[Jeff Probst]

This is Sara's Final Tribal Council Thread.

All other Jurors should remain in their own threads. 

Sara, you have until Sunday at 8c/9e to post your statements/questions to the Final 2. Remember not to take up too much of their time as they have 8 other jurors to get to. Please no listing or questions requiring novels for answers. You should post all of your statements/questions in your opening post in this thread, keeping follow-ups to a necessary minimum, or congratulatory thank you/nothing further.

[Sara]

Xander & Abe,

 First of all, congrats on making it to the Final 2, that in of itself is an incredible achievement and you should both be proud that you are sitting here.  That being said… 

My vote is entirely up for grabs based on your guys answers to mine and the other jurors questions tonight. 

I consider both of you guys friends beyond the game cause you guys are both mad chill. However, you guys both left me out to dry when I left and I had to hear it from Heather and JR that I was the one to go! That hurt like hell cause I thought at least you guys would be man enough to let me know you were voting for me, but you both went radio silent and just iced me out in my last moments, so you definitely sent me (and most others) to Ponderosa with a baddddd taste in our collective mouth.

  So in that instance, and the other instances of you two voting everyone out, what was your plan with regards to the social aspect of the game when you know you need our votes in the end? 

I would say moving onto the physical/challenge aspect of the game but we all know Abe absolutely ran the show in regards to challenges both pre and post merge so kudos to you for all your studying Abe it certainly paid off. 

Now reading through your opening statements I have a couple more questions that have popped up. 

First off Abe, I hope you're having a sick time at fight week, those fights last night were entertaining as fuck even if Moreno got fucked over by the judges. 

For Abe, the night I went home, you and I were talking about idols and if memory serves correctly you told me " If I had an idol I would play it for you" Now at that point I was convinced there were no idols in the game so I appreciated that sentiment up until I read that you were (allegedly, I still think there's a chance you made those in photoshop) holding onto two idols at that point. If you really did have the idols and planned on voting for me anyways, why lie to me on my way out? That feels like a dirty lie that you didn’t need to tell so I'm wondering your rationale behind telling it.  

Another thing Abe, on one of the first nights of the game you came to me regarding a spat you had with Evvie and how it was fucking with your head and how you were considering quitting the game, was that a real moment or was that to throw me off of your relationship with Evvie? If it was, fair play, but I would like to know the truth behind that interaction because I felt we went beyond the game in that moment. 

For Xander, my Hebrew Homeboy, my fellow Californian, my closest friend in the game (even if it was an "assigned" friendship), I hope you got a nice J sparked up for all these answers, I'm stressed just reading the other jurors questions I couldn’t imagine answering them.  

For you Xander, my question is do you think your social connections & jury management are enough for me and the others to vote for you over Abe, when Abe played the objectively stronger physical and strategic game?

  And one last question for fun: Describe each of your games in one word. For example I might say that Abe's game was imperious and Xander's game was fallacious. Your answers tonight will allow me to see if my perceptions of both of your games are indeed correct and if these words were appropriately assigned.

 In closing, thank you both and thank you to the hosts for being a part of my FIRST ORG experience, (that’s right, not a veteran over here) you guys have taught me a lot of things that I hope to take into my next game. That being said, fight hard for your case to win, and really WOW us with your answers. Look forward to voting for one of you to win that sweet $100 and hearing from you guys at the reunion. 

With love (and still a little bitterness), 

Sara 

[Abraham]

Sara, I was actually really worried ahead of time to see what you'd say during FTC, but I'm pleasantly surprised and it makes me super excited to talk to you again post-game!

You're absolutely right, a part of the social game is having players leave with a good memory of your relationship with them. I did have a great relationship with you. One of my favorite nights was when we chatted through all of UFC 289. I did really enjoy our relationship together, however we were unfortunately on opposite sides due to my relationships with Evvie and Shan. To add to how much our relationship meant to me, if you recall the night you left, I did make the mistake of telling you that you were in serious trouble. I still consider this to be one of my biggest mistakes in the game. I went behind the Stoner F3, the F5 including Deshawn and Shan, and the possible flipping alliance that included JR and Leslie. I had to be a little bit more quiet toward the end of the night when tribal was getting close as I couldn't let my emotions get in the way of my gameplay. Xander didn't vote for you and voted for Leslie, but yes, I did vote for you. I had to do it despite it being tough, and I knew I had to do it now as it was only going to get tougher the deeper I went in the game.

Regarding the idol talk, you're right. I didn't need to say I would play it for you and it's another reason why I was worried to hear from you during FTC. So many times I went with emotions rather than gameplay with you, and I think through building our relationship, I realized how we are so much alike, You feel like a brother in a way, and if you remember, I told you early on that it was obvious you were a dude haha. We just had such a solid connection and I felt like I could say things like that to you as if we were truly in a F2 because I, once again, let my emotions get in the way of gameplay. However, when it really counted, I did manage to vote you out in order to further my game.

Regarding the spat with Evvie, that was entirely real. I did mention it in my opening statement but I didn't want to dive into it too much and retract from the overall picture of the game. No one in my real life, aside from my wife and the best man at my wedding, know that I am bisexual. We spend hours and hours talking to people in this game, and the relationships become way more real than we'd like to admit. What happened was a true moment of panic and realization that something I've kept internal is going to be revealed, and I took it the wrong way. It didn't even need to happen like it did, and I let my anxiety get the best of me. This was a true moment of weakness and I thank you so much for being someone I could talk to during my lowest moment in the game. I will always remember Day 7 - Stranded in the Andes by name because of what happened, but I'm learning to love who I am and not worry about what the outside perception of myself is.

