tournament Survivor: ATRL Edition (Season 12) | WINNER REVEALED!

[Rotunda]

4 hours ago, fais_2311 said:

First, Rotunda…

 

Great job. I’m so happy for you. I was having so much fun working with you. You helped Baltoro dominated early challenges and played such a huge role in our tribe. But yeah, you were not in my final 3 plan cause you were such a big threat. And majority even think that you were most likely to win. So that’s why I was not bitter at all when you betrayed us but the other five Baltoros, when I met them again, they were quite hurt with your actions in this game. I guess, you were really in their final 3 plan so they felt like your move and betrayal were unnecessary. So my questions for you are

 

1. For each Baltoro jurors (except for me and Marvin), give your reason why it was necessary for you to betray them?

2. During final 8, what made you decide to turn on me and Khalyan and did you expose us (our plan to vote Red Light) to non Baltoros?

3. If Khalyan and I decide to stick with that alliance of 6 with non Baltoros in that final 8 round, were you and non Baltoros were still splitting the vote between Anvarie and BLAD or were you guys already planned to vote Khalyan out prior to our decision to reform Baltoro alliance?

Hi Fais, thank you for your questions. I understand why some of the Baltoro members may feel upset by my actions. Before I dive into your question in more detail, I will say that my general principle was that while I know members of the Baltoro Alliance would have been okay taking me to Final 6/7, I didn't think most of y'all would want me at Final 3, considering the fact that I had been on top of the challenge leaderboard for most of the season, that I was labeled the "winner" at Majority Rules, and that I was already in a leadership role after our time on Baltoro. The only real exception to this is Anvarie, who I knew wanted to play against the best of the best.  I played this entire game thinking about Final 3 combinations, and I knew that Red Light and Acetone was a much more viable F3 combination because they were more passive players. Even the quieter Baltoro players knew how to shake things up when needed. 

 

Now, I will dive into your questions in more detail

 

1. For each Baltoro jurors (except for me and Marvin) give your reason why it was necessary for you to betray them? 

 

A. @Kayseri Mantisi - The simple answer here is that Kayseri was known for having a lot of advantages and people thought Kayersi was scheming. You, I, Fais, and Anvarie all agreed that Kayseri was a bit of a loose cannon to have around, and that voting them out would be a good way to endear ourselves to the other side without necessarily getting rid of a core number. To me, Kayersi and I didn't talk 1-on-1 as much as I did with a lot of other players, so I felt like my chances at making the Final 3 would be better with players that I had more sustained contact with. While we did have some good convos, and were largely friendly before my blindside, I knew that they had the potential to wreak havoc and play a "take no prisoners game".

 

B. @beatinglikeadrum- This was the vote where we went to rocks, so obviously BLAD was not my initial target for this vote - which I told BLAD afterwards. Regardless, I was largely okay with BLAD leaving because I knew that if BLAD stayed longer, there was a good chance that they would find themselves at the end, which could potentially take up a spot from me. I think there are a lot of worlds where BLAD ends up demolishing peoples' games because they were a sought-out player that people wanted to bring deep. 

 

C. @khalyan - The thing about both you and Khalyan is that y'all are both too damn smart. I knew that y'all wouldn't want to take me to the Final 3, and that while y'all may have had me in your short term plans, the goal was to cut me after I was done being a useful shield. I knew that I had to get y'all before y'all got me, and took a risk by going to rocks. Khalyan had to leave because they were well poised to win this game, and you had similarly demonstrated strategic brilliance in the episodes leading up to your boot. Like I said that night that me and Khalyan had our blowup: my goal was not to play for F7-F4, it was to make FTC - and I knew my odds at FTC were better with y'all gone. 

 

D. @Anvarie- Anvarie is such a rootable figure. He was loyal to almost everyone, he slayed challenges, he was an underdog for a portion of the game, and he used the idol to get out one of the biggest competitors this season in Opulent. I knew that Anvarie had a winning story and as much as I really wanted to fulfill my promise to take them to the end, I knew that doing so would risk me losing the game, especially since as you mentioned, a lot of the OG Baltoro members felt burned by me, and may have been okay with voting for the loyal Anvarie instead. 

 

Also, as we've already discussed, I wasn't really around to interact with @Marvin, but I do wish we got the chance to strategize and work together, and I hope you see the value in what I've tried to bring to the table this season. 

[khalyan]

Howdy y’all   I want to start my questions off by saying my mind is not made up yet and a lot of the responses here have left me more confused and not provided the clarity needed. 
 

@Rotunda @Acetone both of you have said my number 1 survivor pet peeve during these final questions.  Something along the lines of “I know I made people mad but I hope they look objectively at my game to vote for me to win.”   I personally believe having good relationships with the jury is a part of playing a good Survivor game, and was a part of the game both of you did not do well at.  Why is this?

 

@Rotundayou can see in Ace’s testimony that he created a plan to get you out (after my conversation about thinking you’re a threat) and I squashed it.  Why was that not enough for you to believe that I wanted to take you really far in this game?

 

@AcetoneWhy did you eventually switch to work with Rotunda, someone who played a better game both socially and in challenges?  You could have continued to work with me, someone you were beating consistently in challenges and that would have lead to you being better set up in the final 3.

 

@Red LightI’ll be honest, I have been planning on voting for you to win UNTIL these interviews and I have felt your answers have been consistently weak compared to the other two.  I was thrown off by saying you played a strong social game - you and I nearly never talked and

the time I reached out to you, you could barely carry the conversation.  What am I missing that made you such a good social player?

[khalyan]

One more for @Rotunda - I felt the most hurt by your switching on me because before Fais’s elimination, you and I messaged and I basically gave you an opportunity to tell me if you were planning on voting me out soon without being mad at you and you completely denied it, yet I was eliminated very quickly after.  I would have respected your game more had you just told me at that time what was about to happen.  Why did you?

