SURVIVOR: F.A.N. ISLAND PART 4- TRISTA VS. MGH!!!!

[wwe1993]

*Just to put everything in the right order, I'm gonna repost my statement/questions and delete the old post*

First off, I would like to congratulate both of yous for making it to the final two. As it is known to nearly every one here, us 3 were a strong alliance throughout this game. As such, I won't be taking any cheapshots or verbally attack either of you two.

MGH, even though you didn't take me to the finals, you were still a great partner and a brilliant schemer, two essentials for survivor.
Trista, you were my buddy since the start, you were amazing at every challenge, and unbelievably cunning.
My four questions:
1) (both of you) Why does your opponent not deserve to win?
2) (both of you) Throughout the entire game, if you could change 1 thing, what would it be?
3) Trista: Did you ever try to kick me out of the core alliance?
4) MGH: Why did you choose Trista over me for the final two?

[Shy Guy]

1) (both of you) Why does your opponent not deserve to win?

i think MGH played more a cut-throat game. i at least tried to make friends with everyone i alligned myself with so there would be no hard feelings in the end, and that it is just a game, but i don't think MGH felt like that at all.


2) (both of you) Throughout the entire game, if you could change 1 thing, what would it be?

kicking out madhack as early as we did. it was completely on impulse and probably the quickest decision for a vote that night, because we were going to vote for BB instead. the moment i sent in madhack's name i just deeply regretted it.


3) Trista: Did you ever try to kick me out of the core alliance?

never tried to, but it was definitely talked about to replace you with alex for the core three alliance.

[MGH]

Generally speaking I'm happy with the way I played this go around. There isn't a major move or a blind side I would have taken back, but the one regret I do have is that I fell asleep and missed that Final 5 immunity challenge. It allowed BB, who was a legitimate threat, to hang around and make the game interesting and stressful. It also kept us from having Alex in the Final 4 with us which is something I know both of us really wanted.

I promised you I would explain my reasoning for my choice tonight and I will, Spart. It ties in a bit with your first question which I haven't addressed yet. I always knew I was choosing Trista, just like I always knew she was going to choose me. Yes, that means when we talked about taking each other when we got to Final 3 I wasn't being honest, but you know what? I'm hard pressed to see how anyone can hold that against any of us. All three of us had double sided deals to make sure our spots were secured no matter who won the challenge. It's just how it happens.

You were absolutely right, the three of us were a powerful alliance in this game. It got us to the Final 3, which was the deal you and I always had. But the alliance between Trista and I was forged a year ago. We decided not on Day 1, but about second one that we wanted to go to the end together. It was always the plan. We wanted to finish the job we started back on WC Island in the first game.

And that ties in to why I don't think she deserves your vote over me. You were a smart guy, and you knew the kind of player I was. I know you knew a blind side could have come at some point. With me it was expected, but I know you considered Trista your close pal and confidant from if not the beginning of the game, just after it started. She was always with me. She was deceiving you from moment one. Even as recently as the final immunity challenge she was helping me out, relaying messages you were sending to her and trying to make sure I won. There was serious consideration of taking Alex to the Final 3 at a point. If you want to look at it from this perspective, who actually was honest with you in the game? Who did lie to you and who didn't? We had a deal to get to Final 3, which was forged from the plan I came up with before the merger. I stayed true to my end of the deal. Me, the lying, backstabbing, whatever anyone wants to call me. Your best pal from the old F.A.N. days? Not so much.

[Jazzman]

Are you done Spartan?

[wwe1993]

yup. Thats my four.

[Jazzman]

ok then

*Approaches Final 2*

Hi guys, happy to see the two of you here. But I hope you know that now the power doesn't lie with you, instead the power lies right here with us.

First, to darling black widow Trista. Your venom throughout the game shows your crude tactics and hopefully makes those who played with you realize that maybe you aren't as innocent and salt of the earth as others would make you believe. Sadly I never really got to know you, but from talking to other jury members I feel as if I know you little better.

And now, onto you MGH. You know, I did play with you the entire game and I came fully into this tribal expecting to give you my vote, but now that's been thrown into the balance. The thing that continuly sticks in my craw is you talking about this final 3 group with Trista and SS, full knowing that not only 5 hours into the game, and I have the message to prove it you promised me the final three 5 HOURS IN!

You're right though, soon we'll get over this, but since I was up front and completly honest with you, your rapid dishonesty from the beginning is something I may not forgive. You gave me your word to play it straight and you wanted to believe that I was playing both sides according to what someone else on this jury thought. I did nothing but tell you the truth this entire game in exchange for you living up to your word. I asked only for your trust and honesty and at the end you could not even give me that, and in exchange for your dishonesty you wish my vote for victory.

