Hi you guys!

Congrats on making it to the Final 2.

Let's see, question time!

Ben: You were a beast this whole game, and I really think a win would be well deserved. You put a lot of work into this game, which is commendable. From working hard on challenges to being incredibly social, it takes a lot of work and omfg I feel sorry for you because you had to do that. That is just too much work. I put in like 2000% more effort than I usually do to be more social in this game and it was exhausting and it didn't even help. So, anyway, yeah congrats! I definitely connected well with you in this game more than I ever have in the past, so I'm happy about that. However, I truly think you were a game-bot, and it seemed everything you did was for the game, including getting close to almost every person on jury. I'm not butt hurt that you voted me out, but clearly you had an impact on others who took it harder. I'd like to know: How does your relationship with me differ from your relationship with everyone else, and why should I consider our social bond when deciding my vote? I think I understand how you played the game, and I can respect your moves, but I'd also like to know what other factors affected your game, aside from being social, a challenge beast, and a "flipper". Please provide some instances in which you benefited from someone else's action. This is to say, something that you did not do at all yourself, but still helped your game. (Please do not include inactives or people who you weren't on a tribe with.)

Stan: Congratulations Stan, I'm not surprised to see you here at all. I really liked your opening statement but yes it was a long video and I had to fast forward through some of it, sorry. I also have a limited memory and would have much rather have read your statement. If you need to reiterate something from there to respond to (or correct) my statements or questions, please do. I commend your ability to remain loyal, because apparently that's what killed me. You had this underdog game going on, and I know you're a great player and you never give up, but during parts of the game it seemed to me that you threw a pity party to propel your game forward in several instances. Did you use that as a tactic to perpetuate a non-threatening image of you so you could make it further, and perhaps to gain sympathy from players so that they would work with you? Explain. Also, since you've known me for so long, explain to me what you think I look for in a finalist as a juror, and how you fulfill those qualities that I would want to give a vote to. *UPDATE* Since I just read your ranking of me in Grant's thread, I am side-eyeing your answer. You ranked me 2nd to last / last, since I was "loyal to Baratheon" but allegedly "unaware of the game". This proves to me you know nothing about my game. Please differentiate my game from Annette's and use this thread to explain how that was a cop-out ranking. Thank you.

Also, omg I'm sorry if that's a lot, but I do want all of those answers. That's it, y'all!

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How does your relationship with me differ from your relationship with everyone else, and why should I consider our social bond when deciding my vote? I think I understand how you played the game, and I can respect your moves, but I'd also like to know what other factors affected your game, aside from being social, a challenge beast, and a "flipper". Please provide some instances in which you benefited from someone else's action. This is to say, something that you did not do at all yourself, but still helped your game. (Please do not include inactives or people who you weren't on a tribe with.)

Hey Phil. I'm really glad you enjoyed reconnecting as much as I did. I can understand your perspective that I socialized solely to further my strategic game, but it's really not the case. I came into this game because I live in a rural city in Thailand and had only three people that spoke English. I talked to people for the sake of having conversations, something that my life has been sorely lacking the past six months. At no point in the game was socializing forced, mostly because it gave me an opportunity to socialize in something other than broken Thai, haha.

I really enjoyed talking to you. You're really down to earth, we have a shared history, and you're hilarious. When I sent you that Raven Mail the night before One World, I did it because, out of everyone in the game, I had the most comfort with you. Even as far back as Chronicles 5, you were someone that I connected to well. This game only enhanced that. We rarely spoke about the game, something that I appreciated since a lot of people only had that on their mind. We were able to have conversations for the sake of enjoying conversations. It wasn't forced and it helped me get through some of the most grueling days here in Thailand. I really appreciated having you in the game and I'm really thankful that we've been able to connect as well as we did.

There are two instances that come to mind where others helped my game in a big way.