[Rotunda]

24 minutes ago, Rotunda said:

2. During final 8, what made you decide to turn on me and Khalyan and did you expose us (our plan to vote Red Light) to non Baltoros?

3. If Khalyan and I decide to stick with that alliance of 6 with non Baltoros in that final 8 round, were you and non Baltoros were still splitting the vote between Anvarie and BLAD or were you guys already planned to vote Khalyan out prior to our decision to reform Baltoro alliance?

Oh I forgot to handle these questions so let me address these here. 

 

2. Yes, I did expose your plan to vote out the non-Baltoros, largely because I thought that Red Light would be a good goat to take to the end, and someone who'd be valuable to keep around. I turned on you all at Final 8 because I realized I was losing leverage with you all as a group, and that you and Khalyan seemed to be more united in your decision-making process. Beyond that, I simply saw the writing on the wall. I knew that y'all were intelligent players and that eventually you would come for me, and I noticed some languaged being used by Khalyan that made me worry that they were going to come after me and other threats, which was later backed up by members of the Non-Baltoro Allaince. 

 

3. No, I wouldn't have turned on you all that round if we were on the same page for the vote. Do I think we would have made Final 3 together? No, but I would have been willling to delay "striking first" especially since I had an idol to protect me. 

[Rotunda]

8 minutes ago, khalyan said:

@Rotunda @Acetone both of you have said my number 1 survivor pet peeve during these final questions.  Something along the lines of “I know I made people mad but I hope they look objectively at my game to vote for me to win.”   I personally believe having good relationships with the jury is a part of playing a good Survivor game, and was a part of the game both of you did not do well at.  Why is this?

 

To address this first portion, I honestly think there was a lot of merit to my social game. I was voted for various accolades during Majority Rules, including: Funniest, Most Trustworthy, Most Likely To Win, and Tightest Pair. You don't get those accolades if you don't have a good social game. Similarly, I was part of the majority voting bloc for every round, and I'm the only person that can say that this season - that is a testament to having a good social game.

 

I do think you're correct that my decision to blindside people probably burned bridges and made folks upset with me, and that could cost me some votes, but I also think that because so many of the people I worked with this season also turned on people at some point (you, Fais, Anvarie particularly), I felt like people would understand that my goal was to do what I had to do to make the end despite being labeeld a huge threat. If you all are upset with me I totally accept that and will not hold any ill-will towards you all in your voting behaviors, but I feel as though almost everyone this season did what they had to do to survive, and that while I did more blindsides, my gameplay isn't worlds apart from the gamplay of other contestants this season. 

 

Aside from that, in this comment you have argued that Acetone and Red Light played weaker social games than me, (and the receipts show they were behind me strategically and in challenges as well), so even though I think you're correct that I burned more bridges than I should have, I still think I have a better social game and holistic game than the people sitting here with me. 

13 minutes ago, khalyan said:

you can see in Ace’s testimony that he created a plan to get you out (after my conversation about thinking you’re a threat) and I squashed it.  Why was that not enough for you to believe that I wanted to take you really far in this game?

Because in my eyes, you were the winner. I was literally in my confessional repeatedly saying that you were the best positioned player to win this game, and I knew that even if you wanted to take me really far, I didn't think that applied to Final 3. And my viewpoint was always: "I need to be creating Final 3 plans, not Final 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 plans." I chose to stick by the people I knew I had the strongest case against at the end, and who I knew were going to be less skilled at pulling off challenge wins or blindsides to take me out. Just like with Anvarie, it was my deep understanding that y'all were being well received that made me realized I had to get y'all before you got me. You even admitted during the live challenge/tribal that even though you wanted to take me deep, Final 3 was not your intention, and the same goes for Fais. 

 

12 minutes ago, khalyan said:

One more for @Rotunda - I felt the most hurt by your switching on me because before Fais’s elimination, you and I messaged and I basically gave you an opportunity to tell me if you were planning on voting me out soon without being mad at you and you completely denied it, yet I was eliminated very quickly after.  I would have respected your game more had you just told me at that time what was about to happen.  Why did you?

 

I'm trying to locate this conversation, but i can't seem to recall it. If this was before the Fais2311 boot, from my recollection I recall that I was worried about someone playing an idol and it backfiring on me, since I had already jumped ship at this point. I felt like if I telegraphed my moves to you, it could result in me getting idol'd out or advantage'd out in some way. My theorization was partially correct because you did have an idol that you played during the Fais2311 boot, and while it wasn't real/played on the right person, it could have really shook the game up if it was. I understand if you have issues with me based on what I did, but I was honestly just scared of being blindsided. 

[Rotunda]

7 hours ago, VenusFlyTrap said:

Hey!! Reading through everything I am super happy to get an insight into all of your games!!! All 3 of you said you played a good social game so I'd like to put that to the test. Can you name 1 thing you learned about each juror?

Edit: in case it wasnt specific i just mean something that could be vague or more specific. even anything like i learned that venus has a dog or something works i just wanna see how well you know the jurors!

Hi Venus, so I'm going to try to answer your question as coherently as I can, without giving you the run around. I'm a full time student and work two jobs, so let me preface this by saying that most of my conversations with people dealt with substantive game issues rather than small talk just cause of how busy I am. I worked with every juror this season in a formal alliance except for you, Golden Hour, and Ampersand. My social game was all about being workable and having various different people interact with me, this is part of the reason why I was voted Funniest, Most Loyal, and part of the two tightest alliances during Majority Rules.  It's also part of the reason why I'm the only contestant this season to be in the majority voting bloc for every tribal.  Even when I wasn't having 1-on-1 conversations, I put in work to make sure that I was making a good impression on people. With that said, here are things I know about everyone: 

 

Marvin: I found out that Marvin was a returning player, which was a shared connection I was originally unaware of. We used that understanding to emphasize how we wanted to make sure Baltoro took a united front to handling challenges. 