To me that is a vote too far, which I why my vote remains in the blance. So I ask the same question to both of you. I've thinking of a number between 1 and 1 million. The person who gets it the closest gets my vote tonight.

I wish you well in the rest of answering these questions and I pray you finally tell the truth to these people. In real life it's innocent until proven guilty, on the Survivor jury it's guilty until proven innocent.

*Walks away and sits down*

[MGH]

You know, I realize that the smart thing for me to do would be to give you a number and give in to this little game you're playing, but I can't do it. I didn't wrack my brain and bust my ass for 39 days out here to have a possible deciding vote be based on a number guess. Hell, Trista didn't either. You always struck me as someone who loved this game and respected it, and this isn't that person at all. This is someone who got their feelings hurt and wants to take it out on someone. Whether this costs me a vote (which quite frankly I'm not guessing I'm going to get anyway) or not, I'm not giving you an easy way out. I'm going to look you in the eyes like a man, explain our situation and explain what happened, and if you don't feel I deserve your vote after that, then I don't deserve it.

You're absolutely right. I still have every PM since this game started in my box. I promised you a trip to the Final 2. And clearly from my first answer, that wasn't the case. My real intention was a trip to the final six. You're one of only two people in this game who was told the full contents of the 3-3 plan I came up with. Trista and her two allies, me and my two allies, and at final six you play your immunity idol to give us the numbers. I was going to vote you out that night. If you want honesty from me, there it is. You were meant to go 6th, not 8th. At that point Trista, myself, and Spartan would be 3 on 2 with the remaining players and that would get us where we wanted to go.

I had to call an audible because I didn't feel like you were being straight with me. Now that the game is ending and there's no reason to lie, I realize I was wrong about that. You tell me now that you were shooting straight with me the entire time, I have no reason not to believe that. So for that, for not trusting someone giving me nothing but the truth and their loyalty, I apologize. That being said, I briefly went over this when you angrily messaged me after that tribal council, and now I'll go over it in more detail. Justified or not, this is exactly why I felt like I couldn't trust you anymore:

The biggest thing was that vote you threw to Spartan the night we voted Ritt off. You caught me off guard that night when you came to me and said you wanted to vote with those guys, so until I could process I just said, "yeah, nice idea, go for it" etc. But once I did get a chance to think about it, it struck me that it didn't really make sense for any reason other than you wanting to get in a little better with future jury members. There was no numerical advantage to be gained as we already had that. Pegasus was already busting it in the challenges, so the idea of him suddenly trying harder wasn't logical. It felt like you were setting yourself up pretty for at least three future jury members. Then you threw in that comment about being able to get the heat on Alex for flipping, since it would appear she was the dagger vote. Again, burning someone else in the eyes of the jury to better yourself. More so, I had been talking to Alex by that point. I liked her a great deal. And seeing as I couldn't figure out any numerical advantage to be gained, it just seemed like a cheap move against her.

There was also the fact that despite us having a Final 2 deal, you always seemed to end any conversation about the end game with, "yeah, we'll get to the Final 3 and then we'll see how it goes.". I can only read that two ways. One is caution because someone besides us could win immunity, and the other was you not wanting to commit to a final 2 deal so if I got voted out at 3, you could say you only promised me so much.

Finally, knowing you had the immunity idol. Your biggest mistake was letting me know you had it. When I won it back near the beginning of the first game, I held that thing close to me and kept it a secret until the minute I played it at Final 4. All that does is put a target on your back. Once I started questioning your motives, that made you twice as dangerous because unlike anyone else who could turn, you had a magnum in your pocket that could have taken my head off. I felt like I had to eliminate the threat, so I did.


Now again, you telling me now that you honestly had no intention of doing anything but staying loyal makes me feel bad for terminating our partnership the way that I did. I can't take it back, you know that. But all I'm asking is that you look at it from where I stood and try to understand why I felt like you had become a threat and a hindrance to my existence in the game. I'm not asking you to forgive me for lying to you when the game started. I just want you to understand my reasoning.

I don't know if I'll have your vote now. I kinda doubt it. But if you're going to be one of seven deciding who should win this game, I'm not letting you do it unless you have all the details. It isn't fair to me or her, but even more so, we worked closely together for 2/3 of this game and you do deserve the truth. I owed you that. Now you have it. I hope it's enough for your vote. When this is all over we can get back to mending fences, whether I get your vote or not.