To end your questions, I would rather my game go with the term 'Dominant'. I understand why you would call it 'Imperious'. However, I don't feel that I assumed power without justification or arrogance. I truly worked hard every single day because I was constantly down on myself for my game. I felt my mistakes way more than all of you saw them. It's similar to how much you and Xander worried about the rule breaking screenshot when a lot of us didn't see the harm in it. We're always a lot harder on ourselves than the people around us, and I tried incredibly hard to get where I am in the game. I in no way feel I deserved to be in power, or believed that I should be in power. I put in the effort, the time, and the emotions into the game in order to be in the power position I was in. I never once thought that I would / could win this game until the F3.

I hope that answers everything, but please do provide some follow up response if you need clarification. Also, dude, the fights were absolutely incredible. I can't wait to share all my pictures with you. The fact I was live at the event people are calling the card of the year is insane! We will definitely catch-up post game, believe me!

[Xander]

Dude Sara I miss talking to you. 

 Your questions are the hardest to answer cause I wish I could show you how much I truly enjoyed our relationship   My worst night in this game was the night that you got voted out. I couldn't write your name down dude. Our relationship may have started as being calculated on my part but by the merge, that was not the case and I felt very close with you. Evvie had wanted you out and enough people were  on the bandwagon. But  I voted for Leslie because I just wouldn't write your name down.  

That round,  I was pretty confident that I knew where everyone was voting except for Shan and Leslie. I was hoping that if Shan and Leslie voted for different people that I could force it to go to rocks with my vote. But I couldn't make it happen.  Evvie and Abe were not pleased with me after that vote. I told them it was out of principal. It was an emotional decision that blatantly went against the alliance I had but I didn't care and stubbornly stood by it.

 It was the first night that I truly felt like a pawn and I hated and rebelled against it. I can sit here and explain my social machinations but the simple fact of the matter is, I wasn't able to stop you leaving. It is my biggest disappointment in myself during the whole game. Evvie and Abe can attest to how hard I fought to change it. It even drove a wedge between Abe and I.

To answer your question, do I think my social connections and jury management alone are enough. Honestly, I don't feel they are enough but I hope that they can be and I'm gonna try and stand by my game as best as I can. Abe was truly stellar in many ways. But my game had to be more adaptable and reactive than his. I wasn't a challenge beast and didn't have the security of knowing I had an idol(s) in my pocket. I had to rely on subjectivity, optics and the trust I had garnered which could change like the wind.

 I will agree and own that the word fallacious is a good word to describe my game. I was deceptive and I had initially mislead you. If I had to pick the word myself tho I would say "Resilient". I had to adapt at many points during the game. I had to do my best to obfuscate my position to as many people as I could and it did require deception. 

I hope that answered your questions. Totally ask me more tho cause i miss talking with ya. Im excited for post game when we can chat more! 
 

[Sara]

Great answers so far you two I am really torn on who to vote for. 

One more question for each of you: in a few words, tell me why the other shouldn't win. Give me the biggest flaw in their game. I'm done after this question, look forward to hearing from you guys tomorrow!

[Xander]

In a game about relationships and fluidity, Abe was only ever out for himself. His plan was rigid and he didn't react well to any one possibly going against it. He is conveniently acting blind to the amount of collaboration with others that went into his game. His arrogance in believing that I was not a threat at the end was a miscalculation. His opening statement showed that no matter the closeness, we were all just a means to an end for him. 

 

[Abraham]

Multiple people told Xander before they left that he would lose to me. We had a great relationship throughout the whole game but everyone still sees this plain as day - he worked for me. Xander says that his social game was better than mine, but I'd put it at about even. I was able to build relationships that saved me when I couldn't save myself. Xander never needed to test his relationships as he was never in trouble at getting voted out. Everyone thought he was either a swing vote or with them and he was never a target because of it. Even Jeff didn't take him seriously as seen through the tribal council questions. Why does everyone keep saying that I brought Xander here because he was the easiest to win against and ignoring our relationship? Because they don't see Xander as a strong player. The strongest case for Xander winning is that he didn't make people as mad as I did for getting them out of the game. And that's because Xander never had a move that was his own. When he wanted Shan out, Deshawn and I did the heavy work. When you were voted out, he didn't want to be involved. When Heather left, Deshawn mentioned in his FTC responses that we talked about targets all day. Xander wasn't even online until before the vote. Come to think of it, this was the case for a lot of rounds - Xander would show up late and I would have to give him a progress report of everything that happened that day.

Xander was my closest ally in the end and of course it shows because we're here together, but he worked for me. All of the moves he claims were his were all done by me because I put all the hard work in. The only thing Xander can claim is his is that he spread the Me/Evvie/Deshawn F3 alliance that didn't exist. Besides that, he floated his way to the end riding my coattails.

[Xander]

Ya know Sara. 

I am sitting here after answering all these jury questions,  reading the nasty things Abe and I just said to each other. I've spent all day long having to think of him as an adversary, which is hard cause he is a friend. I wanna take a moment and say at least one nice thing. 

Abe is intelligent, tenacious, resourceful and a rarity among people. No matter what happens tonight, I will always be in awe of him. 

[Abraham]

So true. Xander and I keep having to attack each other but in IMs were like "god this sucks" Lol, so I'll do the same.

Xander is a great friend. He's personable, he's funny, charming, intelligent. We're going to be friends regardless of the outcome of this game. We've both said that we can't wait for this to be over so we can all just chill on discord together and get high.

[Xander]

So true. Xander and I keep having to attack each other but in IMs were like "god this sucks" Lol, so I'll do the same.

Xander is a great friend. He's personable, he's funny, charming, intelligent. We're going to be friends regardless of the outcome of this game. We've both said that we can't wait for this to be over so we can all just chill on discord together and get high.

Duude I can't wait!