game and not hold that against me. My social game and the people I had kept in the game pretty much ensured me that I wouldn’t be getting any votes before final five. I felt it was more useful to play the idol to eliminate someone and set myself up for a strong endgame then to keep it for a potential problem down the road. The point of playing the idol was to eliminate any potential problems I would face later, and that was successful. I explained how the move went down in response to Andrei’s question. I already had an alliance with Uli and Zac. Taylor suggested voting you out at final 9 but backed out of it. At final 8 when you didn’t have immunity I decided it was now or never and I couldn’t keep waiting for people to finally come around to my way of thinking. No one knew I had an idol or intended to play it. I didn’t consult anyone. It was entirely my decision to play it. I knew Uli and Zac were voting for you but me playing the idol was what actually got you eliminated, and that was my plan that I devised and carried out by myself.



Do you think Lloyd deserves to be in the finals?

On the most basic level, Lloyd made it to the final and so he deserves to be here. Some people aren’t impressed with how he played but I still think he earned his spot, even if there was some luck and help involved. Lloyd is a genuinely lovely person, a good friend and my most loyal ally. I can't fault him in that regard.



'''When you voted for Uli when we all voted Sole, you were definitely blindsided. You also talk about aligning yourself with Ash, Hunter, Hennzy, yet they all went out pre-merge. I want to know how this converts to you playing a solid strategic game as most of your allies went home early on.'''

Do you mean Jhet instead of Sole? Because I knew about Sole’s elimination and voted for him. As I explained to Jhet in his question, I did eventually discover Jhet was going home. It still was sort of a blindside though because I discovered this from Sole, rather than any of you telling me. Yes, Ash, Henry and Hunter were my allies. But I couldn’t do anything about Ash’s elimination and I voted out Henry and Hunter. By that time I had firmed my alliance with Lloyd and knew that with his connection to you and Gerda, I would be safe at the merge. And that Hunter had a target and I didn’t want to be attached to that. The fact that I didn’t have a stable majority alliance doesn’t mean I didn’t play strategically. I think it actually shows I played more strategically because I had to work many different angles and had to juggle different allies and deals. Each round was a new problem that needed to be approached from a different angle. I formed solid alliances with people quickly even if it was only for a round. I got through this game without being in a majority alliance. I think I can compare my game to that of Sandra or Vecepia. Every round I considered what my best option was and then made that move. I didn’t stick with an alliance or plan that wasn’t working out. Gerda and Lloyd were in a majority alliance but they didn’t have any control over the game. They voted how others voted. I was happy to do my own thing. I always knew who was voting for who, and if that was in my best interests then I voted that way, if not then I devised a new plan that was better for me. It’s not like I didn’t have allies. I was allied with Uli, Zac (for your vote), Taylor, Andrei and Lloyd during the merge. They’re the people that made it to final 7. They’re the people I wanted there because I could work with them. Part of my strategy was keeping the target off my back and keeping an eye on everyone, making sure the game was progressing in my favour. Then when it was time, I took control of the game. Final five I stepped up and said it’s time to get the end result I want. Lloyd and I controlled the final five vote and I had total control over the final four vote.



Name one fact about me that no one else would know, that only you would know had you taken the opportunity to get to know me personally.

I don’t really know anything intimate about you but – not to be rude – communication is a two-way street and I don’t think you know anything intimate about me. I might not have got to know you personally but I did get to know others personally. I can only do what I can do. I know there are people I didn’t bond with much but I did create genuine bonds with people. Gerda and Lloyd allied with you so they know you better than I do. I allied with different people and they’re the ones I know better than Gerda and Lloyd do. And it’s not like I’m not interested in you or getting to know you. I’ve watched quite a few of your Youtube videos because I find that interesting. I know you’re competitive as all hell (that’s a compliment), you don’t give up and you strive to do your best. You’re a friendly, outgoing person. You genuinely care about what you do and the people close to you. You’re a good person and I would be interested in getting to know you better outside of this game.



''Sorry this is dragging on but if I may I'd like to respond to Gerda's assessment of my game because she continuously says things that are just out of spite and not based on anything that happened in this game. ''



Gerda doesn’t seem to be aware of the full picture. She claims me to be a sheep but can’t list a single instance of me blindly following orders. It’s because there aren’t any. I’ve outlined how many decisions and moves I made. They were all made individually by me. If someone came up to me and said “let’s go with this plan” then I considered my options. I considered the pros and cons. If it was in my best interests then I went with it. If it wasn’t then I made up my own plan that was. I didn’t follow anyone. Gerda always voted with the majority up until final five. For me, 3 times I broke away from the crowd and made my own move during the merge. My second ever Tribal I was the deciding vote who broke away from my alliance. So who is really the follower? Taylor and Andrei were two of my closest allies but I was brave enough to vote differently to them several times, to keep secrets from them and plan moves without them. In the end, I voted them out because that’s what would get me through the game. Gerda has said she never could vote out her allies. So again, who is the follower?

You say she had a tough road but who was voting against Gerda? I don’t think her path to the finals was any harder than mine. I had to work as an individual to make it to the end. She had a whole alliance to see her through. If I wasn’t visible early on it was because I did a good job of hiding my strategy, downplaying my threat status and abilities, keeping my allies, plans and moves hidden. I think it speaks of my ability that I made it through to the merge undetected by many.

Gerda ‘forgetting’ I was in the game is a massive flaw in her game, not mine. You need to be on top of what’s going on in the game. I knew who everyone was, I knew what they were up to, I knew how the votes were going down and that’s how I was able to survive this entire game. There’s nothing wrong with keeping a low profile. It’s been proven to work time and time again. I didn’t want to be seen as a threat. I kept my strategy, moves and allies hidden so that there would be no reason to take me out. Gerda didn’t have any idea what I was up to, which meant she didn’t know what kind of alliances were going on, she didn’t know the dynamics of the tribes I was on. She was oblivious to a large part of the game.

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<p class="MsoNormal">Thank you for taking the time to read through everything and getting to know my game. Hopefully we can get to know one another outside of the game as well.