Board Thread:Season 8 - Korea/@comment-13693174-20131019095239

 Hello everyone :)



 Before I begin with my opening statements, I would like to say something to everyone who was part of this season – pre-merge boots, jurors and fellow finalists alike.

 I applied for this season for two main reasons: to win, and to have fun. As we all know, this game is emotional and could bring out the bad side of every person, which is why I tried as much as possible to avoid getting myself emotionally involved in the game, and in the ORG community in general.

 However, people could make mistakes. If any of you feel like I disrespected him, mistreated him or hurt him in any way on the personal level, please bring it up so I could directly address that person. This is more important to me than winning.

 I don't think anyone has the right to ask for jury votes, which is a sign for your respect of his game, if he didn't respect yours – and that's why I begin my speech this way.



 With that being said, let's get to the speech. I'm sorry if it's too long, but since I believe some of you don't know my game, I want to make everything clear so you can gather all the information you need for your statements.



 To make it more interesting, I decided to combine the details of my way in the game with describing my strategy, trying to focus on the important events and explain what was going on behind the scenes, and how it helped me to make my way to the final three.



''' Original Tribe – Observe, Learn and Act '''

 Coming into this game, the first thing you need is to be aware of your weaknesses. You have to accept the fact that your game cannot be perfect, and there will always be something you are going to miss.

 In my case, I was able to notice two major weaknesses:

-          My social game is going to be somewhat lacking, partly due to the fact English is not my first language. In addition, having a decent social game is noticeable and could put a target on my back.

-          I'm going to have a hard time with some of the challenges. As you all see, my performance in these flash games wasn't the best, so I tried to make up for that with the puzzles and crosswords.

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> With that in mind, I had to find someone who will be able to cover these two weaknesses for me, and that's why I chose to align myself with Alejandro, the first person who approached me in the game.

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> The main principal I practiced early on was Observe, Learn, and Act. I realized many players are making their moves too early, without having enough information or thought of the consequences. For my entire time on Baekje, all I did was to observe and learn. Instead of looking at the game from my point of view as a player, I tried to look at it as an outside observer. I didn't talk in group chats if I didn't have to, I didn't state my opinions and I didn't approach people on my own. That way, I could gather as much information as possible, while giving little to no information back.

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> The two major alliances formed were the Korea Alliance and the Secret Society, which I was part of both. While being in multiple alliances is good, the problem was the Korea Alliance wasn't even aware of the Secret Society's existence. I knew that in order to ensure my spot, I have to keep the balance of power between the two alliances, not letting one of them get too strong.

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> The Secret Society started the game with a huge advantage, with both Aaron and Monkey having idols and Aaron, Alejandro and Miggy having an artifact each, let alone the fact they had affiliates on Silla.

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> After finding an idol myself, my first goal was to make them weaker.

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<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;">''' Switched Tribe – Taking out Jordan & Cassels '''

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> A turning point in my game was the tribe switch, since I was separated from Alejandro. I wasn't worried about him, as I knew he's going to survive, but I was worried he may find greener grasses with someone else.

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> Making use of Alejandro's brilliant social game finally paid off, as he practically invited me into both of the major alliances so I didn't have to make new ones. All I needed was to keep my cover with both alliances, and weaken the one in power. However, Alejandro's challenge performance was gone, which made me feel tribal council earlier than I thought.

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> One thing I believe is wrong in Survivor is the urge to make a big move and take out the strong players early on. The strong players are the ones who keep the target off my back, while the weaker players are the ones people would rather take to the end instead of me. So who are the real threats now?

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> Keeping in mind the Silla alliance, I realized I have more than one reason to vote off Jordan. While Hunter and Monkey were eager to blindside each other, I had to convince both sides it's much better to go with the easy vote, and take out Jordan, who was a real threat for me had he gone further. Once he's gone, I became the swing vote and secured my spot for the next tribal.

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> The next thing I had on my mind was getting rid of Monkey's idol. Hunter had a plan to take Cassels out, thinking Monkey would play his idol anyway. However, he didn't know Aaron was also part of the Society, and with that info from Aaron Monkey knew he was safe.

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> That's the point where I had to act, telling the Society Hunter is going to vote for Monkey rather than Cassels, using a fake quote of his. The plan worked and Monkey played his idol, even though he didn't need to. With his idol gone, I was able to get Monkey out next if I needed to and the Society was weakened.

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<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;">''' Absorbed Tribe – Taking out Chal & Monkey '''

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> A great shift of power has occurred with the tribe absorption. Goguryeo was joined by Ivan, Ryan and Chal, who together with Hunter, formed a majority that threatened my position.

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> Alejandro and Miggy didn't mess around and immediately handed the Society's artifacts to us, which gave us the upper hand.

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> However, thanks to Aaron I had the information that Hunter plans to keep Monkey as much as possible, to make use of him later. With that in mind, I knew there is no need to use the artifacts, as Hunter is going to take our side and prefer to vote for Chal first.

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> The problem with keeping the artifacts was the Society still having too much power in its hands, and once Aston flipped on Jake there was another vote under Alejandro's control. I had to find a way to vote off one of the Society's members and get rid of at least some of their artifacts without being exposed as a traitor.

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> Since Hunter lost the final immunity challenge before the merge, he was immediately targeted again. I couldn't afford losing him, knowing I have a chance to take Monkey out if Ivan will use his ring. I gave Miggy's ring to Monkey just in case, so if Monkey will go home, the ring will go with him.