1. Luke sharing the conversation we had with Josh and Sagar ended up being one of the biggest disguised blessings. I had told Luke how I wanted the game to happen, complete with who I wanted voted out each round. Part of that was the fact that I wanted to bring Stan to the final three with us. Luke correctly saw that as me wanting to ensure my spot in the final two. Luke agreed to my "plan" and immediately shared the entire conversation with Josh and Sagar. Luckily, I had already promised Stan the final two, so everything Luke shared with Josh, Josh shared with Stan, Stan shared with me. Josh was fed up with Luke and his perceived flipping, and decided he was voting Luke out. Seeing as Luke had betrayed my trust, I was more than happy to go along with that vote.

2. Getting past the Red Wedding in the majority. Josh again with another move that benefited my game. He was the person that put together the #Yates alliance and got Annette and you out. Being in the majority by Josh's efforts allowed me to have the social capital to begin working with both sides. If I had stuck to the four person alliance with you and Annette, I could have been in the minority, with no ability to make any moves.

Hey Philip! Thank you for the kind words. Jesus, we're as ancient as dinosaurs in ORG years and yet we were still caught red handed in a game together. LMAO. Anyway, just like every single game we're in, it's been an absolute pleasure. Always an honor to play with or against Mr. Varela.

As I said in my opening, I saw a lot of my game in yours. We both had the loyalty thing going on. I was sticking to my allies, and you were sticking to yours. It did sting me a little bit when you did choose to side with Annette over me because we did have a very pleasant and deep history together with the FGC apocalypse having a lot to do why you are still playing and making this statement right now. I would have stuck with you to the end. I like playing the game with like-minded individuals and I would have given you my 100% trust like I did with my allies in this game that I gave my word to. However, as I said, I do understand why you stuck with Baratheon and Annette and I completely respect that. I think the difference between the two of us is the way the cards were dealt. Had Baratheon had the numbers in the Final 11, I would think you'd have a very similar game as me sitting here in the Final 2 and I would've felt the exact same way as you did towards my game and would be absolutely inclined to give you my vote to win.

You know my game very well. I have the reputation in FGC for being that notorious villain that would scheme and plot and lie and cheat to win a game. That's what cost me Surv!vor: Vanuatu way back when in 2004 when you and the now-FGC-elite (Brendan, Jordan, etc) voted for my goat Leann/aqua10 to win. I know it painfully sounds along the lines of Max Dawson detail, but that loss stung me and stung hard. I played this game completely differently. Partially, it's because I'm older and a lot more mature and I think in real life and in my profession, honesty is huge. I learned a lot ORGs that I used in my every day life in medicine - on how to establish a strong rapport with individuals, how to gain peoples' trust and how to maintain their trust. As a physician-to-be, it is very important to have that trust with the people you take care of so that they trust your medical judgement and that you have their best interest in mind. On the contrary, there's a lot of things I've learned in medicine that I used in ORGs - I knew that honesty is always best. When a patient is faced with a terminal illness such as cancer (in this game, them being voted out), you can't dance around the situation and tell them "oh yeah, you have something going on, but we'll figure it out". You have to tell them exactly how it is and what can be done about the situation. In my experience in life, that usually works wonders. People like to know what is going on and that is human nature. I played the game in that very fashion. I told everyone exactly how it was. I told my allies I was with them to the end. I told my adversaries that I was voting them out, or when I was considering to keep them or shifting the game. I think it's very difficult to play the game of Survivor with maturity and integrity intact, and I definitely commend any game that can make it to the end on sheer old school loyalty. And on top of that, I made it to the end with either of my allies at the Final 3 taking me in a heartbeat. Furthermore, Tina and Sagar's threads are locked within 5 minutes of them posting because I've developed such a bond with them throughout the game and was loyal to them to a fault that nothing could sway their votes. I think I've grown a lot as a human being these past 10 years and ORGs and my professional choice definitely played a big role in my metamorphosis.

