Board Thread:Season 21 - Salvation/@comment-2092827-20141204225144/@comment-24776269-20141205001623

Thank you for the question, Mikey.

I had no idea what was going to happen that first Esjan Tribal. I knew that my gut didn't really trust Nathan, and I was trying to get Alex on board so that we could team up with Tyler in the event of a tribe swap or merge. But Alex didn't trust me. He wanted to vote me off. I told him to vote Nathan because, when talking to Perry and Tyler, there was mention of an "old-school players" alliance between you, Nathan, and some others, and I didn't feel comfortable on a tribe with two guys who are tight and two guys who don't trust each other. I felt like you and Nathan were the bigger threats, and I pleaded with Alex to team up with me, force a tie vote, and try to knock one of you out. But it didn't work because Alex voted for me. It was a risky move, and with big risk comes big consequences, the consequence being that I got the feeling that you and Nathan no longer trusted me after that vote. Lucky for me, we didn't have to go to Tribal again, and I was able to team up with Perry soon after that.

The episode I would choose to describe my game would be the season finale of Survivor: Samoa. Natalie White's game is almost identical to the game I ended up playing; I stayed close to a powerful player, maneuvered my way around the tangled webs of revenge, and relied on my social game to see me through. The only real difference is that instead of Mick, I brought Steve, who is admittedly tougher competition.

I understand how you feel about my game. It wasn't glamorous, but it worked. I didn't rely on challenge performance to see me through; if you look back, I didn't rely on challenges in Sardinia either. If I knew I didn't have the time to work on a challenge enough to make it competitive, I chose not to devote my time on a fruitless endeavor, and instead worked the social angle. I wasn't as visible in my social game, but it was definitely there. I had two or three close allies throughout this game and spent my time shoring up my close relationships with them. That's why I'm sitting here, and that's why I think I deserve your vote.