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> Ivan shocked everyone by using the ring, which gave me an opening to take advantage of the situation. I played on the "purple rock card" in order to justify switching my vote to Monkey at the revote, taking him out along with 2 artifacts without actually betraying the Society.

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> This move was completely improvised and required me to think quickly about all the details, to make it look like I'm having a hard time doing it.

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<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;">''' Merged Tribe – Taking out Max, Hunter & Ivan '''

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> Coming into the merge, I realized there are two people out here I never had any interaction with – Ben and Max, so I wanted to vote them off first. I also had my ideal final three in mind – myself, Aaron and Miggy. Ben was voted off first by a wide consensus, and then I was able to find another idol. However, getting Max out was a one tough mission.

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> As I explained earlier, the players who are deemed as weaker are actually the biggest threats down the road. If I didn't target Max at that point, he would've gone very far and maybe even to the final three.

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> Anyone was ready to sit next to Max at the final tribal instead of me any day, and when I tried to convince people to vote him off, every possible name was thrown into the air, just to avoid voting for Max.

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> So if there is a person in the game that nobody wants to vote off, doesn't it make him the biggest threat? Eventually though, I was able to complete the move.

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> With Miggy being next on the Korea Alliance's hit list, I knew that is the time to flip and blindside Hunter who was a huge challenge and jury threat, and hopefully work with Ivan and Ryan later on.

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> However, Miggy won immunity. The target was now on Ivan, since everybody believed he had my idol. One of the reasons I never told anyone about my idol, was to have a chance to target someone else for having it. Unfortunately, Ivan wasn't the right guy. Alejandro and Aston were already preparing his elimination, until I turned the tide and made everyone change the vote to Hunter again. I knew Hunter was closer to Alejandro and Aaron, while Ivan was closer to me, and it was a no brainer to keep him around considering his challenge performance.

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> Then, the problem arose – since Miggy had immunity, nobody practically flipped on the Korea Alliance. Ivan still insisted on voting Miggy out, which made me vote Ivan even though I wanted to work with him later.

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<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;">''' Endgame – Taking out Alejandro & Ryan '''

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> Ivan's elimination, though inevitable, turned out to be a mistake. The power wasn't shifting anymore, and the game was completely ruled by Alejandro. With 2 idols under my possession, I had a safe spot at the final four, but I wanted to keep all of my ammunition for the money time.

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> Until the final six I threw most of the individual challenges, in order to avoid being targeted, but this time I had a good reason to win. However, despite having immunity and my efforts to get Aston out, this time I wasn't able to save Miggy and he was blindsided.

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> It was then I realized Alejandro have an individual alliance with every single person on the final five, being everyone's closest ally. There was no way on Earth I was able to get anyone but myself to vote him off, he was technically immune all the way to the final three.

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> But there was one thing Alejandro didn't take into consideration, and that being my idols. That was when following Observe, Learn and Act finally paid off, and it was the time to act.

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> Since nobody would even consider voting Alejandro out (and there was a chance a mask will be used on me), I had to be creative and think out of the box – If I can't get people to vote him off, I need to make everyone else but him immune. Knowing Aaron is going to play his idol, and Ryan having immunity, I played my idols for myself and Aston, which caused Alejandro's default elimination.

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> At the final four, I knew there is a chance Aaron and Ryan will go after me, especially after Aaron won immunity. However, I had it covered.

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> The other side of voting Alejandro out was saving Aston, and I knew he would feel like he should return the favor and save me now. Even though I failed to vote him off earlier, I was able to regain his trust and get him to tie the vote with me against Ryan.

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> Ironically, the tie-breaker challenge was a flash game. But after making this far, this was not going to stop me from getting here.

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;">

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> In conclusion, I'll go over the number of principles I followed throughout the game:

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="margin-left:36pt;text-indent:-18pt;direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;">-          Being aware of my weaknesses, accepting them and being able to cover them

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="margin-left:36pt;text-indent:-18pt;direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;">-          Observe, learn and gather all the information I need before acting, no matter how much time it would take

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="margin-left:36pt;text-indent:-18pt;direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;">-          Keeping the balance of power between alliances and not letting one alliance get too strong

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="margin-left:36pt;text-indent:-18pt;direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;">-          Keeping the stronger players around, while voting off potential threats who could be taken to the end instead of me

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="margin-left:36pt;text-indent:-18pt;direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;">-          Taking advantage of the situation, being able to improvise and make moves quickly

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="margin-left:36pt;text-indent:-18pt;direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;">-          Always look like I'm in a worse position than I really am, and as if I'm being forced into making my moves

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="margin-left:36pt;text-indent:-18pt;direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;">-          Not giving away information that could potentially be used against me later, especially regarding idols

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="margin-left:36pt;text-indent:-18pt;direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;">-          Being creative and think out of the box when needed

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="margin-left:36pt;text-indent:-18pt;direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;">-          Being able to leverage a failure into an eventual success

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;">

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> Now that I've explained my strategy and how it was implemented in every step I made in this game, I would like to talk about my personal experience from this season.

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> It was a very long journey, but it was worth every second of it. The moderators have done a great job regardless of the season's flaws.

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> I'm glad I had the chance to meet all of you, and I hope I could stay part of the ORG community and keep in touch with whoever would like to.

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> I know there are some of you on the jury who feel bad about things I've done, and some who I never had a chance to talk to – and I realize this could cost me your jury votes.

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed;"> All I ask for is a chance to convince you I deserve it, and I'll be happy to answer any question you have for me. <ac_metadata title="Vote Amir"> </ac_metadata>