Brad's Answers to Christy

Hey Christy - Let me get straight into things.

I respectfully disagree with your comment that all you saw us do was be loyal to one another.  For me, there is not a lot of truth in that statement.   I did indeed give my word to both Brandon and JP at the beginning of the game, and we had a tenuous Final 3 deal, but frankly, that was never meant to be if I hadn't worked towards it.   Since the merge roughly,  I could tell that Brandon really did want the Final 3 to be himself, myself, and Shambo.   Brandon targetted JP at the Final 5, and they needed my vote to make that plan work.  Unfortunately, that wasn't in my master plan so I couldn't let that plan work.  At the Final 4,  JP voted for Brandon in the first round of voting.  Their loyalty never seemed to be with each other at all.  Their loyalty was both ultimately with me and that is why my game stands above both of theirs.   They both placed themselves in positions where they needed to rely on me, whereas I was never placed in a position where I exclusively needed them.  I wanted the Final 5 to be Jaburu for quite some time, because I knew within Jaburu, I had the power.  If a Tambaqui slipped into the mix, I didn't have as much power because I haven't played Survivor games at FGC with the Tambaqui members as much as someone like JP had.  That gave JP an advantage, and that was not an advantage I wanted anyone to have.

So, onto elaborating upon moves.  I will NOT include the Final 10 move.  While I believe that was the most pivotal moment of the game, I believe that the manipulation of Ryan and possibly other members of Tambaqui was a joint effort that was executed mostly by myself AND JP (neither of us individually) with a bit of help from Shambo.  It was a move that greatly benefitted my game but it was not solely executed by any one person.

I'd say my first move was basically getting exactly what I wanted from the Final 5 to the Final 3.  By allowing the Final 5 to be a situation of entirely Jaburu, my four tribemates gave me the power because I was in 2 Final 3 deals with each side.  By using my social and strategic game,  I was able to get the Final 3 I wanted and manage to keep my loyalty to those that mattered most and make sure I was in no danger whatsoever.  JP could have been in serious danger of going at the Final 5 had I not decided to keep him.  Conversely,  Brandon could have been toast at the Final 4 if I decided not to keep him.  Having all members of Jaburu wanting or expecting me to be in the Final 3 with them allowed me to have free reign to tailor the endgame to get the Final 3 that I desired. 

I'd say the second move that benefitted me was the way I would play both sides on Jaburu.   What I mean is, I let people KNOW that I was in the middle, but because I am confiding in them about deals that they aren't supposed to know about them, it makes them think that I am the most important ally to them.   For example,  shortly after the Ami-Shambo-Brandon-Brad alliance was formed, I confided in Todd and JP about its creation.   I had multiple objectives in doing this.  Firstly, I wanted to ensure that if somehow they did find out, it didn't appear I was double dipping and betraying anyone.  Secondly, if I told them about that deal's existence, they would feel important that I confided in them and they would feel better about being in the loop, thus increasing the level of trust.   Social manuevers like this don't require me to stick to the people that I am confiding in.  In this case, I was true to JP when I told him.  I wasn't as true to Todd.  Sure, I wanted Todd in the Final 4, another thing that nicely managed to work out, but me confiding that in Todd was more of a security mechanism.  You can't give anyone a reason to turn on you, and with being on such a dominant tribe, that was the risk we ran.  You may have suspected this Final 3 from the merge, and you probably weren't the only one, which is why it was VITAL that I made sure that everyone felt included and needed.  I had to cover my bases, and that's something I was doing the whole game.

Thanks for your question!  Good luck with your decision.