FTC Opening Draft

[Fabio]

Pictured (from left to right): RC Saint-Amour, Jud "Fabio" Birza, Peih-Gee Law



Hi! Before I start, I’d like to thank everyone involved with this game. Our lovely host, the great PWs, and of course my fellow players. Without all of you, this game wouldn’t have been as fun as it was.


Everyone knows the three basic tenants of Survivor. “Outwit, Outplay, Outlast.” A deserving winner will be best in all three of these things, and he doesn’t necessarily have to be a strategic powerhouse to do that.


Outwit – I was doing this from the very beginning. Coming into this game, I didn’t want to be perceived as a threat, either strategically nor physically. I underperformed in the tribal challenges/early merge challenges, and I made sure I didn't take a leading strategic role so that people wouldn't look at me as a threat. While doing this, I was making strong social connections that I would use to propel me into the endgame. My strategy paid off at the F7, when my close ally Brandon was blindsided. I felt like I was the easy target, but I was able to portray other players as bigger targets than me, and initially kept most eyes off of me.

Outplay –  I played my ass off in the immunity challenges, and won at the F7, F5, and F4. At each of these boots, I could see myself going home if I didn’t have immunity. I might have been the easy target after the Brandon vote at F7. I definitely would’ve been idoled out at F5 instead of Todd had I not won immunity. And I think I was the obvious target at F4, if RC and PG both saying that I had "just won the game" is any indication.

Outlast – I think, despite having the hardest road, I "outlasted" in the cleanest way. I was loyal to those that were loyal to me, and I think I gave them respect that my fellow finalists did not. An example of this would be the Tyson vote. I respected Tyson enough to tell him that he was going home even though he thought Sierra would be going. He didn't even ask me to, but I thought he deserved to know. With almost every vote following that, I was sure to tell my allies what I was going to do, and I most importantly didn't break any deals I had made with my allies. This is where my fellow finalists falter. They made multiple deals within the game, due to their paranoia, that they had to break once they reached the endgame.

So, while my fellow finalists may have (so far) lasted as long as I have, they did it in a very Russell Hantz style way. I for one played like…well, the actual Fabio (hence the picture above). I may not have been a part of every vote, but I think I played a strong social and physical game that allowed me to sneak deep into the game before everyone else realized I was the #1 threat that needed to go. And by then, it was too late.

I have a lot more to say, but I will save that for the questions. Thank you everyone, and good luck to my fellow finalists!

[Fabio]

2. Who had the hardest road to the Finals out of the three of you?


Uhh, obviously me, lol. PG/RC got here by steamrolling their allies. Basically, once Tyson left, I had to dodge a bullet at each round because someone was targeting me. However, based on connections I made throughout the game, and me being able to portray myself overall as useful to someone in the game, I was able to sneak by. Let me break it down.



This was the vote where we were divided into two groups of five. Marty targeted me because I wasn't on his swapped tribe, and RC tried to get me out because she didn't want to break her deal with Marty. PG sided with me over RC, and caused RC to break her deal and vote Marty out.



In this round, PG/RC formulated a plan to get Brandon or I out. I was RC's intended target, but me saying I had the idol from the auction saved my skin and caused them to vote Brandon, even though I never had it in the first place.



I managed to cinch my first immunity win this round, after realizing that I probably needed it. The last round had made it abundantly clear that I was on the outs, so I needed an IC win so I would have time to reintegrate with a majority, otherwise I'd be the easy target. And in the following round, after I was left out of the Sierra vote, I found my majority...



Reynold and I were both blindsided with the Sierra vote, which was very poor play on RC/PG's part, and is another example of their flagrant disregard of loyalty towards their allies. Because Reynold came to me and said that he wanted to target PG for leaving him out of that vote. I had found new REAL allies in him and Todd. And this was a very good thing, because RC wanted to target me this round and let Andrea slide through another round. But thankfully, Reynold and Todd stuck with me in voting Andrea, causing RC/PG to acquiesce and take her out too.



This vote, I KNEW I needed immunity. I knew that if PG had an idol, I would be her and RC's targets. So I went ham and won it, and everyone had to change their plans. In the end, Todd and I voted for PG, while Reynold/RC/PG stuck together and ousted Todd. Yet again, there was another vote where I was on the outs. 

But, I don't think I would've voted for Todd even if I was told. He was one of the people who I was the most real with in this game after Brandon left. I thought I could trust him, which is a real testament to his game because it's obvious that EVERYONE thought they could trust them. Unfortunately, my IC win caused his allies to send him out the door.





I very obviously needed this IC win. RC/PG would have auto targeted me, getting me at least two votes. And again...I won it! Causing them to change their plans again to vote Reynold out.


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Anyway, sorry I went on a bit of a tangent there. The point of it was to show that throughout this game I was the obvious target. I spent a majority of the merged games on the outs. But I managed to survive by either using my connections with players to save myself (like when PG didn't vote me out during the Marty vote), by winning immunity, or by offering myself as a vote to Reynold/Todd.


RC/PG made deals with everyone in the game and never had to worry about being voted out until the end of the game. And I can say that, having been on both sides of the coin, it's a lot easier to break all of your alliances and deceive everyone to get ahead vs. having to secure your own safety round after round.