 

Golden Hour: Golden Hour is a drag race fan like me. We both hate the talent show challenges because they're repetitive and uninspired. 

 

You: I know that you're from Toronto and used to play basketball (like I did). You have one sister, and I know you used to accidentally crash the facetime calls that she had with her bf. I also know that you came out to your sister first, and that your mom yelled at you for dragging Shawn Mendes. I also know that you love salmon. 

 

Samsom: They're from Chile. They consumed viagra one day and weren't sure if they had COVID or Viagra Side Effects. Eventually found out it was covid, so I checked in a few times to make sure they were okay. Interestingly enough, I have COVID right now. 

 

Ampersand13: We didn't really talk one-on-one but I know they're a big pokemon fan

 

Kayseri Mantisi: They're in their first year of college

 

BLAD: They like donuts with cherry jam. They don't use spotify so I helped find their song links for them so they could send them in the Decades round. 

 

Fais2311: They used to be a teacher at a private school and they operate a kpop music/merchandise store. I used to be an elementary school educator so that was something nice we had in common. They also try to figure out what people's wordle first guesses were based on the grid. 

 

Khalyan: Khalyan recently went to the Dua Lipa concert, and I believe is going to the Chromatica Ball. We both have seen Australian Survivor. Khalyan's mom like Kacey Musgraves. 

 

Opulent: They were worried about keeping their grades up so they could get an important internship 

 

Anvarie: I literally follow them on twitter and they're a mess. They like bagels, which is weirdo behavior because I hate bagels. 

[Auburn]

[Rotunda]

6 hours ago, Acetone said:

I think I'm right up there with the biggest threats of the season (a).

 

I did not have as much freedom as you in maneuvering though, and I worked with what I had to work with. I did what I had to to ensure I made it through round after round while also steering the target away from my closest allies, Opulent and Red Light. At one point it was 3 vs. 6, yet the three of me, Opulent, and Red light still made it to the final 5, and would have made it even farther if Anvarie didn't play an idol (b).

 

I did not see a path forward with any of Anvarie, BLAD, Kayseri, and to an extent fais - they were all more loyal to OG Baltoro and it would be a death sentence for me to take you out and be left in the game still in the minority with them in the majority. I did not actively target Opulent because it did not make sense for me to target Opulent. Opulent was my ride or die, and with his back to back challenge wins in the late game, I knew he would be a shield for me. But I think I'm at least at the same level of a threat as Opulent (c). i would say I am just as strategic, and more social than Opulent. I don't think Anvarie was much of a threat besides doing well in challenges but there is way more to the game than that. It seemed like Anvarie was just comfortable sticking with the OG Baltoros and not really trying to make other alliances and I wouldn't be impressed by that if I was on the jury. I went with Opulent and Red Light because we needed each other so much that it was very unlikely for either of them to flip on me. I went with you since you were in the process of burning bridges with pretty much all of the Baltoros on the jury. I don't think I was passive as I was always actively strategizing and contributing to the discussion in alliances. Rather than passive, I would say  I was opportunistic, as I read the room and exploited cracks where I could to advance in the game, positioning myself to be insulated so that others were targeted before me (d). 

 

I actually did try to take you out btw, but it fell through when other players didn't bite - after khalyan came to me and said we should get you out, I came up with a plan and shared it with khalyan and Red Light. The plan was for me, khalyan, Red Light, and Opulent to vote for you, while everyone else would think another plan is going on and be splitting votes on other people, and we would have been able to get away with it with only four votes. Khalyan didn't seem too thrilled about my plan and was plotting to vote out Red Light that same round. I backed off the plan when it didn't seem to me like khalyan wanted to do it, and then right around the same time we found out khalyan/Anvarie/BLAD/fais were voting for Red Light, so I just flipped with Opulent/you/Red Light instead. My flexibility worked and helped me to make it to the final three (e).

 

If that's the case, it is also a miscalculation on your part to overlook me. I knew you were picking my brain to see if I was a threat to you at FTC and I answered you accordingly to make you feel like you could go with me (f).

 

Yes, it is presumptive, but I scored a perfect 10, while Marvin scored just shy of a perfect 10. There is a good chance that he would have won over someone else. Just because the scoreboard has a high rank, doesn't mean they would do well in that given instance (g). 

 

It is not ridiculous that I threw challenges, by the end of round 9 I had already won 7 challenges. I heard talks of other players mentioning challenge prowess as a reason to target people throughout the entire game, and people were making comments to me like "congratulations again." My challenge wins were definitely getting noticed. I knew if I kept up that momentum, I would soon be targeted for it too. I knew people were at least being noticed for being challenge threats, so I let others make targets of themselves which would help to insulate me further. It worked, as Opulent went on an immunity streak and was the one targeted out of the non-Baltoros because of it. It was known that Baltoro players wanted Opulent out "as soon as he didn't win immunity." (h) 

 

 

 

 

A- You quite literally were not, and the other players have indicated as much. Khalyan said explicitly that Opulent was the one to win during the live tribal. Majority Rules explicitly listed me as the biggest threat to win. Red Light said that I was the one to win. You wanted to sit next to Opulent at the end despite being told he was overall a larger threat. That is a flaw in your game. 

 

B-  Again, this is revisionist history. You didn't have to do much to survive until the degradation of Baltoro, because you legitimately weren't even on the radar for us. You're framing this as if you played some scrappy underdog game, when really from the early merge Khalyan, Fais, and I knew we were going to jump shift after cutting a few of the Non-Baltoros, which we did. 

