Board Thread:Season 17 - Sardinia/@comment-1275235-20140711185524

I just want to start off by saying this has been an amazing experience and I’ve met so many awesome people in the process. Now let’s get down to business. Out of the three people standing up here, I do believe that I deserve to win. I’m going to take most of my time in this speech to explain to everyone why that is.

I started off the game with only one goal in mind; to win. I knew that in order to at least make merge I would need to be apart of a majority alliance. The minute tribes were released I got to work. I created the majority alliance on Cagliari called “Swagliari Six”. It consisted of me, Cali, Koopa, AJ, Zane, and William. I wanted to stay under the radar pre-merge and not be targeted by either side of my tribe so I decided to play both sides. I also joined another alliance on Cagliari called “The Global Alliance”. It consisted of me, Najim, AJ, Zane, Du, and Mohammed.

Once Mohammed went home, I knew that I would have to do a lot of damage control with the Global Alliance. I managed to convince them that Tyler was the one who came to us and pretty much threatened to target us if we didn’t vote Mohammed out. Du and Najim managed to believe me and their target was now set on Tyler. This also kept them from being mad at me for flipping on them.

At our next tribal council, I knew that I needed a plan to ensure that all my allies in the Swagliari Six were safe so I hatched a plan. To avoid any idols I got Swagliari Six to split the vote between Najim (our target) and Du. Since I was playing both sides I convinced the Global Alliance to vote Tyler. This planned worked out great and everyone in my main alliance escaped tribal without any votes against them. I had to do a lot of damage control again but I managed to get Du to trust me again by buttering him up and telling him what he wanted to hear.

As time went by a lot of cross-tribal drama began to start. It was annoying but I decided that it was in my best interest to stay out of it. I didn’t want to put a target on my back so I just sat back and enjoyed the show.

At our next tribal Du was voted out in a unanimous vote, just as planned. AJ then came to me and told me who might have the Sassari Idol. This is when I knew that I would have to keep an eye out for him in the future. He had obviously been talking to the other side and he could potentially be very dangerous in this game.

The tribe swap happened and me, Cali, and Tyler were put on a tribe with four Sassari. We knew that we were in the minority and that we would have to think of a plan quick. We managed to gain Trevor’s trust and he joined an alliance with us. At our first post-swap tribal we managed to pull off a blindside and vote Sean out. The merge was approaching and I had done exactly what I wanted to pre-merge. I managed to stay under the radar and not receive any votes against me. Once merge arrived, the Swagliari Six reunited and took out Arun. It seemed like we would be able to go straight to the final six. But, of course, there is always a bump in the road.

Since Wes won immunity, the plan was for Swagliari Six to vote out Hazim. Me, Cali, and Koopa did. AJ managed to gather some troops, form some “Outsiders” alliance, and blindside Koopa. I felt like I had just been stabbed in the back by someone I trusted. Me and Cali were very upset but we knew we would have to get over it and start thinking.

I noticed that Wes and Hazim were also on the outs so I formed an alliance with me, Cali, Wes, and Hazim. It was first called “Outsiders 2.0”, then “Hotel California”, and now “The Comeback Kids”. We were all in the same boat and really understood each other. We made a pact to go all the way to final four together. There was a problem though. We didn’t have the numbers. It was 5-4.

Hazim won the immunity and I managed to convince my alliance to target AJ. Not for personal reasons but because he had straight up told me that after Wes and Hazim are gone, they will target me and Cali. He was also the one who created an alliance against me so I pretty much had my back pressed against the wall.

Since we didn’t have the numbers I knew I would have to work my butt off. AJ approached me and Cali with Will about a four person alliance. I played along just to see what they were thinking. They wanted us to target Wes. Me and Cali agreed that it was a good idea and told them what they wanted to hear. AJ approached me and told me that I already had three votes against me; Zane, William, and Tyler. Trevor and AJ were the only ones who hadn’t voted yet so I got to work. I gave them both screenshots of staged conversations and fake votes. I had to do what I had to do. After a lot of convincing I managed to get them to both vote Wes. I managed to escape being voted off and AJ was blindsided in a 4-3-0 vote.

My alliance knew that it was 4-4 and we all accepted the fact we would have to go to rocks. Of course a lot of people approached us that didn’t want to go to rocks from the other side but we didn’t give in. They got pretty mad at me and Cali for not flipping to them. We went to rocks and our risk totally payed off. Zane was eliminated and everyone in our alliance was safe.

We had majority now but we knew that William probably had gotten the idol. I created a plan to convince the other side we are voting out Will but actually vote out Trevor. I chose Trevor because we knew that Will would use the idol on Tyler over Trevor. Will didn’t really believe us but we still managed to get him to flush his idol on Tyler and Trevor was successfully voted out. For next tribal I knew that I didn’t want any votes against me or anyone in my alliance, so I got to work. By using screenshots of staged conversations, I managed to convince Will that my alliance had split the vote 2-2 and would decide who goes at tiebreaker. I told him the only way to survive was if he voted Tyler. He did and Will was voted out in a unanimous vote, just as planned.

I managed to win my first immunity challenge and ensured my safety for the week. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to beat Wes in the Final Immunity Challenge so me, Cali, and Hazim decided to blindside him. So then there were four. Me, Cali, Hazim, and Tyler. I knew that Tyler couldn’t get to the end because more than half the jury are his best-friends.

Tyler, of course, approached me about flipping on my girl Cali. He sent me a screenshot of a staged conversation with a supposed jury member (actually just himself) but I knew a fake conversation when I see one. None of us gave into him and we managed to get him out in a unanimous vote.

I love the two people standing next to me. Me and Cali have to been together since Day 1. We made a pact that we would never write each other’s names down and we stayed true to our word. Me and Hazim have been in the same alliance for a while now and he’s a really nice and cool dude. We’ve all played great games and managed to outwit, outsmart, and outplay everyone but I honestly believe I played a better game than both of them. Hazim never really came up with any moves and kind of hid behind Wes throughout a lot of the game. He even claimed he would rather Wes win over himself, and would be happy to lose to him. Me and Cali have made a lot of similar moves but I was usually the one who came up with everything and I did a lot more during the pre-merge than she did.

I did lie to a lot of the jury members, but that is part of the game. I had to do what I had to do to further myself in this game. That’s exactly what I did. I’m very proud of the game I played.

Please vote for who you honestly think played the best game. If you think I played the best game, vote for me. If you think Cali played the best game, vote for her. If you think Hazim played the best game, vote for him.

I’ve worked my butt of all season long, created alliances, made big moves, never gave up and that’s why I think I deserve to win Survivor: Sardinia. Good luck to Cali and Hazim. Thank you everyone! :) 