Benry's Opening Statement

[Tom Westman]

Where Benry will post his opening statement.

[Ben "Benry" Henry]

Benry's Opening Statement

Hey guys,

Admittedly, I'm not the best at giving speeches, so bare with me. This game had to be one of the craziest ones I've played in. The merge had tons of insane Tribal Councils. Much of that was because of the Blue Grotto. I'm sure we made this game exciting to watch for the Hosts. The power swung back and forth and I'm pretty surprised to be sitting in the finals with Earl.

I guess I'll start off with original Livy. The first alliances I made in this game were with Amber & Dolly. None of them proved effective, as I never ended up going to a Tribal Council with them, but they would of helped me make it through any Tribal Councils I went to at that stage. I also made a good relationship with Spencer and agreed to work with Sash in the future. As with the girls, I never went to a Tribal with those two either.

I think I was a huge question mark for a lot of people at the merge. I think that had to do with the fact that I only attended one Tribal Council in the Pre-Jury stage, and that is when Ami was booted. So I never got into that scramble mode. At that Tribal Council where Ami had left, I had immunity. So I was basically immune the entire Pre-merge/jury game. I'd like to think I played a perfect pre-merge game as I was never vulnerable to go home. xD I know I have to give credit to the tribes I was on (Livy all the way, each and every time x]) But I think I was a good contributor to my tribes. With a game that has 28 people, the first time I was vulnerable to go home was final 10. I was pretty psyched about that.

During the pre-merge stage, I didn't just sit around. I made some alliances for the future. Chase and Courtney were alliances I made before the first swap. I knew them to be strong players and I work well with them. The first time I worried was when we first swapped and I ended up on a tribe with Dreamz, Brenda, Katie, Boo, Ami and myself. I sought out Brenda and Boo as the strongest two. Brenda is the one I focused my time trying to get to know. We had a relationship that was purely physical but that eventually blossomed into a strong alliance the first time we ever had to go to Tribal Council. (Eventually at the merge) The other alliance I asked for was with Boo, and as many of you know...that didn't go anywhere. But I asked for that alliance to try and make sure I was safe if we ever lost a challenge. (I'd of been loyal to it at the time)

So to move things along - win, win, win, merge. yay! I lost two potential allies in Amber & Sash, which was rough. The relationships I spent time making had all bit the dust. (Spencer included) The first round of the merge was where I eventually found my group. At this point I had spent the entire game with no group, but rather with individual deals. All I knew is I trusted Chase, Courtney, and Brenda the most. I wanted them to obviously unite. I won immunity and spent the rest of the round trying to find my place. Chase and I had suspected that Tiberius, sans Earl, were going to want to go the distance together. We didn't want to stay with the New New Livy tribe. (Danielle, Katie, Boo, Peter, Gabe, Dreamz) Since my biggest allies in the game were Chase, Courtney, and Brenda I talked to Chase about joining up with them. I think this was a pretty big move for myself, in terms of increasing the chances of longevity for my stay in the game. I think my conversation with Brenda is what sparked the alliance. We wanted to keep Courtney in for ourselves so we decided to make it happen. Brenda would get Earl and I would get Chase. We knew Danielle couldn't vote so it would be a 5-5 tie. Courtney insisted on voting Dreamz, it was a vote I didn't care to make at the time, but he was after her and she was a close ally to me so it was decided. I had won a "vote changer" at the Blue Grotto, so rather than let it tie I changed Dreamz's vote to himself to ensure Courtney stayed.

Fireworks and some drama and the game was on. I targeted Peter when Chase informed me that he was talking about how I was acting odd. (The round before where I didn't want to vote for Courtney) I considered that odd since Peter and I had no relationship whatsoever. The fact that we came from like the third swapped set of tribes didn't mean we were in an alliance. So we agreed on Peter being the vote. This was also the round where me and Earl started to talk more since we got pushed into an alliance together. (Of all my allies at this time, Earl was the lowest so it is funny and ironic he is the one I went the distance with.) This was the round where I was vulnerable for the first time so I was really nervous. And as it turned out, I got votes, but scraped by with a 1 vote difference.