 

C- Again, the fact that your ride or die was considered to be a bigger threat than you indicates a flaw in your game. A shield, by definition, is not someone who you bring to Final 3. It's someone who you use to cover your back until they're no longer useful and then you cut them. If you bring a shied to the Final 3, the shield wins. 

 

D- You keep saying that you exploited cracks. "To exploit" is a verb and assumes that you engaged in an active process. Again, there were minimal cracks for you to exploit because the core of OG Baltoro already decided that we didn't want to simply go to the end with all Baltoro. You have yet to outline a moment of strategic mastermind-level thinking that can't be attributed to other players than actually materialized in this game. In contrast, I told Anvarie we were going to get Opulent out at F5, I made the decision to leak khalyan/fais's plan to you so that we could go to rocks and y'all could stand a chance in this game. By your own admission, your game ends early merge without my labor, and it's not because you were scrappy and exploited me or anyone else. It's because I from the jump decided that I was going to play a cutthroat game in the post-merge and break up the monotony of one tribe dominating, so that I could prove that I could control the game no matter which alliance I was in. 

 

E- Exactly you failed to execute a plan to get me out despite the fact that I was already the biggest threat. This isn't new information that you thought of getting me out; most players should have thought of it. The issue is that you lacked the social capital to execute your plans, which is why while I am sitting in the very Final 3 I wanted, you are sitting here with me instead of Opulent (who again, was a bigger threat). In contrast, anyone who I tried to send home got sent home, period, full stop. 

 

F- I've said this already 3 times but my goal was never to pick your brain in order to decide whether to keep your or not. It was solely to see what was going to be in your opening statement. My decision to cut Anvarie had everything to do with my convos with Anvarie, and nothing to do with whatever mind tricks you think you played on me. Similarly, based on the jury questions so far, it appears that I didn't miscalculate, because many of them have highlighted how much of a threat I was 

 

G/H- I scored a perfect ten too, it's presumptive and borderline condescending to frame yourself as this challenge beast that nobody could match up to when almost a third of the cast overperformed you during the season. This notion that you were basically top dog whenever you decided to not throw challenges is confusing especially when the season record shows that several of us were able to actually show our true challenge strength and still slay the season. 

[Rotunda]

5 hours ago, Acetone said:

Again, yes I did try to get you out, and again, taking out Opulent does not make sense for me. I wouldn't consider myself a floater in the negative connotation that you say it in, but floating is actually a valid and respectable strategy. I know it is from a different show, but two words: Jun Song. I love Rachel Reilly but she changed the definition of floater to someone she just doesn't like regardless of their gameplay, and others followed suit. I think you are using it similarly. Not to say that you dislike me, but you are just using it to smear my game to look better at FTC.

 

Yes, everyone had to go to the glacier, but what people did at the glacier had an impact on the game. For instance, I knew that an advantage was up for grabs at the glacier that gave the holder an extra vote. Kayseri was at the glacier the same time as me both times I went, and both times he was 100% dead set on risking his vote. I risked my vote the second time in the off chance that he was bluffing, to potentially gain an advantage for myself and also keep him from getting an advantage. There was absolutely strategy involved with the glacier and its weird that you seem to think otherwise.

 

It was still information that you had an idol and knew it was real, so we couldn't vote for you that round. That information was useful because we knew that you had an idol, and that you were going to play it since it was the last round you could use it. That is why we voted Anvarie that round and did not attempt to vote you.

Taking out Opulent makes sense for you because Opulent was considered by several players to be the stronger competitor, which was already indicated to you earlier in the season. And once again, the fact that you tried to get me out but couldn't put together a legitimate effort indicates that your social capital was weaker than mine, because I made sure that every person I wanted out left. 

 

This Glacier argument is borderline absurd. "I had to make a strategic decision at the Glacier" is not an argument because literally everyone had to. Everyone made a strategic decision because the very underlying premise of the Glacier. This notion that you have to spin whatever decision you made as an example of higher level strategy is ludicrous because again, this was not a unique feature to your game or even half of the players' games. The fact that you lost your vote is not a good thing, nor is the fact that you had to navigate the ramifications of a choice you made with full awareness of what would happen. We all made the same choices every round. 

 

The fact that the idol had to be played that round is the very reason why the information wasn't useful. Y'all were fucked either way that round, and I was never going to give up a spot at the Final 4 and play the idol on someone else, especially with a puzzle challenge coming up. 

 

[Rotunda]

5 hours ago, Acetone said:

Yes exactly, you were the cracks. I was able to get farther working with members of the OG Baltoro tribe who flipped on other members of the OG Baltoro tribe. That is what exploiting the cracks is. Just because you were the cracks doesn't negate that it was in fact exploiting the cracks. And it was further exploiting cracks when you and khalyan were flipping on each other, and when you flipped on the rest of the Baltoros. Your intent to flip does not negate that I exploited the cracks. Also, I discussed with you and khalyan both before I went missing about working together and getting an alliance formed with "level headed" players, so don't act like everything happened while I was gone and I just magically showed up to cash in. I was active and strategizing before and after the fact. (A) 

 

That is just one of the prime examples. In total, I won immunity in rounds 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, and 10. You are fluffing up Opulent and Anvarie's games in an attempt to nullify my credibility. No offense to them, but I was a big threat too. I already replied in my other comment, but throwing challenges was perfectly valid and made my threat level smaller. Just because you say so doesn't make that absolute truth. I'm not saying that it is some big accomplishment to have a lower score, once again my words are being twisted. I'm just saying I was on a roll from rounds 4 through 10, only missing out on immunity in round 6 but other than that consecutively. I realized that was probably not sustainable, so I pumped the brakes a bit. There was active discussion from the beginning of the game about challenge threats. Throwing competitions is absolutely a valid strategy as you know from watching the actual show. (B)