To answer your first question, it was a mix of strategy and frustration. Being the lowest on the totem pole and making everyone know that I knew was initially frustration. I tried to work with Gabe 3 times in this game and each of those times, whether it was me or him, it failed. I was on the bottom many times in this game, and I was on top a few times too (in which Brian, Grant, Gabe were on the bottom). Yes, it was frustrating. I'm not used to being in the bottom. LOL. I'm used to playing Benny's game. I can play Benny's game. But blindsiding my allies were not in my cards because I loved my allies and trusted them too much for me to ever consider blindsiding them. That's why I couldn't blame you for siding with Annette. However, I knew that by painting myself as a meek little cockroach on the wall that was a target every single round, maybe they'll see bigger fish to fry and take them out and keep me here. That's exactly what happened and bigger fish in Tina and Sagar were taken out whereas I was loyal to Josh and Ben that every single time there was a move in place in my favor, I was a heavy part of it and when there was a move against my side, I was never the target. I milked that reputation and squeezed out every last bit of mother's milk from that non-threatening udder to buy me a couple more votes because at the end of the day... this is Survivor and you have to survive. And that's exactly what I did.

You're right. Maybe I did not understand your game completely. That message you sent me with keeping Annette over me stung a bit and that was the most salient part of your game in my eyes. We only played together for one round and we didn't have much time to understand each other's games. I knew that you and Annette had a thing going on. Josh told me that. I really wanted to work with you and Josh in this game as "The Dinosaurs" but Baratheon-strong prevailed. Baratheon definitely had a deal with the Starks to get rid of the Lannisters, but I think where this plan fell apart was at a simple numbers game. Over at Regina, I had forged a tight bond with Josh and Tina. So that's one Baratheon and one Stark on my side that I completely trusted. However, when the merge hit, it was clear that Ben and Luke were on the fence. So I had to do whatever I had to do to save myself and I touched on that in my opening, with the Annette conversation sharing. I do apologize that it did seem like a cop-out but in hindsight, you should have been ranked higher simply based on experience. I love Annette, don't get me wrong. She's my Canadian homegirl, literally and figuratively. However, it is her first game and in a game filled with superfans, everyone will use everything you say or do against you in order to get ahead. I think no one realized that Josh and I were already working tightly and that everything you guys told him was already funneled down to me. On the contrary, you knew exactly what you were doing. Baratheon had the power. They had the numbers. You were playing the loyal game at first. You were going to keep Baratheon as strong as possible at least for the first few votes post merge while working the other side of the house socially to your strategic benefit. You definitely know how to play the game and had you made the Finals, you would've easily won this game - against anyone. That's part of the reason you were targetted so early in the merge. I think you would've played the game just as hard and just as strong and would be willing to make moves to get yourself to the end with the people you trusted. You would've worked your social game and the fact that everyone liked you to eke out some flippers and get them to work to your advantage. That's the Phil I know and that's the Phil(l)ip that won Redemption World.

I think knowing you as a person and a player, you would appreciate a player with effort, a great game and a great story. Although my game was not as flashy as Ben's, I certainly played VERY hard to get where I am. I didn't scheme. I didn't make 1500 deals with everyone else that I couldn't keep. I didn't lie through my teeth to get far. I did it with hard work, tenacity and a good old school loyal social game. And I got to exactly where Ben is at without having to do things that would hurt people's feelings. I fought every single round to stay in the game. I didn't have the social connections that Ben did, admittedly. Frankly, it's because I didn't have the time to. My days began at 5:00am and ended at around 5 to 7:00pm. It's baffling that I even survived this far. I had very limited time to socialize and with that limitation, I still fostered 4 very strong bonds with my allies. I managed to weasel my way out of every single Tribal Council that I was targetted. Dude, I got home at like 7:00pm from working out doing Crossfit after the hospital, I checked my AIM, my allies told me I'm targetted, I had some dinner and got right to work. I worked every angle with Josh and Sagar. I strategized with Ben. I talked to the other side to see where they're at. I bled through this game in my own little way. It's easy to say that you put 2000% of your time when this game was to appease your boredom in rural Thailand, but it's even more difficult to play this game and use 100% of your available time amidst the insanity and long hours of medicine and STILL get to where I'm at in this game. I won challenges when I had to. I managed to survive each and every single vote ever since the Lannisters. I played a subtle and loyal game. I had to overcome a tremendous amount of adversity to get to where I am. And sometimes, as what the great Gandhi once said, "in your own little ways, you can shake the world" and I think I did just that.

Thank you Phil and it's always an absolute pleasure.

Thank you.