Next round, my game went to hell. This is where I thought I was forever doomed. Gabe beat me by 1 crucial point in the challenge that allowed him to become immune and for their side to get the Blue Grotto. Katie, in a Parvati-esque move, whipped out some immunities for herself and Boo. She also secretly gave an idol to Danielle, which we were suspecting. But I reallllllyyyyy didn't want to vote for any of the people who had just voted with me the round before. It also sucked since Danielle was my favorite person from the opposing alliance, we started to talk a lot. I figured she was lying about having an idol so I didn't feel guilty voting her, but I obviously wasn't going to vote for anyone in my alliance. As for the idol I inevitably played that round, it actually belonged to Chase. Chase came to me the round before (or sometime during the first two rounds) and he told me he had found a clue to the idol. We worked together to find the clues. I found the second one, and then Chase found the third and he picked up the idol. I told Chase that I'd post the Hidden Immunity Idol in Tribal Council to scare the Tiberius side. It dawned on me that they would cast their votes torwards me to try and flush it (assuming they were all safe, even Danielle), so Chase gave me to it and I played it. We were obviously hoping Danielle didn't have an idol - but sadly Brenda left.

With Brenda gone we were still even in terms of numbers, but we suspected the other side to have more prizes. I won immunity, and I also obtained an immunity prize from the Grotto. I debated giving it to Chase, but I thought it would be better to save it since Earl had a blocker. But it turned out Tiberius had a blocker as well, and Chase self-voted..so he went home. That sucked and it was pretty much the end for me. Or so I thought.

I knew I'd be guaranteed final 6, but I wanted to obviously have Earl and Courtney make it as far as they could. I won the immunity challenge and sent Courtney to the grotto. We didn't get anything but a past vote revealer...which quite obviously SUCKED. lol. At Tribal Council we tried to scare Danielle and have some fun with a quickly made fake idol, but sadly the big threat from our group in Courtney finally left the game.

It was now just me and Earl against the Tiberius 4. The surprise eChallenge was our saving grace. I nearly went 24 hours in this because I knew I HAD to win it. I would get a trip to the Grotto, I could protect Earl, and someone from their side would go home in the round to follow if Earl and I didn't come in last place. I dominated that and Katie surprisingly left. At the time I'd rather Boo, since he was my arch rival, but Katie leaving was perfect because she was very strong. Unfortunately for her, she was busy.

At final 5, I had immunity already so I gave my Grotto immunity to Earl. This would ensure us 2 of the 4 votes in the Final 4. I knew I would obviously need him, or else I would leave 3-1. Earl and I decided to make the strategic over the personal move. I wanted Boo out for personal reasons, but Danielle was a huge threat in not only challenges, but to win the game. She hands down had the best social game of anyone in the cast, and anyone I've seen in a long time. She was not budging about making deals. Boo, on the other hand...whether he was honest or not was at least offering. It was much wiser to keep the person who was at least promising he'd vote with us at final 4. Also, I knew Boo would be the easiest person to beat in a tiebreaker. I anticipated a tie for the following round no matter what. It was weird that I was thinking of voting with my nemesis, but crazy things can happen. xD I left a bootlist for Boo, but when I woke up I knew right away that Danielle had to go. The whole..sleeping on it thing really did work. Go figure.

At final 4 I lost out on another close Immunity with Mr. Gabriel. I was confident I could take on Boo in any challenge, but I was hoping for the endurance. Earl remained loyal to me, knowing it was a final 2 and he'd need me, so the vote tied. I did my 63rd endurance this game (lol :x) and was able to survive until final 3. BUT WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I jumped RIGHT into another endurance. FML FOR REAL. I stayed up through the night and was able to out last Gabe and Earl to win. I felt like I needed to win, and I was able to send Gabe to the Jury as I figured all of his allies would like to see him win.

Basically, I played this game very aggressively. I have absolutely NO IDEA if I'm a hero or a villain, lmao! I won a total of 6 individual immunities and I have been the least vulnerable person in the entire game. I think I was vulnerable three times. At final 10, final 9, and final 4. At final 9 I played an idol, so technically twice. In a game with 28 people, I'd say that's no easy feat. Both of those times I got votes which shows I was a threat. (And I was able to survive them) I think I also showed I cared a lot to make it to this point. (If the 48 hours worth of endurance time I put into this didn't tip you off xD) So Obviously I'd love to be the Sole Survivor and I hope I can earn your votes!

I appreciate the time you put into reading this, or skimming for your name :x lolol

I'll answer anything with 100% honesty. Congrats on finals Earl, may the best man win! (Preferably Benry, ngl)

Mood: Competitive