 

That is Red Light's word, not mine. Saying he confirmed it does not make it fact, but I do acknowledge that you were seen as a threat in this game, as was I. Again, I believe that I was on at least an equal level to Opulent, and it would not make sense for me to target Opulent, as it would not make sense for Opulent to target me. We needed each other in the game. I think the power players in the merge phase were mainly khalyan, Opulent, me, and you. And I did make a push to get you out as detailed in my previous comment. I played just as much of a role as you in flipping on khalyan, so I don't think your statement about that is valid. (C)

 

I said you faced less adversity because you had way more options. You could go back to the OG Baltoro alliance at any time (at least prior to the rock draw, and you did go back with Anvarie after that and then betrayed them again) and you could also use the outsiders. You could pretty much take your pick of who to work with with the entire merge cast, while I was limited to basically Red Light/Opulent/you/khalyan. I tried reaching out numerous times to the OG Baltoro members that I was not close to, but they did not give me much material to work with as they seemed set on just sticking with their current alliance. While you played a big part of flipping the game, you cannot take all the credit. Yes, you flipped away from your starting tribe, but we all participated. Its not like we sat around twiddling our thumbs until you valiantly came along and ordered us what to do. I was just as much a part of the rock draw as you. For me, options were way more limited and I scraped by each round with opulent and Red Light, without shots being taken at me (besides that one stray vote from Anvarie who was left out of the plan). I think that is an accomplishment. I had to have good instincts and know which opportunities to take and which ones would not play out well for me (D) 

 

Good for you for supposedly never intending to work solely with the Baltoros. I still consider what I did exploiting the cracks in the majority, regardless of your supposed intentions. I know I wasn't a consideration to be voted out because I had a great relationship with khalyan at that point who was also at the top of the food chain on OG Baltoro and khalyan has said himself that he steered the target away from me. I was also building a good relationship with you and I had my social game cast wide. I constantly reached out to others I wasn't close with in attempt to build more bunds and make everyone feel comfortable with me. As I said before, I positioned myself in a way that I was covered. While I was in the minority, I sure as hell did rally the rest of the players in the minority and played from the bottom.  (E) 

 

A- Simply repeating something doesn't make it true. You were scooped into a majority alliance that formed because the Baltoro players knew we weren't going to advance as one cohesive group. The connotation around exploit makes it seem as though you planted the seeds to manipulate our decisionmaking processes when in actually the full intent of all of us was to simply align with the Non-Baltoros we didn't feel the need to target after the first few tribals. Did you talk to us? Yes, that's the foundation for every alliance. But I don't consider you a major strategic force this season, especilaly considering the lack of specifics you've been able to isolate surrounding post-merge moves you spearheaded that changed the direction of the game. 

 

B- I'll let the other players weigh in on whether or not they were enamored by your challenge prowess, but personally I always saw the challenge competitors as me, Anvarie, and Opulent, and I felt like you failed to make important strides in winning post-merge immunities after the first couple of rounds. Beyond that, using pre-merge immunities as "wins" is a bit misleading because those are relative to your tribe vs. a holistic look at who did the best overall. The simple fact is that I spent the bulk of the season on top of the leaderboard, and claimed 4 post-merge individual immunities, slayed the premerge challenges, and directly worked to make sure that Baltoro score averages always trumped the other two tribes. The fact that you were sometimes the best competitor on the less competitive tribes does not hold the same weight, which is why I prefer to look at the overall leaderboard. 

 

C- Again your failure to get me out highlights that you didn't have the social capital or strategic power to get rid of me despite the fact that I was already framed as one of the biggest threats. 

 

D- no, we were not equal players on the khalyan flip. I could have easily decided to just cut you all off and side with Khalyan/Fais. I was the one who explained to y'all that Red Light was in danger, it was me who put their majority on their line to ensure that you and Red Light even made into F6. You had no other options at this point because you knew it was the only way to secure your majority. I was the one taking the much bigger risk and I was the one who made it possible. Yes everyone votes, but the F8 rock draw was totally predicated on someone flipping and that was ME. Either way, this notion that I didn't have to overcome adversity is annoying because it makes it sound like I just fell into some privileged position in this game and reaped the spoils. I was the main person on OG Baltoro helping everyone send songs so that we could have a majority going into the merge. That was hard word. Period. I found the advantages and tools that I needed so that I could deploy them in case I was ever in danger. I shouldn't be attacked for being a good enough social player to where I could flip people or flip between sides, hell I flipped Samsom to my side even before the merge started. I took every opportunity to make my game better, and if you or Red Light were as good social players as you say, y'all should have been able to navigate different alliances the same way I did and been able to play with as much flexibility as I did. Playing the game right isn't a negative, and being an underdog isn't necessarily a positive. It may make for a better narrative, but it doesn't mean you played the better game. 

 

E- I'm not going to pretend like you didn't make connections with Khalyan and other players, but quite literally the bar was very low considering how little social interaction was happening on the merge tribe. This notion that you were in a perilous position and pulled off something impossible by "exploiting" situations and navigating the game in shocking ways is just an opinion contrary to fact. 

[Red Light]

NOT RL ******* ME OVER BY LEAVING OUT PARAGRAPHS FROM MY ANSWERS 

 

I already knew I was going to get the questions I got from Anvarie and Khalyan (and the others who I intentionally avoided DMing) and had explained (or started to) but it didn't show up. I'll copy and paste again I guess:

 

Quote

Also, if there was anything that really threw a wrench in my game besides sucking ass at challenges, it was the fact that players could publicly rant after they got voted out and put a big fat target on whoever lied to them. When I realized it worked like that, it was like the giant castle of my potential/imagined game totally collapsed, and I had to rebuild with rocks and twigs. It made any elimination infinitely more complicated. For instance, in the round that I played my idol, the original plan was a 3-2-1 vote (technically it was), but the player we were eliminating thought I was close to them, so I was supposed to intentionally be part of the 2 instead of the 3—that way, if they called me out, I could say I didn’t vote for them. I was always looking for little loopholes to come out of the votes unscathed.

