Post by Snakecepia "Judas" Towery on Aug 14, 2013 0:39:41 GMT -5
~Vecepia's Opening Statement~
Seventy-One days out here this summer. What an incredible journey this has been. I don’t think coming into this game, I would have ever envisioned the experience to be this phenomenal. Everyone put their all into this season, and that’s no different from me. I truly want to thank everyone, Lex, Brett, prediction writers, and all of you for playing because this game wouldn’t have been what it was without any of y’all. Now the power lies in your hands, the Jury. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit scared coming in here tonight. I know I played a very hard game, but I do feel like I’ve played a game worthy of winning Sausage Island All Stars, and I’m ready to give this my all and prove to you guys why I should be the victor.
As I walked onto the island on the first day, I didn’t know what kind of reputation I was going to have after my previous season. I was an alternate, and I was going to use that perception of myself to just be as social with everyone as possible whilst also being able to fly under the radar for a little while. In a 35 person game with so many power players, making my presence known so early could have easily secured me a ticket to an early exit.
At the very beginning of the game, the social connections I was making, already proved to be reaping rewards. When the sacrifice rolled around, my name came up as the potential person to go, however the relationships I had with captains Kim/Sydney, as well as many other players, paid dividends and they objected to voting me out, which in turn shifted the vote to Jonas.
On Feroca, I was in a great position, and on the two Tres en Gwad tribes, I consistently worked on my relationships with other players. The rock swap was really when I became a pair with Mikayla. It was also at this time Sydney & I became really close, and now here the three of us are! While on nuTEG, the Plastics alliance formed and I became a part of it due to the connections I had forged with DD/Kim/Miki/Sydney. I used this alliance to my advantage. Whilst DD/Kim were constantly plotting who should go on what tribe, or who needed to go period, as well as making numerous side deals with other players, I was being much more observant and allowing them to paint themselves out to be targets. Any information they would bring me, I’d file away and keep around for later if I needed to drive a wedge in between other players or use it to control a vote. Not to mention it allowed me to read where certain people stood as well as what other alliances were floating around in the game.
Once we got down onto two tribes, it was made evident the Plastics would have to compromise. I felt on the bottom of the alliance and that my opinions didn’t hold a lot of weight. I was being forced to "compromise" Wanda/Alexis/Chase when everyone knew I was close with them. This was when I really began to want Kim/DD out. I would try to keep my cool, but really I had just begun planning how to eliminate them which leads me to one of my main focuses in the game, timing. I didn’t want to execute moves until I felt it was either essential or the right time. When I voted Kim out the first time, I asked myself, is this the right thing to do, and I felt it was. The same applies to other pivotal votes such as Wanda, Judd/Kourtney, DD, Colby, Alex, and Chase. Leading up to each move was an effort for me to have strong connections with people which is evident to me looking at the Jury. Looking at all thirteen of you, I had some sort of relationship with every single person sitting on that bench, whether it was a personal relationship, a game relationship, an alliance, a pre-existing relationship, anything.
Of course, I’m aware there are a lot of you I lied to and, a good portion of you that felt betrayed by me as well. I will admit going into most tribal councils with the exception of maybe one or two, I had my mind made up on what I was going to do, and whenever I lied to someone there was a purpose for it. I’m sure some of y’all probably feel I lied unnecessarily at times but I can promise every lie I told and every person I cut it was for a reason, all of it in the context of the game.
The merge was really when I began to shine as a gameplayer. My strategy for each round was to not only to keep my options open, but to evaluate them and go with what I felt was the best for my longevity. I was in a position where others were always willing to approach me with their plans, and that made me one of the most powerful players in the game, by holding the key to dictate who left and when. I finally began to showcase this at the F14 when I was approached with the idea of idoling out Judd to save Wanda, however I didn't feel it would be the best course of action with the double tribal next round, so I waited and held onto my idol. At the next vote, with Judd already lined up to be blindsided, Mikayla & I suggested Kourtney as the vote that round, knowing it could drive a wedge between Sydney & DD. That plan worked, and the next round I finally got the opportunity to take out DD because of the planning behind the last two votes, which goes back to my statement on timing. Once DD left I was labeled as one of the biggest strategic threats in the game. Even prior there were players such as Kim/DD who were afraid of sitting next to me in the finals because I would win. If anyone was afraid of me winning then, why shouldn’t they think I should win now?
As the game progressed I was still approached to make moves. Shawna/Chase/Colby offered me a F4 right after DD left which I agreed to but didn't feel comfortable with since I felt like I was fourth in the alliance. The next round I decided to shift the vote to Colby instead of Shawna because I still wanted to work with Shawna/Chase, as well as keep Shawna in for being a threat, but when Shawna wanted to vote me out, there was nothing I could do to salvage that relationship and I immediately went to work on creating endgames with the people I had already sided with and trusted. It was around this time a F4 was created between Me/Miki/Sydney/Candice, with Miki and I having separate F3s with both Candice and Sydney, as well as a F3 with Sean, leaving my options wide open for the endgame. Shawna/Kim left and the F7 is the last vote I didn't really have any control over. Every other vote afterwards I had a say in, to set up the F3 we have right now.
This has been a long and brutal game for me, but I really have given this my all, and feel that I played well in all three facets of the game. If that wasn't evident in the Final Immunity Challenge, I don't know what is. I hope this synopsis sheds a little bit of clarity on my overall game, but I’ll be more than happy to elaborate on any and everything in your questions. Contrary to what some may think, I didn’t set out to hurt or humiliate people in this game, and I didn't relish the blindsides for the grandeur. It was all a means to an end for me. As I said at tribal last night, it’s all been about getting to this point and everything I’ve done has paid off so far. I know you guys aren’t going to go easy on me, but that’s fine and I’m ready for it. Sydney and Mikayla it really has been a pleasure getting to play with the two of you and I’m so proud to be sitting next to you guys in the final three tonight. I want to wish you guys all the luck in the world. Bring it on Jury~
