Board Thread:Season 12 - All-Stars/@comment-4723941-20140216131319/@comment-4062486-20140217063248

Thanks, Sole. Before I answer your questions, there is something I really have to say. You said that I followed a mastermind in this game like last time. I admit – yes, I did follow Zion and I let him do the strategizing. But that wasn’t so with Adam. Adam was my partner in this game, not someone I mindlessly followed. We were together for most of this game and we strategized since day one. And I wouldn’t say that I lost it without him. Yes, I did what some consider a dumb move at Final 5, but let’s be honest: there really wasn’t a nice way out of that situation. In the end I had to betray one of my allies. That was not something that I had to deal with in Hawaii. Yes, I did what I could to keep my allies safe there as well, but they never were in any such danger. In All Stars I had to deal with a lot more difficult situations than I ever had to in Hawaii and I think I matured a lot more as a player. As for when Adam left the game, I didn’t completely lose it. I still managed to gather together my allies to take out Zac and Uli. Yes, I made mistakes in the game but if you are going to judge my game – don’t judge it based on the few Tribal Councils. Same goes for Ben and Lloyd. I think that when you decide who will win the season, you should really look at how we have player throughout all of this season. And honestly, I think you should not cross me out because of what happened in the last two Tribal Councils. I was already in a more deciding position in the beginning of the game, whereas Ben didn’t really do much til the second half of merge. He wasn’t the one who organized Adam’s blindside, and to tell you the truth I am not so sure he can even take credit for Taylor’s blindside since Taylor had told me way before that tribal (and before I revealed Ben’s true face to him) that he wanted to vote Lloyd. Therefore Ben can’t really take credit for that, as he also can’t take credit for Adam going home.

1)	What did you actually change from your game in Hawaii? Quite a few things. I imagine it was harder for you to see them because you were separated from me for most of the game. One of the things that I definitely changed was that I became more social. I had many connections already in the beginning of the game, and worked out deals with such big players as Taylor, Alejandro, Adam and Marish. Last time, absolutely all alliances I had were not created by me. I was approached by Alex, Zion and even you. I didn’t really approach anyone on my own. I was Monica since I didn’t really make any huge moves in the game but unlike her in the end I still managed to win. This time I created alliances on my own and approached people myself, and you were actually one of those people that I first talked to. In Hawaii I also never really decided on the votes - I just voted what my alliance voted. This time I convinced people quite a lot to vote my way, even though all of those didn’t end up working in the end. Still, I convinced quite a number of people to vote my way and secured numerous vote offs, such as the ones of Zac and Uli. I also actively strategized and made plans with the other players in the game. Last time I let my allies to make the move, do the taking out but this time I actively participated in all the strategizing that was happening around me. I was in the leading alliances of this game, and not in the bottom like Ben and Lloyd. One other thing I did way more this season was lie and betray. In Hawaii I pretty much only lied once and that was to you about my nonexistent idol. This time around I lied to many people, saying to them that they were safe and then voted them out. I started to see that lying was a necessary way to get ahead in the game. I feel that the last time I played, although I won, I didn’t understand the game as well as I do now. I think it says something about me as a player that I got to the end of one of the most difficult seasons this franchise has ever seen. There was already so much lying and backstabbing going on at the first few days. I didn’t ever feel as comfortable as I did during Hawaii. Here I had to think all decisions through much more carefully. I have become a strategist during this season. In Hawaii my goal was to pretty much go to the end with Alex and Zion, and I didn’t really think about if I could beat them or not. Ths time I was thinking things through much more carefully.

2.)Why did Ben and Lloyd make it to the Final Tribal Council? Although some people now view Ben as a better player than me, he was actually an underdog for most of the season. To be honest, I even forgot after a while that he was still in. Ben never stood out as much as the other players – we just constantly mentioned him as someone who would vote with us. Therefore, even though people are saying that I rode coattails, he did the same for quite a lot of the game too. I remember how a fellow player in this ORG once said to me that smaller targets have their way of getting further in the game, since no one really notices them and doesn’t think it’s necessary to take them out, because they are not dangerous. That’s why it was easier for Ben to get ahead in this game in my opinion. Same with Lloyd, although he was even more of an underdog than Ben. Lloyd was one of those people that was viewed as someone who is good to sit next to in the Final Tribal Council. Although he was a winner, he didn’t really make any moves and therefore it was much easier to take him further in the game. It was also my strategy to take him further because I knew that he was loyal and not a dangerous player. His loyalty is why I and several other people saved him.

3.)	Did ever take a serious risk in this game before you had actually lost control at the F5? Yes, I took several risks in the game before that. One of them was taking out Ash, which was in it’s core a very risky move. We had to convince Gerard, who we had never really worked with before to vote for Ash. He wanted to vote for Andrei and it took quite a lot of convincing. At the time we weren’t sure how much he was with us actually – let’s face it, in Survivor you can never really be sure. We also knew that if one of us didn’t win immunity that time, we wouldn’t be able to pull this move off. So in it’s core this was definitely a risky move. For me personally one of the risky moves was taking out Sharky. I knew that he was a threat and also that he was aligned with Andrei. I knew that after taking him out I would need to convince Andrei that I was loyal to him. By taking out Sharky I risked losing one of my allies in the game. I also took numerous other risks in the game, such as taking out Uli and also Gerard.

4) (Out of curiosity) How come I went home when I did? I had actually insisted to people that you should go pre-merge, but I knew that it was probably going to take some time. We knew that several players trusted you in the game and we felt that other threats needed to go first, such as Hunter. We also knew that it would better to take out an ally of yours before to make you weaker in the tribal where you were going to go. The Tribal after Jhet’s elimination was for sure the right time to take you out. Since you had been lied to about it, it was clear that you felt the heat on your back. I also knew from Hawaii that you were capable of going far in the merge by winning Immunity Challenges, something which I had constantly reminded my allies of. I knew that if you stayed in the game, things would be much more difficult for me because let’s face it, you are an awesome player. Therefore the time when you went was exactly the right time for us.

5) Why do you deserve to be the first ever two-time winner? 1. I played the best game that I am capable of 2. I fought hard throughout the whole season 3. I went further in the game than most winners 4. I survived some very difficult situations in the game and still made it to the end 5. I would like to be the one who makes Survivor: Wikia history.

Thanks Sole for giving me this opportunity!