 

It hurt my game in a much more profound way by limiting my bonding with new allies. Coming into the game, I figured that if I made the merge, I could work on fostering a unique personal connection with each and every one of the players. Once I saw how people reacted to getting voted out, I started to think that that would actually kill my game rather than boost it, because it would just amplify the level of hurt and betrayal they could feel upon being voted out. So there were players I wanted to reach out and get closer to, but I barely spoke to them, because I didn’t want them to feel even more betrayed if I voted them out.

Basically, I would have ideally been able to find a perfect balance between forging bonds with people but not getting too close to them that they hated me for lying to them, but so many of the reactions to the people that I'd had a hand in eliminating up to that point had been so negative (or maybe I was just more sensitive to it and it felt more negative) that it scared me off. Also, for me to be at the bottom, and suddenly start DMing people wanting to be BFF's, that just seemed too transparent. One of my downfalls was that I was always trying to think of natural ways to start a DM conversation with people, where it wouldn't come off so much like scrambling, instead of just biting the bullet and talking to them. And yeah I was extremely dumb for that. 

 

I'll answer more later but I just had to get that one out of the way now because it should have already been in the interview. 

[rl231]

16 minutes ago, Red Light said:

NOT RL ******* ME OVER BY LEAVING OUT PARAGRAPHS FROM MY ANSWERS 

 

which ones? let me fix and point to the right ones

[Harmonizer]

Doing a CTRL + F on each page and typing my name to see if anyone mentioned me

[CBC]

33 minutes ago, Red Light said:

NOT RL ******* ME OVER BY LEAVING OUT PARAGRAPHS FROM MY ANSWERS 

Chile not the producers rigging it 

[khalyan]

@Red LightRereading your interview, you mention that I was too unpredictable to trust because as soon as we made an alliance, I was trying to get out Rotunda.  This does not match up with the timeline or the facts of what happened, so I am trying to understand where this came from?  

[khalyan]

@Acetoneit seems apparent that you fabricated a lot of lies in order to advance yourself in this game.  Which is a valid strategy!  But why are you not owning up to those lies and are proud of what you accomplished?  

[Anvarie]

All 3 finalists explain in your own words why you should NOT win. additionally if you could not vote for yourself to win, of the final3, who would you vote for?

[VenusFlyTrap]

6 hours ago, Rotunda said:

Hi Venus, so I'm going to try to answer your question as coherently as I can, without giving you the run around. I'm a full time student and work two jobs, so let me preface this by saying that most of my conversations with people dealt with substantive game issues rather than small talk just cause of how busy I am. I worked with every juror this season in a formal alliance except for you, Golden Hour, and Ampersand. My social game was all about being workable and having various different people interact with me, this is part of the reason why I was voted Funniest, Most Loyal, and part of the two tightest alliances during Majority Rules.  It's also part of the reason why I'm the only contestant this season to be in the majority voting bloc for every tribal.  Even when I wasn't having 1-on-1 conversations, I put in work to make sure that I was making a good impression on people. With that said, here are things I know about everyone: 

 

Marvin: I found out that Marvin was a returning player, which was a shared connection I was originally unaware of. We used that understanding to emphasize how we wanted to make sure Baltoro took a united front to handling challenges. 

 

Golden Hour: Golden Hour is a drag race fan like me. We both hate the talent show challenges because they're repetitive and uninspired. 

 

You: I know that you're from Toronto and used to play basketball (like I did). You have one sister, and I know you used to accidentally crash the facetime calls that she had with her bf. I also know that you came out to your sister first, and that your mom yelled at you for dragging Shawn Mendes. I also know that you love salmon. 

 

Samsom: They're from Chile. They consumed viagra one day and weren't sure if they had COVID or Viagra Side Effects. Eventually found out it was covid, so I checked in a few times to make sure they were okay. Interestingly enough, I have COVID right now. 

 

Ampersand13: We didn't really talk one-on-one but I know they're a big pokemon fan

 

Kayseri Mantisi: They're in their first year of college

 

BLAD: They like donuts with cherry jam. They don't use spotify so I helped find their song links for them so they could send them in the Decades round. 

 

Fais2311: They used to be a teacher at a private school and they operate a kpop music/merchandise store. I used to be an elementary school educator so that was something nice we had in common. They also try to figure out what people's wordle first guesses were based on the grid. 

 

Khalyan: Khalyan recently went to the Dua Lipa concert, and I believe is going to the Chromatica Ball. We both have seen Australian Survivor. Khalyan's mom like Kacey Musgraves. 

 

Opulent: They were worried about keeping their grades up so they could get an important internship 

 

Anvarie: I literally follow them on twitter and they're a mess. They like bagels, which is weirdo behavior because I hate bagels. 

Thank you so much for the response!! To all the jurors im still reading through everything but nobody count yourself out yet!! you all got this <3

[Opulent]

First of all, congrats to the final 3! You guys clearly put your heart and soul into this game, and you deserve to be here. No matter who wins, you should all be proud of making it to the very end, y'all did amazing. 


As for questions, I only have one individual one

1. @Rotunda Just out of curiosity, were you always planning on turning on me at 5, or did what went down during the live round influence your decision?

