Nate Gonzalez wrote: ↑Wed Oct 21, 2020 9:41:13 pm
1. The last two Thursdays have had a swap, a merge, a public immunity idol, a surprise swap auction, and even crazier auctions. Do you think this trend is going to continue into tomorrow? Any ideas on what’s coming around the corner?
I have no idea what could possibly top the last two Thursday nights. You've set the bar high so good luck topping them. I don't think any of us could have possibly expected the early merge and immediate vote after the silent auctions, so I am not even going to try to guess what other twists are coming. Hopefully this is misdirection, and we don't have to worry about too much nonsense, but I will laugh hysterically if we all end up demerged and divided into two tribes of four or something insane like that.
2. What are you expecting in terms of StrandedCoin going into the final week of this game? Do you think you’re trying to save your coins for later or do you plan on spending them when you have them?
I went all out bidding for tribal immunity a week ago, and after hearing the stories of Carl spinning his wheels and putting a target on my back before the merge, I am pretty sure it was a necessary sacrifice to give up all my coins that night. I don't know if I needed it for sure, or if someone else was targeted. Very curious how much we won immunity by, and if it was necessary to bid everything. That said, I planned to play my idol (as well as the public idol I could've won) had tribal immunity not been up grabs so by bidding 100% of my coins, I guaranteed I could keep the idol which was eventually used to keep Alison in the game and idol out Lauren. So long story short, I haven't worried about how the coins will affect me ever since that moment since I figured there was no chance I would have the most for whatever event may have happened in the future. I went for the short-term safety than long-term planned, but that may have all changed when Dan surprisingly gave me his coins. Now, I'm an extremely interested onlooker to see what the coins will be used for and what else I can buy. If I had to guess, whomever has the most coins may get an extra vote at the final tribal council? Doubt it, but I don't know what else it could be.
3. We’ve just came off a relatively drama-free and unanimous-vote immediately after a series of idol plays and split votes. Do you think this is going to hold for the rest of the season? Who do you think benefits the most from keeping up the status quo and who do you think needs to make a big move?
I highly, highly doubt the rest of the votes will be unanimous, but I do think that I would benefit in a big way if the 6 people that voted for Carl all make it to the final 6 or 7. Will that happen? Doubtful. But if it was, I feel very confident that Alison and Kara want to keep working with me until the end of this game. We haven't had those discussions yet, and I wanted to go through the options more this weekend (assuming we all get there), but my main concern is getting through this pivotal round safely. Because from my perspective, Nick and Tommy would be absolutely insane to not make a move right here and now. This is the perfect time, and I actually would rather be in their shoes right now to be able to change up and dictate the game if I wanted to. That said, Dean, and Aaron have done a pretty terrible job at keeping Tommy on their side by cutting him completely out when they tried to vote for me. If I were Tommy, actually, I guess it does make sense to stick to us for right now and bide the time for later. Nick, on the other hand, I think would be making a massive mistake if he sticks with us. Don't get me wrong, he could easily make it to the finals and win with our group. He was worked directly with Tommy in order to make the decision to jump ship to us, so they have to have some kind of deal. Additionally, he has close connections with Angelina and Kara and even me, heck he has connections with everyone from our original tribe, but I think the rest of us consider ourselves closer to each other than we do with him. And because of that, I would 100% jump back to the other side to make a move right here and now to take out Alison, Kara, or myself due to the obvious alliance we have at this point. Nick is also not a dumb player, and this is exactly why I am absolutely petrified about tonight. He has proven he is willing to lie and cut people close to him in order to move forward in this game, and I expect him to at least consider that tonight. Because if he did, him and Tommy could in theory jump back and forth between the two sides until they make it to the end similarly to what Burton and Fairplay did in Pearl Islands. Are they smart enough to do that? Yes. Will they? I think the answer is no. We'll see if I am eating my words in a few hours, but I would like to think that I have convinced them we are not set in stone and locked as a group. And I will say that could be the truth. For example, Kara and Angelina definitely disagree with each other as to what the boot order should be if we vote out the people outside of our 6 in a row, and they both are strong willed. I don't know if a disagreement will cause trust issues, but anything could happen. My point was that Nick from a strictly strategic perspective would be dumb to not flip on us. Although he would get a ton of heat for his move, and I don't know if he wants more blood on his hands just yet. Going back to what I have done to try to convince him to stay, he asked me what I was thinking about the end game, and I told him that Dan kept reiterating that the girls all created an alliance on day 1 and are unbreakable. I told him that I don't want to finish 4th as the odd man out. Am I concerned about that in reality? I really don't know. It does cross the back of my mind which I hope is strictly paranoia. I don't think that Angelina is closer to Alison than I am. I don't think that Angelina is closer to Kara than I am. I also don't know if Alison or Kara is closer to Angelina than I am. Angelina also has hinted at going to the end with me, too. So yeah, I am confident in the conversations I have had and relationships I have built, but I don't want to be made to look like a fool if I am getting played by all three of them. I really need to think about if their main goal is to dump me before the end, and if so, I need to do something about it. That something could be working with Tommy and Nick which Nick proposed as a potential final 3 alliance. Assuming we've done enough to convince everybody to stick with us and not flip the script again, then these are some serious discussions that we can have this weekend to figure out where we want to go from here. If people do flip, then I won't be thinking about planning this kind of stuff. I will be thinking about making sure how I can make it to the next day because that is by far the most important aspect of this game. If you don't make it to tomorrow, who cares about who you want sitting next to you in the finals?
4. Now that the jury is starting to form, this is your last chance to really start to position yourself for the endgame. An idea that has been mentioned a lot in Stranded is the division between threats and goats. Where would you lie on that spectrum? Do you think it’s more important to get out people who would beat you at the end of the game or is it better to get out goats who could take an important spot at the Final Tribal Council away from you?
My opinion is always that I can explain my moves to earn a win. I know that is a dumb thing to say especially if you don't do anything and the whole "Scooby Doo Reveal" phrase. That said, I am confident enough in myself that if I can get to the end after successfully idoling out someone and barely escaping an almost massive blindside, then I can win this game. That is a story that I can for sure argue. Besides, I have been told by everyone that voted for me that I am some massive threat, so I don't think I can hide under the radar ever again. I fully expect to be targeted as we get deeper into the game, and I will have to do everything I can to throw the radar onto someone else.
It's 100% important to take out people who would beat you in the end before it is too late. It is also extremely valuable if the people that might be considered easier to beat are on your side. I also think Dan was the easiest person to beat in this game. After that, it may fall on Jack? But even he has made a huge move by jumping ship at the final 13 to vote out Missy and spilling the plan to Lauren to use her idol. He also alerted me about the Alison plan which resulted in another idol play....so if is the worst we've got, I have to very much disagree that there is anyone in this game that has not earned their spot in the final 9. We have all played extremely hard to get here, and I assume it will only get more difficult.
As far as tonight, I know Angelina wants Jack, but Tommy and Kara definitely want Dean. I want Dean personally because I think I have a better working relationship with Jack, and I think Alison will be okay with Dean, too. I am terrified of idols and random powers from the bounties, so what I hope can happen is for Dean and Aaron to vote for Jack while everyone else votes for Dean. Is that possible? Probably not. The first goal is to make sure Angelina is comfortable keeping Jack in the game one more week. Because if she is not, well, let's just say the biggest thing I've learned in this game is you don't want to piss off Angelina. To clarify, I'm not afraid of her
, I just don't want her on my bad side by blindsiding her right now. The biggest obstacle will be making sure Dean doesn't hear about the plan because if it gets out and he or Aaron have an idol, it will be used against us (and by us, I mean probably me).