[Toates Madhackrviper]

*multiple moments in MGH's speech feature cuts to madhack nodding furiously on the bench*

[Shy Guy]

berg:

having MGH promise you the final two "five hours into the game" is nothing compared to him approaching me about the final two before we even knew who was on what tribe. he had been scheming you and everyone else (as had i) since the second the tribes were announced, and by the time we merged everyone from FAN tribe knew you had the hidden immunity idol because of MGH. that was a mistake on your part, as the HII should always be kept secret until it's absolutely crucial. i agree with MGH in that we had put far too much thought into this game, only for your vote to come down to picking a number between 1 and 1 million. if you've been on the jury for this long, and thats all you can think of, then i question what your thought process was throughout the game as any other question would probably be acceptable.

[pegasuswarrior]

(So, I guess that means it's my turn?)


NOTE: Before I begin, please know that I had all of this typed up before any of the interviewers started, so I'm not commenting on ANYthing that has just taken place over the course of the last two interviews and answers. This is completely independent of everything else.

EDIT: (For some reason, these comments before the questions were missing from my original post.)

The two best players in the entire game are remaining. I have no beefs whatsoever or hesitations about believing that to be true. In terms of the spirit of competition, that’s exactly how I feel things *should* go. Of course, as I’ve stated, my only head-shaking part of the game is that it didn’t *have* to be that way. But again, this probably goes back to the level of gameplay from both trista and MGH outweighing other factors in a few who made it possible for them to be there. In the end, it’s a relief as a former contestant to see the two obvious frontrunners actually in the “frontrunning.” I never saw either of them as “backstabbing,” (most especially MGH) because I knew from the get-go that he wasn’t on my side. He was a good person to help us win tribe immunity, but at the merge, he was as good as gone if others followed suit. To me, it was crystal clear they were out for themselves, and I respect them both for pulling the wool over others’ eyes.

Outside of those two, the person I was most leery of: Sweet N’ Sour.

My quiet hopeful to make it to Finals once it became apparent that these two had a clear path all the way to the end (during the failure to eliminate Street Spartan/the ritt elimination): Brainbustaaaah. He got really close, and I commend him for hanging in there.



To both finalists:
On a scale of 1-10, how active would you say you were as a “schemer?”

To both finalists:
Were you ever afraid someone within your own tribe would/could be your undoing, and if so, who was it?

To trista:
Who would you say the person your alliance(s) was most wary of in the opposing tribe?

MGH:
Immunity is everything. What do you say to the fact that our tribe (W.I.N.) lost a round of immunity challenge due to a complaint in one of the challenge's outcome that our tribe conceded and compromised to "do over," even though that challenge was clearly ours to win? (If that's vague or not ringing a bell, it might be intentionally so. I just want you to answer the question the best you can.)

[MGH]

I appreciate the rationality Peg, thank you.

For the first question, if I'm being honest it's 10. I don't hide that fact, nor have I ever. When a plan went down in this game, it was usually from me. The original concept of doing what Sierra, Brendan, Taj, and Stephen wanted to do in Tocantins came from me, Trista worked it to the 3-3, then I came up with all the details aside from who she chose to align with from F.A.N.. Scheming is what works for me. Maybe not the ideal or friendliest way to play, but it's my strength. I can think 5 moves ahead and see what doing to _____ will do to _____ in the future.

Now for your second question, yes, over the course of the game there were three people that I thought could derail me from getting here. The first was obviously Bergman, and that's been explained above. Although in regards to that, I do feel the need to say one more thing. You know why I had to lie to Bergman five hours in to the game? Because in the midst of that conversation we had, he casually mentioned that he was prepared to go with you guys right at the beginning and vote out me and SNS. But since I was being honest with him, he was siding with me. *looks to the jury* if any of you were in that position, what would you do? Would you lie and say what you needed to say to survive past the FIRST elimination, or would you say "no no, it's OK, go with who you want" and be a sitting duck before you could see Day 4? Think about it.

Actually Peg, you were another one. I didn't realize how hard you were playing this game until later when Bergman started letting me know what you were planning on the other side. When you started hinting that you knew who the two people running the game were, I knew you had to go. Before that I was saying it could be you or BB, and it didn't matter. After that it had to be you. If someone could have blown this up, it was you.

SNS was the other, not because I was afraid of him turning, but because he has the Sandra game down to a science and it blew up in my face in the first game. If I let him hang around too long, he could have easily ended up sitting here and no one would have beat him.