And then a question for the 3 of you: 

2. If you were able to go back in time, is there anything you would do differently? Ie. votes, alliances, power plays, lies, etc. @Acetone@Rotunda@Red Light

Edited March 25, 2022 by Opulent

[Rotunda]

5 hours ago, Anvarie said:

All 3 finalists explain in your own words why you should NOT win. additionally if you could not vote for yourself to win, of the final3, who would you vote for?

I think one issue with my game is that I focused a lot more on playing to the audience than making the common sense decision. I was so focused on keeping the game dynamic and entertaining that I ended up taking a lot of arguably unnecessary risks (fighting with Kayseri/Khalyan, going to rocks when I wasn’t gonna be a target and had an idol, flipping on Baltoro when I wasn’t going to be an immediate target). While I’ve justified some of these decisions elsewhere in this thread from a gameplay perspective, I do think that a lot of you are right in that I could have found a way to make the end without being as messy and without burning as many people. I do think it’s valid if you all elect to vote for someone who was less wild in their gameplay. 

 

 

Honestly, my vote probably goes to Acetone if I couldn’t vote for myself. Acetone and I had a lot of good convos during our time in the game, and I do think that after Me/Opulent/Anvarie/Khalyan, they’d be next on the list in terms of how much impact they had on the season. Imo, they played a solidly well-rounded game that has genuine merit. 

[Rotunda]

20 minutes ago, Opulent said:

1. @Rotunda Just out of curiosity, were you always planning on turning on me at 5, or did what went down during the live round influence your decision?

And then a question for the 3 of you: 

2. If you were able to go back in time, is there anything you would do differently? Ie. votes, alliances, power plays, lies, etc.

My plan was to always keep you as a shield until Final 5, then cut you so that I would be the Final 4 player who was most likely to win the final immunity. Obviously puzzles are in my wheelhouse, but I know you slayed so many challenges and were such a threat to win this game that I didn’t want to leave things up to chance. While I loved working with you, I felt like it was clear that there were minimal scenarios where it made sense for to sit next to each other at the end, and that one of us would likely have to miss FTC. 
 

If I could change one thing I would probably have tried to control my emotions better during my spat with Khalyan. I think I took a lot of comments personally and lashed out unnecessarily, instead of recognizing how so much of what Khalyan was saying made sense based on their game philosophy. While I don’t think it would have changed the outcome of the vote itself, I think it would have saved me from risking turning off an important juror. 

[Rotunda]

Also I’m really sorry if my response aren’t wholly coherent, I’m battling covid and my brain basically feels like it’s trying to break out of my head. If anything I said doesn’t make sense or needs to be worded better please don’t hesitate to @ me. The same applies for if I didn’t answer a question thoroughly enough. 

[Red Light]

On 3/24/2022 at 12:20 AM, VenusFlyTrap said:

Hey!! Reading through everything I am super happy to get an insight into all of your games!!! All 3 of you said you played a good social game so I'd like to put that to the test. Can you name 1 thing you learned about each juror?

Edit: in case it wasnt specific i just mean something that could be vague or more specific. even anything like i learned that venus has a dog or something works i just wanna see how well you know the jurors!

Unfortunately I cannot. By the time it got to the jury phase it had already reached the point that I was afraid to get too close to people, for fear of 1.) hurting people more than I already would if our relationships stayed impersonal, and 2.) being called out as a snake when I was still trying to stay "undercover." This may have all been worth it if I'd been able to have the heel turn near the end that I always planned on, but I screwed that up too. 

On 3/24/2022 at 3:09 AM, fais_2311 said:

 

 

Red Light and Acetone,

 

Great job to you guys too. I think you guys did amazing. From 6-3 disadvantages, you guys made it to the final 3. During our group chat with Khalyan, I was being open to you guys, that if Rotunda is in final 3, I will vote for him. And I do believe that, it was our best shot to blindside him at final 7. So right now, I’m leaning towards Rotunda but you guys still can sway my vote. Therefore, my questions to both of you are

 

1. Did you expose our plan (to blindside Rotunda) and group chat to Rotunda? Yes, I was literally going back and forth between both group chats, snitching on everything y'all were saying. I was in a great position at that point, cushioned between two sides (I had a weird talent for that), and I absolutely should have gone with you and Khalyan. 

2. Why did you feel that Rotunda was a better option for you guys to move forward in the game than me and Khalyan? I didn't necessarily feel that either option was good. If we voted Rotunda out, I didn't believe that you and Khalyan wouldn't flip right back and vote me out in the very next round. It felt more to me like I was being used for one vote. I also think I didn't really have very good perspective of just how close to the end we were--the game was moving so slow for me at that point that it felt as though we had more rounds for Rotunda to lose immunity than we actually did. I honestly think by this point, the stress and fatigue had started impeding my mental process to some extent (which isn't an excuse at all, I'm just explaining wtf I was thinking).

3. What is exactly your plan for Rotunda? Final 6? 5? 4? or you actually wanted him in the final 3 with you? Hell no I didn't want him in the final 3 with me. I wanted him out at 6 but he won immunity. Once it got to final 5 was when it finally dawned on me that there were literally only two rounds left (and that he most likely had an idol for 5 anyway), and we'd left the two strongest challenge competitors in the game with us. Stupid stupid stupid.

4. As for the final 6 alliance between 3 Baltoros and 3 non Baltoros, was it real to you? Do you actually wanted to go to the final 6 with us 3 (Rotunda, Khalyan and I) or is there any secret plan that we didn’t know? I honestly can't remember what I wanted by that point because everything became kind of a blur. I think, when we first made that alliance, I wanted to target Rotunda at like 7? But Rotunda was the only one I didn't want in the alliance up until I heard Khalyan was also targeting Rotunda, which scared me.

 

That’s all from me. Good luck to you guys. Amazing job. Love ? 

