Firstly I’d like to say that I think a lot of people have been fully expecting an intense final tribal council, so please don’t disappoint by letting Ben, Julian or myself off of the hook for anything, because I’m scared of the entire lot of you and I like to embrace my fears. But also mainly yell at them. Cheers.
I was very apprehensive when I first saw this cast. I saw a lot of big names, and a lot of people who were more than ready to make their second chance count. And just to be clear straight away, I always saw having BigBen and KidA as “Brovivors” in this game as a disadvantage to myself personally because not only did I have to rebuild my relationships with those guys from the ground upwards after they backstabbed me in incredibly recent games, but I also got semi-forced into an alliance with them and Rob/Julian included by proxy. I didn’t play an idol on Ryan when I could have, and I wrote Ben’s name down with bad intentions. Brovivors wasn’t a factor. I’m leaving it at that and never mentioning them again.
ANYWAY.
At one point, I was declared as dead in this game.
At the “tribe dynamics” challenge I won, biggest liar, best physical AND strategic player, along with funniest, and “most like to hang out with in real life,” whilst also being “least likely to make the end.” (And on this topic, I’d like to point out Julian got “UTR” and Ben won “playing for second” but anyway..) Perhaps these feelings didn’t reflect everyone’s answers or opinions, but I was certainly given the trophy cabinet big enough that people would want to smash it to pieces and take me out.
Saftron declared publicly soon after, “Rhys is a bigger threat than anyone else in and people saved him.” AJ even before the merge started said “Rhys is gonna run to the end of this game like has has done many times before.”
Whether it’s my reputation or the general way I play, I was certainly in the worst position out of anybody. Essentially there were WANTED posters pasted everywhere with my dumb British face on. ( Which I’ve made just for your reference
http://postimg.org/image/ur2ycxk71/ )
Navigating my way through a merge where I was initially plummeted into a 6-4 minority with the X firmly painted on myself required a number of factors. Some luck, some skill, but at the very least, my specific strategy was to try and wield people’s emotions or ballsy gameplay to take out ANYBODY but me. Perhaps I didn’t make the big moves, or even instigate all of them, but I certainly fuelled every fire, because at the end of the day I was making sure I was always the one benefitting most from them.
So yes, I lied about who voted Ryan, so that we could swing Sydney against Nikki. And yeah I stoked that betrayal until the embers were so hot that we could burn Sydney right back. And etc. down the line until that “majority” had dismantled themselves. YOU SHOULD ALL FEEL VERY ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES. But that was the plan, and it was a success. I feel that my personal relationships that I developed with almost everybody was a large part of enabling this to succeed. They were detached, but fun and workable.
Unfinished Business for some people is about revenge, and for some people it’s about redemption. For me, who in my first game of Leli’s Survivor, was the last member standing of my original tribe fighting against a majority that included Nikki, I certainly feel that I have fulfilled the potential. I am the last Saiki. I have temporarily defeated Nikki, (until our next battle of course), and I am standing with my dream final 2. Julian; who many people all game told me that he didn’t really speak to them all game. And Ben, who got so angry today because Rob and myself “played him so badly,” that he would have forced rocks just to get back at us, over guaranteeing himself at FTC.
This has been intense, emotional and even I have felt bitter at times. But second chances are rare in life, and I made sure I took full advantage of it and played my h