Finally, I was pissed at that immunity challenge, not gonna lie. Yes, I remember the exact one you're talking about. The chili/peppers debacle. I thought us conceding that point without at least conferencing about it first was a big mistake, and doubly so because the guy complaining was the same guy who did the EXACT SAME THING in the first game during a challenge. It was like clockwork. I would have just admitted I misread the clue and moved on to the next one, as I expect most people would have. But a quick decision was made, and I didn't think it was the right one.

[Gus Richlen: Ruffian]

OK, MGH, I'm going to interject here. Was it a mistake for me to throw that clue away based on my own standards of fairness? Possibly, and maybe it'll come back to bite me in the ass when I take a shot as a contestant. But do I stand by my decision to do so? Yes, even though again, I may truly end up regretting it later.

[MGH]

Jun 25, 2011 12:29:44 GMT -5 Gus Richlen: Ruffian said:

OK, MGH, I'm going to interject here. Was it a mistake for me to throw that clue away based on my own standards of fairness? Possibly, and maybe it'll come back to bite me in the ass when I take a shot as a contestant. But do I stand by my decision to do so? Yes, even though again, I may truly end up regretting it later.

No, I'm not blaming you. Someone from our side agreed to redo it, they agreed, so you allowed it. I'd have done the same thing you did. I'm saying our tribe should have discussed it before someone decided to give in to someone's complaining.

[Jazzman]

Can I step in and present my side? Havin been a part of a shotty challenge and twist in the previous game made me a little more sympathetic to Jonathan. Do I feel like I deserved to win that bit, yes. Do I feel wrong in giving him a second chance, maybe I do now, but then I felt fine. Also, we won that challenge anyway, so isn't kinda a moot point

[MGH]

Jun 25, 2011 12:43:17 GMT -5 Jazzman said:

Can I step in and present my side? Havin been a part of a shotty challenge and twist in the previous game made me a little more sympathetic to Jonathan. Do I feel like I deserved to win that bit, yes. Do I feel wrong in giving him a second chance, maybe I do now, but then I felt fine. Also, we won that challenge anyway, so isn't kinda a moot point

I don't even think the fact that you did it is what annoyed me as much as it was just a full blown repeat of an incident from the first game, from the same person, doing the same thing.

[Shy Guy]

On a scale of 1-10, how active would you say you were as a “schemer?”

if i could go past 10, i would. like i said earlier, MGH and i began scheming before we even knew what tribe we were on. we had it planned out for both scenarios: if we were on the same tribe, or if we were on different tribes. every decision that was made in this game between us was confirmed with the other, even down to who we were voting for before we merged. we knew each others *every* move, and that is not an exaggeration.


Were you ever afraid someone within your own tribe would/could be your undoing, and if so, who was it?

absolutely. if it was going to be anyone, it would be madhack, which was attempted. being completely honest, i think he could play this game better than anyone because he knows how to analyze people like you wouldn't believe. anytime i thought of a plan, i'd run it by MGH and then say to madhack "this is the plan, what do you think, and do you think we could do something different?" because i know the mind he has for this game. even though we had a solid 6 alliance at the beginning, i kept madhack and SS closer to me. madhack for his mind, and SS because i knew he would just go along with whatever happened.


Who would you say the person your alliance(s) was most wary of in the opposing tribe?

without having the chance to talk about it with them, i would say berg just because he had the hidden immunity idol, and he decided to do that weird flip-flop thing that he totally didn't benefit from, because it wasn't needed. there was no need for him to vote with the other three just so he could be like, "hey look, i'm loyal!" because when he did that, he was turning on someone from his *real* alliance. it was unnecessary, and honestly, dumb.

[unoriginalalex]

Peg, are you finished with your turn?

[wwe1993]

Peg used all four questions... so I think its safe for you to go Alex.

[unoriginalalex]

okay =)

Congrats to both of you for making it to the final 2! I had so much fun play with you guys, as well as everyone else in this game. I can't realy think of any good questions, so I'll just keep it light and ask you both each, what was your favorite and least favorite part of the game?

Good Luck xoxo~

that's it for me, so whoever is next feel free to go once they answer.

[MGH]

My favorite and least favorite parts of the game are really one and the same. When a plan comes together or an idea works, you get a really great sense of satisfaction in knowing that something you came up with and put the time and effort in to actually succeeded. It can really build your confidence and make the time and effort you have to pour in to a game like this worthwhile.

By the same token, those plans' success is usually directly tied to someone getting eliminated. I realize not everyone is like me. I come in to this game knowing its a game and checking feelings at the door. Nothing I do is personal or malicious. But not everyone is that way, and so feelings get hurt and friendships get strained. I hate that part of this. I really, really do. You do what you have to do to win, but you hate doing it at the expense of someone else's feelings.