 

19 hours ago, khalyan said:

@Red LightRereading your interview, you mention that I was too unpredictable to trust because as soon as we made an alliance, I was trying to get out Rotunda.  This does not match up with the timeline or the facts of what happened, so I am trying to understand where this came from?  

So, March 1st we did the Kayseri blindside. Then March 8th, the day before the next vote, Acetone tells me about you wanting to vote out Rotunda. So no, it wasn't like the day after. My point was that the alliance wasn't even holding together for more than one vote (and looking back on that, if my memory is correct and I wanted him out at 7, then I don't know why it bothered me). If we'd had a better relationship (which was absolutely my fault and I don't deny it for a second), I think that whole mess may have been avoided.

 

Also, I want to say that there are different kinds of social game. When I said I had a good one, I wasn't really talking about getting to know everybody on the jury and getting everybody to love me. A more accurate term may be something like image-maintenance. I came in with an image that I wanted to project that I thought would make me more likable and less threatening. I knew the right things to say at the right time to the right players, I kept myself out of drama, and I knew how to get people to trust me (when I actually tried). One of the problems was that I zeroed in on who I observed to be the biggest players and worked on gaining their trust, as my plan was to overthrow them once I'd sufficiently weaseled my way in. This, as we know, never panned out. I failed in my ultimate goal; there's not really a way to make that sound pretty. So maybe I had the kind of social game that slides you to the end, but not the kind that wins. I take full responsibility for that.

 

I let Rotunda run away with the game because, what ever my logic may have been at the time, I just didn't try hard enough to connect with you--or a lot of the jury, for that matter. The more I reflect on the final 7 situation in particular, the more I realize how much I squandered it.

16 hours ago, Anvarie said:

All 3 finalists explain in your own words why you should NOT win. additionally if you could not vote for yourself to win, of the final3, who would you vote for?

I think all the answers I've given in this post pretty much sums up the reasons for me not to win lmao. And I would vote for Rotunda.

11 hours ago, Opulent said:

2. If you were able to go back in time, is there anything you would do differently? Ie. votes, alliances, power plays, lies, etc. @Acetone@Rotunda@Red Light

This is another one that I think my answers above already covered.

[Acetone]

It's been a while...
I know I shouldn't have kept you waiting...
But I'm here now

 

Alexa, play Break The Ice by Britney Spears

 

 

[Acetone]

On 3/24/2022 at 12:20 AM, VenusFlyTrap said:

Hey!! Reading through everything I am super happy to get an insight into all of your games!!! All 3 of you said you played a good social game so I'd like to put that to the test. Can you name 1 thing you learned about each juror?

Edit: in case it wasnt specific i just mean something that could be vague or more specific. even anything like i learned that venus has a dog or something works i just wanna see how well you know the jurors!

 

Hey Venus!!! I missed you and I can't wait to catch up after the game.

 

In chronological order:

 

Marvin - I wish I got to interact more with you but I'm glad we got to talk at the start of the game and when we were merging. I learned you played the game previously, and you've never seen Euphoria. You are truly kind, as you gave me advice on the challenge in the round we were pitted against each other in. I genuinely really liked your vibe and wasn't expecting you to go out so soon. I really wanted to work with you but we unfortunately never got the chance to.

 

Golden Hour - I really enjoyed working with you! I learned you are a rockstar, as you went and saw three concerts (Halsey, Gwen, and Miley) back to back! You also like some sugar free frozen yogurt courtesy of the Bigg Chill. I'm sad that you were blindsided like that, I really thought we had it that round!!!

 

Venus (You) - You have TASTE loving Courtney and Sandra. I'd like to think you are the Courtney to my Sandra! I love your sense of humor and I feel like we bonded on a level that went further than the game. I learned you like to ski, and you have a great taste in music (DEALER). You were a real ally and you always looked out for me and not just you which I really appreciate.

 

Samsom - You were really fun to talk to. You told me that your earliest memory of ATRL was lurking during the Ke$ha Warrior era, you love winter, you love your nights out, the only chicken you like is chicken nuggets, and you love Charli. I can't wait for us to host a joint dinner party where we get baked! I cook, you clean 

 

Ampersand - I enjoyed getting to know you and learned you are a musician! You also like Euphoria and Avril. I am sorry to have turned my back on you like that but I felt it was a good opportunity for me to advance in the game.

 

Kayseri - You are from Turkey! I learned that you are really headstrong, and that you lost your vote when we both risked our votes for the same advantage. It is really funny looking back but it was bad luck that we went to the glacier together both times!!!

 

beatinglikeadrum - I know you enjoy anime and Real Housewives, and your favorite dessert is a donut with cherry filling, and you are also partial to rose jam. I really enjoyed working with you on the swapped Punani tribe!

 

fais - You are from Malaysia, I know you like kpop and shows like Big Brother (stan Vanessa and Elissa!) I also know some Survivor players you like are Parvati, Sandra, and Michele. I'm glad we got to work together after talking a lot about doing so.

 

khalyan - You really were a team player, it was a joy being on a pre-merge tribe with you as you really put in work not only for yourself but for everyone else on the tribe. You really contributed to the challenges and helped others. I learned that Thursdays are your busy days, you like going to drag shows, and Whataburger. You also have taste as a Dua and Chikorita fan.

 

Opulent - I learned that you are in school while also having a job and seem to be super hard working with that. You are a fellow Schitt's Creek fan, stan Moira and Alexis! You were super fun to strategize with, and you were super perceptive!

 

Anvarie - I really enjoyed your sense of humor. You enjoy video games (DBD which I am terrible at lol), crossword puzzles, and drag race. It was great to have someone with an eagerness for the game throughout the season, and looking back I wish we worked together on a game level sooner.